Episode 8 The Wanted

Adam, can you see him?

Can you see him?

DOG BARKS

He can't have just vanished.

Get out! Get out!

-On your back!

-He's got him.

-He's got him.

Every day in the UK, the police are on the hunt

for known and suspected criminals.

Get back from the door!

They're armed with warrants and big red keys.

The Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire forces

have granted exclusive access to their raids.

Police!

Their officers are wearing special equipment

to give you a cop's-eye view

and bring you closer to the action than ever before.

What's your name?!

Britain's streets are a battleground.

Stay back!

On one side are the men and women fighting to keep us safe

and on the other are the wanted.

Manchester -

a modern city with a modern skyline.

It's attracted huge investment in recent years,

but it wasn't always like this.

-REPORTER:

-The blazing beacon that lit the night sky above Moss Side

was, only moments before,

a hardware store.

Dozens of other shops had to be boarded up

in the wake of the rioters' first major rampage.

The mob, black and white, 1,000 in all,

had already moved swiftly

to surround and attack Moss Side Police Station.

Back in the '80s, the Moss Side district was notorious

as the scene of some of Britain's worst ever rioting.

A decade on and vicious turf wars between drugs gangs

resulted in a series of shootings,

earning the city the nickname "Gunchester".

Amid the drugs, the violence and deprivation,

the police set up a task force, codenamed Xcalibre.

Initially, Xcalibre was set up

when gun and gang criminality in Manchester was at its height.

It was... Its sole focus was to deal with the gang issues

that evolved around South Manchester and to tackle them head-on.

One of the offshoots of gangs is its close association with guns

and the gun-related criminality that comes from that, er...

and Xcalibre has looked to deal with the firearms threat

that comes from that.

It's, I think, one of our straplines

is creating gun-free streets in Manchester.

The unit has got results.

Gang-related shootings have fallen by nearly 80%,

but there are still enough guns and drugs on the streets

to keep officers busy.

This is a firearms warrant

that we're going to be executing this morning.

The subject of the warrant is Trevor Gayle -

he does have previous, in 2011 and 2010,

for possession of cannabis.

Today's target is 33 and from the Chorlton-cum-Hardy area.

The police have arrested him before,

but this time, they think he may possess a gun.

The purpose of the firearms warrant,

erm, is in order to search for firearms, ammunition

and component parts.

Erm, this warrant is as a result of intelligence received.

Now briefed, the Xcalibre team make their way to the target address.

In charge of executing the warrant

is PC Bryan Deighton.

Most people, if they've got a firearm,

they've got it for a reason, erm, so...

And if it's to hand, the first thing they may do is pick it up

and start firing, thinking that their life's in danger.

Erm, so if we shout "police", we knock on first,

give them a chance to come and answer the door

and realise it's us, it makes sure we're safe

and everything's done in a...a nice safe manner.

I'll just follow you up.

Where are you going?

Police!

Police, open the door! It's going in!

Hello, mate. Is it just you, mate? Anyone else here?

The intelligence has proved reliable.

The man at the door is their suspect, Trevor Gayle.

-Clear!

-One more, one more.

Show me your hands, show me your hands.

And the officers find a second man inside.

They detain him too.

OK, we need to make sure the address is...

Here you are, mate.

Got anything on you at all, any sharps or anything, mate?

Right, Trevor - we've got a firearms warrant

to execute at the premises.

-OK?

-Yeah.

-Now I can obviously smell...

There's quite a strong smell of cannabis in here,

which isn't related to the warrant.

-Yeah.

-Is there anything inside the address for officers' safety...?

Bearing in mind officers are going to be searching,

-is there anything that could cause them harm inside the address?

-No.

The address has been secured and two people in the address -

obviously one's answered us when we've knocked on.

Both have been secured in one room now,

and basically, we're just getting the search kits

and we'll systematically search each room in the address,

see if there's anything here that shouldn't be here.

The arrest has passed off without the need for force.

Now the search of the property can begin.

To the east of Manchester lie the Pennines

and across these hills is West Yorkshire.

Its beautiful country landscapes attract hoards of tourists.

But its big towns and cities also have their share of urban crime.

In this police force,

one man is taking the fight to the criminals

under the codename Operation Venom.

We're Operation Venom 6.

