"It was weird to think that strange men had touched my private belongings"

As Michael Broomhead reports, one burglary victim felt more violated by the intrusion of her privacy…

Burglary can be a terrifying experience.

For some people, the crime can be so horrifying that it results in serious injury or even death.

At the end of March, a man posing as a police officer pushed an 82-year-old woman to the floor and raided her home in St Helens on Merseyside.

The robber left with a small amount of cash - but Margaret Briers suffered a broken hip which had a big part to play in her death at the beginning of April.

While the overall number of burglaries is decreasing, the crime still affects a huge amount of people.

In Britain, it is estimated that a burglar breaks into someone’s home every 36 seconds and steals a selection of personal and valuable possessions.

Twenty-four-year-old Anna Zarjow knows all too well what it is like to be a victim of burglary.

In April and August last year, burglars broke into her house in New Cross Gate in London.

Anna says she is lucky as the burglars only got away with a camera and an old mobile phone.

“It wasn’t about the items they took but more about the fact that they invaded my private space,” Anna says.

“It was weird to think that strange men had touched my private belongings.”

Anna reported the burglaries to the Metropolitan Police Service but she says it was a “useless exercise”.

“There are five burglaries in New Cross Gate every day and the police catch one per cent of the burglars.”

Anna says she hopes that the people who broke into her house will be burgled themselves so they can see and feel what it is like.

If you have been burgled, the police urge you to call 999 and report the incident.