Burgularies in Balrothery and other locales

koutoubia

Just giving everyone a heads up.....we were burgaled the other night. We woke up during it.
I won't go into details as maybe/hopefully ( but probably wont be) taken further. We ,as in Myself and Garda , caught the guys with some of the stuff later in the day trying to sell it.Anyway that's another rant for another day.

But speaking to some people who live around during the last few days have said they noticed their dogs barking a lot more during the night. One person told me their dog was barking the other night and when they looked out they saw some guys going around taking an unhealthy interest in other peoples property.
Make sure your doors are locked.Windows secured etc etc.
If you have laptops see if they have an app that can be used to remotely disable them.
If they want your car give them your car. Hopefully their will be sod all fuel in it to get them far.
If you suspect anything strange going on ring the Garda. On the night I was done they were super quick in responding ( and tbh between me chasing and Garda acting so quickly I don't know how we didn't nab them). The harder and more awkward its made for these scumbags to operate the less chance they have.
As the forensic Garda said to me....most burgalry related crime is opportunistic. Electronics getting robbed is just being taken to make a quick buck. Cars being taken - that's usually all they want.


As The Captain in Hill Street Blues used to say ",Be careful out there"

Titzon Toast

Lots of that going around here at the moment unfortunately OP. I hope the scrotes who did this to you get what's coming to them soon. Good luck.

Dizzyblonde

I'm glad they caught them, and hope you get the rest of your stuff back.

koutoubia

@ toasty. Their attitude when the Garda caught them was it was just a hassle for them rather then giving a Sh1t.

@dizzy I think anything that we haven't got back by now is gone. However what they have has been locked remotely and pretty much useless.

RobFowl

Horrible to be burgled and the invasion of privacy is almost worse than losing belongings. I think we sometimes get complacent in Balrothery as its a small village.
Keep safe and take as many precautions as you can.

PaulD77

A lot happening in Skerries at the moment too. Guards know who they are, and have caught them in possession but need to actually catch them in the act of burglary. They wont get anything on possession as they claim they just found the items. Most people in the town know who they are but its not stopping them. The law protects these scumbags and they know it too

koutoubia

That's exactly it Paul. And even when they do end up in court the punishment means nothing to them so no deterrent is in place.
The country is gone to the dogs.

dslamjack

Originally posted by koutoubia - That's exactly it Paul. And even when they do end up in court the punishment means nothing to them so no deterrent is in place.
The country is gone to the dogs.

I have to agree,the Guards do a fantastic job in the face of all the obstacles put in their way by a totally self serving legal system, ineffective Judges and ridiculous sentences,along with a management system that is away with the fairies and an indifferent government.
It's no wonder their morale is so low and a national disgrace that we have our Garda having to picket and march on the Dail to try and get something done about all they have to put up with.
As you say people need to be vigilant, do not leave the house in darkness at night,it's like a neon sign saying were all in bed - come rob us.
Leave a few small lights on around the house,it won't effect your bill much, Lidl and Aldi do a little led tv light simulator for a tenner or so every now and then,it imitate's the flicker of tv screen's and from out side at night gives the impression that someone is up watching tv.
You can also get outside wireless infrared beam alarms that are invisible to the eye but when broken triggers an alarm,these are also very cheap under 20 euros in Maplin's iirc.
Proper security lighting is a must - most importantly put car keys away with handbags and wallets ,bring them to bed ,put them in the wardrobe - do not leave them on counters or hallway tables.
Most and VERY important - make sure the front and back door is Locked - according to a friend who is a guard and another who does double glazing doors and gets called out to burglaries ,its amazing the amount of people who forget too lock their doors or set the alarm(and are then not covered by insurance),he was saying people that had old doors with Yale lock's were specially vulnerable because they were all used to the self locking Yale locks - I had to like train myself to check the doors every night after we got all our doors and windows replaced last year.
And actually that is what it comes down too ,getting in to a nightly routine of making sure all is locked up before going to bed.
Shed door alarms are great too and cheap, as the gouger will often open sheds looking for tool's etc - ladders should always be locked -I hope your year gets better koutoubia ,Karma looks after the gouger in the end as you say be safe out there - take care.

koutoubia

Great post, Jack.
Just an update the guys robbed me .......well put it this way their luck ran out before thr Garda got them

PaulD77

koutoubia wrote: »

Great post, Jack.
Just an update the guys robbed me .......well put it this way their luck ran out before thr Garda got them

Great news!!

