In Their Own Words - Boys Held Back (MF/MFm)
Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2025 4:13 pm
For this edition of In Their Own words, we talk to those who have been involved in home invasions and robberies again – but this time, we focus on the recollections of those who were younger boys when the events took place, both long ago and more recently.
Starting with Chip, who was ten years old when he, his younger brother Craig, and their mother were held hostage by an opportunistic thief…
This would have been about fifty years ago – I was ten, and Craig was Eight, and it was a long, hot summer when this happened. I remember I was wearing a yellow and mustard striped t-shirt and tan shorts with long brown socks and shoes, while Craig was wearing a dark blue polo shirt and shorts with knee length white socks and black shoes.
We were watching television while Mum was doing some work round the house. She had picked us up from a holiday club that lunchtime, so was still in her work clothes -a mustard-coloured dress with a short skirt, and black knee length boots.
Anyway, she was elsewhere in the house and we were watching television when the door opened, and this man came in – I didn’t know who he was, but he was wearing a vest and jeans, and he had a big knife in his hand – so when he told me and Craig to be quiet and he wouldn’t hurt us, I looked at my brother and told him to be quiet.
We were sitting in two armchairs with wooden armrests, so the man told us to hold our hands out in front of ourselves as he took from his back pocket a ball of twine. I watched as he used the twine to bind my wrists tightly together; the thin cords cutting into the skin of my wrists and then tied them down to one of the arms of the chair before he used the knife to cut the twine free.
I tried to move my hands, but it was too tight – and then I heard craig start to cry as the man tied his wrists as well. I looked over and told him we would be all right, and he shouldn’t cry – we would get through it together. He nodded as the man cut the twine, his wrists tied down to the arm of the chair and then knelt down to tie his ankles together in the same way – before he tied mine as well.
He then threatened us by saying if we called out, he would make sure we never talked again – and then he left the room, as I told Clint we would be all right, and he needed to stay calm – but then we heard Mum call out, and we both looked at each other.
A few minutes later, she was pushed into the room, and we could see she had twine holding her wrists together in front of herself – and she had a washcloth pushed into her mouth so that the edges were sticking out between her lips. The man was holding the ball of twine as he forced her to lie on her back on the couch, and then took the twine down and wrapped it around and between her ankles to hold them together as well, then tied the twine round the leg before he cut it free.
He then pushed damp cloths into our mouths as well, telling us just to sit quietly as he pushed them further in by winding twine round our heads – I looked at Mum and saw the band pressing in on her cheeks as well - before he left the three of us there and ransacked the rest of the house. We had to stay there as the television programs continued, until our father came home…
At around about the same time, nine-year-old Richard and his mother were the victims of a home invasion with a different purpose…
We lived in a flat which was above a jewellery store, and the day this happened I was sitting at the table having breakfast before I went off to school. I was wearing a white sheepskin waistcoat over a blue polo shirt with red stripes, old jeans and grey sandshoes.
As for Mum, she was wearing a bluer denim waistcoat over a red t-shirt, jeans with the legs rolled up to her knees, and tan leather boots with a cork heel. She also had a red bandana tied round her neck – at least, at first…
Anyway, she was telling me to finish up and get moving when the door opened and three men came in – they were big, and had black masks down over their heads, but one of them had a gun while the other two came in, oner grabbing Mum while the other stood behind me and put his gloved hands on my shoulders, telling me not to move. I was petrified - and so was Mum, as she asked what was happening.
The man with the gun just told her to be quiet, and do exactly what they said, or I was the one who would get hurt. That made me shake my head, so that Mum said don’t hurt me – and then the man told her to call my school, and tell them I was going to off sick that day, and then to call her work and tell them she would not be in as well.
She nodded as she went to the phone on the wall, while the man with me told me to finish my breakfast, and then to put my hands by the chair back. I wondered what he was going to d- and then I heard the tearing sound and felt the tape on my wrists as they were secured to the chair back. Once both my wrists were secured, I felt the tape going round my stomach as I was forced against the chair back.
