Cairns crime: Old woman victim of Parramatta Park burglary

A cold-hearted burglary of an elderly woman in desperate need of cash to finance an eye operation has left a Parramatta Park pensioner feeling violated by the invasion of her home.

A COLD-HEARTED burglary of an elderly woman in desperate need of cash to finance an eye operation has left a Parramatta Park pensioner devastated.

Priding herself on her trusting nature and desire to help others, 88-year-old pensioner Hemma Somlo was feeding the birds outside her Charles St unit when she was approached at by a middle-aged woman.

A conversation followed before the woman asked for a glass of water.

Hemma Somlo helped a woman who knocked on her door asking for a glass of water, then had cash and her bank card stolen while she was in the kitchen. Picture: Brendan Radke

Ms Somlo didn’t fulfil the request until pressed for the drink a second time and went inside to fetch the water.

“I gave her a glass of water and she snuck behind me (and) took my money and my purse and valuables and she was gone,” she said.

“I was angry at her, she took my credit cards and she went shopping with a few hundred dollars

“I feel dreadful, I feel awful.

“And I was saving up to have an eye operation.”

Retirement village resident and victim of crime Sylvia Carswell speaks at a Crime & Justice Action Group rally in February outside Member for Cairns Michael Healy’s office on Spence Street. Picture: Brendan Radke

A schoolteacher before retiring, Ms Somlo was born in Austria and travelled to Bolivia where she met her future husband. The pair migrated to Australia, married and together raised a daughter.

Now 20 years since arriving Down Under Ms Somlo’s husband is dead and her adult daughter has pursued a career in Europe.

“I have been naturalised and I love this country,” she said.

“I have no family but I have good friends.”

A teary Ms Somlo reflecting on the traumatic ordeal hoped something positive could be taken from the burglary.

“I want to warn other people that this could happen,” she said.

In January Parramatta Park Pensioner Douglas Ray Dannatt felt like a prisoner in his own apartment at night, after he had two electric bikes stolen from his unit and witnessed a stabbing in his backyard in the space of a year. Picture: Brendan Radke

Detective Acting Senior Sergeant Brendon Skerke said Cairns police were aware of the burglary alleged to have taken place on April 3 at 9am.

“I can confirm police are investigating the burglary and subsequent fraud,” he said. “Police have attended and are in the process of viewing CCTV footage in the area. Investigations by the Property Crime Squad are ongoing.”

Overwhelmed at the invasion of a modest unit she has turned into a home, Ms Somlo said she couldn’t shake a feeling of being violated.

“It’s the atrocity of what they did to a pensioner,” she said.

“She abused my trust and stole my things.

“I feel like I have been raped, and all I can do is warn other people.”

Originally published as Cairns crime: Old woman victim of Parramatta Park burglary