Not sure if its the same lads that are doing the break-ins in Skerries, but there was a facebook call out the other night after they broke into one of their own neighbour's house! It has all since been removed so was wondering did something happen. If the cops cant do anything about it then its time to start standing up to them ourselves

Beasty

I've had suveillance cameras outside the house for a while now. However I recently discovered the Nest system

They are available via Amazon or places ike Harvey Norman

I now have 4 internal cameras covering the house and garage. They are linked to the wifi and I get e-mail alerts whenever they detect any movement. I also get a video of the related activity, so I can see if it's simply the letters dropping through the letterbox or the cat moving around inside the house. I can also view stuff real time through any of those cameras

They may not be particularly cheap, but it's reassuring to know I can check in with what's happening at the house via the phone from anywhere in the World

koutoubia

I presume your bike room is like a panic safe room with fingerprint entry system.

Beasty

koutoubia wrote: »

I presume your bike room is like a panic safe room with fingerprint entry system.

If you don't have the right code/iris a metal cage immediately encloses you. You then have 2 mins to get it right before the electric current starts flowing.....

koutoubia

When you were setting that up did you have that Doyle fella from Lusk in mind?

Beasty

koutoubia wrote: »

When you were setting that up did you have that Doyle fella from Lusk in mind?

I could not possibly comment, other than to say I feel I don't have much to fear from those living a little further north as none of my gear is Campag.....


:pac:

RobFowl

Beasty wrote: »

I could not possibly comment, other than to say I feel I don't have much to fear from those living a little further north as none of my gear is Campag.....


:pac:

Apart from those skangers from Coolock who moved north...

dslamjack

That https://nest.com/ system looks good Beasty , a friend recently got a wireless video doorbell intercom that you can see and talk to who ever is at the front door or gate from anywhere in the world,I'm thinking of investing in one soon.
But little things like getting a neighbour to take in bins or putting a post box on the wall outside so that post/junk mail is not on display to say your not home help's too.
If we are away a neighbour comes in to close the curtains and do the lights at night and open them in the morning and actually a friend put an old fashioned disable switch on the car so that the car can't move even if they get the keys or scan for the car key fob.
Anything that hinders the gouger is a help, if 4 of my neighbours alarms go off it texts me to let me know,and vice versa ,every little helps.

The Hill Billy

If your area isn't already covered by such a scheme - consider setting up a Neighbourhood Watch (urban areas) or Community Alert (rural areas).

If there is a scheme already running - get involved.

dslamjack

Old alarm box's on buildings are also a clear sign that there is no working alarm or thats its outdated and security is lax.
Even if people cannot afford an alarm system, replicas alarm bell box's with built in flashing led lights are cheap to buy at around 50/60 euro's and come with a lithium battery that only need's to be replaced every 5 year's.
For all intentional purposes you cannot tell them from the real thing ,especially at night when the light's are flashing on them ..... But they are no replacement for the real thing but they are excellent for garage's /large outbuilding's etc in the interim.

koutoubia

I can't seem to be able to post the link but I just read in the Herald that those 'upstanding pillars of the community' can easily buy jammers that can block the wireless signal on house alarms rendering them useless.

Edit: it's an article from 2012 but still applies today.

The Hill Billy

koutoubia wrote: »

'upstanding pillars of the community'

Do you mean burglars?

koutoubia

The Hill Billy wrote: »

Do you mean burglars?

Yeah

07Lapierre

I have a CCTV system and our house was broken into.

They broke into a window right in front of the camera. It was clear that they knew the camera was there but they couldn't care less! (there faces were covered).

I gave a copy of the footage to the gardai.. there looking for 3 guys, all wearing tracksuits, baseball caps and scarves (no idea what colour as it was at night)

In short, don't put too much faith in all this technology. I big Dog is a much better deterrent!

