One of my neighbours has just been burgled ... FOR THE THIRD TIME IN A FORTNIGHT!
One the first occasion, the burglar broke a window but could not get through it. He then went to the front door, rang the doorbell, and when the elderly husband opened it, tried to pass himself of as a police officer. The burglar then searched the house 'to make sure the burglar was gone' ... and used the opportunity to empty the husband's wallet. The police were called, but by the time they arrived, the burglar was well on his way.
Two days later (after the broken window had been repaired) the same window was broken and the burglar gained entry. This time the wife was at home, and caught the burglar climbing up the stairs to the top floor. He told her 'I'll not be long', and whilst she phoned the police, he stole the husband's wallet, which contained over £200.00 and his contactless credit card.
By the time the police arrived, the burglar was long gone, and had already used the credit card in a local shop before it was possible to cancel it. Since then the broken window has been repaired, special film has been applied to the windows to stop them breaking quite so easily, and all the internal doors have had security locks fitted to them.
The credit card company supplied the wife with the name of the shop where the stolen card was used, and she has visited it to make sure that any relevant CCTV footage was saved so that the police could access it ... when they had time to do so.
This morning, the burglar returned ... and broke a window that had not had the special film fixed to it. He managed to get into a downstairs room, but the internal locks prevented him from getting any further. The wife immediately called the police as she recognised the burglar's voice. (This time he told her to open the door as he had a present for her!) Needless to say, by the time the police arrived, the burglar had gone ... although this time he was seen by someone who was able to give a statement and description.
Sue and I have done as much as we can to help, as I've known the family for the best part of forty years (I taught all three of the sons back in the late 1970s and early 1980s) and the wife has been our cleaner and worked with Sue on genealogical research for nearly thirty years.
The scumbag responsible for all of this remains at large, and with luck he might eventually get caught. The only problem is that the mightily over-stretched Metropolitan Police just don't have the resources to investigate crimes like this as much as they and the public would like. With so many of them being deployed to guard important people and places against potential terrorist attacks and to deal with the rise in knife crime, hate crime, and other 'priorities', they are insufficient numbers to deal properly with burglaries.
What makes the whole situation even more galling is the fact that we live in one of the areas of London with the lowest per capita levels of crime. These burglaries have really had an impact on local people, and it is heartwarming to see how much support the victims are getting from the local community. It is the one good thing at has come as a result of theses events.
One the first occasion, the burglar broke a window but could not get through it. He then went to the front door, rang the doorbell, and when the elderly husband opened it, tried to pass himself of as a police officer. The burglar then searched the house 'to make sure the burglar was gone' ... and used the opportunity to empty the husband's wallet. The police were called, but by the time they arrived, the burglar was well on his way.
Two days later (after the broken window had been repaired) the same window was broken and the burglar gained entry. This time the wife was at home, and caught the burglar climbing up the stairs to the top floor. He told her 'I'll not be long', and whilst she phoned the police, he stole the husband's wallet, which contained over £200.00 and his contactless credit card.
By the time the police arrived, the burglar was long gone, and had already used the credit card in a local shop before it was possible to cancel it. Since then the broken window has been repaired, special film has been applied to the windows to stop them breaking quite so easily, and all the internal doors have had security locks fitted to them.
The credit card company supplied the wife with the name of the shop where the stolen card was used, and she has visited it to make sure that any relevant CCTV footage was saved so that the police could access it ... when they had time to do so.
This morning, the burglar returned ... and broke a window that had not had the special film fixed to it. He managed to get into a downstairs room, but the internal locks prevented him from getting any further. The wife immediately called the police as she recognised the burglar's voice. (This time he told her to open the door as he had a present for her!) Needless to say, by the time the police arrived, the burglar had gone ... although this time he was seen by someone who was able to give a statement and description.
Sue and I have done as much as we can to help, as I've known the family for the best part of forty years (I taught all three of the sons back in the late 1970s and early 1980s) and the wife has been our cleaner and worked with Sue on genealogical research for nearly thirty years.
