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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Repeat burglary - third time in 2019

47 replies

silvercuckoo · 17/06/2019 08:59

Asking on behalf of a friend / colleague, and posting for traffic here.
Her house has been broken into for the third time this year. It usually happens when she's at work and her children are in school. Nothing expensive has been taken - things like a power bank, a couple of phone chargers, a heavy used children's tablet and even an opened pack of A4 paper - maybe a hundred pounds resale value max (what's the purpose of such burglary, if they have been twice and should know by how she does not have any jewellery / cash /expensive gadgets?). Access is always through the patio door where they smash / cut the glass. She had CCTV installed after the first time but the criminals could not be identified / traced from it. It looks like they are the same people though.
She is quite stressed out (working from home today as has nightmares of someone breaking in immediately if she leaves). Is there anything I can suggest to her, o wise people? I really want to be helpful in some way, but know nothing about this topic.

OP posts:
StinkinDrink · 17/06/2019 09:04

Oh bless her, that must be bloody awful and scary 😔 I really feel for her! I don't think I have any advice though, others will most certainly be able to help though. I was going to suggest security light but no good if it happens during the day....

LegoPiecesEverywhere · 17/06/2019 09:09

She needs to get the house alarmed and replace the patio door.

PianoTuner567 · 17/06/2019 09:12

Can a community support officer come and give her some advice? Or a private security firm?

Sounds like they are getting into the garden - does she need a better gate?

UrsulaPandress · 17/06/2019 09:13

Definitely an alarm that would sound as soon as something moved in the house.

Poor woman.

Original poster
silvercuckoo · 17/06/2019 09:16

She needs to get the house alarmed and replace the patio door
It is alarmed, they are in and out in 2 minutes while the alarm wails, but no one seems to react immediately as it is around 11 am in a quiet neighborhood, people are either at work or out with the children. Or you mean an alarm with a private security company who will physically come and investigate?

OP posts:
labyrinth · 17/06/2019 09:17

Some local police forces or local authorities offer a service whereby they can come and assess the security of your home and then install door and window alarms etc for free. As she is a repeat victim I would have thought they would have offered her this though.

Otherwise, CCTV at face height, house alarm, door and window alarms, getting a dog would be the standard advice.

How are they gaining access to the patio doors? Are they climbing a fence? Could she put up some carpet gripper around the top of the fencing to try and deter then/ obtain DNA evidence? Are gates etc all locked?

And as a total side note, is there someone on the scene that could be doing this to intimidate her? An ex? Or a stalker type person?

It's definitely worth your friend contacting 101 and asking for a reassurance visit from local officers to get some advice

Original poster
silvercuckoo · 17/06/2019 09:18

Sounds like they are getting into the garden - does she need a better gate
Yes, jumping over the back fence (her house backs to a disused pathway next to a construction site)

OP posts:
Atalune · 17/06/2019 09:19

Replace the patio doors.

MakeLemonade · 17/06/2019 09:22

A monitored system sounds like the best thing for her - they will come themselves and call police if they can see intruders on camera. We use Verisure and they offer this as well as some other gadgets to prevent successful burglaries - a device that fills the house with a smoke to block their vision etc.

QueenBeee · 17/06/2019 09:30

The black non drying paint is pretty yucky - v like black Vaseline and would make a mess of their clothes, though they might smear it on your house in revenge (off their hands) . Some sort of high trellis might deter them - if they are only burgling her house it must be ease of access.
You can be prosecuted if you put barbed wire or similar on fence I believe.
Black thorn hedge would work but take many years to grow. Rosa Rugosa is quick growing she could try that.

labyrinth · 17/06/2019 09:35

If the fence is 8ft or higher you can erect razor wire. 6ft or higher is ok for barbed wire. Signage must be in place to warn of its presence though.
Carpet grippers are cheap and effective and if anyone asks they were put up to stop cats coming in to poop in the garden so no sign needed as cats can't read Grin
Vandal paint is another good suggestion.
Depends on your friends budget really

adaline · 17/06/2019 09:45

If they're not taking much, my concern would be that it's someone she knows trying to scare her.

