Mum hit in face by masked men during 'terrifying' raid on her Peterborough home

A Peterborough mum was put through a “terrifying ordeal” by burglars who raided her home while her two children were also inside.

Two men with their faces covered broke into the house in Collier Mews, Gunthorpe, Peterborough, at just before 7.40pm on Tuesday (17 January).

The men demanded to know where her jewellery and other personal items were and hit her in the face when she tried to escape.

The woman did manage to escape the house and fled to a neighbour’s where police were called.

Cambridgeshire Police said the men, described as white and in their mid-20s, ran from the house on foot with the victim’s car keys and bank card.

One of the men is described as six foot, of a skinny build and was wearing dark clothing including a slim fitting, down jacket. The other man was of larger build, around 5’7” tall and was wearing a camouflaged jacket at the time of the burglary.

Detective Sergeant Rich Ellison said: “This was, without a doubt, a terrifying ordeal for the woman involved and I would like to praise her bravery and her actions on Tuesday night. Luckily she was not seriously injured.

“We believe the two suspects may have been in the same area earlier on that day, around 3pm, and are interested in hearing from any members of the public with any information, particularly if they may have seen or heard of anyone acting suspiciously who match the descriptions above.

“This includes members of the public from Porter Avenue, Arkwright Way, Falconer Mews, Chamberlain Way, Manor Drive or Draper Road – and any nearby residents who may have CCTV camera or doorbell footage or dash cam footage from cars in the area at the time.

“While this crime will no doubt be very concerning to local people, burglaries of this nature are rare and at this stage we do not believe it to be a random break-in.”

Anyone who has any information is urged to contact police via their web chat service quoting crime reference 35/4298/23, or call 101 if you do not have internet access. Always dial 999 in an emergency.