Returning mom, daughter robbed at gunpoint after getting home from airport

Mar 13, 2013 News

An elderly woman and her daughter were early yesterday morning robbed at gunpoint mere seconds after arriving at their Hadfield Street home, having left the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri, about an hour earlier.
The incident occurred at around 02:45 hours.
Eileen Barkie, 77, had just returned home from the United States, when she and her daughter (who had collected her at the airport) were attacked by two men, one of whom was armed with a gun.
Mrs. Barkie told this publication that their car had just pulled into the driveway when she heard her daughter screaming ‘thief thief’. She said she did not realise what was going on until one of the men opened the passenger side door and started cuffing her in the back. The woman said she held onto a bag which was in her lap as the man kept hitting her while the other man held her daughter.
She further related that she only let go of her bag after she was struck in the face.
The visibly shaken woman added that the man then grabbed her bag and ran a little distance up the road, where the two jumped into a waiting car which then sped away.
Mrs. Barkie said she lost a small amount of gold jewellery, three watches, an undisclosed amount of cash, and most importantly all her documents, including her passport.
The matter has been reported and investigations are ongoing.
The woman was forced to seek medical attention after complaining of pain to her head and back.
She said that the authorities need to pay more attention to these incidents, as this seems to be a new trend. It is believed that airport staffers may be filtering information to persons, resulting in these types of robberies.
Sometime last month there were two reported incidents of a same nature. There have been no reports of arrests in those incidents.