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Maisie, 82, beat pair with brush | |
(1 day later) | |
A feisty 82-year-old woman has described how she beat off two intruders with a floor brush and her Bible at her east Belfast home. | |
Maisie Chapman was resting at her Oberon Street home on Saturday afternoon. | |
She heard a noise and found a stranger in her hallway and a second man upstairs ransacking her bedroom. | |
"I have a brush behind the door... I lifted it and gave them a whack," Mrs Chapman said. | "I have a brush behind the door... I lifted it and gave them a whack," Mrs Chapman said. |
"When I lifted the brush, I lifted my Bible and said, 'This is the word of God'. They're bad rascals and I think I scared them - one of them was shaking." | |
Earlier, the stranger in the hall claimed he was a policeman. But he had no identity card. | Earlier, the stranger in the hall claimed he was a policeman. But he had no identity card. |
Mrs Chapman went upstairs to where the second man was ransacking her bedroom. | Mrs Chapman went upstairs to where the second man was ransacking her bedroom. |
"I started to scream when he pushed me on to the bed and he told me to stop," she said. | "I started to scream when he pushed me on to the bed and he told me to stop," she said. |
When I lifted the brush, I lifted my Bible and said, 'This is the word of God'. They're bad rascals and I think I scared them Maisie Chapman | |
"But I didn't stop and I just kept screaming. Then he got his two hands and held them over my mouth and I couldn't breathe. But I got one of my arms free and I pushed him and I got free. | "But I didn't stop and I just kept screaming. Then he got his two hands and held them over my mouth and I couldn't breathe. But I got one of my arms free and I pushed him and I got free. |
"I hobbled down the stairs and went over to my neighbours to get the police." | "I hobbled down the stairs and went over to my neighbours to get the police." |
The men left the house empty handed. Mrs Chapman, a widow, was shaken by her ordeal. | The men left the house empty handed. Mrs Chapman, a widow, was shaken by her ordeal. |
It is not the first time that people have broken into her home. It has happened twice before. | |
But she has lived in Oberon Street for more than 50 years and she said she has no intention of leaving it. |