Sible Hedingham: Mansion shooting victim 'not targeted'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-35516161

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A householder shot through a bedroom door by intruders at a mansion was not targeted, police believe.

Armed raiders broke into The Old Rectory in Sible Hedingham, Essex, in the early hours of Saturday and left the man with "life-changing" leg injuries.

The unnamed victim is a "successful businessman" in his 40s and remains in an undisclosed hospital, police said.

It is thought the motive was theft, but the two gunmen fled empty-handed.

Police are still searching for the suspects and treating the crime at the grade II-listed property as an "aggravated burglary".

Det Ch Insp Stephen Jennings, from Essex Police's serious crime directorate, said: "There's no reason to suggest he was targeted individually, so we do believe at this moment that it was a theft-related motive.

"We've got a number of detectives in the area, we've got a full forensic operation inside the house to try to piece together what happened."

Det Ch Insp Jennings said the victim's leg had been "operated on" but confirmed it had not been amputated.

However, he said the man would take "some time" to recover from the injury.

The man was due to be interviewed in his hospital bed on Sunday.

The intruders threatened the victim, who was alone in the house, before firing at him through a locked door - after breaking in through a window.

The wounded man called the emergency services just before 04:40 GMT.

Det Ch Insp Jennings said police were looking for "two men, believed to both be white males - one of who is possibly bald".

'Shock and sadness'

Any witnesses who spotted anything suspicious in the village have been urged to contact police.

The village's parish council chairman Ron Volkwyn, who has lived in Sible Hedingham for more than 30 years, said the attack was a "shock" and "extremely unusual".

"It really is bad news... it's shock and sadness for the victim," he said.

"Nobody seems to know who lives there - you never see them."

Neighbour Penny Miragliotta echoed Mr Volkwyn's sentiments and said she was woken up by her dog who started barking as police arrived.

"I saw three or four police cars at least and they were having to climb over the walls because they could not get through the gates," she said.