Neighbours now have to sit with Louise Winship at her home at Halfway while her partner Andy Hayes is out at work, following the family’s ordeal in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Louise and Andy were oblivious to the break-in when they got up on Saturday morning and started making breakfast for Louise’s children Rachel (10) and Thomas (3).
“We all joked for a bit because I couldn’t find my work phone, which I knew I’d left on the kitchen bench,” said Andy, a self-employed driver.
But then Louise spotted their laptop was missing and noticed mud on the curtains and the fact the blinds were open.
It soon became clear an intruder had forced open their patio doors to get in to the house.
“The terrifying thing is that we were fast asleep - the kids were asleep in their bedrooms - and none of us heard a thing,” said Louise.
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