How To Beat Burglars

How To Beat Burglars

- Chris Menon

It was a cold October evening in Palmers Green, North London, as David and Sally* arrived back home in his car. Unexpectedly, an unfamiliar woman was parked in her own car, blocking access to their drive. They asked her to move so they could park, which she seemed surprisingly reluctant to do. Eventually she did so, and David parked his car as normal.

As David walked up the path to their Edwardian end of terrace, he thought it odd that the woman had only moved about 15ft down the road, but at 6.30pm it was already dark and getting cold so he went in and put the kettle on, glad to be home.

As soon as he entered the kitchen David noticed that the sash window in the morning room had been jemmied up four inches, the window locks having fortunately prevented easy access. There had also been an attempt to force the kitchen window.

After 40 years of living in their property, it was the first attempted break-in. The burglar had entered either via the side gate or over the back fence through the school that backs onto their property.

Talking about it today, he says: “We must have disturbed them in the middle of breaking in and the woman in the car was probably an accomplice.” The police never caught them and he admits it left them feeling vulnerable.

Since then they’ve improved their security, adding extra window locks, while installing an iron side gate, a burglar alarm and Hive lights that can be remotely turned on and off when they’re away.

THE EMOTIONAL IMPACT