Harringay online

Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

Hi
Just wanted to warn people to be vigilant as my neighbour on pemberton road was burgled yesterday evening. Someone kicked her front door in at around 7pm.

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Oh gosh thanks for the warning.

Kerri. Glad you flagged this. There were apparently 8 separate actual or attempted burglaries *last night alone* in the Ladder area, and my neighbour (also Pemberton) suffered an attempted burglary last week (while 4 others were also reported that same night). There is clearly a spate of burglaries happening in the neighbourhood.

My neighbour was saved by the fact that they had a strong Yale lock protected by a London Bar which stopped the perp getting in.

A few things spring to mind:

  • Use your mortise lock- always! Yale locks will offer no protection at all as a modest kick to the door will pop most Yale locks off
  • The two burglaries I have been aware of have both been in buildings with a recessed door (ie the door is set back from the front of the building in the original style, and so the perp can step into the porch and have some modest screening as they do what they are doing. I am not sure if this is true in all cases, but it strikes me that there is sense in attacking homes where the burglar can get in without being seen...
  • Both burglaries that I am aware of are flats. I suspect this may be coincidence, but it strikes me that:
    1. Once inside a house with more than one flat a burglar may have twice as much opportunity to find what you are looking for
    2. There is less chance of being seen kicking in internal doors
    3. Given the way folks come and go in a communal area like a main front door space, there is a good chance the mortise lock has been left unlocked
    4. Internal doors may often be quite weak and poor quality, and not able to resist being bashed in...
  • There may be two guys working in a team. One outside keeping watch while the other is inside, so keep an eye on someone loitering in your or a neighbour's front garden that looks out of place. I suspect the advice should be not to challenge them, but make a note (mental... or otherwise) of their appearance and call the cops!
  • I am not sure what time the attempt was made on my neighbour last week, but the twilight period may be a particularly risky time of day, folks moving to and from work, and it not being too out of place for people who are not your neighbours to be on the street and moving about?
  • I get the impression that the they burglaries are highly opportunistic, and they may well be an in, grab what you can quick and scarper within 60 seconds job.

Might be worth the SNT team making some kinds of statement and offering a little advice at this point, anyone out there SNT?

That is interesting about the Yale locks. I'm on Eade road in a flat conversion and came downstairs one day last week to find the guy downstairs asking if i knew why our Yale lock was off the door and lying on the floor and the door only kept closed by the second lock. Will remind everyone to keep using the mortise lock!

I think most burglaries are opportunistic, but maybe this spate shows a slightly different MO. When we were getting quotes for an alarm to be fitted a few years ago, the salesman suggested the mostly likely entry point was the rear of the property, with the burglar typically heading for the bedroom where valuables such as jewelry, cash and maybe passports are kept. In our ladder of terraced houses I always thought the more likely entry was at the front. And these days I think the typical opportunist thief might head towards the living room or kitchen where they'd expect to find an iPad or similar product?

BTW the locksmith on Green Lanes sells london bars, same price as online I think. NFI.

Hate to be the bearer of another bit of bad news, but we were done over last week too. It was a quick grab with only a laptop and mobile snatched, so Justin's observation that they're 60 second jobs seems on the mark.

Please be en guarde folks and do stop and chat to neighbours. If these rogues return and think they're being closely observed they'll make themselves scarce.

Do you think that perhaps the iPad might be stolen in any burglary?

I thought the streaming is for live pictures only. If your video is being recorded to a remote server, I'd have thought that there would certainly be a monthly fee, but what do I know.

Perhaps you could tell me which app you have in mind. If I can remote record motion detected video when the house is empty for a £2.99 purchase price, with this current spate of burglaries, I'm in.

I remembered something like this from a while back where a guy used a programme on his stolen Mac to track the thief a.... Not sure what app is used, but it looks like a good idea to install it. Anyone got any better suggestions?

Police detective I spoke to a few years ago had one main recommendation; get an alarm fitted. He said the burglar will simply move onto the next house that doesn't have one.

Have a look on streetview at Wood Vale N10. Practically every house has an alarm fitted.

Wood Vale map Residents/homeowners there would have learnt this from experience. Wealthier areas are targeted. This area is becoming one of those.

I'm not sure if this is related, but whilst I was out today apparently we had a caller who claimed to be a neighbour looking for recommendations for a cleaner. Apparently the person wasn't asking for me and didn't claim to know either me or my partner.

Am I being too sensitive, or does this sound a bit out of place?

Quite a middle class request for this type of door knocking opportunism.

I usually just get someone who is looking for Bill or Ben or Bert or Brian etc... This must indicate that the burglars are aware of the changing demographic of the neighbourhood.

Anyway, yes I would treat it with suspicion. I suspect any number your 'neighbour'  might have claimed to live at would have turned out to be entirely fictitious. As they have always proved to be when I get these kinds of callers. 

Nope. You're right to find it odd.

As a lot of the break ins were around dusk (ours) -some daytime -there's no way (with the return commuters heading back) that they'd take a gamble on just kicking in a door panel etc. And a mere absence of light is not enough as they'll know that some houses/flats have rooms at the back.

Coincidentally I had a knock at the door around 10pm. It took me 30 seconds to open the door as we're now deadlocking at nights. Surprise, no one there. Unless there are kids here playing 'ginger' I suspect that the bastards who did us last week are chancing their arm on what they/he/she couldn't make off with last time.

On that note. Does anyone have clear descriptions on suspects? I'm quite happy to take dusk/evening strolls every hour or so down Pemberton. Gives me a worthy excuse to pick up some Grolsh from the lovely Mehmet on Green lanes  :)

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