Wollerton machete terror victim - full interview

It is like a scene from a horror film; Victoria Ratheram was tied to a chair, surrounded by armed, masked men and heavily pregnant. Her young son played neary, thankfully thinking it was all a game.

The family's beloved Alsatian barked her anger at the men, to no avail.

And then, as the intruders began ransacking her smart home at Wollerton, near Market Drayton, one gang member leaned close and held a machete to her face.

Click on the image to the right to see more photos

"Don't scream," were his only words.

Horrifically, the heartless thug then patted down her stomach to see if she was hiding any valuables.

It had started off just like any other day. Victoria's husband James left for work, and she was home alone with her young son, Oliver.

Then, in minutes, her life was turned upside down.

Three raiders armed with a machete and a truncheon burst in, tied her to a chair at knifepoint while her son watched on, and began ransacking her property.

Today, as she relived the nightmare, the eight-months pregnant mother said all she could think about was her son, and her unborn baby.

Mrs Ratheram, 28, told young Oliver to 'do as Mummy says' as the terrifying ordeal unfolded.

She recalled: "My son Oliver was right next to me, playing with his toy car. I just told him, 'Do as Mummy says, everything is fine'.

"I knew I had to stay calm for him, but underneath I was absolutely terrified."

Later on, Mrs Ratheram was tied to a chair in the nursery, which she and her husband James had lovingly prepared for their new baby.

The robbers even frisked her around her pregnant stomach in case she was hiding a mobile phone they could take.

Speaking after releasing pictures from her family album for the first time, Mrs Ratheram said: "I was absolutely terrified. All I could think about was my son and my unborn baby.

"I thought, 'Let them do what they want, nothing in the house matters. Just please don't let them hurt my son, please don't let them hurt my baby'."

The gang also targeted the couple's neighbours during the raid on Thursday morning, fleeing in a getaway car which was found close by.

Mrs Ratheram added: "I was in my home with Oliver and my husband had gone to work. Suddenly my dogs started barking and I saw the front door was open. The next minute I saw three men, one with his face covered, one with a machete and one with what looked like an old-fashioned wooden police truncheon.

"The guy with the machete held it to my face, and said 'Don't scream, and we won't hurt you'.

"They also threatened to hurt my dog. They kept asking, 'Where's your safe, where's your safe?' I told them we didn't have one and they said, 'If we find out you're lying, there will be trouble'."

As one robber searched the house, another bound Mrs Ratheram's hands and feet and forced her at knifepoint to sit in the nursery chair.

The man with the machete then patted around her pregnant stomach to see if she was hiding any valuables. "That made me feel physically sick," said Mrs Ratheram. "It was horrible".

Next, the raiders drew the curtains and abandoned her in the nursery, telling her not to raise the alarm or they would return. At that point, I didn't know if they were planning to come back or whether they were going to hurt us or what," she said.

"The man with the machete had said he was going to wait for us so I was too scared to shout or scream. I just wanted to hold my son but my hands were tied. He was climbing on the new baby's cot and I just thought, if he falls, I can't catch him. It was horrendous."

Once the thugs had left, Mrs Ratheram's alsatian Bella tried to gnaw through the ties on her feet to free her.

"She must have sensed I was in danger, because she never left my side," said Mrs Ratheram. She even tried to lunge at the robbers at one point. I was terrified they'd hurt her in front of my son because he loves her so much."

Mrs Ratheram and her son were discovered minutes later by a neighbour's daughter, who checked on them after spotting an open door.

"I was only tied up there about 10 minutes, but it felt like a lot longer," Mrs Ratheram said. "As soon as my hands were free I picked up my son. I can hardly describe the relief that we were all right. The first thing I thought was that I just had to get out of the house there and then. I just picked Oliver up and I ran.

"As soon as I stepped outside, I saw the police and I just thought, 'thank God'."

The raiders' haul consisted of little more than several mobile phones – Mrs Ratheram's handbag was left behind with the purse inside.

Mrs Ratheram, who married James four years ago and has lived in the north Shropshire village all her life, said her son was thankfully not too traumatised by the ordeal.

"One of the raiders told him it was a game, which is one thing I am grateful for," she said.

"He hasn't mentioned it and I don't think he really understood what happened at all.

"I'm not in a good way," she added. "I'm jumpy and I get really anxious. I'm not sleeping at all.

"My dad's upped the security on my house, but it still frightens the living daylights out of me when people ring the doorbell.

Mr Ratheram said: "Victoria was really brave. I've no idea how she kept so calm. I'm really proud of her.

"It's been a truly horrible experience."

By Tom Johannsen

Related stories:

• Wollerton mother: I won’t be driven out by thugs

• Pregnant mother tells of Wollerton machete ordeal

• Wounded boy faces op after gang raid

• Wollerton villagers in shock over machete raids

• Leader - Violence is stretching to the countryside

• Machete burglars in raids on Shropshire homes