Man Sentenced To Prison After Intruder Dies

[Jim117]

Doesn’t seem worth starting a new topic just for this bit of info so I’m just going to tack it on here as I think it’s relevant and maybe helpful to some. So there’s been five burglaries near me at the beginning of this week. One of the victims was someone we know and I asked how the scumbags had broken in. The answer didn’t surprise me at all so I just want to share this for the benefit of anyone who doesn’t know. Older UPVC or composite doors have a weak spot on the lock cylinder. So the exterior handle can be pried off leaving the cylinder protruding from the door. The cylinder can then be gripped by pliers or similar and easily broken off. Then a screwdriver or whatever can be poked in the hole to flip the lever that unlocks the door. Modern lock cylinders have a deliberate weakness built towards the outside to defeat this attack method meaning the end of the cylinder will break first leaving the remaining parts blocking access to the lock lever. I would advise anyone with older doors to check/upgrade their locks. Just in case a dodgy tradesmen starts huffing and giving you a daft price for this work bear the following in mind. A new barrel should be £20/£30 last time I bought one and the installation literally requires the removal and replacement of one easily accessible screw on the edge of the door. Keep safe.

[Findlay]

On 17/11/2022 at 12:02, Jim117 said:

Doesn’t seem worth starting a new topic just for this bit of info so I’m just going to tack it on here as I think it’s relevant and maybe helpful to some. So there’s been five burglaries near me at the beginning of this week. One of the victims was someone we know and I asked how the scumbags had broken in. The answer didn’t surprise me at all so I just want to share this for the benefit of anyone who doesn’t know. Older UPVC or composite doors have a weak spot on the lock cylinder. So the exterior handle can be pried off leaving the cylinder protruding from the door. The cylinder can then be gripped by pliers or similar and easily broken off. Then a screwdriver or whatever can be poked in the hole to flip the lever that unlocks the door. Modern lock cylinders have a deliberate weakness built towards the outside to defeat this attack method meaning the end of the cylinder will break first leaving the remaining parts blocking access to the lock lever. I would advise anyone with older doors to check/upgrade their locks. Just in case a dodgy tradesmen starts huffing and giving you a daft price for this work bear the following in mind. A new barrel should be £20/£30 last time I bought one and the installation literally requires the removal and replacement of one easily accessible screw on the edge of the door. Keep safe.

Yes, its called lock snapping. The best anti-snap locks have been tested to gain the three-star accrditation and enhanced testing gains the diamond accreditation. Have a look at https://www.locksmithrotherham.co.uk/anti-snap-locks.html If it doesn't have the stars, its not anti-snap.