THE ROBBERY OF an elderly man who was visiting a family grave at a cemetery in Belfast has been labelled “despicable”.

Police in west Belfast are appealing for information after the incident which occurred yesterday morning at around 9.30am in Milltown Cemetery.

A PSNI spokesperson said “an elderly gentleman was visiting a family grave and was targeted by three males aged between 20 and 30 years of age”.

“These three males engaged with the elderly gentleman and a considerable amount of money was taken from him,” added the spokesperson.

SDLP west Belfast councillor Paul Doherty described the robbery of the elderly man as “despicable”.

Doherty said it was an “absolutely callous and despicable act.”

He added: “People in this community are shocked that anyone could stoop so low as to do something like this.

“Milltown cemetery holds a special place in the hearts of many people in this community, there are few people in west Belfast who don’t have loved ones buried there and they will be disgusted that it has been desecrated in this way.

“I cannot understand how anyone could do something like that, to target and rob an elderly man while he visits the grave of a family member is beyond the comprehension of people here,” said Doherty.

Doherty also said that “significant hurt and anger” has been caused by the incident.

“My thoughts are with the man targeted in this incident and I hope he is getting the support he needs following what must have been a very difficult ordeal,” said the SDLP councillor.

He added that “this is not the first incident in our cemetery recently” and said that he will be liaising with local police about “what can be done to keep this area safe for everyone who attends”.

“The people who carried out this terrible act must be caught and we need to make clear that we will not tolerate criminality of this kind in our cemetery or anywhere else in west Belfast,” said Doherty.