Small community outraged

Whitbourne is being plagued with a rash of robberies and home invasions, and citizens believe the crimes are drug-related.

Arthur C. Green
Kicker

The quiet town of Whitbourne has been rocked by another home invasion. Citizens have no idea what is happening to their once safe community.

On Friday, March 9, Brian and Kelly Osbourne along with their two girls were comfortably sleeping in their Bishops Lane home when Kelly woke to a loud noise in her kitchen.

“I thought it might have been one of the kids,” Osbourne said. “I waited a minute to see if one of the girls would enter my room, but they didn’t.”

It’s not unusual for the Osbourne children to make a little noise at night, but what was going on in the kitchen was something well out of the ordinary.

“I heard this loud noise again, like someone was opening and closing the cupboards,” said Kelly.

She immediately woke her husband, and Brian went to check the doors in the family home. That is when he discovered an open door with a broken lock and their cupboard doors all flung open.

“Brian’s wallet was on the floor where he had his jacket left,” Osbourne said. “His money was missing and our bankcards.”

All that remained from the perpetrator were footprints on the floor and a broken doorknob. With the recent robberies that have occurred in the town, the Osbournes are now upgrading their home security.

The home invasion has really changed the demeanor of the Osbourne household. The two girls cannot sleep in their beds alone anymore because they are terrified, Kelly says.

“No child should be afraid in their own home,” Osbourne said. “I am so angry.”

Residents of Whitbourne are now living on eggshells with all the recent criminal activity. There have been about a half-dozen break-ins in the community so far this year. People used to feel safe, leaving their doors unlocked.

Gladys Gosse-Smith has been a resident of Whitbourne her entire life and has never seen an increase in criminal activity like this before in the community.

“We now keep our doors locked, and I have told my grandparents to do the same,” Gosse-Smith said. “I hear the robbers are looking for drugs. Scary.”

Cst. Lee Bennett from the Whitbourne RCMP detachment said he could not speak about any ongoing investigations.

Criminal activity in the Whitbourne area has the citizens on high alert. The town is on edge, and some people are arming their bedrooms with baseball bats and changing travel plans.

“I don’t know what’s happening to our small community,” Osbourne said. “It should not be like this.”