A landscape gardener was 'left for dead' by four balaclava-clad burglars after they burst into his home.
Alec Farrow was tied-up, slashed with a carving knife and beaten by the masked thugs in a terrifying late-night raid at his home on Holt Road, Felthorpe.
They covered the 42-year-old's face in tape and ransacked his house, stealing thousands in cash and sentimental gold jewellery.
In a final cruel gesture, the raiders then carried Mr Farrow to his bedroom, closed the windows, and turned the heating to full.
Still bound and gagged, he was forced to spend the night alone - unable to move, see or hear.
More than a month on, and Mr Farrow has today bravely spoken about what happened for the first time.
'I thought I was going to die to be perfectly honest with you,' he said. 'They left me for dead.'
The burglary took place at around 10pm on Sunday, April 29, just as Mr Farrow was about to go to bed.
He heard a knock at the door of his gated home and went to investigate.
But as he opened it, four men, all wearing balaclavas, burst in and knocked Mr Farrow to the ground.
'They were punching me and kicking me all over the place,' he said. 'They kept asking 'where is the money?'.'
One of the thugs attempted to tie Mr Farrow's legs together, but he broke free and managed to kick him to the floor.
'At that point the other three set on me,' Mr Farrow said.
'They tied my legs, taped my arms behind my back and covered my face with tape.
'I couldn't see anything at all, but I was still able to breath.'
He said the men were speaking with Eastern European accents as they demanded him to hand over money.
Mr Farrow, who runs Alec Farrow Landscape Gardening and Turf Specialists, said £2,000 was stolen in cash, as well as gold chains, rings and bracelets.
Part of his property serves as an office to his business.
'They [the burglars] left the house upside down,' Mr Farrow said.
'I was carried into my bedroom and could not move. They then turned the heating on full, closed all the windows and left me for dead.'
Mr Farrow said one of the burglars pulled out a carving knife and cut his right leg prior to leaving.
'I spent the whole night in the bedroom,' he said. 'I was trying to wriggle myself free, but couldn't.
'In the end I just gave up and laid there. I thought they were going to kill me.'
The following morning, on Monday, April 30, Mr Farrow was found by one of his workers at around 7am.
'He took all the stuff [tape] off me so I could talk, and by 7.15am there were 10 police cars out here,' he said.
He spent two nights at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, where he was treated for his injuries.
He was left with severe bruising all over his body, and a small slash wound to his right thigh.
Mr Farrow said he stayed with friends for two weeks after being discharged from hospital
'It was pretty hard [coming back home] for the first couple of days,' Mr Farrow said. 'But you just overcome it.'
Mr Farrow said it had been a difficult 12 months, having lost his mother, who was aged 65.
Meanwhile his father, 70, who founded the family landscaping business in 1966, has been in hospital for six months.
'It has been a rough year, but I am gradually getting over it,' Mr Farrow added.
He has since installed alarms and CCTV around his property.
Norfolk Police said they were continuing to investigate what happened. However they said no arrests had been made.
Detective Sergeant Matt Jenkins, from Norwich CID, has appealed for further information.
He said: 'Based on the investigation so far, we believe that this was a targeted assault and nearby residents are not thought to be at risk.
'I would like to appeal to any witnesses or people travelling in the area with dash-cam footage to come forward.'
It happened between 9pm on Sunday, April 29 and 7am on Monday, April 30 this year.
Police are treating the incident as an aggravated burglary.
•DS Jenkins can be contacted on 101 or alternatively call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
•Burglary rises
The latest crime figures show that domestic burglaries increased by 49pc in 2017 in Norfolk, up from 1,465 in 2016 to 2,185.
Police put some of the rise down to a gang targeting the region and a reclassification of burglaries.
Back in January this year, deputy chief constable Nick Dean said the Constabulary was working with other forces to tackle the rise.
He stressed Norfolk remained one of the safest places in the country.
He said while there has been a recent rise in burglaries, there has been a 50pc reduction in burglary figures since 2003, with Norfolk seeing 5,000 fewer break-ins.
Figures also show that of 13,000 break-ins reported to the force in the last three years, 79pc ended with no suspect being identified.
•Are you having problems with crime in your area? Email luke.powell@archant.co.uk
•Follow the latest from our investigations unit on Facebook
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