Woman and child tied up and held at knifepoint during burglary

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/feb/05/woman-tied-up-assaulted-somerset

Version 0 of 1.

A woman and her child were tied up and held at knifepoint during a “horrific” burglary at their home, police have said.

The burglar, who wore a balaclava-type mask, also carried out a sexual assault at the house in Bridgwater, Somerset. He demanded money and jewellery before leaving empty-handed.

DCI Andy Williams, of Avon and Somerset police, described the attack in Bridgwater, Somerset, as “horrific”. He said: “An offence of this gravity will naturally cause concern in the local community and I’d like to reassure people that we’ve got a team of experienced detectives and officers working on the case.

“We’re looking after the victims who’ve been through an horrendous ordeal and are giving them all the help and support they need. During the course of our inquiry we’ve carried out house-to-house enquiries at more than 250 properties and are following up on any leads resulting from these visits. It’s likely there will be an ongoing police presence as we continue making enquiries to piece together what happened.”

The burglar entered the house through an insecure door between 7.50am and 8.15am on 21 January. Police have received a number of potential sightings and information that could indicate the man’s movements following the incident. Detectives have recovered a knife matching the description of the weapon in a garden nearby.

Williams added: “The offender had his face covered but I’m urging people to look at the following description and think about whether they saw someone matching it on the morning of Wednesday 21 January, or at any point during the day of the incident or the days before. Equally, if you know someone who wears clothing similar to those worn by the offender was wearing, we’d like to speak to you.”

The man is described as white, aged between 25 and 60, wearing a yellow hi-viz jacket, dark-coloured tracksuit trousers and white trainers. He had a black or dark grey mask or face-covering with holes for the eyes and mouth, and wore a grey hood over this.