Call to tighten Susan Boyle security after intruder scare at home

Published on Wednesday 27 January 2010 21:57

SECURITY for singer Susan Boyle has to be stepped up if she is to be allowed to remain living at her modest council house, it was claimed last night.

The Britain's Got Talent star was left shaken when she discovered a teenage prowler inside her home in Blackburn, West Lothian, on Tuesday night.

Police have now called on her management team to review security arrangements for the singer at the modest terraced house.

Despite having been upset by the incident, Ms Boyle yesterday insisted that she was fine and vowed to never be driven from her childhood home.

She said: "I'm not going anywhere. Nobody's pushing me out of my house.

"I think he got more of a scare than I did because he ran off."

She added: "It is quite worrying, quite disconcerting for everyone. But the matter is in hand. The police have been really good about it. They've been very excellent. I'm fine, I am absolutely fine."

Ms Boyle had returned home with a friend at 9:40pm, having attended a charity recording session for Haiti earthquake victims in London, to find the man on the stairs of her West Lothian home.

The intruder – who is believed to have entered via an unlocked door to the rear of the house – fled past the 48-year-old and her friend after being disturbed.

Police said the intruder left empty-handed, but they believe he had been disturbed before he could take anything.

They said Ms Boyle had been "uncomfortable" about staying in her house on Tuesday night and instead went to a friend's home.

DC Brian Thompson of Lothian and Borders Police, who is leading the investigation, said Ms Boyle's personal security was now an issue that her management would have to address.

He added: "We've spoken to her and offered crime prevention advice, but it falls to her management team to make these sorts of arrangements. There won't be a police presence.

"Obviously, her management team are really going to have to look at this sort of thing."

He confirmed that Ms Boyle's fame may have been behind the intruder's presence, saying: "Given her high profile, we can't rule out that this is something concerned with her fame.

"Alternatively, you can't rule out that it's been an opportunistic crime. It's not uncommon for somebody to just try a door handle and go into premises."

He said that a man who had been detained initially in connection with the incident had been questioned and released without charge.

Council repairmen changed the locks on Ms Boyle's home yesterday after fears were raised that the culprit could have taken copies of the keys.

PR expert Mark Bukowski said that the intrusion was a "massive wake-up call" to her management team and that they had to act now, adding that the current state of affairs was "ridiculous".

"It's impossible, in any shape or form, for this to continue for somebody who is now a global superstar," he said. "The acceleration of her stardom has been extraordinary, and nobody, not even with years of grooming, can deal with the amount of fame that's been thrown on her and how it has changed her life.

"The idea of Susan living in her house with her cat and carrying on as if nothing had changed is ridiculous."

Ms Boyle has attempted to maintain some semblance of normality by remaining at the council home she shares with her cat, Pebbles.

But it has become a focal point for fans visiting from around the world, desperate for a chance to meet the singer in person.

As a result, a panic button was reportedly installed around Christmas, after she had reported two people peering in at night through her back window. Additional security lighting has also been erected outside the house.