Sponsored by
Wealthy car dealer shot in own home by raiders
'Give us your money or we will kill you' Paul Whitehouse and Lucy Harvey A WEALTHY Yorkshire businessman was fighting for his life last night after being shot by gunmen who broke into his luxury home demanding "Give us your money, or we will kill you.
Mark Holland, 38, was shot through the chest as he scuffled with one of the raiders after leading them away from the bedroom where his terrified fiance lay.
The couple were woken in the early hours by two masked gunmen who broke into their 700,000 home on the outskirts of Sheffield.
Last night, while Mr Holland remained in intensive care after two operations, fiance Chloe Darker, 25, said: "We were in bed and as we came around, someone was in the room demanding money, saying if we didn't hand it over they would kill us.
"Mark was defending the house and myself and took the guy downstairs, that is when he was shot."
The professional house-mover, who met Mr Holland a year ago on holiday in Majorca, told a Press conference: "The last 12 hours have been the worst of my life."
Detectives have mounted a huge operation to trace those responsible for the shooting at Low Bradfield.
Mr Holland, a Sheffield car and property dealer, was believed to have led one of the armed raiders to the staircase, where there was a scuffle and two shots were fired, one passing straight through the businessman's chest.
Police said he was "lucky to be alive" and that the shooting was being investigated as attempted murder.
It was possible Mr Holland had not realised the risk he faced, because no gun was seen when the intruder first entered the bedroom, suggesting the weapon was either hidden, or that shots were fired by the second intruder.
Miss Darker insisted Mr Holland would have tried to resist the criminals' attempts to steal from him, and the shots were fired during a scuffle. However, police said no one had witnessed that directly.
After the shooting, Mr Holland managed to stagger upstairs and was helped by a friend, one of a couple staying at the house, onto a bed to await an ambulance.
Mr Holland was close to death when he arrived at the Northern General Hospital in Sheffield, but surgeons were able to stabilise his condition. Last night he remained "critical but stable", on a ventilator in the intensive care unit.
Miss Darker said he had opened his eyes and squeezed her hand.
Relatives were told the overnight period would be crucial to his prospects for recovery.
Miss Darker said: "I was looking forward to getting married in September but that started to become a distant dream."
She said: "I saw them go downstairs but didn't really see the man, I was under the covers a lot of the time trying not to draw attention to myself and only got a brief look at what he was like.
"I heard the gunshot after they had gone downstairs then it all went quiet and they fled.
"Mark came back up and said he had been shot in the chest. It was awful, he was in a really bad way. Mark would have tried to fight, he would not have just let them get away with it."
She said the second raider had "guarded" the bedroom being used by her house guests.
She said Mr Holland was brought up in Sheffield and moved to Dyson House in Low Bradfield five years ago.
The raiders found the keys to her weeks-old Porsche Boxter, a 25th birthday present from Mr Holland, in her handbag and drove away in the car. It was found hours later in Longley Hall Road, Longley, several miles away. A Volkswagen Golf, stolen from Rotherham, was also found close to the scene, with false number plates. It had hit a stone bridge, Smithy Bridge, in Low Bradfield and police are linking it to the investigation.
Det Supt Kevin Hardy said the motive for the attack remained unclear.
Email to a friend
Print this page- Leeds lose Ward to Palace: Is there anyone they can afford now?
- Sheffield Wednesday leaving it late to hijack Leeds United over Ward
- As Snodgrass dithers over Leeds, Warnock throws a lifeline
- Ball is in Leeds United’s court over contract - Snodgrass
- Police turning blind eye to Asian voter fraud, says MP
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Yorkshire
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: East
