Do you lock your doors in daytime ?

I had the Nottingham Knockers a few weeks ago

I believe they are around our area now; we have a neighbourhood WhatsApp group which is useful.

Always have front and back doors locked. Back door is opposite side of house from sitting room so wouldn't hear anyone coming in.
Have an outer porch front door which is usually left unlocked for parcels etc, but inner one is kept locked.
I remember when we lived in Cyprus our Greek neighbours were horrified at us locking doors when we went out; they thought it meant we didn't trust them.

Sago that must have been terrifying.

I have to say, I’m quite amazed to read how some posters are very relaxed about door and window locking. To me, it’s a priority - there are always opportunists around and probably some who are “eying up” the area, looking for vulnerable spots.

I know that locking everything up will not stop determined thieves, but anything that slows a would be opportunistic burglar down and makes a noise is a safeguard worth taking.

I also agree that your home insurance may well be invalidated if it transpired that the burglar was able to just walk in through an unlocked door, rather in the same way as your car insurance being invalidated if you had failed to lock it.

Therefore, to my mind, whether you live in a quiet hamlet, a busy city or anything in between, it makes sense to take all the precautions you can.

Yes, Monica it may only be “stuff” that’s taken, and in the great scheme of things, it’s not as serious as, to quote your example, child abuse, (and other obnoxious criminal behaviour), but as Sparklefizz says, the damage is not only lost belongings, (which may be precious in more ways than just their monetary value, and quite possibly irreplaceable), but a violation of ones own space, of it being sullied, and the fear that being broken into instils - the “what if I’d disturbed them?” thoughts. In its way, burglary is as vicious to the victim as other crimes due to the psychological damage it may inflict. It’s not a lightweight crime.

What/who are the Nottingham knockers?

Front door locks automatically. Rear doors are usually unlocked during the day unless we are out. But rear garden is walled and not so easy to climb into.

My doors are always locked. My friends have always drummed it into me as I live on my own. I live in a lovely area, but you just never know who's hanging about. My dog is useless at guarding the house, if she could she'd invite them in for a cuppa.

Front and back doors always locked. I learned about the insurance issue in Liverpool.
Opening the door for the dog to go out is extra exercise so I don’t mind that, though if I’m in the kitchen I leave the back door open for her. She’s another like your dog Alioop, so a guard dog she is not!

MerylStreep My attack happened in a hospital bed!
It was truly terrifyingly, I suffered PTSD afterwards.
I am possibly a bit paranoid about personal security now.

Rural crime can be incredibly violent. There have been local cases of people with guns/knives threatening entry in the middle of the night

Maple I respect our views
Yes, Monica it may only be “stuff” that’s taken, and in the great scheme of things, it’s not as serious as, to quote your example, child abuse, (and other obnoxious criminal behaviour), but as Sparklefizz says, the damage is not only lost belongings, (which may be precious in more ways than just their monetary value, and quite possibly irreplaceable), but a violation of ones own space, of it being sullied, and the fear that being broken into instils - the “what if I’d disturbed them?” thoughts. In its way, burglary is as vicious to the victim as other crimes due to the psychological damage it may inflict. It’s not a lightweight crime.

But we have suffered 3 break-ins and one attempted break-in.

The first one was almost entirely items of little monetary value and great sentimental value. And what ever other people may have felt. I I felt no sense of violation. or fear.

While violent burglaries do occur, they are the exception not the rule and thepolice assured us that most burglars are sh*t scared and want to get in and out as fast as they can, and should the houseowner be in, or return they will scarper as fast as they can. And as far as I am concerned, at the end of the day, even the sentimental losses, were just stuff. My children were safe and well, and my stuff compared with their safety, is nothing. The same police force on the same day had a arrested a man, who, as was reported.

After abducting the little girl from outside her Dagenham home on March 11, 1983, Evans drove her to Epping Forest, where he subjected her to a sickening sexual attack, stripping her naked before burying her body under leaves.

