Veron’s family targeted in armed raid

CHELSEA star Juan Sebastian Veron and his girlfriend were threatened by an armed man who burst into their bedroom.

The couple woke to find the man, who had a machete, standing over them at their home in Barnes.

As the intruder stood there one of the couple’s two young children wandered into the room.

The man demanded jewellery and cash and is believed to have threatened to harm the children if the 28-year-old player and his girlfriend Maria Vinaccia did not co-operate.

They handed over £60,000 worth of gems before the couple and two other women in the house were pushed at knife-point into a bathroom and ordered to stay there. The family waited until they heard a vehicle driving away before raising the alarm yesterday morning.

Scotland Yard said the man got into the house through a window at about 7.30am. Eight people were staying in the house at the time.

One police source said: “This was clearly a frightening experience. Threats were made against the children.”

The raid comes days after a court in Reading heard details of how Chelsea’s millionaire vice-president Joe Hemani and his teenage daughter were attacked during a raid on their home.