Darwin: home invasion victim searching for answers

Haunted after she watched a home invader stand over her sleeping husband, Jennifer Reilly says she is looking for answers more than seven weeks since the terrifying ordeal.

Jennifer Reilly of Fannie Bay standing at the bathroom entrance in which she hid in the dark while her home was invaded.

A Fannie Bay woman is searching for answers after a home invader stood over her husband as he slept, with police yet to make any arrests, or receive a victim impact statement almost two months after the incident.

On the night of March 2, Jennifer Reilly was in her ensuite bathroom when she noticed her bedroom door start to swing open.

Shocked, Ms Reilly, 59, was not sure if it was a nightmare as she watched the intruder scan a phone light across the room and over her husband as he slept.

As the intruder proceeded to rummage through the bedside drawers just feet from where her husband, Brian, lay, Ms Reilly resorted to the “only weapon” she had.

“I just let rip this bloodcurdling scream and I don’t know how far they had taken off or if they had a weapon,” she said.

“Brian bolted upright from his sleep and ran straight out.”

Ms Reilly continued to scream until she was sure the intruder had fled the home.

In the minutes that followed, several neighbours and multiple police cars would arrive on site – a “brilliant” response, according to Ms Reilly.

“I couldn’t fault any of them at all.”

The bedroom where Brian Reilly slept as his bedside table draws were rummaged through during the invasion. Picture: Supplied.

For the shocked couple, however, it was the aftermath of the traumatic experience which has left them feel “left behind”.

A former executive director of the Territory’s emergency services, Ms Reilly said she was “frustrated” by the lack of follow-up in the weeks that followed, with no updates or information to emerge from the break-in.

“I never got a victim impact statement, they never took fingerprints, and they never took evidence,” she said.

“The police are too busy.”

Ms Reilly discovered her AirPods – stolen by the invader – could be located and therefore pinpoint the location of its user.

When she brought this detail to the authorities attention, Ms Reilly said she was made to feel “humiliated” and asked ‘what do you want us to do?’.

After expressing her concern online, the couple were contacted by elected officials who sought to reassure the couple that authorities were monitoring their situation.

Ms Reilly, however, said she knew from first-hand experience there had been a shortfall “from the top”.

“In the past, having worked in government for many years, I used to get annoyed when people said ‘it’s the government’s fault’ or ‘it’s their problem’,” she said.

“(Now) I am definitely saying it’s the government’s responsibility – they write the legislation, they write the Police Administration Act, the general orders and they have an obligation to keep us safe.”

A long-time Territorian, Ms Reilly received victim support for the first time following the experience and said her household habits have changed forever.

“It’s easy to become obsessed with checking your doors too much,” she said.

“We tend to check or look outside to see if the lights have turned on, I do that more frequently than I should.”