In Their Own Words - Let the Children Speak

As regular viewers know, In Their Own Words allows those who have experienced a robbery in one form or another to retell their stories, and sometimes that has involved families. In this special edition, we invite some of the younger members of those families to recall how they felt at that time.

Josie is fifteen now, but when she was thirteen she and her younger sister Katie were surprised while playing a game one afternoon at their grandmother’s house

I was thirteen, and Katie was eleven, and then we always used to go swimming on a Saturday morning, before we went to our grandmother’s house for lunch before spending the afternoon there. Grandma lived about five minutes’ walk from the pool, so it was fine for us to walk there.

I was wearing a grey wool top and a knee length blue denim skirt, with white socks and black slippers, while Katie was wearing a dark blue polo shirt, jeans and white trainers. We walked to Grandma’s place and let ourselves in, hearing her call from the kitchen and tell us to go into the front room.

When Grandma came in, she was wearing a checked blouse over a white top, her faded denim skirt, and black slippers. She set a tray down on the low table, and then she left the room, saying we were going to play our usual game while we had our lunch, and then afterwards.

You see, Grandma was a huge fan of Enid Blyton books, and we were as well including when they were taken hostage by the bad people. So as we each took a plate of sandwiches and sat back, she came back with some lengths of curtain cord, and used one of them to tie my ankles snugly together and then she did the same to Katie. We were happy for her to do that, not afraid at all.

She then sat and had her own lunch with us, before we put our hands behind our backs and Grandma used more thin cord to tie our wrists together. She then rolled up two triangles of cloth and used them to cleave gag us, before she put the plates and glasses on the tray and carried it out once she had turned the television on and we started to watch an old TV series.

To be honest, Katie and I were so engrossed in watching Julian and the gang, we never ever thought about where Grandma was until the door opened, and he jumped in. She had her hands behind her back, and a length of her cord was holding her ankles together and she also had a scarf rolled up and tied between her teeth, pulling back the corners of her mouth.

She looked at us, and said “huuhhlrht?” We both nodded I thought she had found a way to tie her own hand together behind her back and she was joining in. It was only when she jumped to where her sewing basket was, and sat on the floor as she tried to find a pair of scissors, I realized something else might have happened

A walk in the country is a good thing, a good way of exercising and binding but for Alice, Jane and their mother, it was what happened after that that really kept them together

We were in our country cottage for the weekend -= I was ten, Katie nine, and Dad was away on business for two weeks. We had all gone for a walk in the nearby woods - Mum was wearing a purple jumper, jeans and mid-calf brown boots, and I had on a grey jumper, dark blue jeans and short black boots. Jane was wearing a white jumper and black jeans with grey shoes, and we all had gilets on.

Anyway, we had a wonderful walk, and then got home -only someone was in our home. He was a teenager, and was wearing a denim jacket and jeans and he was as surprised as us when we walked in. But then he grabbed a carving knife from the side of the sink, waved tit at us, and told us he just needed some money and food, and then he would be on the way but he could not have us calling the police.

Mum asked what he meant by that and he just stood there for a moment, before he picked up a ball of twine and told us to go and sit in the front room. We walked in, Katie and me sitting wither side of Mum, as he went and closed the curtains, and then told us to put our hands together in prayer while he made a loop with the end of the twine.

Mum said to do it to her first, and I had no idea what it was until he put the loop over her hands and pulled it tight round her wrists, then wound it round and between her arms before she lowered her hands to her lap. He then took the twine down and did the same to her ankles, as she looked at us and told us not to be afraid, it would be fine.

I ten out my hands together after he cut the twine and tied it off on Mum, watching as he did the same to m. IT was tight, but it was over the cuffs of my jumper, so it wasn’t so bad as he tied my ankles together as well. I looked at Jane and nodded as he did the same to her, and then left us there with the radio on while he went back to the kitchen. He came back with a sandwich, a drink and Mum’s handbag, which he put down before he ate and drank.

He then emptied Mum’s purse, before he left the room again and came back with three pairs of ankle socks. I did wonder what he was going to do with them but then I tasted his intent, as he balled a pair up and pushed them into my mouth, then one into Mum’s, and finally Jane’s. He then left us there as we looked at the clock and hoped Mum would find a way to get free.

Which she did a short while later, as he got off the couch, found some scissors, and cut me free first

Big Brothers are very important as a role model just ask Jamie

This was in the Autumn, a couple of years back. I was fourteen then, Peter was ten and Eric seven. We were upstairs playing in my room a game of Monopoly or something, while Mum and Dad were taking care of some home things downstairs. I remember Eric was wearing a green and blue rugby shirt, jeans and trainers, while Peter had on a short-sleeved shirt and grey pants, and me a blue checked lumberjack shirt and black pants.

