Posted on 01/23/2008 7:19:19 PM PST by PotatoHeadMick
A millionaire yesterday told how he fought off three armed burglars who were holding a knife to his daughter's throat, saying he "would rather die like a man than a dog".
Bernard Dwyer, 51, was convinced he and his family were about to be killed so he chose to take on the men - hours after they had allegedly killed a restaurant owner, a court heard.
Mr Dwyer came to his 13-year-old daughter Aisling's rescue after hearing her piercing screams for help, the Old Bailey was told.
Despite being threatened with a gun, stabbed three times in the head and beaten unconscious with a knuckle-duster, Mr Dwyer fought back as one of his attackers screamed "kill the b******".
He managed to wrestle a gun from one of the masked raiders and chased them from his luxury home in Uxbridge, West London, in November 2006, the jury heard.
Yesterday, Irish-raised Mr Dwyer, a construction boss, faced two of the three men accused of the burglary.
Brothers Michael and Dean Atkins are also on trial for the murder of restaurant owner Helen Chung, 65, the day before the break-in.
A third man, Joseph Carty, committed suicide in his cell last year while on remand for both offences.
The court heard Mr Dwyer, Aisling, now 14, and his son Danny, 19, were asleep when three men burst in.
He said: "I heard people running up the stairs and Aisling screaming 'Dad'. I had never heard screaming like that before. I knew something was clearly wrong."
Mr Dwyer said he jumped from his bed and ran towards Aisling's room but was confronted at the doorway. "There were three guys coming towards me," he said.
"All masked, all covered with balaclavas, gloves, padded out, forensically aware.
"One man was holding a gun, waving it about, screaming menacingly."
He said they attacked him after he agreed to show them where his safe was, one with a knuckle-duster.
Mr Dwyer said: "I took quite a few blows at that point.
"I have seen things on television and I have seen violent stuff but I have never seen this level of violence.
"I was being compliant and they were smashing and bashing me."
Mr Dwyer was knocked unconscious for a few minutes and when he came round one man was holding a knife to Aisling's throat and screaming: "I am going to cut your f****** daughter".
Mr Dwyer said: "We were going to die anyway, that's what I thought. I thought, if I am going to die then I would rather die like a man than a dog."
Mr Dwyer pushed the weapon away before striking the attacker.
"I hit him several times, I hit him plenty. The man with the knuckleduster screamed 'He's fighting back the b******, kill the b******, he's fighting back.'"
Mr Dwyer said he was stabbed three times in the head but managed to fight the raiders off and shut the bedroom door. But the men tried to push back in and they fought again, he said. "I have never used a weapon in my life and it was a great feeling.
"I grabbed the gun and bashed it across the knuckle-duster guy. Next thing is they took off and I chased them down the stairs."
The raiders fled empty-handed, leaving Mr Dwyer with broken ribs and 30 cuts to his body and head.
The court has heard the blood of Mr Dwyer and the restaurant owner were found on the gun at his home.
Michael Atkins, 25, and Dean Atkins, 26, both of no fixed address, deny murder, two counts of aggravated burglary, wounding with intent and possession of an imitation firearm with intent.
It is claimed the two also murdered Mrs Chung the previous night after she refused to reveal the hiding place of her £218,000 life savings when they broke into her home.
The court has heard the blood of both the businessman and the restaurant owner were found on the gun when it recovered from Mr Dwyer's home.
A DNA sample matching Joseph Carty, 21, - who later hanged himself in his cell at Belmarsh prison last February - was also discovered on the handle and on swabs taken from the face of Mrs Chung.
Dean Atkins had escaped from Stanford Open Prison in on the Isle of Sheppey, Kent, just two days before the attack in Cowley, west London, on November 5, 2006. He was allegedly picked up by his brother and Carty.
Kam Fum Chung, known by all as Helen, was grabbed as she returned home at Meadow View, Cowley, after finishing work at the Chinese Mandarin restaurant in West Drayton.
Within minutes of arriving home she was repeatedly kicked and stamped and died from multiple fractures to her skull, face, neck and ribs.
Michael Atkins was arrested six weeks after the attack on December 21 in the Southwick area of Brighton, East Sussex.
Dean Atkins was arrested in the early hours of November 18, 2006, when a car was stopped in the area of Langley, Berkshire, near West Drayton, west London.
The trial continues.
Given the legal climate in the UK, I’m amazed he wasn’t jailed for fighting back.
Guys like this make me proud to be Irish :)
Great story! I am curious, though, why he used the gun to hit the assailant instead of just shooting him with it. Not criticizing, just wondering.
He should have just shot them.
Get some, Mr. Dwyer!
I wouldn’t bet my life on a gun wrestled from a stranger being real, loaded and functional.
Obviously a shocking development in the UK. Must have been quite unexpected.
Judging by this statement they seemed used to compliant defenseless victims
that don't fight back.
He should have just shot them.
To be fair he had been stabbed in the head multiple times. That must surely effect ones reasoning.
Probably going with what he knows- if he had no shooting experience then using it as a club would be at least as effective. Also, as I mentioned in another post, if it was a fake gun then you'd lose precious seconds pulling the trigger with no effect.
Don't know what that is (brass knuckles?)... but something tells me one does not want to get hit across the face with that piece of hardware.
A few more details about Mr Dwyer;
*Mr Dwyer, who was raised on a farm in Ireland, came to Britain with only £30 in his pocket and worked as a labourer but is now a successful businessman with contracts all over the world, said: “Then the guy with the knife came over and plunges it in my head three times. The man with the gun ran off.
“I beat the man with the knuckle-duster out towards the door and closed the bedroom door on him.”
But the businessman, who is married to wife Jane and has a second son Shaun, 19, told the court how the pair would not leave and tried to push back into the bedroom.
“So we had another bout of fisticuffs,” said Mr Dwyer, “But this time I’m in charge of this battle. I let the door go and let them fall in and then, bam, had a go at them again.
“I have never used a weapon in my life and it was a great feeling. I grabbed the gun and bashed it across the knuckle-duster guy.
“Next thing is they took off and I chased them down the stairs. I bashed knuckle-duster man with the gun and I broke the handle on his head.”*
From the Daily Telegraph, he has big cojones.
Hey, guys -- having an open prison is a bit self-contradictory, isn't it? I'd hope that name wasn't meant to be taken literally.
Absolutely true. The English system is quite evil, when it comes to self defense.
They probably charged him with possessing a gun after he took it from the attacker.
That's one that will never hold a knife to a child's throat. The dad should have eliminated the possibility of the other two ever doing that again to someone else's child with a couple well aimed shots.
Good to know there’s still some fight left in the Irish.
I’m one, too, partially.
Yes, that’s what it means, it’s supposed to be for low risk offenders.
“if I am going to die then I would rather die like a man than a dog.”
Words of wisdom, especially with a guy threatening to cut his daughter’s throat.
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