we’ve suspected for a while DS has been stealing from us. We’ve noticed drawers and cupboard doors been left open and he’s been rummaging through.
We set a trap by leaving some money in a drawer in one of the rooms and £30 has been taken.
An expensive bottle of vodka has also been stolen and he didn’t even think to shut the cupboard door!
We confronted him this morning and he has denied everything- we’ve explained that we know he’s lying because he’s the only person that could have possibly taken the money and the vodka.
He’s stormed off in a strop because we ‘don’t believe him’. We are 100% sure he’s lying so not sure how to get him to admit what he’s done then what a suitable punishment should be.
We’ve struggled previously with punishments as he doesn’t respond to consequences or learn from his mistakes. E.g if we ground him he just escapes and goes out anyway. If we take his phone off him he smashes things up and runs away, same if we turn off the WiFi.
We believe he is on the autistic spectrum and we’re currently ‘in the system’. If anyone has any experience of this kind of behaviour I would appreciate your thoughts.