:00:17. > :00:22.You are watching X-Ray. On tonight's programme: The new trend
:00:22. > :00:26.in nights out. We go undercover to find out how these shisha bars are
:00:26. > :00:31.breaking the law fast up catching that thieves raiding our
:00:31. > :00:36.countryside, but guess where they are stolen goods end up?
:00:37. > :00:46.And Neus's finances are already stretched, so why can't she get the
:00:47. > :00:56.
:00:56. > :01:00.Hello, this is our last programme before Christmas. I am in Bridgend
:01:00. > :01:04.with plenty of Christmas decorations and later we will be
:01:04. > :01:09.finding out why you need to be careful about what you Bibles stop
:01:09. > :01:14.first, you may never have heard of it, but here in Cardiff it is the
:01:14. > :01:19.latest trend for a night out. Brittle has been delving into the
:01:19. > :01:24.mysterious world of shisha smoking. For centuries it has been part of
:01:24. > :01:29.Middle Eastern and North African culture, but now this exotic past
:01:29. > :01:35.time is drawing in a new crowd. Amongst Cardiff's bars and
:01:36. > :01:42.restaurants, the shisha cafe is the new kid on the block, but what is
:01:42. > :01:47.going on behind closed doors? Later we go undercover to find out. On
:01:47. > :01:54.this one street there are now seven shisha cafes with others scattered
:01:54. > :01:59.across the city. What is shisha and why is it so appealing? Shisha
:01:59. > :02:04.tobacco is smoked through a water pipe. You can smoke for an hour for
:02:04. > :02:11.just a few pounds and with flavours like water melon and bubblegum it
:02:11. > :02:16.is easy to see why it is the latest trend amongst students. You will be
:02:16. > :02:21.buying apple or mint or something like this and you have a menu.
:02:21. > :02:26.becomes quite a communal affair sitting around the table. You do
:02:26. > :02:32.not pass a cigarette around, you get the pipe and it goes around.
:02:33. > :02:37.That is part of the joy of it. than a quarter of 18-24 year-old
:02:37. > :02:42.have smoked shisha. Dr Mike Knapton is shocked by the ignorance of some
:02:42. > :02:48.young people. One respondent said they thought it was one of their
:02:48. > :02:54.five a day in terms of fruit, which is not the case. Why is it so
:02:54. > :02:57.harmful? Shisha is smoked over the course of an evening. We estimate
:02:57. > :03:02.that one session can be the equivalent of smoking 100
:03:02. > :03:07.cigarettes, which most people would never do because you are aware of
:03:07. > :03:10.how much cigarettes you smoke because you count the cigarettes.
:03:10. > :03:15.With his you smoke it steadily through the course of an evening,
:03:15. > :03:21.so it is a significant amount of tobacco. What do the students think
:03:21. > :03:28.of that? I should not be surprised. I certainly am. I need to go less,
:03:28. > :03:35.really. It is my personal choice and it is not something I am doing
:03:35. > :03:39.all the time. If I did all the time, it is an addiction. Even herbal
:03:39. > :03:45.shisha which does not contain tobacco is harmful because it is
:03:45. > :03:49.burnt with charcoal. Sharing a pipe brings other risks as well. There
:03:49. > :03:55.is an additional risk of passing on infections like herpes, glandular
:03:55. > :04:01.fever, so it has similar risks to kissing. Unless you change the
:04:01. > :04:06.mouthpiece between users, there is a risk. There are many reasons why
:04:06. > :04:11.shisha can damage your health. When it comes to the law there is no
:04:11. > :04:15.difference between smoking shisha and smoking cigarettes. When the
:04:15. > :04:21.smoking ban came into force five years ago, smoking indoors became
:04:21. > :04:28.illegal. In a pub like this smokers are banished to the beer garden or
:04:28. > :04:34.to an outdoor shelter. Shisha cafes are expected to stick
:04:34. > :04:40.to the same rules. Julie Barrett is from the Chartered Institute of
:04:40. > :04:45.Environmental Health. A lot of places have Marquise out the back,
:04:45. > :04:50.does that matter? The issue is at visit or is it not enclosed? It can
:04:50. > :04:56.be made of anything, but the issue is looking at it and saying how
:04:56. > :05:01.much of it is enclosed. If it is 50% or more enclosed, you cannot
:05:01. > :05:06.smoke in this. In the last year two shisha bars have been prosecuted
:05:06. > :05:12.for allowing smoking indoors, but we wanted to know whether it was
:05:12. > :05:18.still happening. We set researchers in Sir cafes across Cardiff and it
:05:18. > :05:25.seemed so many were still flouting the smoking ban. We stepped our
:05:25. > :05:31.investigation up a gear. This is Cassie. She is just 16, two
:05:32. > :05:37.years below the legal age for buying tobacco, but we learned some
:05:37. > :05:40.shisha cafes are not fussy about who they will serve, so Cassy and
:05:41. > :05:46.one of our production team are putting on secret cameras and are
:05:46. > :05:56.heading to some of Cardiff's most popular work at cafes to see what
:05:56. > :05:57.
