Neck collar saves woman as burglar strangles her in her sleep

If it wasn’t for a neck collar, a Whitfield Drive pensioner believes she would be dead.

Read also: Pensioner beaten, tied up by Dingwall Rd burglar

Lorraine Craig (72) has a problem with her neck and often sleeps in her lounge with a neck collar on.

In the early hours of Sunday morning, 29 January that collar saved her life, as she woke up with an intruder trying to strangle her.

The man had gained entry to the house by smashing a large, well-lit window in the front of the house at about 3.30am.

“I woke up with his hands around my throat,” said Lorraine. “I managed to kick him off while he was threatening to kill me. He asked if I was alone. When I replied my partner James Conradie (65) was asleep in the room, he went with me to wake him up.”

The man took five cellphones, four watches and money from James. He demanded guns but the couple replied they didn’t have any.

James managed to get him out of the house and punched him in the face, before he jumped over the fence and made his escape.

“He kept on calling out to someone to come and kill us, but I got the feeling he was alone and fortunately he wasn’t armed,” said Lorraine.

A later inspection of their premises revealed he had first tried to gain entry through a bathroom window.

“If I didn’t have my collar on, he would have killed me,” said Lorraine.

Another unpleasant experience was when she called the police for help. “The first time I called, the woman could not speak English and she could not understand me. I waited for about 30 minutes and then called again.”

This time she was more fortunate and the police arrived within 10 minutes.

However, at 1pm on Monday, 30 January, the police had still not arrived to take fingerprints at her premises.