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Two suspected burglars fled a Canterbury property after the elderly homeowner discovered them in his backyard.
The 80-year-old Lincoln resident 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 from the Southfield Drive property.
“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 they both appeared to be males in their late teens or early 20s. The man went back inside and dialled 111.
“I told them what had happened,” he said.
“They said they’d get someone out with dogs. I’m not sure that happened.”
Last week 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 last week whether there was a police patrol in the area which could have been despatched.
The homeowner said a police constable then visited the house on Thursday afternoon "as a courtesy call to follow up on the incident".
"He basically asked me what had gone on. I just repeated what I previously said to them," the homeowner said.
The constable explained that a decision was made not to attend on the night because there had been no actual break-in or immediate physical danger to him or his family.
Said the homeowner: “I suppose on a Saturday they’re quite busy with other things, and they take things on a priority basis.”
The homeowner asked the constable whether there had been any recent break-ins in the area but he was unaware of any others. The officer told him to call 111 if anything similar happened again.
The man 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 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, 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 homeowner.
But he believed the incident was 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.
The incident has prompted him to install a security camera at his property.
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.”