A young man suffered a severed hand when a masked gang invaded the family home in Greenacre overnight. Photo / Getty Images
A young man’s hand has been severed after he confronted a gang of masked men armed with machetes after they broke into his family’s luxury home in Sydney’s southwest overnight.
The four men, armed with bladed weapons, forced their way into a home on Banksia Rd in Greenacre at about 2am on Saturday, after kicking in the front door then running upstairs.
“At this point, the 23-year-old victim exited his bedroom and was confronted by the males,” New South Wales Police Superintendent Rodney Hart told reporters.
“One of the males then struck him with what we believe to be a machete and severed his hand.”
Paramedics and police called to the scene found the man with severe injuries to his left arm. He was taken to hospital in a stable condition.
Four other people inside the home – a man and woman in their 40s and two males aged 16 and 19 – were uninjured.
Superintendent Hart said the 23-year-old man underwent surgery on Saturday morning.
“This is a brutal, violent attack, which is extremely traumatic for the family,” Hart said.
“This young man will have received life-altering injuries.”
He said the family was not known to police and the incident did not appear to be related to organised crime, but the home was likely targeted.
“They are a family who run a business in western Sydney, they’ve run that business for a number of years, they are very well-known in the community,” Hart said.
“This does appear to be a targeted home invasion where cash was the motive.
“What we believe is that, somehow, these people were aware that there may have been cash on the premises, and that’s what’s been targeted.”
Police have established a crime scene and investigations are continuing.
Sign up to Herald Premium Editor’s Picks, delivered straight to your inbox every Friday. Editor-in-Chief Murray Kirkness picks the week’s best features, interviews and investigations. Sign up for Herald Premiumhere.