TWO burglars who broke into a Barnet home and attacked the owners with a knife taken from their own kitchen have been jailed for four years.

Aaron Campbell-Murray and Anthony Donegan launched the attack on the sleeping couple in the dead of night on March 16 last year at a house in The Croft.

They snuck into the victims’ room and woke them up, pointing the knife at them and demanding they hand over any cash in the house, threatening to kill them if they did not.

The man got out of bed and went with them into the hallway, where he managed to grab an ornamental Samurai sword from the wall and stabbed Campbell-Murray after a struggle, where he was also stabbed in the shoulder.

Both attackers fled the house, but the victim managed to catch Campbell-Murray and contain him until police arrived, who immediately called for paramedics to treat both men.

Campbell-Murray’s injuries were at first declared life threatening and he was rushed to hospital, and police initially had to charge the victim with grievous bodily harm, although the charges were later discontinued.

Officers managed to trace Donegan, who had fled, through a mobile phone he dropped at the scene. Although a pay-as-you-go phone they managed to trace him through one of the recent calls which was to a hire car firm.

At Wood Green Crown Court on Friday both men pleaded guilty to burglary and wounding and were jailed for four years and two years for the crimes, to run concurrently.

Detective Constable Simon Hunt, who was in charge of the case, said: "There has been an extensive investigation in this case to both ensure that the correct people were charged with the correct offences.

"The judge pointed out that the victim's actions in this instance were quite rightly in self defence, but we are obliged to investigate to ensure they were proportionate.

"Tracing Mr Donegan as the outstanding suspect was extremely difficult but some intricate detective work on the recovered phone led to a car hire company that helped us to identify him.

"Four years in prison for each of these is a good result and I am glad that the courts have taken in to account the gravity of entering someone else's house, arming yourself and threatening the occupant's lives while demanding their possessions.

"A terrifying ordeal like this will always be treated most seriously by both the police and by the courts."