KEY POINTS:
When Rosie Horton found she couldn't unlock her front door she thought the new key was faulty.
Little did she know she had interrupted a burglary at her Remuera home and the thieves had jammed shut the door.
Still unaware, she kept trying the lock.
"It never occurred to me that they had deadlocked the door and barricaded it. Then I went around the back and saw a broken window and there was a hell of a scuffle.
"They were waiting for me to get home because one of them had a gun."
The thieves were caught, but Rosie felt unable to stay in the house on her own when her husband, Michael, was away on business, booking into a hotel instead.
"The sad thing is the feeling of being unsafe, that you are safe nowhere. Since then we've been unbelievably well barricaded in our house and garden. It taught me a very real lesson."
Horton and her husband are well aware how tempting their Victoria Ave property is to burglars. A walk up the leafy street, boasting some of the most expensive real estate on the northern slopes of Remuera, shows their neighbours have the same attitude, with two-storey houses protected by high fences and electric gates.
Rosie says her home is alarmed and monitored by a security company, with panic alarms in some rooms. "It's just about being very vigilant and very careful."
