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Belfast Live
Belfast Live
National
Damien Edgar

Elderly woman latest person targeted in series of burglaries in Belfast park

Concerns have been raised following the latest burglary of a house in South Belfast.

A woman in her 70s returned home on Monday to find that their Malone View Park house had been broken into while she was away.

A sum of money was taken and damage was caused to the property during the incident, with several other break-ins reported in the area in the last year.

Read more: Victim in their 70s has home broken into in broad daylight

One resident in the area said it was particularly noticeable last year.

"Last year, during Covid, there were two or three houses robbed as well, so it's quite frightening," they told Belfast Live.

"The one yesterday, it's not even like it was a hidden thing, the house where it happened is quite visible and it was broad daylight.

"You just never know, it's very scary."

Another neighbour said that the area was generally very nice to live in, with the break-ins at odds with the general atmosphere in the park.

"I was surprised to hear about that burglary yesterday, I had seen the police out but didn't realise someone had been burgled," they said.

"There was one house in particular that has had a couple of burglaries in the past year.

"It was the same thing as well as this latest one, they got in through the window.

"I don't know whether it was someone who knew the house or who had been looking at it.

"But there was really nothing else, neighbours here are very good, they tend to look out for each other."

The latest burglary in the area happened sometime between 10.30am and 1.30pm on Monday

The victim of the latest burglary told Belfast Live that it would not stop them from going about their business as usual.

"When I came home, the alarm was on but not working properly," they said.

"They broke in through the back kitchen window, broke down a door and rummaged through a little bit.

"But it wasn't completely trashed and I didn't lose anything of value.

"The police were very good, CID were very good and the forensic teams were out, I have no complaints about any of the response to it."

They also warned people to ensure they did what they could to make it difficult for burglars and expressed sadness that a person had been desperate enough to break into their home.

"People need to be aware of locking doors and making sure everything is secure, but it's very hard to make your house entirely secure," they said.

"Personally, I'm ok, I'm not shaken to the core or anything, I'm alright.

"Thankfully nobody was injured, nothing valuable was missing, windows can be replaced.

"You do feel for a society where people are feeling that need for money, it's a bad reflection on society."

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