Machete raid thugs tell dentist: We will kill your babies
‘I just thought, this is it’
A MILLIONAIRE dentist and his wife yesterday spoke of their terror after machete-wielding thieves broke into their home and threatened to kill their young children.
Dr Kailesh Solanki, 38, and his wife, Michelle, 30, became the latest victims of ‘wild west Britain’ when two men – wearing balaclavas and armed with a machete and hammer – broke into their £1.6 million luxury property in Bowdon, Cheshire, last week.
During six terrifying minutes, one screamed: ‘If you don’t open your safe I’ll go upstairs and kill your kids.’
The robbers stole £200,000 worth of designer watches, handbags, sunglasses and jewellery, including Mrs Solanki’s diamond wedding and engagement rings.
Last night Dr Solanki told the Daily Mail: ‘ They smashed through the patio windows and ran towards me. One had a machete, the other had a hammer and they were both dressed in black with balaclavas and gloves. I just froze. They took jewellery and a watch off me.’
Mrs Solanki said she was terri- fied they would harm the couple’s children, ten-month- old Dylan and 21-month- old Jasmine, who were asleep upstairs.
She said: ‘I just thought, “this is it”. That feeling will stay with me for life. When one of them said he’d kill the kids I said to him, “they are just babies”.
‘The man with the machete grabbed my hand and took my wedding and engagement rings and my watch. He wouldn’t let go of me.
‘At one point, one said, “leave her, she’s actually shaking”. I was numb. If they had told me to cut my arm off and my kids would be OK, I’d have done it.’
The raid happened just before 10pm on Bank Holiday Monday on May 28.
But the couple believe the thugs were also at the address at 11pm the previous Thursday.
They spotted two men on their CCTV cameras and switched on all the lights before calling police and their private security company. They arrived within minutes and the men left.
Dr Solanki, who runs Kissdental, a private dentistry business with clinics across the Manchester area, said he managed to dial 999 after hearing the thugs smash the patio doors, before he was ordered to open the family safe.
‘I didn’t know what was in there,’ he added. ‘I was just throwing it into a bag. You are just scared. They were very loud, right in our faces.’ The couple have since bought a German shepherd for protection.
Dr Solanki, who owns several expensive sports cars, including a Ferrari, added: ‘I was brought up on a council estate and I went to a state school.
‘I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth.
‘But I went to university and worked hard to make a success of my life. I work 70 to 80 hours a week and I like to enjoy some of the finer things in life.
‘Then you get people like this who are not willing to educate themselves and just want to take things by force. I don’t want to change who I am, but my view of life has altered.
‘I’m thinking, should I sell my cars, or stop buying nice watches, because I’m putting my family at risk.’
Detective Sergeant Sohail Ahmed, of Greater Manchester Police, said: ‘These offenders subjected an innocent family to a terrifying ordeal.
‘We are following a number of lines of enquiry and are appealing for the public to help us catch these dangerous criminals.’