These last few months we’ve being writing blog posts to inform our readers about the increasing trend in home, farm and shop/office burglaries. More worryingly, however, is that over the last quarter there has been a 10% rise in the amount of robberies using a knife.(source). These knifepoint muggings include theft of mobiles (smart phones in particular), iPods, handbags which may include home and car keys, wallets and cash.
In total, there were just over 15,000 knifepoint muggings and robberies – some so vicious that victims were murdeered for their personal possessions – with over half of these reported muggings taking place in London.
We understand that it is difficult to control knife crime on the streets. Cuts in the policing infrastructure won’t help either. However, what we can do is offer some form of help to help keep you safe if you are ever confronted with a knifepoint mugging.
In general, the best advice is to hand over your phone or any other personal belongings such as credit cards etc.. Mobile phones can be replaced, bank cards can be cancelled. It’s most likely that the mugger will be highly agitated and if they have a weapon such as a knife on themselves they may be intent on physical harm.
Try to remain calm and non-confrontational. Carry a personal alarm as this can be activated and give you valuable seconds to make your escape if the situation worsens and you feel you are likely to be attacked. Once the ordeal is over, report the crime to the nearest police station, don’t bottle things up, it’s understandable that people get extremely emotional after being confronted with a knife crime. However, if you report it to the police, your actions might stop the same ordeal happening to some other individual.
Burglary is on the increase in farms, rural homes and businesses. It only takes a matter of seconds for an opportunistic thief to break-in to a farm building and be off with expensive farm tools and equipment. Beacuse of the remoteness of the property it’s difficult to know when someone is snooping around! Plus relying on the Police to catch the culprits in the act is a very long shot indeed.
This time last year the people of Britain were just getting over the snow when the temperatures plummeted to a bone chilling -18. Workers, students and even parents on the school run had to wait till their car had defrosted before making their trip out onto the roads. Leaving cars on the driveway, with their engines running, it’s hardly surprising to learn that nearly 9,000 vehicles across the UK were stolen in just 36 days at the beginning of 2011 (
The winter months can drive many of us to depression, as we sit at home and watch the rain bounce off the windows. So far this winter we seem to be having a bit of a dry spell and that’s good news if you’re a caravanning enthusiast. During these dry spells, our mobile, hardy ‘holiday makers‘ love nothing better than to hitch up their caravans and head off to find the nearest camping and caravanning meet and enjoy the wilds of Britain.
As we approach another New Year, people will use this time to set-out their own personal goals for the year ahead. These ‘New Year Resolutions’ can include things such as stopping smoking, looking for a new job, losing weight and trying to manage their money better. Perhaps, there is one resolution we should all be trying to achieve and that’s making our home safer and less of a target to burglars and thieves.
