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Two suspected burglars fled a Canterbury property after the elderly homeowner discovered them in his backyard.
The Lincoln resident, 80, and his wife were in bed on Saturday night when they spotted torchlights moving around their enclosed backyard about 11.30pm.
“I thought, ‘oh yes, right’,” said the homeowner.
“I’m sadly in my latter stages of life, but if I was 40 years younger, I’d have gone out there and had a go at them.”
He switched on the outside lights, startling the two intruders, who jumped over a 90cm-high picket fence to make their escape.
“They just ran,” he said.
“By the time I’d got round to the front door and opened it, they were hoof-tailing it down the road.
“I shouted at them, bugger off.”
He said both appeared to be males in their late teens or early 20s.
The man went back inside and dialled 111. The operator asked if there was an immediate threat, which the householder said there wasn’t.
“I told them what had happened. He got my details, asked whether I had a dog, and if I had a firearm,” he said.
“They said they’d get someone out with dogs. I’m not sure that happened.”
But police did not respond to the incident on Southfield Drive and, as the middle of this week, had not followed up the incident with the householder.
Senior Sergeant Rachel Walker told Selwyn Times police did not respond because “there did not appear to be an immediate risk and no report of attempted forced entry”.
She did not answer a question from Selwyn Times whether there was a police patrol in the area which could have been despatched.
The homeowner said he understood police resources were limited.
“Unless they had a patrol car in the neighbourhood, they weren’t going to catch these guys, they were too nimble,” he said.
Walker also did not answer a question from Selwyn Times if they had a unit in the area at the time.
About an hour before the intruders were discovered, the homeowners heard knocks on their door about 10.30pm that night, but dismissed them as teenagers playing a prank.
“We’d seen Facebook posts about kids knocking on doors and running away. I never gave burglars a thought. I just thought it was bloody kids,” said the man.
But the householder believed his incident was not connected - but more sinister. He said the earlier door knocking was probably to determine if anyone was home.
Said the householder: “Clearly what they were doing is knocking on the door. If anyone opens the door, they run away. If they don’t answer, they come and investigate if they can break into the house.”
Police may have misinterpreted what happened on Saturday night.
In Walker’s emailed response to Selwyn Times, she said police were aware of “ding-dong ditching” behaviour by young people and regularly conducted mobile patrols around Lincoln.
Selwyn Times has reported on the issue over the past several months.
But the householder is adamant it was not “ding-dong ditching” but a planned attempt to break into his house.
The incident left the couple shaken, and they were unable to get back to sleep until about 3am.
The following day, the homeowner replaced his low fence with a 1.8m-high fence.
“They’ll rattle their balls if they try to get over it now,” he said.
He believes the pair were only stopped because he spotted them.
He is warning the community to be vigilant.
“They’re out there. They didn’t get caught. They’ll lick their wounds and they’ll have a go at somebody else.”