dslamjack

07Lapierre , sorry to hear that .. I think at this stage we are all as sick as the Garda who catch these criminal's on a regular basis,only for a pathetic legal system that support's itself on the misery of the people of this country to release them on community service or paltry sentences that are nearly over before they have started.
I don't even know why they bother with that ''law reform commission'' another useless shower of parasite's.
If I had my way I'd follow the 3 strike's rule and life in prison for them, instead of the usual guff of ''I'm sure your honour is aware that although my client has over 250 conviction's,but he did not get any rice crispies as a child and has suffered great emotional turmoil as a result'' .. I don't know about you but we need a root change to break up the Kinn's Inn's and The Law Society ,these two bodies are as guilty as the criminal's they serve ,protect and live off.
I always remember RTE's Sean O'Rourke interviewing criminal's on the Pat Kenny show one morning,''yaa see that brief n barrister there he say's - I put both their kid's through university'' - that really say's it all about our joke of a legal system.
The sad part nothing is going to change as long as the revolving door and kc-hing of the money that door revolving bring's in to the coffer's of the legal fraternity.
The real fact of the matter is the Garda know the majority of the offender's in the community because they are repeat offender's that consistently laugh at the whole set up - if this element of society was banged up long term without yearly appeal's about their sentence's-then there would be a lot of unemployed solicitor's and barrister's knocking around to feed of the bloated fee's the state pay them and in turn keeping the gouger free to carry on their criminal activities.

07Lapierre

Thanks dslamjack..i agree completely!

The one good thing about having the CCTV footage is we could see how these guys operate. They knew our house was locked and alarmed. They knew the cameras were there. But none of that mattered. They first smashed any outside lights i had on the house, so they could work in complete darkness. Then, they had a good look in all the windows and I assume they were working out which one they were going to open and what they were going to do once they had it open.

They then opened one of the bedroom windows (i live in a bungalow). The alarm went off straight away. One of them jumped into the window and grabbed what they thought was a Jewelry box (it wasn't) and handed it out the window to one of the lads outside. The guy in the house then ran down the hall and grabbed my wife's bag off the kitchen table. He then left the house by the back door.

Lessons learned:

1. New motion sensitive lights much higher off the ground.
2. Heavier curtains/Blinds
3. Lock ALL interior doors
4. Don't leave the key in the back door lock! (if a door is locked..put the key somewhere safe)

As for the advise about keeping lights on when your not at home? In our case i think it worked against us.

That was over a year ago now and my wife is still very nervous in the house on her own. As Robfowl mentioned earlier, its not the value of the goods stolen or teh damage done to the house thats important. its the sense of insecurity and helplessness that stays with you that's the worst part of a burglary!

dslamjack

They have also been known to bring spray/paint on a long telescopic paint pole to black out cctv camera's.
The infra red/photo electric beam's are good in the sense that they can be placed at strategic location's just inside boundary wall's fence's or a few feet from the wall's of house's or pathway's that approach the house that the gouger is most liable to use.
The sad truth is if they want to get in they will, and as you say don't put too much faith in technology,but anything that deter's the gurrier is welcome,you can also wire an old fashioned bell to security light's that will ring as soon as the light goes on.
Alert neighbours are great, last night at 2.15 am I went out to the garden for a walk and heard car door's opening and low talking across the way from me, so I slipped out the garden gate quietly to see what was happening ,it was just a taxi driver neighbour late home but was worth checking.
A lady was on to Joe Duffy yesterday from Wexford , 3 generation's of her family's jewellery stolen and the house wrecked.
Not a millionaire's jewellery,just sentimental jewellery that would not be worth much but priceless to that family.
A friend has a safe , but does not use it,he use's it as a decoy and detraction.
The gurrier usually want's to get in and get out quick and won't hang around,I hope in time you will both get over the ordeal of having this filth invade your privacy and your home,I believe stronly in Karma ... the gurrier will get there's in the end ... the advice you give is excellent ,as I said above too ,bring handbag's wallet's and key's to the bedroom,and even then put them somewhere they are not on display .. all we can do is just keep trying our best to be on guard and alert.

koutoubia

My wife was telling me that a girl she knows was robbed last week in Balbriggsn. Same MO as what happened us. Smash and grab so to speak. How much of it is there going on?
Would it be wortwhile getting onto one of our independent TD's to try and get info from the Super in Balbriggan?

The Hill Billy

It is certainly worth contacting your local reps & the Super. However, you're more likely to get to the Super through an organisation like a Neighbourhood Watch scheme than as an individual.

dslamjack

I'm hearing that at least 12 car's were broken in last night between Dun Eimer and Chapel Farm in Lusk,by a known individual,who unless caught in the act nothing can be done about.
So be aware and do not leave valuable's like head rest dvd player's etc or other such valuable's including loose change in your car's.

koutoubia

Absolutely disgusting.