Exclusive
'I sleep with a sledgehammer next to my bed after a migrant tried to break into my garden'
15 November 2022, 08:24 | Updated: 15 November 2022, 10:32
Aycliffe resident sleeps with sledgehammer over mgirant fears
A Dover resident has told LBC she sleeps with a sledgehammer next to her bed after an asylum seeker tried to break into her garden.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Kerry Jones, who lives in Aycliffe, said she found someone trying to climb over her back gate over the summer.
She told LBC she now sleeps with a sledgehammer next to her bed because the police did not come when she called.
Watch: Sangita Myska schools caller who brands migrants 'criminals'
"It [was] just a normal Saturday evening, teatime, I've come in, cooked the dinner and everything," she told LBC.
"I was in my kitchen washing up, and went out the back to empty my bins and everything, came back in and I'm standing there drying up and I heard a noise.
"I thought it was my cat running through the gate first of all, and I stepped forward towards my back gate - and that's when I saw this man half over my back gate."
Kim Leadbeater says safe routes for migrants would save the UK from the 'mess that we are in'
She said local residents "don't feel safe".
"I've got a sledgehammer sitting next to my bed and that has been there since [the break in] because I dialled 999 and nobody came," she said.
"You're always on edge... I don't even answer my front door without shutting and locking my back door first."
Watch: The Tories are a 'bunch of idiots', says caller 'fuming' about migrant rhetoric
Home Secretary Suella Braverman yesterday signed a new deal with France to help reduce the number of asylum seekers crossing the English Channel.
The UK is paying another £63 million to France, to boost beach patrols and put British staff in control rooms across the Channel.
But Ms Jones said she did not think it would help.
"I think it will stop some, but they will still be coming," she said.
Read more: Record 40,000 migrants have crossed the Channel so far this year
Read more: Albanians pay £18k to pose as second drivers in lorries delivering Christmas gifts to the UK
"They will still come, without a doubt, they will still come.
"I mean, Saturday there was [972]... yesterday there was another 850."
She added: "The Aycliffe residents, we know as soon as we hear that chopper up in the air, we know.
"Shut your doors, shut your windows, get your kids in."
Sangita Myska schools this caller who brands migrants as 'criminals'.
More than 40,000 migrants have crossed the Channel to the UK so far this year, according to Government data.
In 2021, there were 28,561 recorded.
The 972 arrivals on Saturday were the first since October 31, when 46 people were detected in one boat.
Ms Braverman said on Monday: "We must do everything we can to stop people making these dangerous journeys and crack down on the criminal gangs.
Read more: ‘Extreme right wing motivation’ behind Dover firebomb attack, police say
Watch: James O'Brien's strong message for anti-migrant Brits, as UK and France sign new deal
"This is a global challenge requiring global solutions, and it is in the interests of both the UK and French governments to work together to solve this complex problem.
"There are no quick fixes but this new arrangement will mean we can significantly increase the number of French gendarmes patrolling the beaches in northern France and ensure UK and French officers are working hand in hand to stop the people smugglers."
