Episode 16 X-Ray

You are watching X-Ray. On tonight's programme: The new trend

in nights out. We go undercover to find out how these shisha bars are

breaking the law fast up catching that thieves raiding our

countryside, but guess where they are stolen goods end up?

And Neus's finances are already stretched, so why can't she get the

Hello, this is our last programme before Christmas. I am in Bridgend

with plenty of Christmas decorations and later we will be

finding out why you need to be careful about what you Bibles stop

first, you may never have heard of it, but here in Cardiff it is the

latest trend for a night out. Brittle has been delving into the

mysterious world of shisha smoking. For centuries it has been part of

Middle Eastern and North African culture, but now this exotic past

time is drawing in a new crowd. Amongst Cardiff's bars and

restaurants, the shisha cafe is the new kid on the block, but what is

going on behind closed doors? Later we go undercover to find out. On

this one street there are now seven shisha cafes with others scattered

across the city. What is shisha and why is it so appealing? Shisha

tobacco is smoked through a water pipe. You can smoke for an hour for

just a few pounds and with flavours like water melon and bubblegum it

is easy to see why it is the latest trend amongst students. You will be

buying apple or mint or something like this and you have a menu.

becomes quite a communal affair sitting around the table. You do

not pass a cigarette around, you get the pipe and it goes around.

That is part of the joy of it. than a quarter of 18-24 year-old

have smoked shisha. Dr Mike Knapton is shocked by the ignorance of some

young people. One respondent said they thought it was one of their

five a day in terms of fruit, which is not the case. Why is it so

harmful? Shisha is smoked over the course of an evening. We estimate

that one session can be the equivalent of smoking 100

cigarettes, which most people would never do because you are aware of

how much cigarettes you smoke because you count the cigarettes.

With his you smoke it steadily through the course of an evening,

so it is a significant amount of tobacco. What do the students think

of that? I should not be surprised. I certainly am. I need to go less,

really. It is my personal choice and it is not something I am doing

all the time. If I did all the time, it is an addiction. Even herbal

shisha which does not contain tobacco is harmful because it is

burnt with charcoal. Sharing a pipe brings other risks as well. There

is an additional risk of passing on infections like herpes, glandular

fever, so it has similar risks to kissing. Unless you change the

mouthpiece between users, there is a risk. There are many reasons why

shisha can damage your health. When it comes to the law there is no

difference between smoking shisha and smoking cigarettes. When the

smoking ban came into force five years ago, smoking indoors became

illegal. In a pub like this smokers are banished to the beer garden or

to an outdoor shelter. Shisha cafes are expected to stick

to the same rules. Julie Barrett is from the Chartered Institute of

Environmental Health. A lot of places have Marquise out the back,

does that matter? The issue is at visit or is it not enclosed? It can

be made of anything, but the issue is looking at it and saying how

much of it is enclosed. If it is 50% or more enclosed, you cannot

smoke in this. In the last year two shisha bars have been prosecuted

for allowing smoking indoors, but we wanted to know whether it was

still happening. We set researchers in Sir cafes across Cardiff and it

seemed so many were still flouting the smoking ban. We stepped our

investigation up a gear. This is Cassie. She is just 16, two

years below the legal age for buying tobacco, but we learned some

shisha cafes are not fussy about who they will serve, so Cassy and

one of our production team are putting on secret cameras and are

heading to some of Cardiff's most popular work at cafes to see what

is going on. We will have more on that later. It has been a very busy

year on X-Ray and we reckon we have managed to get more than �60,000

back for our viewers and we have uncovered some very real rogues.

It has been a year where more people than ever have been targeted

by scammers. Viewers lost thousands of pounds, many were duped by

online adverts for camper vans and caravans. But this woman's hoax was

especially heartless. Jessica Scutt conned the Killen family into

paying for their first holiday by advertising a caravan she did not

even own. It broke my heart to see their little faces. Not nice at all.

