Plucky 94-year-old Brierfield woman foils burglar

10:49pm Friday 9th May 2008

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A 94-YEAR-OLD great-grandmother scared off a burglar who was trying to break into her home - and said she'd do it again.

Edith Buck stepped into action after a man smashed the back window of her home in Brierfield in the middle of the night.

The pensioner, who has six great-grandchildren aged 12 months to 17 years, has vowed not to let the attempted break-in stop her from going out.

Local councillor Sheena Dunn praised Mrs Buck for her actions.

She said: "Edith is a very plucky lady. It is wonderful that people have this sort of courage but it is awful that they need it."

Mrs Buck told how she looked the burglar in the eye before he fled. And she said: "I was more angry than anything else because this is my home and I wanted to protect it."

Mrs Buck, who has lived in the house for 63 years, has had additional locks and strengthened glass put into the windows.

She is also considering having a grill put outside the back window.

The former weaver, who worked at Hendon Mills in Nelson during the Second World War, said the support of her family has helped her deal with the incident.

Mrs Buck said she heard a banging noise that woke her up at around 5am.

The mother-of-three, who was burgled once before in 1985, said: "I heard this knocking and I thought it was the young man who lives next door because he has been doing lots of knocking and banging.

"I though to myself 'what is he doing this early in the morning'."

Mrs Buck decided to look out of the back bedroom window after a few minutes and said she was surprised to see the man standing outside the window.

The former Walter Street School pupil said: "I got near the window and saw that this guy was taking bits of glass out.

"I knocked on the window, he looked up and I asked what do you think you are doing'.

"I think he was a little startled but I looked straight at him when I spoke to him. Then he turned around and ran away.

"It was not brave. It just came naturally when it is your home and you want to protect it. I would do the same again. I am not a nervous person.

"I have lived through two world wars and it takes more than this to stop me going out."

She immediately rang police after the incident early on Saturday.

Mrs Buck, who lost her husband Walter Eric thirty years ago, was born in Nelson but moved to Brierfield as a child.

She said the incident has left her a little shaken: "I am not so bad in the house. It's when I go out it can shake me.

"I don't feel that safe but you can't let it stop you doing things."

Police in Nelson have issued a witness appeal for the man they want to speak to in connection with the attempted break-in.

The man is described as being aged 20-30, white, of slim build, wearing a yellow and silver high visibility jacket.

Anyone with information should contact Nelson police on 01282 472604 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.