A Hitchin businesswoman who had her house burgled and car stolen at the weekend has thanked the community for rallying round – and appealed for help tracking down her belongings.
Emma Goulding and her family woke up yesterday to find they had been burgled during the night while they all slept, at some point between 10.20pm and 6.45am.
The timing of the burglary was particularly poignant as mum-of-two Emma is Canadian, and yesterday was the day she and her household celebrated Thanksgiving.
The thieves got in through the front door of the house in West Hill and took a handbag, HP Pavilion laptop, iPad, Ray-Ban sunglasses, about £200 in cash and the keys to a silver BMW saloon parked outside. They then made off in the BMW.
Emma, who runs culinary mentors Cookery Eatery, told the Comet that one of the cards had since been used in Barton-le-Clay – and that she and a friend had been up and down the road to Barton to look for any of her belongings, without success.
“All of this just seems so tragically wrong,” said Emma, 42.
“I had £200 there in cash which I’d taken out to pay another small business.
“I’m desperate to get my personal stuff back. There’s a lot of sentimental stuff in the bag like pictures of my kids, the bag itself was bought for me by my husband when I started the business, and they’ve got our electronic devices.
“Ultimately, though, it’s all items that can be replaced and nobody was hurt. The thieves were very quick and professional – they got in through the front door. It turns out there could have been another attempted break-in in the road too, but they were successful with us.”
Emma has been touched by the support from the community and emergency services after the burglary on the eve of Thanksgiving.
She said: “The community have been incredibly supportive – we’ve had flowers and people cooking and just being really helpful. The police and forensic team were amazing as well.
“Yesterday, when it happened, it was Canadian Thanksgiving – and I think we were looked over by angels because they only took material possessions, and we weren’t hurt. We’re very thankful.”
Anyone who saw anything suspicious in the area between 10pm on Sunday night and 6.45am on Monday morning, or has been offered any items for sale that match the description, should call police on 101, quoting crime reference G1/17/3131.
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