Crooks bag £1k of gadgets from home as family slept

Brad and Alison Bolton woke to find crooks had forced their door open with a crowbar before taking a laptop, stereo, iPad and other gadgets, along with three remote controlled vehicles worth collectively more than £1,000.

The crooks managed to get into the home, search the premises and take the items while the couple and their 14-year-old daughter slept.

Mr Bolton, 45, said: “It’s incredibly annoying because the monster trucks they stole are now no longer in production, so I can’t replace them.

“We’re also struggling to claim them on the insurance as they’re not treated as household items.

“I can’t believe they managed to break their way in, steal all those items and leave without waking any of us.

“They took a set of car keys, I’m pretty sure they were after my car, but they took the wrong set.

“At the end of the day, the other items don’t matter too much as they’re on the insurance, but things like this do play on your mind. You come downstairs in the morning and you’re more paranoid thinking things are out of place.”

The incident took place at the family’s home, in Zelham Drive, Canvey, in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Mrs Bolton said: “They were 110 per cent looking to take my husband’s car. They took a set of keys but neither of our cars were taken.

“The keys were for my car, but he has a much more valuable one. My guess is they took them out then realised they were wrong and left it.

“It’s not the fact that they took the items, it’s the fact that they were in our house whilst my 14-year-old daughter was sleeping in her room that gets to me the most.”

Mr Bolton has praised the police response to the break-in and has encouraged others to be vigilant in securing their homes.

He added: “The response from our neighbours has been great and the police were very quick to respond.

“It just shows the importance of securing your home, it can be easy to take things for granted.” Call police on 101.