Thieving little twats

[Dibs-h]

Thanks Chaps.

One has to go thru several gardens at least or a large school playground to get to ours - so we've been fared well over the yrs.

I find it rather odd that burglars who normally come equipped with a screwdriver - turned up with large bolt cutters.

But the door will be getting assembled today and the door frame should also get finished - so by the coming weekend - be a totally different story.

 

[BMac]

I imagine the bolt cutters were brought along because the thieves had already had a peek to see what was available. I had my workshop broken into about eight years ago and it was a very efficient job because they had bolt cutters to get past the padlock and managed to lift only my best stuff. The thieving was also carried out during a 20 minute period at around 4.40am when I was trying to get some sleep. It seems obvious that the thieves were watching my routine because, then, I seldom slept for more than 30 minutes at a time and was up and down all night. I still think of those b@stards going through my stuff every time I open the 'shop.

Brendan

 

[wobblycogs]

Sorry to hear about that. Little toe rags.

A friend of mine had a load of stuff stolen a couple of years ago from some farm buildings. The little sods came equiped with a cordless angle grinder! Ironically the two padlocks they cut through were worth more than what they carried off. We reckoned they probably had their hands full of tools so couldn't carry off the heavier more expeinsive items. Talk about not thinking it through :lol:

I would certainly prepare for a second and even a thrid visit though. I'm seriously considering fitting a smoke screen once I get the shop properly up and running.

There was a program on a while back about crime in the uk and people who defended their property. There was an old guy featured on it who I felt really sorry for. He had taken defending his property to extremes though and had rigged his WWII service revolver to shoot at the door if anyone opened it without detaching a bit of string. He forgot it one day and shot himself in the leg. Not only did he nearly bleed to death the police prosicuted him.

 

[jimi43]

A guy in the village put two mortice locks and a HUGE padlock on his workshop.

The slimey gits prised the lap off the back...the bit facing the woods...one by one and got in that way.

Can you put razor wire in your bushes these days or is that illegal?

Like the old "broken glass on the top of the wall" trick only more modern!

Jim

 

[jack55]

If you get a dog they would probably pinch that

 

[wobblycogs]

A couple of people have mentioned pyrocanthus and I agree it would keep the little sods from getting through the hedge but it's murder to trim / look after. Last summer I cut one down in our garden which had been allowed to get out of control. It was fifteen feet tall with a main trunk of about 5 inches. It took all day to take this bush / tree down and another to burn it as every piece had to be handled really carefully. I've dried the timber and I plan on trying to make a small box from it once I get a bandsaw to mill it with, should be in interesting exersize.

 

[MikeH]

Hmmm, surely the point is it was in your garden. You should not have to take draconian and medieval precautions, you should be able to leave whatever you like lying around without this happening.

Now I shall take my rose tinted specs off........

It's just that it annoys me so much that we should even be having to discuss how to better protect our own stuff on our own property, and if you do find the toe rags on your property doing wrong you should be entitled to do the same to them....

 

[Froggy]

Hi Dibs,

Also sorry to hear about that, I know only too well what it's like after 3 burglaries, car broken into 4 times and 3 other attempts on the house..twice when someone was in!!! That's part of the reason I moved to France. Ever time we returned from holiday I was anticipating the worst.
Are you insured? I know it's not a massive amount, but new for old...? Plus the damage.
See you next month, Froggy.

 

[Max Power]

The best deterrent is , as has been mentioned a couple of big dogs. We used to get toe rags creeping through the wood next to the house and coming into the garden to steal. Once I got Flossie and Henry (a couple of trained Bullmastiffs 10st and 12st)nobody comes near. I have signs on the gates stating "do not enter under any circumstances" some ***** ignored it and climbed over the gates Flossie leapt on him like a lion and pinned him down. Ive never heard such blood curdling screams, bet he had to throw his trousers out when he got home 8)

 

[wobblycogs]

We picked our current dog up from the dogs trust and one of the conditions was that (no matter how many dogs you ahve owned) you have to go to a one hour "are you sure you know what you are doing" lecture. They said there that a dog costs about £10K over it's life time. It's just not a viable option if the only reason to get one is to protect your house / shed.

It's an even worse option if, like ours, she's more likely to fetch them a ball to play with than bark at them :roll:. In fact if they threw the ball for her a couple of times she'd probably help them carry the stuff off!

 

[head clansman]

hi all

it's a sorry state of affairs when you cant leave things in your garden, and who say's there little twats , most burglaries are done to you by someone you know , a neighbour or someone living close by , you can bet your boots someone was watching you chain that lot together , so take the hint here security precautions your going to have take when that shop is up and running with all your tools inside it, thing like all your hand tools as well items easily removed, hmm mind boggling , me if i could have my way I would break every bone in both there hands, no i wouldn't, I would do like some of the arab country do hold out his hands and slice them off hopefully with a bunt sword , so he will never steel again . hc

 

[devonwoody]

I think that thieves have no fear of punishment these days, they most probably think if they are caught the first few times, they only get a caution, after that they most probably can survive around 30 or so convictions before a jail cell becomes vacant.

