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We hope you like this new
style Neighbourhood Watch Bulletin. It will be produced every two
months in future. Please note that not all crime is reported for
various reasons but one being that the victim wishes to remain
anonymous.
Crime Prevention – Bogus Callers
Unfortunately you can’t always be sure the people turning up on your
doorstop are who they say there are.
Bogus callers, as they are sometimes called, can be very convincing
and very persuasive.
They may say that their car has broken down and they need to phone
someone to help. They may pretend to be a workman, saying that they
need to check your electricity or water. The might even claim to be
from the Council and that they are carrying out a local survey.
Whatever reason a caller gives you need to be sure that they are not
just trying to get into your home to steal something.
There are around 12,000 incidents of ‘distraction burglaries’ each
year, where callers get into homes and then steal cash or valuables
while the occupant is distracted in some way. Sometimes they work
in pairs, with one doing the talking while the other is stealing and
they often target the elderly.
Be on your guard every time the doorbell rings, or there is a knock
on your door. Look out of your window to see who is there first and
if you don’t know who the person is open the window slightly and
talk to them, rather than opening your door. Alternatively, have a
viewer fitted in your front door so that you can take a good look at
who’s there first. If your eyesight is not good, don’t worry as you
can now get wide-angle viewers to help you see better.
Put the door chain or door
bar on before opening the door and look through the gap. You could
even fit a small mirror to the wall next to the door so that you can
easily see the person you are talking to. When the caller has left
and you have closed the door, don’t forget to unhook the chain so
that any friend or relative you have given a key to can get in.
Make sure your back door is locked if someone knocks at your font
door. Sometimes thieves work together with one coming in the back
way, while the other keeps you talking at the front.
Keeping the chain on the door, ask callers from the Council or any
other organisation to pass through some identification. If you need
your glasses to check this don’t think it’s rude to close the door
and go and get them. A genuine caller won’t mind. If you are still
not sure, ask the caller to leave and tell them to write and make an
appointment so that someone else can be with you the next time they
call. The basic rule is if you don’t know the person at your door
don’t let them in.
As part of the Government’s ‘Look, Stop, Chain, Check’ campaign,
local Councils, Social Services and Age Concern centres have further
information they can provide to older people. They can also help
with door viewers, chains and mirrors, and in certain circumstances,
may be able to supply a personal attack alarm that connects through
a control centre.
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January Crime
1 Jan 07 10.30 pm Burglary Somerfields. The
doors were smashed and cigarettes and cash valued £2,600 were taken.
1 Jan 07 Overnight Two vehicles were damaged whilst parked in Cliff
Road, Sherston. Scratches were caused in the paintwork to the value
of £200 for each vehicle.
1 Jan 07 time unknown An unknown person scratched a car and slashed
all four tyres in Hudson Road.
Value £500.
2 Jan 07 4.30 pm Distraction Burglary. Male stated he was from Water
Board to gain entry to
the home of elderly people in St James Street, Dauntsey. He stole
£800 cash.
Description of burglar – male, white, no hair, brown top and jeans,
white trousers.
5 Jan 07 9.30 am Builders uncovered human remains which had been
buried for hundreds of
years at Grittleton.
13 Jan 07 5.20 am Burglary at Lloyds Pharmacy. The window was
smashed and a quantity of perfume
stolen valued £271.
Between 4.50 pm on 17 Jan Burglary at an office in
Station Road, Hullavington.
Float money of £128 was taken.
and 7.00 am on 18 Jan The door had been kicked in and the lock cut
off the gate. No one was seen.
19 Jan 07 5.20 pm A theft of saddle stones from Great Somerford
value £900 was reported. No persons
were seen.
22 Jan 07 9.13 pm Burglary at Somerfields. Vehicle stolen from
Gloucestershire. As previously, cash and cigarettes to the value of
£550 were stolen.
Between 25 Jan-3 Feb 07 Unknown persons burned a nylon net used for
stopping a ball going into a pumping
Station at the Victoria Football Club Cost involved £4000.
Between 11.50 am on 31 Jan An unknown person stole tiles from a shed
and plough parts from within
and 2.40 on 1 Feb 07 valued £1,500 at Back Lane, Grittleton.
31 Jan 07 6.00 pm- The windscreen of a vehicle, parked in Katiger
Lane, was deliberately bent
10.25pm causing £15.00 damage
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February Crime
Between 25 Jan Safety net at
Malmesbury football club set alight causing £4,000 worth of
and 3 Feb 07 damage
Between 6 Feb and Filands, Malmesbury. Unknown offenders cut a
padlock on the gate to the
7 Feb 07 site and stole a wacker plate – value £500.
13 Feb 07 14.30 £50 worth of copper piping stolen from location in
Malmesbury.
14 Feb 07 6.00 pm Malmesbury. Unknown persons put £20.34 of unleaded
fuel into vehicle and
left fuel station without paying.
Between 16 Feb and Sherston. An aluminium double ladder was removed
from a building site.
17 Feb 07 Value £200.
23 Feb 07 3.00 am Malmesbury. Burglary – fuel station. Offenders
forced open metal shutters and
stole cigarettes within valued several thousands of pounds.
23 Feb 07 Malmesbury. Theft of cosmetics from Lloyds Pharmacy. Value
unknown.
Between 24 Feb and Two large dye vats stolen from outside commercial
premises in Malmesbury.
26 Feb 07 Value 2000 each.
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