Stolen lorries smash through gipsy homes

?A gipsy family of 11 were terrorised by attackers who drove two stolen lorries through their site today, smashing through mobile homes and showering sleeping children with glass and bricks.

The four-strong gang rammed the trucks through 4ft high walls and metal gates before running amok on the 3.5-acre site off Stafford Road in Coven Heath.

They ploughed into two mobile homes on the site belonging to Patrick Dunne.

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Terrified sisters Teresa, aged nine, 10-year-old Chavelle and 11-year-old Amanda Dunne were covered with glass and bricks as a gaping hole was smashed into the side of their chalet in Brinsford Bridge, near the junction with the M54 at around 5am.

A 7.5-ton lorry used in the attack had been stolen from Wolverhampton-based recycling firm Blitz overnight.

A 15-ton lorry crashed into homes on the land before ploughing into the side of the family's day house, tearing a massive hole in the outside wall of the bedroom where 13-year-old Johnny Dunne slept.

He today spoke of jumping out of the window and nearly being struck by one of the lorries as it "roared" past.

The gang then drove both lorries back to the entrance of the site and set them on fire before fleeing in another vehicle.

Mr Dunne, who has lived on the land for 10 years and has five girls and four boys aged from two to 13, said: "This is attempted murder. We are fortunate to get away with our lives but I fear it was just a warning. I was woken by a crash and the screams of three of my daughters. I got the kids to another bedroom and then saw the truck careering into the day house. Next it drove back out through the wall and I saw four men throwing something into the cabs which then burst into flames.

"People are trying to blackmail us and have warned that one of my kids will be killed if we don't move off the land. This was all built by hand by the family over the past 10 years and now it is a ruin and we are homeless."

Firefighters from Fallings Park, Wolverhampton, and Staffordshire spent around 90 minutes putting out the burning lorries.

More than 130ft of wall was flattened by the trucks.Heavy metal railings and gates were also left bent and twisted.

One lane of the northbound dual-carriageway A449 near Junction 2 of the M54 was closed following the attack.

West Midlands Police confirmed a lorry was reported stolen from Blitz Recycling and Waste Services at 7.40am yesterday.