Just remind you what Venom's about -

the whole of this division, operation specialists have gone out

in a targeted way to engage criminals,

er, in the communities where they operate,

where they commit...burglaries, where they cause a load of harm

and we take control of them

and we arrest them in order to prevent them committing crime.

Superintendent Pat Casserly's operation is designed

to eradicate one form of crime in particular.

Burglary is an issue that's blighted West Yorkshire.

Sadly Leeds had a reputation

of being one of the burglary cities in the country -

I think the insurance industry

had the highest, er, insurance premiums of anywhere else.

Every one of those burglaries had a victim -

someone's home had been invaded by a criminal

who had taken things that were precious to that family.

So we've got to reduce serious acquisitive crime,

we're going to apprehend criminals in our communities

and on the road network.

We're going to arrest criminals engaged in crime

and arrest wanted criminals.

Be lawfully merciless.

"Lawfully merciless" is the superintendent's catchphrase -

an approach that he believes is most effective.

Let's look at what the criminals do -

they are unlawfully merciless.

They show no mercy when they enter somebody's home,

trample all over their home,

steal their precious items,

damage their precious items

and cause massive disruptions and hurt to a family.

They show no mercy.

So we are the police, we operate within the law

but we would show no mercy

to the criminals that we would engage

because they showed no mercy to the community.

If you've got a burglar who's driving without insurance,

fill your boots, because while that burglar is suffering

the consequence of prosecution for no insurance

and you're seizing their car, they're not going out burgling.

With officers from all over West Yorkshire now fully briefed,

Operation Venom is go.

Well, the convoy's formed up.

As you see, it's a range of vehicles -

we've got firearms officers in amongst that lot, road policing,

the operational support unit,

but everyone's gone out, all the vehicles that we had

have gone on the street -

it does give a message to the public that we're out in force

and we're very proud of what we do.

This high-visibility operation will run for a whole weekend

and West Yorkshire officers will be hunting down criminal activity,

day and night.

THUMPING ON DOOR

Police, open the door! It's going in!

In Manchester, the Xcalibre team have executed a firearms warrant.

Hello, mate. Is it just you, mate? Anyone else here?

They've detained their wanted man, Trevor Gayle,

and are now searching his flat for any evidence.

In one of the bedrooms,

an officer finds a bullet hidden inside a cardboard tube.

This is evidence enough to arrest Gayle and the other occupant.

Right, gents, you're both under arrest at this moment in time

on suspicion of possession of ammunition.

You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention

when questioned something which you later rely on in court.

Anything you do say may be given in evidence.

The search for firearms has also turned up evidence of drug crime.

We've recovered a single round

of what looks to be .22 rim-fire ammunition,

a quantity of crack and a quantity of cannabis.

The warrant to get us in the address

is for firearms and ammunition, component parts.

As a result of what's been found,

that, erm, ammunition, as well as drugs,

we also look for other evidence

as well as the...the obvious evidence -

we look for other things such as mobile phones, SIM cards,

debtors' lists, all sorts of surrounding evidence

which can help build a stronger case.

Although Gayle told officers

there was nothing dangerous in the flat,

the search proves otherwise.

Soon, they discover more incriminating evidence.

What have you found?

Er, in a plastic bag concealed at the top of the wardrobe there,

erm, a number of cartridges, possibly shotgun,

and some ammunition.

Obviously we'll seize that, take it back for evidence

and, er, see what they say about it at interview.

Finally, in a bedroom,

they find a suspiciously-shaped object hidden inside a sock.

Could this be what the team came looking for?

We can't confirm what it is, but being that shape of sock,

we're searching this room for now.

What happens now is Firearms will come

and also, erm, SOC, or Scenes of Crime Officer'll come.

The firearms officer will basically look at it,

identify it and see if it is a gun and make it safe.

Officers take Gayle into custody for questioning,

but they still have to build their case against him.

We have to prove that somebody's had that in their possession.

They could have many defences -

they could even say they didn't know it was there,

so it's down to us now to prove that they did know it was there

and it was in their possession and under their control.

Scenes of Crime Officers specially trained in handling evidence

arrive at the flat.

A firearms officer has also been called in.

It's their job to retrieve the object inside the sock,

slowly and safely.

-.22.

-Is it still cocked?

-Obviously it's clear.

-As long as you're 100% it's clear, mate, yeah.

