EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Mum speaks of terror after family robbed at knife-point by violent gang

Colette Walton, 55, of Baulk Lane, said she and her three children had been left ‘terrfied’ since the group of men tied them up, held knives to their throats and took their money - all before letting several horses loose from a nearby field to stall the police.

Colette was having a cigarette in the caravan outside her home when four to six fully-masked men came running onto the property carrying large crow bars at about 9pm on October 13.

She was trapped alone in the caravan when one of the men threw hot wax in her face from a candle that was burning on the table before attempting to hit her with a crowbar.

Colette said some of the men were demanding money and jewellery before taking her mobile phone and her CCTV camera recording device.

She said: “I was in complete shock when it happened - I just didn’t know what to do.

“And that’s when I started to hear the screams from my children in the house who were being tied up.”

She then described how the men had kicked down one of the bedroom doors to get to two of her teenagers.

They were taken into a bedroom, with their mum, and tied up with tie wraps on the floor, whilst they turned the house upside down looking for valuables.

“It absolutely terrified us,” Colette added. “One of them held a knife up to my daughter’s throat and I honestly thought they were going to murder us.

“Then my son, who had been hiding, managed to escape and call the police. I don’t know what might have happened if he didn’t because these men were pure evil.”

The men got away with a sum of cash and a mobile phone before making an escape.

And on whilst exiting the property, they let loose ten horses from a nearby field to cause chaos on the roads as a distraction for when the police arrived.

The police are still investigating the robbery and Colette, who has lived in Harworth all her life, claims that until these men are found, the rest of the village is not safe.

She said: “These men need catching because they are dangerous and violent and have no fear.

“I don’t want anybody else going through what my family has gone through because it is something we will never get over.

“These kinds of things are happening around here all too often and my question is, who is going to be the next target? Because it will happen if they are not caught.

“We have had a lot of support from people in this village already and I am begging for anybody out there who might know something to speak out.”

Nottinghamshire Police are appealing for witnesses.

A force spokesman said: “We would like to hear from anyone who may have witnessed or have any information about this incident, or anyone who may have seen suspicious activity involving people or vehicles in the Tickhill Road and Baulk Lane area at around 9pm on Tuesday 13 October. We know that horses were set loose from a field nearby as a consequence of the incident, so this may help potential witnesses to recall the events of that evening.

“This was an isolated incident, but clearly a very serious one for the victims involved and we are determined to identify and arrest the offenders.

“We are hoping the public can assist by reporting anything, no matter who trivial it may have seemed on the night,”

IF you have any information, call police on 101.

Alternatively call Crimestoppers anoymously on 0800 555 111.