Businessman attacked by knife-wielding burglars fears he would have been killed if he didn't have what the 'villains' wanted

Michael Blake, who ran in a furniture business in South Shields for four decades before it moved to Wallsend, was approached outside his house by a man in a fluorescent jacket and asked to take delivery of a parcel for a neighbour.

Newcastle Crown Court heard when Mr Blake agreed and opened the door to his home in Penshaw, he was pushed inside by the fake worker, who was then joined by two more masked raiders, and ordered to hand over cash at knifepoint.

During the terrifying ordeal, the businessman was hit in the face with the handle of the weapon, which had a 14-inch blade, before the raiders, who threatened to chop off his hands, left with almost £20,000 in cash as well as high value vintage watches.

Mr Blake recalls blood pouring down his face as the men, he describes as being ‘utterly evil villains’, demanded to know where his money was.

Speaking to the Echo after the horrifying burglary, Mr Blake said: “No amount of money is worth losing a life over. If I hadn’t have had that money it would have been very different. They would have killed me. They weren’t leaving without that money.

“They were prepared to kill me and they would have done.

“If I didn’t have that money in the house, this would be a murder investigation now.”

He added: “I have been here for 20-odd years. I’ve contemplated moving. You don’t feel like you can he happy in a building where this has happened.

“Them rotten b******* have soiled my house.“It’s a dreadful thing, it degrades your life. I’ll have to live with this until the day I die.”

Ian Skivington, 51, of Thornhill Road, Ponteland, and Lee Donald, 39, of Rowantree Road, Newcastle, both admitted aggravated burglary and were each jailed for seven years and eight months.

Thomas Clayton, 38, of Laburnum House, Wallsend, admitted handling stolen goods and was jailed for four months.