Terrified family barricaded themselves in bedroom as gang raided home

A terrified mum and her children had to barricade themselves in a bedroom as a gang invaded their home, a court has heard. The thugs smashed their way into the family home and trashed the place before stealing the mum's car and driving off. Cardiff Crown Court heard it was likely the gang raided the property in the belief the occupants were involved in organised crime and had a large stash of cannabis, without realising that their intended targets had moved out just a few weeks before and a wholly innocent family had moved in. One member of the gang has been locked up for four-and-a-half years but the other intruders - believed to number four - remain at large. Alex Glanville, prosecuting, told the court that the incident happened on the night of February 26 this year at a house in Cherry Tree Lane, Ebbw Vale . He said that at just after 11pm a mum and her three children were upstairs in the property when they heard a "smashing" noise from downstairs. The mum initially thought a cupboard containing glasses had come crashing down and went to investigate - however, her teenage son realised there were intruders in the house and stopped her. The court heard the mum quickly gathered her three children and the family dog into a bedroom and barricaded themselves in before calling 999. For the latest court stories sign up to our crime newsletter The prosecutor said the family then heard a number of male voices, and people coming up the stairs and going into one of the children's bedrooms. The intruders then went to the room where the victims were sheltering and tried to get in but the family managed to keep the door closed. The court heard that the mum heard one of the group saying words to the effect that "there is someone here" and at that point the gang fled the house. When the coast was clear, the mother went downstairs and found the gang had smashed their way into the property through the ground floor bathroom window and had left the house "in a mess". The front door was wide open and the keys to the family's Kia car had been taken, as had the vehicle itself. Police arrived on the scene soon after receiving the 999 call and launched an investigation. Samples of blood found near the smashed bathroom window were taken for testing by scenes of crime officers and were linked to 39-year-old Liman Xhebexhia. The defendant was arrested and denied knowing anything about the burglary. When asked about the blood evidence he said he had done building work at lots of different properties and might have cut himself while working in one. The court heard that the mum and her children had only been in the house for around three weeks weeks at the time of the raid having done a "house swap" with the previous occupants which had been arranged through Facebook . Liman Xhebexhia, of Morgan Street, Tredegar , had previously pleaded guilty to burglary and theft when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. The plea was entered on the basis that he accepted entering the property with intent to steal, and that he believed the property was a cannabis factory and that the thing he was going to steal was cannabis. The basis was not accepted by the prosecution but they did not seek to challenge it. The defendant has eight previous convictions for 15 offences including burglary, from London's Snaresbrook Crown Court in 2008, and three counts of robbery, from Chelmsford Crown Court in 2011, for which he was sentenced to five years in prison. Kevin Seal, for Xhebexhia, said there had been an 11-year gap in the defendant's offending when he had been working at a car wash in London. He said though his client had leave to remain in the UK, he had been deported back to Albania in 2023 but had re-entered the UK the following year to be reunited with his partner and child in Bristol - paying a £20,000 "fee" for the cross-border journey. He said it was accepted Xhebexhia had re-entered the UK by illegal and dangerous means which could have meant loss of life, "but not, of course, for those who put him on a raft and sent him to this country". The barrister said on his return to the UK his client worked part-time in a car wash and part-time as a tiler but that those to whom Xhebexhia owed the money were "not happy with his repayments" and began issuing threats to the defendant and his partner. Mr Seal said they were his instructions that when the defendant went to the Ebbw Vale property on the night in question he believed he was going there "to effectively rob a cannabis factory". He said there was some evidence to support his client's claims in the papers and statements in the case which suggested that the previous occupants had been involved in serious criminality. The barrister said it was accepted that it was an "awful situation" for the family in the house to find themselves it. Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke said the incident had been a frightening one for the victims, and that it was clear from what she had read that the experience had had a substantial impact on the family. Sher told the defendant that as soon as he had entered the property it must have been obvious to him that it was a family home. With a one-quarter discount for his guilty pleas, Xhebexhia was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison. He will serve 40% of the sentence in custody before being released on licence subject to possible immigration detention and deportation. Get daily breaking news updates on your phone by joining our WhatsApp community here . We occasionally treat members to special offers, promotions and ads from us and our partners. See our Privacy Notice