A GANG of armed and masked burglars made off with more than £12,000 of designer goods after smashing their way into a house and attacking the terrified woman occupant.

Jarvis Horsman was one of three men in balaclavas who broke a hole in the front door and burst in with crowbars and a sledgehammer, Bradford Crown Court heard today.

Horsman, 24, of Harrogate Road, Bradford, pleaded guilty to burgling the property in Pudsey on August 13 last year and was jailed for five and a half years.

He was charged with aggravated burglary, with weapons of offence, namely a Magnusson steel sledgehammer and a wrecking bar, but the Crown accepted his plea to house burglary.

Prosecutor Andrew Petterson said the woman householder was alone upstairs in the afternoon when she heard two loud thuds.

Three men wearing balaclavas had broken in, two carrying crowbars and one with a sledgehammer.

One threatened: “If you make any noise I’ll stab you.’

He demanded “gold, cash and the safe,” pushing her to the ground while his accomplices ransacked the upstairs.

One of the burglars wanted “the watch” and the keys to the couple’s Ferrari.

The woman said the watch was in London and her husband had taken the keys with him, but the man threatened: “I know where you live in London and I’ll be coming there as well.”

The woman was struck in the face, causing an injury to an eye, after she shouted for help.

The burglars then fled with £12,685 worth of high value designer items, including a Christian Dior bag, a Prada belt and Gucci sunglasses.

Mr Petterson said that CCTV for a nearby DIY store showed Horsman and another male buying the crowbars, sledgehammer, gloves and a screwdriver the day before.

A Nokia “burner” phone discarded near the burglary scene had Horsman’s DNA on it.

The court heard that the burglars used an Audi A4 stolen from Bradford and on false plates as the getaway car. It was found abandoned with packaging from some of the stolen items in it.

Horsman was arrested soon after the burglary and made no comment when questioned by the police.

He continued to deny any involvement until last week, the court was told.

He was remanded in custody and sentenced on a prison video link.

Mr Petterson said Horsman had two house burglaries on his record, receiving 28 months in a young offender institution.

In her victim impact statement the woman said she and her husband had spent £8,000 on repairs to the house and installing new security equipment.

She suffered post-traumatic stress disorder, panic attacks and loss of sleep.

“It was our dream home and now the dream is shattered,” she said, disclosing that the couple were selling the property.

Horsman’s barrister, Gerald Hendron, said he came from a respectable, hardworking background and had worked in the construction industry.

He was using cannabis at the time of the burglary and in with the wrong crowd.

Although he had previous convictions there was nothing anywhere near as serious as this.

Horsman was remorseful and “sickened” by what he had done, Mr Hendron said.

Judge Neil Davey QC said the burglary was “one of the most serious offences of its type.”

It was well planned and involved the deliberate targeting of the property. The raiders got away with almost £13,000 of high value property.

The woman was alone and helpless against the three masked men who broke in.

She was so traumatised she had to see a psychologist.

“It’s no exaggeration to say that you have ruined her life,” Judge Davey told Horsman.