Victim tells of gun gang raid

A tube driver today described his terror at waking up to find a gang holding a pistol to his head and demanding the keys to his car.

The four balaclava-clad robbers smashed their way into the £600,000 house in Langton Avenue, Whetstone, where he lives as a lodger, and threatened to shoot him unless he handed over the keys to his Subaru Impreza.

The raid was the second in a series of four attacks in north and east London which police believe were carried out by the same gang in the early hours of yesterday morning.

The 38-year-old Tube driver, who does not wish to be named, gave a graphic description of the raid: "They smashed through the front door and ran into the house. I was lying in bed and before I knew it there was a man in a balaclava standing over me and shouting, 'The Impreza. Give me the keys.' I said, 'You can't have them,' and he shouted, 'Give me the keys. Now.'

"When I refused again he went to grab the keys from the table next to the bed, and I went for them at the same time - and that was when he put the gun to my head.

He said, 'Give me the keys right now or I'll shoot you.' I knew they weren't kidding because I heard one of the other guys, who was in the hallway, shouting, 'Just shoot him and take the f***ing keys.' So I let him have them. I was terrified.

"I've never been robbed before. But when someone's holding a pistol to your head, and his mate is shouting at him to kill you, you don't mess about. A car's not worth dying for." He added: "They all sounded like they were from London and I think that I might have been followed home.

"The police seem to think that the same gang stole at least two other cars that night and at least one was an Impreza too, so it looks like they might have been stealing to order.

"It has certainly made me think differently about living in London. There is just violence all over this town these days."

The victim's landlady, a 64-year-old nurse, was also threatened. She said: "I woke up and I heard them knocking the door down so I jumped out of bed and called the police. Then I took off all my rings and went to see what was happening. As soon as I walked on to the landing one of the robbers pointed a gun at me and said, 'Move!.

"But I'm a tough old bird and I don't get scared easily - I've been a nurse for 40 years - so I said, 'There's no use in waving that thing at me. I've already called the police.'

"I think that the police and the Government have let me down. There is no question of me staying in London after this. I'm old enough to retire and I have no intention of putting up with this kind of thing."

The first of the four attacks took place in Albany Park Avenue, Enfield, at 2.40am when the gang threatened a couple before stealing the keys to their car, a red Impreza.

Then came the Langton Avenue attack at 3.30am, before the robbers moved to Heather Gardens, Romford, where they stole a Blue BMW coupe at 4.30am. It was later found abandoned in Tottenham.

Two hours later the robbers struck again in Waterfall Road, New Southgate, where they threatened a couple with a gun but fled empty-handed.