MASKED men brought terror to the family of a property broker whose company went into administration with debts of £100 million.

Six men armed with a crowbar and bowie knife broke into Toby Whittaker's luxury home.

His wife and four young children cowered under a table as the gang made threats and assaulted Mr Whittaker.

Police described the raid as 'very traumatic'.

The family's terrifying ordeal took place at their house in Back Lane, Read, at 7.45 on Thursday night.

Mr Whittaker, 32, is the founder and a director of Padiham-based property broker firm Dylan Harvey Group which collapsed with £100m debts in August last year.

More than 600 creditors were owed £6.5million, the administrators have revealed.

One line of inquiry for police investigating the robbery is Mr Whittaker’s business dealings.

In a separate matter, Mr Whittaker is also facing a charge of conspiracy to defraud Zurich insurance and is due to stand trial on April 6 at Preston Crown Court.

Police said the family, including three boys and a girl under the age of eight, were forced to cower together in a room as the robbers made violent threats and searched the home for valuables.

Mr Whittaker was struck by one of the burglars and suffered minor injuries during the ordeal, which police described as ‘very traumatic’.

Police say an amount of jewellery of unknown value was stolen, as well as the family’s Audi Q7 4x4 car which was used as a getaway vehicle. It was found dumped on Clough Lane, Simonstone, at 8.11am on Friday morning and police are appealing for witnesses.

The red-brick property is largely secluded by trees, set back 100 yards from the road with the nearest house more than a mile away.

It is situated on top of a hill overlooking Sabden and Read, surrounded by a wall and six-foot electronic gates with an electronic buzzer system.

Yesterday there were multiple vehicles on the drive, with marked police cars, operational support and other police vehicles nearby.

A team of detectives, specialised search team and crime scene investigators were at the remote manor house on Friday morning.

Detective Inspector Neil Ashton, of Blackburn CID, said: “It is still very early stages and we are piecing together what happened.

“We’ve got forensic evidence and there is a CCTV system which we’ll be scrutinising.

“It is only natural to look at the contacts he’s got and who he does business with. That’s a normal line of inquiry.

“At the moment we are just recovering as much as we can.

"Obviously this was a very traumatic ordeal for the family and we are doing all we can to find out who was responsible."

In September last year, the Lancashire Telegraph reported how Padiham-based Dylan Harvey Residential (DHR) Ltd went into administration with debts of £100million.

Administrators said it owed 600 creditors a total of £6.5m.

The company, named after two of Mr Whittaker’s sons, was based at Shuttleworth Mead Business Park. It began to struggle in 2007 when Britain’s inflated property market slumped.

Its business model was to act as a sales agent for property developments across the North West, with creditors placing deposits in the company.

However, that meant it had few assets when the administrators were called in.

A spokesman for Manchester-based solicitors Pannone said they were representing 70 investors who were trying to recoup cash from the Dylan Harvey Group.

A spokesman for administrators CLB Coopers said creditors were due to be presented with an update next month.

Mr Whittaker was jointly charged alongside Stefan Halenko, 55, of Mayfield Gardens, Oswaldtwistle, last July, with conspiring to defraud Zurich Insurance.

The charge is in relation to alleged false burglar alarm activation records presented to police in relation to a previous break-in at Mr Whittaker’s home.

Police are appealing to anyone with information or who saw anything suspicious to contact them on 08451 253545 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

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