Woman driver rammed by armed motorway robbers: Jewellery worth pounds 70,000 and Mercedes taken in early-morning attack

THE WIFE of a wealthy businessman was attacked by thieves after her Mercedes-Benz was rammed from behind by another car as she travelled along a motorway slip road.

Mina Mullins, who stopped thinking there had been an accident, was assaulted by two men who held a gun against her forehead before taking pounds 70,000 worth of jewellery and stealing her car, worth pounds 80,000.

Her husband, William, a merchant banker, cut short a business trip to the Philippines and has offered a pounds 20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the thieves.

The attack, which police said was similar in style to motorway robberies carried out in the south of France over the summer, happened on a slip road off the M25 at junction 13, about 3.20am yesterday. Mrs Mullins was returning to her home on the Wentworth Estate in Surrey from an engagement party at the Dorchester Hotel.

Mrs Mullins, 41, said she stopped to inspect her car for damage, and immediately saw two men, who had been travelling in a Saab, running towards her. One man was holding a handgun and was waving it about. She realised she had made a mistake in leaving her car and tried to get back into the driving seat.

Mrs Mullins was hit several times and the gun was put to her forehead, while the men demanded her money and jewellery. 'I didn't know what was going to happen to me. They were punching me the whole time,' she said.

The men, who had snatched a ring, a necklace and a watch, took her car and sped off in either the direction of Windsor, Camberley or the M25. The Saab, which had been stolen from Kensington the previous evening, was abandoned at the side of the road.

The two men were described as Asian, between 5ft 6in and 5ft 8ins tall, wearing dark plastic anoraks. Both were aged about 20 and one spoke with a strong cockney accent.

Police said it was not yet known whether the men had followed her from London or decided to carry out the robbery on the spur of the moment.