View Full Version : Unbelieveable
Matblack
04-03-2008, 11:32
This is funny really
On Sunday whilst we were at a charity gig some scrote came into our garden and nicked (would you believe it) our garden bench of all things! I'm like WTF, its a crappy old garden bench for God sake, its not even a good garden bench, admitedly it came from my grandparents house who are both now decaeased and Aitch spent a lot of time painting it but I just don't understand peoples motivation to do these things :(.
All in all I'm not too bother but what does hack me off is someon saw fit to enter our property and blatently walk off with a two seater wooden bench, I they are happy to do that whos to say they won't pop around again and break the doors down?
I don't epecially want to start a 'lets kill all kids and poor people' thread, I'm not THAT angry but I am quite stunned.
I'll now be getting a lock for the gate and closing it every time I take the car our, which is a shame and takes more time, I'll also get the guy round to fix the alarm and get the PIR lamps fr the garden replaced, what a faff :confused:
MB
Some people will nick anything! I can't put hanging baskets up outside here!
Admiral Huddy
04-03-2008, 11:41
Sad but true mate.. but a bench.. must have at least a couple of them.
I've had unbelievable stuff go from our garden including stuff destined for the dump. PIR lights are worth it though.
:( thats really sad to hear. How annoying.
BB x
Dymetrie
04-03-2008, 11:47
As an experiment last week, young Mark put his old bike in the front garden (he was moving and didn't want it anymore)...
Both tyres were punctured and flat, the gear mechanism had seized up (it's been sat in the back garden doing nothing for a year), there were no brake pads, it had a dodgy home paint job...
Took less than an hour for someone to make off with it :p
Took less than an hour for someone to make off with it :p
Wondered where that had gone. I should put my old bike out tonight. I wonder how long it'll last. At least its technically rideable.
I put a big plant pot at the front of our house this weekend with a little plastic army man in the soil, (my brother put it in as a joke but I like it, so it stays :p) and I am surprised that a) the pot is still there, and b) the little army man is still there!
I am not saying we live in an area rife with crime, but that doesnt normally stop people :/
Same as when our house sign got stolen - completely useless to anyone else yet they took the time to unscrew it from the wall :/
Matblack
04-03-2008, 12:35
I've got rid of things before by leaving them by the bin and people often knock and ask of we want them, but in this case someone went into our back garden took my car washing buckets off the bench and then removed it via our gate which leads onto a relatively well traveled side street and then either into a van or walked with it to wherever they live, admitedly it is a light bench but its painted white, its not exactly subtle is it?
This has now prompted me to book the alarm guy to come out and fix our home alarm, I'l be buying a padlock and chain for the gate and I'll have to get a lock for our little shed where I keep a few tools, in the mean time they will have to be transfered to the loft in case someone wants to use them to break in :thumbdown:.
I don't care about the bench but the idea of someone blantently walking onto our property and being round the back which is going to be the most vulnerable place for a break in is going to cause us to spend probably £300+ :(
MB
Stan_Lite
04-03-2008, 12:49
Unfortunately it's all too easy for people to steal large stuff like that. Most people seeing a couple of guys lifting a bench into the back of a van would assume there was nothing untoward as it would seem unlikely that anyone would be so brazen. Even if your neighbours had seen anything, they would probably just have thought "I see the Bannisters are getting rid of that bench" and gone about their business.
I know what you mean about it not being the value of the item but rather that someone had the audacity to enter your property in broad daylight and make free with your possessions :(
We used to have 2 stone owls outside our house. One day, one went missing. I was out running and found it on top of a bus shelter about 2 miles away. I was too impressed to be angry (they weigh a lot!).
Blackstar
04-03-2008, 13:48
We're pretty lucky round here, i don't think anyone has had anything stolen in a long time but still we have locks on everything because you can just walk right round our house into the garden which is quite secluded and there is a lot of valuable things in the workshop (garage) and the shed.
Saying that, when our caravan was in the drive, the night before we were due to go on holiday someone tried to break into it. All they would have gotten would have been our holiday clothes. The door was badly dented but held, we were quite impressed it actually held. Only thing that worried us was the fact someone knew there were things inside, had they been watching us.
Sorry about your bench MB but as Kitten says in the long run it will be of benefit as it has made you aware of the shortcomings of your property and are now making it more secure.
Matblack
04-03-2008, 14:04
There is now one of these and a decent chain on the gate
http://cpc.farnell.com/productimages/farnell/standard/105799105-40.jpg
I've put a small lock on the mini shed which has a few cheap tools in and Tim the alarm guy who wired our cellar is coming on Thursday to have a look at the alarm with a view to getting it working again. All these things will add to the time it takes to exit the house and get the car out, but what can you do?
We have trellis around our whole perimeter face which is apparently one of the bet things as it is hard to get over without making a noise or hurting yourself. So I'm reasonably confident that we're more secure than another prospect now, but I'll be wary for a while which is a shame and I shouldn't need to be, this is after all my home :(
MB
Most likely (as it seems to be the way these things are) it'll have been some drunken idiots out to cause mischief. They don't actually want the things they take, but do it 'for a laugh'. Yeah, right. Shame really - they just can't leave stuff alone.