As Mum finished the call to her work, the masked man pulled the wire out of the wall socket and then told her to sit on the other side of the table. I could see the man walk over and tape her arms and body as well, before he removed the scarf from her neck and pushed it into her mouth. He then pressed a length of brown sticking plaster over her lips, before he came back over and pushed a folded handkerchief into my mouth and covered my lips with sticking plaster as well, before my ankles and legs were taped together, and then my mu had her ankles taped to the front legs of the chair she was bound to.
All we could do was look at each other and try to stay calm – as calm as you can be with three masked men holding you hostage and one of them holding an arm. I’m not sure how long they were there before they walked quickly out of the back door and down to the yard – it was only later when the police found us that we heard they had robbed the jewellers by getting in the back…
We go forward a few years and across an ocean now, as a family at a ranch house meet two escaped prisoners…
We were staying there on holiday and decided that day to dress up as if we were cowboys. I was nine, and Bart was six, and we both had the same outfit on – long sleeved white shirt with a pattern non the front, dark brown buckskin waistcoats, brown corduroy pants and brown shoes, as well as black cowboy hats on our back.
As for Mom and Pops, they were also wearing the same clothes – black checked lumberjack shirts with denim pants and waistcoats, and brown flat shoes. I remember Mom had her glasses on, as went out into the yard and played at cowboys.
It was about an hour later that Mum called us in, but as we went in I could see she was upset about something – but just what she was upset about I had on idea until Bart and I went into the front room, and there were two men there. They smelled bad, but one of them had a knife which he held next to Pop’s neck, and the other just looked at us as he said something about “good – you’re going to be tied up like a hog now.”
Mom pleaded with him not to hurt us, but he ordered her to sit down and “keep those hands where I can see them” while Bart and I looked at each other, and Mom sat down. He then picked up from a chair a coil of rough brown rope and made a lasso, which he dropped over Bart’s head and then pulled tight so that his arms were forced against his sides.
We could only watch as he wound the rope round him and then took his hands behind his back and used the same rope to secure his wrists together behind his back. Bart was then made to lie on the floor as the man took the rope down and tied his legs together below his knees, and then his ankles, before he bent his legs and used the remaining rope to tie his ankles to the ropes round his chest.
Bart wriggled round as the man picked up a second rope and then did the same thing to me, the two of us looking at each other as we found ourselves only able to wriggle round – and then a rolled up black bandana with a knot tied in the middle was pushed into my mouth, the knot pressing my tongue down as the band was tied round my head.
I could see Bart was also gagged. As he looked at me, the knot forcing his lips apart, and I nodded as the man picked up another coil of rope and put it over Pop’s head. It only took a few minutes, but soon he was on the floor next to us, tied so he could not move and a knotted bandana in his mouth as well, before Mom was forced to go with one of the men and the other one watched over us.
We were too scared to move, even as I felt the knotted cotton in my mouth getting wetter and my mouth getting drier, because the man watching us just shook his head from side to side. I looked at Pops, who just nodded his head as well before Mom came back in and gave the man a plate with food and a glass.
She was then tied up and gagged in the same way as all of us, lying next to me as I saw her heels nearly against the fingers of her hands, her red lips over the black knotted bandana, as the two men sat and ate. They then watched television before it got dark and they left us to try and get free…
While those stories took place decades ago, for the second part of this show we come more up to date – starting with fifteen-year-old Steve…
Mum’s a fashion designer, and yeah somehow, we end up wearing the same colour of clothing at times – that afternoon I was wearing a red short sleeved shirt with white dots, khaki knee length shorts, and black socks with my black trainers.
Mum was working in her studio, and as usual, she was dressed in fashionable clothes – that day it was a one-piece red suit which was strapless, the top covering her chest, and white high heels. I left her to do finish up while I went to the kitchen to pour myself a glass of milk – but then I was grabbed from behind, a latex gloved hand pressed over my mouth as a voice told me not to panic, and to slowly close the door before I put my hands behind my back.
Well, I closed the door and then put my hands behind my back as the gloved hand was taken away, and then I heard a harsh rasping sound as my wrists were violently forced together. I could feel the thin strip of something on my wrists, but then I was turned round and forced to march into the front room before I was made to lie face down on the couch. I felt whoever this was taking my shoes and socks off before I heard the rasping sound again, and my ankles were forced together, and then I was rolled over.
