Terrifying moment four machete-wielding robbers invade father's home

Terrifying moment four machete-wielding masked robbers invade father’s home as they take young daughters hostage and threaten to kill his son before stealing white car

• Mohammed Ali, 39, woke to ‘panicked screams’ from his girls, aged seven and 12
• He said he’s been left ‘broken’ by the incident and felt he’d ‘failed’ his family 

This is the terrifying moment four masked men wielding knives broke into a father’s home as they took his young daughters hostage and threatened to kill his son before stealing his car.

Mohammed Ali, 39, woke at 11pm to ‘panicked screams’ from his girls, aged seven and 12, after robbers armed with machetes, a meat cleaver and a brick burst through his front door.

The HGV driver found two masked men on the stairs of his semi-detached four-bed home holding metre-long machetes. 

A third intruder was holding a knife against his daughters’ throats in the living room.

His son emerged from his upstairs bedroom seconds later and one of the men yelled ‘Kill him! Kill him!’ before advancing towards the 18-year-old.

Mohammed Ali, 39, revealed the terrifying moment four masked men wielding knives broke into his home as they took his young daughters hostage and threatened to kill his son before stealing his car

Mr Ali said he pushed the teen back into his bedroom and ran to a bathroom, where he took refuge while the robbers hacked at the doors with their machetes.

The brutes finally fled the property after a terrifying five minutes and stole his white Seat Leon car from his driveway when they found his keys.

He said: ‘My daughter said one of them had a knife and he was saying, ‘It’s all your dad’s fault, be f***ing quiet,’ and was putting a knife to her neck.

‘They all had gloves and everything, but you could see their eyes through the balaclava – and their voice, I could never forget it.’

Mr Ali said he’d gone to bed at 9.30pm on May 9, leaving his youngest son, who is five, and two daughters watching TV at their home in Fir Tree Avenue in Oldham, Greater Manchester.

His make-up artist wife Michelle Dunkley, 40, had forgotten her keys when she left the house for work in the evening so he’d unlocked the door before heading upstairs. 

Mr Ali woke up to two masked men on the stairs of his semi-detached four-bed home holding metre-long machetes while a third intruder was holding a knife against his daughters’ throats in the living room

Mr Ali took refuge in a bathroom while the robbers hacked at the door with their machetes

He said: ‘It wasn’t a scream where the kids were fighting. This was a panicked scream, a worried scream. I knew as a parent this was not normal.

‘As I was trying to get down the stairs, I was faced by three guys in balaclavas. Two were on the stairs, one at the bottom, and one had my kids downstairs.

‘I started screaming: ‘Get out! Get out!’ They started swearing at me. My son had the room next to the stairs, and when he came out, they said: ‘Kill him! kill him!’

‘I pushed him into his room and closed the door, and they started coming up the stairs. I went to the bathroom, which was right behind me.

‘I was just screaming: ‘Make sure they don’t get to you!

‘They started hacking at the doors with the machetes, and while they were hacking it, the third guy was ransacking my house.’

Mr Ali said he spent a terrifying five minutes holding the door shut, hoping the men wouldn’t break through.

Mr Ali realised they had made their way down the stairs when he heard the rev of his car engine  

The robbers stole Mr Ali’s white Seat Leon

The intruders left after a terrifying five minutes inside Mr Ali’s house 

He added: ‘I was still half asleep. I was dazed and in a panic and I didn’t know if they’d got my son or my other kids downstairs.

‘Once my car started and they were driving off, I gave chase then went inside and saw my kids were alright.’

He added: ‘I’ve not slept since. My family is broken. My kids wouldn’t come home.

‘It was my daughter’s birthday yesterday, and literally everything is spoiled and I don’t know what to do or what to say to them. I feel like I’ve failed them.’ 

Mr Ali said he did not know why his home was targeted.

He added his children were unharmed despite their trauma, and besides his vehicle, the men took only a box of his daughter’s miniature dolls. 

Mr Ali shared footage of the robbery on social media, and said another family in nearby Rochdale reported the same gang had attacked them just an hour later.

The disturbed father said he had reported the attack to Greater Manchester Police but didn’t think they were taking the incident seriously.

He said: ‘It’s absolutely disgraceful. I left it with the police. But it’s like they’re not bothered.

‘They will only take action when someone is seriously hurt or dead but I don’t want that on my conscious.’

Greater Manchester Police are appealing for anyone who may have witnessed the incident or heard something from around that time.

Detective Inspector Andrew Fink, of GMP’s Oldham Division, said: ‘This was a shocking incident in which a family were threatened in their own homes. We have zero tolerance for these sort of shocking acts and we are determined to bring those responsible for this crime to justice.

‘Our officers are working hard to establish all leads and information, and any information that the public may have would be of great assistance to their enquiries.

‘I would urge anyone with CCTV, dashcam, or doorbell footage to please get in touch. No matter how small you think the information is, it could be of great use for the investigation.’

Anyone with any information is asked to contact police on 0161 856 8962 quoting log number 4272 of 9/5/23.

People can also contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. 

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