Cairns crime: Teenagers home alone in Cairns North as thieves break in

Two young siblings have been left shocked after surviving an “aggressive” home invasion that happened while they were on their own. HOW THEY SURVIVED

TWO young siblings have been left in a state of shock after surviving an “aggressive” home invasion which happened while they were home on their own.

A Cairns North mum, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said her 14-year-old son was left cowering in fear behind his bedroom door as the intruders stormed the house stealing jewellery. His 12-year-old sister was in the shower.

The daytime break-in happened about noon on Monday.

“My teenagers were home when some kids came to the property with a screwdriver and tried to get into my bedroom window,” she said.

The Cairns North mum said her children have been badly affected by the crime. Picture: Nuno Avendano

“They smashed the window and were inside the house at the same time as my son.

“He hid behind his bedroom door calling triple-0. They had been trying to open his door three times but he kept leaning on it so they wouldn’t come in, he had all his weight on there.

“My poor boy was in a bedroom, worrying if someone was going to hurt him.

”My daughter was in the shower at the time, he’s frantically texting her to stay low in the bathroom and not come out as there’s people in the house.”

The mum said she was out of range in Mareeba when this all happened.

“It’s pretty hard – I was out of range and they’ve had to navigate through triple-0 on their own,” she said.

“It was an aggressive invasion.”

The mum said the intruders were around for about 15 minutes.

“Fortunately police got here pretty quickly,” she said.

“They were able to get out and run away through the back door.”

The mum said the invasion had really affected the whole family.

“I probably woke up about 100 times last night. It was in response to the situation,” she said.

“I’ve been severely stressed by it and I think my body wasn’t happy with me.”

The mum said she had noticed differences in the children’s behaviour since the break-in.

“It’s hard for them, they would’ve felt better if I was here,” she said.

Police are investigating the home invasion. Picture: Nuno Avendano

“They certainly hadn’t had an experience like that before. It’s hard to process it.

“Now when I walk around at night, they are looking to see who it is. That was something they wouldn’t worry about before.”

“This is something they shouldn’t have to worry about.”

The mum said what concerned her the most was they didn’t hesitate to break-in during the day.

“I think they didn’t care. That’s what I’m thinking,” she said.

“There were signs there was human life, they’ve smashed their way in.

“There’s a shower running, airconditioners running, there’s a kid crying out, there’s doors that are miraculously re-locking themselves, there’s a kid on the other side whispering to triple-0.”

The mum said she had installed secure windows and was disappointed to see how easy they got in.

A police spokesman said no charges had been laid yet and no one was in custody but investigations were ongoing.

Originally published as Cairns crime: Teenagers home alone in Cairns North as thieves break in