I heard scumbag burglar break into my house at 4am on Christmas Day

A nurse has described the moment she heard a burglar break into the home she shares with her mum in the middle of the night on Christmas morning.
The burglar tried to gain entry via a kitchen window (stock image posed by model)The burglar tried to gain entry via a kitchen window (stock image posed by model)
The burglar tried to gain entry via a kitchen window (stock image posed by model)

Kim Rowan, 51 was woken by the sound of the garden gate on her Old Burdiehouse Road home opening.

At first she thought it was only her mother Norma having a fly cigarette in the garden, and when she heard her bins and kitchen window rattling she decided to investigate.

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She then saw a figure in her garden wearing a dark jacket and a green hat and, still thinking it was her mum, shouted to her.

Kim (right) and her mother Norma were both at home when the burglar struckKim (right) and her mother Norma were both at home when the burglar struck
Kim (right) and her mother Norma were both at home when the burglar struck

Kim, a nurse at the city Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion, explained: "I have to admit I swore and said 'what do you think you are doing, do you know what f**king time it is?'

"I then went into the living room and mum was there watching TV safe and sound and I said:"Wait a minute, if you are in here then who is in the garden?"

"The burglar had got as far as the kitchen window and had moved some of the ornaments to get in, but me shouting must have scared him off."

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Ms Rowan said police were quickly on the scene and were very reassuring.

She said: "They found his backpack in the garden with beer and coke and cranberry juice.

"I heard later that he had tried a good few properties nearby, and had even tried to get into another house by a catflap and that he had a knife.

"I hope the police dogs caught him so that he spends the rest of Christmas banged up.

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"We are not rich people, we are working class people, my mum is a nurse too. We might live in quite a nice house but we have worked hard for it, I've lived here for 17 years and I have never experienced anything like this. You don't expect this at any time, but certainly not on Christmas Day, I think people need to know there are thieves like this out there.

"I am just so glad my nana is no longer with us, that would have been even more horrific."

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “We were called around 4.05am on Wednesday, December 25, to a report of a house breaking in the Old Burdiehouse Road area of Edinburgh. Enquiries are ongoing.”