Dear All,
Many thanks for your sage words of advice which has given me much to contemplate in the coming few hours and days.
In answer to your questions, no I was not in my house when the thief struck, but my lady friend was. She heard some banging on the balcony on the second floor and looked out from the top floor where our bedroom is situated and saw a man dressed in black trying to break the balcony door open with a hammer. When he saw her, he ran off whilst she locked herself in the bedroom and waited for the police to arrive. He didn't manage to get in so nothing was taken, but she was alone in the house, so the whole incident was quite frightening, given her gentle nature.
We do have an alarm with sensors on each balcony, but foolishly we never turned it on in the past. I think there is simple lesson there for all of us, in that a non-activated alarm is quite useless. And perhaps also, that even if the thief sees you have an alarm, he may not assume its working and break into your home anyway, so don't rely on the sight of an alarm bell etc alone to be a deterrent !
It is for this reason, that we are now seeking canine help in the form of a guardian type animal, who can roam through the house looking for would be intruders.
Again, I am indebted for all of your advice.
Sincerely,
T. Washington