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Good help is hard to find
NOOITGEDACHT AND DOUGLASDALE – Woman shares the agony of trying to save her daughter and not getting any help from police.
A woman who was trying to get help for her daughter who was trapped in a Nooitgedacht house during a burglary on Women’s Day, is considering taking legal action after she struggled to find emergency service workers who would help her.
Kimberly Lindsell (20) was staying on her father’s plot in the Nooitgedacht area on the night of 9 August when she was woken up at about 2.20am with the sound of someone entering the house. She hid in her bedroom cupboard and attempted to get help by calling the police, but was unable to reach an operator.
She then called her mother, Gillian Lindsell, and told her that there were men in the house and to send help. She also tried to contact emergency services on 10111 three times, but each time her call was disconnected before she could get assistance. Gillian, who lives in Woodmead, then got in her car with her youngest daughter and the pair sped to the Douglasdale Police Station for assistance.
“I found two police officers in the driveway [of the police station] and we begged them to come and help Kim,” Gillian told Fourways Review. “One of the officers told me that it was ‘not his area’, but we begged and pleaded and [the two officers] got in their car and agreed to follow us to the house. They were driving painfully slowly behind us, not even going 60km an hour.”
Once Gillian and the officers reached the house in Nooigedacht, they found that another police vehicle was already there from an unidentified police station, as well as guards from Drift Reaction security company.
“The police in the second car [that we found there] didn’t even get out the car. One of them rolled down his window and asked what was happening, and after I had told him he sunk back into his seat, and his colleague lit a cigarette,” Gillian said.
“The officers from Douglasdale didn’t go into the premises, but walked around the driveway for a while before telling me ‘they are gone’ [presumably the burglars] and got back into their car. Then they and the other police car drove away, leaving Drift Reaction to deal with the mess.”
The burglars stole laptops, a TV, speakers and personal items from the house. Kim, her father and aunt, who were present during the housebreaking, were not physically harmed, and Kim remained undetected in her hiding place. However, although Gillian has decided to approach a lawyer to see if she can take legal action against the police in response to the situation.
“What makes me get so angry is how the police didn’t take this seriously. I have big problems with how we were treated when we were just trying to get help,” she said.
“I don’t want people to lose their jobs or anything, but I want things to change. Something good has to come from this.”
Public response to the Lindsell’s experience has been phenomenal. A Facebook post that Gillian wrote about the experience went viral, with 285 shares and 130 comments by 2.30pm on 11 August.
Gillian has also been approached by Brigadier Lettie Hugo of the Douglasdale Police Station, who has launched an investigation into the incident.
Balan Muthan, spokesperson for the police station could not comment on the conduct of the Douglasdale officers involved, as he was not on duty at the time of the incident and did not know exactly what had happened.
He also said that, although he had not heard of the national line not working over the weekend, sometimes the telecommunication lines went down unexpectedly through no fault of the police. Muthan urges residents to know the contact number of their local police station, as this is a viable alternative if for some reason they cannot get through on 10111.
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