Just a quick warning, the flat downstairs from us was burgled this morning, police recon it was a pro child climbed through an open window and took money & mobile phones etc, happened sometime around 4am when the people where in bed in the next room.

So keep your windows closed if your on the ground floor! its not as safe here as you think.

we live out in the sticks, not the city, so it can happen anywhere

Little shites.

yep. young couple, they are both pretty shaken up about it, she may have disturbed them without knowing it which is why they know it was around 4am.

That is terrible. Obviously they don't have a dog. Our dogs hear everything.

If you keep your windows on tilt, I imagine there is no way anyone can get in, even a child. The space is very small. It is so small that cats get stuck.

I know quite a number of people who close their shutters but leave their non tilting windows open.

As long as the neighbours are unharmed, that is the most important thing.

windows where on tilt, no damage at all, they moved a load of stuff near the windows so they didn't make a noise, sounds like the police have seen a few of these recently as they said it was a pro using a child.

they have the same windows as us, no idea how anyone could squeeze through, but they did, and out again.

Our dog didn't hear a thing, and we're directly above them

Hopefully the police may find prints etc. There is always hope.

Someone burgled me 2 years ago but left a crowbar. Got him a year in prison

Maybe they used tools, like a grabber or a hook on a pole. Keys can be hooked from nearby tables to open doors. Noboby can get through those tilted windows.

nope, they ramsacked the guys home office, but only took things that would fit in pockets etc, so left his laptops, tv, bluray player etc etc.

thinking someone couldn't fit through the gap is exactly why they got burgled!!

OK, simplez, just look for a really flat kid with bulging pockets.

Huh... very interesting and thank you bunches for the warning!

Maybe it was a trained ferret.

just checked our windows, the gap itself is indeed too small to fit someone through, but there does seem to be some play and flexing there. they must know some kind of trick with these windows, you can easily get to the mech with them on tilt.

Been told with garden apartments...it is not a matter of whether you get burgled in ZRH but when....

It's actually very easy, be it child or woman, to slide your arm in and turn the handle to detatch the window from the frame, slip in, re-attatch the window frame correctly to open fully and take whatever you fancy.

Then when done, simply the reverse, all very quiet. I know this, I just did it.

I suspect they were interrupted as you stated they had " moved a load of stuff near the window", so it could have been even more, not that that is much consolation to the victims.

Hope they get caught before anyone else gets done over.

I guess I'm not "crafty" enough, I can't figure out how anyone could make my tilted windows open any wider. (Edit to add: My handles lock in position when the window is tilted so you can't change it while the window is open.)

Meanwhile, I know my m-i-l has terrace doors which tilt AND a friend who has long / tall windows that tilt as well.

I imagine a skinny "leggy" child could probably wiggle through those longer ones if they were able to get their feet on either side well enough... something a cat can't do.

As far as I know, m-i-l (on an upper but not top floor) hasn't had any trouble BUT she's also got some chicken wire and stuff on the window openings to keep her cats inside. The friend though is on the first floor...

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Your neighbours must be quite sound sleepers. That changes after you have kids.

Exterior lighting with motion sensors is a good idea.
I close my shutters if I leave a window open at night. We have lamellen (those are the type with the string). It would make a lot of noise trying to get through those.

HAHAHA!!! Or possibly a "cat" burgler...

Very easy (at least with mine). Facing the window from the inside I have a handle (to open/shut) on the left hand side, half way down. I have a lever (to select tillt/open) bottom right. The window tilts open from the top.

From outside (my left/right comments relate to someone watching from the inside), stick a slim arm (or my arm holding a stick or anything thin and solid-ish) into the gap at the top, move arm as far down as possible (almost half way down) the right hand side, use stick to push lever from 12 o'clock to 9 o'clock position. This unlatches the bottom left of the window and the whole thing falls open.

My money's on a monkey.

This doesn't work on my windows, as my son found out years ago when he locked himself out of the house.

But at 4 am, you would think someone would hear something, unless these are pros and really don't make a sound or leave a print.

As I have said before, better to have stayed asleep rather than confont someone in the apartment. Who knows what might have happened then. I am sure they had a terrible shock in the morning.