‘I haven’t been sleeping since. Every little sound and I’m in the window terrified’
WOMAN TOO SCARED TO BE AT HOME AFTER BURGLARY
A WOMAN feels too scared to live in her own home after a burglar crept in and then rifled through her things in the early hours of the morning.
Emma Thomas was fast asleep in her home in Fairwater, Cardiff, when the intruder managed to get in.
After being confronted by one of Emma’s friends, the perpetrator swiped £3,000 of goods before fleeing on Emma’s bike.
She said: “I haven’t been sleeping since, I used to wear headphones to sleep but I can’t do that now. Every little sound and I’m in the window terrified.”
The terrifying incident unfolded at around 3am on October 23.
“A friend who was staying in my house that night said she woke up and could hear somebody in the kitchen downstairs, and cupboard doors opening and closing,” recalled Emma.
“She text me to ask if I was awake and if it was me, and then she heard somebody come up the stairs and into my room – I was still sleeping at this point.”
The friend then bravely confronted the man before police were called.
However, despite the thief being startled, he managed to get away with laptops, car keys and a projector alongside Emma’s bike. “In all fairness to the police they turned up straight away but the fact that nobody has been caught for this yet is frustrating,” said Emma.
“I’m seeing this sort of thing every day in this area – anti-social behaviour, burglaries, drug crimes, and nothing seems to be done about it.
“The next day we were talking to a neighbour who said it had happened to them two weeks before.”
Emma said that the incident had made her feel so unsafe in her own home that she has spent around £600 on alarms and locks.
“I don’t know if it’s a Covid thing but it’s definitely gotten worse in the
last six to nine months,” she added.
“They’re just preying on hard working people, I can’t understand it. Why are we being put through this? Why is nothing being done?
“There’s a lot of elderly or more vulnerable people around here and it just makes me really concerned for them too.”
One resident, who did not want to be named but lives on a nearby street to Emma said that many residents had installed CCTV cameras to their properties after similar burglaries.
“It was really bad a few years ago, a few people installed CCTV cameras,” the neighbour added.
“I saw the burglary the other night
– police with police dogs were shining torches into gardens trying to find someone. It’s awful.”
South Wales Police confirmed it was investigating the burglary – and that no arrests had yet been made.
A force spokeswoman said: “We are appealing for information on a burglary in Fairwater during the early hours of Friday, October 23.
“Officers were called to Doyle Avenue at around 3.15am. Police dogs helped search the area but the suspect could not be found.
“He is described as 6ft tall, slim build, short dark hair, brown and ginger patchy beard.
“He was wearing grey joggers and white trainers, and a coat with a brown fur trim hood and spoke with a distinctive accent and slurred speech.
“Several items were stolen including two laptops, handbags, car keys, bike, helmet and athletic spike shoes.
“Did you see this man in Fairwater that morning? Do you recognise him from the description? Do you have CCTV covering this area?
“Being a victim of burglary is an extremely traumatic experience and South Wales Police is committed to preventing such crimes and arresting those responsible.
“If you can help, please call South Wales Police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111quoting occurrence *386422.”