-Oh, God, yeah, yeah.

The currency for guns is high.

They are worth a lot of money and they are incredibly hard to find

and people are aware of police tactics -

criminals will know that, erm, you know, we search houses.

They know what we do and they try and react to what we do.

So to find a firearm is a real result for us.

SIRENS WAIL

In Leeds, Operation Venom is underway.

All units of the West Yorkshire Police Force

are out on the streets, on the lookout for the wanted

and any other crimes.

Superintendent Pat Casserly, the man in charge,

joins his officers on the ground.

I still go out - every month,

I go out on patrol with someone from here,

I try to put myself out with all the different departments,

but I go out with my officers.

When I go out on patrol, yes, I still have my rank

and I still have my responsibility

but in the main, it...

I operate as two police officers

out there dealing with the member of the public,

and to be fair, the public don't recognise my rank -

I wear the same uniform as everybody else.

Today, his partner on patrol is PC James Farrar.

I think it was a male driving.

Is there anyone else on the insurance?

Righty ho, it's started, then, in't it?

First incident - a driver ahead carrying out a suspicious manoeuvre.

This guy, he's just pulled out, but then pulled up again.

-Might have just found a better parking space.

-Maybe.

What does it look like? It looks...

Pink air freshener, though - let's have a chat.

Pink air freshener, thinking maybe a lady's car.

-Has it got insurance?

-Righty oh...

It's just inconsistent with a guy who's a manual worker -

why's he got a pink air freshener in the car?

It might be someone else's car.

'So let's go and talk to the guy.'

-Hi, buddy, are you all right?

-All right, sir.

-Yeah.

-Anyone...else use the car?

-No, no.

-Just you?

We're just in the area

cos there's...a lot of burglaries, all right, so...

Oh, don't tell me I look like a burglar!

Certainly not, you look like a working lad,

it was just the manoeuvre you pulled.

Oh, yeah, no, cos I came from over there...

The shop guy said, "You shouldn't park on that side

"because there's cars coming"...

Now we've stopped and spoken to you, that's understandable.

The officers ask the driver to produce his documents.

It's got my MOT in.

Yeah, MOT's fine, recent as well.

Good hit, that, mate, cheers.

We will have to check this, all right?

It's all right - I'm just waiting for the official papers,

this is just what I got off the internet for now.

-You've had it three week, though.

-Well, it's about three weeks.

All right, he's just going to ring the insurance brokers

or the insurance bureau.

-Yeah.

-Just check that you're insured.

OK, thanks very much.

You too - bye-bye.

The information comes through -

information that spells trouble for the driver.

Oh, dear.

That...that there is an internet quote,

it's not a...a policy, so he's not insured.

That...that paperwork there, I've spoke to MIB -

it relates to a quote for a policy, but that insurance company

have confirmed that a policy's never been taken out with them.

All right, so can you just come and have a seat in car?

I just need to fill out some paperwork.

Our computer's showing no insurance.

-You've produced these documents - am I right?

-Yeah.

This is a quote it's not... Nothing's been paid, OK?

All right - so what will happen is I'm going to issue you

with what we call a Traffic Offence Report

and I'll inform you that you'll be reported

for consideration of prosecution

for the offences of driving a motor vehicle on the road

without...without insurance, all right?

Your vehicle will be seized now, all right?

The main thing is we need the car insured - it's not insured now.

-No, yeah, I understand.

-Yeah. So we'll...

You get it insured then you can have it back.

He's got this insurance policy summary off the internet -

a quote, in essence.

On this occasion, we were able to establish

that he wasn't in fact insured, and, you know...

we could have saved somebody a lot of hassle down the road

if he'd have collided with them as an uninsured driver.

So although we're in this area targeting burglars,

tier-two criminals, organised crime gangs,

we deal with any offences that we're faced with.

The driver was later found guilty

of using a motor vehicle on the road with no insurance.

He received six points on his licence and an £800 fine.

For PC Farrar, it was the first law breaker booked

under Operation Venom.

I invest a lot of time and effort in the next generation

that will have fresh ideas, insight and awareness,

particularly an awareness of young people

that we can then capitalise on and build on

and for them to be encouraged and nurtured

so they can be the future of...of British policing.

The Greater Manchester Police Xcalibre team

have spent more than a decade fighting to cut gun and drug crime.

