Episode 5 Doorstep Crime 999

One of the fastest-growing areas of crime in the UK

happens right on our doorsteps.

I'm talking about cold-calling conmen and rip-off rogue traders

and we're determined to beat these doorstep criminals.

All over the UK, award-winning police and Trading Standards teams are tackling them

and you've not been shy about giving us your views.

On today's programme,

the shocking countrywide story

of criminals who got their just desserts

after posing as police officers to rip off thousands of pounds.

In her words, they were so feasible.

Plus, a gutsy daughter who's determined to fight back.

Her poor mum suffered at the hands of rogue traders

and now she wants to stop it happening to other people.

We believe that over the course of probably about ten days,

these men took approximately £30,000 from my mum.

And the dynamic duo from Wiltshire

who took the law into their own hands,

saving their neighbour from a shocking robbery.

I grabbed him round the neck and he dragged me down the side the house

but I wasn't going to let go.

Hello, and huge thanks to all of you

who've been sending in your thoughts on doorstep crime

and more importantly, how to beat it.

Now, Peter Rolington from Kent and Angela Money from Berkshire

both feel that setting up No Cold Calling Zones in their communities

has led to a big reduction in unwanted visitors.

I know lots of you would agree with them.

But what else can be done?

We've been following up on another initiative

to protect the vulnerable.

In the borough of Havering in Essex,

Trading Standards and the Metropolitan police have teamed up

for a new scheme which takes the fight against doorstep crime

to a revolutionary location - a high street bank.

Today, Fair Trading Officer David Turner

is putting the scheme into practice.

What we're asking is for you guys, cos you are frontline staff,

to identify vulnerable elderly people

that may come into your bank withdrawing large amounts of cash

and we want you to ask a question as to what that cash is needed for.

That may sound like an invasion of privacy

but encouraging bank staff to open their eyes

to the needs of supporting consumers is a great thing.

The scheme aims to combat the growing problem

of doorstep criminals exploiting sufferers of dementia.

Sometimes the rogue trader will accompany the person to the bank.

They may take them to the bank and ask them to withdraw the money.

Through your questioning, if you ascertain

they haven't been brought to the bank by the rogue trader,

doesn't necessarily mean they're not being defrauded.

It's a very sad fact

but people with dementia are prime targets for doorstep criminals.

Andrew Ketteringham from the Alzheimer's Society

has some compelling evidence.

Our investigations have suggested

that something like £100 million

has been taken from people with dementia in one scam or another.

A large part of that will be through doorstep selling

but of course, it's a very difficult crime to investigate

because people have difficulties in explaining what's happened,

often they're embarrassed about it,

in many cases they don't realise the full impact of what's happened.

£100 million is both a staggering and sickening figure,

but according to research carried out by Kings College

and the London School of Economics

on behalf of the Alzheimer's Society, it could get even worse.

The number of people with dementia is set to grow substantially.

There'll be a million people living with dementia by 2018,

and the result is, if we don't do something about it,

this problem's going to get bigger and bigger.

The authorities are determined to fight back

through initiatives like the one in Havering,

but unfortunately, it's too late for Cate Partridge.

Her family experienced this type of doorstep crime

when her late mother was targeted,

so Cate's very anxious to share her story

and prevent other families from suffering the same trauma.

We thought we'd done everything we could to protect her

whilst keeping her independent

but clearly she was targeted by ruthless people

who really don't care how much pain they might cause to a family

by targeting someone that vulnerable

and who needed the money for her future care.

We'll be hearing more about Cate's story

and further information about the pioneering scheme at Havering

later on in the programme.

Now, here's another example of doorstep crime.

Hi, Gloria. I'm just letting you know

about an incident involving two young men

which I saw loitering over at an elderly lady's

and I thought I'd go and get my next door neighbour,

and we thought, "We're not having this."

I'm just letting you know what really happened.

Sounds intriguing, Graham, and I can't wait to hear the full story.

But you know, I have one of my own

from my recent fact-finding trip to Hertfordshire.

This is a real shocker, believe me,

but the good news is that the criminals are now paying the price.

They were a three-man gang of con artists

whose crimes spread from the South Coast

to as far north as Edinburgh.

