A GANG who raided the house of a couple in Westhoughton knew there were guns and a safe in the house, a court heard.

Guns, cash and jewellery were stolen from the home of Brian and Enid Butler, both aged in their 60s, after three men burst in and tied them up in the bathroom.

Raymond Dallimore, Mr Butler’s nephew, is on trial at Bolton Crown Court accused of organising the raid, which happened at about 10.30pm on March 28 last year, while Wayne Duckworth, along with Shaun Gastall, is accused of contacting Craig Lister, a "violent" criminal who is said to have carried out the raid with two accomplices.

During his summing up of the prosecution case, Michael Goldwater referred to phone evidence, which the court earlier heard showed that Duckworth was in Liverpool on the evening in question, but Duckworth said he had left his phone in Gastall's car.

Mr Goldwater added that the evidence showed Duckworth had called Lister 16 times the day after the incident.

He said: “I If I rang one of my mates 16 times on one day he would think that I would have gone off my head, or that there was something unhealthy creeping into our relationship.”

The court heard that it was known that Mr Butler is a keen marksman, but Mr Goldwater said only a small number of his close relatives knew about the safe in his home, in Dicconson Lane, Westhoughton.

Mr Goldwater said: “Some people keep guns but don’t keep them at home — they could be kept at a club or locked up.

“That gang knew that guns were kept in the house and knew where they were.

“Nobody in their right mind goes around bragging that they have a safe at home, but that gang knew there was a safe in the house.”

He told the jury: “The question for you is where that information came from.”

The jury has heard that Dallimore owed Mr Butler £42,000 after giving him a loan which was not paid back.

He is said to have called solicitors trying to reclaim the money on Mr Butler's behalf on the day of the burglary in a "vile mood".

The prosecution say that Dallimore contacted Gastall to arrange the raid, and that in turn Gastall phoned Duckworth, who then phoned Lister.

However Dalllimore’s defence said that the call to Gastall, which phone records show lasted for 43 seconds, was not enough to arrange such a burglary, and that the prosecution was making a “massive leap of speculation” in claiming this was when the raid was organised.

The court heard earlier that Duckworth said he thought Gastall was offering a job to Lister — who has previously been described as a "violent, professional criminal" who is nicknamed Bin Laden — and that he claims he may have helped set up the raid “by accident”.

Dallimore and Duckworth both deny conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary.

Gastall, aged 35, of Maple Crescent, Leigh, and Lister, aged 33, of Hale Road, Liverpool, both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary at an earlier hearing.

The trial continues.