We've had to have padlockable gates fitted to all our communal spaces to keep the idiots out of them (well, when the residents remember to lock up after themselves rather than just hanging the padlock off the nearest fence). They still climb over from the new estate behind us every now and then but thankfully not very often.
Yeah I'm pretty sure that's what this was. We have lost plants from the front garden and solar lights and chrome climbing poles from the side garden before but this is the largest thing and the closest to the house. It just makes me feel a bit insecure and mostly just very disappointed :'(
My mum was given two inordinately expensive Victorian chimney pots which are all the rage to use as plant pots. The back was being rearranged and so she put them out the front.
My Dad was awoken the very next morning by two guys loading them into the back of their car. He didn't get out in time to either stop them or get the number plate.
Bastards will steal anything!
although it doesn't feel like it now, it might be a good thing in the long run MB.
If nothing else it's made you realise how vulnerable your property is from the rear...
Sorry but lol :D Also they'll be after your lawn soon the dirty sods.
Admiral Huddy
04-03-2008, 17:51
here's your answer MB (http://www.thesentrygun.com/)
haha whilst looking I found this :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2q-k0gbyaMQ
Piggymon
04-03-2008, 19:28
God that's pathetic :/
How bloody well dare they !
Von Smallhausen
04-03-2008, 20:02
Did you report it Mat ?
Matblack
04-03-2008, 21:55
Did you report it Mat ?
I sorry to admit I did, I've just read Wasting Police Time too so I feel really sorry for the poor plod who I know will have to come and have a nose but he or she will get a cup of tea :confused:
MB
we had two pretty dead conifer trees taken from the front of our house. they were going brown and dry so they wouldn't have been any good yet they were taken.
I'm pretty sure i know who took them and if i am right then they were taken by two girls aged about 9-10.
I have hanging basket at the front and big pots in the back and kids slides and stuff but luckily (hopefully stays this way) they haven't been touched.
We have garages at bottom of garden and kids climb onto them and get in our ggarden and i caught some kids playing with Josh's scooby doo ball and i shouted get the hell out of my garden and leave my son's ball alone and thankfully i never saw them again.
Poor Josh was so upset that kids got in our garden and was playing with his stuff.
Kinda puts us on edge as we feel that we can't quickly nip into house while he's on his own in our own garden :(
Thinking of getting loads of prickly bushes to stop kids jumping into garden.
I completely understand how you must feel Aitch. I don't think your wasting police time MB as the people who took bench are probably taking stuff from other gardens too.
I sorry to admit I did, I've just read Wasting Police Time too so I feel really sorry for the poor plod who I know will have to come and have a nose but he or she will get a cup of tea :confused:
MB
I don't see that as wasting police time at all. you should be allowed to put whatever you want in your garden and not have to worry about someone making off with it. bottom line is, if they catch the person because of your report, it might stop them ripping off other people, at least for a while. I'd have reported it.
Von Smallhausen
05-03-2008, 14:50
I sorry to admit I did, I've just read Wasting Police Time too so I feel really sorry for the poor plod who I know will have to come and have a nose but he or she will get a cup of tea :confused:
MB
LOL. Good book isn't it and a very accurate, if sad, description of why the public don't get the service that they should but that is in no way a dig at you Mat. You did the right thing.
Someone may be at it stealing garden furniture and your theft may be part of a bigger picture. Also, the rozzers may raid a premises at some point and your bench may be found so at least it's on record that it has been taken. Don't even think twice that you have wasted police time ..... you haven't. :)
Had you shouted at the cop to tell him to tell Aitch to stop texting you though ..... ;)
SidewinderINC
05-03-2008, 23:05
That's terrible MB, people really will pick anything that's not bolted down and have off with it, no matter how big.
I wouldn't consider letting the old bill know as wasting their time.
Wondered where that had gone. I should put my old bike out tonight. I wonder how long it'll last. At least its technically rideable.
What you do is wrap a piece of paper around one of the bars on the frame with writing on the inside that says "You've been filmed stealing this bike, your image has been sent to the police" and wait for them to bring it back :p
Matblack
06-03-2008, 19:09
Well thats good, the guy who did our cellar wiring just came around to quote on recommissioning the alarm which is 12+ years old and has a control panel like Austin Allegro. He could fix up the old one for £75 including replacing some duff sensors or for a bit more he'll supply and fit a new one with a proper LCD panel which I'll be able to read when drunk and fit sensors which will ignore pets :)
He's coming back on Monday to sort it, so Kitten was right this has drawn attention to our security shortcomings and isn't going to cost an arm and a leg like I thought it might :cool:
MB
Von Smallhausen
08-03-2008, 19:10
Well thats good, the guy who did our cellar wiring just came around to quote on recommissioning the alarm which is 12+ years old and has a control panel like Austin Allegro. He could fix up the old one for £75 including replacing some duff sensors or for a bit more he'll supply and fit a new one with a proper LCD panel which I'll be able to read when drunk and fit sensors which will ignore pets :)
He's coming back on Monday to sort it, so Kitten was right this has drawn attention to our security shortcomings and isn't going to cost an arm and a leg like I thought it might :cool:
MB
Security isn't a dirty word Mat.
Felch is a dirty word.
If you want some crime prevention and security advice, contact your local nick and ask to get a visit from the crime prevention officer. They always have good tips and advice.
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