Terrifying moment sledgehammer-wielding gang smash into couple's home and steal £1m in luxury goods
Shocking CCTV images shows the moment a sledgehammer-wielding masked gang smashed their way into a couple's home and stole almost £1m worth of luxury goods.
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Terrifying footage shows five robbers break into the property and attack the male homeowner with the hammer in the affluent neighbourhood of Kimberley, Nottinghamshire on December 4.
The thugs, who were also carrying a pickaxe, then pinned their victim on a sofa and demanded to know where his valuables were kept and how they could access them.
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After forcing the man to open the vault with his safe keys, the gang stole his entire luxury watch collection.
His haul included timepieces from Rolex, Audemars Piguet, Omega, Breitling, TAG Heuer, Hublot and Tissot.
They then dragged his wife upstairs and forced her to reveal where her designer handbags were kept - which included items from Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Dior, Jimmy Choo and Chanel.
Before they fled the scene, the criminals also stole mobile phones and a purse containing bank cards.
In total, the raid has left the couple facing losses of around £1million, due to the items stolen and damage caused to the property.
Officers have been trawling through the CCTV images and found that the offenders made their escape through a woodland to the north of the property.
Crimestoppers is now offering a reward of up to £7,500 for information they exclusively receive that leads to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.
Detective Constable James Gill said: "This was a vicious and frightening incident and it's very fortunate the victims did not sustain even more serious injuries.
"Following the burglary, the offenders were seen on CCTV to enter woodland to the north of the property.
"Through automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) camera enquiries, a grey hatchback vehicle using false plates was identified on the nearby A610, driving in the Nottingham area between 7.21pm and 7.49pm on Thursday 4 December.
"We believe that, post-offence, the vehicle travelled out of Nottinghamshire and then went through Derbyshire, Leicestershire, and Warwickshire, before entering the West Midlands region."