New to this specialist task force

is Police Constable Charlotte Wilkinson.

It's really busy

and it's very challenging as well -

there isn't a lot of us and if you can imagine,

we're dealing with quite, erm...

..quite a number of different things that are happening in a small area -

things like organised crime and drugs

and also the use of firearms.

Although it looks as though things are decreasing,

that problem hasn't gone away.

Right, I'm Charlotte Wilkinson.

I'm based in the Xcalibre Task Force.

Today, we're going to be executing

a Section 23 Misuse of Drugs Act warrant, erm...

It's a landmark day for the PC

as she's about to lead an operation to execute a warrant

for the first time with the Xcalibre team.

The target is Ethan McDuffus -

according to a tip-off, he's suspected of dealing drugs.

Now the team are preparing to raid the house

where they believe he's staying.

So if we approach it from here,

try and get somewhere along this street

and the door is just here on the front.

Ethan has been linked to that address,

via telecommunications investigation.

Erm, when conducting the search, officers'll look for the following -

mobile phones relating to Ethan and anybody else that's present,

we can assess that whilst we're there.

He's suggested a high-vis knock on for the entry,

and if we don't get a suitable response,

then the door can be forced cos it is a Class A drugs warrant,

so, erm, we do need to get in there quite quickly.

Thanks a lot.

We receive pieces of intelligence on a daily basis,

erm, from all kinds of places

and this was the first piece of intelligence

that I was given in the office,

erm, for me to develop, really.

It's daunting in terms of this was my first warrant in this office,

so your reputation rides on it a bit,

but really, you just don't want it to be a flop in a new office

full of new colleagues.

Charlotte has called in

the specially trained Tactical Aid Unit

as they may need to use force to enter the property.

Open the door!

THUMPING

-Good morning - we've got a warrant at this address.

-For what?

-A drugs warrant.

-For what?!

-Let me in and I'll explain.

-For who?

-Let me in...

-For who, though?

-Come and sit down...

-You live here, don't you?

-Yeah.

-Come in this room with me and I'll speak to you.

We'll be coming in anyway, we've got a warrant.

YELLING

-We have a warrant for the address, yeah.

-Move, now!

-Come in here.

-This is not right.

So we're just waiting now for them

to secure all the people that are inside the address.

Erm, we've covered this corner.

I'm not sure which windows relate to this property

to make sure nothing's thrown from the windows

and then when they give us a nod, we'll go in.

With the Tactical Aid Unit inside the house,

Charlotte and her team will soon learn

whether the intelligence they've been working on is correct.

In West Yorkshire, day has turned to night,

but Operation Venom continues around the clock.

In charge of this show of strength is Superintendent Pat Casserly.

He's deployed all available officers to combat a seasonal spike in crime.

Are you aware that your Mercedes

stolen in your knife-point robbery has been found?

Operation Venom causes a drop in criminal activity

each time it's run.

There's a clear link

between confidence and performance

with everybody, in every line of work.

The effect on our police officers is that they feel confident,

so their performance is high.

The converse of that is the criminal.

The criminal who is on the back foot,

the criminal who can't commit crime

because the...cops are there all the time.

Report of a burglary in progress.

It's been reported by a taxi driver,

seeing the male climbing into a first floor window of a...a house.

Part of tonight's increased presence on the streets

are officers Chris Haigh and Richard Tarkenenso.

So there's several units making their way to the area.

The officers are on their way to the Seacroft area of Leeds

where a resident has reported a burglary taking place

in the early hours.

At that time, you've still got your potential

for burglars to be out and about.

It's that time between where they stop coming out

and they're still out and active.

So we thought we'd make us way into t'area,

er, just to do a bit of high-vis patrol,

get into t'side streets, do a bit of snooping

and see what we come across.

You got any description on the suspect?

White male with a hoody, that's all they got.

There's lot of things I'm thinking about when a call comes in -

adrenaline, you get that adrenaline rush,

there's somebody committing crime, that's what I'm here for,

it's my job as a police officer to reduce crime,

make us communities feel safer, so the quicker we get there,

there's a good chance that we're going to get somebody.

By the time the patrol arrives,

another team of officers have detained a teenage suspect.

We caught him coming away from the address.

