I got burgled this weekend, whilst i was in the house!

[TooNice]

When they came down stairs in the morning the people who had broke in had taken the big knifes out of the kitchen draws "ready for use / to scare the owners off if disturbed" said the police

Gives me an idea. Super glue a knife on the table and on its surface so that anyone who tries to take it would end up in some pain trying to tear off it (if not caught).

[timread]

Sorry to hear about you getting burgled mmh. Did you have anything security marked? Sounds like you already had the kind of everyday sensible measures that most of us would have in place. Good luck with getting your place sorted out and I hope, no matter how unlikely it might be, that either the police find your stuff or the scrotes who did it! More importantly I hope you can soon sleep sound again at night.

Lock bumping - I'd never heard of this lock breaking method before, and it looks worryingly easy to do! I'm a bit worried myself now...

[GoNz0]

these are what i use now http://toughlocks.co.uk/store/index....=index&cPath=1

you can find a them on ebay, keys are in a sealed bag so you know your not having a fast one pulled on you !

and lock bumpingis not breaking, its a method used thats quiet and does not damage the locks, makes you think you left the door unlocked and the insurance wont pay out !

there are videos on that website showing a bump key in use.

those locks are cammed so you can still open the door if the other half left the key in the door

[Whiternoise]

For what it's worth, i've been there. My Dad got burgled - we were away for a week, thankfully being a geeky teenager most of the stuff I had of value was on me (MP3 player, gameboy, etc) and there wasn't much to steal in the house (they just turned it upside down). I live with my Mum so nothing of mine was taken besides I think a USB key (which was later recovered by the police). The feeling of "is someone" there takes a while, but it will go eventually - I assure you - and you have my utmost sympathy, it's a horrible feeling.

If it was the one night you forgot to turn the alarms on then they were either very lucky or they staked it. Bitterly ironic that your house was actually pretty well secured As for locks, Yale locks that aren't fitted with a deadlock or a second 'Chubb' lock are useless. They can be opened with a sheet of plastic - it's how the locksmith got into our house! There is a pretty comprehensive guide by the Police called 'Secure by Design' http://www.securedbydesign.com/aware/homes.aspx which has a lot of information about where is most likely to be compromised. By the sounds if it, you were just very very unlucky and don't kick yourselves over it. I'm in a neighbourhood now where we've done stupid things like left the front door open during the day, my mum's left keys in her car and thankfully we've always been fine.

What you should do now is this. Get details of anything you know is stolen, serial numbers, photographs, obvious details etc. Head down to town and go to CEX, etc and tell them what you know. Contact your parents and get them to describe anything valuable that you think they might have nabbed. You might think it's a lost cause, but we 'caught' my Dad's burglar when he noticed a ring from his downstairs' flatmate in a pawn shop window - the burglar had simply signed with their own address.

In the future, have you thought about hiding things in plain sight? - things like fake tins of beans and so on.

To be honest i don't think they'll get you again. Your house is secure - once you change the locks. Just make sure you always remember to shut the front door - perhaps get an alarm that beeps if it's left ajar!


If you're serious about securing your house, i would see if you can find a locksmith's forum (no links obviously) - there are people that pick locks for fun and they're probably the best people to ask if you want to know what will stand up to assault.

Bear in mind that if your lock is being picked, odds are the person doing it is good enough to break in anyway. Locks are like safes, you don't buy a safe because it's uncrackable, you buy it based on the amount of time it takes to get into it.

Most burglars are a combination of opportunist and stake-out. Picking a lock is something that can take time and it's far easier to just sneak in via an open door. Bumping, however, is a bit of a concern but a) you'll probably hear it if you're in and b) fit a Chubb (lever) lock as I would imagine they're a bugger to pick.

[oolon]

Most burglars are a combination of opportunist and stake-out. Picking a lock is something that can take time and it's far easier to just sneak in via an open door. Bumping, however, is a bit of a concern but a) you'll probably hear it if you're in and b) fit a Chubb (lever) lock as I would imagine they're a bugger to pick.

Fitting a second lock on a door also greatly increases the number of key combinations required to open the door. Other doors should have locks that can only be operated from the inside of bolts do make sure if they are operated from the outside the door still cannot open.

[j.o.s.h.1408]

What about fitting in another door outside ie one of the clear glassy ones?

My parents had something like that were we had to unlock that glass door first to gain access to the main door which needed two keys to unlock it one being an L shaped key.

worth investing on a door outside?

[tiggerai]

We got targetted because my 'rents were away - there are crowbar marks in 4 windows and 3 doors where they tried to force them open. Decided to kick the door in where the catflap is (this wasn't a tubby chav, and they've prolly got a nasty scratch where the door caught them on the way out...)

Someone knew my 'rents were away, as the dogs weren't home and the Shogun wasn't there. They set the alarm off having pinched all the keys (I'd advise keeping spares hidden now...) so were due back, first thing I did was get the dogs back with me... no one in their right mind would try again with those 2 there.

