Family left terrified by gunpoint raid
20th July, 2010
Police are appealing for information after a businessman and his wife were threatened at gunpoint in their County Durham home.
The couple, a man aged 45 and his wife, 41 had retired to bed for the night at their home, a large detached bungalow in Harap Road on the outskirts of Fishburn. Their son and a number of his friends were still awake, having a party by the swimming pool adjacent to the property.
Shortly after midnight the couple were woken when someone switched the bedroom light on. They found themselves looking at two men who were in the room, one pointing a shotgun at the husband.
He and his wife were threatened if they didn't hand over money and they had no option but to hand over a four-figure sum of cash from a drawer in the bedroom. While this was taking place the group enjoying the pool party, all aged in their late 'teens to early twenties were kept under control by two other men, one of whom also had a shotgun.
After the attack the men stole a Volvo car belonging to the family to make good their escape, before abandoning the vehicle a short distance from the scene.
The robbers are believed to number either four or five and all had their faces covered with balaclavas or scarves.
The men had local accents and one particular offender is described as 6 feet tall, very thin with "buck" teeth. It's thought one member of the group was younger than the others, possibly being in his 'teens.
Det Sgt Neil Jones said; "We believe this was not a random attack, someone has gone to the trouble of identifying and targeting this particular property. They put the victims through what must have been a terrifying ordeal, which not surprisingly has left them very badly shaken."
Police are appealing for anyone in the Harap Road area of Fishburn throughout Saturday evening who saw anything suspicious, especially if they saw a car leaving the Fishburn area at speed around twenty past midnight on Sunday morning to contact Newton Aycliffe CID on 0345 6060 365 or Crimestoppers, 0800 555111.
