Thieves in East Dulwich

[heath]

There are thieves about in East Dulwich. Our flat on Oakhurst Grove and the flat above us were burgled this afternoon between 2pm and 5pm.

We had two laptops and two cameras stolen but thankfully not much else that we have been able to tell just yet. If anyone knows of anyone trying to offload an Asus EEE 701 laptop + power supply, an Asus Aspire One laptop + power suplly, a Cannon EOS350D digital SLR camera in a generic bag with a cleaning kit and multiple memory cards or a Sony DCR-SR32 digital video camera without any peripherals then please tell the police about it. All our stuff was marked with the magic water stuff the police have been giving out but unless they actually catch the dirtbags responsible they can't do much.

Worse than losing some items or even having some scrote in our flat is that my older daughter uses the laptops to video chat with her grandparents in Australia and the video camera has recent video of my 4 month old daughter that we hadn't taken copies of yet. The scum whole stole them had to pick through children's things to get to them so I doubt their conscience will be nagging them much though.

P.S. the police did take about 5 hours to show up afterwards but when they did they were extremely helpful and very polite.

[-=Mike=-]

Sorry to hear that, a flat near ours in Bawdale Road was done last week as well.

[PeckhamRose]

I am sure it will be discussed at the next Police Ward Panel. I am so sorry this happened to you.

[LuvPeckham]

Sadly this is the time of year thieves love, all the presents under the tree, mostly new and expensive so that they can make a little more money.

It is good to let people know they are operating in the area again, and I am sure that the Police have this high on their radar. However it is wise to be extra vigilant at the moment, obsessive with checking doors and windows are locked, alarms are on and if you hear an alarm going off in your neighbours house have a look to see if you see anything suspicious (then call teh Police if you do see something rather then tackle it yourself)

Sadly if they decide to pick on your property then even this advice may not be enough, but as most thieves are opportunists anything that makes it harder for them is always a good deterent.

Heath I am sorry to hear your news, and I hope your items turn up soon and that your insurance company sorts out your claim swiftly.

[Strawbs]

Thanks for the heads up! Im so sorry you have been robbed, happened to me once up in west hampstead and it was bl00dy awful..

Will be more vigilent in double locking everything and keeping those ba$tards out..

x

[TJS]

thieving bar stewards....makes me furious

[Shaila Shah]

sorry to hear about this Heath. How did the thieves get in? It'salways useful to find out their MO...

Hope you recover your property.

[Polly D]

So sorry for you Heath. Hope something gets recovered at least.

[Applespider]

Also make sure that you have motion sensor lights on the outside and that they're working. Burglars don't like lights coming on apparently - I'd just bought the bulbs to replace when we were done in Jan. Then the modus operandi was to choose a communal door which just had a basic Yale, buzz the buzzers to see if anyone was in. If not, jimmy the lock, close it behind you and know that you can make a noise kicking down doors and no-one will see/hear. And they started from the top (which surprised me) since then if the bottom floor came back, they might not notice anything suspicious and give the thieves time to get out. We've now got an extra lock on the communal door too so that hopefully it will make it harder.

Thoughts go out to you - it's a horrible experience to come home to.

[sazzle]

My thoughts are with you heath i was burgled in June and its grim.

How did they get in? Have you got london+birmingham bars on your door?

I added them for extra security afterwards.

Hope you feel better soon.

[Siduhe]

I was just going to the post the same as sazzle. A London strip or Birmingham Bar (depending if you are oop'north or dawn saaf) is a good (and fairly economical investment) especially for an internal front door to a communal landing. Was a while back, but my door and lock held. My door frame (without a London/Birmingham/strip/bar) didn't.

[heath]

Thanks for all of the support. In answer to the questions about how they got in; to be honest we aren't sure.

Either we left the back door unlocked and the thief or thieves kindly locked it before they left (unlikely) or they managed to jimmy open both the front outer door and our flat door without breaking them - after talking to the police they think this is more likely. Looking at the locks it does look like it would be possible to jimmy them open fairly easily. Stupidly we have deadbolts on both doors but neither were locked at the time. My wife was only out for a few hours and they struck in those few hours.

