Family suffer the ongoing nightmare of being burgled six times

By ROSALEEN MacBRAYNE

"Mary", a Tauranga solo mother of two, has struggled for much of her life. But that hasn't stopped burglars ripping off the family's possessions six times in less than four years. In the worst break-in almost everything went and the place was trashed.

Already on a tight budget, the 39-year-old is paying back Work and Income from her domestic purposes benefit for advances to replace household essentials.

It reached the point where Mary, her daughter, 12, and 10-year-old son were too scared to leave their rented house unattended and all shared the double bed they had pulled into the lounge. "Just as I weaned them back to their bedrooms it would happen again. My son used to wake up in the night, screaming."

Mary repeatedly asked Housing New Zealand to upgrade security by repairing locks and latches, pruning trees, and installing outside lighting. The improvements were finally done after she moved out.

The third burglary, when she was out of town, was the worst. The furniture left behind had been slashed and the wallpaper ripped off. "When you walk into it your heart just sinks. There is an emptiness inside you. You ask yourself what did you do to deserve this," she says, weeping.

Her heart broke when the children's special things were stolen, including a stereo they had pooled their paper-round earnings to buy. It was not even three weeks old. Another time, their Christmas presents were taken from under the tree. Gone too were the school clothes, bags and stationery Mary had scrimped to get for the start of the new school year. The family lost furniture, whiteware, cash put aside to pay bills, irreplaceable personal items and even food.

Mary is convinced the family's movements were being watched.

Most devastating was the theft of her computer bought with a student loan for a business administration and computer course she was doing to get off the benefit. All she is left with is the debt, which has to be paid in instalments.

After the latest burglary, in May, agencies including the police and Victim Support held an emergency meeting to release the family from their long state of seige. Housing New Zealand have relocated her to a different part of the city. Thanks to the move to a better house and a $1500 home security alarm system donated by a local company, they can now sleep soundly in their own beds and "move on with our lives".