"These thugs have no morals whatsoever": Three hooded men attack an 89-year-old woman in her villa to steal her jewelry in Mandelieu

In this affluent neighborhood on the heights of Mandelieu-La Napoule, the event has shaken the neighborhood. And when Nice-Matin arrives in front of this villa surrounded by a neatly trimmed cypress hedge, Bert, 84, is more than wary about checking our identity.

Because on Tuesday July 29th, in the early afternoon, his wife, Eileen, 89 years old, very weakened by illness, was violently attacked at home.

"I wasn't there. I had gone to play golf at 7:30 a.m., but I always make sure that someone is at home to look after her," says her husband, still sorry that he couldn't influence the course of events.

At around 2 p.m., it was the cleaning lady who saw the hooded face of a man appear through the window, trying to enter the house through the kitchen.

"When I saw it, I first thought it was a joke between young people."

"She immediately had the reflex to lock the door. But the intruder very quickly went around the house, and in this summer weather, found an open bay window."

At that moment, the picture-postcard landscape, with its swimming pool and view of the Tanneron forest, had transformed into a nightmare scene. The man, accompanied by two accomplices, masked and gloved like him, immediately became violent.

"At first, when I saw it, I thought it was a joke between young people, like a university hazing, but I quickly realized who I was dealing with," breathes Eileen, dignified and strong despite her fragile figure, and everything she has suffered.

The man first throws the cleaning lady onto the sofa when she tries to intervene. Then he grabs the old woman's hand to rip two rings off her fingers. "I was in pain, I tried to defend myself with my cane but he brushed it aside. I wanted to kick him, but he got angry. He also mimed a gesture with his crotch, like a sexual threat."

Terrified, the unfortunate woman was robbed of two more earrings, while her accomplices quickly searched the rest of the house. "They ripped out the display of my collection of fourteen exclusive watches, took a few more things, and then left," Bert reported.

The loot is said to be worth several hundred thousand euros. But beyond the material loss, it's the emotional harm that's painful to see. As she makes her way as best she can with her walking frame, Eileen confesses: "At the time, I didn't cry, but since then, I can't stop... The whole scene comes back to me in flashes..."

To get to sleep, the couple resorted to taking Valium. "I can close my eyes. But as soon as I open them again, I think about it all again, and I don't feel well..." Fortunately , the couple had the support of their neighbors.

A very kind firefighter told me I might need to see a doctor, Eileen shares. But I told him, “Please, not the hospital, I’ve been there for months already.” »

Their son, also the victim of an attack in Cannes in the summer

The repair will therefore have to be done at home. But after twenty-seven years in Mandelieu, Bert and Eileen sometimes find the South of France less welcoming and caressing than its setting sun: "Violence is undoubtedly growing everywhere, but one has the impression that on the Côte d'Azur, the resentment of some people fuels it, especially towards foreigners with comfortable incomes. And these thugs don't have the slightest morality..."

On the day of the attack, the municipal police visited the couple. As did the gendarmerie, which is leading the investigation. But the trauma is still very present, along with its sense of insecurity.

And this isn't the first time the family has faced such pity-blind, heartless delinquency. A few summers ago, their son was attacked in the street by individuals in Cannes, after he had just had a drink with a friend. "They knocked him to the ground and beat him up before snatching his Rolex watch. He suffered broken ribs... "

So, too bad. Despite her condition and the life they've built here, Eileen sighs, "If I have to leave here, I'll do it without regret..."