An 83-year-old grandfather fought off a machete-wielding attacker to protect his frail wife after the sex-crazed intruder had molested other elderly neighbours.
Patrick Bogue, 83, woke to the sound of shuffling in his west Sydney home in the middle of the night on Thursday after the attacker had broken in through a window.
After calling out for his wife Patricia, who was convalescing in a separate bedroom, Mr Bogues was confronted by a masked man armed with the frightening knife.
But the plucky grandad grappled with the knifeman before Mr Bogues fought him off with the intruder’s own Nike sneaker.
The attacker – described as ‘tall and of slender build, with dark skin, aged in his 20s and softly spoken’ – then fled through the window he had smashed to get in.
The sneaker has since been handed to detectives for forensic testing.
Unknown to Mr Bogues, his home was the fourth in Merrylands of at least five broken into by the intruder during a wild rampage between 4am and 6.20am on Thursday.
One of the victims told NSW Police she woke up to find the armed man climbing onto her bed before he put a knife to her throat and demanded sex.
Police allege the attacker had earlier attempted to molest another elderly woman before ‘sexually touching’ another in a separate home invasion.
One elderly victim told Daily Mail Australia she had since replaced the locks on her doors and said she felt ‘sorry’ residents had been made to feel unsafe in her home.
She said she had not been touched by the intruder but said he had taken off with several credit cards.
An elderly man who lives on the same block said his home had also been targeted by the intruder.
He said he was woken by a ‘strange banging sound’ early on the morning of his 96th birthday.
After laying awake for some time, he let his dog out to his front yard before returning to sleep.
Sometime later, the police arrived and pointed out his fly screen had been slashed and a separate door screen had been removed.
The man said he did not believe the man broke into his home, but was still shaken up by the events.
‘I just hope they catch the grimy bugger, it’s just bloody terrible,’ he said. ‘It’s a good area. A thing like this just shouldn’t happen.’
Mr Bogue’s son Eamonn told Daily Mail Australia he was ‘grateful’ his mother, who had not awoken during the invasion, avoided being assaulted by the intruder.
‘Mum’s been crook so she’s been sleeping on her own,’ he said choking back tears. ‘I just think of the two women who were sexually assaulted.
‘I keep thinking, if he’d gotten into where mum was sleeping, he could’ve gotten at mum.’
The dad-of-two said his parents had discovered chocolate wrappers in a sitting room only feet from where Patricia had been sleeping and that the intruder had ‘roughed up’ the linen closet and pantry.
‘We figure he could’ve been in here for some time before dad caught on to him,’ he said. ‘I just keep thinking how much worse it could have gone’.
While Ms Bogue was unscathed, the elder Mr Bogue needed treatment to remove shattered glass from his feet after pursuing the intruder over the smashed window.
Eamonn said his Irish-Australian father had been planning to dance at a St Patrick’s Day parade but was no longer able due to his injuries.
The brave grandfather was later seen collecting a new window from a nearby store on Friday.
A nearby resident, Mahmoud, whose surveillance cameras were unable to film the intruder, said Patrick was known to love dancing.
‘They’re lovely people,’ he said.
The State Crime Command’s Sex Crimes Squad has now launched an investigation with local detectives to find the offender before he strikes again.
The man was caught on camera entering one property before calmly leaving after attacking the male homeowner with his knife.
‘The offender had a short struggle with that occupant, and the offender produced a knife, which caused an injury to the occupant of the premises,’ Sex Crimes Squad Commander Jayne Doherty said.
‘We are deeply concerned by the actions of this offender.’
Police were seen methodically combing streets in the area on Friday as the home invader remains at large.
A spokesperson for NSW Police said the man had yet to be identified though a ‘number of items have been seized for forensic examination’.
Police said he may have a bleeding wound from the attack on the homeowner.
Additional police patrols have been sent to the area in an major effort to track him down before he can strike again, Det Supt Doherty said.
‘We believe he is an opportunistic offender and we want to stop him before he has any more opportunities,’ she added.
Merrylands residents have been told to secure their homes while the man remains at large.
A NSW Police spokesman added: ‘Anyone who lives in that area should contact police if their properties have been broken into even if nothing has been stolen.’
Culled from Daily Mail
