‘We’re sitting ducks’: Retirement village residents fear Dubbo youth gangs

Scared residents at Horizons Village lock themselves inside day and night. More than one in ten have had their homes invaded and cars stolen. Youth invaders hit Tex with an iron bar.

Jan and Tex Giddings in the garage of their home at Dubbo's Horizon Village. They had thieves break into their house and try steal their car. Picture: Rohan Kelly

Elderly residents at a retirement village on the outskirts of Dubbo say they are “sitting ducks” and after more than one in ten residents have had their homes invaded and cars stolen.

Scared locals at the Horizons Village say they’re being forced to stay inside their homes during the day, claiming the retirement village owner RSL Lifecare has ignored their calls to install security lights and a front gate to prevent gangs of youths entering the village.

Jan and Tex Giddings are two of the residents in the village who have faced violent home invasions in the last 12 months, with Mr Giddings being hit in the back with an iron bar by a gang of six hooded youths.

The couple in their seventies were in bed asleep at around midnight when the gang broke into their cottage with the intention of finding the car keys, which they discovered inside a basket in the house.

“When they came here there were about six of them. I don’t even know what I heard, I just got out of bed,” Ms Giddings said.

Spikes installed on the fence at Dubbo’s Horizon Village in an attempt to prevent people being able to climb over. Picture: Rohan Kelly

“The first bloke had a balaclava, a hoodie and a cap on – he had a red balaclava on and the rest were in black and I’m yelling at them to get out.

“Then another fella comes from behind with a jimmy bar.”

Mr Giddings said when his wife screamed he woke up and managed to chase the invaders outside.

“I hear Jan’s car start up in the garage and I rush in there – then the bloke in the car panicked and put it through the wall,” he said.

“That’s when I got hit from behind with the jimmy bar.”

Ms Giddings said residents in the village are scared with many locking themselves in the house at all times.

The damage at Jan and Tex Giddings HOME AFTER youths attempted to steal their car, and drove it into their garage wall. Photo: Supplied

In total, around 15 of the village’s 142 units have been successfully broken into.

“A lot of people are virtually locked up in Fort Knox – they have all their windows locked and some don’t even open them through the day,” Ms Giddings said.

The Giddings along with a group of other residents at Horizons have been asking for better security for nearly two years.

There are currently no security lights in the village and no gate at the entrance.

RSL Lifecare has placed spikes along one boundary fence of the village and hired a security guard to monitor the 142 house area though residents say it is not enough.

“Our residents have access to an emergency call system, that’s manned 24/7, which will raise an alarm directly with the Police or other Emergency Services.

“We’ve hired overnight security personnel, a scheduled upgrade and increase in the number of CCTV cameras will take place this month, and a development application is being submitted to council for a new two-metre fence that will further secure the boundary,” an RSL Lifecare spokesperson said.

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