Boy, nine,
traumatised
by robbers who held axe to throat

Rajinder Auluk, 40, said his son was so badly affected by the attack that he no longer wants to live in the house and fears the men will return to kill him and his family.

Detectives launched a public appeal for help to catch the robbers, who struck at the Auluk family home on Newton Road, Great Barr, West Midlands, at around 8pm on Monday.

They demanded car keys and cash as they threatened Mr Auluk’s youngest child in front of him and his wife Baljit, 45, and their teenage son Jay, 16.

Mr Auluk, a self-employed property developer, said: “I heard a loud crash at the front door and suddenly an explosion hit me in the face as these men with axes and sledgehammers came piling through the door.

“I said, ‘take what you want’, but they carried on shouting and held an axe to my youngest’s neck.

“It was true panic. I was angry and frightened, but my main concern was what they were going to do to the little guy, I thought he was going to cut him.”

The men tried to get away in both family cars – a high-performance Nissan Pulsar GTR and a Mercedes CLK, but abandoned the Mercedes.

Police arrived within minutes but despite an extensive search failed to find the raiders.

Detective Constable Derek Cole, of West Midlands Police said it was “a truly horrendous ordeal for the family”.