Scum. We had a spate of them near us, not too far from where you are RM. As others have said, get a burglar alarm fitted, they're not that expensive. Can give you the guys number if you want. We also have timers on our lights and a device that replicates the light pattern of a TV that comes on as soon as it starts getting dark.
Great idea that
Yer it worked great on this occasion !
Sorry to hear you got burgled, it's getting to that time of year where they will increase
Read the thread again Shine luv.
It was suggested to Ralph, by Dave, to maybe try the automated tv light for next time
I think he was saying that Ralph had actually left his real TV on though, boss.
About 30 years ago i lived in Croydon and was burgled three times (i only lived there 18 months ffs) it's a horrible feeling when you arrive home and find out what's happened.
Luckily for me it hasn't happened since .what i would like to say to you Rm is that you will get over this just try And make your house harder for the scum to break in to. Hate is a strong word but scum like that yes i hate em
Thanks for the support Lifers ! It's great having some people to unload on when your feeling shocked as I was last night. Had, forensic round today and they took a few prints and a useful shoe print. Also had my local PCSO call in and offer support. Have to say pretty impressed with Police response. They came across a number of gardens to get to me, and my garden is very enclosed, Police are amazed they came that route, say not seen a garden as enclosed entered before. As said only cash went, forgot I had about 450 Euros in a wallet , yep they got that to. Big loss for me as limit on cash £500 and iv lost £1000. Plus I'm on £150 excess. Got £150 excess on the buildings , so will need to cover that on having my window fixed.
Anyway, used a wheeley bin to climb onto flat roof. Obviously that, and other climb on stuff has been removed. Will be looking at Alarm, couple on here said they had recommendations , I'd be glad to have them.
This strikes me as one of your neighbours/close people. To burgle a house that appears habituated would (in my opinion) need a guarantee that it wasn't. Someone in the pub who mAy recognise you? Sorry if this alarms you, but it doesn't strike me as a random chancer.
This strikes me as one of your neighbours/close people. To burgle a house that appears habituated would (in my opinion) need a guarantee that it wasn't. Someone in the pub who mAy recognise you? Sorry if this alarms you, but it doesn't strike me as a random chancer.
Agree. Unless all of your piggy banks and wallet are kept on the dining room table, it seems scarily close to home
This strikes me as one of your neighbours/close people. To burgle a house that appears habituated would (in my opinion) need a guarantee that it wasn't. Someone in the pub who mAy recognise you? Sorry if this alarms you, but it doesn't strike me as a random chancer.
I agree, unless the burglars, could clearly see from outside, that no one was home.
Sorry to hear this, horrible thing to go through. Great deterrent advice already on here so will just add for you to consider a couple of strategically placed internal cameras. Won't deter but most of these acrobats are a bit dim and tend to pull off hoods etc once indoors, bingo you have them on tape for the police Deterrents first though for peace of mind
Opened this thread hoping we'd been linked to a Danish midfielder. Shame.
In seriousness my sympathies are with you. Our next door neighbours were broken into the other day, but the buggers had clearly tried our door too as they were footprints on the door. Scum, subhuman scum.
If you are getting burgled call 999 donrt ask for the police ask for the fire brigade. Police wont come fire brigade will...... Take the consequences after
If you are getting burgled call 999 donrt ask for the police ask for the fire brigade. Police wont come fire brigade will...... Take the consequences after
This strikes me as one of your neighbours/close people. To burgle a house that appears habituated would (in my opinion) need a guarantee that it wasn't. Someone in the pub who mAy recognise you? Sorry if this alarms you, but it doesn't strike me as a random chancer.
I agree, unless the burglars, could clearly see from outside, that no one was home.
You will find burglers will often knock the door first to see if anyone answers.
This strikes me as one of your neighbours/close people. To burgle a house that appears habituated would (in my opinion) need a guarantee that it wasn't. Someone in the pub who mAy recognise you? Sorry if this alarms you, but it doesn't strike me as a random chancer.
I agree, unless the burglars, could clearly see from outside, that no one was home.
You will find burglers will often knock the door first to see if anyone answers.
Quite so. Here in Toronto the MO is to gently knock on the front or side door a couple of times and if no answer and no nosey neighbour is apparent they'll kick in the door, dash in the house, grab some stuff quickly and be out again within 2 - 3 minutes.
