A shocked couple were counting the cost today of having their home invaded – by a raging BULLOCK.
Wendy and Terry Wright returned to find armed police surrounding their property where the panicked steer had run amok in their lounge.
The bullock escaped from a nearby farmer’s field with six others and crashed through their French windows.
Villagers in Heacham, Norfolk, had tried to scare the animal away from their own homes by flapping and shouting at it – and sent it into the Wrights’ garden.
The confused bullock wandered back out of the lounge and farmer Terry Sanderson, 65, managed to corner it and coax it into a trailer around 90 minutes after its escape.
But it left a trail of devastation in the living room which was covered in glass, hair and blood and excrement across the walls.
Wendy, 49, a teaching assistant, said: “I’m still in shock – I can’t believe it.
“I haven’t slept all night. I was at work when I got a call saying not to panic, but that I needed to come home.
“I knew nothing until I arrived. When they told me, I thought it was an April Fool’s. There were armed police at the house, but the bullock had been taken away by then.
“The real shock was seeing the glass everywhere but once it was cleared up the damage wasn’t too bad.
“Fortunately, it’s an L-shaped living room so it looks like the animal charged around a bit and then went back out the way it came.
“The fireplace was destroyed and the TV stand was damaged but amazingly the TV and fish tank were in one piece.
“It had moved the furniture around but none of it was damaged – there was just a lot of glass and hair everywhere and poo smeared on the walls.”
Terry, 52, was also called back home from work as a customer advisor for a building firm and arrived shortly after his wife.
Wendy added: “We think it came through a gap in the chicken wire at the back of the garden because you can see straight through to the road.
“We’ve been told that people were flapping and shouting at it trying to scare it off.
“The poor creature must have been so frightened – perhaps that’s why it charged.
“It must have seen through the French windows and through the window at the front of the house – it probably saw it as a way out and that’s why it charged.
“There was blood and hair all over the glass – it really must have been quite hurt.
“It could have been an awful lot worse. We’ve been very lucky. The insurers have been absolutely fantastic.”
Son Sean Wright, 24, who lives nearby, said: “My brother had a call from his friend who was passing the house and saw it surrounded by armed police.
“Luckily, he works nearby and he came straight back to find out that a bullock had escaped and was in the house. It was a cow-tastrophe.
“Police said it was the most bizarre case they had ever seen.
His wife Ria, 26, added: “It was absolute chaos by the time we arrived.
“Police everywhere, and there was a crowd of people watching from across the street. We couldn’t believe it.”
One of the escaped bullocks – young castrated bulls – had to be shot by a farm worker after it attacked Mr. Sanderson and left him with deep cuts to his arm.
Four other steers were still on the loose yesterday – 48 hours after their escape – with the farmer trying to round them up.
Mr Sanderson, 65, said: “I can only apologise. I don’t want that to happen to anyone. I didn’t want it to go in the house.
“It was the last thing in the world that I wanted. All I can say is that I am very sorry and I will sort it out with the insurance company.”
