An elderly couple have fled their Purley home after being left emotionally scarred by a brutal burglary in which they were tied up, hurled to the floor and threatened with a knife.
And one year on from the savage incident, neighbours say "it is not good enough" that police have failed to bring the perpetrators to justice.Because they’ve been inundated with calls to the hotline, they’ve got bags-full of DNA and fingerprints, and they’re just sitting around drinking tea and eating doughnuts instead?
One neighbour, whom the Advertiser agreed not to name, said: "You would have thought they would have left enough evidence lying around for the police to find the people who did it."Ah. I see. This is a case of ‘I watch ‘CSI’ and they can find everything they need with those blue-light thingies, so why are our lot always so slow?’.
No wonder the idiot wanted to remain anonymous…
You would have thought they would have left enough evidence lying around for the police to find the people who did it.
ReplyDeleteDon't you just hate it when criminals don't do that? So unsporting of them when they wear gloves and stuff. There ought to be a law agains... oh.
"You would have thought they would have left enough evidence lying around for the police to find the people who did it" ...
ReplyDeleteOnce again proving that a little knowledge and too much TV are dangerous things ..
Maybe anonymous has had recent experiences of the police. You know call them out to a break in, get a crime number, get referred to some charity for a nice chat. Job done.
ReplyDeleteIn this case I hope the police would have been more pro active but I have my doubts.
In my experience in the 80s the police took finger prints after a break in. I've not known them do that this century.
I can actually see the point to a certain extent, most burglars being low life scum too thick to walk and chew gum at the same time, so you would have thought that a pro active investigation would have turned up something. I tend to believe as said above that they just couldn't be bothered.
ReplyDeleteOn my borough the scenes of crime officer attends every single burglary.I think it's a Met policy.
ReplyDeletePlease don't believe we are too lazy to investigate a serious aggravated burglary.Even the most anti person knows that is nonsense.
However i'm realistic enough to know that soon there will be references to speed cameras/doughnuts/fat PC's etc etc on this blog very soon.
On the side bar it shows the police tracked down a rapist after ten years and a pair of murderers, securing sound convictions against which nobody need have scruples.
ReplyDeleteSooner or later the police will get these two burglars, although sadly it will be because they do it again and this time there will be enough to cross-reference them.
Disenfranchised of Buckingham said...
ReplyDeleteIn my experience in the 80s the police took finger prints after a break in. I've not known them do that this century.
To be fair they did this last year when a man broke into a house three doors down...through the front downstairs window when my friend was asleep on the sofa clothed in nowt but her dressing gown. He fled from whence he came when she woke and screamed the place down.
From fingerprints he was quickly identified and picked up in Liverpool and charged with this and a previous break in which had also involved a seriously nasty sexual assault on that victim.
Sometimes, the police are outstanding in their work and all credit is due.
Can I just mention that burglaries are committed by burglars for whom all your wrath should be aimed at.
ReplyDeleteJaded, I don't pay burglars I pay the police, judiciary etc.
ReplyDeleteI have had 6 business break ins over 30 years and here in the Shires the situation is as I described.
IMHO the law enforcement agencies are ripping me off more than the burglars.
How many burglaries are carried out by first-time offenders? What is the likelihood that the pair who carried out this burglary were unknown to the criminal justice system? If, after their first arrest and conviction, they had been given a prophylactic sentence (15 years, say) then they almost certainly would not have been at large to carry out this crime. So I have a great deal of sympathy for people who feel aggrieved at being victimised in their own homes by feral scum when condign punishment would remove so many of them from circulation during their active criminal years.
ReplyDeleteTalking of idiots who should keep their mouth shut - Disenfranchised of Buckingham - all house and business burglaries will get a visit from a Scenes of Crime officer unless there is a damn good reason why. One reason would be if the victim has cleaned up the entire scene before the Scenes of Crime Officer arrived.
ReplyDeleteYour claims are ludicrous to those of us in the know, unless you are one of the idiots who has cleaned everything or refused to allow the scenee to be examined.
PS - we regularly hear those words. "I pay your wages." Usually it is from some drunken moron who doesn't know how to behave, not a sober businessman.
ReplyDeleteRobert the Biker - you probably tend to believe in Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy and Hans Christian Andersen's biographies too.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest you do pay the burglars-indirectly we all do.They are always on benefits,if they caught you pay for their solicitors,you pay for their probation officers,you pay the cost the odd times they go to prison.
ReplyDeleteYou are getting angry at the wrong group of people.There is no greater pleasure in my job than nicking a burglar in the act.
Finger prints or DNA at the scene are only proof that the burglar left them there. What is more important is exactly where they were left and whether the burglar could have left them there 'innocently'. Classic example would be a display case in a jewellery shop which any customer could have touched. Or a trades man who has been working in the house and comes back to burgle it.
ReplyDeleteMore importantly, someone who has never been arrested (in Britain) will not have DNA or FPs on record for comparison. Makes you wonder.
so tough on the victims then
ReplyDelete"So unsporting of them when they wear gloves and stuff."
ReplyDeleteIndeed! Though as RtB points out, unusual in the general criminal pool.
"In my experience in the 80s the police took finger prints after a break in. I've not known them do that this century."
It seems it varies from force to force. Something that should really be standardised.
"...although sadly it will be because they do it again and this time there will be enough to cross-reference them."
Very true.
" What is the likelihood that the pair who carried out this burglary were unknown to the criminal justice system?"
The level of violence and planning suggests not. In fact, it suggests something 'personal' about the attack, though maybe a case of mistaken identity. It's certainly a little fishy.
"...all house and business burglaries will get a visit from a Scenes of Crime officer unless there is a damn good reason why. One reason would be if the victim has cleaned up the entire scene before the Scenes of Crime Officer arrived."
ReplyDeleteIsn't that something they'd be told not to do when initially reported?
And six times?
"To be honest you do pay the burglars-indirectly we all do.They are always on benefits,if they caught you pay for their solicitors,you pay for their probation officers,you pay the cost the odd times they go to prison.
"
Welcome to the UK of No Real Consequences.
"More importantly, someone who has never been arrested (in Britain) will not have DNA or FPs on record for comparison. "
That's not a plea for a Universal DNA Database I hear, is it?
" Brontosaurus said...
ReplyDeleteRobert the Biker - you probably tend to believe in Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy and Hans Christian Andersen's biographies too."
Well, it's a lot easier than believing that big fat dinosaurs have learned how to type. Besides, you seem to believe in the blinding efficiency of the Police despite the newspaper stories and crime stats. Besides, everyone knows that it's only the fairies and unicorns that are real!
That's not a plea for a Universal DNA Database I hear, is it?
ReplyDeleteWhat I am not sure of is whether the UK Police can send a Finger print or DNA sample to be compared with samples in another European country. It could help in some cases..