ON January 18, Deborah returned home from shopping, as she had done many times before.
She put her handbag inside the house on a bench near the front door, and went inside to rest with her dog.
Having been diagnosed with terminal cancer, the 81-year-old wanted to catch her breath before her daughter arrived, due a short while later.
But when Louise got there, she found the front door to her mum’s home open – and immediately thought the worst.
“I assumed something had happened and mum had fallen over or something, especially as she is ill,” she said.
“But pretty quickly, we realised mum’s bag had gone and someone had been inside and taken it.
“We immediately used the ‘Find my Phone’ app and found that mum’s phone was pinging not far up the road, which we told the police and they arrived quickly and were able to locate it.
“I was more worried about mum getting into a stew than anything else, as she is already ill and I didn’t want this to make her worse.”
Deborah and daughter, Louise, have spoken about the ordeal. Picture: Wiltshire Police
Police officers went to the scene and found Deborah’s phone.
The following day, they arrested 58-year-old Soloman Jeffers, of Harnham, and the missing handbag was later located by a member of the public although a number of items were missing, including a driving licence wallet gifted to Deborah by her mother when she was just 17.
“The police were very good at keeping me updated, which I really appreciated,” the OAP said.
“When they told me he’d been arrested I was really pleased. I did feel angry at myself for leaving the front door unlocked though but it could have been a lot worse.
“I didn’t see the need in going to court, but the police updated me that he’d been jailed for three years. I was pleased but I did feel a bit sad for him really.”
Deborah said the incident has made her more security conscious and she now always keeps her front door locked.
“I’d encourage everyone to do the same, make sure they have good locks on their gates, and always keep your front door locked. Especially, if you are like me and live alone.
“I would also definitely encourage people to download the ‘Find my Phone’ app as it really helped us in this case.”
On April 19, Jeffers pleaded guilty to burglary and was sentenced to 40 months behind bars.
Det Con Cerys Powell, from Wiltshire Police, said apps such as Find my Phone can be invaluable if something does happen.
“It enables us to focus our enquiries in a far more specific location and on this occasion helped lead to the arrest of Jeffers,” she said.
“We take reports of this nature extremely seriously and will always respond as soon as possible as we know the impact burglary can have on someone.
“I am pleased that on this occasion we were able to quickly identify the offender and he was given a custodial sentence.”
Burglary was named as one of Chief Constable Catherine Roper’s priorities when she joined Wiltshire Police.
“We recognise the impact burglary can have on a victim and we hope that we can raise awareness amongst residents of the importance of taking home security seriously, being vigilant neighbours and reporting suspicious activity, and ensuring people are aware of the steps they can take to be fully informed of any incidents in their area,” a Wiltshire Police spokesperson added.
I notice there is no photo of the culprit , why is that ? or can we guess?