AN ARMED burglar who stormed a family home and left one occupant with a broken hand and the other with an imprint of a gun barrel on his head has been jailed.

Beri Banye Fanso, 22, from County Road, Swindon, broke into a house in East Wichelstowe on the evening of January 23 this year with another man.

He was wielding an imitation gun while his assailant clutched a knife.

They then subjected the terrified homeowners, a 23-year-old man and a 32-year-old woman, to a vicious assault leaving the woman with a broken hand and cuts to her face and the man with cuts to his head, wrists and an imprint of a gun barrel on his right temple.

The callous pair then ran off with the couple’s £2,000 life savings.

The victims were brave enough to speak to the Adver shortly after the attack and said their two young daughters had left the family home just seconds before the raid.

Fanso was caught and arrested by police the following day after police search dogs sniffed him out as he tried to hide in his loft.

After pleading guilty to aggravated burglary, possession of a firearm with intent to commit an indictable offence and possession of cannabis resin, he was jailed for seven years.

At the conclusion of the hearing at Swindon Crown Court yesterday, the officer in the case, Detective Sergeant Tom Straker said: “This was a particularly serious offence, and the occupants of the house were fortunate not to have been more seriously injured.

“Our prompt action enabled us to arrest the offender within 24 hours, and his long sentence of imprisonment clearly shows the severity with which the court considered this man’s actions.

“Wiltshire Police will continue its fight against serious offenders and when these offenders appear before the court, they now know what sentences to expect.”

Fanso was sentenced to seven years imprisonment for the aggravated burglary and three years imprisonment for possession of the imitation firearm, both sentences to run concurrently.

The cannabis charge was allowed to remain on the file.