A would-be robber threatened an elderly couple with a hammer and put a knife to the husband's throat during a daylight attack outside their home.

The 71-year-old wife said she'll never forget the terrifying ordeal, which unfolded around 7.15 p.m. on Saturday.

She and her 72-year-old husband were in their car, about to head into town to meet their granddaughter for dinner, when the stranger rode into their driveway in Kilderry Lane, Devonshire.

"This black male rode up to the driver's side of the car and asked us to call the Police because he was being attacked.

"He asked us twice, I think the reason for that was because he wanted us to get out of the car," she told The Royal Gazette.

"When my husband said he didn't have a phone and we didn't even live in this area — to dissuade him from pursuing the matter — he said 'give me 50 f***ing dollars'. My husband said 'no'. He then pushed a hammer through the window of the driver's side.

"I started to scream and my husband and I were both grabbing the hammer to get it away from him. Then he pulled out a knife, held it up to my husband's throat and said 'if you don't let this hammer go, I'll cut your fingers off'.

"We jumped out and ran to the main road. I was screaming like crazy. There was this very nice lady who stopped and called the Police. Then he rode off, but he was not in any hurry."

Describing her feelings last night, the woman said: "The vivid picture of him putting his face close to my husband's like that and holding the knife, I will never forget. We're in our 70s. We'll never forget it."

The wife, who asked this newspaper not to name her or her husband, described the knife as having a six-inch blade and the hammer as a claw hammer. She said the attack happened "in broad daylight".

She added: "The Police have a good idea who it was. There have been a lot of other robberies in the area and they think they're linked."

Appealing for witnesses, a Police spokesman described the culprit as a black male, approximately 5'4" tall of heavy build wearing a black puffy jacket with white lettering and a black helmet.

He is believed to be 25 to 30 years old and may also have a scar on the left side of his face.

After the couple ran out onto Middle Road and flagged down the passing motorist for help, the attacker made off on a black scooter type cycle.

The spokesman also revealed that the same man may have robbed another elderly person just a short time later.

At around 7.45 p.m on Saturday, a man fitting a similar description entered the Hill View Video & Variety store, Devil's Hole Hill, Smith's.

He brandished what the spokesman described as "a tool" at the 72-year-old store clerk, and made off with an undisclosed amount of cash.

The victim, from Smith's, was unhurt.

Anyone with information about either incident should call the St. George's Criminal Investigation Unit on 293-2222.