I’m too frightened to be in my own home after cops’ 999 snub
Singer claims police failed to respond to her calls for help A woman has been driven out of her home after police failed to respond to her frantic 999 calls during a terrifying home invasion – then told her the crime wasn’t worth investigating.
Singer Stephanie Cheape, 25, feared for her life as two men tried to gain entry to her cottage while she was inside last weekend.
The thugs tried to break in through her bedroom window despite knowing she was at home and activating a burglar alarm and security lights. They even watched her call the police, which she did four times in 50 minutes.
Stephanie, who enjoyed a hit earlier this year with the GBX & Sparkos version of David Bowie’s Heroes with George Bowie for the NHS, believed her life was in danger.
She claims police took so long to arrive that her assailants had time to look outside the property in Strathaven, Lanarkshire, for a mobile phone they had dropped. Stephanie has lodged an off icial complaint with Police Scotland after claiming she was told the incident wasn’t serious enough to investigate further. She has had difficulty sleeping since the drama last Saturday night and plans to movmove out of the property.
She said: “It was like something out of a horrhorror film. I was stringing my guitars when I heard banging. I saw two guys in their 20s trying to break the latch on my bedrbedroom window.
“TThey were startled but they were hell-hell-bent on getting in, even though theythey knew I was there and could see me ccalling the police. The lights were all on,o the alarm was going off and the secsecurity lights were flashing.
“None of that was enough to scare thethem. I was worried they would attack me. It was terrifying. I called 999 four times in a 50-minute period.”
When officers finally turned up, they claimed the musician had given the wrong postcode. The performer believes they did not treat her ordeal seriously.
She added: “At one stage, I was told on the phone the police were already in the house with me. But they hadn’t even responded to the call. It took almost an hour for officers to phone me for directions. By then, I’d called 999 four times.
“A male and a female officer arrived and the male had the worst attitude. When I asked why they had taken so long, he told me I’d given the wrong postcode, which wasn’t the case. I then asked why he didn’t call and ask me for directions.
“He said, ‘Kids are always trying to rile up people at the weekend.’ I told him this wasn’t a kid, these were adults determined to get into the house. The officer didn’t seem to have empathy or respect for my situation and was trying to play it down.”
Stephanie, who is due to perform at next weekend’s Scottish Music Awards alongside Lewis Capaldi, said the men returned to search in the dark for an item they dropped, believed to be a phone.
She claims officers only returned to take fingerprints from the scene after she submitted a complaint.
She added: “One of the men dropped something outside the window and was looking for it but they’d gone by the time police arrived.
“The male officer more or less said there’s nothing they can do. When I asked if they could check the window, he said it was probably kids and the nature of the crime was rated too low for them to bother.
“I lodged a complaint. That led to some fingerprints being taken. I’m going to have to move because I’m not sure I can stay and put my head on a pillow at night.”
Police Scotland said: “We can confirm that a complaint has been received and has been progressed as appropriate.”
The idn’t officer d have seem to or empathy for my respect situation