:05:57. > :06:02.is going on. We will have more on that later. It has been a very busy
:06:02. > :06:09.year on X-Ray and we reckon we have managed to get more than �60,000
:06:09. > :06:14.back for our viewers and we have uncovered some very real rogues.
:06:14. > :06:19.It has been a year where more people than ever have been targeted
:06:19. > :06:24.by scammers. Viewers lost thousands of pounds, many were duped by
:06:24. > :06:30.online adverts for camper vans and caravans. But this woman's hoax was
:06:30. > :06:34.especially heartless. Jessica Scutt conned the Killen family into
:06:34. > :06:43.paying for their first holiday by advertising a caravan she did not
:06:43. > :06:47.even own. It broke my heart to see their little faces. Not nice at all.
:06:47. > :06:52.But generous Dewar's came to the rescue offering their own caravans
:06:52. > :06:57.for the family's holiday. Police say there are closing in on Jessica
:06:57. > :07:03.Scutt, let's hope they catch her soon. Problems with homes were hike
:07:03. > :07:06.on the agenda. On this Aberporth estate they were falling apart. But
:07:06. > :07:13.the insurance companies say they will now refund the cost of their
:07:13. > :07:19.home, a great result. Pitfalls with cars drove some of
:07:19. > :07:24.you round the bend. And when the cruise control jammed comedies BMW
:07:25. > :07:28.came crashing to a halt. Our investigations have continued to
:07:28. > :07:33.expose the dangers and even life threatening products and services
:07:33. > :07:39.that put you at risk. We went undercover to find the tanning
:07:39. > :07:44.salons prepared to break the law. Remember the hair straighteners
:07:44. > :07:49.aimed at children that could get hot enough to fry bacon? All these
:07:49. > :07:53.high street stores and supermarkets have now withdrawn them from sale
:07:53. > :07:59.after we revealed shocking injuries that could be caused by them.
:07:59. > :08:03.would not give a child an iron to iron their hair. We also tracked
:08:03. > :08:09.down the builder who proclaimed himself king of all witches. His
:08:09. > :08:16.work on this church tower crumbled away after a few months. Are you
:08:16. > :08:21.the king of all witches? I have never heard of that? Mr Thomas, we
:08:22. > :08:28.are here from X-Ray. He was not the only businessman we confronted.
:08:28. > :08:35.Don't you think you owe them answers? And we help with bogus
:08:35. > :08:40.cancer a therapist and we put him behind bars, Reg Gill. His wife
:08:40. > :08:45.Leila was jailed for six months. With the number of us renting our
:08:45. > :08:51.homes on the increase, it is more important than ever to know exactly
:08:51. > :08:56.what happens to any deposit. These days it should be very simple.
:08:56. > :09:02.A landlord must protect your deposit in an official scheme and
:09:02. > :09:07.if they do not, they can face a big fine. But the law only works if
:09:07. > :09:13.tenants know their rights and most do not. One housing charity has
:09:13. > :09:18.seen calls about this rise by more than 80% in two years.
:09:18. > :09:24.Someone who knows what a nightmare it can be his professional dancer
:09:24. > :09:29.Neus Gil Cortes. Originally from Balenciaga, she came here in 2010
:09:29. > :09:33.after getting a job with the National Dance Company of Wales.