I saw the gloved hand in front of me - and then tasted the sweat and cotton of my sock as it was pushed into my mouth, and then what I realized was a zip tie was forced between my lips and fastened round my head to keep the sock in there. I rolled onto my side and looked down to see the thin white strip round my ankles, and then a man wearing black with something over his head walk quickly out of the room, leaving me alone there.
Not for long however – because a few minutes later he forced Mum to come in as well. I could see the thin nylon strip round her head and between her lips, and the fact her hands were behind her back, and the look of shock in her eyes as she saw me before she was made to lie along a chaise longue we had in the front room, and the intruder used another zip tie to secure her ankles together as well.
We could only look at each other as he left the room, and it was a while before Mum got the courage up to manage to stand up and jump over to where I was. Dropping to her knees, she nuzzled her head against mine to reassure me, before she started to search for some scissors…
For Trevor, the hours he spent very close to his older sister may have been both exciting and terrifying in equal measure…
I was fourteen, and Ellei was eighteen – Mum and Dad had left us alone in the house while they went to visit some friends, so we were totally unprepared for what happened to us – or how we were left.
Elsie was wearing a red sweatshirt and blue jeans tucked into brown boots, while I was wearing a red Abercrombie and Fitch sweatshirt and jeans with grey trainers. Naturally, I was doing my own thing and Elsie hers – which is why neither of us heard the burglar coming into the house, or even knew anything was wrong until, in my case, a gloved hand was pressed down over my mouth and I was told to stand up and put my hands by my sides.
I wondered what was going on as I stood up, before I felt something forcing my wrists against my sides and I looked down to see one of my dad’s leather belts had been fastened round my waist. A second one was then passed round my arms, forcing them against my body, before I was told to open my mouth. As I did, something was pushed into the space an di closed my lips over it, before some black material was wrapped tightly round my head which kept that stuffing in there and pressed in on my cheeks.
I was then turned round and forced to walk to Elsie’s room. My eyes opening wide as I saw her lying on her bed. There were thin belts holding her ankles together, her legs above and below her knees, her waist and her arms, with her hands under her back, and she had some black material wrapped tightly round her head. She could only look at me as I was made to lie next to her and watch as the man who had walked min used three of my father’s belts to secure my ankles and legs as well.
“Hurruhshlrht,” she said as she looked at me, and I nodded as I twisted round on the bed, before the man started to search her drawers and steal her jewellery. A second young man joined him and held a pillowcase as Elsie’s valuables were dropped in, and I saw how angry she was. The black band was pressing her blonde hair against the back of her neck, and as she struggled her boots squeaked – but something in the way she looked, in the way I felt, made me feel very different as well.
Eventually the two men left, and she started to try and get the belts loose that held her, while I realized I had to roll over – something was happening I did not want her to see…
Jack and Jim had been for an afternoon walk with their mother when they walked in to find they had unexpected visitors at their house…
I was fourteen, Jim was twelve, and we were both wearing grey sweatshirts and dark pants. I remember there was snow on the ground, so we were both wearing black trainers, while Mom was wearing a pair of dark brown boots over black leggings, a red and black long checked blouse completing her outfit.
So, the last thing we were expecting when we walked in was to find a man there, wearing a black jumper and pants, who was emptying some of Dad’s brass collection into a bag. He saw us, but before Mum could say anything he produced a pistol and pointed it at us, telling us not to do anything stupid but to just have a seat, with our hands on our heads.
Well, we did as he asked as the man put down the gun, and took from a bag he had placed on the floor some lengths of rope - rope he used to tie Mom’s wrists together behind her back, and then round her body as that her arms were forced against her sides, framing her chest as her blouse was stretched over it. Jim and I were both watching as she looked at us, and told us there was nothing to be afraid of – it was just we had never seen Mom like this…
When he tied the rope off, he told us both to sit on the floor back to back, and then he told Mom to lie along the couch as he produced more ropes, using one to secure her ankles together and then another one to tie her legs together below her knees. She then watched as he laid more ropes on the ground and told us to link arms and bend our legs, before he told us to put our hands on our knees.
