Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Our lovely daughter Frances was twenty eight on Monday after a happy birthday weekend down in London. But last night (Tuesday) she phoned up in distress to say that she and her boyfriend had been robbed.
Some sneaky, lowlife scumbag got into her boyfriend's Bethnal Green apartment and grabbed his laptop from the bed plus Frances's handbag before scuttling away like a rat in a dank cellar.
The handbag contained her purse - including bank cards, driving licence and the £50 that her boss had kindly given her as a birthday bonus. Amongst other things, the cherished designer bag also contained a doctor's prescription note with her address upon it and the keys to her own flat in Camberwell,
Of course she was worried about the possibility of a second robbery with the rat making his way to South London to do the dirty deed.
In ten days time she is scheduled to move out of the Camberwell flat and her flatmate has already departed. To borrow that friend's keys, Frances needed her i-phone but guess where that was? Yes. In the bag and worse than that - uninsured.
When she phoned at nine thirty last night, they were waiting for the police to arrive and the situation with her Camberwell flat hadn't been resolved. We contacted our son Ian who lives in north London and he was planning to come to his sister's assistance.
Sheffield is four hours north of the capital and besides, if I had jumped in the car, what could I have done? All I could say to her was, "I know it's not much comfort but in a week's time this horrible business won't seem so bad. Just a nasty historical event."
I don't know if sneak thieves come into Blogworld but if you are reading this Ratty, I challenge you to a bare-knuckle fight. I'm going to make mincemeat of you young man and teach you a lesson you will never forget. When you look in your bathroom mirror you will see something resembling a squashed helping of lasagne. Shame on you you selfish nobody!
Oh no! What a shock and fright this must be. I've only once been robbed - thankfully, not at home, but at the library's office when the door was accidentally left ajar (normally, readers didn't have access to our office wing in the building) and my desk was the nearest to the door, with my handbag in full view.
ReplyDeleteI was only a very young librarian in training then and did not earn much money, so even the few DM the robber got away with meant a big loss to me.
The police came and took my details but didn't give me any realistic hope of catching the thief. My colleagues were so kind - they collected money for me to replace what had been stolen, and I ended up with a little more than before!
The next day, my handbag was found in the shrubbery around the library building; my wallet with all the cards etc. was still in (not that I had many cards - this was 1987) but of course the money was gone.
I do hope your daughter won't have an unwelcome visitor while she is still living at the place in Camberwell.
Thank you for your understanding and your thoughtful comment Meike... Now off to work young lady!
DeleteUsually they grab the cash and dump the bag, hopefully it will be the same for your daughter.
ReplyDeleteIt's such an inconvenience and a violation but worse things have happened and you are right, in a week or three it will just be an unpleasant thing that happened
You are right Kylie - worse things have happened and nobody was physically hurt.
DeletePoor Frances -it leaves such a bad feeling. Hopefully her bag and cards will turn up somewhere soon, though I don't doubt the laptop will have been sold on for a pittance. Another druggie looking for money for the next fix, no doubt. What a sad world we live in.
ReplyDelete"Duggie"? That's a good word CG. In South Yorkshire schools it is used commonly to describe dunces.
DeleteOh no, that's horrible! It's not the loss of the bag, purse, mobile phone, all the phone calls for card locks, but the uncertainty and trepidation. Someone irrupted into the privacy, someone may try it again in your daughters appartment. If I would be she, I wouldn't stay in my appartment alone, even if it's only one week to go. Yes, what an arsehole!
ReplyDeleteThey managed to get an emergency locksmith to her flat's door last night Kaki so at least it is secure now but yes, I somehow doubt that Frances will want to sleep there on her own.
DeleteThese people are cowards as well as scumbags so they're unlikely to try Frances' flat while she's there. Having your property violated is bad enough, but it's more important that she is safe.
ReplyDeleteWhat is really galling is that the thief will probably get very little for the stolen goods having caused a massive headache for the victim, changing locks, cancelling cards etc.
But as you say, in a few weeks it will just be a nasty memory.
Thank you for your moral support Ian and a short flaring of the famous parroty anger.
DeletePoor Frances (no pun intended), it's horrible to be in a flat which is burgled and such a damned inconvenience and invasion of privacy to have your handbag stolen.
ReplyDeleteAlphie
Ironically one of the boyfriend's flatmates is a policeman but he was on duty at the time of the robbery.
DeleteI'm so sorry this has happened YP...how horrible. I have been burgled twice over the years and it does unsettle you and make you despair of humanity. I can understand your response and in fact your words of wisdom to Frances were just right....but Karma is a bitch and the rat will get comeuppance somehow.
ReplyDeleteI hope you are right about karma Libby - what goes around comes around. Let's hope the little git slips on a banana skin just as a tube train is approaching.
DeleteI'm so sorry to hear this. I'm glad to read that a locksmith has been dispatched, one can never be too careful.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, be thankful you all live in the UK. Here in the US you could reasonably suspect that the thief owns a gun. Or several guns. :(
That'a a very good point Jennifer. Guns are a rarity here.
DeleteOh, ugh. What a drag. I hope your daughter is able to resolve this without too much trouble and I hope they catch the thief. Also, that is the scariest rat illustration I have EVER seen.
ReplyDeletePolice are looking for a Russian agent who poses both as a congenial American librarian and as the rabble-rousing MP for Croydon... The rat is called Donald.
DeleteSo sorry - it is so distressing and such an invasion of one's privacy, apart from all the inconvenience of cancelling cards etc.
ReplyDeleteThere were burglaries in our little town last week and it took the Police two hours to respond.
Fortunately she should get the best police service as one of the three fellows who rent the flat is a policeman!
DeleteThe feeling of violation is extreme. You keep saying dirty rat and someone who stoops so low as th steal stuff is a dirty rat.
ReplyDelete"Dirty rat" is never a description I would use for you Red. Grizzly bear maybe but not dirty rat.
DeleteMy deep sympathy to your daughter. I am up to being robbed three times in my life, and it's just sad. Dirty rats. They don't know, what goes around, comes around.
ReplyDeleteThanks for calling by Joanne. I was robbed while cycling in Thailand. The rats took my lovely Nikon DSLR camera. It still makes me mad three years later.
DeleteAnd I'll be standing right with Yorkie, too...you waste of space!!!
ReplyDeleteStories like this make me so very angry! Low-life, brain-dead mongrels who've probably never worked a day in their lives...and probably never will. As I said...they're wastes of space; blots on society!
I hope everything works out well for your daughter, Yorkie.
For a moment I thought you were calling me a waste of space Lee - which I would be at a convention of flower arrangers, an astronomy symposium or a Donald Trump rally. 24 hours after the event she's feeling a lot better. Her cards were all cancelled and her boss has loaned her another i-phone. It's that feeling of violation that still lingers.
DeleteNo, of course, I wasn't referring to you. Sorry if you misunderstood even if only briefly. I meant I'd be standing beside you as we gave the perpetrator/s a lesson or two on the facts of life!
DeleteIt is the violation of privacy that is the worst of all.
Thank you for your support Lee. If there was a war, I would certainly want you on my side.
Delete