A locksmith says burglars are using a new trick o gain access to people's homes, and has issued a warning to watch out for it. Lynton Christian says he has seen the trick used multiple times to gain access to people's homes.
Lynton told the ECHO the trick involves putting a magnet, or some other flat object which can be stuck, across the bolt-hole of the door of the home they wish to enter during daylight hours when the occupants are home. The door will then not close or lock properly, allowing a burglar to walk in later on.
Lynton said the trick relies on the homeowner not discovering the reason why their door isn't locking and hoping for the best, or putting off acting on it until the next morning.
The trick recently featured as a plot device in the closing episodes of the Breaking Bad spin-off series Better Call Saul on Netflix.
He said he has seen the trick used across Merseyside, most recently when a small but strong magnet was placed on the bolt-hole while the homeowner had left the door ajar briefly. It was still daytime when the man discovered the object; he had not left the house all day.
Lynton said: "I didn't think this was actually a thing at first. But as I've seen in the past week I've seen it happen, or almost happen, twice to the same shop and another case with a guy who was in the house all day. Which is shocking.
"They must've hopped over his back gate, quickly threw a magnet on his open back door. Then if he hadn't spotted the magnet, he would've probably just thought his lock was faulty.
"That's one of the reasons why I wanted to make people aware. A lot of people will just want to call the locksmith in the morning for the lock that seems broken, leaving them at risk overnight.
"I think it's now an upcoming thing. I think criminals are just trying to find new tricks.
"If your lock's off and you don't stop, look and check where the bolt goes in then there's a chance that people could be burgled, that same night even."
