When your house is burgled, you can lose a lot more than just your possessions - just ask Susan and Peter Geddes.
The Whangarei couple were devastated when burglars made off with an heirloom that had been in the family for generations.
They also lost their sense of being secure in their
own home.
The necklace had belonged to Susan's great, great grandmother and been passed down to the oldest daughter of each generation.
It was stolen when the home she shares with her husband Peter and two daughters was broken into during the day on May 23.
The family returned home to find someone had smashed a window, left the fridge open, taken the DVD player and rummaged through her jewellery box.
However, the real trauma began the next morning when she realised the necklace had been stolen.
She inherited it directly from her grandmother after her mother passed away.
"It is a badge of being the oldest woman in a generation in our family. Now it is gone. My daughter will never wear it. My granddaughter will never even know of it," she said in her victim impact statement.
"No money can replace the loss of this necklace and I deeply feel its loss. It upsets me that something has passed from my family into the careless hand of these young men."
Two people were charged in relation to the burglary and are currently before the court.
Her husband Peter Geddes, a civil engineer, said the necklace looked like the "bling" that kids wore nowadays.
"It (the necklace) dates back to the earliest settlement of New Zealand. It's sort of like a mark of whakapapa."
The necklace was worth $1500 to $2500 but he doubted the thieves would have got much for it.
"It's got very little to do with the value. It's entirely an antisocial act."
His family had lost its sense of security after the break in.
"A home is where one should feel safe and secure and know that one's children are protected. The break-in removed that feeling and leaves feelings of insecurity and vulnerability."
? Northland burglary facts (year to June 30, 2005)
Burglaries: 2423, up 12% on 2004
Burglaries solved: one in five
Thefts: 3955, down 2%
Thefts solves: one in four
Total crime in Northland: down 8%