Apparently been at a party

and swore that he doesn't know where he's been

and he's lent a bike off someone, he doesn't know who it's off.

I'm not, ah... I'm not a thief.

-Don't put that on me.

-What's your name, mate?

You can arrest me if you want

but I ain't done anything, I promise you.

-Where d'you get the bike from, mate?

-I've just lent it.

I'm telling the truth, I'm not lying at...

Well, information we've got is that it's come from an address up t'street.

Can someone confirm it, then?

WOMAN: No, he's here!

There's someone running back there, someone's running round the back.

Suddenly a radio message - a neighbour has reported

a second suspect running through gardens nearby.

-Adam!

-Yeah?

-Can you see him?

Are you there, Chris?

Don't want to go too far.

He's jumped over one of the fences back there,

so we need to really try and contain this area the best we can,

see what we can get round.

There's no dog available.

I can hear him.

Adam, is that you?

Can you see him?

He can't have just vanished.

He's there.

Get out! Get out!

-You got him?

-On your back!

-He's got him.

-He's got him.

One detained, XW.

Officer Haigh's perseverance has paid off.

Yes, yes, we've got him now. Can I have a van, please?

Nice one. Have you got him?

You're locked up, kid - suspicion of burglary.

You don't have to say anything but it may harm your defence

if you don't mention when questioned

something which you later rely on in court.

All officers are the same - we all want to catch him, you know?

It becomes personal. That's what we're here to do,

we're here to reduce crime.

What's your name, fella?

'We're here to make sure that us communities feels safer

'and, you know, we all take'

a personal pride in this job

and we want to catch 'em, we want to fetch 'em to justice.

With two suspects detained on suspicion of burglary,

it's a positive result for the two officers

and for Operation Venom.

All right, sit there, put your bum forward.

Let's face it, burglars are cowards

and all they need is that capable guardian

who's stronger and more ethical than they are to front them up and say,

"We're here, we're protecting vulnerable people

"and we're coming for you."

Job's a carrot.

The reasonable people are massively reassured

and grateful for our presence.

The criminals, good luck to 'em, cos they'll need it.

Well done, sir!

Earlier, in the Rusholme area

of South Manchester...

THUDDING

..the Xcalibre team executed a warrant.

They're looking for Ethan McDuffus

who, according to intelligence, has been drug dealing.

Good morning - we've got a warrant for this address, a drugs warrant.

-For what?!

-Let me in and I'll explain.

-We have a warrant for the address. We do.

-Move, now!

We've got the nod, Rolo.

PC Charlotte Wilkinson's in charge of the operation.

Hello.

Pardon? I'll explain now. Is it just you in the house?

-And the kids.

-Who are your kids?

-They're two teenagers.

When I joined the police, my tutor said to me,

"Go into every address with your slippers on

"and if you need to put your work boots on when you get there,

"then you can, but never go in with your work boots on."

I understand that now. It didn't really make much sense to me,

but there's no point speaking to them in the same tone

straight from the off because then you have nowhere to go.

There's no way of bringing either of you down,

so just talk to them, really.

We've got a drugs warrant to search this premises.

-All right.

-OK? Right, so...

-You won't find nothing in here.

The team now begin a search for their wanted man.

It's a short one.

Hello, are you all right?

-You all right? Who else you with?

-What's your name, mate?

-Ethan. Ethan.

-Ethan.

-Ethan, come this way, mate.

Now with their suspect detained, they can start another search,

this time for drugs.

The evidence isn't hard to come by - the officers make significant finds.

Numerous bags of cannabis, some in quite large quantities,

and the street value was just short of £1,700 worth of cannabis.

Obviously numerous snap bags, scales to weigh the cannabis out.

There was a number of mobile phones.

There was photographs and evidence

on some of those mobile phones seized of obvious drug use,

so really everything that you would hope to find

when you're looking at investigating the offence

of possession with intent to supply a controlled drug.

It's plenty of evidence for Charlotte to arrest her suspect.

At this time, you're under arrest on suspicion

of possession of cannabis with intent to supply.

You do not have to say anything but it may harm your defence

if you do not mention when questioned

something which you later rely on in court.

Anything that you do say may be given in evidence.

Your arrest is necessary for the prompt and effective investigation of this case.

What we're going to do is get you down to Longsight Police Station

and you'll be interviewed about it, OK?

