Mother and son in raid ordeal

A Shropshire man today told how masked raiders burst into his home and left him and his 80-year-old mother fearing for their lives during a terrifying hour-long ordeal.

Robin Wilkinson said the balaclava-clad robbers tried to suffocate him, strangle him with a sheet and beat him with a stick at the house he shares with his mother in Telford.

Mr Wilkinson said he was asleep at home in Donnington when the two men jumped on top of him in his bed and stuffed the pillow over his face, while trying to pull a sheet around his neck.

His terrified mother Irene, owner of B and I Wilkinson coal merchants in Donnington, heard her son fighting for his life at 3am on Wednesday and went to his aid.

But she was frogmarched back into her own bedroom where one of the robbers ransacked her room looking for her jewellery.

Precious items given to her by her late husband, Basil, were taken along with £1,100 in cash.

Mr Wilkinson, 58, today said: "I thought my day was up. They were wearing masks like the SAS wear, I couldn't see their faces. They never put the light on. They just said 'Stop. Count to 100'." The robbers pulled the telephone line out in Mrs Wilkinson's bedroom to stop her calling the police.

"Fortunately they never touched my mother but she is still very traumatised and upset and I really thought I was going to die," said Mr Wilkinson. His mother is too upset to speak but her family said she urged anyone with information to call police.

Detective Inspector Jon Elcock said today: "The men who committed this are dangerous individuals who needed to be arrested quickly. The inquiry is far from over and I urge members of the public to come forward with any information."

l A 23-year-old man was arrested in Dawley on Wednesday night on suspicion of robbery in connection with the incident and remained in custody today. Detectives were due to apply to Telford magistrates this afternoon for further time to question him.

By Crime Correspondent Kirsty Smallman