Woman terrorised by raiders with axe

Apr 18 2008 by Sam Wonfor, The Journal

AWOMAN was left in fear of her life by masked robbers who staged a terrifying raid on her home, a court heard.

The victim was alone in the detached house in Ashbrooke, Sunderland, when Stuart McDonald and an accomplice targeted the premises, undeterred by its high security including CCTV cameras.

The woman had been alerted by noise and found herself confronted by McDonald holding an axe which he raised above his head, demanding to know where her husband’s safe was kept, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

The woman, 45, was ordered at one point to lie face down on the floor by McDonald, who pressed the axe into the back of her neck.

The raiders finally left after stealing the family’s Mercedes car and taking other items including valuable jewellery and £500 cash.

McDonald, 26, of East View in Castletown, Sunderland, was jailed for five years after admitting robbery on the basis he had initially believed the house was unoccupied.

He was traced after his fingerprint was recovered from the Mercedes which was found abandoned.

Caroline Goodwin, prosecuting, said it was a brazen attack and the intruders were upstairs in the house for at least 20 minutes raiding the property after being disturbed.

She also said three men had been seen in the grounds of the house the day before the robbery.

In a statement read to the court, the victim told how when she went to investigate after hearing noises.

“He immediately shouted at me,” she said. “I could see he had an axe in his right hand raised above his head in a threatening manner towards me.

“The male shouted, ‘Where is your husband’s safe? Get down on the floor.’ He kept repeating these words. I was absolutely terrified at this stage and I feared for my life.”

Robert Spragg, defending, said McDonald, a persistent burglar who has two previous convictions for robbery as a juvenile, had taken the axe to break into the property, not to injure anyone.

“Drugs lie at the root of his problems,” he said. “He is genuinely remorseful.”

Passing sentence, Judge John Evans told McDonald: “This was a carefully planned offence given the nature of the premises in their relatively secluded location.

“You targeted the premises recognising there were likely to be rich pickings. You were masked and armed with an axe. You were evidently aware there was a safe within the premises.

“Although you plead guilty on the basis you initially believed the premises were unoccupied, and I approach sentence on that basis, you discovered someone in the house.

“Far from fleeing the premises, you confronted her wielding the axe which you raised above your head demanding to know where the safe was.

“It isn’t difficult to imagine the terror she must have experienced.”