They used a variety of guises

to swindle their way into the homes of the vulnerable,

shockingly, posing as police officers.

Now, this trio of doorstep criminals

made life a misery for families the length and breadth of Britain,

and one woman who knows the story only too well

is Jean Camp from Hertfordshire

because her mother-in-law Violet

fell victim to one of their doorstep distractions.

Just to set the scene, tell me how close you were to her.

She was very much like a friend.

She was more like a friend than a mother-in-law.

What kind of person what she? Was she quite feisty as an individual?

Oh, feisty is exactly the word.

She had a very strong sense of justice and right and wrong.

After a previous run-in with doorstep con artists,

the police had installed CCTV in Violet's house for extra security.

But one afternoon in January 2010,

she was targeted again.

She heard the doorbell go, she went.

What did they say at the door?

They said they worked for the Water Board and she had a leak.

The gang would usually pose as plain-clothed police officers

so their claim to be from the Water Board was a new tactic.

Sadly, Violet has since passed away

but her family have allowed us

to show the video statement she made to the police

and the extraordinary CCTV footage

of the gang trying to enter the house.

He says, "Are you on your own?"

I said, "Yes, I am, but you're not coming in,"

and I kept pushing him away with my hand.

As I was doing that, this older chap come running down.

He said, "We're from the council,"

and showed me this identity thing.

But it was this fake ID which convinced Violet they were genuine.

So I thought, "Just in case, I'll let them in."

The gang was led by Miles Connor,

along with his son Patrick

and accomplice James Hanrahan.

These devious doorsteppers were only interested in one thing,

stealing from the vulnerable.

Sadly, Violet was an ideal target.

She invited them into the kitchen and one came with her,

immediately going under the sink.

And then she noticed

there was some water trickling out from under the sink.

The water leak was a diversion created by the conmen

to distract Violet while one of them went upstairs to look for valuables.

Now, Violet was concerned,

and followed him to check that her £200 pension money was safe

but in doing so, she gave away the location to the thieves.

It was a typical distraction technique.

After Violet had gone downstairs,

the gang were able to grab the cash.

Did she realise at the time,

-while she was being distracted

-in the kitchen,

-somebody else was rifling through her things?

-Not a clue.

She didn't realise until she'd finished mopping up

and she realised they'd just disappeared, they'd gone.

And that was it.

She then knew what was going on.

In her words, they were so feasible.

In this case, it was unusual for the gang to dress so casually.

Normally, they'd claim to be police officers

as, indeed, the police themselves soon discovered.

It turned out that there were 50 of this particular type of burglary,

where the three criminals dressed up as policemen

in order to divert the attention of their victims.

The cases stretched from Dorset to Staffordshire

and from Sussex to North Yorkshire,

so how did the police fight back?

Chief Inspector Steve Smith of North Yorkshire police

was in charge of the hunt for Miles Connor and his cronies.

Luckily, he was able to draw on the work of Operation Liberal,

a nationwide police database of doorstep crime.

Operation Liberal manages to collate reports of these offences

and it will identify very quickly

across county boundaries, across force boundaries,

emerging trends, emerging patterns,

common vehicles, common descriptions.

It was thanks to Operation Liberal

that police were able to access the CCTV footage from Violet's house

and positively identify the gang.

The CCTV clearly showed

Patrick Connor burgling the house of this old lady.

It shows him going in and convincing her they need to be in the house,

which is really quite damning,

almost chilling, in terms of how up-front

and how ruthless they can be.

The footage was a turning point for the case,

and sure enough, the net started to close in on the gang.

We realised they'd moved north, up to Edinburgh,

and further offences had happened there over a weekend,

including the theft of over £20,000 from a man from his own home.

It was in Edinburgh that greed

finally got the better of the Connor gang.

When they flaunted their cash in a hotel bar,

the hotel raised the alarm and called the police.

Recognising their descriptions,

the police swooped on the hotel and arrested the gang

as they tried to spend more of their ill-gotten gains.

Time had finally run out for the conmen.

They eventually pleaded guilty to charges of burglary

and conspiracy to burgle.

Miles Connor received nine years.

Patrick Connor received seven years

and Hanrahan got five.

Three dangerous people were taken off the streets,

put into prison,

and if burglars are in prison, they can't harm people.

