A MUM has been left terrified after discovering that a burglar was in her home while she and her children slept.
The 31-year-old saw the thief trying to steal her car outside her home in Rutherglen at 4.30am on Monday.
She and her partner then realised their house had been broken into when the defiant criminal waved the house and car keys at them.
The mum, who asked to remain anonymous, said the whole family had been left badly shaken.
She said: “My nerves are completely shattered.
“Not only am I now scared in my own home, the one place I should feel safe and secure with my babies, but I now have a five-year-old that’s terrified and anxious to go to sleep for thinking someone is going to be in our home again walking around whilst we are in bed.
“I’m terrified and scared to be in the house. I’ve hardly slept a wink since.”
Her partner was awake feeding their four-month-old baby when their doorbell sent a motion alert to the couple’s phones.
The woman said: “My partner was feeding my little boy when he noticed Ring doorbell notifications coming through to both our phones.
“He put the baby down and rushed out of the room to see what was going on.
“The next minute he was shouting on me to phone the police because someone was in our car.
“I got such a fright. I was shaking and wailing down the phone to the operator. I didn’t know what was going to happen.”
The couple then realised the robber had broken into their home by the back door
and had removed their house and car keys from inside
the property. They waited inside for police to arrive.
She added: “My partner wanted to go out but I was obviously hysterical and telling him not to in case he had a knife or another weapon.
“We watched from the upstairs window whilst he tried to steal the car and that’s when I noticed he had our house keys, which also had the car keys attached.
“He was waving them at us. It was like he was saying, ‘Look what I’ve got’.
“He had got in through our back door and stole them. He also took my partner’s van keys and my handbag.”
Despite his best efforts and having the car keys in his possession, the thief could not start the car and had to flee without it before police arrived.
The woman added: “When he got out of the car before the police came I freaked out because I wasn’t sure if he was going to come back into the house.
“Thankfully he then walked off in the opposite direction.
“It was strange because he didn’t run or seem to be in a rush. He just casually walked up the street. By the time police arrived he was gone.”
The suspect is described as being in his late 40s,
5ft 6in and wearing a black balaclava.
He was caught on CCTV attempting to break into a nearby neighbour’s home the same morning.
A police spokesperson said: “We received a report of a break-in at a property shortly after 4.30am on September 14.
“Inquiries are ongoing and anyone with information can call 101, quoting incident 0398 of September 14, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.”
