539 - Mailbox: "Has someone tried to break in?"
Conversation with a friend who is a vulnerable adult living in sheltered housing.
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I was in another town on a visit to a guy I know. I’m waiting at the door and had to be the bearer of bad news when he came to open up as it looked like someone had had a go at his ground floor bedroom window, which at the time had his laptop visible near the sill.
His house is in the “golden triangle” of flat land, town and a park hang out for smack heads, so pretty much on a shopping route for an opportunist to spot a quick score to fence for drugs.
The window design is typical of old style buildings that still have lead lined windows and a wrought iron latch mechanism.
So while living in a listed period building may seem nice, they’re seldom designed for the realities of the modern world.
When I saw the window, the loose lead work you can see in the image was completely twisted around from being obviously prised at (so no, it wasn’t the “wind”…), and I’d straightened it back for him while I was there to what you can see here, so this is the “after” photo he sent me.
I’m guessing that the scumbag that did it thought it was constructed of small panels held by lead work (which is common) rather than the one large pane of glass that they encountered and possibly gave up when they realised they’d have to smash it to get in rather than just easily remove one square and reach in for the latch to open the window?
The gent I know that lives there is classed as a vulnerable adult (although I can assure you that you never want to experience his right cross!, which is now not unlike being hit by a car! ) and he sent me the picture to use here as he’d worried about repeat visits subsequent to seeing this, it was probably just an opportunist c(h)ancer as this window is close to the pavement and nothing else was damaged around the house, so it’s some way towards reassuring him.
I’m writing this up for him to read and maybe it might be useful to local readers to consider too.
Firstly, I’d keep your room window curtains shut and stop leaving anything in the windows - especially a laptop - as it’s like a shop window for the home tax collector, even if you just pop out of the room for a while. It also stops people from casually seeing if your in that room or not. Hardcore types won’t care but a low commitment thief may be put off by being unable to assess and guarantee risk free entry.
As this sheltered housing is in a larger town a few miles away, with other similar situation flatmates living there, it is possible that word has got out about who lives there and it might be seen as a soft target for scumbags to have a go at.
In general, if you notice what appears to be small damage from a possible break-in attempt like this check from a safe distance to see if a possible intruder(s) is still around or if the window is compromised enough for easy entry.
This wasn’t the case here as the house was fully occupied and I was there with him too (yes, I’m sure my broken down old frame would have struck fear into the heart of some thief in his athletic prime as I hobbled threateningly towards him!) , so it looked like someone had had a go and given up quickly, but if he’d been alone and discovered this, it’s best not to just stroll in without considering that the the “visitor” may still be there. It’s also possible that just because they gave up before smashing a window at the front of the property, that they didn’t get in some other way, so be careful.
This is especially true if you see your kitchen knives strewn throughout the property as thieves will do this to use on you if they are discovered rather than risk carrying weapon.
Look around your property for anything else suspicious—footprints, displaced items, or damage to other entry points. Got security cameras or video? It’s very unlikely that anyone will ever be caught and even less likely, prosecuted but at least you can see their behaviour when outside your property and try and counter it in some way for the future.
The next part of our conversations were about getting someone to fix the window as soon as possible for him because it shows that it’s been noticed and acted upon by an owner and also to make sure that his care staff know, it’s unlikely to be one of the other occupants, but once that’s discounted you know that it was someone else testing your security.
Visible damage, even small scratches or dents, signals vulnerability to someone scouting for an easy target. Repairing it quickly removes that invitation and forces them to start over, which takes effort some casual thieves might avoid.
Some UK crime surveys on burglary patterns purport to show that many break-ins are opportunistic in nature. Thieves target what’s easy—unlocked doors, broken latches, or damaged windows. Fixing it fast reduces that “low-hanging fruit” appeal.
Shatter-resistant film or maybe motion-sensor lights might help too maybe.
This is all no guarantee unfortunately as where you live is affected by the local drug trade and it’s “clients” and if someone’s determined—say, they’ve cased your place, they might try again regardless, just using a different method or entry point. The deterrence works best against random or impulsive attempts, which are more common.
I’d recommend contacting the cops only as you’ll get an incident number that you can use for insurance - for instance in the case of another attempt and it will help with your claim there. They may show slightly more interest because of the nature of your dwelling and it’s occupants but in my experience of dealing with them locally, that’ll be about it.
It’s worth noting how much worry just a small discovery like this can cause for someone, let alone dealing with the trauma of robbery or confrontation, especially for a house of vulnerable people.
The up-side, if there is one , is that by dealing with and fixing small stuff straight away, you can send a message that might just be the difference in making home tax agents visit elsewhere.
Hope this helps mate, J