TERROR AT OUR FRONT DOOR
Burglar raided home as family slept upstairs
A Rutherglen mum has spoken of her horror after discovering a burglar was in her house while she and her three young kids slept upstairs.
The 31- year- old, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of repercussions, said she was terrified when she realised the balaclava-clad man had broken into her home on Ardbeg Avenue, at around 4.30am last Monday.
She said: “My nerves are completely shattered.
“Not only am I now scared in my own home, the one place I should feel safe and secure with my babies, but I now have a five-yearold that’s terrified and anxious to go to sleep for thinking someone is going to be in our home again walking around whilst we are in bed.
“I’m terrified and scared to be in the house. I’ve hardly slept a wink since.”
The woman’s partner was awake and feeding their four- monthold baby when the front doorbell pinged a motion alert on the couple’s phones.
The woman continued: “My partner was feeding my little boy when he noticed the Ring doorbell notifications coming through to our phones.
“He put the baby down and rushed out of the room to see what was going on.
“The next minute he was shouting on me to phone the police because someone was in our car.
“I got such a fright. I was shaking and wailing down the phone to the operator. I didn’t know what was going to happen.”
The couple then realised the robber had broken into their home via the back door and had removed their house and car keys from inside the property. The woman said they waited inside for the police arriving.
She added: “My partner wanted to go out, but I was obviously hysterical and telling him not to in case he had a knife or another weapon, you just never know.
“We watched from the upstairs window while he tried to steal the car and that’s when I noticed he had our house keys, which also have the car keys attached.
“He was waving them at us. It was like he was saying ‘look what I’ve got’.
“He had got in through our back door and stolen them.
He also took my partner’s van keys and my handbag.”
Despite his best efforts and having the car keys in his possession, the thief didn’t know how to start the car and had to flee without it before cops arrived.
She added: “When he got out the car before the police came I freaked out because I wasn’t sure if he was going to come back into the house.
“Thankfully he then walked off in the opposite direction.
“It was strange because he didn’t run or seem to be in a rush. He just casually walked up the street. By the time police arrived he was gone”
The suspect is described as being in his late 40s, 5ft 6in tall and wearing a black balaclava.
The man was also caught on CCTV attempting to break into a nearby neighbour’s home the same morning.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “We received a report of a break-in at a property on Ardbeg Avenue in Rutherglen shortly after 4.30am on Monday, September 14.
“Enquiries into the incident are ongoing and anyone with information can call 101, quoting incident 0398 of 14 September, or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”