Homeless couple devastated by garage break-in

2:30pm Friday 23rd March 2012 in News By Bruce Thain

A homeless couple say they now have "absolutely nothing" after thieves stole all their valuables from a rented council garage.

Mahood Ahmad and his wife Naeema-Jamal were shocked to find their belongings had disappeared from the garage in Broughinge Road, Borehamwood, which belongs to Hertsmere Borough Council.

The couple have been living in the Ibis Hotel, in Elstree Way, Borehamwood, since they became homeless on January 10, and rented the garage because they had nowhere else to keep their belongings.

Thieves ransacked the garage in the early hours of Saturday March 18, and stole a number of valuble belongings including jewellery, watches and silver dinnerware.

Mr Ahmad, 64, said: “I’m upset and angry. We have absolutely nothing. Our whole lives were in that garage and now it is all gone.”

Mr Ahmad also said there was oil on the floor of the garage and the thieves used the couple's stored clothes to clean their feet.

He said: “My wife was so upset and she was in tears. We have lost everything and we can’t even dress ourselves.”

Mrs Ahmad said: “I’m absolutely devastated when I saw it. I don’t how someone could do this.

“It’s not just the money value of items, but what they mean to us.”

Mr Ahmad believes there was not enough security around the garages and it made them an easy target for thieves.

The couple are also worried their identity will be stolen, as sensitive documentation was also taken in the theft.

Mr Ahmad said: “We just don’t know what to do now. We just hope we will find somewhere to live so we can sort through our belongings.”

Comments(25)

Maverosi says...
2:58pm Fri 23 Mar 12

Sorry but what has this got to do with Hertsmere ?
Why is it even mentioned and why didn't this family store such "valuable items " in a secure storage facility .
Smells a bit fishy to me

Report this post »

Maverosi says...
3:38pm Fri 23 Mar 12

Where has the bit gone about they were made homeless after a mistake in who owned the house .
Were they illegally subletting social housing ?
Is this another one of those stories to try and put pressure on the housing authorities to bump them up the list ?

Report this post »

uxorious1 says...
4:07pm Fri 23 Mar 12

'Is this another one of those stories to try and put pressure on the housing authorities to bump them up the list ?'

Spot on Maverosi, either that or stupidity above and beyond the call of duty.

Report this post »

RedBen says...
6:04pm Fri 23 Mar 12

You really are vile Mavorosi. These people have suffered yet all you do is pour scorn on their plight. Youre nothing but evil. I wish these people luck and hope they get their lives back on track soon. Don't bother replying to me Mav, you repulse me.

Report this post »

Maverosi says...
7:19pm Fri 23 Mar 12

Wondered how long it would take the bad smell to follow me

Report this post »

Maverosi says...
7:27pm Fri 23 Mar 12

Yes I pour scorn . Were they illegally subletting which is a massive blight on society , and why the need to mention hertsmere borough council .
Also the statement that there wasn't enough security around the garage yet they still chose to put all these valuable items and documents there when the hotel has a safe .
And why not chose to clean up the oil in the garage before storing the items there . A bag of cat litter would have done the job easily enough .
Over the months we have seen several sob stories designed to try and put pressure on the authorities to unfairly try and bump them up the housing list.
Why not just that a garage was burgled without the bleeding heart story ?

Report this post »

RedBen says...
7:35pm Fri 23 Mar 12

Why don't you just let the authorities be the judge? These people are homeless and have had their personal belongings stolen. If you've nothing nice to say keep your presumptions and accusations to yourself. Show some compassion or are you incapable? If the stuff you spout is proven then fine but until it ever is then I wish them well and hope their belongings are recovered at least.

Report this post »

subs69 says...
8:07pm Fri 23 Mar 12

Apart from anything else, according to the rules laid down by Hertsmere Council you are not allowed to store things in the garages it lets. One of the reasons being that they are not secure for these items

Report this post »

RedBen says...
8:12pm Fri 23 Mar 12

The one point I agree with Maverosi on, miracle, if the fact concerning the hotel safe. Surely any documents that could be used in identity theft would be stored in a safe? Hope that is just nativity on their part.

