Do be Careful, warning for the starry eyed.

OneWayTraffic

NZ Herald; July 3 2004.

Ten days ago Sandra Sheene arrived in New Zealand in search of a better life for her and her family. She didn't receive the warm welcome she expected.

Within four hours of arriving at Auckland Airport, the English nurse and her two daughters Gemma, 8, and Hanna, 5, were burgled.

Mrs Sheene lost $9500 cash, passports, credit cards, cellphones and jewellery valued at around $1500. Worse, the burglary shattered the illusion of the country sold to her in travel brochures.

The opportunistic burglar struck while Mrs Sheene and her two daughters were taking a nap. Thinking her handbag would be safe in the lounge of her Howick home, she retired to the bedroom. On waking, she discovered her bag was gone. She had been asleep for only one hour.

"I couldn't believe it. This was the last thing I would have expected. I always thought I would be safe here."

Mrs Sheene suspects the burglar entered the house through the unlocked back door, saw the bag, grabbed it and took off.

While the bag, passports and credit cards were recovered a day later in Manukau, the money, cellphones and jewellery were gone.

"I've lost a lot of money - money that was to be for essential household items," said Mrs Sheene. "It's just very sad, but I suppose that is the way things are going, even here in New Zealand."

Auckland is especially bad for thef but it's common in other parts of the country as well. Frequently the police don't want to know about it.

Moorf · Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2004 11:00 pm Post subject:

Errrrr - the words "unlocked back door" ??? Eek

I'm sorry, but wherever I am in the world I would lock my doors when taking a nap - more so if I had 2 children and some valuables with me!! Yes

This hasn't changed my views one bit - but it does tell me that some people aren't in tune with the world as it is today!

Timbo · Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2004 11:21 pm Post subject:

Well said Moorf. I could not agree more with every word. Common sense is sadly lacking in some people.

JCM · Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2004 2:55 pm Post subject:

Like newspapers everywhere, the "best" news for reporters is always the worst news for everyone else. Yes, the woman was naive, but it's still a rotten start to life in a new country.

In fact I sympathise with her enormously - if she had been travelling in sole charge of two young children for 36 hours without sleep, she would not have been at her best. In fact she was probably at the end of her tether - absolutely exhausted. To then wake up and discover some rat had stolen her bag with cash meant to enable her to settle here must have left her desolate.

I hope things get better for her.

Moorf · Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2004 12:16 am Post subject:

Hi JCM - Sorry if my comments sounded harsh.

I would be interested to know how NZ'ers would react to this story? Would they say "stupid newbies" or would they, like you, feel for the lady?

It would be an interesting insight into their attitudes.

OneWayTraffic · Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2004 12:23 am Post subject:

Well her naivety is touching but I do think that she is seriously mislead if we are all angels here. We get about 50-100,000 house break ins a year; generally in the Auckland region. I can feel sorry for anyone who has lost so much money but frankly I think she was stupid for carrying that much cash around with her and doubly stupid to leave it unguarded.

So while I do sympathise she could have been smarter. Harsh lesson to learn.

Having said that, my Dad has been leaving his car in the driveway/garage with the keys in it for years and never been caught out yet. I won't tell you where he lives of course!

Lee&Nicky · I Like It Here Joined: 15 May 2004 Posts: 70

I think the key word here is "opportunistic", wherever you go there will always be the opportunistic thieves. As people have said in this post, if you take the minimum precautions (locking doors/windows) etc the opportunity will be lost to the burglar. The only time we have ever been burgled was a couple of years ago, on holiday in a very quiet place in the UK with a low crime rate. Stupid really, we went to the swimming pool in the grounds of where we were staying and left a door unlocked (I could count on the fingers of one hane the times we have gone out leaving doors?windows opened). In the space of one hour, somebody had gone in and taken cash, credit cards etc. Purely opportunistic and we, unfortunately and unwittingly, provided the simplest of opportunties. Although annoying and upsetting, we took the view that they were only after the money, which they got, did no criminal dmage to the property and nobody was hurt (or in the house at the time and therefore "spooked"). It is the same with car crime here in the UK, if you are careful and disciplined, don't leave things "on show" then you are likely to deter nearly all crims, fact of life unfortunately and I can't see that being anydifferent anywhere in the world.

Lee&Nicky · I Like It Here Joined: 15 May 2004 Posts: 70

I should have added that I do have a lot of sympathy for the poor woman in the story. I expect her anger and distress is undoubtedly made worse by the thought that the whole thing was probably preventable (I know I was at least as angry with myself over our experience than I was with the thief). That is often the worst thing about such opportunistic crimes, taking advantage of a momentary slip but have much wider repercussions.

Moorf · Posted: Tue Jul 06, 2004 12:52 am Post subject:

I guess living in London hardened us to such things - you basically EXPECTED to be burgled Hmmm

if you so much as left a window open a crack (they often used young children to get through small windows).

I even WATCHED as my car was broken into outside my house... and guess what... was my fault - I left my phone in the tray between seats... a momentary slip and the opportunist was there....

I was far too scared to intervene - not knowing if the guy was armed or not - plus it was a company phone so not worth spilling blood over.

Timbo · Posted: Tue Jul 06, 2004 3:36 am Post subject:

Is it any wonder we all see the grass as being so much greener in NZ.
We are lucky really, as the crime rate in Surrey is pretty low, in fact I think it is classed as the safest county to live in. That does not alleviate the fear of crime in our eyes though, as we are aware that london is growing outwardly. Already seen a big increase in drug use in our area over the last two years or so. I really dont envy anyone having to bring kids up here these days.

Lee&Nicky · I Like It Here Joined: 15 May 2004 Posts: 70

Timbo,

Totally agree. We live in Herts, also relatively low crime rate.

Drugs are becoming an increasing problem. Because we live in a relatively "well off" area kids have a lot of disposable income, making them easy targets. Lord only knows where things will end up in 10 years time.

I have two young children and feel in my heart that the true cost of living in the SE of England (ie not just the financial side) is now just too high compared to the "benefits" of living here.

I don't expect NZ will be a bed of roses, but from my experiences, and what I have heard from others, there is more balance and perspective and that is why we are going to give it a go.

Just one more thing, are other UK people fed up with the "compensation culture" that is consuming the country? As a ludicrous example, a certain motorway service station no longer has a Lego table for kids to play with, for fear of being sued should one of the little people choke on a piece. Whatever happened to people taking responsibility for their own actions (and believe me, parents of kids are the worst in this regard).

Sory, rant over!

Lee & Nicky

Timbo · Posted: Tue Jul 06, 2004 4:29 am Post subject:

Hey you rant all you like. I think the compensation culture is crazy. Our local authority now spends so much on compensation claims for vehicle damage caused by pot holes, it cannot afford to repair the roads. Talk about catch 22.
Iam afraid an awfull lot of people walk around looking for a nice little earner because of the situation. I for one will be only too glad to get away from it.

Rant rant.