A bit about my (not so good) experience with alarm systems - the company will wait for 30 seconds after an alarm has been triggered, they'll then ring one or two of the numbers you've given them to check with you that it's not a false alarm, if it's a genuine shout they'll then ring the police who will despatch a car which may arrive in the next 20 minutes or so. The scroat has of course long gone
If we're away, for our side and back doors, we jam a strong stick under the door handle, the bottom of the stick is securely wedged (non-slip) so that anyone trying to kick in the door can't move it. Basically they'd have to trash the door with the risk this adds of them getting caught. This has worked well for neighbours in our area, the scroats have given up and gone away......to someone else's house I guess In addition to these sticks, our local copper also recommended good motion sensitive outside lighting, leaving house lights on (timer if away for holiday) and pruning trees and shrubs to allow doors and windows to be highly visible from the street. Good deadbolt locks he advised are a must and should be attached with long (3 - 4 inch) mounting screws. They need to resist kicking and drilling out. Ours were about C$200 a pop. He surprised us when he said to close all downstairs windows when going out but not to worry about closing the upstairs ones.........the stats say scroats pretty much always come in at main floor level apparently.
He surprised us when he said to close all downstairs windows when going out but not to worry about closing the upstairs ones.........the stats say scroats pretty much always come in at main floor level apparently.
That's not the received wisdom here. The advice given on TV programmes about burglary is, quite rightly, that a reasonably agile young man can be, say, up onto a garage roof and in through a small bathroom window that has been left open in 10-15 seconds.
Furthermore, a professional burglar will pick a street and walk down it looking for the weakest link, that is, a house with exactly that kind of vulnerability. The idea is that you make yours a fortress so that the crim will choose a neighbour's house instead. That may sound callous, but the point is that he's going to do someone, so why you?
Oh, and also on TV, I've seen an ex-burglar demonstrate how to break into a house with modern uPVC fittings by shoulder-charging the back door a couple of times to loosen it, then lifting both the door and its frame out of the wall in one piece. The point was that, in a cheap job, the frame will only be fitted with something like 3.5 in screws, whereas it needs to have something like 6 in screws or bolts to deter burglars.
Last time my parents got burgled, the guy got in by climbing on to the conservatory roof and smashing the landing window in. And given the way the house was built, that was actually 2 flights up on that side of the house.
My mate got burgled in London a few times. One of the times she got home to find her flat door open so she called her upstairs neighbour down to go in and check for her. He went in but came out looking a bit uncomfortable but said the coast was clear. She went in to find the kindly burglar had placed her collection of vibrators all around her flat, on her dinner table, mantelpiece etc.
I can't actually remember now if she moved them before she called the police.
My mate got burgled in London a few times. One of the times she got home to find her flat door open so she called her upstairs neighbour down to go in and check for her. He went in but came out looking a bit uncomfortable but said the coast was clear. She went in to find the kindly burglar had placed her collection of vibrators all around her flat, on her dinner table, mantelpiece etc.
I can't actually remember now if she moved them before she called the police.
This thread was of great interest sadly for all the wrong reasons. Whilst I hadn't bookmarked it previously, recent admissions have left me with no other option than to do so.
Sorry to hear tough news RM. I was burgled in 90's. kicked front door in on a mid terrace in afternoon. Only took tv and video camera. Police found camera around a year later in some 'fences' house and returned it even though insurance had paid out. Anyway, imagine the sickening feeling when I played the tapes inside the camera and box only to find that they still had the 'new owners family and kids on'. Luckily I didn't know them but I wouldn't have thought twice about giving them a visit otherwise. RM Much better technology with alarms now. As a cheap fix to make you feel less anxious whilst away from house you could buy a cheap web/video camera with an app function. Mother had an incident of kind at her house recently so her partner bought a cheapie cam for about £20. This enabled him to see and hear live filming 24/7 through his smart phone.
This strikes me as one of your neighbours/close people. To burgle a house that appears habituated would (in my opinion) need a guarantee that it wasn't. Someone in the pub who mAy recognise you? Sorry if this alarms you, but it doesn't strike me as a random chancer.
I agree, unless the burglars, could clearly see from outside, that no one was home.
You will find burglers will often knock the door first to see if anyone answers.
Quite so. Here in Toronto the MO is to gently knock on the front or side door a couple of times and if no answer and no nosey neighbour is apparent they'll kick in the door, dash in the house, grab some stuff quickly and be out again within 2 - 3 minutes.