Although they're now safely behind bars,

Jean still lives with the impact

that Miles Connor and his gang had on her family.

Both my husband and I are very, very angry about it.

When we got a phone call from the police

and were told in no uncertain terms

that these guys weren't...

out in the community any more,

well, I'm afraid we cheered, we were so delighted.

The community as a whole has a responsibility

to inform and make people aware

of what can happen when somebody knocks the door.

If we don't know them, we don't trust them.

I think it's as simple as that.

And if they are genuine,

then they won't mind standing on the doorstep while we check them out.

And if they're not, we keep them out of our homes.

Still to come,

the gutsy super seniors who stopped robbers in their tracks.

At the time, your instinct is for the elderly person

and I was more concerned with her safety than my own.

Paul Cheall from Norfolk has been in touch.

This is what he says. When he gets cold callers,

then depending on what is being sold at the door,

he says he's either out of work

or he's renting the house, or about to move,

or that he works in the same trade and can get it cheaper,

but either way, he gives a polite excuse

and that takes the wind out of their sails. So thanks for that tip, Paul.

And do keep sending in all your e-mails and your letters.

At this point, let's return to Essex.

In Havering, Trading Standards and the police have come up with

a brilliant new scheme to catch doorstep criminals via local banks.

The scheme aims to tackle the growing problem

of doorstep criminals exploiting sufferers of dementia.

Since the system, the bank protocol's been introduced,

have you found any difficulties in delivering the scheme?

I think it is hard to find the right tactful questions to ask people

without seeming that you're being nosy about their affairs.

I think once this has come into development,

eventually we will find the right things we can say to people.

It seems that bank and building society staff

are gradually waking up to the idea

that vulnerable consumers can be ripped off at their banks

by rogue traders and con artists who want to extort their life savings.

Those staff are to be applauded for trying to find ways to help.

Cate Partridge of Norfolk wishes her late mother Jean

had the benefit of such attentive bank staff back in 2004

when she was targeted by doorstepping rogue traders.

We first realised my mum had dementia

when she began repeating herself all the time, and losing things

and not really realising that she'd lost them.

It was important for us that she kept her dignity and independence

for as long as possible, as when she was first diagnosed,

she was still looking after herself successfully.

Cate felt she and her family had a difficult situation under control.

But sadly, she hadn't reckoned on cold-calling criminals

who thought nothing of preying on someone as vulnerable as Jean.

The men who came to visit Mum

offered to rebrick her drive,

to rebuild a garden wall, and then to maybe move into the house

and do interior decorating for her.

In the event, they didn't do any of that work at all.

I don't think Cate's mother's experience is unusual.

We see a number of cases

where people have cold-callers coming to their door.

They enter into some sort of relationship in good faith

and then what is supposed to happen just doesn't happen.

Sometimes they're very financially disadvantaged as a result.

When these doorstep criminals

realised how easily they could manipulate Jean,

they didn't even bother to do any work.

They simply asked for cash.

We believe that over the course of probably about ten days,

these men took approximately £30,000 from my mum.

In one day, we believe she went about 12 times

and each time withdrew a large amount of money, gave it to these men,

who certainly on some of the occasions had accompanied her

as far as the door of the bank.

They knew she couldn't remember she'd paid them already,

so their behaviour was enormously abusive.

It's absolutely disgusting,

but this shocking sequence of events also left Cate questioning

whether Jean's bank had acted in her best interest.

I was very surprised that the bank had allowed my mum to take out money,

especially 12 times in a single day.

It was completely out of character,

it was a pattern of withdrawing money that was completely foreign to her.

And she'd been a customer of that particular branch

for over 40 years, so they should have known

that there was something not right about what she was doing.

I think banks have an important role to play

in matters like Cate's mother's case.

They need to be able to talk to a customer

but they must also recognise what's going on,

so the first thing they've got to do is improve their training

and make sure their staff recognise something

which perhaps looks very odd, like this.

And the good news is that banks are now very aware of this problem.

Through the work of Trading Standards and police

steps are being taken to empower bank staff

so that they too can play a part

in stamping out this despicable crime.

We'll have an update on that story for you a little later on.