Even though we have no damage to our doors we're getting our locks changed in case the thief took some spare keys (we have several sets lying about and can't be sure we can account for all of them). And we're now making sure to ALWAYS use the deadbolts of course.

The upstairs flat door was kicked in breaking the door and ripping the lock itself from the door. I don't actually know if he has a london/birminham bar but it wouldn't have mattered because the door itself was the weak point. We have a bar on our inner door but not on the outer door.

[microbite]

How awful for you, my thoughts go out to you especially at this time of year and knowing how hard gifts are to come by presently, but if neither of your deadbolts were on, will your insurance cover you for your loss?

[Jimbob]

probably not, so you might want to think about deleting the post, at the same time i don,t want to sound patronising but the deadlocks are there for a reason.

[LibraCarr]

Hi,

I am really sorry to hear about your burglary. We too live on Oakhurst Grove and will advise all to be more vigilant. Without giving to many details can you advise if you live at the Goose Green end, the middle or the Northcross Road end. I had my van broken into last year and had over 8k worth of equipment stolen which was well hidden in the van. The thief was in and out within seconds and did not exit the area. (I had a alarm but it did not go off!)

I leave my house at varying times of the night and day for work and am naturally suspicious, if I see anything not right, I always advise the police, they are grateful because it helps them to draw a pattern and put into place preventitive measures like slow driving down side roads and more foot patrols in the less used roads.

Once again I am sorry for your loss.

Kind regards,

Libra Carr.

[nylonmeals]

do you think that something like having lights on timers work? i am thinking of over new year when we are away. we have an alarm etc but someone told me that its the houses where there are no visible signs of life that often get targeted.

[Jeremy]

I reckon it must help. If you were a burglar, would you try the house with lights on, or the one which was totally dark?

Although I wouldn't be surprised if there were "professional" burglars around, who kept track of these things...

[Pickle]

We always leave lights on timer when we go away, and have someone come into the house to open/shut curtains etc. I'm sure a "professional" burglar would cotton on to this, but I figure it's best to do all you can to avoid a burglary. Now that we have a cat, any time we're away a lady comes in to feed him morning and night, which gives me peace of mind.

So sorry to hear of the OP's break-in, such a horrible thing to have happen.

[nylonmeals]

do you think that i can buy timer lights anywhere on lordship lane?

[Pickle]

Try the DIY shop down near the roundabout, I'm sure they'd stock them.

[Jeremy]

Possibly one of the DIY shops will sell timer switches, or the electrical shop near the Plough. And Argos on Rye Lane will definitely have something along these lines.

[candj]

Nylonmeals,

Try either Dulwich DIY or even Farmers for timers. Would recommend having perhaps two in the house so it's not just the sitting room having a light on and off... ie, an upstairs bedroom or bathroom visible from the street.

Asking a friend to check up on the house when you are away is another thing to do when you go away on holiday. And getting to know your neighbours and keeping a watch on each other's properties is also a good bet.

Sorry to heath for the break in, hope you get your things back (especially the video of your daughter).

-C

[Carrie]

AJ Farmers definitely have timers - got a couple there yesterday

[shoshntosh]

interesting... anyone else wondering about a potential link between this post and the "meter readers" post called "rude awakening"? i only ask because i live around the corner from oakhurst grove and i am sure i had a "suspect" seeming meter reader come around last friday or thereabouts...

really sorry to hear your news, heath. i'm just glad you're wife wasn't home with the kids (as happened to a friend of mine in dulwich a couple months back). horror.

[LibraCarr]

Hi,

My wife (who works for the Met) told me that proffesional burglers leave marks outside of your house, to signify if it is a easy or hard target.

Commonly it is a chalk mark etched onto the fence, gate, wall or house wall!

I will try to get the codes and post it on EDF. In the meantime if you see a mark erase it or add to it /MET. That might put the shoots up them.

Regards,

Libra, Carr.