A shirtless man clutching baby oil and looking for sex tried three times to break into the home of a naked young woman, but police laughed when she begged for help.

Ella Kearns, 20, was sleeping alone in her unit in Adelaide’s northern suburbs about 4am when she was woken up by a male calling out for ‘Bridget’.

The mystery intruder – who she’d never seen before – peered through her bedroom window before trying to force his way through the window and then her front door.

Ms Kearns immediately called triple zero, but when police arrived at her Smithfield home, the female officers could be heard chuckling as they spoke to the intruder. 

‘They didn’t do anything but have a yarn and a laugh with him,’ she told the Daily Mail. ‘I was bawling my eyes out. 

‘What made it even more sad is that the first time they came, it was three women cops. I was baffled [that they would laugh] to say the least.’

Five minutes after police ‘sent him on his way’, Ms Kearns said the man returned and prowled between her unit’s front and back doors ‘actively trying to break in’.

She dialled 000 again and followed the advice of the emergency call operator to lock herself in her bathroom while she waited for police to arrive. 

Ella Kearns, 20, was sleeping alone in her unit in Adelaide’s northern suburbs about 4am when she was woken up by a male calling out for ‘Bridget’ 

Ms Kearns immediately called triple zero, but when police arrived at her Smithfield home, the female officers could be heard chuckling as they spoke to the intruder 

‘He was moving from my back sliding door, to the front of my unit,’ Ms Kearns said. ‘I would know when he would enter the front because we have automatic lights.

‘My cat, Cannoli, was running from the back to the front and growling. Whenever I was unsure where he was, I would look to see where my cat was.

‘The man was trying to open my locked door, pull apart my screen on the windows – he knew I was inside. He knew no one else was there. And it was terrifying. 

‘It was in the early hours of the morning, I didn’t have anyone I could call. My dad would’ve been fast asleep because he works full time. 

‘I was maybe a month into moving in, so I didn’t really know any of my neighbours. I just trusted to call the cops because that’s what my dad always taught me.’

Police returned and again asked the man to move on, but did not take a statement from Ms Kearns.

Around 5am, he returned a third time, and this time Ms Kearns recorded their conversation on her phone, which she shared with the Daily Mail.

The man could be heard claiming to be a former footy player who gives massages, and said he was looking for a woman called Bridget he had met on a hook-up app.

Ms Kearns, pictured with her dad Jay, was always taught to contact police if she felt unsafe

Terrified Ms Kearns repeatedly told him calmly there was no one by that name in her government housing complex for low-income young people. 

The intruder persisted and asked: ‘I didn’t mean to startle you, but did you call the police?’

She replied: ‘Yes I did, because you’re a strange man with no shirt on. Didn’t they tell you not to come back?’

The man insisted he was ‘waiting for my mum to pick me up from the train station’, but added: ‘I was just offering massages.’

‘The lady upstairs, or was in this [unit] before you, rang me last week and told me to come around and give her a massage, because I played professional football and I massage people – backs, hamstrings. 

‘I just told the police, they were OK with it. One of the lady police actually just got my number so I can massage her as well. I do remedial-like massage.’

Ms Kearns said: ‘I’ve told you there’s no one living here… there’s no Bridget upstairs’.

He responded that he wasn’t even sure if that was her real name, because he met her on an online classifieds app.

Ella Kearns recorded her confrontation with the intruder as she bravely reasoned with him

‘It was on Locanto. Do you know what Locanto is? It’s like a classified ads… they do hook-ups. A lot of chicks on there, they do like content and selling. 

‘But yeah I do massage… if you’re interested. I got the massage oil and I just showed the police officer. So she was like yeah so she’s gonna hit me up or something. So if you’re keen just let me know.’

Ms Kearns told him she wasn’t interested and again asked him to leave.

‘No, I’m actually OK. Do you mind leaving please,’ she said.

The man then announced he would go upstairs, before asking Ms Kearns for her name in case the app request really was from her.

‘No, I don’t feel comfortable. It’s not me, I don’t know you. I’m not looking for massages. I’m young,’ she said.

He responded: ‘Yeah but I do hook-ups.’

She said: ‘No, I’m not looking for sex, mate. Everyone in this whole unit facility has kids, I don’t think it’s appropriate what you’ve said to me.

‘It’s really weird that you’re coming to my door talking to me…I don’t want to have sex with you. I don’t think the lady upstairs wants to have sex with you. 

Ella Kearns’ cat growled at the intruder as he tried to break into her home

‘You’re really frightening me. I appreciate you’re not meaning to. But out of human decency I would really like you to leave. So, could you leave please?’

Ella said she told police about the recording when they responded to her third call for help, but ‘they did not care’. 

‘I emphasised I’d like to make a report for harassment or whatever I could,’ she said. ‘I was not given the time of day and honestly they seemed annoyed that I had called.’

‘They made me feel like I’m crazy, and belittled me for asking them for help.’ 

Days after the April incident, Ms Kearns visited her local police station to discuss her treatment by the officers who attended.

‘I went to the cop shop as I was appalled by what happened,’ she said. ‘I explained my circumstances, but they told me that I should not have rung 000 for that. 

‘Something along the lines of, “There are more dire situations that need addressing, your situation was suited for the non emergency line”.’

Ella Kearns, 20, was sleeping naked and alone when a man tried several times to enter her unit

‘I just don’t understand – we have young women and children saying that they’re scared, what will it take? 

‘We have had 42 women killed in Australia this year. What will it take for you to protect your women and children?’ 

Ms Kearns said she shared her story with the Daily Mail after months of frustration that no one was taking her seriously. 

‘Will it change legislation? Probably not, but it’s one step closer,’ she said. 

Daily Mail has contacted SAPOL for comment. 

Do you know more? Email karleigh.smith@dailymail.com.au 

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