Spike in break-ins concern Glenashley residents

GLENASHLEY residents have raised concerns over their safety following a spate of house break-ins on Laughton Avenue. Residents believe a green zone between Lindsay Drive and Laughton Avenue is key to the problem as thieves are using the forest to live in and use as cover for their crimes.

Laughton Avenue resident, Sean Ross, said the problem has worsened in the last six to eight months with more items being stolen by opportunistic criminals.

“The guys involved are watching the homes along the road, they can see and observe our patterns but we don’t see them. Late at night we hear loud voices coming from the bushes and we smell fires. My immediate neighbour and myself have walked through the bushes most of the properties on the road are flanked by the green zone and we found informal dwellings so it is very clear there are people living there,” Ross explained.

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Ross said he, like other residents, were concerned about the trend leading to contact crimes which could end fatally.

“One of residents on the road came home around midday only to be confronted by the thieves who were surprised by her arrival and vaulted her wall and into the bushes. I’ve had an incident at my granny flat. The suspect was able to jump over my wall and steal a laptop from the tenant’s house while my children were playing in the garden.

“The green zone has some sort of chicken wire that wraps around the boundary but it is so porous that it is easy for the suspects to move in and out without much hassle. Since the break-in I put up razor wire to stop any further opportunistic attempts but I will be looking at getting clear-view fencing like my neighbour as a bigger deterrent,” he said.

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