UPDATE: Tinley Manor family recount their night of horror

A Tinley Manor family were attacked by a gang of six knife-wielding men who raided their home during the early hours of the morning last week.

Omela Maraj, who lives in the house with her husband, a teacher at Stanger Secondary School and her 21-year-old son, was asleep when she was woken by the sound of glass smashing.

“I heard a noise in the lounge and woke up my husband, who went to investigate and saw someone tampering with the lounge glass door. At the same time I saw someone by my bedroom window and looked up to see them breaking the glass.”

The one intruder, armed with a bush-knife, forced his way into the bedroom.

“My 76-year-old mother who was visiting woke up and came into the room to see what was happening. At the same time my son also ran through and saw the men entering the house.

“It all happened so fast and I am still in shock. One of the men chased my son who ran through to the kitchen and hid in the scullery. The man in the bedroom was holding a bush knife and demanded my phone. He slashed at my mother’s head with his knife. I heard my husband screaming at them and I recall holding my mother who was bleeding profusely from the head.”

Also read: North Coast residents urged to be on the lookout following crime spike

Maraj said one of the intruders hit her on the head with a knobkerry before he ran away.

“My son managed to run out the house and go call for help. He had cuts on his hands and feet from the broken glass but thankfully the injuries were minor.”

The intruders ransacked the house before they left on foot.

This was the first time the house had been broken into.

“This case felt so isolated, we have never had problems here before. I am just thankful my family was not seriously injured or worse,” said Maraj.

Paramedics attended to Maraj’s elderly mother before transporting her to Victoria Hospital for treatment.

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