Burglar ransacked house and washed dishes

Haylie Anderson returned to her home, in Milton, South Otago, New Zealand, to find the property "ransacked", apart from several dishes that had been neatly washed and dried. In her bedroom, clothes had been pulled out of drawers, the bed slept in, possibly by two people, and a strong odour of cannabis remained in the air.

She was particularly scared that bolts had been removed from her six-month-old baby's cot, while baby towels had been stolen. A week's worth of food had also been taken , and "my pantry pretty much cleaned out, and my freezer as well". "It was probably someone hard up, but I'm a solo mother myself with two young kids so it is a bit shitty that someone has done that to me.



"This has left me stuffed for this week," Anderson, who is on a benefit, said. "I budget down to the last cent to make sure my kids have what they need." The stolen food included four cans of baby food and Anderson had a blunt message to the person who stole from baby Lexie and her two-year-old son Jaxon. "It is disgusting to steal from children and take food out of their mouths," she said.

Among the carnage, the burglar also washed and dried two cups and two plates, fuelling speculation two people were involved. "I'm just trying to find some answers," she said. Police were investigating the break-in, with Senior Constable Jim Jordan, of Milton, saying it was probably the work of "some drunken idiot". The burglar gained access by forcing open a bathroom window of the rental property sometime between Wednesday and Saturday, he said.