'Gang held sledgehammer to my head in £1m burglary'

A couple were attacked with a sledgehammer and pickaxe when masked raiders smashed their way into their house and took items worth an estimated £1m.

The husband and wife, who have asked not to be named, came face to face with the gang in the property off Knowle Lane, Kimberley, Nottinghamshire, in December.

The husband was struck with the sledgehammer when he resisted, after which the intruders demanded to know "where's the watches, where's the safe and where's your son?"

The couple said: "We were shocked, really, that they were so specific about what it is that they came for and especially asking where our son was."

Shortly after their son left for the gym, the couple heard "a loud bang" and the husband went to investigate.

He said: "I got up off the sofa, walked around to where the noise happened and there was two men standing in the house, all obviously in black, all masked up, hoods on and what have you.

"My first, immediate, reaction was to get them out of the house, so I rushed towards them trying to push them outside."

Another three intruders then appeared and the husband was struck on the chest and back with the sledgehammer, only stopping when he fell on to a sofa and his wife begged them to leave him alone.

The couple said the burglars then shouted: "Where's the watches, where's the safe and where's your son?"

The wife said: "I think we were shocked, really, that they were so specific about what it is that they came for.

"That it wasn't a random attack. It was, you know, we were obviously targeted for those specific things.

"And I think what especially shocked us was the fact that they asked for our son."

The house contained a number of high-value watches and designer handbags, and the gang demanded to be taken to the safe downstairs and the watches upstairs.

The husband said: "The gang then dragged my wife up the stairs and obviously shouted at me to go to the safe.

"I said that I wasn't prepared to go anywhere without my wife, I wanted to stay with my wife and that's when they put the sledgehammer to my head and said 'take us to the safe'."

After filling a bag with watches and other valuables, the intruders quickly left.

The husband said: "Once they got what they came for out of the safe, it was really quite weird that they just walked off.

"They didn't sort of say to me, 'stay there, don't move, don't do this, don't do that'.

"They just kind of walked off and left me there, and it was like, well, now what? What happens now?"

The experience has had an impact on the entire family.

The wife said: "I think at first it was very difficult.

"At first we stayed away for the first few nights, sort of trying to gather our thoughts and pull the family back together really and what have you.

"We then sort of made the decision that actually this wasn't going to affect how we felt about our house."

The Crimestoppers charity is offering up to £7,500 for exclusive information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.

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