Caravan Crooks Break-in Britain - The Crackdown

Every minute of every day, someone somewhere is getting burgled.

Doesn't sound good.

With an average of 92 break-ins an hour, it's a huge problem.

It never ceases to amaze me how much mess these burglars cause people.

For the victims of these crimes,

it can take months or even years to overcome the trauma.

He was in my house, and he shouldn't have been.

-It's emotional, isn't it?

-It is emotional, yes.

I'm having a lot of palpitations today.

It's just...it's heartbreaking.

But in this series, we're fighting back against the burglars...

Police forcing entry!

..helping you to beef up your security...

Here we go.

..while the police catch the criminals.

We can be safe. Thank you.

This is Break-In Britain The Crackdown.

-Welcome to the programme.

-Hello there. Now, caravans.

If you've ever been stuck behind one on a long, windy journey,

you might not be the biggest fan, but for thousands of us,

they're a brilliant way to explore the countryside.

Sadly, though, they're not immune to burglaries.

And today, I'm meeting a woman who was left heartbroken

when her caravan was ransacked by particularly greedy thieves.

It looks like the offenders have actually managed to find

this box of cakes in one of these cupboards

and actually helped themselves.

I felt like crying, because I was angry,

not because they had taken stuff. The stuff can be replaced.

I'm going to help a family from Leeds sort out their home security

in a pet-friendly way after their conservatory was smashed open.

It's horrible knowing that somebody has been in there.

It's frustrating that somebody has had the nerve to come in.

And this is our home, this is where we bring the children up.

South Wales Police cover an area of more than 770 square miles

and investigate around 70 domestic burglaries every week.

A call has just come into their headquarters.

The burgled caravan belongs to 53-year-old housewife Deborah.

Her father discovered the break-in

and has alerted the police to the scene.

It's being stored on a farm on the outskirts of Neath near Swansea

where some caravans are kept during the winter months.

This is like an extension of my home.

Let me just talk you through some of the property that was stolen.

The toaster. Hair straighteners. A television.

It's estimated that

more than a million of us own caravans in the UK.

I'm hoping PC Katherine O'Brian can tell us

what has happened to this one.

There have been a number of break-ins to caravans

in this site on the weekend.

The important thing is that we get Crime Scene Investigation

up here to dab for any fingerprints in the caravan. We're hopeful

that we'll have some really good forensics that we can work with.

Does this sort of thing happen quite often?

We have had a spate of it over the weekends.

But the lady did tell me that she's had a caravan here for five years

and this is only the first incident of its kind for herself.

She feels that she has been personally violated

by them going into her caravan, an extension of her home,

and actually targeting her caravan.

This field is just three miles from Deborah's house.

The investigation has gone on into the night

and I want to find out how Deborah is feeling now.

Hello. I'm Dan.

So what's happened?

My father came this morning and found that it was actually open.

Somebody had been in there

and basically taken everything that they felt they could get money for.

And ransacked it in the process.

What had they been looking for?

Stupid, trivial things that don't cost a lot of money.

And it's actually annoying to think that they could invade my space.

Deborah's holiday snaps showed the fun times

she has shared with her three grandchildren in the caravan.

The mobile home has been a vital part of their family get-togethers.

It's just a mess in there.

That has been almost completely snapped on the bottom

and they've just pulled it out to see what was underneath.

-How are you feeling?

-I feel angry.

I felt like crying, because I was angry,

not because they had taken stuff.

The stuff can be replaced. It was my...well, my space.

I'm just baffled as to how you would secure this any better.

There is nothing really.

To be honest with you, I blame myself for putting stuff in there,

because we were going away.

You can't blame yourself, you've got 20-odd years of owning a caravan.

-This never happened before.

-Never happened.

It's clear that, for victims like Deborah,

it's less about the material things

and more about the invasion of privacy.

It's the day after the burglary

and Crime Scene Investigation Officer Dan Poeton has arrived

to look for any potential evidence to help catch this culprit.

The door was actually intact when I got here.

But we noticed that the top of the door was actually slightly ajar.

There's no actual tool marks on it at all, which is what we often find.

What it looks like they've done is managed to claw this back

and then, some sort of implement, they've slid down

and then, you can see here,

it's just a very basic plastic lock

so it wouldn't take much to pop that open.

Then, inside,

you can see they've opened all of the cupboards.

