Gamebird Posted September 27, 2009 Share Posted September 27, 2009 How terrifying for them. At least none of them was hurt but they must be in shock. Like, Lesley we don't have any neighbours so I do keep my doors locked when we're in at night. However, they are open during the day because we spend most of our time outside coming and going. Definitely a wake up call not to become complacent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky Mama Posted September 27, 2009 Share Posted September 27, 2009 Scary stuff! I always make sure that all doors are locked when my children are at home on their own and leave the dog as back up but never think of locking our back door when we are around downstairs in the evening. May have to rethink, maybe having a fantastically protective dog in the house makes us feel safe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theherd123 Posted September 27, 2009 Share Posted September 27, 2009 Such a terrible thing to happen Snowy, sending hugs, positive vibes & prayers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jools Posted September 27, 2009 Share Posted September 27, 2009 That really is horrible I don't always lock the door when I go out, never mind when I'm in the house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy Posted September 27, 2009 Author Share Posted September 27, 2009 Thank you all for your kind thoughts and good wishes. The family are doing fine, sadly they are slightly more accustomed to this kind of thing - it was only a couple of years ago that someone nipped into their kitchen and stole car keys and both their cars. It really does depend on where you live unfortunately Our front door has a yale lock so automatically locks when shut, but i often forget to lock the back door when out, and never when I am in. I just can't imagine that happening here (not that anyone would want to steal either of our cars anyway! ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saronne Posted September 27, 2009 Share Posted September 27, 2009 Just caught up with this thread... Very Scary !! I grew up in a big U.S. city where we always kept the doors locked. I must admit I'm pretty laid back here in my village... and it's probably exactly the sort of place an opportunist burglar would prosper..I will lock from now on! Hope your family is ok. Saronne xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjp Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 just a thourght have they had all the locks changed if they had all the keys nicked I no of instances were keys have been taken in muggings were the houses were the robbed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seagazer Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 How scary for them, I think I would be a quivering wreck. Sending lots of positive thoughts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Speckled Hen Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 That really is horrible I don't always lock the door when I go out, never mind when I'm in the house. Gosh .......... me too. Have been known to be out all day and leave two of our three doors open Do lock them when I go to bed though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickencam Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 I have the front door locked if I am in on my own, but in the summer the patio and back door are often open. I hope that your family are ok and that they will now lock their doors . The police locally are currently going around trying people's doors and windows at night and if they find them unlocked they are going into the houses and waking up the resisidents to give them a talk on home security. The only time that our front door is left unlocked is the short time between me coming in with YD and the 2 older children coming home. My OH's sectretary recently had her car stolen by someone opening her front door and taking the keys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Speckled Hen Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 The police locally are currently going around trying people's doors and windows at night and if they find them unlocked they are going into the houses and waking up the resisidents to give them a talk on home security. Is that allowed? Is that safe? I hate to think of the possible repercussions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia W Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 I've just heard from a friend that a similar thing happened to them recently in the early hours, but this time their door was locked! T he gang broke in, stole the car keys, a laptop and then drove off in their two cars. They didn't hear a thing at the time they were in the house, but the wife is a light sleeper , heard the cars driving off, got up and discovered what had happened. Because she reported it straight away, there are now people in custody, the laptop is back home, but the cars are damaged. Another lesson here, don't leave your car keys lying around near the door. I'm the worst for this. I like to think we are ok because we have a dog, but people are so brazen now, maybe not. Tricia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunty e Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 We always lock our doors - our front door is in a communal entrance to our block. People are always trying our handle on their way past, and there's a very strange toddler who likes to knock on our front door and then try to come into the house....creepy little so and so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluffyknickers Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 How awful for them. I leave them open when in during the day but lock when out and at night. Our friends up the road from us have TWICE this year had their house broken into their keys for BOTH cars taken and stolen. It was different thieves each time. Personally I know what I would like to do to the evil *****. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Speckled Hen Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 All these tales of woe are awful. I am so sorry for everybody suffering such losses and there's also the personal aspect; the invasion of your safety. I've never felt safer since moving up here. Something I've taken for granted. When I had the surgery and lived in the flat above there was a wine bar next door. It was doing badly so they stocked up and staged a robbery of their entire stock. To appear a little more convincing they broke into my place through the back, stole the charity box and walked out the front "Ooops, word censored!"ody was ever caught and it cost me a fortune to beef up my security so that I could re-insure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 I'm so sorry to hear that Snowy. Our doors are always locked when I'm in the house. I leave the key in the lock for easy escape if necessry. All the window have restrictors on them so I can have them open but no-one can get in. I hear of so many thefts where someone has walked in through a back door when the resident had just popped upstairs to the loo. A friend is the crime prevention officer at our local nick and I'd be so embarrassed if I didn't follow advice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 Usually the back door is unlocked unless it is dark and the chickens have been sorted. Front door is usually bolted and locked and chained etc. Although sometimes it isn't when DS is gallivanting and comes home in the early hours - then I lie awake to make sure he locks the door when he does come in. One of mum's cousins (her husband was a policeman) had her handbag stolen when someone broke in during the night. It must have been awful to be confronted by balaclava'd nasty people. So sorry to hear they had to suffer that. What is this place coming to? When I was young you could pop to the shops and not worry at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chookiehen Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 Oh my goodness - how terrifying for them. We alwways keep our door locked, after we had a visit one evening from a (very drunk) teenager, who thought he had gone into the house three doors down (similar front door), rather than our house! When we moved here, people thought we were daft, as we lock our front door and our car door - everything seems to be left unlocked down here, yet nothing gets stolen. We still lock our front door, however, despite having the burglar alarms (the dogs) and nothing worth stealing.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fur 'n' Feathers Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 Just caught up with this. How awful. We keep our doors locked generally as we're semi-rural. There have been problems among our few neighbours at times where travellers have wandered round the back of properties, not expecting them to be there. We made sure our external security was beefed up when we first moved in (we work on the principle that opportunists will look for the least secure option). Sometimes the threat is from the least likely sources too! When we had our drive re tarmaced the man in charge referred to the fact that our property was like Fort Knox because our porch door is UPVc & its handle can't open it from the outside, plus the side gates are permanently locked. Our response was that he seemed to be mentioning this a lot, after which he stopped! We had felt uncomfortable and badgered by the remarks and felt it needed to be addressed face-on. Also, in our previous property we had some men in to build a fence & one kept mentioning that our garden shed was odd as it had no windows (it wasn't anywhere near the fence being built but did house our garden tools!). We asked him why he had been looking at it in the first place and he went quiet. We never let workmen on site without us being there because of these things. It's a sad fact that we have to be careful nowadays just for the few antisocial types. We have had many good experiences too. Hope your family recovers well from this. What a horrible ordeal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 We are semi rural and keep the doors locked when we are home. Its just become part of our routine, when we take the dog out we always lock the door after we come in. After reading your post and everyone elses its made me realise that we need to keep our back door key somewhere else so its not in view through the windows. I don't like being at home by myself when its dark but we do have lots of security lights and so i know if someone is outside as we never shut our downstairs curtains. Thanks for posting about this as its obviously made lots of us think about how secure our houses are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 Police recommendation is always that the key is removed from the door at night and kept out of sight, and also out of reach - there have been cases of keys being hooked off hall tables through the letterbox. Key cupboards are pretty cheap and easy to find at the DIY sheds: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenanne Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 Our front door is on a yale lock, too, so generally is locked but not always. Our french doors - hardly ever lock them. Best wishes to your family though - such a terrible thing to happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