A bit about my (not so good) experience with alarm systems - the company will wait for 30 seconds after an alarm has been triggered, they'll then ring one or two of the numbers you've given them to check with you that it's not a false alarm, if it's a genuine shout they'll then ring the police who will despatch a car which may arrive in the next 20 minutes or so. The scroat has of course long gone
If we're away, for our side and back doors, we jam a strong stick under the door handle, the bottom of the stick is securely wedged (non-slip) so that anyone trying to kick in the door can't move it. Basically they'd have to trash the door with the risk this adds of them getting caught. This has worked well for neighbours in our area, the scroats have given up and gone away......to someone else's house I guess In addition to these sticks, our local copper also recommended good motion sensitive outside lighting, leaving house lights on (timer if away for holiday) and pruning trees and shrubs to allow doors and windows to be highly visible from the street. Good deadbolt locks he advised are a must and should be attached with long (3 - 4 inch) mounting screws. They need to resist kicking and drilling out. Ours were about C$200 a pop. He surprised us when he said to close all downstairs windows when going out but not to worry about closing the upstairs ones.........the stats say scroats pretty much always come in at main floor level apparently.
Really gutted to hear what happened to you, RM. Burglary is one of the most scummy crimes around IMO. Sadly we're approaching that time of year when they get common too. I'm not too sure how I'd deal with being in a house knowing that some little sh*t had been in there too, going through my stuff.
I'll echo what others have said - the fact your TV was on (and so it looked like you were home) is quite shocking, especially as the volume must've been audible from your description of what happened. I'd genuinely look a bit closer to home and/or those in the pub. I was having a chat with one of my last clients, and I told him that my next door neighbour (a bit rough around the edges, decent enough to me personally though) had kicked my front-door in a few years ago when I still lived with my mum; she was panicking about being locked out, and he volunteered to do the door in for her. My client - with a bemused face - told me that he was burgled by his next door neighbours a few years ago.
Just to add to some of the superb advice in this thread; it's also worth looking at the quality of your locks too. I doubt opportunistic little scrotes will be too clued up, but a large number of consumer locks were vulnerable to "bumping" a few years ago - using nothing more than a specifically cut key (bought online for a few pounds), and optionally a special key-ring that could "bump" the key with the right amount of force. Similarly, police were warning about lock snapping a few years ago.
There's also the concept of "fishing" - i.e using a coat hanger (via the letterbox) to grab any keys and/or open the door. As convenient as it is to keep a little table by your front door for keys etc, it's a really bad idea. (As a side note, I learnt this from hearing the next door neighbour mentioned above saying he was "going fishing" in the early hours one night; I didn't think anything of it until I told a mate who was a police officer, he quickly explained what that actually meant.)
Don't forget sheds too; it's worth checking any padlocks you rely on. A fair number of them can be shimmed using nothing more than a cut up coke can; whilst I bought one a couple of years ago that I could open by thrusting a thin screwdriver (out of an electronics toolkit) inside it. I'm fairly certain shed burglaries are even more common than dwellings.
As for cameras and stuff, there's some cracking ideas in here. I think even a convincing dummy is more than likely going to put off most people looking for easy pickings; it increases the stakes exponentially. If you want the "real thing" though, pay attention to the poster(s) who mentioned getting internet connected ones that push their video online at the shortest possible time frame. The missus has recently got a new car, so I've been considering rigging something similar up - but covering the drive via the kitchen window, and perhaps one covering the front door.
If you are going to use internet connected webcams though, make sure you change the default security settings on them to help minimise the risk of them getting hacked.
Comments
lives on his own,
Babestation.
Luckily for me it hasn't happened since .what i would like to say to you Rm is that you will get over this just try And make your house harder for the scum to break in to.
Hate is a strong word but scum like that yes i hate em
To burgle a house that appears habituated would (in my opinion) need a guarantee that it wasn't.
Someone in the pub who mAy recognise you?
Sorry if this alarms you, but it doesn't strike me as a random chancer.
Great deterrent advice already on here so will just add for you to consider a couple of strategically placed internal cameras. Won't deter but most of these acrobats are a bit dim and tend to pull off hoods etc once indoors, bingo you have them on tape for the police
Deterrents first though for peace of mind
In seriousness my sympathies are with you. Our next door neighbours were broken into the other day, but the buggers had clearly tried our door too as they were footprints on the door. Scum, subhuman scum.