He then smiled at me as he tied the ripe round my wrists and then round my legs so they were held tightly together. Another rope was used to secure my ankles together, before he went behind me and I heard him talking to Jim, feeling the pull on my arms as he obviously made sure his wrists and legs were bound as tightly as mine were.
I then felt the ropes forcing me against Jim and our arms against our sides as it was wound round both of us, while Mum kept reassuring us we were going to be all right.
For as long as she could – because when the intruder had tied me and Jim together, he went over and stood in front of Mom. We heard her say something, then something muffled as there was a peeling sound -and when we next saw her, there was a wide, long strip of white tape pressed down over her mouth, the shape of her lips clear underneath, and she was unable to say anything understandable.
A few minutes later, neither could we – he pushed a red ball into my mouth and covered my chin and lips with this really strong tape., and I presume he did the same to Jim as well because he could not say anything either.
He then left us alone for a few minutes, both of us trying to wriggle round as Mom moved on the couch, but there was something in the way she looked when she wriggled round that made me stare – and I realized Jim was probably looking at her as well.
The man then came back in and checked the way we were all tied before we hear him leave the house - and then Mom slipped off the couch and wriggled over, sitting with us as she put her head near my fingers, and I tried to peel the tape away from her mouth.
With absolutely no success…
For our final story in this episode, we hear the tale from the mother’s point of view…
I’m the proud mother of two very brave and talented young boys – Sammy is thirteen and Matt twelve – and we live in a farmhouse near a lake. The day this happened, Samy was wearing a blue jumper over a white shirt, and Matt a green checked shirt over a white t-shirt, both of them also wearing jeans and trainers.
I was in the kitchen preparing lunch, a black Palestine shawl round my neck and shoulders covering the top of the black t-shirt I was wearing over the long sleeved white thermal top. I was also wearing jeans, and slippers – not expecting any trouble at all, until the women walked in.
There were four of them, identical – not identically dressed, identical, from the short grey boots to the top of their heads in grey, the only thing not grey the white masks that covered their faces. One of them pointed a gun at me, while one of the others put a large canvas bag on the kitchen table and drew from it a long, doubled over length of brown rope, with a small loop tied in the middle.
“Who are you,” I said, “what do you want?” But they didn’t reply- instead the one holding the pistol put a gloved finger to where her lips should have been while the one who had the rope walked behind me and draped the rope over my shoulders both lengths falling down the front of me.
For a short while only – because she reached round and started to wind the ropes down my arms, spiralling the ends as at the same time she pulled my arms behind my back. It happened so fast, as I felt my arms being pulled up behind me – but when she was done, my arms were secured, and I could not move them away from my body.
“What di you want,” I said quietly, knowing the answer involved taking something from me – but they still said nothing as I was ordered to walk in front of them – it was time I realized for my sons to join me in this situation. When I walked into the front room, both of them turned and looked at me – then slowly stood up as the four masked women walked in.
“Mum,” Sammy said quietly, “do you know who they are? They’re the China Doll Gang.”
I looked at them as two of them took more ropes from the large bag, and walked behind the boys, while I thought about what Sammy had said. Now I realized why they had said nothing – they never did, according to the reports. I swallowed, and as my own boys started to have their arms pulled behind their backs, I said “well, if they are indeed that group, there is no way they are going to say anything – so we will have to endure whatever is coming together.”
“That’s tight,” Matt said as the ropes went round his body and held his upper arms against his sides.”
“Yes it is, but we have to do what they say,” I Sammy said as I saw the Dolls secure their upper bodies, and then we were helped to sit on the floor, the boys either side of me as the Doll took more rope and one by one secured our legs together below our knees, and then our ankles.
Two of them then left the room as the fourth one stood over us, watching as her – partner took from the bag a sponge and compressed it in her hand before kneeling by me and pointing to my mouth. As I opened it, she pushed the sponge in, and I felt it expand and press my tongue down before she peeled the end of a length of grey tape from a roll and wrapped it tightly round my head. She then silenced the boys in the same way, the three of us looking at each other as the Dolls watched us.
