Detectives are investigating a brutal attack carried out by eight men on an elderly couple in Aughnacloy, Co Tyrone.
The couple, in their 70s, were imprisoned by a group of robbers for more than 14 hours. They were eventually rescued by their nephew.
The eight men forced their way into the isolated farmhouse, on the Caledon Road, of Mr Ernie Crawford and Ms Violet Crawford at 2 a.m. on Sunday.
They were threatened at knife-point as the raiders ransacked their home. Mr Crawford suffered puncture wounds to both hands while trying to defend himself. The men cut off the electricity and phone lines to the house on the bitterly cold night and locked the couple in a back room. The robbers then made off with a small amount of cash.
The couple were left without heat or light for 14 hours. They were rescued when their nephew, Mr Albert Crawford, called to the house.
He said his aunt and uncle were in a "very traumatic state, tied up and almost frozen to death". Mr Crawford said they had been in bed when they heard a noise and got up.
"My uncle was jumped on by up to three men who forced him into a chair and told him they would cut his throat if he moved.
"Before the gang left, they locked all the doors and removed door handles so my uncle and aunt were imprisoned in their own home."