WELLINGTON, New Zealand - A burglar visited Graeme Glass' home in New Zealand twice in one day — first to steal some goods and later to return them, along with a heartfelt apology note.


The thief struck while Glass was at work in the southern resort of Queenstown on Tuesday.

The burglar smashed a window to gain entry and made off with a laptop computer, a camera, and Glass's wallet with an American Express credit card.

The thief returned the goods later in the day, along with a new basketball and two pairs of gloves bought on the stolen credit card.

Glass and his wife, Shirley, discovered the loot piled on their kitchen table with a neat, handwritten full-page note from the burglar saying he was sorry for "violating the safety and security of your home."

The robber also promised to leave cash in Glass' mailbox to pay for the smashed window when he had enough money.

"I have never written truer words when I say that I wish that I had never done this to you and your family," the note read. "From the bottom of my heart I am sorry."

Queenstown police said they have a description of the thief from staff in the stores where the credit card was used.

lol...If I'm ever burglarized I hope it's someone like this guy...Amazing what a guilty conscience will do....

You know I thought for a minute that he offered to pay for them to go out as a way of saying sorry.

I have heard of a scam whereby someone robs your home and then sends you, say tickets for the theatre as a way of saying sorry. If the robbed people go out that night, the thieves break back in and really rob the place dry.

Perhaps he just had a pang of conscience

this robber sets a good example to all robbers.

Guilt.....can eat ya alive.

Who said there is no honour amongst thieves.....

That is kind of cool. I would hope that he(I assume) can change his life for the better. Maybe he finally had a watershed moment and has a new outlook on life. Either that or he is going into white collar embezzlement rather than the old fashioned blue collar burglary...

When i read this i thought he was probably someone who was in a momment of financial panic, doing a desperate act that is normally not in his nature to do! This might even be his first and quite possibly his last burglary, considering how badly he seems to feel about it!

To me this doesn't sound like a guilty conscience getting the better of a burglar. It sounds like some parent found out what their kid had done and did what they could to make amends short of turning their little hoodlum child in to the authorities.

I picture some kid breaking in, stealing the stuff and then buying the basketball and the gloves (though not sure what type of gloves). I do not see an adult criminal in need of money for whatever reason buying a basketball with a stolen credit card. I see a dumb kid doing that though.
I figure the parent found the stuff in the kids room or questioned how they got a brand new basketball and found out what the kid had done. A parent would want to make up for the kids mistake but not necessarily see the kid get punished by the authorities.

If this is the case I really hope that the kid learns something, is thankful for such a parent or parents and moves on to become a productive member of society.

There is one thing that bugs me though. These peoples house gets broken into not once but twice and no one sees anything? They get robbed once and then broken into again so the burglar can bring the stuff back? What is with these people? You would think they would learn their lesson and get their act together. If it is that easy to get into the house, repeatedly, then they are bound to get robbed sometime in the future.

Kevin A.