'Find the cowards who broke my mum's arm': Daughter's appeal after woman, 78, pinned down and robbed in her own home
"It's devastating. It's heartbreaking." The words of the daughters of a pensioner who thought she was going to be killed as she was pinned down and robbed in her own home.
They got away with her handbag and purse, which contained a small amount of cash.
Mrs Bennett's daughters have now made a plea for anyone who has information about the attackers to come forward.
Her daughter Claire Roberts, 46, told how she received a call from her shaken-up mother just seconds after the attackers had fled.
"She said she had been burgled and that she thought she had broken her shoulder," Mrs Roberts said. "I just put the phone down and went."
She arrived to find her mother being treated by paramedics.
Mrs Roberts said: "She just kept saying 'I can't believe what's happened'."
Mrs Bennett's other daughter Helen Neville, 49, said it was heartbreaking to think of how scared her mother would have been as she was manhandled by the robbers.
She said: "She remembers three men coming in and being pushed to the ground. One put a gloved hand over her face. She did say she thought they were going to kill her. She thought he had something in his hand, a weapon."
Incredibly, Mrs Bennett also said she remembered being helped to her feet by one of the attackers before they left, perhaps suggesting they felt a tinge of guilt about their actions.
The pensioner, who spent most of her working life as a carer, suffered a fractured arm and is now recovering.
Mrs Neville said: "It's devastating. It's heartbreaking to see your mum hurt and and frightened.
"I feel really sad about mum and the impact it has had on her. I am angry about what has happened. No-one should be made to feel vulnerable in their own home.
"She is normally very independent, very active, out and about. She is very well-known in the community she has always lived in.
"We're concerned what would happen if she lost that independence. We don't know how she is going to feel when she gets better."
Her family are now calling on anyone with information which could lead to the capture of Mrs Bennett's attackers come forward.
Mrs Neville said: "I would just ask anybody who thinks they have seen anything or knows anything that could help please to come forward and make contact. However small it may seem it could be something that makes a difference.
"I just want for mum to see these people brought to justice for what they did to her."
Detectives have begun trawling CCTV in the area to try and catch the men, who are believed to be in their 20s and had local accents.
Superintendent Phil Dolby, from West Midlands Police, condemned the attack on Mrs Bennett as 'cowardly' and joined her daughters in appealing for information.
He said: "There are people out there who think it is ok to commit such a cowardly act on a vulnerable person who has spent most of her life giving to the community.
"Most of us have been lucky enough to enjoy the love of a grandparent - how would you feel if it was your grandmother suffering these offences? Please come forward by calling 101."
On March 30, an 87-year-old woman was pinned down by one of a five-strong gang as the others ransacked her home in West Bromwich. Supt Dolby said the force was 'keeping in mind' the possibility that the two incidents could be connected.
