Mark Cavendish opens up on horror of having zombie knife held to his throat in front of son, 3
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Mark Cavendish has opened up on the "horrific" moment he was held at knifepoint in front of his family when burglars raided his house. The Olympian was beaten as the robbers threatened to stab him in front of his three-year-old son. Cavendish and his family were the subject of a violent raid where the intruders were believed to have been after after a sapphire Richard Mille watch, valued at £2million, which he was loaned for an awards ceremony.
The burglars were armed with large knives and eventually took two Richard Mille watches worth a total of £700,000 at 2.30am on November 27 2021. Cavendish has been emotional scarred by the incident and told Cbainfo: "I get flashbacks all the time. To have a zombie knife held up to your throat in front of your kid, it was horrific. You think about what you could have done. Everyone thinks, 'I'd fight', and of course I was swinging at first.
"But I tell you, anybody gets a knife held to their neck, you can't do anything. My wife's there, my kid. I was helpless to do anything. To be fair, I'm lucky because I was there. I'm happier I was there than if it happened to Peta and the kids when I was away. I would never have forgiven myself.".
Two men were jailed at Chelmsford Crown Court for their roles in the robbery in Ongar, Essex In February 2023. A third was convicted in October that same year whilst a fourth is believed to still be on the run. Cavendish's partner, Peta Todd, was pregnant with the couple’s fifth child at the time when she went to investigate a noise downstairs. The cyclist was recovering from three broken ribs and a torn lung following an accident, but she ran back to the bedroom as she saw "figures running towards her".
