Pensioner (89) fighting for her life after brutal attack

The shocking incident happened in the Rosbrien area of County Limerick on Sunday evening as the elderly woman was returning from the local bingo hall.

Gardai believe the thug waited for the pensioner (89) to return home before attacking her as she entered her house.

He hid out of sight as a taxi, which had dropped the woman off, left the area.

The woman was pulled from the front door as she tried to enter her home and dragged around the garden as the attacker tried to steal her handbag.

According to one source, the pensioner was "turned upside down".

She suffered life-threatening injuries in the attack. The thug eventually fled the area with the woman's handbag, which contained €20, while the victim was left injured on the ground.

Emergency services rushed the woman to the University Hospital of Limerick, where she was last night still being treated for her injuries.

Officers from Henry Street and Roxboro Garda stations are investigating the attack, and have detained a man aged in his 20s from the Weston area of the city.

The individual is the main suspect in a separate brutal assault in which another pensioner was attacked just days earlier. The victim was followed into a toilet cubicle at the Roxboro Shopping Centre by the assailant before being assaulted and robbed.

The suspect made off with €80 belonging to his victim, while the pensioner was left needing medical treatment.