An elderly couple were recovering in hospital in Derry last night from injuries they sustained in what the police have described as a horrific assault. Mr James and Mrs Tillie Moran, both aged 82, suffered multiple facial fractures when their attacker tied them up with telephone cable and assaulted them with a poker over a five-hour period.
Their attacker, who is described as being about 30, 5 ft 8 in and with fair hair in a skinhead-type cut, forced his way into their Robert Street home in Waterside early yesterday. "He then subjected them to a brutal and horrific attack over a five-hour period during which he kicked and punched them and also used a poker to beat them with," said Chief Insp Bob Moore.
"He did this after tying the couple to a chair with telephone cable. The couple have serious facial injuries. The husband we believe has a broken nose and cheekbone and his wife received facial injuries and bruising to the face and body.
"This was a particularly sickening and horrific attack on a defenceless couple. It has deeply shocked their neighbours and it had deeply shocked the experienced police officers who are involved in our investigation. One of them said it was the worst case of its kind he had ever come across," he said.
The local parish priest, Father Aidan Mullan, described the couple's attacker as a coward and a thug. "The violence that he used on the couple was dreadful. They were tied up and abused for five hours. They are gentle people and it's awful what has happened to them."
Officers yesterday carried out a forensic examination of the Morans' home.