A local source informs Spurtle of 'yet another' crime in Broughton.
On Eildon Street, a resident recently left a garden door open for a few minutes. Someone came in, took her handbag, wallet, diary and keys. They later returned and tried the keys in the frontdoor, but were disturbed. They came back for a third try, but this time the residents were waiting and got a good description of the thief for the police.
The culprit seemed to be a young male aged around 15 or 16 (probably not a driver, as he did not steal clearly visible car keys).
Without doubt, these events were all very vivid and upsetting for the victim. They also appear to fit into a pattern of increasing crime in the Broughton area (Issue 182).
But how much faith can one put in personal anecdotes when trying to establish accurate, overall patterns of any kind of behaviour in a neighbourhood?
Spurtle has been making preliminary investigations into the statistics, and will report on them in Issue 183.