Now, we'd all like to think there are people in our communities

who would help us if we found ourselves in trouble.

Well, just wait until you see this story.

We're about to meet two Good Samaritans

who quite literally fought back against two doorstepping criminals

who tried to burgle an elderly neighbour.

It's summat you read about in the paper, isn't it?

It never seems to come round your area, but it landed on our doorstep

and it makes you aware that it's happening out there.

The victim of the attempted burglary

wanted her story to be told to give hope to others,

but didn't want to be identified, so we'll call her Sheila.

70-year-old Graham Smith lives across the road from Sheila

in a quiet Wiltshire market town.

It's a close-knit community where crime is rare.

We always watch out for neighbours round this way,

we watch out for one another, and we belong to the police Neighbourhood Watch in Highworth.

In November 2010, Graham was settling in for the evening

when he noticed something unusual.

Round about 7.45, 8 o'clock, we'd just finished washing up

and as I walked through to the bottom of the stairs,

I could see through the top of the door

two young men across the road, and I thought, "They look suspicious."

Graham became worried when he saw the two men

heading towards Sheila's house.

I turned to the wife and said, "Get on the phone

"and tell her not to open the door."

Sadly, there was no answer from Sheila

so Graham decided to take matters into his own hands.

I put my coat on and walked up to the road

and as I got to the top, the bedroom light came on.

And I could see a shadow walking by

and bending around up and down in her bedroom,

so with that I thought, "Well, I'm not going to the door by myself.

"I'll go and see if Nick is in"

58-year-old ex-Navy man Nicky Ruddle is Graham's neighbour.

Together, they headed over to Sheila's.

He knocked on the door, and...

He said, "Come and listen to this."

And you could hear all this banging.

It sounded like they were ransacking the bottom part of the house.

The two dodgy doorsteppers

had somehow gained entry to Sheila's house

and it now seemed she was in big trouble.

DC Mark Harris of Wiltshire police was in charge of the investigation.

These type of offenders tend to target elderly people

who quite often are living alone.

I think these two males clearly went out that evening

with the intention to steal.

The thieves had used a typical doorstepping distraction technique.

While one of them diverted Sheila's attention in the kitchen

by claiming there was a problem with her water supply,

his accomplice had gone upstairs to search for money and valuables.

But these heartless rogues

hadn't reckoned on the intervention of Sheila's brave neighbours.

They're in there, look.

So we was banging on the door.

Open up! You OK in there?

Come on, open up.

And we was knocking and shouting through the letterbox,

with still no reply.

Right, come out of there, you thieving swines.

And all of a sudden, the door opened.

One charged out and knocked me backwards.

I said, "Nicky, grab him."

He came out of the door like a raging bull.

So I grabbed him round the neck

and he dragged me down the side of the house

but I wasn't going to let go.

That's it, Nick, hold him, get him. Swing him down!

And eventually he fell to the floor because he'd run out of puff.

That's it, get him down. We've got him.

He was kicking, ranting and whatever. I said to Graham, "Grab his legs."

We got you! We gotcha!

He stamped out, kicked out with his feet, stamping backwards.

His kick was a really hard kick.

In fact, the kick was so hard that it broke poor Graham's ankle

but even though he was in pain,

Graham wasn't about to let the doorstepping thief go.

Then all of sudden, I looked up

and I see this other guy just launching his boot at me.

I spun round. It caught me on the shoulder.

And as I spun around and got up, they were up and gone.

The confrontation had been truly ferocious

but thanks to the bravery and quick thinking of Graham and Nicky,

it seemed that Sheila was safe and the thieves had left empty-handed.

I suppose it could've been worse than it was.

They might've had a knife or anything like that when they came out.

But at the time, your instinct is for the elderly person

and I was more concerned with her safety than my own.

With the doorstep criminals still on the loose,

it was crucial that police tracked them down

before they could target somebody else.

Their breakthrough came thanks to an item of Nicky's clothing.

Officers who attended the scene spoke to Mr Ruddle.

His T-shirt was seized as a result of him being in close contact

with the male he'd grabbed around the neck.

A number of tests were made to the shirt,

and as a result of these tests,

Michael O'Driscoll was identified through DNA.

Michael O'Driscoll was well known to the police

as a thief with a preference for distraction burglaries.

