Gunmen strip, batter and parade dad before family in chilling raid
A TERRIFIED father was brutally beaten, bound with cables and paraded in his underpants in front of his family while they were held at gunpoint by a gang, police revealed yesterday.
The six balaclava-clad robbers had broken in as the family slept before stealing three cars, jewellery and cash.
During the attack they forced Lee Harris into one of his vehicles and drove him to the MoT garage he owns, where they made him hand over £15,000 before returning to the family home.
CCTV cameras captured the moment Mr Harris was led back into his home, where his wife and 17-year old twin sons, Cameron and Broady, were being held.
The teenagers had been forced to watch in horror as their father was paraded in front of them, bound by cables, and told “this will be you” if they failed to obey their orders.
The twins gave the gang personal information so they could access the home’s security system. The robbers then grabbed keys from a cabinet before driving Mr Harris to his garage.
His wife Nicola said she thought the robbers were “going to kill” her husband as he was led away.
The businessman was left with horrific injuries, including a fractured cheekbone and a broken eye-socket, after the attack in the early hours of September 11.
When neighbours heard a commotion as the gang returned to the family home in Doncaster, they alerted police who rushed to the scene with paramedics.
CCTV footage shows the robbers fleeing in three cars – a Ford Fiesta, Range Rover SVR and a Land Rover Discovery – which have now been recovered.
Mrs Harris, 43, who works alongside her husband, had tried in vain to stop the attack.
Traumatised
She was also punched in the face and suffered injuries to her arms and wrists.
The traumatised family say the attack has left them with both mental and physical scars.
Mr Harris said: “They smashed through the back door with a sledgehammer. My window is just above the door.
“I heard a massive smash and thought ‘what’s that, am I dreaming?’ I jumped out of bed to the top of the stairs. I saw six men coming up the stairs with balaclavas on. I feared for my life.”
Their son 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 taken downstairs at knifepoint. Their father was dragged through the house and paraded in front of them.
Cameron said: “They showed us my dad and said ‘this is what will happen to you’.”
Detective Inspector Anna Sedgwick, from Doncaster CID, said: “This was a horrific incident that has caused great distress.
“Officers are working with the family to help them recover.”