Chop off their hands, say burglary victims

By DIANA McCURDY

If you're the crook who ransacked the St Heliers Bay home of Hayden Nash and his flatmate Sarah a few weeks back, they have a message for you. Don't bother coming back. There's no replacement gear, no new appliances.

In the first few weeks after you stole their clothing, appliances and bedding, they lived like strangers in their own home. Wary of replacing anything, they survived with only their beds and a few clothes.

Now, if you do return, you'll find the house empty. They've moved out. Knowing you walked through their lounge and poked around their bedrooms has destroyed their sense of home.

They have one other message for you. They don't want you to go to jail. No, they have a much better idea. They want to chop off your hands. Not only will it mark you forever as a thief, but it will prevent you from destroying anyone else's home.

Nash admits it may sound rather drastic but so is the crime of destroying somebody's peace of mind. "A jail term? What's the point of that?" Nash says. "They will just be able to go out and do the same thing again. But when you lose a hand ... "

Nash doesn't look much like your usual advocate of sharia law. He's a suit-clad banker in his early 20s. But such is his sense of violation and anger that he is considering a possibility that previously he would have found abhorrent.

"Once you have your privacy exposed to people you don't know, it makes you unnerved. They know where I live, they know where I go shopping, what clothes I wear. You just feel really unclean. You want to go out and buy a whole new wardrobe. You feel violated."

The burglars struck on a Wednesday while Nash and his flatmates were at work. Using a crowbar, they jemmied open the deadbolted front door.

Nash has no idea how long the burglars were in the house. It was long enough to rifle through the bedrooms and select jewellery, clothing, shoes and even Nash's diabetes medication and business cards. Long enough to haul away the new entertainment system and kitchen appliances.

By the time the burglars had finished, Nash and his flatmates had little to show for five years of working, saving and paying off hire-purchase agreements. But the most distressing loss was not the big-ticket items. "When it comes down to things like watches and jewellery it becomes a lot harder."

Most importantly, no insurance company can replace his violated sense of privacy. Victim Support chief executive Steve Caldwell has heard similar tales countless times. Most burglaries don't result in enormous financial loss. The New Zealand Victimisation Survey found most resulted in the loss of less than $1000-worth of goods and less than $500 of damage.

But the ongoing psychological impact can be more debilitating, Caldwell says.

Burglary is an invasion of your private sanctuary. Suddenly the one place you were safe from the outside world is violated.

Burglary victims are much more likely than assault victims to report ongoing reactions. Some react angrily, others become more cautious. It's not unknown for people to become too scared to go out.

Other common reactions are sleep disruption and appetite disturbances. Parents may become more protective of their children, and children can become disturbed about someone being in their home.

"A lot of it comes down to safety needs. Someone has been in their home and they are afraid they are going to come back. The statistics show if you have been burgled once, there is a significantly higher chance you will be burgled again within a short period of time. It has a peak at about a couple of weeks."

Burglary victims should address their security needs within the first 24 hours to avoid being targeted again, Caldwell says. The burglars may have seen other items they wanted but couldn't carry. Or, they may come back to get replacement items. "Most burglars are opportunists. They are looking for easy pickings."

Victim Support has a pilot scheme in Auckland for low-income households which are repeatedly burgled. Their assistance can involve anything from new locks and alarms to security lights and landscaping.

In an unfortunate twist of fate, the poor tend to be the biggest victims of burglary, Caldwell says. The Victimisation Survey found students, beneficiaries, solo parents and people living with flatmates or extended family are the most at risk. Renting, particularly from local authority councils, is also a risk factor.

"Burglars are burgling from homes around their own neighbourhood," Caldwell says. "They don't live in West Auckland then go to the North Shore and do burglaries. Basically most of it is opportunist stuff: people walking past the house, seeing that there is an entry point and no one home, and bang."