AN ALMIGHTY smash, the screech of tyres and a baby crying – the sounds heard by a petrified new mum as thieves drove off in the family car while she fed her nine-week-old daughter just metres away.
Brazen criminals paid no notice to the fact that Kirsty Glasson, 26, was in the next room – with the lights on – when they smashed the front door window with a brick, reached in to take the keys out of the keyhole and drove off in the family's Vauxhall Astra.
She had been feeding daughter Olivia – born just nine weeks ago – at 4.30am on Sunday at her home in Peterhouse Road, Grimsby, where she lives with fiance, lorry-driver Chris Westerman, 37 – who was asleep upstairs.
Kirsty said: "The brick could have killed Olivia if it had come through the front room window.
"I was absolutely petrified, totally numb with fear – I couldn't even speak."
Humberside Police are now investigating the incident and have warned residents to keep keys hidden – or the next address they target could be yours.
A spokesman said: "Keep your house and car keys somewhere safe and discrete or criminals may decide to take a chance."
Chris said he jumped out of bed immediately when he heard what he said sounded like a bomb going off downstairs – and his first thoughts were of his partner and daughter.
"You can't imagine what was going through my head when I heard that sound and realised they were downstairs," he said.
Mr Westerman ran to the landing shouting Kirsty's name and she just replied "the car, the car" – so he ran back to his room to get some clothes and shoes on as the floor was covered in broken glass.
By the time he was clothed and got to the door, he could hear the tyres screeching outside as the thieves drove off.
Since the incident, Kirsty has not felt safe in her home and will no longer tend to her daughter downstairs after dark – and the family has had to change the locks in case the criminals return to the house. Hardworking Chris feels he can no longer take jobs with overnight stop-offs – which are common in his line of work – while his fiancee and daughter are at the house.
The couple came forward with their story to warn others to keep keys hidden and to ask the public to look out for their daughter's buggy frame, which was in the car.
It was a silver Bebetto frame with a black bag in the bottom containing a raincover. It has black wheels, which are bigger at the back.
Chris said: "We have been leaving our keys in the door for years and never thought it would be a problem – but we won't be doing it any more.
"The car was insured and can be replaced but it had Olivia's buggy in it – it cost about £600 and we've bought all the parts."
Information to Humberside Police on 101, quoting log number 147 of February 24, 2013.
