[officialleafan]

Here's the full article.

"July 2007.

At around 11pm, a 33-year-old woman was taking her children upstairs to bed at her house on Greenwood Avenue, Worsley Hall, when she saw a masked man stood at the hallway window at the bottom of the stairs.

CCTV from the house shows the man calmly opening the gate and walking up the path carrying a half-hexigan shaped concrete flag. Seconds later, off-screen, the man can be heard to shout “burn, burn” before smashing the side window several times with the concrete flag, showering the woman with glass.

The offender then threw a liquid, believed to be creosote, through the window, splashing the woman and held a lighter close to the liquid before calmly walking away.

Throughout the incident, the woman and her children can be heard screaming in the background.

The woman suffered a deep cut to her arm in the incident and was taken to Wigan Royal Infirmary for treatment and later transferred to Whiston Hospital where she is due to have an operation.

Her children were uninjured in the incident.

The offender is described as white, of medium to large build, taller than 6ft and wearing a mask, dark jumper with a neck zip, light three-quarter length tracksuit bottoms and light trainers.

DC Pete Morris of Wigan CID said: "This must have been a terrifying ordeal for the family.

"The offender knew that people were in the house at the time and yet deliberately smashed the window with the paving slab and showered the woman with creosote. Even as he heard the children screaming, the man continued his attack, shouting and threatening the family.

“This attack was clearly designed to intimidate the household and the victims were lucky the consequences weren't more serious. The offender walked slowly and calmly to and from the house with incredible audacity. He needs to be caught and we need the public’s help to identify him."

Anyone with information is asked to phone Wigan CID on 0161 856 5307 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111."