One of them had gone upstairs, but when she came down, they just walked out backwards, leaving us to try and get free…
The has been In Their Own Words – until next time…
Starting with Chip, who was ten years old when he, his younger brother Craig, and their mother were held hostage by an opportunistic thief…
This would have been about fifty years ago – I was ten, and Craig was Eight, and it was a long, hot summer when this happened. I remember I was wearing a yellow and mustard striped t-shirt and tan shorts with long brown socks and shoes, while Craig was wearing a dark blue polo shirt and shorts with knee length white socks and black shoes.
We were watching television while Mum was doing some work round the house. She had picked us up from a holiday club that lunchtime, so was still in her work clothes -a mustard-coloured dress with a short skirt, and black knee length boots.
Anyway, she was elsewhere in the house and we were watching television when the door opened, and this man came in – I didn’t know who he was, but he was wearing a vest and jeans, and he had a big knife in his hand – so when he told me and Craig to be quiet and he wouldn’t hurt us, I looked at my brother and told him to be quiet.
We were sitting in two armchairs with wooden armrests, so the man told us to hold our hands out in front of ourselves as he took from his back pocket a ball of twine. I watched as he used the twine to bind my wrists tightly together; the thin cords cutting into the skin of my wrists and then tied them down to one of the arms of the chair before he used the knife to cut the twine free.
I tried to move my hands, but it was too tight – and then I heard craig start to cry as the man tied his wrists as well. I looked over and told him we would be all right, and he shouldn’t cry – we would get through it together. He nodded as the man cut the twine, his wrists tied down to the arm of the chair and then knelt down to tie his ankles together in the same way – before he tied mine as well.
He then threatened us by saying if we called out, he would make sure we never talked again – and then he left the room, as I told Clint we would be all right, and he needed to stay calm – but then we heard Mum call out, and we both looked at each other.
A few minutes later, she was pushed into the room, and we could see she had twine holding her wrists together in front of herself – and she had a washcloth pushed into her mouth so that the edges were sticking out between her lips. The man was holding the ball of twine as he forced her to lie on her back on the couch, and then took the twine down and wrapped it around and between her ankles to hold them together as well, then tied the twine round the leg before he cut it free.
He then pushed damp cloths into our mouths as well, telling us just to sit quietly as he pushed them further in by winding twine round our heads – I looked at Mum and saw the band pressing in on her cheeks as well - before he left the three of us there and ransacked the rest of the house. We had to stay there as the television programs continued, until our father came home…
At around about the same time, nine-year-old Richard and his mother were the victims of a home invasion with a different purpose…
We lived in a flat which was above a jewellery store, and the day this happened I was sitting at the table having breakfast before I went off to school. I was wearing a white sheepskin waistcoat over a blue polo shirt with red stripes, old jeans and grey sandshoes.
As for Mum, she was wearing a bluer denim waistcoat over a red t-shirt, jeans with the legs rolled up to her knees, and tan leather boots with a cork heel. She also had a red bandana tied round her neck – at least, at first…
Anyway, she was telling me to finish up and get moving when the door opened and three men came in – they were big, and had black masks down over their heads, but one of them had a gun while the other two came in, oner grabbing Mum while the other stood behind me and put his gloved hands on my shoulders, telling me not to move. I was petrified - and so was Mum, as she asked what was happening.
The man with the gun just told her to be quiet, and do exactly what they said, or I was the one who would get hurt. That made me shake my head, so that Mum said don’t hurt me – and then the man told her to call my school, and tell them I was going to off sick that day, and then to call her work and tell them she would not be in as well.
She nodded as she went to the phone on the wall, while the man with me told me to finish my breakfast, and then to put my hands by the chair back. I wondered what he was going to d- and then I heard the tearing sound and felt the tape on my wrists as they were secured to the chair back. Once both my wrists were secured, I felt the tape going round my stomach as I was forced against the chair back.
As Mum finished the call to her work, the masked man pulled the wire out of the wall socket and then told her to sit on the other side of the table. I could see the man walk over and tape her arms and body as well, before he removed the scarf from her neck and pushed it into her mouth. He then pressed a length of brown sticking plaster over her lips, before he came back over and pushed a folded handkerchief into my mouth and covered my lips with sticking plaster as well, before my ankles and legs were taped together, and then my mu had her ankles taped to the front legs of the chair she was bound to.
