A COUPLE have been left devastated after a masked raider armed with a meat cleaver bound and robbed them during a midnight break-in.

As their teenage daughters slept, the 60-year-old businessman and his wife were awoken by the sound of their household alarm going off, triggered when intruder Kevin John Hardwick broke a lock and a small window in the utility room of their four-bedroom detached home in Bishop Auckland.

As they came out of their bedroom to check what was happening, 38-year-old Hardwick, wearing women's tights as a mask and gloves, was heard coming up the stairs, shouting: “This is a robbery. I want money, I want jewellery.

“Where is your jewellery box?”

Lisa McCormick, prosecuting, told Durham Crown Court: “A more terrifying sight a couple might wake up to is hard to imagine.”

Appearing for sentencing, Hardwick, of Frederick Street, Coundon, near Bishop Auckland, was jailed for eight years and eight months, to be followed by an extended four-year licence period.

Miss McCormick said Hardwick had ordered the couple to turn off the alarm and return to their bedroom, that he had an accomplice outside and wanted their valuables.

He was given money by the businessman and took more cash from a drawer, before binding the couple and leaving with several Barbour jackets, a pair of boots and other shoes, plus the keys to their Audi A1 car.

The couple eventually freed themselves and alerted police following the ordeal, between midnight and 1am on September 27.

Miss McCormick said they were fearful throughout for their daughters.

Hardwick was seen jogging from a junction in Bishop Auckland town centre, shortly after 1am, and, after briefly being spoken to by police, was allowed to go on his way.

A short time later the Audi was found crashed, and abandoned, nearby, with damage which cost £6,500 to repair.

Officers found a knotted mask near the crashed car.

Miss McCormick said forensic tests on saliva on the mask gave a DNA match with Hardwick, who was later arrested at the home of friends.

He had given a pair of sunglasses, taken from the Audi, to the woman who was putting him up, while checks of his mobile phone put him in the vicinity of the raided house at the time of the incident.

Hardwick admitted aggravated burglary, aggravated vehicle taking, driving while disqualified and without insurance at his first crown court appearance.

Sentencing was delayed to allow for both psychiatric and background probation reports to be prepared.

Meanwhile, Miss McCormick read from impact statements made by the family, who spoke of the devastating effect the incident has had, and left them considering moving away from their home, where they no longer feel secure or comfortable.

The court heard Hardwick has previous offences of burglary and three of robbery on his record.

Chris Baker, mitigating, told the court: “Despite that long history of dreadful offending, there has been no occasion in the past where serious physical harm has been caused by the defendant to any victim.

“But, I accept, it’s not just physical harm that has to be looked at, as in this case, psychological harm will be at the forefront of the court’s mind.”

Judge Christopher Prince said: “I’m quite satisfied anyone hearing those statements would consider the occupants of that house have suffered long-term psychological harm.”

He said Hardwick posed a significant risk of causing serious harm by committing future similar offences.

Hardwick was also banned from driving for seven years and nine months.