Had the knock at just after midnight from a pair of police officers. Alerted by a neighbour they had attended our cellar door and found it had been levered in. Lots of bikes inside saved by locks and the door bolt jamming on the inside brickwork. Decided to bring 5 of the bikes into the kitchen. After all the excitement I couldn’t sleep. Sat up in the back bedroom when a figure comes over my neighbours wall into my garden.
Resisted the temptation to rush outside as the officers said they’d be in the area.
Rang 999 as they kicked in the door past the brickwork, wife slept on.
Operator took every detail othe than my shoe size. I was hoping for the cops to turn up and catch them in the cellar red handed. So hard not to rush outside and confront them when there is crashing and dragging sounds from under your feet.
Then it went silent.
Then the police arrived.
Typical.
Wife’s first mountain bike gone, my first one still there and a full carbon spare road bike ignored for a 1992 hardtail!
Hate is a strong word. Waiting on the insurance people to call back.
Should I have gone outside? I could have made a noise in the house. But I wanted them nicked!
Guess I gambled and lost.
Guess it was our turn.

“Should I have gone outside?”

No. You absolutely did the right thing. No bike is worth being stabbed or attacked for.

Good luck on the insurance.

I would have done the same thing. In fact, I probably would just have gone back to bed, so you have kudos for staying up.

You have all your nice bikes still, and everyone is unharmed. That’s all that matters right now. In due course the scrote will contract ebola of the penis and die from blood loss. That’s the way it goes.

Wow, you actually saw the guy break in

Genuinely not sure what I’d do. I think I’d hope to scare them away before they actually got in, but I guess you were hoping the police would turn up in time. Shame you couldn’t lock them in!

You did the right thing but when people ask ‘should I have confronted them’, I always wonder if you could confront them with one of these…..

I mean they can’t be illegal can they? People get shot with them every weekend & the cops don’t do anything. (they bloody hurt at close range as well)
Good luck on the insurance.

They came back the same night after the police had been?

Jesus.

That’s pretty worrying, now he knows where the bikes are and what you’ve got there’s a strong possibility he could be back.
You will need to up your security. Get some anti burglar/climb paint on the top of that wall for starters.

I admire your restraint. I would have been out there im afraid. Can’t believe the **** came back

I think I would have been out there with a cricket bat. Or perhaps trapped them inside and awaited the police. Hope is all gets sorted

Hmm tricky one. Not worth getting a shoeing (or worse) over some property but at the same time hard not to try something to stop them just getting away. Bit shit the police didn’t respond in time but I guess they were on other calls. I’d have probably just got a camera recording and shouted when I heard them making noise below and hoped to spook them and film them as they ran off.

Absolutely the right decision. Nothing you own is worth your life and you never know if they are carrying a knife. Agree about increase in security though. Big German Sheperd?

Oh also, take the wheels off the bikes they won’t get far without wheels.
A bit of a ball ache I know but you’re? a soft target now.

a full carbon spare road bike ignored for a 1992 hardtail!

Sounds like the work of paramilitary wing of retrobike

You should have owned them with Bombers.

Traditional innit.

That’s really shit OP, some real scrotes out there. As others have said, nobody is hurt and that’s the main thing. I’d have gone out and confronted them, but I’m an idiot in those kinds of situations and the red mist descends. You did the right thing.

Sounds like the work of paramilitary wing of retrobike

That made me giggle

You should have owned them with Bombers.

Traditional innit.

The retrobike crowd would actually find that arrousing, especially if they’ve got the three piece lowers with the machined arch.

Wanted them nicked. Wanted them in the back of a riot van so I can wave at them. I bet my wife’s bike the good guys would come thorough. Fail.
They nicked an old highly recognisable bike.
They ignored road bikes
Through the forced door that’s all they could have seen. Holiday time for the bikes and battleship steel door for the cellar.

Deploy a rabid, mark 1 Fido in the cellar every evening. (You need one that doesn’t give a warning bark before it gets going, these are very rare). Once Fido is secured in the morning call the police to collect survivors and take away the body parts.

You did the right thing.

When I was woken up by burglars in the garage I legged it downstairs. They’d tied the door shut. But they’d heard me running down the stairs and legged it. I’m not sure what would have happened if I’d caught them but I wasn’t thinking rationally, let’s say.

Having considered it, I think that IR security cameras are the way to go. They can be had very cheaply online, and getting a picture of them is probably the best thing you can do.

I’m suprised you did nothing. Dissuassion might have worked: music through a guitar amp and 2×12 painfully loud with roadside upstairs windows open, PA telling everyone what’s happening if you have one with a microphone. All the lights on inside and out. Bike lights for blinding… . Attract as much attention as you can, get as many witnesses watching as you can.

If nothing else the police would know which house.

Don’t beat yourself up about it, I’m sure your wife is a little more attached to you than her old bike…..maybe?

Fit one of these to the cellar door?

consider security lights as well as upgrading the door.

consider a complete steel doorset including a steel frame, there are lots on the market that don’t look like they came from a battleship or draw attention.

talk to your neighbours to see how they accessed their garden/ encourage them to do something.. maybe plant some Pyrocanthus / fix fences etc…

as you’ve been robbed remind the neighbours to get some advice as almost certainly the scrotes have scoped out other things / properties to rob in your area

Burglars tend to focus on quick in and out, imo. They’ll assess a job based on how quickly they can get away if they get caught. We had a break in in a student house, they left behind loads of computers and whatnot, just filled a bag with CDs and grabbed my camera case so they could run out with it.