But generous Dewar's came to the rescue offering their own caravans

for the family's holiday. Police say there are closing in on Jessica

Scutt, let's hope they catch her soon. Problems with homes were hike

on the agenda. On this Aberporth estate they were falling apart. But

the insurance companies say they will now refund the cost of their

home, a great result. Pitfalls with cars drove some of

you round the bend. And when the cruise control jammed comedies BMW

came crashing to a halt. Our investigations have continued to

expose the dangers and even life threatening products and services

that put you at risk. We went undercover to find the tanning

salons prepared to break the law. Remember the hair straighteners

aimed at children that could get hot enough to fry bacon? All these

high street stores and supermarkets have now withdrawn them from sale

after we revealed shocking injuries that could be caused by them.

would not give a child an iron to iron their hair. We also tracked

down the builder who proclaimed himself king of all witches. His

work on this church tower crumbled away after a few months. Are you

the king of all witches? I have never heard of that? Mr Thomas, we

are here from X-Ray. He was not the only businessman we confronted.

Don't you think you owe them answers? And we help with bogus

cancer a therapist and we put him behind bars, Reg Gill. His wife

Leila was jailed for six months. With the number of us renting our

homes on the increase, it is more important than ever to know exactly

what happens to any deposit. These days it should be very simple.

A landlord must protect your deposit in an official scheme and

if they do not, they can face a big fine. But the law only works if

tenants know their rights and most do not. One housing charity has

seen calls about this rise by more than 80% in two years.

Someone who knows what a nightmare it can be his professional dancer

Neus Gil Cortes. Originally from Balenciaga, she came here in 2010

after getting a job with the National Dance Company of Wales.

was really excited because it is a really good company and also Wales

is lovely. I love that the landscape and the people are really

sweet. I went to look for a flat and I found this agency and they

showed me this flat. It looked pretty cute. The landlord was

Parviz Emami, but Neus arranged everything with letting agent Letz-

Move in Cardiff and signed a tenancy agreement and paid a

deposit of �525. By law the landlord must put that money into

one of three deposit schemes. It acts as an independent arbitrator

if there is any argument over whether you should get on your

money back when you move out. It goes further and says the landlord

must give you all the details you need a light which scheme they had

used and how you get your money back. Neus knew very little about

all of this, but because a scheme was mentioned, she assumed her

deposit was saved. I was new in this country, so I trusted what

they said. In my contract it said this deposit had to be protected. I

was very happy here. It was the first time I live by myself, so I

was proud of my little house. months later her tenancy was coming

to an end so she rang Letz-Move to extend it, but her landlord was now

using a different agent, so she had to sign a new contract with them.

That new contracts said no deposit had been paid, but the new agent

told her not to worry. I went there and they said we have spoken with

the landlord and we know that you have paid a deposit, so you will

not need to pay another deposit. Neus got on with enjoying her new

life, happy to keep renting her flat even when the property was

sold. But in the spring of 2011, she was in for a shock when a new

landlord wrote to her as saying something was not right. He wanted

her to pay a new bond because according to the records no deposit

had ever been paid. Neus was baffled. She had a written receipt

from Letz-Move proving she had paid a deposit a year ago. I thought

everything would be sorted out because I thought surely I will go

to them and they will say it was a mistake and this is your deposit

and you can pay it to your new landlord. But as time passed by it

turned out the deposit was completely gone. Neus had no idea

what had happened to her money. If everything had been done properly,

checking her deposit was say it would have been so simple. A case

of quickly checking with the deposit scheme. Instead Neus spent

months trying everything to get answers and her money back from the

original landlord and Letz-Move, but got nowhere. It takes up time

and energy. You feel ignored, left alone and you feel there is a

barrier in front of you and there is nothing you can do. Neus felt

she had no option but to take Letz- Move to court because they had

initially taken her deposit and signed her contract. The judge gave

the owner two weeks to pay back her deposit plus �300 she paid in court

fees. But one month later she had not had a penny. I won the case,

what is left for me to do? It is my money, it is the money I paid for

the deposit and for court fees in order to get what was mine in the

first place. A month later after the missed deadline, Neus went to

Letz-Move to demand her money. She got �450 and a promise to pay the

rest sooner, but that never happened. The deposit should not be

touched at all, it should be protected. When they are using it

themselves, and they are not willing to get it back, it means

they are stealing my money. It has been my worst experience in Wales.

