Woman tied up & gagged in horrifying midnight robbery where armed men ‘told her not to shout or she would be killed’
A WOMAN was tied up and gagged in her home by armed men who threatened to kill her, a court has heard.
The four masked men travelled from Birmingham to carry out the home robbery on Freeman Street in Grimsby, Lincolnshire.
At Grimsby Crown Court, the horror of the midnight robbery on October 16 last year was outlined by prosecutor Michael Forrest.
He told how the victim was in her flat when she heard repeated knocking at the door at midnight.
When she answered, she was immediately punched in the face, tied up with tape with her hands behind her back and gagged.
There were at least four men who were masked and were armed with a Taser, an electric baton and a knife.
Tape was sealed over her eyes and mouth and she was also left in just her underwear, said Mr Forrest.
She was in pain and tried to scream, but one of the men told her in Mandarin to stop screaming or she would be killed.
She heard some of the men searching her bedroom, where £600 was later discovered missing.
The prosecutor said she was pushed to the floor and repeatedly beaten by the four men.
Mr Forrest said the Taser was not discharged but used to threaten the woman.
One of the men involved left a phone on the kitchen worktop as the gang punched the woman on the floor.
She was left tied up as the gang fled at around 12.45am.
But she managed to release some of the tape over her mouth and cried for help.
The screams were heard by a member of the public at around 1am and he contacted the police.
Officers found the woman covered in bruises and she was treated at Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital, Grimsby.
Mr Forrest said CCTV footage was examined from Freeman Street and showed a car parking in Garibaldi Street.
Four men were seen getting out and walking to the location of the robbery.
The car was registered in the name of Shiguang Zhong, 42.
Zhong was on licence from prison and wore a GPS monitored tag.
When examined by police, it showed he left the Birmingham area earlier and arrived on Freeman Street at midnight.
The phone left at the scene also had his email address on it.
Mr Forrest said it was a joint enterprise robbery.
A police officer said later that enquiries were on-going to identify the other men.
Zhong, of Rugby, admitted dwelling robbery last year and was jailed for seven-and-a-half years.