Girl, 12, robbed of wallet at gunpoint in Minto

A 12-YEAR-OLD girl has spoken of the terrifying moment a masked gunman held a pistol to her head and threatened her life for $14.

A 12-YEAR-OLD girl has spoken of the terrifying moment a masked gunman held a pistol to her head and threatened her life for $14 and a mobile phone.

Taylah Gresham was making the 150-metre walk back from the home of family friend Christos Avgoulis, 14, when she felt an object pressed to the side of her head in Minto, southwest Sydney, about 8.30pm last night.

"I turned to have a look what it was," Taylah said. "I saw someone standing there. He had a gun pointing to my head. I froze and he said, 'Phone, wallet.'

"He took my wallet and I was holding my phone and he was like, 'Come on, what are you waiting for?' He goes, 'If you don't hand it over then I'll shoot you."

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The man - who she described as about 180cm tall, wearing a black hoodie with a white pattern on the front, dark pants and something dark covering his face - then forced her to punch in the passcode on her locked phone, before running off down Bennett St, Minto.

The traumatised girl ran home and told her mother Kerry Ince, 31, who then called police.

Officers interviewed the girl and searched the area with a dog squad for more than two hours.

Ms Ince said police told her the dogs had momentarily picked up the suspect's scent before losing it again.

Tracking software installed on the new Samsung S3 phone has not yet been able to locate the device.

The year 7 student at Leumeah High School said the incident left her shaken and screaming in her sleep, vowing never to walk alone again at night nor to school in the morning.

Her wallet had just $14 and her student ID card in it.

Ms Ince said while she previously let Taylah make the three-minute walk through what she thought was a "quiet" neighbourhood alone at night, she no longer would.

"She's not going out by herself after dark again," she said. "When people say, 'She's 12, what's she doing unaccompanied?' With me working and stuff, she's learned to be quite independent and mature."

Investigators are appealing for anyone who noticed anything suspicious to call Macquarie Fields Police Station or Crime Stoppers.