Homeowner fights off gang of 5 machete wielding robbers

Homeowner fights off gang of 5 machete wielding robbers



A homeowner fought off a gang of five robbers after they burst into his house wielding machetes.



David Pugh, 55, was asleep when the raiders stormed his home in the West Midlands, attacking his teenage son and dog and demanding cash.



But he bravely fought off the masked men - who were armed with long knives, baseball bats and golf clubs - and they fled empty handed.



Disturbing pictures show the extent of Mr Pugh's injuries after he suffered a broken nose and facial injuries while defending his £400,000 home.





The incident happened around 3am yesterday morning, when he saw the men attacking 17-year-old son and Rottweiler puppy Zeus.



The father-of-two said: 'There was a loud bang at 3am when they smashed the patio doors to get in but I thought Zeus had knocked something over.



'By the time I got out of bed, totally naked, I was approaching the door and it was kicked in.





'It went with a right smash and there was four or five guys on the landing in balaclavas. The men kept shouting "where's the money? Give us your money!".



'I grabbed the first couple I could, it turned into a brawl and a battle. I just grabbed what I could and hit them with aftershave bottles and chairs.



'I was getting hit repeatedly on the head - they had machetes, a baseball bat and a golf club.'





'I was desperately trying to get to my son's room, but I had so many splits to my head, I was drenched in blood.



'We could only assume they saw that and thought, "we have gone too far" and got out of here.



'They must have thought they half-killed me. In retrospect we were probably quite lucky.'



He says his son is traumatised and he is struggling to sleep in the wake of the attack. Puppy Zeus also received a nasty cut to the head and fell into a canal after becoming disorientated.



Mr Pugh is trained in Israeli self-defence combat Krav Maga and says 'instinct took over' when he saw the men in his home.



He added: 'The police said it was one of the most brutal attacks in a home they had ever seen.'





A spokesman for West Midlands Police said: 'Police were alerted at 3.09am to a break-in at an address in Catherine de Barnes, after a group of men had forced their way into the property and attacked the occupants.



'Officers arrived eight minutes after the 999 call. House to house enquiries have been carried out, CCTV is being examined and items recovered for forensic analysis.



'Investigations continue and anyone with information is asked to call West Midlands Police on 101 quoting log number 204 13/2.'