Burglars beware: Big Brother watching

The Mercury Home Watch system utilises a wireless security camera in the home which detects intruders, triggers an alarm and instantly transmits a live visual feed to the resident’s smart phone or to Mercury’s monitoring centre.

Once alerted to the danger, the recipient can then inform the police.

A PSNI report last year revealed that in 2012/13, there were

5,945 reported incidents of domestic burglary in Northern Ireland, 16.3 incidents per day or one incident every 88 minutes.

In recent months, Northern Ireland has witnessed examples of ‘hostage burglary’ and ‘tiger kidnapping’ in which residents have been held captive in their own homes while criminals stole from their houses or places of work.

Earlier this month a family were held hostage in a ‘tiger kidnapping’ incident in west Belfast and in January a man and a woman were hospitalised after being tied up while their home in Banbridge was burgled by five masked men, one of whom had a gun.

The system does not require electricity and is protected against power cuts.

Mercury Security director Liam Cullen says, “The experience of being burgled can be a very traumatic one for victims who may be left feeling angry, violated and unsafe.

“Most burglaries occur during daylight hours, when homes are often vacant, but unfortunately there is also a significant number that take place when the house is occupied when protection for your family becomes the over-riding priority and concern.

“Mercury Home Watch cameras will detect intruders, visually record them and transmit live moving images in real time to either the resident’s mobile phone or to our monitoring station to alert them of the danger and the reality of the intrusion.

“One of the great benefits of Mercury Home Watch is the fact that you can protect your ground floor while you sleep. And for added protection, if you fail to answer your smart phone when a live intrusion occurs, we take control of it at the Mercury 24/7 monitoring centre and call police and key-holders.”

The Home Watch system is also effective for houses under construction.

For more information call Mercury Security Management on 9262 0510 or email [email protected].