Burgled before Christmas.

[M13KYF]

one reason why its not a good idea to put presents around the Christmas tree before christmas eve. Rich picking for the scumbags.

 

 

Sorry to read about this Chris, I hope simon gets it sorted but it doesn't stop the inconvenience. Just hope you can get the sentimental things back

[ds2000]

Really really sorry to read about this; I hope it never happens to me

 

CCTV is a good option, you can get something like a QNAP Nas and 2 IP cameras for around £400, the cameras can be set for motion detection and automatically upload the stills/video to an internet FTP site (can be had probably for free but my g/f pays £4 /month for her website and I hide them on there) - feel free to PM if you want to discuss.

 

Once again, sorry for your families losses, people like this are utter scum!

[rabbitstew]

CCTV is a good option, you can get something like a QNAP Nas and 2 IP cameras for around £400, the cameras can be set for motion detection and automatically upload the stills/video to an internet FTP site

 

We just installed something similar at work and a similar setup is on my list of things to do at home.

 

+1 on the dog idea. My parents had a Labrador - soft as anything but he had the most vicious sounding bark ever. If you didnt see him you`d assume it was some mental German Shepherd. That and me putting a foot square sign on the gate saying "Beware of the Dog" made sure that noone would dare try and break in. Even getting a sign from the petshop - you know the ones where theres a pic of a Rottweiler and it says "Beware, I live here"... and stick that in your window helps. I did that at my old house and any delivery drivers used to always nervously ask "err... wheres the dog" whenever I opened the door to them.

 

Id also be tempted to get an alarm system, or even just the alarm box outside. I bet 7/10 people who have been burgled then go and fit an alarm, and if I was a burgler id know this and avoid any houses with alarms.

 

Also check to see if they have taken anything like your spare car keys... if they have then they will come back and take your car.

 

Did anyone see this in the news earlier in the week... kinda makes you feel a bit better about this sort of thing...

 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-storie ... -23615327/

 

"Mugger ended up with 2 black eyes and shot in the foot after attempting to rob 18 stone cage fighter"

[andyzed]

Pi$$es me off this but it's well known the scum target people at Xmas because they know there is usually valuable xmas presents in the house.

 

Mate has one of these devices that detects movement at the door and sets off a vicious dog barking sound, as good as a dog but without any downsides and it's pretty realistic.

 

But like every deterrent if the thief is determined enough they'll chance their luck because if the get caught they'll just get the usual slap on the wrist and be back thieving in no time.

 

Worse still if you do catch them in your house and lay a finger on them they seem to have more rights then you even though they are on your property.

[rabbitstew]

lay a finger on them they seem to have more rights then you even though they are on your property.

 

Ah... not any more. A few years back a burglar broke into a house in the same town I lived in. The home owner caught the guy and gave him a severe leathering with a baseball bat. The burglar tried to take the owner to court and the judge just threw it out laughing at the guy.

 

Since then there have been several cases on the news of burglars being beaten up or even killed and its been regarded as perfectly reasonable in order to defend your home.

 

Where you do have to be careful unfortunately is with regards to what is classed as "reasonable". For instance, if I happened to be cleaning my gun and then shot a burglar then that might be regarded as a little excessive. But, if i beat him around the head with a lump of wood, then that may be classed as okay.

[elfman]

Sorry to hear that mate! I just don't see why people would do things like this!

 

I'd love to see someone try and burgle my parent's house while i was there, all rooms alarmed, dogs and my dad had a good selection of shotguns, rifles and i kept a samurai sword above my bed.

 

Think it's everyones worst nightmare being burgled whilst you and your loved ones are in. I'd like to think it'd try and beat @*!# out of them haha!

[ace]

unfortunatly the only thing the police will do is give a crime number over the phone I would be very surprised if they turn up at the door

[rabbitstew]

I'd love to see someone try and burgle my parent's house while i was there, all rooms alarmed, dogs and my dad had a good selection of shotguns, rifles and i kept a samurai sword above my bed.

 

See thats where you have to be careful. Ive got 6 or 7 shotguns at least, plus rifles, but if I was to shoot a burglar id be up the creek without a paddle. In America it would be fine, but over here its a no-no. But bit of wood, maybe a fire poker or a baseball bat is "acceptable".

[Paulzx]

lay a finger on them they seem to have more rights then you even though they are on your property.

 

Ah... not any more. A few years back a burglar broke into a house in the same town I lived in. The home owner caught the guy and gave him a severe leathering with a baseball bat. The burglar tried to take the owner to court and the judge just threw it out laughing at the guy.

 

Since then there have been several cases on the news of burglars being beaten up or even killed and its been regarded as perfectly reasonable in order to defend your home.

