The dogs are barking very aggressively. “I think someone is in our house.” These are the words I spoke in a frightened whisper to my husband at 1am the night that events stole my feeling of feeling safe in my own home.
Three teenagers had broken into our home by scaling a fence and jimmying open a window. In a surreal game of cat and mouse, my husband searched in the dark to see if intruders were in our house. The thieves had taken my handbag and proceeded to steal my car.
The worst part? We would later find out that they were armed with a huge blade they took from our kitchen knife block. The young criminals hid from us in the dark before fleeing out the front door.
I cannot allow myself to think of the possible harm that could have come to my 15-year-old daughter who slept just metres from where the criminals must have been hiding. Now, my two sons do not sleep well because they worry someone will come into our home or the criminals will come back.
The next day, the police came and fingerprinted our doors and windows. Our legendary neighbour, Mike, caught vision of the intruders on his security cameras as they walked down the street wearing scarves over their faces, searching for a car to steal.
The footage also shows them hiding just metres from my husband in our driveway as he checks on our cars. As soon as he returns inside, the thieves run out from the dark wall they were pressed against, jump in my car and reverse down the driveway.
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The Jeep was found a week later at Logan. The thieves stole items and damaged it. They left behind shoes, plastic gloves, a phone and selfie stick (they use this to see what is on the other side of fences they are jumping over). In the week after they took the car, they were filling up with petrol and driving off. The thieves parked my car metres from where one of them lives.
And the knife. The huge knife. It was still in the back seat pocket: a sickening jolt to prove to me just how lucky we had been.
The youths were caught. Their punishment? They were found guilty, but no conviction was recorded. They were given six months’ probation and released immediately. Words really cannot describe how I feel about this.
Sami Muirhead is a radio announcer, blogger and commentator, wife and mum of three.