I do remember, looking back, hearing Dad talking loudly, but I just thought he was calling from the kitchen or something, so I didn’t do anything about it. Had I gone and looked well, that was what happened.

And what happened next was the door opening and this man coming in, looking at us as he told us all to stand up and put our hands behind our backs. I thought about doing something, but then I saw how scared Eric was by him, so I told him and Peter we were going to do what he said, and we all stood up.

I saw he had a roll of silver tap in his hand, as he walked behind us and one by one he taped our wrists together behind our backs, and then wrapped some tape around our arms and stomachs. I twisted round, making a crinkling sound which at least mad Eric laugh, before he told us all to walk downstairs in front of him.

When we walked into the front room, I saw Mum and Dad sitting on the floor Dad was wearing a green short sleeved check shirt and jeans, and Mum a black jumper and jeans tucked into long grey leather boots. They were back to back on the floor -and I could see they had their hands behind their backs, and silver bands round their upper arms and their waists.

They also had silver tape over their mouths, so I told Eric and Peter the man no, the men because there was another one there would do the same to us and we had to stay nice and quiet. I knew they were scared heck, I could see Mum and Dad were scared, as we were told to sit on the floor against the couch.

I had also seen the silver tape round their ankles and legs things we soon had for ourselves as well, as we looked over and then felt the tape over our mouths as we were kept quiet in the same way. I nudged Peter, and he nudged Eric, as we watched the two men walk out, and our parents start to try and twist round to get free

When is a game not a game? Ask Tracy

We’d seen the videos on YouTube families taped to chairs and trying to get free as a challenge, so when I mentioned it to Mum, Dad and Rhoda they were a little sceptical but Dad said if we wanted to try it, we could.

So the next Sunday morning, I was wearing a black sleeveless top with a pink chest patch over a long-sleeved grey top, and jeans tucked into short brown boots. Rhoda was wearing a long-sleeved top with purple sleeves and back and a white front with a pink pattern, and jeans tucked into black boots. Finally, Mum was wearing a blue jersey dress and brown cowboy boots.

Dad said he would do Mum first, so we set three dining table chairs in the centre of the room, and Mum sat down, raising her arms as Dad unwound a new green washing line and passed it round her waist to hold her against the chair back. He then took it round her wrists and tied them together in front of her, and then he wound the nylon rope round her lap on the seat. Finally, he took it down and tied her ankles together, then pulled them back and tied them to the chair support.

He then did the same thing to me, as I raised my hands up and felt the rope pushing me against the chair back. He smiled as he tied my wrists together, and then watched as my legs were held and pulled back behind me. Rhoda was swinging her legs to and fro as he unwound a third rope and then she was just like me and Mum.

So there we were, looking at each other and twisting our legs round, the funny sound when our boots rubbed together Dad then asked if we were ready, and we all nodded as he tore strips of Sellotape from a rill and pressed them down over our mouths. Now we could not talk to each other, as we watched him put a finger to his lips, turn on the CD player and start some music, and then left us promising he would be back in half an hour.

I guess I fell asleep, because I heard Mum trying to talk to me and opened my eyes seeing by the clock it had been two hours. She had a worried look on her face, and I could understand why she was.

Where was Dad?

When he did come back in, he had a black eye and was rubbing his head and he was crying as he untied us and hugged us all. We only found out later what had happened

Twins can be a great support in times of stress - to each other and to their mother. Naomi and Hannah show us how

We had been to the Synagogue with all the other girls that morning, and we were being driven back by my mother to our house. We were thirteen at the time, and identically dressed as well as in looks a long light blue dress, simple design with a thin belt round our waists, and brown desert boots with a cork sole and heel. Mum was wearing a long black dress with a red rose design, a halter neck holding the dress over her and the skirt split so that when she walked with us, you could see her over the knee brown suede boots.

She was certainly dressed differently from the other mothers, but we loved her for that even the fact she had dyed her brown hair blonde while we kept it the colour we were born with. The windows in the car were down, so the wind was blowing through it before we all saw the van that had stopped. Mum told us to wait in the car as she turned the engine off and went to see what was going on.

Hannah and I just sat in the back of the car, talking to each other and then the doors were thrown open, and two ne wearing clown masks grabbed us and dragged us out of the car. We screamed, but they ignored us and pulled us to the side of the van, the doors now open and we were pushed in and fell on the floor, as Mum said “please, don’t hurt them.”

