A helicopter was brought in by police in Northern Ireland today to help track down a raider who terrorised a couple and stole a gun from their home.
The hunt was widened and the aerial operation mounted after a search of a derelict farm at Newtownstewart, Co Tyrone, failed to find the man.
The farm buildings had been sealed off by police overnight when it was thought the man had taken refuge there after abandoning the couple's car which he had stolen for his getaway.
Armed with a knife, the robber forced his way into a house in Plumbridge Road, Newtownstewart, just after 10.00pm last night, said the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
He assaulted the homeowner before seizing a shotgun. When the victim's wife returned home, she was also threatened before the intruder took her car and fled with the weapon, said a police spokesman.
The derelict farm was sealed off and kept under guard overnight after the vehicle was found abandoned there.
A PSNI spokesman said the man, who is originally from the Belfast area, is believed to have recently been living in Leeds. He is described as aged in his mid 30s and about five feet, eight inches tall, of muscular build, with short black hair, a round face and prominent eyes.
Police have warned the public not to approach him.