Related Articles
A court has heard how a gang of armed thugs terrorised a mum and her four-year-old son by threatening to spray them with acid during a seven-hour raid on their home.
Two thugs, one in a Royal Mail uniform and one armed with a hammer, knocked on the front door and burst past the woman into her house, followed by three others.
The gang threatened the mum inside her home in Leicester with knives before telling her they would spray her and her son with acid if she didn’t fork over the family’s cash.
During the attack, the men also said they planned to spray acid in the face of her young son, who was due home in the afternoon.
(Image: Leicester Mercury / BPM Media)
The attack began at 10.30am on June 1, with the four-year-old arriving home with his father where they witnessed part of the “terrifying” incident.
Neil Bannister, prosecuting at Leicester Crown Court, said that only one gang member, 26-year-old Fadil Anwar Abdirahman, was caught at the scene of the crime.
Abdirahman was said to have been recruited by an unknown ringleader, referred to in court only as “Big Swirl”.
The gang made demands for the family cash and husband’s crypto balance, but the victim said there was no money in the house, Mr Bannister told the court.
Courts also heard that the victim was so terrified she emigrated, leaving her friends and family behind in Leicester.
(Image: Getty Images/EyeEm)
The woman was briefly tied up with rope and another robber mixed what she thought was blue-coloured acid, with the woman telling officers he “threatened me so many times, with the knife in one hand and the bottle in the other”.
In a victim impact statement, the woman said the incident has “taken away my independence and I’m unable to enjoy the small things in life.”
Abdirahman was jailed for seven years and four months, with Judge Raynor saying he could expect to serve two thirds of the sentence.
Detective Constable Gemma Allen said: “This was a deeply distressing incident for all those subjected to the violence and threats”.