As someone pulled my hands behind me, I looked up to see Mum sitting against the van wall, her hands behind her back and bands of rope around her arm, holding them against her sides. Another man wearing a mask was tying some rope round her ankles, and then round her legs, gathering the skirt of her dress underneath as he pulled it tight.

I could feel someone tying my won ankles together, and I looked over to see the other man tying the rope off round Hannah’s ankles, and ten her legs below her knees, as her own skirt was gathered underneath and so was mine, before we both forced to kneel and more ropes tied round us to keep our arms against our bodies.

I remember asking Mum what was going on, but the man stepped back, and I saw the brow fabric plaster he had stuck over her mouth. She could only look at us as more of the same plaster was pressed down over our own mouths, and then we were made to lie down again before the door was closed, and the van moved off.

I had no idea how long we were in there, but when it stopped we were carried out one by one and made to lie on mattresses, then our ankles were pulled back and I felt the man tie them to the ropes round my body. I turned onto my side as Mum rolled to look at each of us, and then we lay there, wondering who had done this to us and why.

We stayed there for two days, the men only taking the plaster off to let us have a drink and then replacing it, before we heard a mighty shouting and the door to the room was thrown open and policemen ran in to free us.

Our father had been ordered to pay a ransom for us and he called the police instead

For our final tale today, we go to a winter cottage, a game of snowballs and a warm family night by the fire..

I’m the oldest of four girls thirteen years old, and my name is Penny. Then there is July, who is eleven, eight-year-old Abbie and five-year-old Carol. We had all gone to a cottage in the mountains for a winter break, with our grandmother and our mother.

We had all had breakfast, and were casually dressed Mum was wearing a black gilet over a grey top, and jeans tucked into black Doc Marten boots, while Gran was wearing a blue cardigan over a red top, and faded jeans tucked into knee length brown boots.

It had been snowing outside overnight, but it had stopped by the time we were up and dressed, before Mum said we should all go outside for a while. Carol was wearing a green smock top with a floral pattern, jean and black lace-up boots, her hair in a bun, while Abbie had on a red jumper, her jeans tucked into brown cowboy boots.

As for Judy, she had a red jumper on as well, and dark blue jeans tucked into short black boots. I was wearing a green top with a cream and grey scarf tied round my neck, red pants and black snow boots.

Anyway, we all went outside, and proceeded to go a short distance from the house and have fun with snowballs, before we helped Carol to make a snowman. Before we knew it, it was lunchtime, and we went int the house and saw Gran lying on the couch, with silver tape over her mouth as she looked at us. There were also silver bands round her arms and legs, and her hands were behind her back.

“Well now I guess you all must be hungry. Go and sit at the table, and have your soup and then you can join your gran and your mother.”

It was a man who said this, and we all turned round to see him standing there, dressed in a blue jacket and jeans and he also had a large kitchen knife, so I told the girls we should go and eat lunch so we went into the kitchen.

Mum saw us, and told us to just sit quietly and eat as she put the bowls of soup in front of us. She then stood and watched us as the man took her hands behind her back, and we heard a ripping sound.

I looked at the other girls, and told them we should just eat up and then we would do whatever he said, while he wrapped silver tape round Mum’s arms and body. He then took her to where Gran was, as Judy looked at me, and asked what we were going to do.

I looked at her, and said we had to do what he told us whatever he had done, we did not want to upset him. I looked at Carol and Abbie, and said if we all did the same thing, we could be there foreach other, and for Mum and Gran, so I wanted them to be very brave.

Once we had eaten, the man had come back in, and he told us all to stand in a row, and not to struggle against him. I told him to do me first, the others watching as he took my hands behind my back and I saw him tear the end of a roll of silver tape before he wound it round my wrists to hold them together.

After he tore that free and patted it down, he wound the tape round my arms and stomach, before he did the same to Judy, then Carol, and finally Abbie. I twisted round, and smiled at the others to show we did not need to be afraid. I saw them relax a little, as we were made to walk single file into the main room.

There was a fire burning, and we saw Mum was now lying on the other couch, bands of silver round her ankles and legs as well as she twisted round. The man made us all sit down in front of the couch, and then he started to tape our ankles and legs together, starting with Carol, who watched as the silver went over the tops of her boots, and then round her legs before he pressed a length over her mouth.

One by one he taped our legs and our mouths, as we sat there, too afraid to do anything else - but I was also having to be brave for the girls, as well as for Mum and Gran. They were watching us as well as the man went out of the cottage, the fire keeping us warm as we looked at each other.

I started to pick at the tape round my wrist, and eventually I managed to get free and go to get some scissors, Mum and Gran hugging me and the others before they called the police.

Until next time, this has been In Their Own Words

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