Way back in 2005, one August Saturday night I was watching MOTD. We had an integral garage with a door leading into the utility; the door used to only be locked last thing at night or when we went out, really. I used to keep my smoke in a tub in there and so, when I went in I saw the up & over garage door slightly ajar. It was breezy, so figured I'd not closed and locked it properly so pulled it closed and locked it from the inside. Had a smoke at the back door. Went back to MOTD. About an hour later, had another 'nightcap' smoke, locked everywhere up, and went to bed.
Next morning was my sleep in (our eldest - only at the time - kid wasn't yet 2, so we each had a lie-in on the weekend with the other getting up early with daughter) and ambled down about half-10. Plonked myself in the chair in the living room, casually glanced out of the window... and spotted my car wasn't on the front (an Audi A4 I'd had since the March). In a bit of a panic, I rushed into the kitched where my missus was and told her. We couldn't find the keys, which were usually next to the toaster. She then told me that, when she'd come down that morning, all the drawers and cupboards wre open in the kitchen and shed put it down to me being drunk or something. I searched the house - the sideboard in the dining room had its doors and some drawers open. A few bottles of drink were missing. The patio door - which we didn't use that often - was unlocked. Outside, just round the corner, was an empty Jack Daniels bottle that had been in my sideboard.
Called the police to report it. Whilst I was on, they informed me that my car had been found. They'd send someone round.
Turns out that a bloke on a rough estate a couple of miles away had been woken at about 3am by noise outside. When he looked outside, he saw a lad and a girl unloading everything from a car unto a golf trolley with clubs (my fucking golf trolley and clubs, which had been in my boot) and walking off, leaving the car doors open. He'd got it on CCTV and called plod.
MEanwhile, I'm piecing together events. They must have come in through the garage and into the house whilst I was watching telly. They must have gone into the dining room, as it's the one room I didn't go in that night (there's only the living room, kitchen/utility, hall, downstairs bog and dining room) and either waited in there, or outside the door.
What's worse is that our next door but one got done the same night. They'd had friends round and, pissed up, forgot to lock the front door. The wife had passed out on the sofa in the living room. They'd been due to have a stall at a car-boot sale the following morning and had stacked stuff like an old video console in the hall - anything of any value was taken.
But they took my frigging car.
It had to go to a special compound for forensics. The police also tried to take prints from my house. And they viewed the CCTV.
These scumbag thieves are mostly known to the police but, oddly and annoyingly (or suspeciously...) no prints were possible, and the CCTV was ruled not to be of sufficient quality.
He was probably an addict and a grass - and they tend to get let off these 'minor' offences (had first-hand experience of that, too
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