All we could do was look at each other and try to stay calm – as calm as you can be with three masked men holding you hostage and one of them holding an arm. I’m not sure how long they were there before they walked quickly out of the back door and down to the yard – it was only later when the police found us that we heard they had robbed the jewellers by getting in the back…
We go forward a few years and across an ocean now, as a family at a ranch house meet two escaped prisoners…
We were staying there on holiday and decided that day to dress up as if we were cowboys. I was nine, and Bart was six, and we both had the same outfit on – long sleeved white shirt with a pattern non the front, dark brown buckskin waistcoats, brown corduroy pants and brown shoes, as well as black cowboy hats on our back.
As for Mom and Pops, they were also wearing the same clothes – black checked lumberjack shirts with denim pants and waistcoats, and brown flat shoes. I remember Mom had her glasses on, as went out into the yard and played at cowboys.
It was about an hour later that Mum called us in, but as we went in I could see she was upset about something – but just what she was upset about I had on idea until Bart and I went into the front room, and there were two men there. They smelled bad, but one of them had a knife which he held next to Pop’s neck, and the other just looked at us as he said something about “good – you’re going to be tied up like a hog now.”
Mom pleaded with him not to hurt us, but he ordered her to sit down and “keep those hands where I can see them” while Bart and I looked at each other, and Mom sat down. He then picked up from a chair a coil of rough brown rope and made a lasso, which he dropped over Bart’s head and then pulled tight so that his arms were forced against his sides.
We could only watch as he wound the rope round him and then took his hands behind his back and used the same rope to secure his wrists together behind his back. Bart was then made to lie on the floor as the man took the rope down and tied his legs together below his knees, and then his ankles, before he bent his legs and used the remaining rope to tie his ankles to the ropes round his chest.
Bart wriggled round as the man picked up a second rope and then did the same thing to me, the two of us looking at each other as we found ourselves only able to wriggle round – and then a rolled up black bandana with a knot tied in the middle was pushed into my mouth, the knot pressing my tongue down as the band was tied round my head.
I could see Bart was also gagged. As he looked at me, the knot forcing his lips apart, and I nodded as the man picked up another coil of rope and put it over Pop’s head. It only took a few minutes, but soon he was on the floor next to us, tied so he could not move and a knotted bandana in his mouth as well, before Mom was forced to go with one of the men and the other one watched over us.
We were too scared to move, even as I felt the knotted cotton in my mouth getting wetter and my mouth getting drier, because the man watching us just shook his head from side to side. I looked at Pops, who just nodded his head as well before Mom came back in and gave the man a plate with food and a glass.
She was then tied up and gagged in the same way as all of us, lying next to me as I saw her heels nearly against the fingers of her hands, her red lips over the black knotted bandana, as the two men sat and ate. They then watched television before it got dark and they left us to try and get free…
While those stories took place decades ago, for the second part of this show we come more up to date – starting with fifteen-year-old Steve…
Mum’s a fashion designer, and yeah somehow, we end up wearing the same colour of clothing at times – that afternoon I was wearing a red short sleeved shirt with white dots, khaki knee length shorts, and black socks with my black trainers.
Mum was working in her studio, and as usual, she was dressed in fashionable clothes – that day it was a one-piece red suit which was strapless, the top covering her chest, and white high heels. I left her to do finish up while I went to the kitchen to pour myself a glass of milk – but then I was grabbed from behind, a latex gloved hand pressed over my mouth as a voice told me not to panic, and to slowly close the door before I put my hands behind my back.
Well, I closed the door and then put my hands behind my back as the gloved hand was taken away, and then I heard a harsh rasping sound as my wrists were violently forced together. I could feel the thin strip of something on my wrists, but then I was turned round and forced to march into the front room before I was made to lie face down on the couch. I felt whoever this was taking my shoes and socks off before I heard the rasping sound again, and my ankles were forced together, and then I was rolled over.
