A CARER told jurors of the terrifying moment when masked men holding her and a 90-year-old woman hostage at a Hampshire home threatened to kill the pensioner's dog unless they handed over jewellery and money.

Victoria Stamp told Southampton Crown Court how three men broke into a country house in Hambledon belonging to homeowner June Langdon and tied both women up while demanding valuables.

Christopher Dougty is accused of involvement of aggravated burglaries at the Dower House in East Street, and another in Dumbleton Close, Southampton - where jewellery and vintage guns worth more than £300,000 were stolen.

Doughty, 53, of Holly Gardens, Southampton, denies the charges and one of possessing a loaded fire arm in a public place.

Miss Stamp - an overnight career - told the court how she arrived at Dower House on the evening of October 9 of last year to get Mrs Langdon ready for bed.

After ensuring doors were locked Miss Stamp retired to her carer's annexe and fell asleep at 10.20pm, it was heard.

She awoke in the early hours to see three masked men dressed in black "storm" into the room and jump on her.

She told the court: "They came over, grabbed my face. I thought I was dreaming. I couldn't breathe, they had their hands over my face. I was trying to scream and they said 'calm down, we're not going to hurt you'."

They took her downstairs to where Mrs Langdon was sleeping in a chair and blindfolded and tied both women to chairs with gaffer tape while demanding "where's the safe, where's the jewellery?", the court heard.

Miss Stamp told jurors: "One was irate and said 'I'm going to kill the dog if you don't tell us. Mrs Langdon was panicking."

She said the trio - who were wearing gloves and obscured their faces with balaclavas - accused the elderly woman of being a "liar" and "stubborn old woman" because she was having trouble remembering where valuables were kept.

Miss Stamp told the court how the men spent more than an hour ransacking the house emptying boxes and pulling down pictures and getting increasingly angry.

They stole a wedding ring from the pensioner's finger, a watch, £1,000 in cash, valuable China, a collection of silver and a silk bag containing rings, Miss Stamp said.

The men - who referred to each other as "Smithy" - told the women they had been "following" them in the lead up to the raid, she added.

She said they were all of medium build and at least two spoke with London accents while she suspected one was white and another black.

She demonstrated to the court that one balaclava was black and had a gap for both eyes.

She said two men left after about an hour, while one stayed telling them he would return in 20 minutes before speeding off in a "noisy car" which sounded like a petrol engine, it was heard.

Miss Stamp told the court how she used the opportunity to remove her blindfold and partially free herself and call 999 before police arrived.

The trial continues.