:09:33. > :09:39.was really excited because it is a really good company and also Wales
:09:39. > :09:44.is lovely. I love that the landscape and the people are really
:09:44. > :09:51.sweet. I went to look for a flat and I found this agency and they
:09:51. > :09:55.showed me this flat. It looked pretty cute. The landlord was
:09:55. > :10:01.Parviz Emami, but Neus arranged everything with letting agent Letz-
:10:01. > :10:06.Move in Cardiff and signed a tenancy agreement and paid a
:10:06. > :10:11.deposit of �525. By law the landlord must put that money into
:10:11. > :10:14.one of three deposit schemes. It acts as an independent arbitrator
:10:14. > :10:19.if there is any argument over whether you should get on your
:10:19. > :10:23.money back when you move out. It goes further and says the landlord
:10:23. > :10:28.must give you all the details you need a light which scheme they had
:10:28. > :10:32.used and how you get your money back. Neus knew very little about
:10:32. > :10:38.all of this, but because a scheme was mentioned, she assumed her
:10:38. > :10:45.deposit was saved. I was new in this country, so I trusted what
:10:45. > :10:50.they said. In my contract it said this deposit had to be protected. I
:10:50. > :10:56.was very happy here. It was the first time I live by myself, so I
:10:56. > :11:02.was proud of my little house. months later her tenancy was coming
:11:02. > :11:08.to an end so she rang Letz-Move to extend it, but her landlord was now
:11:08. > :11:13.using a different agent, so she had to sign a new contract with them.
:11:13. > :11:18.That new contracts said no deposit had been paid, but the new agent
:11:18. > :11:23.told her not to worry. I went there and they said we have spoken with
:11:23. > :11:30.the landlord and we know that you have paid a deposit, so you will
:11:30. > :11:35.not need to pay another deposit. Neus got on with enjoying her new
:11:35. > :11:41.life, happy to keep renting her flat even when the property was
:11:41. > :11:46.sold. But in the spring of 2011, she was in for a shock when a new
:11:46. > :11:50.landlord wrote to her as saying something was not right. He wanted
:11:50. > :11:57.her to pay a new bond because according to the records no deposit
:11:57. > :12:03.had ever been paid. Neus was baffled. She had a written receipt
:12:03. > :12:08.from Letz-Move proving she had paid a deposit a year ago. I thought
:12:08. > :12:12.everything would be sorted out because I thought surely I will go
:12:12. > :12:18.to them and they will say it was a mistake and this is your deposit
:12:18. > :12:23.and you can pay it to your new landlord. But as time passed by it
:12:23. > :12:29.turned out the deposit was completely gone. Neus had no idea
:12:29. > :12:34.what had happened to her money. If everything had been done properly,
:12:34. > :12:38.checking her deposit was say it would have been so simple. A case
:12:38. > :12:43.of quickly checking with the deposit scheme. Instead Neus spent
:12:43. > :12:49.months trying everything to get answers and her money back from the
:12:49. > :12:54.original landlord and Letz-Move, but got nowhere. It takes up time
:12:54. > :13:00.and energy. You feel ignored, left alone and you feel there is a
:13:00. > :13:04.barrier in front of you and there is nothing you can do. Neus felt
:13:04. > :13:09.she had no option but to take Letz- Move to court because they had
:13:09. > :13:14.initially taken her deposit and signed her contract. The judge gave
:13:14. > :13:21.the owner two weeks to pay back her deposit plus �300 she paid in court
:13:21. > :13:27.fees. But one month later she had not had a penny. I won the case,
:13:27. > :13:31.what is left for me to do? It is my money, it is the money I paid for
:13:31. > :13:37.the deposit and for court fees in order to get what was mine in the
:13:37. > :13:45.first place. A month later after the missed deadline, Neus went to
:13:45. > :13:51.Letz-Move to demand her money. She got �450 and a promise to pay the
:13:51. > :13:56.rest sooner, but that never happened. The deposit should not be
:13:56. > :14:00.touched at all, it should be protected. When they are using it
:14:00. > :14:06.themselves, and they are not willing to get it back, it means
:14:06. > :14:13.they are stealing my money. It has been my worst experience in Wales.