I saw the gloved hand in front of me - and then tasted the sweat and cotton of my sock as it was pushed into my mouth, and then what I realized was a zip tie was forced between my lips and fastened round my head to keep the sock in there. I rolled onto my side and looked down to see the thin white strip round my ankles, and then a man wearing black with something over his head walk quickly out of the room, leaving me alone there.
Not for long however – because a few minutes later he forced Mum to come in as well. I could see the thin nylon strip round her head and between her lips, and the fact her hands were behind her back, and the look of shock in her eyes as she saw me before she was made to lie along a chaise longue we had in the front room, and the intruder used another zip tie to secure her ankles together as well.
We could only look at each other as he left the room, and it was a while before Mum got the courage up to manage to stand up and jump over to where I was. Dropping to her knees, she nuzzled her head against mine to reassure me, before she started to search for some scissors…
For Trevor, the hours he spent very close to his older sister may have been both exciting and terrifying in equal measure…
I was fourteen, and Ellei was eighteen – Mum and Dad had left us alone in the house while they went to visit some friends, so we were totally unprepared for what happened to us – or how we were left.
Elsie was wearing a red sweatshirt and blue jeans tucked into brown boots, while I was wearing a red Abercrombie and Fitch sweatshirt and jeans with grey trainers. Naturally, I was doing my own thing and Elsie hers – which is why neither of us heard the burglar coming into the house, or even knew anything was wrong until, in my case, a gloved hand was pressed down over my mouth and I was told to stand up and put my hands by my sides.
I wondered what was going on as I stood up, before I felt something forcing my wrists against my sides and I looked down to see one of my dad’s leather belts had been fastened round my waist. A second one was then passed round my arms, forcing them against my body, before I was told to open my mouth. As I did, something was pushed into the space an di closed my lips over it, before some black material was wrapped tightly round my head which kept that stuffing in there and pressed in on my cheeks.
I was then turned round and forced to walk to Elsie’s room. My eyes opening wide as I saw her lying on her bed. There were thin belts holding her ankles together, her legs above and below her knees, her waist and her arms, with her hands under her back, and she had some black material wrapped tightly round her head. She could only look at me as I was made to lie next to her and watch as the man who had walked min used three of my father’s belts to secure my ankles and legs as well.
“Hurruhshlrht,” she said as she looked at me, and I nodded as I twisted round on the bed, before the man started to search her drawers and steal her jewellery. A second young man joined him and held a pillowcase as Elsie’s valuables were dropped in, and I saw how angry she was. The black band was pressing her blonde hair against the back of her neck, and as she struggled her boots squeaked – but something in the way she looked, in the way I felt, made me feel very different as well.
Eventually the two men left, and she started to try and get the belts loose that held her, while I realized I had to roll over – something was happening I did not want her to see…
Jack and Jim had been for an afternoon walk with their mother when they walked in to find they had unexpected visitors at their house…
I was fourteen, Jim was twelve, and we were both wearing grey sweatshirts and dark pants. I remember there was snow on the ground, so we were both wearing black trainers, while Mom was wearing a pair of dark brown boots over black leggings, a red and black long checked blouse completing her outfit.
So, the last thing we were expecting when we walked in was to find a man there, wearing a black jumper and pants, who was emptying some of Dad’s brass collection into a bag. He saw us, but before Mum could say anything he produced a pistol and pointed it at us, telling us not to do anything stupid but to just have a seat, with our hands on our heads.
Well, we did as he asked as the man put down the gun, and took from a bag he had placed on the floor some lengths of rope - rope he used to tie Mom’s wrists together behind her back, and then round her body as that her arms were forced against her sides, framing her chest as her blouse was stretched over it. Jim and I were both watching as she looked at us, and told us there was nothing to be afraid of – it was just we had never seen Mom like this…
When he tied the rope off, he told us both to sit on the floor back to back, and then he told Mom to lie along the couch as he produced more ropes, using one to secure her ankles together and then another one to tie her legs together below her knees. She then watched as he laid more ropes on the ground and told us to link arms and bend our legs, before he told us to put our hands on our knees.