Once again, a tip-off to the Xcalibre team

has turned out to be correct

and another suspected drug dealer is on his way to custody.

It sends a really positive message,

not only to show that police are active in the community

and we will stop antisocial behaviour and things like that,

but also when we execute a warrant,

it's nice to see people being arrested

and we don't arrest people for nothing,

so it sends a message out to the community

that it won't be tolerated.

Ethan McDuffus was later found guilty

for possession of drugs with intent to supply.

He received an eight-month suspended sentence

and a drug rehabilitation order.

He had to carry out unpaid work and pay £100 in costs.

In West Yorkshire,

Operation Venom is in its final stages.

All available officers have been deployed

in a visible show of strength to combat crime

and the initiative has delivered results.

I feel very proud, but I can't help but also be very nervous

because every time I run an operation,

it actually gets more nervous

on the back of success because everyone's expecting it

to continue to be a success

and there's expectations from the officers,

from my commanders that, "Oh, yes, well, Venom'll deliver, won't it?"

And there's always that fear that, perhaps this weekend, it might not.

Taking part in today's Venom deployment

are PCs Lee Moody and Dave Lockwood.

They're on duty on the M621 motorway.

We've just been driving from Wakefield

to go towards Leeds, where we're deployed this evening,

and the driver of this vehicle in front

has been driving without a seatbelt,

using his mobile phone at the same time.

We're going to stop him, talk to him about his driving

and, er, take positive action.

If you've got someone who's driving a vehicle, a lethal weapon,

and not paying attention

and they're not paying attention because they're distracted,

they're on the mobile phone, they're not, er, fit to drive

because they're drunk or they've taken drugs

or they're not an insured driver, they've not got a full licence,

we should challenge that

to protect other road users and that person.

Given the look of realisation on your face

that it was a police car driving past,

you're fully aware of the offences

of driving whilst using your mobile phone...

You had your phone in your hand,

you were touching the screen, therefore you were using your phone.

OK. And also,

failing to wear your seatbelt, OK?

As I've driven past you, you are driving

with your mobile phone in your right hand,

tapping the screen.

You were.

Right, it will...

Are you going to stop talking?

Are you going to stop talking?

I'm going to ask you not swear cos I'm not swearing at you

so I'm asking you not to swear at me.

Right, but you're still...

You're still swearing.

You're still swearing.

I'm asking you not to.

The guy's been quite aggressive, er, in his...in his language.

He's saying that he's not done what Lee's pointed out, so...

I think he's calmed down a bit and we're going to go through t'formalities.

PC Moody wants to know if the driver has valid insurance.

A simple question, but communication is proving difficult.

I've asked you if you are able

to provide me with a registration number

that's registered against that policy.

You've stated "no". If you can...

Right. So what you need to say

is "Yes, officer, I will be able to do that

"if I make a quick phone call".

You're expecting me to search under your name

for an insurance policy and it doesn't work like that.

I know, I know.

Just calm down.

Calm down and make the phone call.

The officers discover that the driver's licence has expired

and needs renewing as soon as possible.

So I'm going to give you all the details on here

and I suggest you need to phone the DVLA up

and...or pop in...

..pop into the DV...

Pop into the DVLA offices at Junction 46

and go and have a chat with them.

Whether I got bullied or not, sir, is not an issue.

Was there a problem with my upbringing, sir?

I'm being...

I'm being perfectly polite to you.

If we had phrases for something that people said to us...

Number one, "taxi" as we pass,

"bullied at school", you know...

The things that we hear all the time,

but when people say 'em, I think they think

it's the first time we've ever heard them.

But, yeah, it is a level of aggression,

it's something that we've come to accept in normal policing in the UK.

Erm...people tend to do it a lot.

There's no requirement to get personal, is there, sir?

I think he's just winding himself up.

He's, er, he's been quite insulting towards Lee

and, er, he's just saying he's had bother with police

since he were 18, so...

I get pulled by all this, for what?

You got pulled by us, sir.

These gentlemen have come down to assist...

Is this what taxpayers pay their money for?

Is this why taxpayers pay their money?

Dealing with traffic offences, sir? Yes, it is.

The driver later appeared before the courts

where he was found guilty of driving on an expired licence

and not wearing a seatbelt,

but he was found not guilty of using his mobile phone.