:14:13. > :14:18.What has happened to the money? The first landlord said he thought
:14:18. > :14:23.Letz-Move were transferring it into the scheme. Letz-Move said they
:14:23. > :14:28.gave it to the landlord thinking he was going to deposit it into the
:14:28. > :14:33.scheme. The landlord, the Parviz Emami, says he will be able to pay
:14:33. > :14:38.it back soon. Are you one of those people who
:14:38. > :14:43.loves to decorate your house at Christmas? If you are a fan of the
:14:43. > :14:47.traditional wreath, Rhod has got a nasty surprise for you.
:14:47. > :14:55.The Christmas wreath, it is a focal point for the festive season,
:14:55. > :14:59.welcoming visitors into our homes. But I bet you did not know that one
:14:59. > :15:04.of its component parts is a protected species. It does not look
:15:04. > :15:09.like much, but this green plant is a vital part of many a festive
:15:09. > :15:15.wreath. It is called sphagnum moss and it is often used to make the
:15:15. > :15:19.base of hanging baskets. There is so much demand for it that criminal
:15:19. > :15:29.gangs are taking to the Welsh countryside to steal it by the
:15:29. > :15:31.
:15:31. > :15:35.And what an environment they have to plunder. Probably the most
:15:35. > :15:45.unusual job for PC Rob Maddocks is catching people who steel Moss.
:15:45. > :15:47.
:15:47. > :15:52.Today I am joining him on patrol. This is a Site of Special has beset
:15:52. > :15:56.-- Special Scientific Interest. is doing this? It can be any body
:15:56. > :16:02.from locals to organised criminal gangs. They are picking up not just
:16:02. > :16:05.handfuls but sackfuls. Let's hit the road. With demand for Annan
:16:05. > :16:15.Plan high in the run-up to Christmas, this is the ideal time
:16:15. > :16:15.
:16:15. > :16:20.to track down fees. -- for moss. This is an ideal area. By 10 to get
:16:20. > :16:24.reports on a daily basis. A general patrol in hotspots and it is
:16:24. > :16:29.generally obvious if somebody is picking it. Somebody will have a
:16:29. > :16:34.transit van or a car in a remote spot. So far today we don't see
:16:34. > :16:39.anybody but there is proof thieves are active in the area. Only last
:16:39. > :16:46.month his two were captured on camera. They could be fined up to
:16:46. > :16:49.�20,000. Whilst moss theft is big across the UK, it is bad news for
:16:49. > :16:58.the Environment, damaging peat bogs and allowing greenhouse gases to
:16:58. > :17:03.escape. And it is not just the big criminal gangs doing it, is it?
:17:03. > :17:09.it is local people doing it. There was one incident last year I
:17:09. > :17:17.remember. There was a car parked in a remote area and I saw an ad Ben
:17:17. > :17:24.Herbert. I went up and said, hello, how are you doing? She said, I am
:17:24. > :17:31.bigging plumb my husband's grave. And behind her were 12 black bags
:17:31. > :17:39.of sphagnum moss. If -- she said I am picking moss for my husband's
:17:39. > :17:43.grave. The moss can be sold on to garden centres. And they are not
:17:43. > :17:48.shy about offloading their look locally. Rob Williams is the number
:17:49. > :17:53.of people trying to cash in has shot up recently. We get people
:17:53. > :17:59.turning up offering of sales side of the road. They have a van with
:17:59. > :18:04.bags full of moss. And what sort of prices? About half the price of
:18:04. > :18:09.what you would expect to pay. �5 for large compost bag where
:18:09. > :18:15.commercially it would be about �10 a bag. Have you been tempted to buy
:18:15. > :18:20.it? The quality would not be what we want and bigging moss off the
:18:20. > :18:29.mountain is illegal. And it damages the environment as well. -- picking
:18:30. > :18:35.moss. PC Maddocks once more garden centres and places to take this
:18:35. > :18:40.stance. Contact the police have to somebody picking it. It will be
:18:40. > :18:47.illegal. If it is done anywhere else we will be able to find out if
:18:47. > :18:51.the landowner has given permission for them to take that moss.
