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Victims of crime

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Original poster

Anyone else ever been burgled?

54 replies

Bijou23 · 10/01/2023 18:43

Feeling rather down and invaded of my privacy and debating wether to live here anymore.

Does the crime ever get solved/people prosecuted? .... I guess with lack of not much evidence they will get away with it again and againHmm

What has peoples experience of burglaries been.

Hoping tomorrow will be a better day.

OP posts:
Msgrieves · 10/01/2023 18:46

Not until I moved to this god forsaken estate. Idiotically took awhile to train the kids to make sure the door was locked (and myself). We literally have not very much, but the smackheads took it anyway.

BamBamBilla · 10/01/2023 18:47

I'm so sorry it happened to you. It's the worst feeling in the world. We were burgled in the middle of the night which was awful to know they were there when we were there. They only took some cash on the side but it's still such an invasion of privacy.

Msgrieves · 10/01/2023 18:47

Police won't give a fuck BTW. Unless you are rich.

Welshy26 · 10/01/2023 18:48

Yes. Had a horrendous experience as a child. Still sends shivers up my spine what they did and what they had planned to throw at us should one of us disturbed them whilst they burgled us.

Roo84 · 10/01/2023 18:48

The police absolutely do give a fuck...the system however doesn't appear to.

Welshy26 · 10/01/2023 18:48

Should add, it was never solved. We got nothing back. Hope you're ok.

Original poster
Bijou23 · 10/01/2023 18:50

Welshy26 · 10/01/2023 18:48

Should add, it was never solved. We got nothing back. Hope you're ok.

I have a feeling it will never be solved either, I just can't believe it has happened to me, you never think it will happen to your self. Always see it in the news etc , honestly I'm devasted.

OP posts:
Roo84 · 10/01/2023 18:51

Unfortunately the criminals are fairly wise to things. Will use smash and grab tactics, often use gloves/foot coverings, even wiping/spraying surfaces to get rid of forensics. CCTV if good quality, incl ring doorbells etc are great, but if offenders have covered faces, unless anything stand out about offenders there maybe little evident to go on in order to point out culprits.
So sorry you've had to go through this. I think I'd be feeling as you do if it happened to me.

Original poster
Bijou23 · 10/01/2023 18:52

Welshy26 · 10/01/2023 18:48

Yes. Had a horrendous experience as a child. Still sends shivers up my spine what they did and what they had planned to throw at us should one of us disturbed them whilst they burgled us.

Oh gosh I'm so sorry, it is sickening to think what If ...
Seriously considering leaving as soon as I can.

OP posts:
HaddawayAndShite · 10/01/2023 18:54

Yes. We were away for the weekend. Police dealt with MIL but we were just visited by a o so a few days later and then nothing. We knew who had done it too. He broke into another house down the road. They had actual evidence and still only got a £15 victim surcharge and a pathetic amount of hours community service.

It is such a horrible feeling. We were more annoyed that we didn’t even have anything expensive to steal so they took really sentimental things.

HaddawayAndShite · 10/01/2023 18:54

Pcso*

salamanderturtle · 10/01/2023 18:57

Yes we were. Never solved and got nothing back. It felt a massive invasion of privacy and they made so much mess. I never 100% felt safe in that house again.

loadypoady · 10/01/2023 18:57

Yes 3 times in 3 different houses all in different towns. Twice when we were out and once we were in bed and never heard a thing.
The police told us we were very unlucky that it happened to us three times when most people it never happens to at all.

I will be honest it never made me want to move house.

ditalini · 10/01/2023 18:58

Twice. Not solved.

Both were opportunistic crimes and monetary worth of items taken/damaged was far less than sentimental value.

Almost the worst thing for me was the pointlessness of it - the burglar(s) will have made hardly anything and probably dumped most of it, but stuff like my great grandmother's earrings were irreplaceable.

Both happened during the day so I didn't worry about being at home overnight, but I felt nervous coming home for a good while, and in situations such as being in the shower during the day and the doorbell going - would previously have ignored but would worry that some would break in if I didn't answer.

That feeling eventually faded and I don't think about it any more.

boboshmobo · 10/01/2023 18:59

Yes as a child !

PinkVitamins · 10/01/2023 19:00

Yes we got broken into a few years ago. We were away on holiday and discovered it when we got back.
We did call the police and I didn't expect them to do much - I just wanted the crime number etc for the insurance - but they actually apparently got DNA from the window where the thief bled on it and it got a match! So they caught the guy, he wrote us an apology letter (I'm sure this was only to look good in front of the judge but still) and he went back to jail as it was not a first offence.
I was really surprised but just to let you know sometimes they do catch the burglar!