A bit about my (not so good) experience with alarm systems - the company will wait for 30 seconds after an alarm has been triggered, they'll then ring one or two of the numbers you've given them to check with you that it's not a false alarm, if it's a genuine shout they'll then ring the police who will despatch a car which may arrive in the next 20 minutes or so. The scroat has of course long gone
If we're away, for our side and back doors, we jam a strong stick under the door handle, the bottom of the stick is securely wedged (non-slip) so that anyone trying to kick in the door can't move it. Basically they'd have to trash the door with the risk this adds of them getting caught. This has worked well for neighbours in our area, the scroats have given up and gone away......to someone else's house I guess
In addition to these sticks, our local copper also recommended good motion sensitive outside lighting, leaving house lights on (timer if away for holiday) and pruning trees and shrubs to allow doors and windows to be highly visible from the street.
Good deadbolt locks he advised are a must and should be attached with long (3 - 4 inch) mounting screws. They need to resist kicking and drilling out. Ours were about C$200 a pop.
He surprised us when he said to close all downstairs windows when going out but not to worry about closing the upstairs ones.........the stats say scroats pretty much always come in at main floor level apparently.
Furthermore, a professional burglar will pick a street and walk down it looking for the weakest link, that is, a house with exactly that kind of vulnerability. The idea is that you make yours a fortress so that the crim will choose a neighbour's house instead. That may sound callous, but the point is that he's going to do someone, so why you?
Oh, and also on TV, I've seen an ex-burglar demonstrate how to break into a house with modern uPVC fittings by shoulder-charging the back door a couple of times to loosen it, then lifting both the door and its frame out of the wall in one piece. The point was that, in a cheap job, the frame will only be fitted with something like 3.5 in screws, whereas it needs to have something like 6 in screws or bolts to deter burglars.
I can't actually remember now if she moved them before she called the police.
RM
Much better technology with alarms now. As a cheap fix to make you feel less anxious whilst away from house you could buy a cheap web/video camera with an app function. Mother had an incident of kind at her house recently so her partner bought a cheapie cam for about £20. This enabled him to see and hear live filming 24/7 through his smart phone.
I'll echo what others have said - the fact your TV was on (and so it looked like you were home) is quite shocking, especially as the volume must've been audible from your description of what happened. I'd genuinely look a bit closer to home and/or those in the pub. I was having a chat with one of my last clients, and I told him that my next door neighbour (a bit rough around the edges, decent enough to me personally though) had kicked my front-door in a few years ago when I still lived with my mum; she was panicking about being locked out, and he volunteered to do the door in for her. My client - with a bemused face - told me that he was burgled by his next door neighbours a few years ago.
Just to add to some of the superb advice in this thread; it's also worth looking at the quality of your locks too. I doubt opportunistic little scrotes will be too clued up, but a large number of consumer locks were vulnerable to "bumping" a few years ago - using nothing more than a specifically cut key (bought online for a few pounds), and optionally a special key-ring that could "bump" the key with the right amount of force. Similarly, police were warning about lock snapping a few years ago.
There's also the concept of "fishing" - i.e using a coat hanger (via the letterbox) to grab any keys and/or open the door. As convenient as it is to keep a little table by your front door for keys etc, it's a really bad idea. (As a side note, I learnt this from hearing the next door neighbour mentioned above saying he was "going fishing" in the early hours one night; I didn't think anything of it until I told a mate who was a police officer, he quickly explained what that actually meant.)
Don't forget sheds too; it's worth checking any padlocks you rely on. A fair number of them can be shimmed using nothing more than a cut up coke can; whilst I bought one a couple of years ago that I could open by thrusting a thin screwdriver (out of an electronics toolkit) inside it. I'm fairly certain shed burglaries are even more common than dwellings.
As for cameras and stuff, there's some cracking ideas in here. I think even a convincing dummy is more than likely going to put off most people looking for easy pickings; it increases the stakes exponentially. If you want the "real thing" though, pay attention to the poster(s) who mentioned getting internet connected ones that push their video online at the shortest possible time frame. The missus has recently got a new car, so I've been considering rigging something similar up - but covering the drive via the kitchen window, and perhaps one covering the front door.