A £5,000 price on the thug raiders

A Bradford businessman has offered a £5,000 reward to try to catch two burglars who left his autistic brother tied up for two hours after they ransacked his home.

Michael Hyland said he was so revolted by the attack on his brother John that he was offering the money from his own pocket to bring the culprits to justice.

Detectives investigating the crime revealed today that John's attackers posed as Drug Squad officers before bursting into his home in Thornton Road, Fairweather Green.

Mr Hyland, 38, who has a mental age of nine, was bundled into his living room by the men after he answered a knock at the door between 7.30pm and 8pm last Friday. One raider beat him and then the pair bound his arms and legs and dumped him in a room tied to a chair while they ransacked the property.

Two hours later John was discovered sobbing and in shock by his brother Michael, who runs an export and import business as well as the Tyre Warehouse in Leeds Road, Bradford.

Detective Inspector Sheridan Moore, of Toller Lane CID, said: "The burglars told John they were drug squad officers but they weren't in uniform. They said they were looking for drugs and cash but that was just an excuse to search the house.

"It's a serious enough offence in its own right but when you get people purporting to be police officers that makes it especially bad. We won't stop looking until they are found.''

Michael Hyland, who lives in America, had been staying with his brother after their mother Catherine died just over three weeks ago from cancer.

He said: "It's just revolting what happened to John and I'm still lost for words to describe how I feel.''

Police describe the first attacker as a white male aged around 30, 5ft 7in to 5ft 10in tall, with a bald head, a clear complexion and a "very stocky" build. His accomplice was a dark-skinned male, possibly Asian, 5ft 8in to 6ft 1in tall, with dark, neatly combed hair, and stockier than the first attacker.