Windsor home invasion victim suffering flashbacks, panic attacks PTSD

Flora Socratous still has flashbacks to the moment an intruder confronted her with a weapon in the kitchen of her Windsor home.

The trauma for Flora Socratous kicked in days after a home invasion that was all filmed on her phone’s camera.

The Windsor woman now has regular panic attacks, suffers from anxiety, has been diagnosed with PTSD and has flashbacks to the moment a random offender was walking around her kitchen.

He was chased from Ms Socratous’ home after she confronted him during a brazen daylight home invasion in January in an ordeal all caught on camera.

Flora Socratous was confronted by a man in her Windsor kitchen.

The intruder flees her Windsor home.

“I felt invaded. My place doesn’t feel like a safe place anymore. I live in fear, which is not right,” she told the Herald Sun.

“My memory is shocking, I can’t concentrate. I have a lack of sleep so I’m tired, I can’t even construct a sentence sometimes, which is just not me.

“I’ve got this guy in my head. I see him when I wake up. I do see him in my kitchen or I get crept out. I get up at the slightest noise. That shouldn’t happen.

“I’ve been diagnosed with PTSD, I suffer from panic attacks, anxiety, heavy chest pains and all from this person who decided to break in to grab whatever he could.”

A furious Ms Socratous said Victorian judges and magistrates needed to consider the long-lasting impacts crimes can have on victims.

Ms Socratous is struggling to deal with the trauma she suffered during the home invasion. Picture: Jason Edwards

“I don’t think they should be let out. Do the crime, do the time.

“It’s a revolving door for these criminals, they’re let back out on the streets and before you know it, they reoffend.

“In my situation, the offender got a tap — not a slap on the wrist.

“His ordeal will be over in a few months, whereas I have to live with the effects from the aggravated burglary. He has changed my life.”

Ms Socratous has since installed several security cameras and alarms around her home and has regular appointments for her ongoing psychological battle.

She said she has become a changed woman ever since a man stormed her family home.

“Who knows how long it will take to recover and go back to the person I once was, the confident socialite. While I’m affected for life, these criminals go unpunished,” she added.

“I still live in fear, fear it’s going to happen again, fear he will be back, fear I might not be as lucky next time.”

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Originally published as Windsor home invasion victim suffering flashbacks, panic attacks PTSD