Carterton burglaries scar victims

DAYLIGHT RAIDS: Police are investigating several burglaries in Carterton last week, where thieves had gained entry to the properties through open windows.

A spate of burglaries in Carterton has robbed two adult students in the town of computers and irreplaceable study notes.

The two women, who did not want to be named, contacted each other through the online trading site Hustle Live during their attempts to locate their stolen equipment, notes, photos and other possessions.

Police told one of the burglary victims there had been four burglaries of homes in central Carterton, where the pair are living, during which the thieves had entered the properties through open windows.

One of the women, who is studying nursing, said she returned home on Monday last week to find burglars had crept into her home through an open bathroom window.

She said items stolen from her house included several laptops, a gaming console, jewellery, a tablet computer and designer sneakers that had been given to her young daughter as a Christmas present.

The drawers and cupboard doors had been pulled open and items left throughout the house, she said, and the pantry had been rifled as well.

She said it was the second burglary of the home since May last year, when the house was emptied of electronic goods that included a 42-inch television "they carried off down the street", computers and a significant haul of jewellery.

She said police had arrested the culprit responsible for the earlier burglary. He was sentenced for the crime and a series of burglaries of other Carterton homes. None of her stolen items were recovered.

"It's lucky it's the start of the study year, so I haven't lost too many of my notes, but my daughter losing her shoes and tablet really stinks."

The other woman, who is at university studying accounting, said her home is "just around the corner" from the twice-burgled victim.

She also was burgled in a daylight raid, she said, after thieves gained access to the property through an open window on Sunday last week.

She said gear and equipment stolen from her home included two laptops, a tablet computer, alcohol, a GHD hair straightener and jewellery.

The house had been ransacked.

"I'm insured and I'll get new gear, but my study notes and photographs can't be replaced. That hurts the most."