[serious] - got burgled last week

firehawk

firehawk

firehawk

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Joined
28 Apr 2012
Posts
800
Hi all.

I really don't know how to talk about it or start but I am pretty distressed and upset.

I got burgled last week. They stole a lot of my valuable stuff. Some things you cannot get anymore and some are sentimental things.

No forced entry, no broken glass. Seems some kind of inside job. No one else has the keys except me and the landlord. Been staying at the same place for 8 years. Have quite a few issues with the person upstairs so I can only say that they maybe involved in some way but cannot prove that and I am not the person to falsely point fingers.

Forensics came and did their thing but after they left, I found a phone the burglar dropped in a bag along with my other phones I keep - he was going to steal those phones but got disturbed maybe and made a run.

I did forensics on the phone myself and got all the details. I of course told the police and handed in the phone but still annoyed the forensics team didn't find the phone.

they got the guy. but released on bail with bail conditions. ****ed too because he wont say where the stuff is.
they recovered 3 things from a pawn shop, which I am not fussed about - its more about the other stuff that is much more important.

stole my passport and US Visa, which I cannot replace. I got a new passport but the US Visa is the killer.
stole a passport that had a family members handwriting on it, and that is the last bit of them I had left.
stole laptops, harddrives, some work stuff from years ago which I cannot get back. stole TV, computer speakers, computer monitors, a ton of company gifts and stuff I bought from other places.

they were in there for quite a while. there were apparently 2 people. They let one of them go within a day, the other they kept in custody for a couple of days.
he is a drug user and was on probation too.

the place was trashed. I cant even go back. The thought of someone going through your belongings, taking things etc... - just cannot go back.

so yes, lost a lot of stuff and most of this stuff I need for work reasons. That's 40% of my business gone and needless to say, lost income all week trying to sort things out.

sorry - just no idea where to go.

:(
 
Feel for you that's a rotten thing to happen.
Ok you cannot replace the personal items but be glad they did not try and rob you while you were in there who knows what might have happened then!
Am sure if you provide a police report number the us emabassy would understand and renew the visa?
If your gut feeling is that you cannot trust the upstairs resident and in view of whats gone on I know its not simple as saying it and could be expensive but how about a move and a fresh start?
Good luck :)
 
Yeah being burgled sucks, happened to my folks. There are no positives but at least you're renting so it should be relatively straightforward to get a new place i.e. it'd be a lot harder if you owned your home.

Makes me angry reading how the police dealt with the perps - justice in this country is a joke.
 
I wouldn't get wrapped up in the why. Whether they knew to target you or whether it was random luck, the people who did it obviously didn't care but living in the shadow of the event can only serve to leave you more vulnerable than before.

I personally would look to move on. Not just becasue of knowing someone entered your place and searched your belongings without you knowing, but because they will probably return for more. If they're stupid enough to get caught they're stupid enough to return.

It's probably best to write off what you have lost and move on, sentimental or valuable. Hopefully you have some sort of insurance to help recover some compensation.

Where abouts are you based?
 
feel for you, happened to my grandma while she was house and babysitting for my auntie & uncle, she could never sleep in the house again and went through a very bad time for a few months.

hope you get atleast some of your sentimental stuff back.
 
I feel for you, never been through it myself but it must be very truamatic..

Its sad to hear that the let them go aswell. Surely theres some forensic proof they were there?

I would love to offer advice like the people above but due to not going through it myself i doubt i could help..

I wish you the best of luck getting back on your feet..

Coming here (maybe not GD though) is a good place, as atleast now you've got it off your chest a bit.
 
thank you guys/gals. I appreciate your words which I value.
thing is, the stuff they stole was my business items too. unfortunately I had no insurance because they wouldn't cover it due to the costly items and how the house is made up. its 1 house but split into 2, I live downstairs, and someone else lives upstairs. they said its "too risky".

I was supposed to be heading to the US this week and cant cancel the tickets or hotel reservation but I am hoping the AMEX insurance will sort this out.

i am also in the process of trying to move to the US (got that going on too but its a lengthy one) and the items they stole, was needed for that in terms of equipment/investment.

now im spending thousands to get the things they stole so I can try to continue my business here in a "make-do" way - costing me money and no way I can claim back.
 
