A WIFE and mother has described the terrifying moment masked men fatally injured her husband during an armed raid.

Lesley Pighini appeared at Basildon Crown Court yesterday where three men are charged in connection with the death of her husband Tim Smith.

Mr Smith died during a robbery outside a friend’s home in The Drive, Hullbridge, on March 19 last year.

Speaking from behind a screen, Mrs Pighini told the court she had been at the Anchor Pub with her husband and three friends on the night of the incident.

The friends, Glen Mottram, Ashleigh Low and their daughter, had offered the couple a lift to their home in The Drive as Mr Smith and Mrs Pighini only lived round the corner.

Mrs Pighini, who was married to Tim for nine years, said: “When we got out of the car, we were all facing the property.

“The next thing I knew we heard voices and we turned around to find two men top to bottom in black and one was holding a gun. They were shouting ‘get in the house’. Glen said something like ‘what’s this all about?’ and they just repeated ‘get in the house’.

“Me and my husband didn’t know what to think. Tim turned to them and raised his hands as if to say calm down and then the guy with the gun turned towards him and said ‘just get in the house’.

“We all began to walk towards the house as if we were being herded by both men. Ashleigh opened the front door and entered the house closely followed by her daughter and Glen which left me and Tim.

“Tim went to look over his shoulder - I don’t know why, maybe to assess where they were.

“As he turned his head, the man behind him said ‘move’ and gave him a large push with both hands to the back. Tim stumbled, his foot scuffed on the floor and then he went forward.

“He fell to the floor and hit his head on the brick wall. He lost consciousness almost immediately. I went to go and help him but the man with the gun pulled my coat and said ‘get in the house’ so I just did it. We were in the hall. I said to the man with the gun ‘take what you want but please let me see to my husband’.”

Mrs Pighini told the court the men refused and ushered her into the kitchen before demanding something from Mr Mottram, the homeowner.

She added: “The man with the gun said ‘we know this is a safe house. Where is it?’ and Glen pointed to a door which led to the bathroom.”

The court heard the men retrieved a hold-all, inspected it and then dragged Mr Smith into the home before running off. Mrs Pighini said: “I checked if Tim was breathing. I could see his hands had started turning blue.” She performed CPR until paramedics arrived when he was flown to Addenbrookes Hospital but was pronounced dead the following day.