Sleepless nights after burglar’s home raid
£11K GADGET HAUL WAS CAUGHT ON CAMERA
A 24-year-old man has been left struggling to sleep after a burglar smashed into his home and stole thousands of pounds of gadgets.
Qiru Wang, a researcher at the University of Nottingham, explained he had gone out to a supermarket when the culprit struck.
His CCTV system, facing towards part of the property, caught the incident unfolding.
Mr Wang explained up to £11,000 of valuables were stolen and said the incident has had a lasting impact.
“Since the burglary case I couldn’t sleep at night,” he said.
“For the past week, I usually sleep around 4 in the morning because during the night I just couldn’t sleep, if I hear any noise downstairs I will react.”
Police said the suspect is believed to have worn an “orange hi-vis vest” and been riding a black push bike.
Recalling the break-in on the evening of January 23, Mr Wang, of Brook Road, Beeston, said: “About 20 seconds after I drove off, the burglar showed up with the bike.
“I have got a camera that captured him.
“He entered my garden through the side of the property, he smashed the lock on the shed.
“He didn’t take anything from the shed. Nothing valuable was in there.
“He went back to the front of my property, he knocked three times.
“He used a brick - a big, heavy, really big brick - and smashed my back door window. The brick also hit my fridge-freezer.”
Mr Wang, currently living with two friends, explained the suspect ‘grabbed’ a key from inside to open the back door.
A police spokeswoman said two computers and other electrical items were stolen.
With nobody else in the property at the time of the break-in, Mr Wang listed some of the valuables taken.
“He returned to the ground floor and grabbed four laptops, three smartphones, one ipad Mini and one Amazon Kindle and a camera and strangely he did not grab my Nintendo Switch,” said Mr Wang.
He has claimed on his contents insurance, with arrangements made for repairs to the property.
Planning to enhance the security measures at his home, he added: “During this time you think burglars will stay at home - but that is not the case.”
Inspector Simon Riley, of Nottinghamshire Police said: “Burglaries have an enormous impact on victims as they are left to pick up the pieces when their homes have been damaged, and it’s also a financial burden as they have to replace what has been taken.
“As a force we take this crime very seriously and we have two teams of officers who are fully focused on tackling burglary across the force which is part of the reason national figures released yesterday showed a 14 percent reduction in this type of crime.
“However, we fully understand that every burglary that happens has a dramatic effect on its victims and we are determined to catch as many burglars as we can and bring them to justice.
“The man is described as wearing an orange hi-vis vest and was riding what is believed to be a black pushbike.”
Anyone with information is asked to call the force on 101, quoting incident 673 of January 23.