Racehorse trainer robbed of £100,000

Durham police are investigating a £100,000 armed robbery at the home of a leading racehorse trainer last night when a balaclava-clad gunman and a man brandishing a knife forced their way into his home. Howard Johnson, who trains Royal Rosa, which ran in Saturday's Grand National but failed to finish, found two men had forced his front door late on Sunday. One had an 18cm (7in) knife and the other a gun. He told police one of the men dragged his wife, Sue, out of bed and held a handgun to his head as he forced him to open a safe. Armed response officers were called to the scene at White Lea Farm in Roddymoor, County Durham, and searched the surrounding area. Johnson has trained 60 National Hunt winners this season, with prize money of almost £220,000. He is the leading National Hunt trainer in northern England and well regarded in racing circles. At 10.30pm he was reading a newspaper when the raiders started to smash in his front door. He said: "All of a sudden I heard a horrendous thud – I thought a picture had come off the wall. I jumped up and rushed to the door and there were two of them saying 'We're going to get you, open the door.'" "They were braying [hitting] on it and I couldn't keep them back. They overpowered me and chucked me against the glass doors. I shouted up to my wife, Sue: 'We're getting burgled.'" Johnson, 56, was held at gunpoint while the knifeman went upstairs to the bedroom and brought his wife down. He said the men took "six figures" in cash including money he had won at Aintree. Armed officers were on the scene within minutes after the Johnsons raised the alarm. He said: "I couldn't act, they would have killed us. I just kept cool. They [the robbers] never got excited and they weren't shaking, they were professionals." He said the men told him to not to contact police for at least three hours, otherwise the couple would be shot. However they were able to dial 999 and armed police were on the scene within minutes after the alarm was raised. The couple were interviewed overnight and were unable to return to their home until forensic examinations were completed. He said it was lucky their five-year-old granddaughter was not staying with them, as had been planned. Johnson trains horses for the computer millionaire Graham Wylie. He had earlier spotted a car nearby as he finished his jobs for the day but thought it belonged to a "courting couple". The trainer said the money taken was being saved up to buy his wife a dream cottage. "It's just as well we had the cash. If we didn't I don't think I'd be talking to you now. "This is the biggest fright I have ever had. I have never been as frightened in my life before – and I have been kicked by bulls and horses and was nearly killed by a cow."