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Family's holiday heartache
Sep 23, 2008
A YOUNG Teesdale family have spoken of their dismay after they returned from holiday to find that their home had been burgled.
Mark and Hannah Chalkly returned to their home in Victoria Terrace, Middleton-in-Teesdale, last Wednesday, with their two young children William, three, and two-year-old Catherine.
They found that their front door had been levered open and that a plasma television, a surround sound system, and a Nintendo Wii games console were missing.
Also missing was a pot of money the couple, both training to be teachers, had been saving to take their children on holiday.
“When we arrived home, I first noticed that the door was slightly ajar,” said Mrs Chalkly.
“I went in and saw that the TV was missing and I screamed to Mark. We checked the rest of the house and then called the police. It really was a shock to find that someone had been in here. Catherine was upset because we were upset, and William keeps asking ‘who would do it?”
Mr Chalkly added: “It’s hard explaining the reality of it to the kids, when you are trying to teach them right from wrong.”
The loss of the 48-inch LG plasma television was particularly upsetting for the couple.
“Mark has a degenerative eyesight condition,” said Mrs Chalkly, “and we bought such a large TV so he would be able to watch it.”
Mr Chalkly said the couple had struggled financially to get through their courses, and the television was a significant outlay.
“You have a guy who is registered blind, two people training to be teachers, with two young kids. The TV was a big family expenditure to help with my loss of eye sight, and someone has just come into our home and walked away with it,” he said.
Mr and Mrs Chalkly, who are both from the south of England, moved to Middleton two years ago.
“We moved here because we wanted to live in a good, safe area,” said Mr Chalkly, “but that idea has been shattered now.”
“Christmas is nice at this house, and we were planning on staying for then, but we are worried we will still have this feeling of intrusion,” he added.
“Whoever did this was bold enough to break into a terraced house in a quiet street in Middleton-in-Teesdale. If they are bold enough to come in once, it’s a worry that they will come back again.”
Mrs Chalkly said the couple now planned to move because of the effects the burglary has had on the family.
She said: “Every time I come in and out of the front door I have this paranoid feeling that someone has knocked it in again. Just going into the kitchen or to the toilet, I have a feeling that someone is watching me. I feel like I just want to get out of here now.”
“Someone has come into our home and made us feel like someone has stamped all over our property and our lives. Whoever has done this must be without a conscience – I know I couldn’t live with myself knowing I had done something like that,” she added.
The couple praised the efforts of the police in trying to solve the crime. “The police are working very hard to help us.
“They have been here virtually every day since it happened, and they have kept in contact with us. If they don’t get to the bottom of, at least they have worked really hard and earned their money. They have been very, very good,” said Mrs Chalkly.
The couple also appealed for the community to help catch those who are responsible for the burglary.
Anyone with any information should contact police on 0345 6060365.