Masked gang terrorised couple in raid

Champion marksman George Digweed told of the terror he and his wife suffered when four masked men smashed their way into his home.

The 52-year-old champion clay pigeon shooter had only a towel around him after bathing and was left naked as one of the intruders struck him with one of his own guns and demanded cash and his gold medals.

Mr Digweed’s wife Kate, who was in her night clothes, said it was “like a SWAT team” entering the house as the men were all dressed in black and wearing balaclavas.

Mark Love is also accused of aggravated burglary at the Digweeds’ house in Northiam, Rye, East Sussex.

Mr Digweed said i n a recorded interview played to a jury at Maidstone Crown Court that he and his wife had been watching TV on the evening of Sunday, February 21 in their lounge.

He said: “We were greeted by the most almighty bang you have ever heard in your life.

“I was thinking ‘what on earth had caused the french doors to shatter?’

“Then I saw a hand come through the window, at which point four masked men entered shouting at the top of their voices. I looked at my wife, who was absolutely petrified.”

Stocky and 6ft tall, Mr Digweed added: “I was thinking to myself ‘I must get into a position to get in front of my wife to protect her’, but it all happened so fast.

Despite wearing balaclavas and only showing their eyes and mouth, the couple could see they were all white.

Mr Digweed said: “They were screaming that they wanted money.

“The lead aggressor is saying: ‘We know you have got 25 to 35 grand here. Where is it?’ They start to get really aggressive.”

One of the men pulled out a Taser and put it to his throat, threatening to use it.

Then Mr Digweed felt a hard blow to his forehead from the barrel of one of his guns he had earlier been cleaning.

He said: “I immediately had blood everywhere. It horrified my wife.

“We went into the gun room. He said: ‘I want your guns. I must have your guns.’

“I said I only had two guns. He said: ‘You have got lots of guns.’

Mr Digweed said after about 13 minutes the gang grabbed four trophies and two guns, one of which was “useless” as it was dismantled, and left in his Toyota Hilux truck.

Mr Digweed added that one of the guns taken was worth £10,000 and the other £2,000.

Kate Digweed said in her interview that the ringleader, who was “shouty and aggressive”, bound her hands with duct tape.

“He was the one you would be frightened of. He had a club hammer. To me they were big and scary”

She described how her husband was hit with the barrel of a shotgun, adding: “I heard this smack on his head. That guy hit him seriously hard.

“After they hit George I thought they were going to kill us.”

Roy Blackman was bludgeoned to death at his home in Biddenden – Mark Love denies his murder