 

Where you do have to be careful unfortunately is with regards to what is classed as "reasonable". For instance, if I happened to be cleaning my gun and then shot a burglar then that might be regarded as a little excessive. But, if i beat him around the head with a lump of wood, then that may be classed as okay.

 

Hmm.. I would be very careful of this because we are not yet at the point legally in this country where you can extract your revenge on a burglar without consequence, like you can in some countries. Not sure about the baseball bat story because you would still have to show it was reasonable defense to use it.

 

The problem with the reasonable force issue is that firstly, you can only retaliate with similar threat to what you are confronted with, i.e. if the burglar isn't armed then you can't use a weapon either, you can't use more force than they do. The second point is that what some consider to be 'reasonable' after the event doesn't have much bearing on how people react in the heat of the moment. In some countries you can dish out a good hiding and ask questions later, simply because someone is in your home when they shouldn't be, but the law isn't like that here, even though they are talking about revising this type of thing.

[rodgeevans]

Where i am small village we get the police send us things like this, (one from a couple of weeks ago)

 

am afraid to say there have been a couple of incidents in the last couple of days.

 

28 Nov overnight Heath Road watch, keys for two cars and both cars were stolen. A mini and a Mercedes.

 

28 Nov Attempted burg Church Road approx 13:40 trying to get into utility room with resident at home.

 

2 males seen running away and getting into a vehicle.

 

and

 

Please can I remind all members to think about security around the home at this time of year - spend some time thinking about making sure that your home looks like there is someone in.

 

If you are going to Christmas parties, having weekends away ,visiting friends or are out at work all day, set a light to come on by an automatic timer or leave a light on, ensure that your doors, windows and gates are locked and if you have an alarm fitted to your property make a point of using it. Also set the alarm when you retire to bed. Many people have this facility with their alarm, but do not use it.

 

According to the Home Office, no force is required in as many as a fifth of burglaries because doors and windows have been left insecure.

 

I think we have all walked down our own streets and noted who is in and who is out, because a house is left in darkness.

 

With Christmas coming up this is the time when we will all have more items within our homes. DO NOT leave presents where they are going to be visible. If you can, perhaps store any items up in your loft, well out of the way of prying eyes.

 

By taking just a few simple steps you can help reduce the risk of burglary.

 

1. Make your home safe and secure by fitting 5 lever mortice locks on external doors and for all other doors and windows fit secure locks.

 

2. It is most important to take extra care when locking up particularly with regard to UPVC doors. Lift the handle and lock the door with the key.

 

3. When you leave your property remove keys from locks and place them out of sight.

 

4. With the nights drawing in make your property look occupied at all times by using automatic light timers and you might want to consider installing external lighting.

 

5. Nowadays burglars break into properties to steal car keys so avoid leaving car keys near a door or window where and lock your car in a garage or behind a locked gate if possible.

 

also one was telling to watch out for suspicous vans that had been reported in the area, while the reports dont help stopping the barstewards it does give you the knowledge its happening in your area even if you dont know about and any types and colours of cars to be wary of acting suspicously and thats a good start

 

Also a few years ago had a mate that had a cerwin vega stroker 15d like myslef and he was followed all the way to lakeside from billericay we believe, he then had the speaker box and amp stolen, couple of days later another mate walks into the pub and his mates boyfriend happens to have one for sale, so appart from them being rare we still need to check it out to confirm it was his, so a few phonecalls later we arranged to meet him at his mums house i think it was well when we walked in it was like aladdins cave protected by two big dogsfor ICE equipment as soon as we saw the box we knew it was his as it was a custom box designed specifically for him and his car but still checked the serial number and it all matched told them we wanted it and would be back in 15 minutes with the cash and asked where the nearest cash machine was, well 20 minutes later we turned up with aload of coppers got all my mates stuff back after the investigation of course and propperly aload of other people got theres back as a result too.

[rancer]

Hmm.. I would be very careful of this because we are not yet at the point legally in this country where you can extract your revenge on a burglar without consequence, like you can in some countries. Not sure about the baseball bat story because you would still have to show it was reasonable defense to use it.

 

The problem with the reasonable force issue is that firstly, you can only retaliate with similar threat to what you are confronted with, i.e. if the burglar isn't armed then you can't use a weapon either, you can't use more force than they do. The second point is that what some consider to be 'reasonable' after the event doesn't have much bearing on how people react in the heat of the moment. In some countries you can dish out a good hiding and ask questions later, simply because someone is in your home when they shouldn't be, but the law isn't like that here, even though they are talking about revising this type of thing.

 

Pretty much on the money.

 

Nothing wrong with using a weapon if they don't though, all it does is factor into the 'reasonable force' concept. A concept which wasn't defined in legislation and, despite how long it has been around, it is still subject to new and changing case law judgements.

