Raid terror woman speaks of her ordeal

Dec 8 2007 by Neil Mckay, The Journal

A WOMAN who used her tongue to dial for help after she was tied up by masked raiders spoke publicly for the first time about her ordeal yesterday.

The woman in her mid-40s was struck, threatened and tied up by two balaclava-clad thugs in her bungalow at the end of a private lane off Neville’s Cross Bank, Durham, nine days ago.

Yesterday she was visibly shaking as she described what happened to her.

Wishing to remain anonymous, she described how, with her hands bound, she managed to nudge her telephone off its receiver and used her tongue to dial her husband’s 11-digit mobile after the robbers had fled.

“I nudged the receiver off the phone and tried to dial my husband. The first time I wasn’t quick enough, and I was cut off.

“The second time I got through but couldn’t make myself heard. But he rang me back and I told him what happened.”

The woman’s husband, who was two miles away, arrived quickly and untied his wife before calling police.

She added: “These men have to be caught. I wouldn’t want anyone else to know that fear.

“I still get very nervous, especially during these early dark nights. I don’t like being alone.”

On the day of the attack, last Thursday, November 29, she said she had changed her mind about a planned visit to a local gym and returned home at around 5.30pm. I thought I heard something at the front door, maybe the paper boy.

“I went to have a look and there was nobody there.

“But when I went to the kitchen there was a masked man there. He was shouting at me, asking where my husband’s money was.

“He pushed me into the living room where there was another man. One of them hit me and pushed me to the floor before tying me up.

“They were shouting a lot but I cannot remember what they were saying.”

The robbers proceeded to ransack the bungalow before getting away with an undisclosed amount of cash and a Rotary watch worth around £200.

The woman said they told her they would ring her husband before leaving.

Police believe a third raider may also have been involved.

Detective Inspector Brad Howe said: “This was a very unusual type of crime for Durham. It was a terrifying ordeal for the victim.”

He said there was no sign of any forced entry to the bungalow, and police were trying to establish whether they were waiting for her inside it or whether they had gone in after her.

He appealed for help from neighbours and people on Neville’s Cross, a busy thoroughfare, last Thursday evening to come forward if they had noticed anything untoward.

“The bungalow is at the end of a private road and nobody would go there without a reason. Anybody who saw unusual activity during the afternoon or early evening should contact us as a matter of urgency.”

Ring Durham City CID on 0845 606-0365 or Crimestoppers on 0800-555111.