A teenage girl who was tied up by a home invader while her family slept is grappling with how close she came to being the victim of a much more violent crime.
The intruder broke into the $2 million home on Remuera's Victoria Ave around 4.30am on Thursday and took personal items, a laptop computer and jewellery, escaping on one of the family's bicycles.
Distraught mother Niamh McMahon, a partner at law firm McMahon Butterworth Thompson, said she was grateful her daughter had not been seriously assaulted.
"We could have been dealing with a much different situation and I guess we're very, very grateful for that," she said.
"We're coping as best we can. We will come through this."
