Victim urges others to be mindful of home security after her home was targeted

Watch Deborah's story here: Deborah and Louise - Burglary Victim Story - FINAL (1).mp4

It was January 18th this year when 81-year-old Deborah had returned home from shopping. As with any other day, she put her handbag inside the house on a bench near the front door, and went inside to rest with her dog. Having been diagnosed with terminal cancer, Deborah wanted to catch her breath before her daughter arrived a few moments later. 

But when Deborah’s daughter Louise arrived shortly after, she found the front door to her mum’s address open and immediately thought the worst.

“I assumed something had happened and Mum had fallen over or something, especially as she is ill,” said Louise.

“But pretty quickly, we realised Mum’s bag had gone and someone had been inside and taken it.

“We immediately used the ‘Find my Phone’ app and found that mum’s phone was pinging not far up the road, which we told the police and they arrived quickly and were able to locate it.

“I was more worried about Mum getting into a stew than anything else, as she is already ill and I didn’t want this to make her worse.”

The police attended the scene and located Deborah’s phone, and the following day arrested Soloman Jeffers, 58, of Harnham. Her handbag was later located by a member of the public although a number of items were missing including a driving licence wallet gifted to Deborah by her mother when she was just 17.

Deborah said: “The police were very good at keeping me updated, which I really appreciated. When they told me he’d been arrested I was really pleased. I did feel angry at myself for leaving the front door unlocked though but it could have been a lot worse.

“I didn’t see the need in going to court, but the police updated me that he’d been jailed for three years. I was pleased but I did feel a bit sad for him really.”

Deborah said the incident has made her more security conscious and she now always keeps her front door locked.

“I’d encourage everyone to do the same, make sure they have good locks on their gates, and always keep your front door locked. Especially, if you are like me and live alone. I would also definitely encourage people to download the ‘Find my Phone’ app as it really helped us in this case.”

Jeffers pleaded guilty to burglary and was sentenced to 40 months imprisonment on April 19.

Det Con Cerys Powell, said: “Apps such as Find my Phone can be really beneficial in cases such as this – it enables us to focus our enquiries in a far more specific location and on this occasion helped lead to the arrest of Jeffers. 

“We take reports of this nature extremely seriously and will always respond as soon as possible as we know the impact burglary can have on someone. I am pleased that on this occasion we were able to quickly identify the offender and he was given a custodial sentence.”

This week we are shining a light on burglary, which was named as one of Chief Constable Catherine Roper’s force priorities when she joined Wiltshire Police.

We recognise the impact burglary can have on a victim and we hope that we can raise awareness amongst residents of the importance of taking home security seriously, being vigilant neighbours and reporting suspicious activity, and ensuring people are aware of the steps they can take to be fully informed of any incidents in their area.

Follow our tips and crime prevention advice online by searching #BeBurglarAware.

For further crime prevention advice visit: Protecting your home from crime | Crime prevention | Wiltshire Police

Sign up to Community Messaging so you can get all the latest updates regarding crime in your area here: Home Page - Wiltshire and Swindon Community Messaging (wiltsmessaging.co.uk)