:18:51. > :18:59.watch out. Now time to get back to our main story - the growth of
:18:59. > :19:03.shisha bars. He only used to see them on holiday
:19:03. > :19:09.but in Cardiff, shisha cafes are now popping up everywhere. -- you
:19:09. > :19:14.only used to. These students think it is great. I can think, doesn't
:19:15. > :19:20.within a mile radius of me right now. They say, what type do you
:19:20. > :19:28.want? And you think, this is great! Loads of fruit and herbal flavours.
:19:28. > :19:31.It is part of the fund. Because the smoke is cool after passing through
:19:31. > :19:38.water some people do not realise how harmful lutes but an hour-long
:19:38. > :19:45.session can be that -- how harmful it is but an hour-long session can
:19:45. > :19:51.be the equivalent to smoking 100 cigarettes. It cannot be smoked in
:19:51. > :19:55.an enclosed public space. There is nothing special about shisha that
:19:55. > :19:59.take it outside the controls which exist within the law. But is seen
:19:59. > :20:04.as the owner of some bars have a different view. So we are sending
:20:04. > :20:14.16-year-old Cassie undercover with one of our team. -- but it seems
:20:14. > :20:16.
:20:16. > :20:21.the owners. And we are showing our findings to a Julie Barratt and Dr
:20:21. > :20:27.Mike Knapton. First up, it is Al Mourjan. As the girls look around
:20:27. > :20:33.the smoking lounge, straight away Julie is concerned. He you can see
:20:33. > :20:37.that is substantially enclosed. is quiet in here tonight so we
:20:37. > :20:41.should be easy for staff to spot an under-aged volunteer. But the
:20:41. > :20:51.waiter does not ask her age and instead help Sir to choose her
:20:51. > :20:53.
:20:53. > :20:59.flavoured tobacco. -- instead helps A few minutes later, he is back
:20:59. > :21:03.with a very smoky and shisha pipe which she hands to her. So he is
:21:03. > :21:07.having a smoke himself and I guess he is showing them how to use it
:21:07. > :21:11.but you can see the considerable quantity of smoke there, which has
:21:11. > :21:15.more you would expect to see from the average track on a cigarette.
:21:15. > :21:25.Next stop, The Moonlight, and plenty of customers are puffing
:21:25. > :21:36.
:21:36. > :21:42.away. The girls notice it is very The quantity of smoke I think is
:21:43. > :21:48.quite significant and of course we have got used to going out loud
:21:48. > :21:55.bars where you don't expect to see that smoke. -- out to bars.
:21:55. > :22:05.waitress then spots 16-year-old Cassie. Cassie says she is 18 but
:22:05. > :22:10.A waiter brings her shisha pipe and a few minutes later, Cassie pays
:22:10. > :22:14.the waitress. It is quite disturbing and it promises like
:22:14. > :22:18.this that this should happen because there are two opportunities
:22:18. > :22:23.to check - when the tobacco is ordered and there when the pipe is
:22:23. > :22:28.delivered. At the next bar, it is busy and smoky and Julie is not
:22:28. > :22:34.impressed. You would certainly expect to see far more of the
:22:34. > :22:41.outside than you can see here. It looks like a public room. Again,
:22:41. > :22:49.Cassie is asked her age. But she has not asked to prove it and
:22:49. > :22:53.within minutes she is holding a shisha pipe. Next it is Sultans, in
:22:53. > :22:57.behind a beauty salon, and just like the other cafes, it seems to
:22:57. > :23:07.be flouting the law on smoking indoors. But in this bar for the
:23:07. > :23:08.
:23:08. > :23:16.first time, Cassie is asked to And without ID they refuse to give
:23:16. > :23:20.her that shisha pipe so the girls leave. Last stop tonight is Shisha
:23:20. > :23:27.Lounge. Lots of people are smoking here and this time it is not only
:23:27. > :23:32.shisha types. Actually... He is smoking a cigarette. Well, that is
:23:32. > :23:35.very interesting. It is fine but not in an enclosed space because
:23:35. > :23:40.already these people are being exposed to passive smoking from the
:23:40. > :23:50.cigarette. As well as the shisha. Here Cassie has not asked her age
:23:50. > :23:51.
