Comment: Morons target ‘easy pickings’

Dec 13 2007 Liverpool Daily Post

ONE doesn’t have to be very clever to realise that a wealthy Premiership footballer playing in a high- profile game will not be at home at the time – which is presumably why criminals have started to burgle such properties in the belief that they are a "soft target."

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has now become the latest and most high- profile victim of this phenomenon, making him the sixth player in the club to be burgled.

What this gang of morons did not bargain for, however, was that Gerrard’s wife, Alex Curran, and two young children would be at the family home in Formby at the time.

They threatened Ms Curran and one of her friends before stealing jewellery and two sets of car keys, making it, in police- speak, a "confrontational burglary."

Terrifying might be the word that most readily springs to mind when a masked gang break into a home where only defenceless women and children are present, making Gerrard’s anger at this violation completely understandable.

Detectives are linking the burglaries which have all taken place over the past 18 months when the footballers were playing at away games.

The latest incident comes only three weeks after striker Dirk Kuyt’s home, in Woolton, was targeted by thieves while he was away on international duty with Holland. Other victims have included defender Daniel Agger, striker Peter Crouch, current goalkeeper Pepe Reina and former Liverpool goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek.

The burglary takes the gloss off Liverpool’s fantastic victory against Marseille on Tuesday night to progress to the knock-out stages of the Champions League, both for the city in general and for Gerrard in particular, who after the game became Liverpool’s leading European goalscorer.

But, in the longer term, the extra security precautions that are bound to follow are another step along the road which will make our leading footballers more remote from the fans who idolise them.