What has happened to the money? The first landlord said he thought

Letz-Move were transferring it into the scheme. Letz-Move said they

gave it to the landlord thinking he was going to deposit it into the

scheme. The landlord, the Parviz Emami, says he will be able to pay

it back soon. Are you one of those people who

loves to decorate your house at Christmas? If you are a fan of the

traditional wreath, Rhod has got a nasty surprise for you.

The Christmas wreath, it is a focal point for the festive season,

welcoming visitors into our homes. But I bet you did not know that one

of its component parts is a protected species. It does not look

like much, but this green plant is a vital part of many a festive

wreath. It is called sphagnum moss and it is often used to make the

base of hanging baskets. There is so much demand for it that criminal

gangs are taking to the Welsh countryside to steal it by the

And what an environment they have to plunder. Probably the most

unusual job for PC Rob Maddocks is catching people who steel Moss.

Today I am joining him on patrol. This is a Site of Special has beset

-- Special Scientific Interest. is doing this? It can be any body

from locals to organised criminal gangs. They are picking up not just

handfuls but sackfuls. Let's hit the road. With demand for Annan

Plan high in the run-up to Christmas, this is the ideal time

to track down fees. -- for moss. This is an ideal area. By 10 to get

reports on a daily basis. A general patrol in hotspots and it is

generally obvious if somebody is picking it. Somebody will have a

transit van or a car in a remote spot. So far today we don't see

anybody but there is proof thieves are active in the area. Only last

month his two were captured on camera. They could be fined up to

�20,000. Whilst moss theft is big across the UK, it is bad news for

the Environment, damaging peat bogs and allowing greenhouse gases to

escape. And it is not just the big criminal gangs doing it, is it?

it is local people doing it. There was one incident last year I

remember. There was a car parked in a remote area and I saw an ad Ben

Herbert. I went up and said, hello, how are you doing? She said, I am

bigging plumb my husband's grave. And behind her were 12 black bags

of sphagnum moss. If -- she said I am picking moss for my husband's

grave. The moss can be sold on to garden centres. And they are not

shy about offloading their look locally. Rob Williams is the number

of people trying to cash in has shot up recently. We get people

turning up offering of sales side of the road. They have a van with

bags full of moss. And what sort of prices? About half the price of

what you would expect to pay. �5 for large compost bag where

commercially it would be about �10 a bag. Have you been tempted to buy

it? The quality would not be what we want and bigging moss off the

mountain is illegal. And it damages the environment as well. -- picking

moss. PC Maddocks once more garden centres and places to take this

stance. Contact the police have to somebody picking it. It will be

illegal. If it is done anywhere else we will be able to find out if

the landowner has given permission for them to take that moss.

watch out. Now time to get back to our main story - the growth of

shisha bars. He only used to see them on holiday

but in Cardiff, shisha cafes are now popping up everywhere. -- you

only used to. These students think it is great. I can think, doesn't

within a mile radius of me right now. They say, what type do you

want? And you think, this is great! Loads of fruit and herbal flavours.

It is part of the fund. Because the smoke is cool after passing through

water some people do not realise how harmful lutes but an hour-long

session can be that -- how harmful it is but an hour-long session can

be the equivalent to smoking 100 cigarettes. It cannot be smoked in

an enclosed public space. There is nothing special about shisha that

take it outside the controls which exist within the law. But is seen

as the owner of some bars have a different view. So we are sending

16-year-old Cassie undercover with one of our team. -- but it seems

the owners. And we are showing our findings to a Julie Barratt and Dr

Mike Knapton. First up, it is Al Mourjan. As the girls look around

the smoking lounge, straight away Julie is concerned. He you can see

that is substantially enclosed. is quiet in here tonight so we

should be easy for staff to spot an under-aged volunteer. But the

waiter does not ask her age and instead help Sir to choose her

flavoured tobacco. -- instead helps A few minutes later, he is back

with a very smoky and shisha pipe which she hands to her. So he is

having a smoke himself and I guess he is showing them how to use it

but you can see the considerable quantity of smoke there, which has

more you would expect to see from the average track on a cigarette.