Alphabet1spaghetti2 · 10/01/2023 19:00

Once and caught them breaking in. I went absolutely mental on them. Totally stupid thing to do - but you don’t think in these situations you just react.
Has made me over the top regarding home security and ‘what if’ plans ever since. I police our recycling so as to avoid leaving ‘clues’ that we’ve bought anything worth stealing. I hate having anything new/enjoy anything new, as I have never been able to shift the feeling that some arsehole will simply take it away.
Have been told it’s a victimless crime as you can claim on insurance - it’s not and it can have far reaching consequences. Wish the police and courts did more to combat it.

AlphaAlpha · 10/01/2023 19:08

I remember being burgled when I was a child, over 40 years ago. Mum had just picked us up from school. It seems we disturbed them too as I can recall the sound of the burglar marking an exit through the window they had smashed for entry.
Their bum prints were on the bed with all mums jewelry boxes strewn across it.
We didn't have much then, but mum had quite a bit of jewelry- her wedding and engagement rings were taken, along with my silver baby bangle thing and even my first teeth!
Mum has never gotten over it really, she still looks in second hand jewelry shops for her rings.... she thinks she knows who did it, as it was timed for the school run. This would've been around 1982/3. Never caught.

Rainbow1901 · 10/01/2023 19:09

Yes when I was with my now exH. We had been away for the weekend and came back to our neighbour who was feeding the cat saying we had left the kitchen window wide open when we left. It had been forced and we had been burgled. Thankfully the insurance paid up but it's very difficult to pin down what has actually been stolen - we were realising months after the event that x, y or z was missing so a lot of stuff was never replaced. It's very disconcerting to realise that your privacy has been invaded and eventually we moved out.

mondaytosunday · 10/01/2023 19:09

Yes I've been burgled twice. Once when I was a lodger as a student so it didn't really impact me (I had nothing to steal, and the idiot burglars missed the envelope in my landlady's room labelled 'rent' filled with cash).
Second time was my flat and im sure they were disappointed with my black and white tv (this was the 80s and it was second hand). They did take all my jewellery and my flat mates address book as he worked fur the BBC and I guess they thought it would have some interesting addresses (nope, he was pretty low in the pecking order).
The police came but said they'd only take fingerprints on the off chance they caught sone one and it matched - they weren't going to investigate or anything. It did feel weird for a while but that's all.

SirenSays · 10/01/2023 19:12

Only once as a child, they didn't get much.
Mr Beast the youtuber was burgled. He had his bitcoin key written on his laptop and millions in bitcoin and the idiots left it.

YukoandHiro · 10/01/2023 19:16

I was burgled when I lived alone. Left me feeling horribly unsettled. They finger printed but dropped the case. It's rare to get conviction unless they can fit them up for a whole string

Linren · 10/01/2023 19:21

Yes. They used a crowbar or something similar and broke the door down.

Myself and all three of my housemates were all out (separately) for the evening and I often wonder how closely they were watching the house.

Did they know that four of us lived there, kept track and waited for each of us to leave in turn? Or did they just see the lights off?

I had a headache and almost didn't go out that night - I planned on lying down in the dark in my room but I was persuaded to go out at the last minute. I often wonder what would have happened if they'd thought the house was empty and arrived in my room, crowbar in hand. People say burglars aren't usually violent but you never know and it terrifies me.

The police told us there were a lot of burglaries in the area and they took fingerprints but warned us we were unlikely to get anything back. We never heard anything from them.

I think burglary is often seen as a crime that's not as big of a deal because it's just stuff but I felt so unsafe and violated. I often feel fearful when remembering it all these years later.

I'd like to get some really good security systems in place but I'm renting so I'm more limited in what I can install.

filka · 10/01/2023 19:21

Yes, about 25-30 years ago we were on holiday in the USA. Actually we were lucky the house didn't burn down, they closed the curtains and struck matches to see around the place. Lost the usual TV and hifi, all covered by insurance. Didn't feel the urge to move, but I've never been back to the USA.

Burglar alarms are much smarter these days, wireless, link to phone app, camera built in to sensor etc. Nowadays I have an alarm system, Amazon Blink cameras and door sensor on British Gas Hive system - and am at the end of a kind of cul de sac so no passing people or cars.

BowlofNothing · 10/01/2023 19:23

Yes, a few years ago whilst I was at work. I came home to Police at the house and they were reluctant to let me in due to the mess that had been made. My elderly
Next door neighbour heard them breaking in and called 999, Police were they in 5 mins but the devastation they caused was massive and I couldn't bear to return, especially with a young child. Luckily it was a rented property so negotiated to leave early and moved to a safer area!

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