I also got burgled last week...

They broke in through the side door by smashing the glass in the door with a brick, and opening the door from the inside. They stole my laptop, my passport and some cash. Luckily they didn't take any of the bigger items like expensive computer screens. Made a mess of the place but not much actual damage thankfully.

With insurance excess being £500 it wasn't worth claiming - would have got 200 back maximum, and would have cost me more than that for increased premiums in the next few years, not to mention the hassle. Getting a new passport is a pain, but some of my work on the laptop wasn't backed up. A couple of days worth at most, but that's the biggest loss.

The police came and took a very detailed statement (they had to describe each room in the house in minute detail!), and had a visit from a 'scene of crime' guy, but there wasn't much they could do really. Burglars left nothing behind, and my laptop didn't turn up at a pawn shop.

On Monday the house two doors down got burgled as well. Neighbours heard a smash and saw three men run past them with stuff in their arms. One neighbour confronted them, but they called her 'white trash' and threatened to 'cut' her. Obviously police were called again. It's annoying because I had just set off to go to the corner shop, going right past that house. When I got back several neighbours were in the street. If I'd set off 2 mins earlier or 2 mins later I might have been in the position to do or at least see something. But no...


Anyway, I sympathise with you OP. This was my first time being burgled in over 10 years of independent living, so I guess I can't complain too much. Not exactly a fun experience though, and I don't have the cash right now to replace either the door or the laptop.

...The things some people will do for a gram of smack, eh?
 
I know you cant claim back the business stuff, but surely you normal contents were covered?

If so, ham it up... say you had a 360, ps3, ipad, vita, iphone 5 or whatever... just max out your claim amount, you might not get it all back, but sod it, you are going to lose out it seems.. so play the system to get what you can.

I know you might need receipts/boxes/PoP etc but see if you can borrow something like that from a mate.

Your call, but if you are leaving the UK anyway in the future - milk it, thats what insurance is there for.
 
firehawk said:
thank you guys/gals. I appreciate your words which I value.
thing is, the stuff they stole was my business items too. unfortunately I had no insurance because they wouldn't cover it due to the costly items and how the house is made up. its 1 house but split into 2, I live downstairs, and someone else lives upstairs. they said its "too risky".

I was supposed to be heading to the US this week and cant cancel the tickets or hotel reservation but I am hoping the AMEX insurance will sort this out.

i am also in the process of trying to move to the US (got that going on too but its a lengthy one) and the items they stole, was needed for that in terms of equipment/investment.

now im spending thousands to get the things they stole so I can try to continue my business here in a "make-do" way - costing me money and no way I can claim back.
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I know this is not going to help you now but surely nothing is too costly for insurance? If it's a high risk. they just charge more to compensate that?
I don't understand why you wouldn't have got insured for your business, even if it meant renting out a small office space, it's 1st thing I would have sorted as it's that important in events like this.
 
I know. And sorry to hear your incident too. sucks bad.

just annoyed at the police. they aren't being as co-operative as they were before they caught the guy and the only reason they caught him was because *I* found his phone. When I switched it on, had over 50 missed calls... obviously wondering where his phone was.

really, I should get all my tax money back over the years for this service and inconvenience which the mug wont pay for

postbox: agreed. thing is I didn't know much at the time (going back few years). The area was good too so I had somewhat of a trust there especially since it is a neighbourhood watch area and all that.
 
My folks were burgled a few months ago whilst they were in the house, they're in their late 60s and my dad in particular is very frail. Mostly jewelry that was taken from their bedroom but it initially freaked my mum out.

However since she's come to the conclusion that if she lets it bother her they've won, which is frankly a brilliant attitude to have. They haven't caught the guy but have an idea who it is, which basically means he'll never be charged.

It's just items, I know a few bits had sentimental value but do you really think those dear friends or family would want you torturing yourself over it? I very much doubt it, as hard as it is you'll have to face it eventually, so why not do it on your own terms?
 
firehawk said:
I know. And sorry to hear your incident too. sucks bad.

just annoyed at the police. they aren't being as co-operative as they were before they caught the guy and the only reason they caught him was because *I* found his phone. When I switched it on, had over 50 missed calls... obviously wondering where his phone was.

really, I should get all my tax money back over the years for this service and inconvenience which the mug wont pay for
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Sounds like I was very lucky compared to you. Nothing life changing in my case... my cats were missing at first, but once they came back I was okay.

