Home knife raid ordeal

RAID fright: Velma by the kitchen window where the burglar, armed with a knife, got in

A RETIRED nurse from Clarksfield came face-to-face with a knife-wielding burglar in her home.

Great-grandmother Velma Mckenzie was alone in Ronald Street last Thursday evening when she heard two loud bangs. She later saw the kitchen window was wide open but when she returned to the living room she was confronted by a burglar.

He held a knife up to her face and said, “I’ve got a knife, I’m going to stab you”.

The former Royal Oldham Hospital nurse (77) said: “I ran straight upstairs. He really shook me up. He must have been thinking nobody was in the house so he came in to see what he could get.”

She ran to the bedroom, locked the door and phoned the police before shouting for help at the window.

Neighbours heard her cries and ran to help.

Mrs McKenzie, who has lived in the street since 1986, added: “I’m still a bit scared but I feel a bit better now. I’m more calm. I’m not letting him get to me.”

The burglar stole three necklaces and an old wedding ring.

Velma described him as in his late teens or early 20s, possibly Asian.

Anyone with information can call the non-emergency 101 police number.