Birsel Akbulut and her cousin Kemal recovering after horror home invasion

A woman says offenders stormed her Gladstone Park home, held a gun to her head and shot and stabbed her cousin as they searched for another man.

A woman has described the moment she had a gun held to her head while her cousin was allegedly shot and stabbed in a brutal home invasion last week.

Birsel Akbulut and her cousin Kemal are still recovering from their injuries sustained during the horrifying attack at their Gladstone Park home last Thursday morning.

Police at the scene of the home invasion in Gladstone Park. Picture: David Crosling

Up to five offenders, armed with a hammer, a knife and a firearm, allegedly stormed the Trentham Drive home before demanding the whereabouts of Ms Akbulut’s daughter’s partner.

The intruders were looking for Ibrahim Al-Sayah, who previously pleaded guilty over his role in a drive-by shooting before he was pumped with bullets in 2023.

“They shot my cousin twice on the arm, cut his ear and just hammered him and stabbed him,” Ms Akbulut told the Herald Sun.

Ibrahim Al-Sayah is the man the intruders were looking for. Picture: David Crosling

“I opened my eyes and saw five guys with guns and knives and everything, and they asked me ‘where is he?’.

“(Then) one of them just put the gun on my head.

“We don’t have any criminal records … he didn’t deserve any of that.”

Al-Sayah, known as “Ibby” to his associates, in 2023 pleaded guilty to a single count of using a loaded firearm in a public place.