Man tied up with bed sheets during robbery

Date published: 07 October 2009

A man was tied up with his own bed sheets while robbers spent 45 minutes ransacking his Bamford home.

At around 9pm on Thursday (1 October) four men armed with crowbars smashed a window at the side of the house on Broadhalgh Avenue and climbed through to confront the 62-year-old homeowner and his wife.

The husband was taken into the lounge where he was tied up using bed sheets the robbers found in the house.

His 58-year-old wife was taken upstairs by the robbers, threatened and stripped of the jewellery she was wearing.

The robbers also stole a small amount of cash and jewellery they found as they searched the house.

They repeatedly demanded to know where their safe was, but the couple do not own a safe.

One of the offenders is described as having an Irish accent, while the other offenders are described as eastern European.

Detective Constable Janice Cruttwell, based at Rochdale CID said: "The couple were put through 45 minutes of sheer terror by these robbers.

"Although nobody was injured, the men painted a very vivid picture of what would happen if they didn't get their own way and it is hard to imagine going through such a prolonged period fearing you are going to be hurt.

"If you were in or around the Broadhalgh Avenue area on the night between 8pm and 9.30pm, please contact me. Also I would like to hear from anyone who may have information in respect of this incident."

Anyone with information is asked to call Rochdale CID on 0161 856 4644 or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.