Glasgow men held machete to a 10-year-old's throat to steal puppies Published duration 22 January

Three men smashed into a house, held a machete to a 10-year-old girl's throat, then stole puppies worth £8,000, a court has heard.

Ben Murphy, 19, Liam Kinsella, 27, and Samuel Durnion, who is 21, broke into the house of Leanne Hodge in Castlemilk, Glasgow, last August.

One of the armed men grabbed a young girl and screamed at her, asking where her dad was.

As the family hid for safety, the gang took eight bull mastiff pups.

A high-profile appeal was later launched to try to find the robbers and the three-week-old dogs.

The three admitted acting with others in the assault and robbery at the High Court in Glasgow.

Kinsella also pleaded guilty to taking part in an armed raid at the home of his ex-boss in Wishaw days earlier.

Machetes and hammers

Prosecutor Duncan McPhie said Ms Hodge was at home with her partner and three children in August last year when the gang stormed in.

The robbers were wearing dark clothes, had their hoods up and were armed with machetes and hammers.

image caption The puppies could have sold for up to £1,000 each and at the time a reward was offered for their recovery

The 10 year-old girl was making her way downstairs as they smashed ground floor windows of the property.

One of them seized the girl, threatening her with the machete.

The court heard others in the house took "shelter in fear" by barricading themselves in an upstairs bedroom.

The gang took the puppies and left.

When police arrived they found keys belonging to a Volkswagen Polo the gang initially drove there. They also recovered a number of items including a letter in the name of Murphy, and his passport.

Murphy was later discovered outside a nearby McDonalds. He claimed to be in Glasgow having travelled from Wishaw.

Kinsella was later identified as the driver of the Volkswagen. DNA also linked him and Durnion to the raid.

image copyright Google image caption The Castlemilk robbery took place in Barlia Drive

The court was not told how many of the dogs were found but a Facebook post by a relative of Ms Hodge a month after the crime stated four had been returned.

Maintenance worker Kinsella had been involved in another armed robbery five days earlier at the home of George Murray.

Three people had smashed their way into his home in Wishaw, armed with a machete and demanding his safe.

Mr McPhie told the court: "George Murray and his wife gave police the name of Kinsella, who they recognised as an ex-employee.

"He was someone who would have known about cash required to pay salaries for staff."

Lord Beckett ordered reports to be compiled before the men are sentenced next month.