robbers wielding knives and a 14-inch meat cleaver held him hostage in his Hong Kong flat.

Mr. Michael Spurling said he was subjected to a nightmare six-hour ordeal by the gang.

"There were times when I really thought I was going to die. They were incredibly violent to start with,'' he told The Royal Gazette .

The four thugs burst into Mr. Spurling's home as he slept at 4 a.m., jumped on the bed, and thrust the cleaver against his throat.

They screamed "money, money, or you die,'' before throwing the terrified lawyer around the bedroom.

Then they forced him to write out six cheques up to $90,000 in Hong Kong currency, blindfolded him, and lashed him to a chair with curtain twine.

Mr. Spurling suffered a broken rib, bruising, and scores to his neck and throat where the cleaver had been held.

His housekeeper was also seized by the gang and tied up. The men held the pair hostage until 10 a.m. the next day before escaping.

As well as the cheques and credit cards, they grabbed stereo and video equipment, jewellery, a ring, and HK$8,000.

Three of the men -- including the ringleader -- were caught shortly afterward by Police.

Last night Mr. Spurling, who runs Appleby, Spurling & Kempe's Hong Kong office, relived Monday night's horrifying ordeal.

"I was asleep when one of the men jumped on the bed. He rammed the cleaver against my throat.

"They couldn't speak English very well but I heard one of them shouting `money, money, or you die'.

"They were very abusive and violent and I really feared for my life. They started throwing me about the room, and kicking me.'' Mr. Spurling told how he deliberately "messed up'' some of the cheques he was forced to write out. "I even wrote down the wrong dates -- although they noticed that, and shouted at me to alter them.'' Mr. Spurling said the thugs took off his blindfold after an hour and the initial tension wore off.

But it was soon replaced by a different anxiety as he wondered what their next step would be.

"It was then I began thinking again that they might kill me. I didn't know what they were intending to do. It then dawned on me they were waiting for the banks to open.'' Mr. Spurling said the he was allowed to watch television during the wait, and was even served with biscuits.

"Once they left it didn't take me long to undo the twine and alert the Police.

"They were on the scene in about eight minutes and followed up all the leads straight away.'' One of the thugs was arrested while presenting a cheque in Mr. Spurling's name at a bank.

Mr. Spurling said he believed the robbery had been an amateur operation.

"In some ways it was quite pathetic. They weren't wearing masks and once the blindfold was off I could see them. It also only took me two seconds to remove the twine.

"I don't really see how they expected to get away with cashing the cheques.'' Mr. Spurling said his ring had been recovered, although the stereo equipment and the cash, most of which belonged to his housekeeper, were still missing.