Home of NI woman (92) bombed 'by mistake'

The home of the 92-year-old mother of a former senior Ulster Unionist was bombed in what police believe was a case of mistaken…

The home of the 92-year-old mother of a former senior Ulster Unionist was bombed in what police believe was a case of mistaken identity, it emerged today.

Mrs Gladys Patterson was asleep when a device exploded in the living room of her house in the Brook area of Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, overnight.

Her shocked daughter, ex-UUP Assembly member Mrs Joan Carson, said the fact that the door was closed saved the pensioner from injury.

It is understood police believe the bombers' planned target lived nearby.

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Sources in the area claimed criminal gangs had recently moved into the once affluent area.

Mrs Patterson, who has lived in the area for many years, was treated for shock following the blast, which shattered all the windows and damaged one room.

Her nephew, Mr Robert Irvine, a Fermanagh district councillor, took her to stay at his home in Lisbellaw, five miles away.

A short time later army bomb disposal experts were summoned to another house in nearby Henry Street after police discovered a suspicious device.  No one was in the property at the time.

PA