A young woman was left needing “professional help” after teenage burglars armed with knives threatened to kill her.
Serial burglar Aaron Byrne and accomplice Daniel Gilbert, both 19, were jailed at Snaresbrook crown court for the raid on the home in Hackney in October. The 28-year-old man who lived there said three men with knives burst in on him and his girlfriend.
He added: “They started telling me they were going to kill her, so I took them to another room where there was jewellery...it was terrifying and my girlfriend has now been left needing professional help.” The couple never returned to their home.
Byrne, from Homerton, donned a mask and armed himself for another raid in Lower Clapton the next day. He pleaded guilty to 23 burglary charges and was jailed for nine years and four months. Gilbert admitted aggravated burglary and was jailed for six years and eight months.
Detective Constable Matt Mowbray, of Hackney CID, said that their victims “feared for their lives and are still coming to terms with their ordeals.”
