Northern Ireland

Hijacking and attempted hijackings in Magheramason, Co Tyrone

A series of hijackings and attempted hijackings have taken place in Co Tyrone
A series of hijackings and attempted hijackings have taken place in Co Tyrone A series of hijackings and attempted hijackings have taken place in Co Tyrone

A man who forced a woman and her passenger from a car in Magheramason, Co Tyrone, last night is believed to have been involved in a number of attempted hijackings over the course of the evening.

At around 10.55pm it was reported to police that a woman's car had been hijacked on Victoria Road. The woman, who was in her fifties, had been driving a white Peugeot and stopped when she came across a stationary white Vauxhall Insignia with a man standing beside it. The man approached the woman's car, shouted at her to get out and then reached inside the vehicle and tried to unfasten her seatbelt.

Police said the woman "pleaded with the man that she needed time to get her passenger, a woman aged in her eighties, out of the car safely".

"When both the woman and passenger were out of the vehicle, the suspect drove off in it." 

Both women have been left shaken, police said.

Detectives believe the same man was also involved in a number of attempted hijackings last night, including one at around the same time in the same area. In that incident a woman driving a white Polo stopped on Victoria Road when she saw a white Vauxhall Insignia and a white Peugeot on the road. A man approached the car and tried to open the car door but the woman managed to drive away.

"At the same time, the female driver of a Volkswagen Tiguan came on the scene. It was reported the suspect stepped in front of her vehicle to stop it, but she was able to drive away," police said.

The hijacked white Peugeot was involved in a collision in Ferguson Street, in Derry, at around 11.05pm and "the same car was reported as being on fire on Temple Road in Strathfoyle at 4.25am today". Magheramason is around five miles from Derry.

"It was also reported a male tried to hijack another car in the area at this time, but that the female driver managed to get away safely. All of these incidents were distressing for those involved, and we are thankful no one suffered any physical injuries," the PSNI added. 

Police are trying to establish if the Vauxhall Insignia involved in the hiacking and attempted hijackings on Victoria Road had also been hijacked.