The wife of former Munster star, Shaun Payne, has revealed how she and her husband were involved in a terrifying attack in South Africa earlier this year.
As a key member of the side that claimed a first Heineken Cup title, Payne will always be remembered fondly by Munster fans and he will be in the minds of many after it was revealed that, in January, he was involved in a hijacking and robbery at his home in South Africa.
Today FM's Paul Collins shared the story direct from the Facebook page of Payne's wife Michelle.
After Shaun had dropped the kids off with their friends for a sleepover he was hijacked outside the house by 4 men at gunpoint. Their initial demand was to enter the house where the kids were – any father's reaction would be to protect your children and he diverted their attention by saying he had no access into the house and emphasised there were allot dogs and children.
They then forced him into the car and drove to our house (they knew where we lived as the Vehicle Registration Camera’s later showed us they had followed him from our house earlier that evening). I won’t go into detail but they held us hostage, assaulted and tazer us then proceeded to clean us out of most of our electronic equipment, jewellery and anything of value.
The family are recovering following the ordeal and Michelle has said that despite the ordeal, they do no regret returning to South Africa from Ireland.
After living abroad for over 13 years we were delighted to finally come home 2.5 years ago. South Africa is who we are, these are our people. It’s about a sense of belonging. It’s about family. It is a country filled with so much diversity and beauty.