Armed with this crucial piece of DNA evidence,

it wasn't long before O'Driscoll found himself being doorstepped

when he was arrested at his home by the police.

But when interviewed,

the devious conman wasn't about to admit to anything.

In answer to the vast majority of his questions, he made no comment.

He was afforded every opportunity to give an explanation

as to how his DNA was on Mr Ruddle's T-shirt.

But he failed to do so.

Faced with such overwhelming evidence against him,

Michael O'Driscoll eventually pleaded guilty

to burglary and assault,

and was sentenced to four years in jail.

His accomplice has never been traced.

It sends out a clear message to perpetrators of distraction burglary

that they are likely to receive a lengthy custodial sentence.

He's out the way for a few years

and he won't be doing it to any more elderly people while he's in there.

I think with brave people like Graham and Nicky

watching out for their neighbours, criminals might think twice

before targeting their area again.

The actions of Mr Ruddle and Mr Smith that night

were commendable, fantastic. Without their involvement on that night,

there's a very good chance

this particular offence would have gone undetected.

Isn't that just marvellous?

Thanks to Nicky and Graham for sharing their story,

and I'm sure their neighbours must feel a whole lot safer

knowing that they're keeping them peeled.

Back at Havering in Essex, Trading Standards Officer David Turner

and the local police are making good progress with the training session.

Remember, they're encouraging bank staff to take action

if they think vulnerable customers are making transactions out of the ordinary,

and just might be victims of doorstep crime.

I'd like to ask you a question. Has anyone had any circumstances

where someone's come into the bank

and asked to withdraw money, and you're not too sure about it

or you've had a query, and how you've dealt with it?

We've often had people come into the bank,

unsure why they need the money and where it's going,

so we've had incidences where we have referred to the process

and we found the scheme really, really helpful.

It's all very positive news for consumers

and there are hopes that similar training can be rolled out

for bank and building society staff right across the UK.

It might help to prevent vulnerable customers from being ripped off.

For instance, Jean McKay-Haynes, who was so affected by dementia

that rogue traders made her withdraw - wait for it -

over £30,000

and she simply had no memory of it.

Her daughter Cate is determined that no-one else

should see a loved relative suffer in the same way.

The kind of people who do this to vulnerable elderly people

clearly have no remorse whatsoever.

I think I would say they were scum, really,

and I think they deserve

the strongest possible punishment if they're caught.

'I'm really encouraged that banks are now working with police

'and Trading Standards to formulate policies to protect their customers.'

Perhaps, if this sort of thing

had been in place when my mum was targeted,

she wouldn't have been conned as she was.

Unfortunately, Jean's tormentors were never caught,

but with the new scheme now in use,

crimes like these could become a thing of the past.

I think it went really well.

I was pleased by how staff asked questions about the scheme

and hopefully that will lead them to feeling comfortable

asking questions to their customers

to identify those that may be victims of crime

or suffering from Alzheimer's or dementia,

so they contact us in future.

The scheme has got off to a flying start

and the staff in this bank are clearly pleased

to be able to do their part in the fight against doorstep crime.

I really think the banking protocol is a positive scheme

and should be rolled out amongst all banks worldwide,

cos I think it's a fantastic opportunity

for everyone to help the vulnerable people in the community.

If I could stop a customer being ripped off,

I would be so glad that I'd been able to do that for somebody,

that feeling of elation that you've been able to help somebody

who's worked hard for their money

and prevented it from being defrauded from them,

how good would you feel if that was you?

Like I said, it's not every day that you deal with it,

but when it does happen and you can help, then wow, what a feeling.

Now, before we go, an e-mail from Clive Baker,

and he says it's always wise to have a front gate,

then buy a "beware of the dog" sign to put on it.

Make sure it has a picture of the dog,

a German Shepherd, for example, would do very well.

Most people won't enter a gate with a dog sign up

and you don't even have to have a dog,

so thanks for that tip, Clive, and I bet that really does the trick.

We're here to fight back against doorstep criminals,

and we'd really love to hear more

about how you have stopped them ripping you off.

You can find all the details about how to get in touch at bbc.co.uk.

Until then, thanks very much for watching

and I hope you'll join me again next time.

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