Report this post »

Maverosi says...
8:13pm Fri 23 Mar 12

And I asked why they are homeless .
I haven't accused anyone of anything like others .
I have plenty of compassion when its genuine , try watching sports relief for some genuine devastating sob stories . I do however get upset with people trying to put pressure on authorities to bump them up housing lists .
Why the need to name Hertsmere as the people they rented the garage off and the lack of security like its Hertsmere's fault that it happened ,
As I stated the hotel has a safe in every room to store valuable items in .

Report this post »

RedBen says...
8:14pm Fri 23 Mar 12

Nievety not nativity.

Report this post »

mr.taxpayer says...
4:52pm Sat 24 Mar 12

Maverosi wrote:
Where has the bit gone about they were made homeless after a mistake in who owned the house .
Were they illegally subletting social housing ?
Is this another one of those stories to try and put pressure on the housing authorities to bump them up the list ?
Totally agree with this.

Oh, and BenDer why have you piped up again? All you do on here is start arguments on here with Maverosi and myself.

Keep your big nose out of it.

Report this post »

RedBen says...
5:38pm Sat 24 Mar 12

BenDer.....thats so funny tax dodger. For someone who is the first living brain donor that is a brilliant acrnym of RedBen. Must have taken a genius like you several hours to work out. Well done.

Report this post »

RedBen says...
5:42pm Sat 24 Mar 12

Incidently taxnob my nose is perfect and nice with a slight Tom Cruise angle of slant. Very attractive if I say so myself. BenDer .......oh my aching sides.

Report this post »

mr.taxpayer says...
6:19pm Sun 25 Mar 12

Taxnob - now there's some thinking that's gone into that!

Do you have it on the brain perhaps BenDer??!!

Report this post »

RedBen says...
6:45pm Sun 25 Mar 12

You wish.

Report this post »

RedBen says...
6:49pm Sun 25 Mar 12

Taxdoger..are you homophobic by any chance? You seem to imply it's an insult to insulate someone is...well you know. Is you a closest by any chance? You sound like one.

Report this post »

RedBen says...
7:26pm Sun 25 Mar 12

Taxdoger youre more than welcome too come to a few clubs with me.

Report this post »

JustAnotherObserver says...
10:09pm Sun 25 Mar 12

Very unlucky - but yes, I possibly would have kept important documents with me in the hotel, together with anything valuable.

Hopefully if they put valuables in there, they took out some insurance?

Report this post »

JustAnotherObserver says...
10:09pm Sun 25 Mar 12

Very unlucky - but yes, I possibly would have kept important documents with me in the hotel, together with anything valuable.

Hopefully if they put valuables in there, they took out some insurance?

Report this post »

mr.taxpayer says...
9:02am Mon 26 Mar 12

RedBen wrote:
BenDer.....thats so funny tax dodger. For someone who is the first living brain donor that is a brilliant acrnym of RedBen. Must have taken a genius like you several hours to work out. Well done.
Its 'acronym' actually.

Report this post »

mr.taxpayer says...
9:03am Mon 26 Mar 12

RedBen wrote:
Taxdoger..are you homophobic by any chance? You seem to imply it's an insult to insulate someone is...well you know. Is you a closest by any chance? You sound like one.
oh, and 'insinuate'.


And then there's 'Is you a closet'

Your punctuation and spelling leaves a lot to be desired..

Are you Sandra Parnell??!!

Report this post »

mr.taxpayer says...
9:04am Mon 26 Mar 12

DerBrain??

Report this post »

RedBen says...
9:13am Mon 26 Mar 12

Whoosh as it sails right over your head.

Report this post »

LEGS1982 says...
12:18pm Mon 26 Mar 12

Why don't you comment constructively about the story instead of using this post as an excuse for a public slanging match. Why don't you just take each other's numbers so you can argue between yourselves and not for everyone else to see! Back to the story... I'm sure somewhere in the rental agreement there was something to say that they store things at their own risk. Therefore as sad as it is that the garage has been burgled common sense would have said that you wouldn't store valubles in a garage.

Report this post »

click2find

About cookies

We want you to enjoy your visit to our website. That's why we use cookies to enhance your experience. By staying on our website you agree to our use of cookies. Find out more about the cookies we use.

I agree