Knife threat by burglar

Press, 20 November 1989, Page 1

Knife threat by burglar

By

BARRY CLARKE

An elderly woman was told her throat would be cut if she tried to escape from a burglar who held her prisoner in her Waltham home at the week-end. The woman, aged 81, who declined to be named, was robbed of $345 and repeatedly threatened with a knife by the man who broke into the Waltham Road house about 9 p.m. on Saturday. r The money had been set aside to pay rates and buy Christmas presents for her great grandchildren. ; The ordeal has left her distressed and frightened, but determined not to move from the house she has-lived in for 57 years. ' . : ’ / / She was in bed reading when the burglar broke in through louvre windows and; peered

through the door into her bedroom.

"I got out of bed and put my dressing gown on. I said, ‘How did you get in here, all the doors are locked.’ He said, ‘We’ve got ways and means’,” she said. The man, aged in his 20s, pulled out a knife, demanded money, and began ransacking the room.

"I gave him $3OO I had withdrawn from the bank for the rates. Then he found a jar with 50 cent pieces which I’d been saving up for the children. “He said, ‘ls that all you’ve got? I /know you old people always hoard money’.” The.'man became aggressive when he found a purse containing two English £lO notes she had forgotten about., “He said, ‘What’s this? You’re a bloqdy liar.’ The names I was called. I thought to myself, just

don’t lose my head, try and stay . calm.” The woman then made up a story that her husband would be home shortly. / , . The burglar waved the knife and replied, “Well, he’s going to get this then.” . The woman tried' to escape through the front door, but was stopped. : - ; “He said, ‘lf you do that again lady, I’ll slit your throat’.” . / She did not heed the warning. Several minutes later she asked to go to the kitchen for a drjnk, because she was frightened. The man said O.K While he was rummaging in the bedroom,, she slipped out of the back door,/ locking it behind her. . , The man climbed out ofj the window and. cycled away along Jordan Street. H 6 is described as Maori, wearing ’>■ jeans, [ black leather jacket and black gloves.

His hair was shaved at the side of the head. ' ! The burglar also took a threemorith supply of heart pills, loose change kept for bus fares, and a bank book. She did not scream during the ordeal for fear of being stabbed. “He had a sad look about him. I don’t think he had been drinking.' I couldn’t smell , alcohol. He could have been on drugs." “It’s shocking to think that sort of thing happens ... here’s me = over 80.” '// .? - : ■ Friends .and relatives rallied yesterday. The woman-has now taken extra security measures and will replace the- ,■ .louvre windows; ■- . >7 •?. ’•-> Her daughter has asked her to ./move to- a smaller flat. ■ “I’ve been here all these years /without any-trouble. My husband . had worked on the house.’ It’s, my , home. Why should I, moye?“ she said.