The planning, ruthless efficiency and the fact he uses cable ties on his victims all point to a military background, detectives believe
A BRUTAL armed robber who has netted around £7million in a string of meticulously-planned raids on expensive homes is believed to be a soldier.
Police say the man dubbed the Night Watcher stakes out the homes for days and sometimes breaks in before the robbery to check out the layout and discover where safes are.
When the sawn-off shotgun-armed raider finally strikes he uses appalling violence. But his brutality is controlled — designed to persuade his victims to comply immediately with his demands.
The planning, ruthless efficiency and the fact he uses cable ties on his victims all point to a military background, detectives believe.
He has taken valuable jewellery - including a ring that once belonged to Charles II.
The well-spoken raider has targeted seven homes since November 2014. He struck in Kingswood and Virginia Water, Surrey; Maidenhead, Berks; Sevenoaks and Maidstone, Kent; and at Lord March’s Goodwood estate in West Sussex.
Lord March, 63, was smashed over the head with a blunt weapon after the robber climbed in an upstairs window. He and Lady March, 56, were tied up.
The raider, nicknamed for the way he stakes out his prey, broke into Susan Morris’s home while her husband was out.
He broke her jaw and dragged her through the house by her hair.
Her husband returned to find 61-year-old Susan tied up in the bedroom of their Kingswood home.
She said: “I was really frightened.
“He grabbed hold of me and I took him to the jewellery. He said ‘Get on the floor.’ I actually thought he was going to rape me.
“I gave him some more jewellery and he then wanted more. This is when he started to hit me.
“He hit me very hard on my face. I think he’s been trained how hard to hit someone to not knock them unconscious but to frighten them.”
The couple are now considering moving after upping security on their house following the raid which saw them lose family heirlooms.
Millionaire Robert Stiff and family were also raided in Kingswood. The attacker kicked his pregnant daughter in the stomach before fleeing with jewellery.
Detective Inspector Dee Fielding said the robber, who was caught on CCTV, took items worth more than £1million from each raid — often family heirlooms.
She said: “We do not believe this to be the work of an opportunist but someone who has specialist knowledge and skills — possibly ex-Forces or from a similar background.”
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