Robbers steal more than �100,000 from racehorse trainer

A racehorse trainer and his wife were robbed at gunpoint by raiders who broke into their County Durham home.

The two robbers escaped with more than £100,000 after threatening Howard and Sue Johnson at White Lea Farm in Roddymoor on Sunday night.

Mr Johnson was forced to open a safe by the men, one of whom held a handgun to his head.

The 56-year-old trained Royal Rosa, which ran in Saturday's Grand National but failed to finish.

Mr Johnson was reading a newspaper at about 2320 BST when the raiders, both wearing balaclavas, started to smash in his front door.

He said: "All of a sudden I heard a horrendous thud - I thought a picture had come off the wall.

They never got excited and they weren't shaking, they were professionals Howard Johnson

"I jumped up and rushed to the door and there were two of them saying 'we're going to get you, open the door'.

"They were braying (hitting) on it and I couldn't keep them back. They overpowered me and chucked me against the glass doors.

"I shouted up to my wife Sue 'we're getting burgled'."

Mr Johnson was held at gunpoint while one of the robbers, armed with a knife, went upstairs to the bedroom and brought Mrs Johnson down.

He added: "Sue was shaking. I thought she had had a heart attack."

The couple waited 20 minutes before calling the police, and armed police were on the scene quickly.

He said the men took "six figures" in cash, including money he had won at Aintree at the weekend.

The robbers warned the couple not to call police for three hours or they would be shot, but armed officers were on the scene within minutes of the Johnsons raising the alarm.

Mr Johnson said: "I couldn't act, they would have killed us. I just kept cool.

"They (the robbers) never got excited and they weren't shaking, they were professionals."

Forensics officers searched the property and grounds

He said it was lucky their five-year-old granddaughter was not staying with them as had been planned.

The money taken was being saved to buy his wife a dream cottage, he added.

"It's just as well we had the cash. If we didn't, I don't think I'd be talking to you now.

"This is the biggest fright I have ever had."

Sniffer dogs were called out along with the police helicopter.

Det Insp Simon Orton, of Durham Police, said 15 detectives were working on the case, with support from uniformed officers.

He said: "This is extremely out of the ordinary.

"It is at the early stage but there are significant lines of inquiry which we are following at the moment."

He believed the robbers will have known their victim was wealthy.

He added: "I would anticipate somebody who commits a crime of this magnitude will have done some research."

The couple, who were interviewed overnight, were unable to return to their home until forensic examinations had been completed.

Mr Johnson, who trains horses for computer millionaire Graham Wylie, is the leading National Hunt trainer in northern England and well-regarded in racing circles.

His most high profile horse was Inglis Drever, which won three World Hurdles at Cheltenham.

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