A SCOTS couple have broken their silence about the terrifying gunpoint ordeal they endured after being lured to England to buy a car.
Michael Irvine and Louise Cogle spoke out after two of their attackers were jailed for a total of more than 13 years for robbing them of £5,000.
Police told them they were lucky to be alive – and the couple said they still had flashbacks to the moment they were ambushed.
At Bradford Crown Court yesterday, Sajid Hussain was jailed for seven years after a jury convicted him of being involved in the robbery.
The 26-year-old was sentenced to a further three years for drug offences.
His co-accused, Shahid Sadik, was jailed for six years and three months after admitting the robbery and gun offences before Hussain went on trial. Mr Irvine and Ms Cogle, from Bixter, Shetland, travelled to Bradford, where they had hoped to buy a white Audi A4 Quattro.
The couple said the attack had made a huge impact on their lives.
Social worker Ms Cogle said: “I have never experienced such a fear in my life. Afterwards, my body was trembling and my legs were wobbly. It went on for hours.”
The 38-year-old was signed off her work with Shetland Islands Council for two weeks and was offered counselling by her employer and Victim Support.
“I felt fragile for weeks, and couldn’t tell the story without breaking into tears,” she said.
Mr Irvine, 49, a foreman at the Shetland Catch fish factory, said being caught up in the life-threatening scenario felt “surreal” and “like something from a movie”.
He added that he thought regularly about how he could have reacted differently – but felt reassured by advice from the police that there was absolutely nothing they could have done.
“Police officers told us we were lucky to be alive – and that is all we were caring about,” he said.
Ms Cogle said they had no reason to suspect anything was untoward when they went to buy the car.
She had made a vehicle history check on the DVLA’s website and had been in regular contact with the seller.
When they arrived by train in Bradford on August 10, they took a taxi to Park Drive, which they described as an affluent part of the city.
To their surprise, they discovered there was no white Audi at the address to which they had been directed.
They contacted the seller by phone and were told they had gone to the wrong address and the car was farther up the street.
Ms Cogle said this was the first time she became suspicious.
When they arrived at the address, three men, wearing balaclavas charged out of a driveway shouting: “We are going to shoot you. Where is the money?”
They held a gun at Mr Irvine’s face. Ms Cogle said she was terrified when she heard one of the attackers releasing the gun’s safety catch.
Mr Irvine said: “They were very agitated and I thought they were going to shoot me.”
The attackers were disturbed when a grey BMW approached and the driver realised what was going on.
Mr Irvine said: “They grabbed the suitcase with the money in it and ran away. It was totally opportunistic, as they did not know that we had £5,000 with us.”
He said police officers were there within minutes. They used sniffer dogs and were able to catch two of the three attackers within a day.
The cash and their passports have not been recovered.
Ms Cogle said: “At least we are alive. You would never wish such a thing happening to anybody.”
Detective Inspector Neil Benstead, of Bradford CID, said: “Hussain and Sadik lured their victims to an agreed meeting point before threatening them at gunpoint to hand over a large amount of cash.
“This must have been a terrifying experience for them and we hope that the sentences passed down today will help to give them some closure.”