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Original poster

Has anyone been burgled when you were in?

72 replies

User5512 · 29/10/2023 22:05

Neighbours house was burgled last week and it’s causing me worry!

I work from home 3 days a week so on my own all day. the other 2 days DS (14) comes home from school and is home alone until 6pm.

We are now setting up burglar alarms, indoor/outdoor cameras for increased safety but do people get burgled when they are in ??

OP posts:

Peekingovertheparapet · 31/10/2023 06:47

Someone broke into our garage at 4am once but the alarm sent them running.

we have cameras and an alarm system; we keep the garage alarmed constantly and downstairs alarmed overnight. We live in a high crime area, big houses with single glazed windows.

one neighbour came back from the school run to find intruders so I always set the house alarm even for short trips.

HardcoreLadyType · 31/10/2023 06:53

Twice. Once when we were asleep in bed, although my husband woke and went to investigate and they jumped out of a window.

The second time, they came in through the unlocked back door, when we were sitting in another ground floor room. They were looking for car keys, as they left phones, iPads and handbags alone. Our next door neighbour has v expensive cars, and I expect they were trying to get into theirs, and counted the houses wrongly.

Muddle2000 · 31/10/2023 08:37

Our neighbour was burgled and raped in her bungalow one early evening
We left top window open
In a 2nd floor flat broad daylight and came face to face with burglar attempting to get in

marmaladeandpeanutbutter · 31/10/2023 10:32

Poor you, OP. What an onslaught of horror stories!! It's great you have burglar alarms set up-most people don't, do they? I think the police used to produce a leaflet on what to do to protect your home from crime.

I was burgled years ago (20 +) and not since. They only went into the kitchen and took video recorder and a handbag.

BringMeTea · 31/10/2023 11:45

Yes.

userxx · 31/10/2023 11:51

Yes. Unfortunately my mum discovered him trying to get upstairs.

Chasingsquirrels · 31/10/2023 11:58

Not UK.
25 years ago.
Middle of the night, asleep in main bedroom with rape-door shut & locked.
Didn't hear a thing.
They barely took anything, CD player & CDs, plus 2 kina out of DPs wallet (left the 50 kina note).

Felt totally exposed, didn't sleep there again - spent a couple of nights at a friend's then moved into a much more secure compound.

userxx · 31/10/2023 12:25

Chasingsquirrels · 31/10/2023 11:58

Felt totally exposed, didn't sleep there again - spent a couple of nights at a friend's then moved into a much more secure compound.

Edited

Anywhere that has a rape door as standard is not somewhere I'd want to be staying!

SaturdayGiraffe · 31/10/2023 12:43

Considering only 6% of burglaries are solved in the UK, I'm surprised it's not more common tbh.
https://news.sky.com/story/a-shockingly-low-number-of-burglaries-are-solved-by-police-is-this-the-answer-to-securing-more-arrests-12726742

Just 6% of burglaries are solved by police - but over in Manchester, things have been a bit different

Only 6% of burglary incidents a year are solved by police across England and Wales - a shockingly low figure which has decreased over the last few years. But in Manchester for the last 15 months things have been a bit different and the picture is chang...

https://news.sky.com/story/a-shockingly-low-number-of-burglaries-are-solved-by-police-is-this-the-answer-to-securing-more-arrests-12726742

TheFormidableMrsC · 01/11/2023 23:23

StarbucksSmarterSister · 30/10/2023 22:10

Years ago in London my flat mate and I were burgled while we were asleep. They actually cut a pane of glass out of the French windows. We didn't have a burglar alarm though. We slept through it.

I posted earlier and "our" burglar cut out a tiny lead light window pane to open a window. He dropped his Stanley knife in the garden. My Dad was haunted for years because of what "could" have happened if any of us had crossed him while he was in the house.

AgathaMystery · 01/11/2023 23:34

Yes.

many yrs ago we had wooden double glazing fitted & they watched the house, waited until the window fitters had left, scraped the putty and suctioned the window out. Almost unbelievable but they did it.

I was on nights (so sleeping in the daytime) & woke up thinking it was DH home from work. I called out to him, got no answer, saw the time and realised it was too early so got out of bed. They were on the landing outside my door.

I called the police and they were caught about half a mile away. After that we had an alarm fitted and internal locks fitted and a phone in the bedroom and a panic button that set off the alarm. It was very very frightening.

