Widow tackles bogus callers (From Free Press Series)

Widow tackles bogus callers

AN Abergavenny widow bravely confronted two bogus officials when they walked into her house on Monday afternoon, and pushed them out of her front door.

Abergavenny Police say the 77-year-old woman, who lives in the Chapel Road area of the town, was shaken by her experience, but otherwise unhurt. She is now helping them compile an e-fit of the men.

The woman does not want to be identified, but Det Con Dave Nesbit of Abergavenny CID said: "One man knocked on her front door and said there were a lot of roadworks going on in the area and he needed to turn off her conservation switch.

"She told him there was no such thing, but he walked past her into the hall and went into her kitchen where he emptied the cupboard under the sink, even removing the shelving.

"In the meantime his accomplice searched her handbag and briefcases in the lounge and searched the wardrobes in her bedroom, but took nothing.

"She kept demanding to see the first man's identification and she pushed him out of the front door, but the other man somehow found his way around the back and walked in through her back door, and she pushed him out of the front door as well.

"She then bravely followed them up the drive, asking to see their supervisor and their ID cards, and she saw them climb over the fence into her neighbour's garden and run off."

He said both men had Irish accents and were about 5ft 5ins tall. One had metal-grey hair and the other was younger with brown, curly hair. Both were wearing anoraks - one blue and one grey.

DC Nesbit said although the methods used were similar to those employed by bogus officials who were involved in eight incidents in a two-hour period in Newport recently, he could not say whether the same men were involved.