Burglar unleashes torture on woman left tied up for days
‘We need to catch this man - and it is my belief we will catch him. I’m sure that somebody out there knows exactly who did this’
DCI Kimber said: “We need to catch this man. It is my belief we will.
“I’m sure somebody out there knows exactly who did this. I appeal to them to pluck up the courage to come forward.” Maidstone landlord Fergus Wilson has put up a £10,000 reward for anyone providing information leading to a successful arrest and prosecution.
Call Kent
Police on 01622 604100, quoting 46/56590/21, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.
A woman was tied up, repeatedly punched, cut with a knife and had a bottle of alcohol poured over her in a harrowing hours-long burglary, before being left for 48 hours without food or water.
The suspect fled her Frittenden home with less than £100, leaving the victim, aged in her 60s, so tightly bound she could not even reach a window to raise the alarm.
Police said the woman was left with bruising, a black eye and cuts to her face in an ordeal that went on for several hours, before her assailant tied her up and left. She had been in her garden at around 6pm on Easter Sunday, when a man who claimed he was hot from a cycle ride asked for drink of water.
After she gave him a drink, he leapt over the fence, bundled her inside her own home and assaulted her.
He left her bound hand and foot, gagged and restrained in such a way that she couldn’t even move to window to attract attention.
As a final act of indignity he poured a bottle of alcohol over her before leaving
It was 48 hours before police freed the victim after responding to a call from a relative concerned at their not being able to reach their family member. The lady had been without food and drink for two days and was taken to hospital suffering from dehydration and for treatment to her injuries.
She has since been discharged, but police say she has been so traumatised by the incident she is finding it difficult to talk about her ordeal.
DCI Neil Kimber is the officer in the charge of investigating the case.
He said: “We have specially trained officers supporting her, but she really wants to be left alone to recover.”
DCI Kimber added: “We know a small quantity of cash - probably less than £100 - was stolen, but we have not been able to establish that anything else has been taken.”
Police do not even know if the villain really did arrive by bicycle as the victim didn’t see one. DCI Kimber sought to re-assure the public, saying: “Such attacks are exceedingly rare. “But residents should take care, especially if they see anyone fitting the attacker’s description.”
The man was white, slim, about 5ft 10in, in his 20s to 30s with a local accent. He was wearing black trainers, a black top and black gloves.
DCI Kimber said forensic officers were still conducting a thorough search of the property for evidence.
For operational reasons, he declined to say how many officers were working on the case but said residents could expect to see additional resources nearby.
He said the area was policed both by a rural task force and neighbourhood policing teams. The break-in and assault occurred at a property in Staplehurst Road, Frittenden.
The victim wasn’t found until 7.30pm on Tuesday.
This terrifying crime is the latest violent burglary to occur within a small part of the Weald. In August armed police swooped on an address in Marden after an armed burglar forced his way into a house and threatened a woman before stealing money, watches and items of jewellery.
Days later an 80-year-old woman “thought she was going to die” when two masked men held a gun to her head during an evening raid on her home in Paddock Wood. But Joan Stone plucked up the courage to appeal for information on BBC’s Crimewatch. No new leads have yet been generated. At gunpoint, Ms Stone and partner John Miles were ordered into their bedroom and sat on the bed while the thugs looked for valuables.
Reacting to the news of the latest burglary, which hap
pened just miles away, Mr Miles expressed his sympathy for the victim, and praised Kent Police for doing the best they could to try and catch the pair who broke into his home.
Last month another woman was tied up and left with her hands and legs bound after a gang of four men broke into her home in Clapper Lane, Staplehurst, stealing jewellery, a watch, cash and two mobiles. Despite the similarities between the four violent burglaries, DCI Kimber said there was no evidence suggesting any of the crimes were linked. No arrests have yet been made in relation to any of the four break-ins.
Neighbours of the woman attacked in Frittenden said they have installed home security
systems as a measure against what they say is “a lot of criminality around here”. Among the issues affecting the area are fly-tipping and the abandonment of burnt out cars and caravans.
Colin Highwood lives close to the home of the latest burglary victim in Frittenden, but does not know her personally.
“It does worry us because you never know when it might happen next,” the 84-year-old said. “It’s a horrible incident and we really hope she is OK. It’s a concern that nobody noticed it.” A 2020 rural crime survey carried out by the Countryside Alliance found 46% of people living in the Kent countryside who were surveyed had been a victim of a crime in the previous year.
Common crimes included fly-tipping, theft of agricultural machinery or equipment and trespass. Yet one in five victims did not report the crime because they considered it too trivial, it would have been a waste of time or the police would not be able to do anything about it.
Sarah Lee, the Countryside Alliance’s head of policy, said: “These latest aggravated burglaries in the Kentish countryside reinforce the fact that rural areas are not immune from the devastation caused by criminals.”
Matthew Scott, who is running for re-election as Kent’s police and crime commissioner, says there has been an increase in the number of officers dedicated to serving rural areas, but be said there ‘is still more to do’