People are getting desperate in a recession so don't give them any easy way in.

Zakky's suggestion of borrowing a dog isn't so silly - they're the best deterrent by far. Ours used to be locked in seperate rooms overnight, but now they've got run of the un-alarmed bits of the house to make sure the oiks don't come back. I've got an arrangement with M&D to house-sit for half the kennel fees (so they save some money and I make some..) as with 2 GSD's no-one breaking in is getting away with anything (apart from their lives if they're lucky!)

It shook me up for a few days... cost us over two grand to get all the locks changed (on both cars too) and they got away with nothing.

[kalniel]

To be honest i don't think they'll get you again. Your house is secure - once you change the locks. Just make sure you always remember to shut the front door - perhaps get an alarm that beeps if it's left ajar!

While I agree most thieves are opportunists, I've heard that there sometimes is a follow up burglary using information gathered from the first. Often to try and get keys for cars for example or if there's a larger item that requires a bit more planning and a van..

Getting any additional deterrent so that it's obvious something has changed can be a good idea - little movement sensor alarms, making sure to secure larger valuable items, getting a lamp timer etc.

[tiggerai]

While I agree most thieves are opportunists, I've heard that there sometimes is a follow up burglary using information gathered from the first. Often to try and get keys for cars for example or if there's a larger item that requires a bit more planning and a van..

See above - that's what they were planning with my 'rents place if I hadn't gone to check it. Stole keys first. Nothing else was taken. Had to clamp my mum's car in the garage as she had the only key with her in france - spare got stolen. I had to park my car around the corner or get a friend to block it into the other garage... f*in nightmare.

[j.o.s.h.1408]

try this http://www.imajsteeldoors.com/

[mmh]

I do believe that all the keys were recovered...

they took my dads 5 series keys and the caravan keys but my brother found them on the green infront of our house the day of the robbery...

they just left them after going through the car, but not the caravan strangely... (it is alarmed)...

there is only 1 key that im not sure of (patio door) hence the wanting to fill the external side of the lock.

alarm has been constantly set when im in the house or not now so it should atleast be a deterrent..

I cant go into too many details, but it seems the last thing they came across upstairs was something that made them think twice about being in the house at all and i dont see them coming back, unless they have a deathwish...

but being braindead enough to actually rob the place in the first time they might risk it... but as i say, knowing whats in the house they might think twice...

[kalniel]

I do believe that all the keys were recovered...

they took my dads 5 series keys and the caravan keys but my brother found them on the green infront of our house the day of the robbery...

they just left them after going through the car, but not the caravan strangely... (it is alarmed)...

Good that they didn't take the car..

I cant go into too many details, but it seems the last thing they came across upstairs was something that made them think twice about being in the house at all and i dont see them coming back, unless they have a deathwish...

Don't tell me you left the pizza out again?

[Zadock]

While I agree most thieves are opportunists, I've heard that there sometimes is a follow up burglary using information gathered from the first. Often to try and get keys for cars for example or if there's a larger item that requires a bit more planning and a van..

Getting any additional deterrent so that it's obvious something has changed can be a good idea - little movement sensor alarms, making sure to secure larger valuable items, getting a lamp timer etc.

I've heard this to, some of my friends got burgled twice and had an attempted third that failed due to security upgrades (they just caused some damage but got rumbled and ran away). The police seemed certain in was the same people... this was in bristol in a student house. The most disturbing one I heard, again at uni in bristol, was where a couple of people on the same course as me shared a flat and they were sat quietly eating dinner together and a guy came in through the window into the kitchen where they were sat!

[mmh]

Good that they didn't take the car..

It was blocked in by my girlfriends car... but i tend to think that they were kids and they didnt want to risk stealing a £30k car that they'd never be able to get rid of...

they left a lot of expensive camera gear (Canon L lenses, flashes and stuff that my dad didnt take with him) but they left it 2 doors up on the grass, I'm thinking most likely because they wouldnt be able to sell them without being questioned... or infact they didnt want to take them home for fear that thier parents might see it and question them...

Don't tell me you left the pizza out again?

not quite

[oolon]

Its so tempting to get a security system that allows them into the house, then drops metal plates over all the doors and windows, and an automated voice goes "and now we are going to play a game, lets hope you win".

[Lucio]

these are what i use now http://toughlocks.co.uk/store/index....=index&cPath=1

you can find a them on ebay, keys are in a sealed bag so you know your not having a fast one pulled on you !

and lock bumpingis not breaking, its a method used thats quiet and does not damage the locks, makes you think you left the door unlocked and the insurance wont pay out !

there are videos on that website showing a bump key in use.

those locks are cammed so you can still open the door if the other half left the key in the door

That's actually a really good price for that lock, the only downside is that there's still bump keys available for the lock.