It has been revealed that a new initiative is now underway in Merton, a borough of London, to target the recent increase in crime where burglars have been breaking into a number of homes.

Thieves have been gaining access to the properties by way of their sliding patio doors, which have been forced open.

‘Operation Wellington: Give Burglars the Boot’ has been in action since last Monday when Merton police described how they will be going about tackling this recent spate of breaking and entering incidents in the area.

As burglars have been breaking in to these residencies by targeting the rear of the building, Merton police have issued a warning about how home security can be improved.

Detective Sergeant Theresa Foster, of the Burglary and Robbery Investigation Team (BRIT), said:

“If you have a sliding patio door, don’t just rely on the central lock supplied – why not fit extra security locks to the top and bottoms of the opening section of the patio door, and check your door has an anti-lifting device.

“If the glass isn’t laminated, fit an appropriate window film which does the job. All these items are easily available from any DIY store for a few pounds, and might help bring your house insurance costs down.”

Two young burglars got more than they bargained for when they attempted to rob an old woman while she was present in her home.

The court was told how 79-year-old Joan Parmenter was watching television at the time when the incident happened.

She was alerted to a number of loud bangs coming from the front of the property and upon investigation found the two brothers, Luke and Lee Clay, standing in her front room.

The pensioner was hit on the head by Luke but struck back by landing a punch on the assailant’s jaw.

The intruders, who were under the influence of alcohol at the time, were so taken aback that they fled the house and didn’t see notice an oncoming vehicle on the road.

Sophie Buckthorpe, the driver of the car, managed to call the police as the burglars ran away. They were both later caught and sentenced to eight months each in jail for burglary. A further four months was added to Luke’s term on account of common assault.

While Miss Parmenter’s actions were certainly commendable, it is worth looking into preventing this kind of thing from happening in the first place. These days there are a number of affordable home security solutions to minimise the threat posed to you and your property.

A 30-year-old who admitted carrying out burglaries at three properties owned by pensioners in Leigh last October has been jailed for over six years.

Felix Rooney was handed the sentence at Liverpool Crown Court this week.

The burglar, who was arrested for stealing a Vauxhall Insignia, had stolen cash and vouchers from three homes during the same morning.

The first victim was an 89-year-old woman who lived on Grasmere Street, Norley Hall, with the criminal gaining access to her home by claiming to be an official from the water board.

An 83-year-old woman was the next person to be duped by Mr Rooney at her property on Walmesley Road, Leigh, an hour and a half later.

Not long after that, Mr Rooney stole money from a 78-year-old woman who lived on Belmont Avenue, Bickershaw.

Detective Sergeant Graham Clare said:

“Rooney is an unscrupulous thief who did not think twice about conning his way into the home of elderly women, who he thought of as easy pickings, and stealing from them.

“The victims all thought Rooney was helping them and feel all the more aggrieved at his deception.

“I have no doubt his crime spree would have continued had he not been stopped that same day and I am pleased he has been jailed and can no longer target some of the most vulnerable members of our community.”

Statistics presented to councillors at a meeting in the Hertfordshire borough of Hertsmere this week showed that there had been a rapid rise in burglaries over the past year.

The crime figures suggested that thefts from homes and dwellings had risen by over 23 percent, despite only a slight increase in the overall crime rate (at one and a half percent).

Chief Inspector of the police force Sue Jameson revealed the findings to the Resources Scrutiny Committee.

She later spoke about the burglary incidents and how the police have tackled crime in Borehamwood when she said:

“We’ve had a number of burglaries that are linked together, that we believe have been committed by the same people.

“As a result of that we have done a lot of work using our intelligence systems to drive some proactive work.

“Following that, we made three arrests, which has seen a noticeable drop. The challenge now is to sustain this current low level of activity.”

Burglaries are a problem for many communities up and down the country, so wherever you live it is necessary to consider your home security by installing such things as burglar alarms and monitoring systems to ward off criminals from attempting to break into your property.