Fiancée tells how raiders shot businessman for new Porsche
THE fiancée of a businessman who was shot and critically injured by burglars at his luxury home has described how the raiders told the couple: "Give us your money or you’re going to die."
Chloe Darker gave details of the terrifying raid on their house near Bradfield, north of Sheffield, during which Mark Holland was shot in the chest at close range.
The two intruders got away with Miss Darker’s Porsche sports car, which Mr Holland, 38, had just bought her for her 25th birthday.
Miss Darker said: "The last 12 hours have been the worst of my life. I was looking forward to getting married in September and that was obviously becoming a distant dream at three o’clock this morning.
"Mark is one of the nicest, kindest, loveliest people you could ever wish to meet and we nearly lost him.
"People should not be allowed to get away with doing things like this. They have gone too far this time. But next time they could end up killing someone."
Mr Holland was in a critical but stable condition following surgery at Sheffield’s Northern General Hospital. A police spokeswoman said his condition was thought to be improving.
Miss Darker said she was in bed with Mr Holland, a car and property dealer, when one of the raiders burst in.
"We were in bed. We came round and there was someone stood in the room with a mask on, demanding money, basically, saying ‘If you don’t hand it over then we’ll kill you’.
"There was Mark defending his house and obviously myself. He took the guy downstairs and that’s when he was shot."
Miss Darker said she did not want to repeat the intruder’s exact words. "He was just saying, ‘We know you’ve got some money here, give us your money or you’re going to die’."
Asked if she thought the raiders were "terrorising" them, she replied "yes, definitely".
She said that Mr Holland went downstairs with the burglar and she heard a shot "quite soon after". Miss Darker added: "Then it all went quiet and that’s when they fled the house."
Det Supt Kevin Hardy said police were treating the incident as attempted murder.
He believed that two shots were fired from a black or charcoal-grey handgun, only one of which hit Mr Holland. He said he was shot at very close range at about 2:30am.
Mr Hardy said Miss Darker’s black Porsche Boxster was later found ten miles away, in Sheffield.
Source: The Scotsman