Man fights off knife raiders in bedroom (From The Oxford Times)

Man fights off knife raiders in bedroom

10:30am Thursday 26th April 2012 in Didcot By Laura Jones

A PAINTER and decorator fought off two armed robbers before jumping out of a bedroom window to escape.

Philip Walker, 53, was upstairs in his Didcot home when two hooded robbers with foreign accents burst into the room, demanding cash and drugs.

He described the men as “pure evil”.

Detectives believe he was a victim of mistaken identity.

The pair – armed with 10-inch knives – had entered Mr Walker’s home through an unlocked back door while he was watching TV upstairs at about 9.50pm on Tuesday.

Mr Walker said: “The bedroom door flew open, and there were these two ‘hoodies’ with big knives who tried to stab me.

“The TV went flying; everything went flying. One of them tried to look for drugs in my attic. They kept saying they were trying to kill me.

“They were very violent people and they meant it.”

Mr Walker said that after a few minutes of trying to defend himself, he managed to jump out of the bedroom window onto an extension roof.

He then alerted his neighbours who called the police.

The pair then stole his wallet before fleeing in a dark-coloured vehicle.

Mr Walker, who has lived in the house in Bowness Avenue for 12 years, said: “They just picked the wrong person.

“They were definitely looking for drugs. They kept saying ‘where’s the drugs? Where’s the money?’ And they kept thrusting knives at me and cutting me.”

He believes the knives may have been taken from his own kitchen.

He added: “All I could think was to fight back. I’m certain they really wanted to stab me. I thought ‘this is it’. They said ‘I kill you’, in a foreign accent.

“They are pure evil and they have got to be stopped. It could have been an old woman or man who couldn’t fight back, and then it could have been deadly.”

Mr Walker’s hands and feet were cut in the attack, though he did not need hospital treatment.

His wife Maureen, 64, is a carer and was at work at the time of the attack.

Det Insp Roger Lamboll said: “This was a frightening incident for the victim. Fortunately he was not seriously injured.

“At this stage we do not know why the address was targeted and we are appealing to anyone who saw any suspicious activity, or the car, in the area to contact police.”

• Anyone with any information should call Det Sgt Alun Watkins on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.