A violent robbery left a 61-year-old woman with a fractured jaw and wrist after a terrifying ordeal at her house in Pudsey.
The victim was in the kitchen of her home in Mount Pleasant Road when three men entered through the open patio doors and threatened her with a knife.
They demanded jewellery and punched and kicked the victim, causing fractures to both sides of her jaw, a fractured wrist and cuts to her arms.
They dragged the victim upstairs and made an untidy search of the property before leaving with a large amount of Asian gold jewellery.
The incident happened between 3pm and 3.30pm on Friday, August 19, and the victim was found at the address by her son a short time later.
She was taken to Leeds General Infirmary and underwent surgery to her jaw over the weekend before being discharged.
Detective Inspector Neil Thompson, of Leeds District Crime Team, appealed for help from the public. He said:
“This was an appallingly violent attack on a woman in her own home by robbers who we believe were specifically targeting her for Asian gold jewellery.
“Her son found her in a terrible state after the incident and her family are understandably shocked at what has happened.
“The men responsible have shown themselves to be capable of a high level of unprovoked violence and they need to be caught at the earliest opportunity. We would like to hear from anyone who witnessed anything around the time of the incident or who has any information that could assist the investigation.”
The men involved were believed to be white and had their faces covered.
It is believed they were using a silver Subaru Impreza, registration YD60 RWX, that had been stolen in a burglary in Ilkley the day before the incident and was later recovered in Bradford bearing a false registration BD60 ZMY.
DI Thompson added:
“We are carrying out extensive enquiries and would like to hear from anyone who has any information about the movements of that vehicle between the times it was stolen and recovered or any information about who has been using it.
“This was a really cowardly attack on a woman who was alone at home and we would urge anyone who knows anything to contact us.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact DC 6587 Alex Daniels at Elland Road via 101, quoting crime number 13160357773, or call the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.