George Tyndale - How to beat the burglars : do it yourself

By George Tyndale on Apr 10, 09 11:53 AM

The Home Office has unveiled a new strategy for beating burglars.

So guess which of the following it involves.

1. A major new investment in policing which will involve the restoration of local cop shops and a massive increase in street patrols.

2. A crackdown on drug peddling and consumption to confront the junkies who carry out huge numbers of burglaries to finance their habit.

3. New guidance to the legal system to ensure that those brought before the courts are given harsh sentences.

4. A 15% money off voucher for B&Q.

Click to the next page for the answer!

Yes you got it. Number four.

The best our Government can do when faced with a tidal wave of break-ins across the country is to offer every citizen a couple of quid off window locks and bolts for the door.

This might have been less insulting - and more useful - if it had been a money-off voucher for J&B Sports so that every householder could go out and get themselves a baseball bat with which to greet an intruder.

Except, of course, we already know that a home owner who offers any form of meaningful resistance to a burglar is much more likely to end up in prison than the criminal.

In fact, while Home Office officials were revealing their cut price security deal to an astounded nation crime figures were emerging which showed exactly what does happen to those convicted of breaking into property.

Of the 30,521 found guilty of burglary in 2007 two thirds were allowed to walk out of court and return to their trade.

Only a third - just over 9,000 crooks - actually went to prison. The average sentence was just 17 months. Which in real terms means no more than 8 months.

Almost 7,000 burglars were let off with a caution. The rest were given non-punishments like community service.

In other words the State has all but given up on either pursuing or punishing those who defile other people's homes and leave the taint of fear down streets the length and breadth of the country.

The only reason car crime has been reduced is because vehicle manufacturers took responsibility for the problem and introduced technology to defeat all but the most determined thieves.

The message sent by the B&Q policy on crime is very clear indeed.

If you want to beat burglars ... do it yourself.