He then smiled at me as he tied the ripe round my wrists and then round my legs so they were held tightly together. Another rope was used to secure my ankles together, before he went behind me and I heard him talking to Jim, feeling the pull on my arms as he obviously made sure his wrists and legs were bound as tightly as mine were.
I then felt the ropes forcing me against Jim and our arms against our sides as it was wound round both of us, while Mum kept reassuring us we were going to be all right.
For as long as she could – because when the intruder had tied me and Jim together, he went over and stood in front of Mom. We heard her say something, then something muffled as there was a peeling sound -and when we next saw her, there was a wide, long strip of white tape pressed down over her mouth, the shape of her lips clear underneath, and she was unable to say anything understandable.
A few minutes later, neither could we – he pushed a red ball into my mouth and covered my chin and lips with this really strong tape., and I presume he did the same to Jim as well because he could not say anything either.
He then left us alone for a few minutes, both of us trying to wriggle round as Mom moved on the couch, but there was something in the way she looked when she wriggled round that made me stare – and I realized Jim was probably looking at her as well.
The man then came back in and checked the way we were all tied before we hear him leave the house - and then Mom slipped off the couch and wriggled over, sitting with us as she put her head near my fingers, and I tried to peel the tape away from her mouth.
With absolutely no success…
For our final story in this episode, we hear the tale from the mother’s point of view…
I’m the proud mother of two very brave and talented young boys – Sammy is thirteen and Matt twelve – and we live in a farmhouse near a lake. The day this happened, Samy was wearing a blue jumper over a white shirt, and Matt a green checked shirt over a white t-shirt, both of them also wearing jeans and trainers.
I was in the kitchen preparing lunch, a black Palestine shawl round my neck and shoulders covering the top of the black t-shirt I was wearing over the long sleeved white thermal top. I was also wearing jeans, and slippers – not expecting any trouble at all, until the women walked in.
There were four of them, identical – not identically dressed, identical, from the short grey boots to the top of their heads in grey, the only thing not grey the white masks that covered their faces. One of them pointed a gun at me, while one of the others put a large canvas bag on the kitchen table and drew from it a long, doubled over length of brown rope, with a small loop tied in the middle.
“Who are you,” I said, “what do you want?” But they didn’t reply- instead the one holding the pistol put a gloved finger to where her lips should have been while the one who had the rope walked behind me and draped the rope over my shoulders both lengths falling down the front of me.
For a short while only – because she reached round and started to wind the ropes down my arms, spiralling the ends as at the same time she pulled my arms behind my back. It happened so fast, as I felt my arms being pulled up behind me – but when she was done, my arms were secured, and I could not move them away from my body.
“What di you want,” I said quietly, knowing the answer involved taking something from me – but they still said nothing as I was ordered to walk in front of them – it was time I realized for my sons to join me in this situation. When I walked into the front room, both of them turned and looked at me – then slowly stood up as the four masked women walked in.
“Mum,” Sammy said quietly, “do you know who they are? They’re the China Doll Gang.”
I looked at them as two of them took more ropes from the large bag, and walked behind the boys, while I thought about what Sammy had said. Now I realized why they had said nothing – they never did, according to the reports. I swallowed, and as my own boys started to have their arms pulled behind their backs, I said “well, if they are indeed that group, there is no way they are going to say anything – so we will have to endure whatever is coming together.”
“That’s tight,” Matt said as the ropes went round his body and held his upper arms against his sides.”
“Yes it is, but we have to do what they say,” I Sammy said as I saw the Dolls secure their upper bodies, and then we were helped to sit on the floor, the boys either side of me as the Doll took more rope and one by one secured our legs together below our knees, and then our ankles.
Two of them then left the room as the fourth one stood over us, watching as her – partner took from the bag a sponge and compressed it in her hand before kneeling by me and pointing to my mouth. As I opened it, she pushed the sponge in, and I felt it expand and press my tongue down before she peeled the end of a length of grey tape from a roll and wrapped it tightly round my head. She then silenced the boys in the same way, the three of us looking at each other as the Dolls watched us.
One of them had gone upstairs, but when she came down, they just walked out backwards, leaving us to try and get free…
The has been In Their Own Words – until next time…
