Pregnant Wife Raped At Home

A DEPRAVED burglar raped a heavily pregnant woman as accomplices held her husband at gunpoint, police said today.

A £20,000 reward has been offered by cops to snare the beasts who carried out the despicable crime.

The 33-year-old woman was watching TV with her partner at their home in Finsbury Park, North London, when they heard a disturbance outside.

The husband, 39, went to investigate and was confronted by three masked suspects who stormed their way in through the front door before he had time to close it.  

They put an object in a carrier bag, thought to be a gun, to his head before stealing the keys to an Audi TT, a laptop, mobile phones and cash.

As one of the men pointed the gun at the husband another then marched the seven-months-pregnant wife up to a bedroom where he forced her to give him oral sex, now classified as rape.

The shocking crime happened in May 2008, but cops only released the details today, after a request by the couple for no publicity.

The controversial decision not to release the news by officers from the Islington borough's Operation Sapphire sex crimes unit has ended up with the suspects being free for 17 months during which time it is feared they may have committed further offences.

And astonishingly cops have sat on CCTV images taken near the incident since the attack until today.

Police say two men were spotted on camera at a mini market just before the incident at about 10.20pm.

A third man is pictured on camera at just after 10pm.

A Scotland Yard spokesperson said: "The woman was forced to perform a sex act, amounting to oral rape.

"We are keen to trace these men, if only to eliminate them from our inquiries."

Detective Inspector Robert Pack, the investigating officer, said he hoped "allegiances had changed" over the past 14 months as he appealed for information.

He said: "Every rape is a very serious crime but what makes this all the more shocking was that the victim was so clearly heavily pregnant.

"Concerns for the unborn baby can only have exacerbated what was already an emotionally and physically traumatic experience."

He added: "Allegiances may have changed over the last 14 months and we would urge anyone with information to contact us.

"There is a reward on offer of up to £20,000 and I hope there are people out there who are prepared to do the right thing and tell us what they know.

"Do you know the men who did this? Do you remember hearing anyone boasting about stealing an Audi TT around this time? We would like to hear from you."

The suspect who carried out the sexual assault is described as black, 6ft, aged 18 to 25 and stocky. He wore a black balaclava, black jacket, black tracksuit bottoms and black shoes.

A second man was black or Asian, 5ft 6ins and about 18. He wore light grey tracksuit bottoms, black trainers and a zip-up jacket with red sleeves.

The third suspect, who had the gun, was black, 5ft 10ins, and aged between 18 and 22. He was wearing burgundy tracksuit bottoms.