The killer then returned to the scene three days later where he dug up her body and mutilated her remains, taking several photographs of them.

The young girl’s body was eventually discovered 14 months later when Evans was arrested after making three more attempts to abduct small children.

As far as I am concerned, stuff is just stuff.

Alioop

My doors are always locked. My friends have always drummed it into me as I live on my own. I live in a lovely area, but you just never know who's hanging about. My dog is useless at guarding the house, if she could she'd invite them in for a cuppa.

I think our dog would do the same, certainly would show them where the biscuit tin is kept.
Doors kept locked if we are in or go out, you cannot be too careful, and am more worried about being hurt than of items being stolen.

My dog puts on a good act but would be petrified if someone got in the house

I respect your views, too, Monica and I’m pleased to hear you say that the break ins to your home did not leave you feeling violated or fearful, that’s good. (Though I’m very sorry that you suffered them).

However, we are not all the same, and there will be people who do feel violated and fearful after the unpleasant experience of a break in, especially if a huge mess was left behind, and the thought that someone, uninvited, has been rifling through your things, so for that reason I still hold that burglary is a despicable crime.

Of course, it bears no relation to those horrific crimes you cite, they truly are horrible and don’t compare in the same way at all.

I agree that stuff is just stuff, and can be replaced, but the sentimental attachment some “stuff” holds to people cannot be replaced, (I’m not talking about tv’s ,laptops, etc, but personal items for example old jewellery that might have belonged to great gran) and those people must feel its loss very deeply indeed. Such things can’t easily be replaced, and even if they were replaced, it would not be the same because the new item was not the one passed down from great gran.

JaneJudge

My dog puts on a good act but would be petrified if someone got in the house

We actually had burglars once and the dog (who was home alone that night) wet the carpet and let them scarper with video recorders and tvs.

Joseanne, mine would be exactly the same, I'm sure. She wet herself once when my tall friend came to visit

I can highly recommend German shepherds.

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Mapleleaf. I agree burglary is a despicable crime, and to have your house trashed must be terrible, but that is not what happens in most break-ins. In our three break-ins nothing was trashed, just drawers rifled and windows broken where the burglar made entry

In our first break-in I lost every bit of jewellry a much loved grandmother gave me. Monetary value low, sentimental value very high. Of course I was upset, but as life goes, far worse things happen in most people's lives, family members die out of time, homes get flooded, people get left disabled.

My sister died in a road accident and my daughter was disabled, luckily not seriously, in another, but enough to affect how she lives her life. In neither case were they at fault. My niece is mentally disabled. compared with the real disasters in life, stuff is just stuff.

M0nica Of course there is always someone worse off. My parents lived through the London Blitz, were bombed twice and sought shelter in the Underground every night for 3 months... but that doesn't negate the experiences of others. There isn't a scale by which we rate who suffers the most.

I am sorry for what you have been through, but glad that you haven't been too bothered about your breakins. Others don't recover so well.

Yes, Monica, I know only too well that loved ones die before their time, and homes get flooded. I will still say that burglary can affect some people very deeply indeed.

P.S. I’m so sorry about the loss of your sister - that pain never goes away, I know, and I’m sorry your daughter suffered disability and your niece suffers mental disability. These things are dreadful, and many like you and I are affected by such things, but as Sparklefizz says, there isn’t a scale by which we rate who suffers the most, as I’m sure you will agree. Trauma affects us all in very different ways.

*SachaMac Sat 01-Oct-22 09:33:36
I had the Nottingham Knockers a few weeks ago* I'm in North Nottingham, we haven't had anyone round here...

What/who are the Nottingham knockers?

Second time I’ve asked. I’d appreciate an answer please.

I've lived in Nottingham all my life and have never heard of them

Nottingham Knockers are those young men with bags over their backs that go door to door telling a sob storis and selling cheaap and chatty dish clothes and the like. They are also assessing your home to see if it is worth breaking in to.
Read the link given below for a very clear description of who they are what they do and how they got their name.

www.oprepeat.co.uk/nottingham-knockers/