Bonnie Blue - Perhaps you should read the news articles again. They're not something to be taken lightly.

"The man has been described as a "gerontophile" - someone who enjoys sexual activity with the elderly. His victims have been aged 68 to 93, with an average age in the 80s. One, an 88-year-old woman, was raped twice - her bowel was perforated and she almost died.
The man is thought to be responsible for four rapes and 24 other sexual assaults during 98 break-ins in London since 1990. The attacker wears an all-in-one black suit and often removes light bulbs, cuts telephone wires and turns off the power after breaking into victims' homes."
This isn't a case of 'he's a little man - i can handle him if he trys anything'. You don't know who the man is, and if he goes to the trouble of cutting telephone wires, turning off your fuse box and removing light bulbs (just like a scene from a film) - that is someone who is extremely determined to complete what they set out to do.
So yes, he may not kill or maim, and people may well live to tell the tale, but thats no excuse for not being extra vigilant. Your man in the dodgy van may be harmless but you never really know, and until the police, and only the police, eliminate him from their enquiries, you can never truly feel safe.