Our homes are our castles, but what if someone invades them? Jack McKeown finds out how to tackle burglars.
Sometimes the serious can also be funny. Dundee homeowner Alan Smith made headlines this week after wrestling a burglar naked.
The audacious cretin broke in and loaded Mr Smith’s own car with the household’s goods before attempting to make his escape.
Not taking the time to cover his modesty, the 52-year old householder sprinted out of his front door and hauled the thief out of his car, cheating him of his ill-gotten gains.
In another recent episode, Dundee woman Agnes Neish (65) interrupted a thief who had infiltrated her bedroom.
On discovering the callous thug had lifted her precious Michael Buble tickets, the plucky pensioner flew into a rage and slammed the intruder against a doorway.
It is hard not to smile at the thought of Mr Smith flashing the family jewels to save the family’s television, or Mrs Neish grappling the man who snatched tickets for her favourite crooner. But in both episodes the homeowners faced real peril and the outcome could have been far more serious.
Although neither target of crime was hurt fighting off their intruders, they easily could have been.
Even if nothing is taken, victims can still find themselves robbed of security and peace of mind.
But what can homeowners do if they awaken to hear someone prowling around in their home?
Alan McReady is Secretary to the Criminal Law Committee for the Law Society of Scotland. He said the law allows people to use “reasonable force” to protect themselves and their property but cautioned that this is open to interpretation.
He said: “I know that in England and Wales they were looking at changing the law to allow disproportionate force, but not grossly disproportionate force, following the Tony Martin case.”
Norfolk farmer Martin served three years in prison after shooting dead a burglar in his home in 1999.
“I don’t think any change in the law ever took place south of the border,” Mr McReady continued. “Certainly in Scotland the situation hasn’t changed.
“The level of self-defence allowed is simply enough force to repel an intruder. It is a bit of a grey area. If someone is in your home but isn’t doing anything then it would be disproportionate for you to pull a knife and stab them, for example.
“But if they were waving a knife around you would probably be justified in picking up whatever was at hand to defend yourself.”
Of course, it is much better to prevent burglars gaining access to your property rather than face the dilemma of what to do once they’ve broken in.
Someone who specialises in methods of cutting crime is Dundee University’s Professor Mike Press, an expert in how thoughtful design can deter would-be burglars.
He helped pioneer Secured by Design, an initiative by the Association of Chief Police Officers that aims to “design out crime.”
It pushes for higher security standards across homes and commercial premises and claims the scheme’s principles can cut crime rates by up to 75%.
Professor Press explained: “Secured by Design focuses on common-sense measures to reduce crime. Using the best available door and window locks deters thieves.
“Things like good lighting, locking windows and doors at night, closing curtains and not doing things like parking cars down a dark alley all help.
“Thieves are opportunistic. They look for an easy target. When a criminal assesses an opportunity they think: ‘Will I be seen? If I’m seen, will I be noticed? If I’m noticed, will anyone do anything?’
“By making it difficult for those conditions to be met, you cut down on crime.”
The good news is that the world is a safer place than it once was.
“Despite what you might read in some sections of the press the reality is that house break-ins have fallen by half since the mid-1990s and crime rates have fallen across the board,” Professor Press continued.
“Britain and indeed most of the western world is much safer than it was 20 years ago. There are all sorts of theories for why that is.
“In some countries, the legalisation of abortion ties in with a drop in crime unwantedness leads to higher rates of criminality so a generation of criminals wasn’t born.
“We generally have more police on our streets than we had 15 or 20 years ago and that’s been shown to have a positive effect on cutting crime.
“And things are generally more difficult to steal. It’s almost impossible to nick a modern car. And, in a knock-on effect, armed robberies have fallen because they relied on a stolen car as the getaway vehicle.”
So break-ins are increasingly rare, thankfully. But what action should you take if you do find someone prowling around your property?
Chief Inspector Shaun McKillop, Local Area Commander for Dundee South, has this advice: “Such incidents are thankfully very rare and by adopting some straightforward home security measures they can be rarer still. But if you find an intruder in your home, your priority is to keep yourself and your family safe.
“We would not advise anyone to tackle that person but would recommend that wherever and as soon as possible they dialled 999 for the police. We will attend as a matter of urgency.
“Ideally, we would ask the householder to try to get what information that can for us, such as a good description of the intruder what they look like, what they’re wearing and, if they spoke, what did they sound like and did they have an accent?
“If the intruder has left the house, what direction did they head in? Did they leave on foot or in a car; if so, what kind of car was it a registration number, make and model is a great help, but even the colour and size can assist our inquiries. Above all, keep yourself and your family safe.”