Icefoot · 01/11/2023 23:37

Yes, we were burgled while we slept. They took DH's phone and some money from my purse, both of which had been left in the hallway.

We didn't realise at first and DH spent most of the morning ranting about the kids having hidden his phone! It was only when we found the sim card, that they'd helpfully left on the kitchen table, that we realised what had happened.

Alphabet1spaghetti2 · 01/11/2023 23:59

Yes during daytime. They left without their trousers. I gained a pair of ripped jeans courtesy of my dog.

hoobanoobie · 02/11/2023 00:09

Someone tried to break into our house when I was a small child (one of my earliest memories) through the back sliding door. My parents leapt to it and they didn't get in but watching it was terrifying while they fought for strength back and forth with the door.
Now a lone parent with a little girl, living in a bad area and also have an ex (DD's dad) who is so severely mentally unstable that I get calls out of the blue from social services telling me that he's "involved with the police again" and cant tell me what he's done but he must not have any contact with DD. I suffered abuse at his hands for years and he knows where we live. He has not had any contact for years anyway.
I have brackets fitted on the inside of the front and back doors with bars that slot into them. Bike lock around the handles of the double doors leading from the front room to the back garden. No one is getting in here. It's taken away a lot of fear knowing that protection is in place. I don’t feel so vulnerable.

Snowdropcow · 02/11/2023 00:09

I know burglary rates have gone down but these stories are horrible!

I have had an attempted burglary about 10 years ago as a teenager. Lots of people in our street were reporting burglaries so we were on guard. One night I heard a lot of noise with banging by the door, the dog went mental and then I heard the gate close and people running. In the morning there was clear signs they were trying to pry open the door. I remember it just feeling surreal and recognising we are fortunate to have such a gobby fucking dog.

jadey1991 · 02/11/2023 00:29

Yes i were burgled while me, op, and my 3 kids were sleeping. Luckily my dog scared them away

SingingSands · 02/11/2023 01:24

Four times - three times in the house and once in the (separate) garage.

Nothing has given me more rage in my life than looking out my bedroom window and seeing 4 masked men loading my tv and valuables into my own car. By the time I'd made it downstairs they'd reversed out the drive and up the street. I was absolutely murderous. Fucking scrotes.

saythatagaintome · 02/11/2023 01:28

This terrifies me!!! Literally my worst nightmare. I would assume that the person in my home was there to harm me, rape me.. kill me…

Muddle2000 · 02/11/2023 08:44

Mojo do you think shoplifting is on the rise

MojoMoon · 02/11/2023 22:59

Muddle2000 · 02/11/2023 08:44

Mojo do you think shoplifting is on the rise

https://novaramedia.com/2023/10/31/there-is-zero-evidence-of-a-shoplifting-epidemic/

I suspect there are some very localized, fairly short lived epidemics where one or a small group of shoplifters is briefly very active and blatant but no, the data doesn't suggest there is a national rise relative to long term figures. And that isn't just because shops don't bother to report to the police - questionnaires and data collection from the British Retail Consortium back it up.

There Is Zero Evidence of a Shoplifting ‘Epidemic’ | Novara Media

Shoplifting rates are down from 2017, writes Ell Folan, while the media is acting as if all hell has broken loose.

https://novaramedia.com/2023/10/31/there-is-zero-evidence-of-a-shoplifting-epidemic

SaraB2025 · 04/03/2025 14:09

Hi all, I'm a producer on BBC's Morning Live and I came across this thread as we’re planning to make a film about “at home” burglary – when the home owner or tenant is present in the property at the time their home is burgled. This type of burglary can have an even deeper impact on victims, so is something we’d like to highlight. I'm looking for a case study who has been burgled whilst they were at home and might be happy to share their story with us in a pre-recorded interview, to show the scale of how these break-ins affect people. If you want to discuss this further please contact me: [email protected]

Sunnyside4 · 04/03/2025 14:44

If you're concerned, make sure you keep doors locked at all times, only open smaller windows where there's easy access from outside and if you've got a high gate keep it locked with higher things like storage units and bins at a distance, so can't be climbed on.

My friend was broken into. They stupidly forgot to lock the door at night. My friend had her bag stolen and some coats were stolen - luckily not the one with the car keys in the pocket.

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