I think physical punishment needs to come back, not this modern day soft approach, mind you I got through the scrumping era unscathed.

 

[Dibs-h]

Spent several hours yesterday, clearing up some stone, etc. in the corner where they must have come in. A previous owner was somewhat religious and had some sort of stone thingy, with a statue of the Virgin Mary.

The statue has long gone with the owner - but the stone "alter" remained. Took that apart - must have yielded somewhere in the region of 1cu yard or stone.

Then pulled out the 10mm steel mesh left over from the construction - fair few pieces and placed them into the gap. Several pieces layered over themselves - and all wired together in a millions of places. Will hammer in a few leftover pieces of 10mm rebar into the foot of it into the soil as well - so hopefully they won't be coming back in thru that bit.

Once the shop is up - I'm not to worried about them coming back in - as security (as much as can be) has been planned into the construction. Just a little annoying that I've had to take time away from finishing the door to fix these other things.

The current Home Office guidance is not to give custodial sentences for Burglary offences. Personally there would be mileage in the California way of things - 3 strikes and drop the fecker in the North Sea and send the bill to his family (Chinese way).

Society is treated on how it treats the weakest, human rights, etc. - I understand that on the whole and do agree with most - but there are portions of society (hopefully very small), who would hope that the rest go down the road of "turn the other cheek", so they can carry on with thieving, mugging, etc. So I would most certainly welcome far tougher responses from the Law to this little scrotes - especially options that were terminal.

 

[wobblycogs]

I'm not sure I'd go as far as dropping the little sods in the north sea or chopping bits off (although just after they nicked some stuff from us I thought a little differently) but I would certainly make it so that crimes with intent carried a much heavier sentance.

The way I see it they didn't just take advantage of a situation that presented it self they went out of their way to break the law. Perhaps crimes with intent should carry a minimum of two years plus whatever you would normally get for the crime.

 

[devonwoody]

I've seen the chain gangs working ditches in the USA, I think our community service it too soft.

Chain the buggers up here and put them to work at local sewerage plants bagging up the stuff six hour an evening after work. :wink:

 

[would not]

Well seasoned oak, hand crafted to make a set of gallows.

Shwing... :twisted:

When on holiday last year in Yorkshire I noticed a number of villages still had stocks in the market square, unfortunately they weren't being used. :roll:

Such is the state of affairs that if you are a drunk and drug addict you can head on down to your local post office to collect your wad of cash and then break in to someone's house on the way home too make sure you have enough money to pay for this weeks smack..

I see that the benefits given out each week now exceed the taxes taken from people who work. GREAT (?) Britain..

 

[would not]

I've seen the chain gangs working ditches in the USA, I think our community service it too soft.

Chain the buggers up here and put them to work at local sewerage plants bagging up the stuff six hour an evening after work. :wink:

There's an advert played on the radio about offenders having to wear orange bibs saying "I'm a naughty boy" or something on them, it's been on for 6 months or so and they say you'll be seeing them in your neighbour hood - I haven't seen one. Saying that it's probably to cold to send them out, they are probably in a porta cabin drinking tea, keeping warm and conserving energy for night time activities?

 

[grafter]

these are meant te be un-cropable
http://www.almax-security-chains.co.uk/

this is from a bike site that may help
part 1: http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/article/h ... t-1-21131/

part 2: http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/article/h ... rt-2-21414

getting a big bucket, filling in with concrete and wire mesh and burying a decent chain will hopefully put off any potential thieves.

Totally agree with previous posts regarding thorny plants and PIR lights - personally i think alarms are a waste of time, no one bats an eyelid now

 

[MikeG.]

The slimey gits prised the lap off the back...the bit facing the woods...one by one and got in that way.Jim

There are a couple of ways around this. Firstly, directly under the boarding have a layer of expanded metal lath. EML is cheap, and actually quite time consuming for anyone to cut through. I don't think many thieves would go to the trouble. My bike shed is protected like this, and a PE store shed at my wife's school took my advice and did this, and it has resisted 3 attempts at break-ins.

The other way is taken care of by my normal shed wall construction technique of lining the inside of the wall with OSB. Again, it would make a lot of noise and take a bit of time to get through that.

Mike

 

[9fingers]

Anyone prising the feather boards off my workshop will get a surprise.
Underneath they will find 100mm dense concrete blocks!
Furthermore there are no windows and the door has multipoint locking.

Bob

PS That is not a challenge to the local scroats!