Thug attacks dying man in his Beechdale home and flees with pup in bag

A FAMILY have told of their horror as a robber burst into their home and snatched their three-week-old pug puppy.

The man stole the dog from Gina and Terry Hayes after walking in to their Beechdale bungalow, shoving the dog into a bag and pushing both to the floor.

Mr Hayes, 57, got out of bed and tried to stop the robber despite being terminally ill.

He was last night still being treated in hospital after suffering bruising and a raised heart rate.

Mrs Hayes, 55, yesterday spoke out about the attack and pleaded for the puppy's safe return.

She had originally advertised three pups for sale online, all of whom are from a litter by her three-year-old pug Pebbles.

A woman arrived at the couple's home in Fremont Drive on Wednesday night after arranging to view the pups.

Mrs Hayes was shocked when a man burst into the house shortly after she let the woman in.

'He knelt down on the floor at first to grab Pebbles,' she said.

'He got her halfway into the bag. Then I was pushing and shoving and grabbing him and managed to get her out.'

Mrs Hayes was pushed to the floor in the struggle.

Mr Hayes, who is terminally ill with emphysema, emerged from a bedroom after hearing the commotion.

'I don't know how he got the strength to walk,' Mrs Hayes said. 'He tried to hit the man with a stick.

'Then the man turned and shoved him into a wooden book cupboard in the hall.'

The man managed to bundle a male puppy into the bag before running out of the house, closely followed by the woman.

Mrs Hayes then called police and an ambulance for her husband, who was left collapsed on the floor.

She added: 'It all happened within a few minutes, it was so quick. I was worried most about my husband. You just don't know what to make of it. Nothing like this has ever happened before.'

Mrs Hayes also went to the Queen's Medical Centre with a badly sprained wrist.

Mr Hayes, a former miner at Linby Colliery, is still recovering at the hospital.

Pebbles and the other puppies had recovered, having been panic-stricken in the aftermath, Mrs Hayes said.

Niece, Zara Hayes, 41, of Arnold, said the family had been left devastated by the attack.

She said: 'We just want the puppy to come back. It's only three weeks old and is not being weaned at the moment, and if it is not looked after properly it could die.

'We just want the people who did this to hand it in somewhere safe. The whole thing is horrendous.'

Police are investigating the incident, which happened at about 7.30pm, and are appealing for witnesses.

Both the man and woman are white. The woman had brown hair and the man was wearing dark clothes and had a black holdall.

Pug puppies can fetch over £1,000 when sold.

A police spokeswoman asked anyone with information to contact 101, giving incident number 744 of January 8, or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.