Postby Ladybug » Tue Jan 21, 2014 1:58 pm
Hi Gardenerg
I'm really sorry to hear about your break in. We live on Tunley Rd and we too had an attempted break in on Saturday 11th January whilst we were asleep upstairs, the police have linked it to yours on Elmfield Rd as the forensics said they used the same tools and method for breaking in and the timing co-incides.
At 12.45am I woke up to hear a series of banging noises, not particularly loud but enough to wake me up. I looked out of bedroom window which overlooks street to see a silver racing bike blocking our garden path. My husband ran downstairs to find an arm reaching through the lower part of our living room sash window. He shouted and the burglar fled on his bike. We have Banham 'Sash Stop' locks which were locked but allow a 10cm gap at the base of the window, the sashs were additionally secured by central 'Brighton Fastener' locks.
The burglar/s were undeterred by the locks and inserted a sharp tool between the two sash windows knocking the central fastener clean out of the window frame by the screws, this allowed them to raise the sash by 10cm, had they not been disturbed, their next move would have been to knock out the internal window beading to enable the sash to flip open like a cat-flap allowing easy entry.
The police advice to us was to be extra vigilant, check your sash windows are securely fastened, internal sash window beading should be screwed in (some is just glued or tacked), keep ALL valuables next to your bed at night, including handbags, car keys, house keys, wallets, laptops, phones etc and ensure hedges are kept well trimmed.
I really hope these gangs are caught before they traumatise too many other people.