Millionaire dentist's home raided by machete-wielding thugs in latest 'Wild West London' attack
A millionair dentist and his wife have recounted the horror of machete-wielding thugs breaking into their London house and threatening to kill their children before decamping with valuable jewelry and accesories.
According to reports, two men wearing balaclavas and armed with a machete and hammer broke into the $2,150,000 home of 38-year-old Kailesh Solanki and his wife, 30-year-old Michelle, who became the latest victims of "wild west Britain."
Recounting their horror on Thursday, the couple said one of the aggressors screamed during the six-minute raid: "If you don’t open your safe I’ll go upstairs and kill your kids."
$270,000 worth of handbags, sunglasses, designer watches, and jewelry including the couple's diamond engagement and wedding rings were stolen by the muggers in the break-in on May 28, reported Daily Mail. Solanki runs a private dentistry business called Kissdental which has clinics across the Manchester area.
In a conversation with Daily Mail, Solanki recounted: "They smashed through the patio windows and ran towards me. One had a machete, the other had a hammer and they were both dressed in black with balaclavas and gloves. I just froze. They took jewelry and a watch off me."
His children, 21-month-old Jasmine and 10-month-old Dylan, were asleep in their bedroom upstairs and the couple was petrified that the robbers would harm them.
Michelle said: "I just thought, 'this is it'. That feeling will stay with me for life. When one of them said he’d kill the kids I said to him, 'they are just babies.'"
"The man with the machete grabbed my hand and took my wedding and engagement rings and my watch. He wouldn’t let go of me.
"At one point, one said, 'leave her, she’s actually shaking'. I was numb. If they had told me to cut my arm off and my kids would be OK, I’d have done it."
Solanki believes that the intruders were scouting his property a week before storming into the wealthy couple's apartment in Hampstead in north west London just before 10 pm on May 28, which was a bank holiday.
Two men were spotted by the couple the previous Thursday at around 11 pm on their CCTV cameras after which they immediately called law enforcement and their private security company. Upon the police's arrival, the men bolted.
The dentist claims that he somehow managed to dial 999 after he heard the muggers smash open the patio doors and subsequently demanded him to open the family safe. "I didn’t know what was in there," he added. "I was just throwing it into a bag. You are just scared. They were very loud, right in our faces."
Since the episode, the couple has bought a German shepherd to guard them against such attacks.
Dr Solanki owns a number of lavish sports cars, including a Ferrari. However, he said: "I was brought up on a council estate and I went to a state school. I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth. But I went to university and worked hard to make a success of my life. I work 70 to 80 hours a week and I like to enjoy some of the finer things in life.
"Then you get people like this who are not willing to educate themselves and just want to take things by force. I don’t want to change who I am, but my view of life has altered. I’m thinking, should I sell my cars, or stop buying nice watches, because I’m putting my family at risk."
Sohail Ahmed, a detective sergeant from Greater Manchester Police, said: "These offenders subjected an innocent family to a terrifying ordeal. We are following a number of lines of inquiry and are appealing for the public to help us catch these dangerous criminals."
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: "We are committed to tackling knife crime and use a number of tactics to disrupt young people who wish to carry knives. The use of knife arches at key locations is a tried and tested tactic."
According to the police, the installation of an arch at the entrance to a McDonald's fast food restaurant in the South London district of Croydon last year has proven to be "very successful."
Jeff Boothe, borough commander of Croydon, said at the time: "When we first started putting up knife arches, we were going into schools and colleges and trying to persuade them of the benefits. Now, businesses and educational facilities are coming to us and saying they would really like to work with us on something similar."
This year has been bloodier than usual for London with at least 37 people being stabbed fatally.