The skinny thief was even more nervous than his victim. But he still grabbed her around the neck, whispering “I am going to kill you”.
Hardy Street resident, Gail Millar (who lives alone), says she ‘still cannot believe how calm’ she stayed when intruders broke into her house at around 3am on Sunday morning.

“I saw the silhouette of a man behind the curtain.”

“I heard my little dog barking. I got up, heard nothing more and went back to bed. The dog continued to bark and I got up again and heard a noise. I went into the dining room and from the street light outside, I saw the silhouette of a man behind the curtain. At that stage, I did not know if he was in the house or outside the window.”

Gail put the lights on, screaming ‘get out of my house’. “He got such a shock. He was already inside and got all tangled up in the net curtains, which he shredded before tumbling free. He then put me in a neck lock and asked me to open the front door.”
This she did and saw that two more men, and perhaps even a third, were outside. “The man who grabbed me was skinny and whispered that he would kill me and I asked why? They then demanded cash.”

They then marched her back to the front door and told her to stay inside.

By that stage, her cellphone and WiFi dongle had been snatched by the men. They marched her to her room where she pointed out her handbag. About R500 cash was removed but Gail pleaded with them not to take her bankcards and other personal cards. “Last time those were taken when my bag was stolen… I do not want to go through that rigmarole again.” It appears as if two of the men argued over the cash. They then marched her back to the front door and told her to stay inside.

It appears as if two of the men argued over the cash. They then marched her back to the front door and told her to stay inside.

“I was calm but shaken. It was about 3.15am. I did not want to go down to the police station. They also had cut my landline although later I realised I had a spare phone I could have used but at that stage I did not think of that.”

At about 5.20am, Gail drove down to the police station where she described the service as ‘astonishingly good’.

“They were sympathetic, and asked if I had been injured. Everyone was so supportive. A detective was assigned to the case and the fingerprint unit from Newcastle arrived to look at the scene.”

Gail says she probably survived serious injury as she was ‘so calm’.
“If the first guy had been alone, I would have probably wrestled him to the ground!”.