The scumbag responsible for all of this remains at large, and with luck he might eventually get caught. The only problem is that the mightily over-stretched Metropolitan Police just don't have the resources to investigate crimes like this as much as they and the public would like. With so many of them being deployed to guard important people and places against potential terrorist attacks and to deal with the rise in knife crime, hate crime, and other 'priorities', they are insufficient numbers to deal properly with burglaries.
What makes the whole situation even more galling is the fact that we live in one of the areas of London with the lowest per capita levels of crime. These burglaries have really had an impact on local people, and it is heartwarming to see how much support the victims are getting from the local community. It is the one good thing at has come as a result of theses events.
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That is very upsetting.
ReplyDeleteI've only been burgled once, about 40 years ago when I was living in a flat with few possessions worth stealing beyond a motley collection of old stereo components and a stack of audio cassettes but it was rather upsetting.
My poor guard kitten was looking rather upset but was not held to blame as he was too young to have done anything.
Ros Mac,
DeleteBeing burgled is always very unpleasant, but three times in a fortnight by the same person beggars belief! I doubt that the burglar will be caught quickly, as burglary is not high on the policing target list.
All the best,
Bob
Very distressing, to say the least, doubly so since crimes targeting the elderly seem to be on the rise. Scumbags, indeed!
ReplyDeleteEd M,
DeleteThe problem is that the elderly often have the least secure homes and are physically unable to fight off these cowardly thugs. The chances are that even if he is caught, the burglar will probably be given a proverbial slap on the wrist.
All the best,
Bob
Fortunately I have never been burgled. The only incident I have had is a recent one when a nosy neighbour refused to leave the yard and my daughter had to call the police on him. Since then I lock my colour bond front fence and have no trespassing signs.
ReplyDeleteIn the case you have mentioned the only solution is vigilante action, something police are generally not keen on.If the police can not get there in time the neighbours need to organise themselves to help each other, probably, in the absence of guns, with baseball bats. A repeat robber like that would soon be 'discouraged' if four or five neighbours turned up to beat him up.
James James,
DeleteI hope that you and your daughter don't have any further problems with your neighbour.
Unfortunately, the Metropolitan Police take a very dim view of people who take the law into their own hands. I know of someone who chased a burglar out of their house and hit him with their fist whilst they were both in the garden. Both of them were arrested and fined; the burglar for the attempted burglary and the homeowner for common assault. The law allows you to use reasonable force to defend yourself from an intruder if you are in fear for you life BUT as soon as the intruder leaves, use of force - even to restrain them - could result in your arrest for assault.
All the best,
Bob
Not long after returning to my home I made my feelings on the matter very loudly and bluntly known to my neighbours.I also posted no trespassing signs but the one which named the neighbours had to be taken down after said neighbours complained to the police.
DeleteJames James,
DeleteWhat a wonderful situation in which to find yourself! Someone invades your property, and when you publicly name and shame them, they complain!
It beggars belief ... but is all too believable in our modern 'I'm more important that anyone else and can do what I like, but resent it when you are offended by my actions' society.
All the best,
Bob
Bob,
ReplyDeleteYou case you cite illustrates why many people have little confidence in the police and the law: common sense seems to have disappeared. I'm sure in 'the old days' no action would have been taken against the householder;he would probably have been praised for his action. But then it was the police who decided whether to prosecute, not the CPS, which seems to adopt a position of neutrality between criminals and the public, rather than being on the side of the latter. Why should someone who has himself disregarded the law be allowed to indulge in the hypocrisy of claiming its protection when it suits him?
Suppose that householder were later to come across a policeman being attacked: would he either dare to assist, for fear of being prosecuted if some idiot at the CPS deems he has used 'unreasonable' force, or feel like assisting?
Has any public benefit been achieved by the prosecution of the householder - no!
Perhaps the Met is so keen to discourage the public from 'taking the law into their own hands' because they fear their own failures might be shown up thereby...
