Elderly siblings forced to barricade themselves in their own home following two violent break-ins in one week

Police officers arranged for the victims to meet the Duchess of Cornwall and visit 10 Downing Street
The siblings pose with officers outside Buckingham Palace
Twitter/ Hammersmith and Fulham Police
Alexandra Richards31 January 2018

Three elderly siblings with a combined age of 260 told of their terror after armed thieves raided their home twice in just over a week.

Cruel thugs threatened Mary Dowling, 88, sister Alice, 81 and older brother George, 89, with a screwdriver before stealing money meant to their life savings, police said.

The siblings say they have barricaded themselves in their Shepherd's Bush home every night for two months after being left too scared to sleep by the attacks.

The trio were first targeted by conmen claiming to be fire inspectors who barged their way into the home in the search for cash in November last year.

The siblings described Camilla as "lovely".
Twitter/ Hammersmith and Fulham Police

Just days later, on November 14, three men forced their way into the home armed with screwdrivers.

Mary told the Standard that she, her brother and sister, were "very scared" when the men "pushed us out of the way and told us not to move".

She said: "Three guys rushed in, they didn’t say anything to us, they just pushed us out of the way…they took everything, even my brother’s pension."

One of the pensioners was treated by ambulance crews after being pushed by a suspect, police said.

Following the spate of attacks, Mary said the family have been left scared to be in their own home.

She added: "Every night we bolt the door and put boxes by it to stop it from happening again."

Kind police officers from Hammersmith and Fulham organised a surprise visit to Downing Street and Clarence House to cheer up the victims on January 29.

The siblings also paid a visit to Downing Street
Twitter/ Hammersmith and Fulham police

Sergeant Andy Le Geyt arranged a meeting with the Duchess of Cornwall as well as tea at Clarence house and visit to 10 Downing Street.

Mary said that the trip was a “complete surprise” and added: "I was so shocked, you don’t ever dream of meeting someone like the Duchess."

She described Camilla as “lovely” and “extremely down to earth” and said she was “disgusted” by the thieves’ behaviour.

Prince Charles' wife told the siblings she was "sorry to hear about the break-ins".

Officers also raised £700 for the family.

Mary said she wanted to thank the police for their help and described their support as “really amazing”.

Police described the suspects in the first attack as a group of three men, all aged between 40 and 50 years old and of eastern European appearance.

The three men believed to have carried out the second burglary are described as white and aged around 30 years old. Two of the men are believed to be around 6ft tall.

No arrests have been made over either incident. Enquiries continue.

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