Yesterday evening my ground floor flat was burgled in Forest Hill/East Dulwich - Canonbie Road.
A neighbour saw the thief and described 2 young black males driving a silver car, possibly a honda. However there was also a purple micra parked outside with 2 young white men who then left their car unattended and unlocked shortly after the burglary and they appeared to be some sort of look out.
Police seem to think that these thieves are targeting the area and there's been a few break ins locally. I just wanted to raise awareness for other locals to be extra vigilant.
Very sorry to hear that. We were burgled a couple of days before xmas (HOP area). Since then we're installed an alarm and security lighting. PM me if you want recommendations.
Hope you didn't lose anything of sentimental value. Police said the same to us; many break ins recently. I urge people to call 101 in the event of suspicious activity in your street.
This might just be paranoia but two nights ago at around 7.00 there was a guy on a footpath on the Sydenham Hill Estate taking pictures on his mobile phone of the houses over there. I saw him from my window but from a distance.
He had a helmet and was dressed all in black. I thought it looked strange.
Does seem strange. I'll mention it to the police as they are returning tomorrow as new evidence may have shown up. Paranoia is consuming me at the moment!
Criminals are always canvassing all areas of London. Even FH had a few muggings last year. Then nothing. They just move from area to area. Once the police are on the case they move to the next one.
Just make sure you lock your bolt locks, not just the little top one which can be opened in 2 seconds. To get through that strong bolted lock will take a lot of force and draw a lot of attention.
They look around and test doors to see which ones don't have it locked. They pretend to be delivery men, or pretend to just ring the doorbell and check.
NBats and Hopmatty, I'm sorry to hear of your troubles -- that is absolutely horrible and I hope the culprits are currently experiencing the worst rash of their lives. Would you mind sharing how they go in? It might help others take extra measures to prevent the same. Thanks in advance.
Hi,
They jumped our garden side gate, broken into shed, took shovel, used this to prise open kitchen window (timer frame). They cleaned us out and made off in our car (keys hidden, but they managed to find them).
We didn't have an alarm, so this is the first thing we've since invested in. We've put some motion activated lighting in also. I think the side gate is a weakness, so I've put some plastic spikes on top as a deterrent.
We're thinking about replacing the timber frame windows downstairs at the back with UPVC. They don't look the best, but police recommended this type as they're much harder for the scum to prise open apparently.
Looking back at how unsecure our house was, it really was just a matter of 'when' not 'if' we'd even get broken into. Getting an alarm was one of those things we'd put off, obviously regret not taking home security more seriously now.
Keep-em-peeled!
I have put two feet of mesh fence above my side gate.
Yes side gates seem a weak point in a lot if houses. The advice used to be to have good locks and to add 3' of trellis over them as it is time consuming to cut through and not substantial enough to climb over.