He was ordered to pay a total of £345.

In Manchester, the Xcalibre unit's new recruit, PC Charlotte Wilkinson,

is back from executing her first warrant for the team.

What motivates me is

the size of the find, really,

and seeing what we can find, erm, in properties

when we execute warrants, in terms of how...

Is it going to be a small amount or are we going to find...?

Is this where they're being kept?

And in this case, there was still just short

of £2,000 worth of cannabis there.

No, I didn't mess up!

I was quite pleased with it at the end of the day.

Detective Sergeant Ian Wrench has been on the team for three years

and is aware of the pressure to get things right.

It's a great result for Charlotte

because it helps her become a better police officer.

It's all about learning, with Charlotte, at the minute,

learning how to do things, learning with new colleagues,

like anyone who goes to a new job.

I'm sure she's keen to impress

and we've been impressed with what she's done so far.

Earlier, the Xcalibre team arrested Trevor Gayle -

after executing a warrant,

they found drugs, ammunition and a firearm at his flat.

Trevor Gayle basically admitted

that he had possession of cannabis for his own use,

heroin and crack...to supply it.

Possession of the ammunition, er, the .22 bullets,

he's admitted that he's got them and was given them by someone else.

His account around the firearm is...woolly.

OK, Trevor, there will be a condition on your bail

which I believe the officers discussed with you

to come and sign on to the police station three times a week -

Monday, Wednesday, Friday between 12 noon and 2pm.

But the team still have to establish

whether the gun found at Gayle's flat is real or a replica.

Forensic tests will provide the result

and the result will determine the eventual charge.

Doctor Philip Seaman is a firearms expert.

His finding - the weapon is a replica,

but one that's been modified to fire ammunition.

The crucial question - could it be used to kill someone?

So this is a gelatine block

with a elastic skin simulant material...

..and that's deemed to be as best as we can get

to natural skin and body tissue.

Firing.

As you can see, there's soot burning around the entry point,

the skin simulant has been penetrated...

..and the ball bearing has entered there

and passed along the gel matrix as far as here.

And I think this has demonstrated

it's certainly gone through the skin simulant which,

if it struck vital organs and vessels,

could deem to be fatal.

Yes, the firearm was a live firearm, could be fired,

so it could kill someone.

At that point, I know that we've got a good case

and we can take that to CPS.

With the gun confirmed as a potentially lethal firearm,

the charges Trevor Gayle faces are about to become much more serious.

You are charged with the following offences -

you do not have to say anything but it may harm your defence if you do not mention now

something which you later rely on in court.

Anything that you do say may be given in evidence.

On the 28th of July, 2014, at Manchester

in the County of Greater Manchester,

without an authority of the Secretary of State,

you had in your possession a firearm,

namely a self-loading pistol which had a barrel...

It was probably the longest charge sheet I've ever read out.

'There was numerous offences -

'a number to do with firearms and ammunition

'and also drugs that were found.'

You had in your possession a quantity of crack cocaine,

a controlled drug of Class A with intent to supply it to others...

'I genuinely thought he thought nothing was going to come of it'

and he'd be brought into the police station that day

and no further action was taken

and I thought he looked like a crushed man

'and that his world had crumbled around him.'

Contrary to Section 5.3...

Trevor had a gun because he wanted to have a firearm.

He's either got it for protection of himself, or to make money.

-Have you got any questions?

-No.

For me, it looks like he had it for protection

for his drug dealing enterprise,

because...drug dealers rob drug dealers,

that's what happens.

They'll rob each other - there's no...

There's no honour amongst thieves.

Nah - there's no honour amongst them.

It's dog eat dog.

Ten months after his arrest,

Gayle was convicted of possessing a firearm and ammunition

and of the possession of drugs with intent to supply.

He was jailed for five years.

His gun may be off the streets of Manchester,

but there are many more out there.

A recent firearms amnesty

led to more than 200 weapons being handed in.

Those that are still in circulation will keep the Xcalibre team busy,

but for the moment, they appear to be winning the war.

I think it's sad that Manchester got the name Gunchester,

erm, but I don't think it was wrong, at the time.

I don't think it's Gunchester now,

but I think that is massively to do with the Xcalibre Task Force

and I think without it, I think that South Manchester

may be a very different place than it is now.