BRIAN MURPHY FROM Wexford described how he kicked an intruder in the stomach when his house was broken into last week.

The 77-year-old told Liveline on RTÉ Radio 1, “I went to the supermarket to get bread and milk and I forgot to lock the door when I got back.”

He described how he was watching TV in his sitting room when he heard the men come into his house.

“One biggish lad came over and I could see his eyes – he caught my hands and threatened to hit me with a clock if I didn’t stay quiet.

“There was a lad holding me and another man walking around the apartment looking.

I got one of my legs free and kicked him in the stomach but it was like throwing smarties at a grizzly bear.

“They said nothing but stay quiet and you’ll be alright.

They smashed my phone off the ground so I couldn’t make a call.

“I went into the local chipper when they left and they called the guards for me.”

‘Soul destroying’

Separately, Suzanne Byrne in Crumlin said her mother’s house was broken into last night while she was in hospital on a life support machine after ’having some sort of stroke or brain hemorrhage’ while out with friends last week.

Suzanne said  ’they destroyed the place’ and took the Christmas presents her mother had for all her grandchildren and her engagement and wedding ring – which were 44 years old.

She added that her mother was buying the children’s presents over the past few months.

“She had a little kitty bag collection in her dresser and they took that as well.

It’s just sickening to target a woman on her own who is fighting for her life in hospital.

Suzanne believes the intruders knew her Mam was in hospital, saying, “It was done during hospital visiting hours because they knew we would all be out visiting her.

“It’s soul destroying – that’s the only way I can describe it.”

Read: Masked intruders assault elderly men in aggravated burglary>