Pinotjo · 17/06/2019 09:48

Google Prism Protection, they have a paragraph on their website of a film that is applied to glass that is very hard for burglars to penetrate

IceRebel · 17/06/2019 09:51

Nothing expensive has been taken - things like a power bank, a couple of phone chargers, a heavy used children's tablet and even an opened pack of A4

These are such weird items to steal.

I would wonder why they weren't taking TVs, clothes, Laptops, money etc. Surely no one goes to the effort to break into a house with security, just to steal paper. Confused

teraculum29 · 17/06/2019 10:10

what about that Ring Door bell fitted on patio door? with that every movement in the garden is recorded, and the owner is notified on the phone and then she can even talk to the person.

Missingstreetlife · 17/06/2019 10:12

Stuff they can offload kwik and get a bag of dope. All that trauma for a £10 deal.
New patio doors, or move

teraculum29 · 17/06/2019 10:12

and also if the jumping over the gate, make the gate a bit higher, and by that gate put some spiky plants like agave cactus

newmomof1 · 17/06/2019 10:18

Tell her to get an ADT alarm. They're monitored 24/7 so if the alarm is triggered, they will call the dedicated contact, ask if they can attend the property and if you say no, they'll send the police automatically. They'll also send the police if they can't contact you (they ask for 3 contacts to try first).

The alarm also only goes off inside the house and it's the most horrendous sound - it literally sends you a bit mad after 20 seconds or so.

It's expensive to set up and you have to pay a monthly maintenance fee but it's worth it for the peace of mind.

They also did some research with convicted burglars who said they would generally avoid homes with an ADT alarm.

wheresmymojo · 17/06/2019 10:19

I take it she can't get a dog?

Which is a shame as a great big German Shepherd would give them a fright

Agree that she needs to make it harder to get into her back garden - so making the fence much higher.

Does the CCTV need repositioning if it didn't get a clear picture? Can she also put up a camera in her living room or wherever it is that they go?

You can get those pet cameras that you can talk through to your pets for about £50 - it streams to your phone and she can give them a bollocking through the speaker to tell them they're on camera, etc.

How far away does she work? Our ADT system calls our mobiles if it's triggered, you can have 6 numbers (it also goes through to a 24/7 response centre though to be honest they wouldn't arrive until after they'd already left if they're in and out in a few minutes).

If she has friends/family locally or a friendly neighbour they could be one of the numbers.

I would also be concerned that it's someone trying to scare her as seems bizarre to have three break ins when they know there's nothing worth stealing.

wheresmymojo · 17/06/2019 10:21

We had our ADT system fitted this week and I have a 'refer a friend' voucher to get the whole system fitted for £50 (plus the monthly fee they charge for the system to be monitored).

Let me know if you want the details to pass on to her.

Looking4wards · 17/06/2019 10:28

3 times by the same people? Does she have any laptops, tablets, jewellery etc elsewhere in the house that they could have taken but didn't?
I wonder if she's had a run in with someone or a crazy ex who's got it in for her and just burgling her house to scare her?

Jaxhog · 17/06/2019 10:29

If they're not taking much, my concern would be that it's someone she knows trying to scare her.

It does sounds like it might be personal.

LindaLa · 17/06/2019 10:30

If you do go the alarm route, do make sure the alarm company will actually do something when alarm goes off.

Around here (London suburb), alarms constantly go off.

101 says phone alarm company, alarm company says phone 101 or "can you access back of the house to see if any break in"

ADT and Octagon, I'm looking at you.

Unfortunately, it means alarms are ignored.

Snidpan · 17/06/2019 10:30

it's a shame alarms have such little effect. I heard a couple of years back , that rather than a bell or klaxon going off, you can have a MASSIVE bang, with or without instant room filling with smoke. Pretty sure that might make the kids think twice. If neighbours complain about the explosion, she can always point out how everyone (ie, neighbours) are happy to ignore alarms, so she had to up the ante

Broombroomshaketheroom · 17/06/2019 10:33

@wheresmymojo I'd be interested in that if you don't mind inboxing me? We've had a few 'attempts' at our house since we moved in. Thankfully our small-ish dog happens to have a bark that sounds like the hound from hell 😁