A man who led a terrifying raid during which a couple in their 80s were bound with tights and tea towels and held at knifepoint has been jailed for 11 and a half years.

Hooded and masked James Draper, 36, and 17-year-old Jordan Holt smashed their way into the couple's rural, detached and gated property in Wilmington and escaped with £75,000 of loot including a £12,000 watch and a £60,000 car.

Maidstone Crown Court heard now after 40 years in their home the couple are considering moving away from the area as they don't feel safe.

The stolen Jaguar XF was brand new having been bought to replace their other Jaguar which had been taken during a burglary eight weeks earlier.

Judge Martin Joy was told Draper burst into the kitchen brandishing a six inch kitchen knife and threw the then 83-year-old man to the floor, stealing his rare Rolex Oyster watch, binding his wrists and ankles and dragging him into the neighbouring room.

— tied up his then 86-year-old wife.who was jailed for five years and four months for his part in the raid last yearMeanwhile Holt —

The pair demanded to know the location of a safe and the husband's gun during the night-time break-in in September 2015.

They then ripped the phone line from the wall and ransacked the secluded Birchwood Road house in search of jewellery, smashing ornaments and damaging furniture.

Leaving the frightened pensioners tied up, Draper and Holt then fled in the Jaguar, which along with the rest of the property has never been recovered.

The couple managed to free themselves, and the woman, who suffers from a spinal injury inflicted during the Second World War, fled and flagged down a passing motorist.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, the wife said: "They destroyed everything and ruined our lives within minutes.

"We're not the same people any more and this will haunt us for our remaining years."

She said she had argued with her husband more since the raid than in the previous 40 years of marriage, adding: "He has lost interest in anything. I don't think he cares about anything any more, he just walks around like a zombie."

Draper was also locked up for his part in a series of burglaries in Swanley in which high value cars and a lorry were stolen last June.

Draper, who was jailed for 11 and a half years, will serve at least two thirds of his sentence and at least five years on license when released, was also locked up for his part in a burglary on a farm in St George's Road Swanley in which high value cars and a lorry were stolen last June.

Sentencing Draper Judge Joy said: "The facts of this case are horrific and have quite rightly been described by the prosecution as like something our of a nightmare.

"You have a serious criminal record and convictions and I have read with care the victim's statement.

"This is an appalling offence and one of the worst of its kind.

"You are an entrenched criminal and I'm satisfied you present a serious risk to the public of injury or death.

"This is an extremely serious offence and it should carry a very severe punishment."

Alongside him in the dock sat Harry Cochrane, 20 and of Leydenhatch Lane, Swanley, who also admitted committing the St George's Road burglary.

During that break-in four masked men ransacked outbuildings and a detached home and stole £160,000 of property, including two BMWs, an Iveco lorry, power tools and mobile phones.

All the property was later recovered but most of it was damaged.

Cochrane had also broken into a gated house in London Road, Swanley, in December 2015 with an unidentified accomplice and stole £2,500 of jewellery and cash.

He was jailed for four and a half years in a young offenders institute.