A mother has described the horrifying moment three masked men burst into her home in the Cally and held a “Rambo knife” to her sleeping son’s chest.
The home invasion happened in a flat on the York Way Estate on August 11, and it has left the mother traumatised and calling the Samaritans for help.
Buster Goldsmith, 19, of Romford, pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated burglary and one count of attempted burglary at Snaresbrook Crown Court on January 17.
He broke into two flats in York Way Estate that night. Police are yet to catch his accomplices.
The mother, who asked not to be named due to safety concerns, told this paper: "I woke up as I heard banging noises and I heard my son saying 'Mum', and as I came out [of her bedroom] I was still groggy because I take sleep medication.
"I realised there were three men in the house. The lights were off, I turned the lights quickly. There was one man - I could see him going into my son's room.
"As I went forward I noticed there was another man coming up the stairs and another by the door.
"I could hear the neighbours downstairs screaming.
"When I looked into my son's room there was a man.
"My son, who's 18, was in his shorts getting ready for bed, and he was in bed. He was in bed lying back with the point of a knife to his chest. I could see the knife, that's what I can't forget. I thought that was it, we are going to die. And then, suddenly, there was movement and the guy with the knife stopped for a second, turned around. He pointed the knife at me - I didn't know if he was going to stab me - and then ran off."
The woman believes the men broke into the wrong flat, looking for someone else, and then fled once they realised their mistake. The whole incident last minutes and ended at about 11.35pm.
The mother is disabled and stepped on a nail and tripped down the stairs as she tried to pursue the invaders out the door.
She saw three men sprinting off, and a neighbour told her one was carrying a "machete" or Rambo-style knife.
"It was mentally traumatising," she added. "I just have no more strength. I'm physically, mentally and emotionally drained. We are not the same anymore."
Goldsmith is due for sentence at the same court on February 10.
Call Samaritans for confidential emotional support, free on 116 123.
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