One reason why I've never regretted not pursuing a career in law after my degree!
Best wishes,
Arthur
Arthur1815 (Arthur),
DeleteI know quite a few police officers and, without exception, none of them are happy with the situation they are in. I know of at least two who have resigned because they felt that the job they were doing was not what they joined up to do. They felt pushed and pulled in conflicting directions, with politically-generated 'priorities' being given the resources whilst normal policing is sidelined.
The householder I mentioned felt very aggrieved by what happened in their case, especially when their fine was higher than the one levied on the burglar. I think that most people would agree with your outrage at the decision to prosecute the householder ... but as you comment, the CPS seems to want to appear to be neutral and fair, even if their decisions seem to fly in the face of common sense.
Some years ago I did a career aptitude test ... and discovered that my perfect career would have been to be a barrister! When I was told, I was immediately put in mind of becoming a Horace Rumpole-like character!
All the best,
Bob
Bob,
ReplyDeleteA very distressing situation for your Elderly neighbors. Theft in any form is very annoying- though to have your home ransacked is the lowest of the low. We're fortunate enough to have had only one case of 'attempted theft' here in forty years- when some scoundrels tried to steal my new lawn mower in the middle of the night....we're always careful to lock outside doors and gates and put things away out of temptations reach and installed a security light. Hope your communities brazen burglar there is caught- and he's locked away for his crimes for some time. Regards. KEV.
Kev Robertson,
DeleteI must admit that the wife has taken the situation far better than her husband, and with the support of her three sons and the local community, she is coping very well indeed.
Theft is a relatively rare crime in our area (the police figures show that vehicle crime and domestic violence are the most common crimes committed in our area), but we all take reasonable precautions. We have five-point dead locks on our external doors and a monitored burglar/smoke alarm. The garden stores are all locked with top-of-the range padlocks, and our garden gate is bolted from the garden side. We also have a very large and almost impenetrable hedge along the bottom of the garden as well as walls/fences on the other sides. We are also considering having a motion-activated CCTV system installed. I'm not sure what else we could do to improve our security, but whatever it takes, we will do it if it is necessary.
All the best,
Bob
I suspect the Metropolitan Police have quite sufficient resources but deliberately choose not to employ them to deal with the sort of crimes that have such a devastating effect on ordinary people. There's much more publicity in spending millions investigating long-dead politicians and celebrities.
ReplyDeleteJeremy Ramsey,
DeleteAs I wrote earlier, all the police officers that I know feel that they are not doing the job that they signed up to do, and are being pushed and pulled in conflicting directions, with politically-generated 'priorities' being given the resources whilst normal policing is sidelined.
Policing in London has always been subject to political (and media) pressure, and in a time when personnel resources are stretched, low-level crime that does not make headlines or warrant a news sound-bite tends to get left unsolved.
All the best,
Bob
The gall of this guy!
ReplyDeleteIMHO the Police cannot stand by as he is now obviously targeting this couple .. repeatedly
I am concerned that the next escalation will involve violence as "he will get frustrated" if he doesn't get what he wants
I would have thought the Police would have given the couple an immediate response alarm
There must be a way to escalate this .. I would get a Councillor on the case as this is unacceptable
I hope the matter is resolved
Geordie an Exile FoG,
DeleteI must admit that the fact that the same burglar is targeting the same couple is of concern ... as is the apparent inability of the police to catch him. In their defence, the number of members of the neighbourhood policing team has - over the past couple of years - been halved from six to three.
The local Neighbourhood Watch is very aware of these burglaries, and everyone has been asked to keep a special eye out for anyone acting suspiciously in the area near the burgled house. Unfortunately, the local bus stop is right outside the house, and it will be difficult to differentiate between people acting suspiciously and those that are just hanging about waiting for a bus.
As to the local council ... well the Leader is one of our local representatives, but as yet has not replied to emails from the Neighbourhood Watch coordinator.
Thanks for your concern,
All the best,
Bob