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🇦🇺 Australia /Crime & Justice

Victim of Violent Robbery Calls Attackers 'Pure Evil' After Home Burned Down

From ABC Australia · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Under investigation
  • Grant Whelan, 76, described his attackers as "pure evil" after being tied up, assaulted, and robbed in his Coles Bay home.
  • The assailants set his house on fire and forced him to watch it burn down before stealing nine of his firearms and his car.
  • Whelan is recovering in hospital and expressed gratitude for community support, including an online fundraiser that has raised approximately $70,000.

A 76-year-old man who survived a violent robbery on Tasmania's east coast has described his attackers as "pure evil." Grant Whelan was bound with cable ties, assaulted, robbed of nine firearms, and forced to watch his home burn to the ground.

pure evil

— Grant WhelanDescribing the people who attacked him.

The incident occurred in the early hours of Saturday morning at Whelan's Coles Bay residence. After the assault and robbery, the perpetrators dragged him outside into the cold, set his house on fire, and left him to witness its destruction. His car was also stolen but was later found submerged in the nearby Apsley River.

Whelan is currently recovering in hospital and has expressed profound gratitude for the community's support. An online fundraiser has already raised around $70,000 to aid him during his recovery. Despite the horrific ordeal, Whelan conveyed his thankfulness for the outpouring of assistance he has received.

[It is] extraordinary, absolutely extraordinary.

— Grant WhelanReacting to the community support and online fundraiser.

He recounted the suddenness of the attack, describing how a normal day turned into a terrifying assault where he was "getting your guts punched out of you." Whelan has been experiencing nightmares since the event, waking up with "flashes of bright lights and people screaming."

All of the sudden you're laying there looking at the weather chart, next second, you are getting your guts punched out of you and you just don't know where it has all come from.

— Grant WhelanRecalling the sudden and brutal nature of the attack.

Police are actively searching for the offenders and the stolen firearms. Detective Inspector David Gill urged anyone with information, including dashcam or CCTV footage, or details about the firearms, to come forward and assist the investigation.

[I] wake up with flashes of bright lights and people screaming.

— Grant WhelanDescribing the nightmares he has been experiencing since the incident.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by ABC Australia in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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