South Australia break-in hotspots exposed as Creagh Hay reveals why he abandoned his Payneham home out of fear

Creagh’s eastern suburbs home has been broken into so many times he abandoned it and retreated to the Hills. Search the list to see where every suburb ranks.

Creagh Hay is afraid of returning to his SAHT unit after a violent encounter with an intruder. Picture: RoyVPhotography

Creagh Hay has had a tough life.

When he was offered housing in a neat little unit in a small block of South Australia Housing Trust units in pretty Payneham six kilometres north east of Adelaide’s CBD, he thought he was about to embark on a new peaceful chapter.

Only it didn’t work out that way.

Instead, Mr Hay has been afraid to return to the property for months after an intruder moved in and threatened him with violence, The Advertiser understands.

He first let the couple into his home around September and said they gradually “kind of” took over the place and moved in but he didn’t want them there.

Then the man started behaving unpredictably when he was coming down on ice so Mr Hay stopped letting them in.

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The Payneham unit block where Creagh Hay lived. Picture: Luke Williams

When he returned from staying at a friend’s house he found they had broken in through a window, damaging it in the process.

Mr Hay said he contacted SAHT but it took them some time to fix the window only for the couple to return and break it again.

The front door was so badly broken it wouldn’t shut, he claimed

Mr Hay has been staying in Littlehampton since the incident. Picture: RoyVPhotography

Mr Hay, who was concerned if he contacted police it would cause more trouble, said the man got into a fight one day that spilt out of the house into the carpark.

“The thing is, I have a badly broken body,” he said.

“I guess my biggest concern was the bad moods he would get in when he was coming down.”

After that, Mr Hay was too terrified to live in the unsecure house so he got up and left the property, hiding out at a friend’s place in the Adelaide Hills.

No charges have been laid.

Months on he’s still staying in the Hills and is too scared to return home.

There were more than 5700 reports of residential serious criminal trespass last financial year in South Australia, according to analysis of the most recent annual SA Police crime statistics.

Analysis found Port Augusta residents were the most likely to have their houses broken into, recording 144 offences in 2023-24.

It was followed by Port Lincoln at 112, Adelaide at 111 and Coober Pedy at 82.

Davoren Park, Seaton and Salisbury North had the most break-ins around metro Adelaide – with the latter having the state’s biggest increase over the two financial years from 26 to 56.

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Just seven residential serious criminal trespass offences were recorded in Payneham in the 12- month period.

SAHT confirmed it placed corrugated iron on the broken door and window, but were unable to confirm when. Picture: Luke Williams

But as Mr Hay’s experience shows not everyone from every walk of life necessarily calls the police when a break-in or a crime takes place.

Knocking on Mr Hay’s old unit, no one answers.

The broken door and window have now been completely removed and replaced with corrugated iron but the balcony door remains wide open, technically still making the apartment accessible.

Neighbours on the quiet street confirm Mr Hay left after a violent episode with squatters who had been living at the property but had not been seen for several weeks.

One says he was well-loved on the block, another says they contacted SAHT and SAPOL.

Mr Hay said he hoped to go home but wants SAHT to guarantee the property will be adequately maintained and secured – this included fixing the holes in the walls made by the squatters and dealing with block-wide issues with hot water.

Hay’s leafy green Payneham street. Picture: Luke Williams

A SAHT spokesman told the Advertiser it had been unable to contact Mr Hay.

“It is certainly not in our interests, or those of tenants, to have squatters in our properties and we will always work to evict and to secure property. It is important for tenants to remain in their properties and it is a condition of their tenancy.”