 

5ft 3ins, 9 stone woman .vs. 6ft, 13 stone bloke... reasonable force could be stretched quite far.

 

The key is stopping when the threat is no longer there.

 

I keep baby oil and viagra to hand in case of burglars. Would you want to fight a naked oiled up dude who looks happy to see you?

[sparky370z]

Hmm.. I would be very careful of this because we are not yet at the point legally in this country where you can extract your revenge on a burglar without consequence, like you can in some countries. Not sure about the baseball bat story because you would still have to show it was reasonable defense to use it.

 

The problem with the reasonable force issue is that firstly, you can only retaliate with similar threat to what you are confronted with, i.e. if the burglar isn't armed then you can't use a weapon either, you can't use more force than they do. The second point is that what some consider to be 'reasonable' after the event doesn't have much bearing on how people react in the heat of the moment. In some countries you can dish out a good hiding and ask questions later, simply because someone is in your home when they shouldn't be, but the law isn't like that here, even though they are talking about revising this type of thing.

 

Pretty much on the money.

 

Nothing wrong with using a weapon if they don't though, all it does is factor into the 'reasonable force' concept. A concept which wasn't defined in legislation and, despite how long it has been around, it is still subject to new and changing case law judgements.

 

5ft 3ins, 9 stone woman .vs. 6ft, 13 stone bloke... reasonable force could be stretched quite far.

 

The key is stopping when the threat is no longer there.

 

I keep baby oil and viagra to hand in case of burglars. Would you want to fight a naked oiled up dude who looks happy to see you?

 

an give them a good seeing too? ooohhh eerrrrr

[sipar69]

Sorry to hear about your trouble. I am fortunate enough not to have been a victim so far but I can imagine how awful it must be, especially at this time of the year.

 

Saw a horrible story in the paper recently about some scumbags who broke into a woman's flat in the Midlands while she was out, couldn't find anything they wanted to steal so killed her kitten in the microwave. Made me sick to my stomach that people could do something like that. Breaking in is bad enough but killing a defenceless animal just out of spite on top of that is just so sick it defies understanding.

[Chesterfield]

I read about that incident too where they microwaved the kitten/cat. I don't know what goes through someone's mind to do that. I do know if they did that to ours and they were caught, I honestly dont know whether id be able to control myself.

[sipar69]

I read about that incident too where they microwaved the kitten/cat. I don't know what goes through someone's mind to do that. I do know if they did that to ours and they were caught, I honestly dont know whether id be able to control myself.

 

Me too. If they hurt our pets I think I'd lose it altogether.

[rancer]

I don't know what goes through someone's mind to do that.

 

A bullet should do the trick..

[Chesterfield]

I was thinking more like feeding them slowly feet first through a chipper. But Ive probably seen too many sick films.

[rtbiscuit]

chesterfield i'm sorry to hear about the buglary,

 

as with regards to reasonable force i dealt with this alot when i used to be a doorman, its one thing to defend yourself but if you're excessive the blame can end up on you.

 

with regards to the police i was always told by local coppers that when they aren't there its your word against the criminals, but if they come round the corner as your hitting someone they are legally obliged to follow up, this is a lot to do with the who started it issue. if the other person is laying on the ground and your laying into them as the cops come in you can be seen as the aggressor.

 

if you are going to challenge someone i would be very careful, personally you don't know what they might be carrying, you might go down with a bat or a knife thinking you're the big man and they might have a gun. and if you do have you're captain brave pants on i would look to disarm and to restrain.

 

i would very much like to batter the crap out of someone who violated my home, but i'm also aware i put alot at stake if i do. not just my life but my career too. items can be replaced but if you do something stupid it can have a terrible knock on effect on you're life after.

 

 

as for those with shotguns, if you are going to use them,i would suggest changing your buckshot for rock salt or foam balls. you don't want to be up for a murder charge.

[rabbitstew]

I read about that incident too where they microwaved the kitten/cat. I don't know what goes through someone's mind to do that. I do know if they did that to ours and they were caught, I honestly dont know whether id be able to control myself.

 

That physically made me feel sick when I read that news story. Sickos like that should be treated the same as they treated the animal.

 

On another note, every Christmas I go for a nice walk around my parents village to walk off the Turkey. What I really dont understand is why do people put their empty cardboard boxes out near the front of their house. I can see exactly what pressies people got for xmas. Plasma tellys, xboxs, new mountain bikes, microwaves etc... as the empty box is sitting on the pavement outside their house like a big sign saying "look at what ive got for your to break in and steal".

 

I always either chop my boxes up and put in bin bags, or take them straight down the tip myself.