:23:51. > :23:55.and has no a problem getting uptight. -- is not asked. It seems
:23:55. > :23:58.all breaking the law on smoking indoors. It would be the sort of
:23:58. > :24:02.area enforcement authorities should be looking at and going along
:24:02. > :24:06.making sure we have got a complete understanding of the law and
:24:06. > :24:11.compliance with it. This shouldn't be happening. So what have the
:24:11. > :24:15.owners of those cafes got to say? Well, Sultans and Al Mourjan did
:24:15. > :24:20.not reply to amateurs. The owner of The Moonlight has apologised for
:24:20. > :24:25.selling shisha to a 16-year-old and says his staff will check ID in
:24:25. > :24:29.future. He also said he regularly opens the smoking tent and uses
:24:29. > :24:34.ventilation machines but unless it is 50% open, he is breaking the law.
:24:34. > :24:38.The owner of Sahara says he does not allow under-18s into his cafe
:24:38. > :24:44.but he was out of the country when we visited. But the owner of this
:24:44. > :24:49.bark is keen to talk to us, so let's see what he has to say. You
:24:49. > :24:54.are allowing people to smoke indoors. It is breaking the law.
:24:54. > :25:00.Absolutely. I think it was an oversight on our behalf. Since the
:25:00. > :25:04.programme, as you can see, we opened 50% of our players. Your
:25:04. > :25:09.staff also served a 16-year-old shisha. That was an oversight on
:25:09. > :25:13.our staff but as they happened with the programme, the lady who came
:25:13. > :25:18.with her was 18 years old and I think that confused the issue for
:25:18. > :25:25.the start. One of the ladies came over to the bar so what happened is
:25:25. > :25:30.the staff got confused. Since then, we have given a star of a good
:25:30. > :25:35.dressing down and we use those CCTV footage to do our training
:25:36. > :25:43.programme. And if you see all around our place, actually we do
:25:43. > :25:47.make sure nobody can enter over the -- under the age of 18. Hopefully I
:25:47. > :25:52.will never happen again. And we will be passing on our findings to
:25:52. > :25:58.Cardiff council. Let's carry on without look back at 2012.
:25:58. > :26:03.This year we have tackled saggy sofas... Cars that cut out... And
:26:03. > :26:06.even problem ponies! We have taken on the big companies which would
:26:06. > :26:10.not back down and the small firms that couldn't come up with the
:26:10. > :26:16.goods. And all the time we have been working for you, getting back
:26:16. > :26:25.tens of thousands of pounds. More than �1,000 for a dangerous
:26:25. > :26:32.pony. �3,500 for a rusty Campbell- Brown. And we help a couple trapped
:26:32. > :26:35.in a timeshare scheme get more than �6,000. -- a rusty camper van. Not
:26:35. > :26:41.bad going, and on top of that Lucy has been on the case to sort out
:26:42. > :26:48.your consumer crisis. From tiles to travel troubles... To
:26:48. > :26:53.mobile phone reception. Thank you for getting my money back! I think
:26:53. > :26:57.I will book another holiday in! CLOSED!
:26:57. > :27:01.If but here on X-Ray it is not just about the money. We have been
:27:01. > :27:07.changing lives, too. Andre had waited five years to
:27:07. > :27:11.receive his national insurance number. I can't work with no
:27:11. > :27:17.national insurance. But often we got on to the tax office, the
:27:17. > :27:20.number finally turned up. -- after. Only five years late! And we
:27:20. > :27:24.retrieve the wedding certificate for this couple which never made --
:27:24. > :27:28.made it back from their nuptials in the Dominican Republic. We have
:27:28. > :27:35.been busy tackling those claims companies and it seems some have
:27:35. > :27:40.hit hard times. Douglas Vranch paid �250 hoping they would reclaim PPI
:27:40. > :27:49.and other payments. Another company is in good illustration, leaving
:27:50. > :27:56.nearly 2000 customers out-of-pocket. Haydn Trew paid �1,300 to this
:27:56. > :28:01.company. They close their doors in October, leaving thousands out of
:28:01. > :28:07.pocket by 8 �1.1 million. If any of these companies have your cash, we
:28:07. > :28:13.need to know. In Ebbw Vale, the entire community
:28:13. > :28:18.was at an arms about the fines being issued by this car-park.
:28:18. > :28:27.Motorists received Parking Charge Notices demanding �60 a time from
:28:27. > :28:34.Excel Parking Services Limited. We got more than �1,700 worth of fines