Next stop, The Moonlight, and plenty of customers are puffing

away. The girls notice it is very The quantity of smoke I think is

quite significant and of course we have got used to going out loud

bars where you don't expect to see that smoke. -- out to bars.

waitress then spots 16-year-old Cassie. Cassie says she is 18 but

A waiter brings her shisha pipe and a few minutes later, Cassie pays

the waitress. It is quite disturbing and it promises like

this that this should happen because there are two opportunities

to check - when the tobacco is ordered and there when the pipe is

delivered. At the next bar, it is busy and smoky and Julie is not

impressed. You would certainly expect to see far more of the

outside than you can see here. It looks like a public room. Again,

Cassie is asked her age. But she has not asked to prove it and

within minutes she is holding a shisha pipe. Next it is Sultans, in

behind a beauty salon, and just like the other cafes, it seems to

be flouting the law on smoking indoors. But in this bar for the

first time, Cassie is asked to And without ID they refuse to give

her that shisha pipe so the girls leave. Last stop tonight is Shisha

Lounge. Lots of people are smoking here and this time it is not only

shisha types. Actually... He is smoking a cigarette. Well, that is

very interesting. It is fine but not in an enclosed space because

already these people are being exposed to passive smoking from the

cigarette. As well as the shisha. Here Cassie has not asked her age

and has no a problem getting uptight. -- is not asked. It seems

all breaking the law on smoking indoors. It would be the sort of

area enforcement authorities should be looking at and going along

making sure we have got a complete understanding of the law and

compliance with it. This shouldn't be happening. So what have the

owners of those cafes got to say? Well, Sultans and Al Mourjan did

not reply to amateurs. The owner of The Moonlight has apologised for

selling shisha to a 16-year-old and says his staff will check ID in

future. He also said he regularly opens the smoking tent and uses

ventilation machines but unless it is 50% open, he is breaking the law.

The owner of Sahara says he does not allow under-18s into his cafe

but he was out of the country when we visited. But the owner of this

bark is keen to talk to us, so let's see what he has to say. You

are allowing people to smoke indoors. It is breaking the law.

Absolutely. I think it was an oversight on our behalf. Since the

programme, as you can see, we opened 50% of our players. Your

staff also served a 16-year-old shisha. That was an oversight on

our staff but as they happened with the programme, the lady who came

with her was 18 years old and I think that confused the issue for

the start. One of the ladies came over to the bar so what happened is

the staff got confused. Since then, we have given a star of a good

dressing down and we use those CCTV footage to do our training

programme. And if you see all around our place, actually we do

make sure nobody can enter over the -- under the age of 18. Hopefully I

will never happen again. And we will be passing on our findings to

Cardiff council. Let's carry on without look back at 2012.

This year we have tackled saggy sofas... Cars that cut out... And

even problem ponies! We have taken on the big companies which would

not back down and the small firms that couldn't come up with the

goods. And all the time we have been working for you, getting back

tens of thousands of pounds. More than �1,000 for a dangerous

pony. �3,500 for a rusty Campbell- Brown. And we help a couple trapped

in a timeshare scheme get more than �6,000. -- a rusty camper van. Not

bad going, and on top of that Lucy has been on the case to sort out

your consumer crisis. From tiles to travel troubles... To

mobile phone reception. Thank you for getting my money back! I think

I will book another holiday in! CLOSED!

If but here on X-Ray it is not just about the money. We have been

changing lives, too. Andre had waited five years to

receive his national insurance number. I can't work with no

national insurance. But often we got on to the tax office, the

number finally turned up. -- after. Only five years late! And we

retrieve the wedding certificate for this couple which never made --

made it back from their nuptials in the Dominican Republic. We have

been busy tackling those claims companies and it seems some have

hit hard times. Douglas Vranch paid �250 hoping they would reclaim PPI

and other payments. Another company is in good illustration, leaving

nearly 2000 customers out-of-pocket. Haydn Trew paid �1,300 to this

company. They close their doors in October, leaving thousands out of

pocket by 8 �1.1 million. If any of these companies have your cash, we

need to know. In Ebbw Vale, the entire community

was at an arms about the fines being issued by this car-park.

Motorists received Parking Charge Notices demanding �60 a time from

Excel Parking Services Limited. We got more than �1,700 worth of fines