A family has been left terrified after masked intruders broke into their home while they slept.
Shocking CCTV footage of the raid shows three men standing outside the back of the house on East Kilbride's Newlands Road shortly before 1am on Sunday, October 2, waving a knife.
The gang appeared to be looking for car keys in the property before coming face-to-face with one of the owners. The thieves flung some of the family's personal belongings on the grass before one made off in a black Range Rover Velar.
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The badly shaken owner of the car is now appealing for the public's help to trace the vehicle and catch those responsible.
She told Lanarkshire Live: "At 12.48am, three young men walked in off the street with hoodies, gloves and masks - one of them had a knife.
"It took them about 20 minutes to get into the house, trying various patio and French doors before they sawed off the bottom of a Yale lock on the kitchen door. One boy initially came in and got my handbag with my car keys in it.
"It was after that he went back round to the others and the three of them came in.
"I actually think they were after my husband's car as it's a top-of-the-range Range Rover Sport SVR. So when it dawned on them that the keys opened mine and not that one. They came back in looking for my husband's keys again we think.
"It’s been planned - they had come for the cars, most likely my husband's, throwing other items onto the grass, but if they got the two all the better."
The local business owner went on: "It's just your worst nightmare. We haven't slept, the children are off school. We went to bed about 10pm and not long after 1am the house alarm was triggered.
"It's done it before if something has fallen over so my husband deactivated it, never imagining there was someone in the house, and not wanting it to wake the children.
"But he noticed through a gap in the door that the utility room light was on, he thought that was unusual, came downstairs and looked through the living room door only to be face-to-face with guys wearing masks.
"He made a hell of a commotion and they ran off. I heard him let out an almighty scream, and I came running downstairs wondering what the hell was going on.
"And while this was going on we saw my car lights go on and we desperately called 999."
Although the three culprits initially ran off, one of them then sped off in the black Range Rover out of the estate at 1.13am towards Greenhills/Newlandsmuir, almost hitting a taxi.
The mum went on: "Every scenario of what could have happened has gone through our heads - especially since one of them was carrying a knife.
"We have cameras, an alarm and all the other security you can think off. We thought we had done everything we could. I have now installed sensors and anything else we could think of."
Despite the family's own CCTV footage and that of neighbours, the car still hasn't been traced.
And the woman believes that the family home was watched prior to the break-in.
"From our footage at 12.17am on the same night, a small red hatchback car, a Mazda, came slowly into our estate, the car then drives out our estate and turns right towards the new Bellway estate," she went on.
"The car turns off its lights and we believe it was them checking the area to see if we were sleeping."
She added: "I’m appealing to anyone who has seen a car fitting the description of mine that has just appeared, maybe parked up somewhere in a car park, a street lockup perhaps. It could have false plates or been sprayed a different colour and could be in the EK, Hamilton or Glasgow area.
"Or if you are nearby and have CCTV or Ring doorbells that might have picked anything up around this time, please help if you can and contact police."
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "Housebreaking is highly impactive crime and is a divisional priority for Police in East Kilbride.
"Enquiries continue with regards to this incident and anyone with information please contact 101 quoting incident number 20221002-0283. Please be vigilant, ensure all property is secured and contact police should you see any suspicious activity.”
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