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Detectives in Southampton hunt burglars claiming to be police officers

Press Releases

Published: 15/12/2008


Police in Southampton are appealing for witnesses after burglars broke into three homes in the city while the occupants were in. When they were seen, in each case they either claimed to be police officers or from ‘Special Branch’.

The first case happened shortly after 6.30pm on Friday, December 12. The 79-year-old resident of a Flat in Blenhiem Avenue, Portswood, found two men in her house. One was crawling along the floor when she disturbed them. They said they’d found her side door had been forced open. The claimed they were police officers and asked her to check if anything was missing. She managed to usher them outside and when they saw her phoning a friend they left. She later discovered they had been searching through her bedroom but nothing was missing.

In the second case happened in Honeysuckle Road, Portswood on Saturday December 13 between 2.20pm and 2.55pm. A 59-year old man with a disability was targeted. He found two men in his hallway. They claimed to be police officers from ‘Special Branch’ and got him, to show them around the house. They eventually left and it’s not believed anything was taken however the victim was quite shaken by what happened.

The third incident happened shortly afterwards at about 3.30pm in South Road, Portswood. There an 83-year-old woman, who has difficulty moving. found a man in her front room where she was sitting. He claimed to be a police officer and started searching the room. He then removed £50 from her handbag and left. In all but the last case two men were involved and are thought to be in their late 20s or each 30s and around 5ft 7inches tall. In the third case the man is described as around 40, stocky and about 6ft tall and dressed all in black. All the men were white and in one case are said to have Irish accents.

Detective Constable Graeme Hargreaves said: “I would really like to hear from anyone who saw any suspicious men, possibly in a group of up to four, knocking on doors in the area or any suspicious vehicles. Anything like this could be relevant to this investigation and may help us catch those responsible.

“I’d also like to hear from anyone else who thinks they men may have called at their house but haven’t yet reported it to the police.

“I would ask anyone with information about any of these crimes to contact me at Bitterne CID on 0845 045 45 45 or call Crimestoppers, the charity, anonymously on 0800 555 111.”


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