I ran naked from burglars who beat me & held gun to my head
Darts champ Barney’s wife tells court of raid ordeal
DARTS legend Raymond van Barneveld’s wife has told how she fled naked from gunmen who ransacked her home.
Silvia van Barneveld broke down in court as she spoke of escaping and hiding in a bush after being beaten and having a gun held to her head by one of the three intruders.
Five-times world champ Barney, 51, was playing an exhibition tournament in Barnsley, South Yorks, when the raid took place.
Speaking yesterday after Silvia, 52, told a court in The Netherlands of her ordeal, the darts ace revealed: “She can barely live in our house any more. She’s too frightened, she’ll maybe live in an apartment when I’m away in future.
“The guys will be punished but it means nothing – you still need psychological help after a thing like this. Silvia just wants her life back.”
TOWEL
Silvia is regularly seen at Barney’s side at tournaments.
A court heard she was home alone when the three men, all in their 20s, broke in through the roof late at night.
She wept as she told them from the witness box: “You have destroyed my entire life in 10 minutes.”
In a statement read to the court by her daughter, Silvia said: “I saw two suspects in the corridor. I was naked, on my way to the bathroom, so I grabbed a towel around me.
“They’ve entered our home, a place you should feel safe. This feeling has been taken away by this cowardly act.
“I’ve been pulled by my hair, beaten up and threatened with death.”
Silvia said she ran and hid after a gun was put to her head in the attack in The Hague.
She told the trial: “The impact has been enormous. I have panic attacks, sleepless nights and I do not dare to stay alone any more. Why did you threaten and beat a naked woman? How would you feel if it happened to your own mother?”
The gang, who were not identified in court, face sentences of up to five years in jail.
They claim they did not have a gun and deny any violence – and say they did not deliberately target the darts champ.
The men will be sentenced next week. Two are listed in Amsterdam’s top 600 young offenders.
Barney thanked fans after last June’s raid for “all their sympathy after the horrible attack”. alan.selby@mirror.co.uk
I’ve been pulled by my hair, beaten and threatened with death
SILVIA VAN BARNEVELD IN STATEMENT TO COURT