Broken Britain

Horrifying moment terrified businessman bound by cables as family robbed at gunpoint

This is the horrific scene when armed robbers marched a businessman back into his home as his terrified family were being held at gunpoint inside.

CCTV cameras captured the moment as garage owner Lee Harris, 48, was led, bare-chested in his boxer shorts and with his hands bound by cables back into his home by raiders.

Lee, wife Nicola, 43 and their 17-year old twin sons Cameron and Broady were bound, punched and threatened by six balaclava-clad armed men who raided their home.

Cameron was dragged from his bedroom naked by the robbers while his brother Broady tried to wrestle with them.

The violent gang men stole three cars, sentimental jewellery and cash from their home during the early hours raid.

They then forced Lee into one of the cars and drove him to the car garage he owns to force him to handover £15,000 in cash before returning to his home.

Lee was left with horrific injuries to his face including a fractured cheekbone and broken eye-socket as the thieves demanded he reveal personal information to continue their crime spree in the early hours of September 11.

Nicola tried in vain to stop the attack but was punched in the face and sustained injuries to her arms and wrists during the 1am incident.

Twins Cameron and Broady watched on in horror as their father was paraded in front of them tied up by cables the robbers had found in the home and told “this will be you” if they didn’t comply with their orders.

The twins bravely tried to wrestle with the assailants but were held down and stood on with a gun pointed at their heads.

Lee was thrown into the back of his own car and driven to the Adwick MOT – a garage he owns – where the robbers stole over £15k of his company takings.

Horrifying CCTV footage shows the moment he was then brought back to the house while bound in cables.

Fortunately for the petrified family, neighbours were alerted by the noise of the vehicle returning and called police who rushed to the scene with paramedics.

Dramatic CCTV footage shows how the balaclava-clad robbers fled the scene in the three cars – a Red Ford Fiesta, a blue Range Rover SVR and a black Land Rover Discovery.

The horror-struck family, from Doncaster, South Yorks., have now been left unable to sleep and with mental scars from the devastating attack on their home.

Lee said: “They smashed through the back door with a sledgehammer.

“My window is just above the door and I heard a massive smash and thought ‘what’s that, am I dreaming?’

“I jumped out of bed and came out of our bedroom to the top of the stairs.

“I saw six men coming up the stairs with balaclavas on.

“I feared for my life.”

The men attacked Lee before binding his arms.

He added: “I was trying to wrestle with them.

“I ended up on the settee and one of the nastier ones came running over hitting me.

“They moved me out on the floor and started hitting me and stamping on me.

“Nicola tried to intervene and they were hitting her.

“They punched her in the ribs and bruised her arm.”

Nicola, who works for the family business, described how she tried to protect Lee as the robbers reigned down punches upon him.

As the robbers moved through the house, Cameron and Broady woke up.

Cameron said: “I heard shouting, I jumped out of bed.

“I went to the door and two of them were coming in to the bedroom.

“Me and Broady were wrestling with them at this point for about ten minutes.

“Then a big man came in with a gun.

“As soon as I saw the gun I dropped to the floor.”

The twins were moved downstairs by knifepoint onto the kitchen floor before their father was dragged through the house and paraded in front of them.

Cameron added: “They had a gun to my head and asked me loads of questions.

“I did everything that he asked me to do.

“They showed us my dad and said ‘this is what will happen to you’.”

Cameron gave the robbers personal information to access their security system before they grabbed keys from a cabinet and drove Lee to the garage.

Nicola said she thought the robbers were “going to kill” her husband as he was led away.

She added: “They were shouting for money and one of them said ‘boil the kettle’.”

The horrific incident only came to an end when neighbours called the police after hearing the car return from the garage.

Lee was rushed to Doncaster Royal Infirmary and may need surgery to repair his broken eye-socket.

The family have thankfully had their cars returned by the police and through the quick-thinking actions of Lee – who posted on Facebook asking if anyone had seen one of the vehicles.

Nicola, who had sentimental jewellery stolen including a watch given to her by Lee on her first mother’s day, said she has struggled to sleep.

She said: “I am fine during the day and it is business as usual but it is on a night, when I put my pyjamas on and I am barefoot, I feel vulnerable.”

Cameron said anxiety he suffered during his GCSEs was “notched up to 5000″ by the horrific ordeal.

Detective Inspector Anna Sedgwick from Doncaster CID said: “This was a horrific incident that has caused the family great distress.

“A thorough investigation is underway and our officers are working with the family to put measures in place to help them recover from their ordeal.

“We are keen to find who is responsible and would encourage anyone with information to contact 101 quoting incident 67 of 11 September 2018.”

By Ben Gelblum and Daniel Sheridan

Ben Gelblum

Contributing & Investigations Editor & Director of Growth wears glasses and curly hair cool ideas to: ben.gelblum (at) thelondoneconomic.com @BenGelblum

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