A terrified Essex couple were stunned with an electroshock weapon before being assaulted and tied up by two men who barged into their home demanding money, it has been alleged.

The couple were at their bungalow home in Halstead Road, Fordham, near Colchester, when two men wearing hi-vis waistcoats arrived in a van and pretended to be delivering a bouquet of flowers, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

When the woman who lived there said they had the wrong address and tried to shut the door the men barged in and used the weapon to stun her in the hall, said Edward Renvoize, prosecuting.

They then pushed her into the living room and asked if she had any money buried in the garden.

When she said there wasn’t any money buried in the garden one of the men picked up her two mobile phones and purse from a table and put them in his pocket.

She was then allegedly hit in the face causing her to fall onto a sofa, resulting in her cochlear implant falling out and leaving her unable to hear.

The woman then saw her husband, who’d been in an outbuilding when he heard her screaming, come into the house with a third member of the gang who’d been waiting outside.

The woman’s husband was knocked to the ground and then allegedly kicked and stamped on by all three intruders, said Mr Renvoize.

When he came round he heard the men asking him if he had any money and when he said it was in the bank he was allegedly shocked with the electroshock weapon.

Meanwhile, his wife was taken to a bedroom where her hands were tied with cable ties and her head was covered with a piece of clothing.

“At this point she couldn’t see or hear,” said Mr Renvoize.

Her husband was then brought into the room and forced to open a safe which contained cash and two gold necklaces.

His hands were then tied and two ladders placed on top of him before the intruders left the property. He raised the alarm after managing to free himself and his wife.

Before the court are Barry Sharp, 45, of Penparc Village in Cardigan, Wales, and Gary Thompson, 46, of Sidney Road, in Ludlow, Shropshire.

They have denied conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary on November 17, 2018.

Mr Renvoize alleged that Thompson’s DNA profile was found on cable ties used during the aggravated burglary while mobile phone cell site evidence and ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) cameras allegedly linked Sharp to the offence.

He said the third member of the gang had not been apprehended.

The trial continues.