I'm curious what you mean by 'you did forensics' on the phone you found though? Do you mean you did fingerprint work on it or something? Could that have interfered with the police's ability to prosecute the scrote that left it there?

Also, does this guy they found have any connection to the guy upstairs that you know of?
 
thanks. its just its very important - last bits of my family member I had... its very important. you cant just "drop it".

for some of the work stuff they stole like software DVD's etc... - very important for the business which is how I earn the living.

everything else, not fussed about. but the police don't seem to have the attitude of "we will support you and find out where those items are"

duff-man - by forensics, I mean copying the contacts, text messages and pictures. wouldn't interfere at all and the police are aware too. even if your finger prints are on it, that's ok because they took my prints beforehand and can easily eliminate it.

as for the possible relation with the person upstairs - no idea.
 
These sort of stories suck. I was burgled on 5th November in 2009 and it was rubbish. We were "lucky" in that they didn't trash the place up, they just took a huge 42" flatscreen tv and a laptop. Fortunate that they didn't take anything else really. The neighbour in the flat opposite got done the same day and they just took 10 Euros but disregarded his expensive watch collection!!

It took me a good few months to get over it and in a way I never really have. Thankfully I have moved out of that rented place. But, sadly, you can only do so much to protect yourself, if they want to get in, they will get in. I really sympathise with you though. Even now I have to rigorously check that I've closed all the windows and doors before I leave the house. It's almost on the scale of OCD, even if I can see a window that is closed, I have to go up to it and physically test it and won't be satisified until I have done so. It's ridiculous, but it just shows what a crime such as burglary can do to you.
 
agreed. that is me too - make sure the door is locked, windows are locked. to be honest, I keep my front room curtains shut day and night! I don't want people to peer in but also the sunlight can get quite distracting/hurt the eyes.

makes no bleedin sense.

I want my stuff back. just tell the police where it is you idiot.
 
Been there my friend. Not nice at all.

I caught the 3 lads in my house that broke in and managed to keep a hold of one of them using "reasonable force" until the police arrived. I was warned that the lad I held onto wanted to press charges for assault.

The things they took were replaced but I lost pictures of family members that had died as they were in my wallet. You can never replace them.

Biggest thing for me was that they all got off with the break in as they said it the door was already kicked in and they only went in for a look.

That said one of the lads was trying to sell my DVD's behind the shops where I lived and offered them to one of my mates. Bad idea! I got the DVD's back and I wont go into what the lad got.

Moved out that night and never went back. My wife and I stayed with parents and moved 2 months later.

physichull said:
Even now I have to rigorously check that I've closed all the windows and doors before I leave the house. It's almost on the scale of OCD, even if I can see a window that is closed, I have to go up to it and physically test it and won't be satisified until I have done so. It's ridiculous, but it just shows what a crime such as burglary can do to you.
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Wife does that all the time now. Even though we have moved again since the break-in and are in a wonderful area whenever my rear security light goes on I'm up like a shot looking out even though I know it is a cat or fox going past!
 
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bloody hell swordfish!

this annoys me a lot about this country and the law - when you, as a decent human with common sense, do the right thing like hold him with reasonable force, and then for them to try and press charges on you for assault... WTF?

there should be another charge added. a charge for being an idiot
 
Very sorry to hear what you've gone through, it is one of the most unpleasant feelings to experience. But I agree that the justice system seems to be getting worse over here.
 
firehawk said:
bloody hell swordfish!

this annoys me a lot about this country and the law - when you, as a decent human with common sense, do the right thing like hold him with reasonable force, and then for them to try and press charges on you for assault... WTF?

there should be another charge added. a charge for being an idiot
Click to expand...

It was few days before I was informed that no charges were being pressed, which tbh annoyed me a bit. Would have loved my day in court and give my side of things!

I was even asked by my insurance company to instruct the Procurator Fiscal to ask for a financial payment from the 3 lads to cover the insurance costs. The PF's reply to me "you canna get the breeks aff a heeland man". Translates as they have no money so you get no money!
 
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