I understand people recommending not intervening, as it could get nasty, but I really don’t think I could sit in silence if some **** was breaking in.

Not sure that CCTV is of any use either. Neighbours spent a fair bit on their system installing. When they were broken into they got some really good footage but as the scrotes had covered up their faces with what looked like buffs the police said they couldn’t identify them for the footage. All they could do was provide a crime number and claim off the insurance, same as when my garage was broken into.
They shared the footage on Facebook hoping to identify them but as with the rest I’ve shared a bit of a fruitless exercise.
The thieves know they are going to be recorded and take measures to prevent themselves from being identified. All you can do is secure the property the best you can and make sure you have the right insurance cover.

I’ve read about convictions from home CCTV but yes, it’s not hard to foil. What else can we do though once you’ve got stout doors and Almax chains?

^^ I fitted one of those poacher alarms to the shed at the bottom of our (long) garden in our first house after we had an intruder. As my Uncle can testify – they’re bloody loud – he’d decided to wander down to borrow the ladder without telling me what he was doing. I think he pretty much sh*t himself.

For us it was more to kick off the dogs, than a deterrent in and of itself. We were the end of a terrace of four houses all with gardens only accessible from the top end. All houses had dogs of various ferocity – one neighbour had some rather scary working GSD/sheepdog thing crosses.

After a spate of local break-ins the agreement was that should someone trigger the poacher alarms the backdoors would be opened and the dogs left to meet the people coming back up the garden. My proposal was for paintball claymores hanging in trees across the gardens…

What else can we do though once you’ve got stout doors and Almax chains?

Not much. A very loud alarm is the best deterrent in my opinion and vigilant neighbours. Make sure your insurance covers you valuables as many bikes are now way over value that most policies pay out without them being specified.

I’d have done entirely the wrong thing and been out there with the nail gun… 😳

been out there with the nail gun…

Nail their feet to the kitchen floor!

One thing confusing me – so they broke in.. just for bikes?? and took crap ones? **** morons.

All houses had dogs of various ferocity – one neighbour had some rather scary working GSD/sheepdog thing crosses.

When our garage was broken into the second time they had managed to remove the shiplap cladding from the side entrance only to find it had been sheet’d out with 12mm ply on the inside (after the first break in) without get our GSD barking. Only when they opened the main garage door did they trip the alarm which had the dog barking.
I can only assume who ever had broken in must have already got the dog used to them as it would normally be straight outside through it’s dog door at the slightest noise. Just as well I loved him as he was useless as guard dog.

You did the right thing but when people ask ‘should I have confronted them’, I always wonder if you could confront them with one of these…..

I mean they can’t be illegal can they? People get shot with them every weekend & the cops don’t do anything. (they bloody hurt at close range as well)
Good luck on the insurance.

Saw a YouTube vid once where a group of guys set a sting, then as the thief was stealing a bike, the all jumped out and paintballed him . ‘Twas merica though

Personally I would have tried to scare them off. Not confronted them as such, not worth it. As said above, they might now see you as a soft target and come again.

Its sh** like this that makes me realise I could never move back to the UK. How has the law ended up making us completely and utterly defensless in the face of crime against our hard earned homes?

molgrips – Member

When I was woken up by burglars in the garage I legged it downstairs. They’d tied the door shut. But they’d heard me running down the stairs and legged it. I’m not sure what would have happened if I’d caught them but I wasn’t thinking rationally, let’s say.

Owned them with your incredible IQ?

They took bikes that I had assumed would be too difcult to get to. Sadly I was wrong. Strangely if they returned to the cellar for the bikes they had seen and found them all gone why continue? The owner has clearly noticed you’d been and would be on guard. They don’t want road bikes as they missed the road bike to get to the incomplete bike. CCTV and a solid steel door is on the way.

What else can we do though once you’ve got stout doors and Almax chains?

Spread the risk. Don’t keep all your eggs in one basket.

Its sh** like this that makes me realise I could never move back to the UK. How has the law ended up making us completely and utterly defensless in the face of crime against our hard earned homes?

Or move in with Nowthen in whatever Utopia he lives in 🙂 There’s room or all of us isn’t there?

Its sh** like this that makes me realise I could never move back to the UK

U Ok Hun? Xxx

Shame you weren’t cooking chips at the time, don’t you always sling your hot oil out the window after? Perhaps just as someone is leaving below? Not that you’d expect someone to be in your backgarden as you are making your early morning snack. Isn’t that just what everyone does with their hot oil?

You need to borrow a Caucasian Mastiff for a bit, keep it in the cellar!

mikey-simmo
Wanted them nicked. Wanted them in the back of a riot van so I can wave at them.

Event that would be a hollow victory, as they’d be out in about 5 mins, as the police seem to be powerless to actually lock people up these days.

Personally i’d have put up “Caution High voltage” warning labels everywhere, and then ‘accidentally’ left my half finished mains powered hobby project right behind the door…….