HORRIBLE FEELING: Family 'terrorised' by brazen burglary

A Mackay mother feels unsafe in her own home after thieves entered through her son's bedroom window while everyone was asleep.

A thief broke into Armie Astridge's home while she and her family slept. Picture: Emma Murray

A MACKAY mother feels "terrorised" in her own home after thieves entered through her son's bedroom window while everyone was asleep.

"Knowing that a person was in my son's room, it's a horrible feeling," Armie Astridge said.

"It makes me angry and sad at the same time.

"For a small amount of gain these thieves caused more trouble, inconvenience and trauma to a family."

Mrs Astridge said the whole family had been asleep when thieves pried open her nine-year-old son's bedroom window and slipped inside the Wellington St home last month.

"I still feel terrorised. I imagine that's how other families feel after their homes have been broken into," she said.

"Several items were missing, one of them is my son's old cracked Samsung tablet.

"For days since the break in, I have been unable to get a good night's sleep. Every single sound wakes me up prompting a walk through the house checking windows and doors."

The mother of two has spoken out labelling it a big issue within the Mackay community.

"These people terrorise families and little kids. We have a real problem here and no one wants to talk about it," she said.

Mrs Astridge believed break ins were often "dismissed as a pretty crime" but should be viewed as being reflective of something more serious.

And she has called for a whole of community approach to address the issue.

"We have a small group of people who feel they can't do anything to improve their future except go into people's houses and take their property," Mrs Astridge said.

"My son's tablet... it's pretty much useless to other people. It's cracked, but he used it a lot and it means a lot to him."

"That cracked tablet had stirred his imagination, enriched his knowledge of the bigger world and opened his mind to endless possibilities.

"I truly hoped it also helped that person who was bold enough to enter my son's window and steal it."

While Mrs Astridge said they would replace the stolen tablet, her family had been left feeling unsafe in their own home.

"We're looking at putting up security cameras... It's made the kids more fearful," Mrs Astridge said. "It's such a young age to lose that sense of security."

Originally published as HORRIBLE FEELING: Family 'terrorised' by brazen burglary