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

[mmh]

well, this weekend whilst myself and my partner were in bed sleeping someone got into the house and went through almost every room, including my parents bedroom which is right next door to mine...

Suffice to say that it was a harrowing ordeal waking up to find everything all over the place most of the stuff was recovered (it seems they got away with what fit in thier pockets - jewellery money mobile phones and a satnav)...

they took camera gear too but they left it with my moms handbag and non valuables from the handbag 2 doors up on some grass land...

it happened between the hours of 2am and 7:30am... as i say whilst we were in bed asleep...

they put a towel at the crack of the bottom of my door and even went through everything upstairs...

i've had maybe 1 night where i havent been paranoid at home because i dont know if they got any spare keys to any of the doors in the house... so even with the alarm on and all windows and doors locked i still do not feel safe in my own home

has anyone ever had the same thing? I've taken to walking round the house with a crowbar during nightfall incase theres anyone in... i know it sounds stupid but im 23 and i feel like a kid, scared of the dark.

I honestly have no idea how to handle whats gone on as nothing like this has ever happened to me before, and until it happened i never thought it would, atleast not whilst someone was occupying the house.

My major problem comes when its dark and its time to go to sleep... every single sound in the house makes me a nervous wreck and gets my adrenaline pumping... so much so that i eventually fall asleep after hours of listening carefully to everything going on... but i know i am a heavy sleeper (i have slept through fire alarms right next to my head before now, and the big earthquake that hit dudley a few years ago never woke me up) I'm hopelessly afraid that they will come back, and that i wont be ready for them if they get in the house...

does anyone have any tips?

i have an alarm on the house (which i had forgotten to put on the night of the robbery, stupid, stupid mistake i know!) but im afraid that even if they get in and the beeping goes off I will sleep right through it.

any help from anyone?

[Disturbedguy]

To put your mind at rest, get the locks changed on your doors, that way, if they did get spare keys, they are now useless.

[Andeh13]

I would fit additional bolts to all the doors and windows, put a note next to your bed each night to remind you to check them/if you wake up in the night wondering you know you will have checked them having seen that note. Maybe consider fitting locks to the internal doors? My parents house in South Africa used to be fort knox with 2 dead bolts & a key lock on every bedroom door (2 x 1 inch by 1 inch dead bolts on a steel renforced door).

There is a lot of stuff on the market for retro fitting bolts and locks to everything. Keep a phone next to your bed, should you ever feel the need to call the police and consider fitting an additional loudspeaker to the alarm system you have, maybe even in your room?

As for sleeping at night and hearing every creak or noise, what about sleeping with the radio on, but set to very quietly. That will drown out the usual creaks & noises without being so loud that it will drown out the house alarm.

[DeludedGuy]

This has happened to my girlfriend and her parents. The thieves managed to climb through a very small window in the kitchen, stole the TV, VCR, coats and everything in the coat pockets and took all the knives in the kitchen and left them outside the front door. What’s amazing is they live in a very small flat and all the rooms are virtually next to each other, yet no one heard a thing.

[oolon]

I would be very careful to upgrade your security, people often get burgled 3 times, 1st time on spec, 2nd time when the insurance is in, and 3rd time a "specialist" comes in and takes things like pictures as the property has been cased.

Change your alarm to one which calls the police/security company. So if you are asleep they will deal with it. Do you know how they got it? Did they enter via the back of the house, can you improve your fences to keep them out of the garden, Tall ones which wobble and have spikey plants under them are the trick. Rather than having patio or concrete next to your house have soil, as that leaves foot prints. Don't have a high hedge at the front, this allows people to hide while they work on things. Upstairs windows can be wheelie bin accessed, do you have a bin in your front? get a chain and lock it away from your house. Do you have sheds with tools in them/ladders put a good lock on them otherwise they may be used to access your house.

[Jay]

I once caught some one trying to get into my kitchen window. Ran after him down the road.

[HSK]

Damn fella, that's pretty shocking, it's understandable you're on edge now.

Like the others have mentioned, best thing is to tighten up security around the house, and get the locks etc changed...work out a lil' plan to find out if someone has been snooping around again, like how oolon has mentioned.

[dangel]

Bear traps mate. Lots of 'em.

Seriously though - much feeling for you here this is utterly horrible (and despicable) and I too would change all my locks and up security (but not stupidly - law of diminishing returns n'all that). I've always said if i caught someone burgling my house they wouldn't get out for a few days - not till I'd finished making sure they never, ever did such a thing again. I'm not a violent man but when it comes to my house and my family..

[TheAnimus]

If you've an alarm fitted, check the senors are well placed, and start using it.

A high powered maglight with a 3W plus LED is great. It will completely blind someone, and is a nice big metal object best held above your shoulder which isn't just a wepon

[shelley bda]

What a shocking an awful experience for you everyone has the right to feel safe in their own home! my advice? buy a big Dog.....

[circuitmonkey]

Damn mate, that really does suck!

Happened to my sister in the middle of the day, she and a few friends (including a female police office) all had their handbags stolen whilst they where upstairs. they came in the back door, which was unlocked at the time so nothing got broken, but they where in and out very fast, they didn't even realise till after the fact.

I would definitely change your locks, it's a very easy thing to do yourself and will give you peace of mind. also giving your alarm system a once over isn't a bad idea, maybe even get it to phone your mobile (don't know about you, but I'm a heavy sleeper, but certain things wake me up easily, phone being one of them)

Edit: When my car was broken into the police recommended using something like this to write my postcode on valuables, might be worth doing

[mmh]

Thanks for the replies...

I'd love a dog, but my mom is scared of them so its a no go

as for the extra security.... I'm not sure how the best way to go about it is...

the reason im so on edge all the time is because my parents were away when it happened, and they are still away... if they were here they'd know exactly what to do, but as im on my own and its not my house, making changes to the house, as security concious as they may be seems alien to me...

I know the first thing to do when my rents return is to setup a cctv system around the house and i'll sort it so it saves a copy off site so if anything of it gets stolen it will be backed up...

I've been bolting and locking everything... there are no keys left in any doors now, the problem arises because for the past few years ive kept myself to my room and not really taken notice of what keys were where in the house, so spare keys and stuff could have gone missing and i just dont know

like the jewellery they took, i have no idea what went missing but there was an awful lot of stuff left behind strewn all over the bed, so i dont know if it was put on the bed and photographed or what... especially after oolons reply i feel especially wary that they might come back...

I need to do something which will give me back my piece of mind... my home has been violated and it is no longer the sanctuary it once was... i feel like a prisoner in my own home,a nd even now whilst i am at work, i cant help but wonder if someone is at my house right now helpign themselves to my/my families belongings... even though the alarm was set when i left the house and everywhere was locked up

it just feels terrible

[TheAnimus]

http://www.wikihow.com/Change-a-Lock

It is really easy to do this.

[neonplanet40]

This happened to my mother before. The next day I changed every lock in the house, put a phone in my mums bedroom and bought a dog. And got my mother a metal slugger baseball bat and told her to take no prisoners!

The police were contacted and even told who done it as the person was seen in the estate but the police didnt do nothing.

[Salazaar]

I had a similar thing on holiday a few years ago, they crept in to our room while we were asleep and nicked loads of my mates' stuff. They even took off with one of my friend's entire supply of underpants!

It's a horrible feeling at the time but it gets better after a while.

[GoNz0]

i brought high security bump and snap proof locks when i got the double glazing fitted, its far to easy to pick a lock with a £5 bumping kit.

whats £70 for a pair of locks to sleep safe