Flatmates locking up after blatant burglary

North Dunedin residents (from left) Jamie Constable, Clare Manley and Bailie Elbers are more...
North Dunedin residents (from left) Jamie Constable, Clare Manley and Bailie Elbers are more cautious after items were stolen from their flat last week. Photo by Christine O'Connor.
A group of north Dunedin flatmates say they have begun locking the front door of their house even when they are home, after several items were stolen from the property last week.

University of Otago student Jamie Constable (19) said she saw a man leaving the property on the corner of Castle and Dundas Sts about 5am on Saturday, February 27, but thought it was her flatmate's boyfriend.

She and some of her flatmates got up a few hours later to discover their 42-inch television, two speakers, a longboard and a Wi-Fi power cord had been taken.

Miss Constable said the incident had unnerved her and her five flatmates and had forced them to be more cautious.

‘‘We were here the night they came in and they still managed to come in.''

Resident Bailie Elbers (19), also a university student, said she and her flatmates had always locked the house when they were not home, but now locked the front door if there were two or fewer people in the house.

They had also been prompted to lock their bedroom doors at night as an extra precaution, she said.

‘‘When I sleep, I'm really scared.‘‘So I lock my door 'cause it's quite scary knowing that someone could just walk in.''

Resident Clare Manley (19), another university student, said if no-one was in the lounge, everything was locked.‘‘It's just an awful feeling knowing that people were in here [our personal space].''

Miss Constable said she saw a television identical to the one stolen advertised on the Otago Flatting Goods website shortly after the incident.

She then posted a comment on the website advising people she and her flatmates had had their television stolen shortly before the advertisement was published.

A wooden sign displaying the flat's adopted name, The Big Red, was also taken and spotted at a nearby flat, she said.

-damian.george@odt.co.nz

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