An Alness, Corentyne pensioner has been hospitalised, after two armed bandits invaded his home yesterday morning, in a robbery attempt that yielded them $5,000 cash, a cellphone and a gold ring.
The bandits badly assaulted Gilford Goodchild, 76, and his wife, Kaymeah Goodchild, 71.
Mr. Goodchild was rushed to the Port Mourant Hospital and then transferred to the New Amsterdam Public Hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery.
According to his grandson, Erven Scarville, 29, they have since been told that his grandfather is suffering from internal bleeding. “He deh bad them say,” he related, noting that his grandfather sustained major injuries to his head and about his body.
However, his grandmother, who was also beaten, was treated at the Port Mourant Hospital and released. She, too, sustained injuries to her head.
Scarville, of Lot 53 Alness Village, Corentyne, explained that around 3 am, he heard his grandmother screaming.
He said he then attempted to rush towards his grandparents’ room, when he ran into a bandit. He was then placed to lie on the ground, while one bandit physically assaulted his grandfather in the bedroom.
He said the bandits then started to assault him, while demanding money. “I tell them all I got is $5,000 under me mattress, because them saying, ‘weh the money deh? weh the money deh?’”
The young man sustained injuries to his head and back. “He hit me in my head with something but I don’t know is wah. When he hit me, I became unconscious then,” he recalled.
The men carted off $5,000, a gold ring and one Samsung Galaxy cellphone.
Stabroek News was told that the bandits gained entry by cutting an iron bar on a window located on the lower flat of the building.
Meanwhile, Kaymeah explained that she and her husband were fast asleep when the bandits entered their room. “Them torch something in my eye and me couldn’t see is who and them demanding money and me tell them me na have money,” she stated.
She said that the bandit then became upset and dealt her one lash to her head. At his second attempt, she raised her arm in defence, while her husband made to grab one of the bandits but was thrown to the ground and subsequently beaten.
The pensioner was assaulted with a weapon, stomped and cuffed multiple times about his body.
According to the woman, the bandits did not ransack the house but escaped after her grandson handed over the $5,000 he had.
The police have launched an investigation and several persons have so far been held for questioning.