It's an untidy search basically.

I've gone round with the brush

looking for fingerprints on the actual cupboards.

What's more than likely happened, though,

is they just simply touched the handles,

which, as you can see, a very thin handle there,

which doesn't give us any sort of scope for getting fingerprints off.

The only thing of significance that I can utilise here

is the Mr Kipling box,

cos it looks like the offenders have actually managed to find

this box of cakes in one of these cupboards

and actually helped themselves to a couple of cakes.

I can't believe the cheek of this thief -

eating Deborah's food while he's pilfering.

Talk about having your cake and eating it!

And as the packaging heads off to the lab,

I wonder how Deborah's feeling now.

How did you sleep last night?

Not very well. I kept waking up.

If I'm asleep in there, and somebody can get in that easy,

they can take anything they want, even my life.

Well, let's get that out of your mind anyway.

We can get our experts round,

see if there is something we can do

to get the security beefed up on the caravan.

-Stop you feeling like that.

-Yeah. Have a look.

I sort of knew a caravan wouldn't be as secure as a home,

but I was surprised at just how flimsy Deborah's locks were.

I want to find out what, if anything, can be done about it.

Crime reduction officer Kevin Evans is giving me

a security tour of this mobile home.

Obviously, this has been targeted,

because they could probably see the property through the windows,

because I can see through there now some property visible quite clearly.

My advice would be to empty your caravan during the winter months,

of everything.

And possibly consider putting a sign up - this caravan has been emptied.

So, therefore, it's giving the message out

to your potential criminal that there is nothing in there.

This is basically a holiday home,

but you shouldn't treat it like a home.

It's not a home. This isn't bricks and mortar.

It's just something you can enjoy during the year with your family

and it's a wonderful holiday. But it's not your home.

-It's not as secure.

-I'll go and show you where they got in.

-You can see there.

-Good grief, yeah.

As we can see here, the caravan, predominately, this is plastic,

plastic lock as well.

That is all you've got holding this actual door

is that little piece there

fitting into a very, very small, what we call receiver.

And, obviously, it's quite easily forced.

To me, the locks are Toytown.

It's nowhere near a front door lock

-and it's not even anywhere near a car door lock.

-No, it isn't.

Probably a car door lock is far more secure than this.

But, to be fair to the caravan owner,

as you can see here embossed into the window,

it's security marked and electronically protected.

So, if we're talking about the theft of the caravan,

that's not as appealing to me, because how am I going to sell this

with these index numbers? How am I going to get rid of it?

People aren't going to wish to purchase that from me

if they know it's stolen.

But in terms of it actually getting broken into,

-it's inherently weak, isn't it?

-It's a caravan.

I hardly dare to ask this,

but, overall, what would be your security rating out of ten for this?

One or two, maybe, maximum.

That's being honest.

I cannot give it a higher figure.

Oh, dear. Not sounding good.

I'm guessing there's not a lot we can do to turn this into Fort Knox.

What can be done?

Very, very difficult to fully secure the caravan here.

Um...

Potentially, put an alarm inside the vehicle. That would help.

And putting a sign in the window as we spoke earlier on.

I'd certainly consider that.

Even if we put in all of your recommendations,

what would the security score be?

We'll go to three and a half possibly.

I can't see anything better than that, to be honest with you.

-It's still realistic.

-We've got to be realistic, we've got to be honest.

Certainly, we're honest in this context.

A caravan is very, very difficult to protect,

simply from entry through the doorway, very, very difficult.

We need to do everything we can for Deborah to make her caravan safer

and put her mind at ease.

I'm going to sort this one out as quickly as I can.

Over in Leeds, the West Yorkshire Police control room is taking

an emergency call.

Landlords Steve and Pauline have been managing busy Leeds pubs

for the last 20 years

and are a big part of the community.

But whilst hard at work,

they received a phone call from a neighbour

alerting them to a smashed window in their home.

The couple rushed back to find their brand-new conservatory

had been broken into.

Steve and Pauline are giving a statement to the police

while PC Gabby Keeley fills me in on the details.

-There's a real mess.

-There is, yes.

-Two doors have been smashed.

-Yes.

What do you think he's used to get through there?

-It must have been pretty...

-A bit of metal, a rock.

I'm having a look round... as soon as I got here,

there's nothing left immediately at the scene or inside that I can see.

They could have brought something and taken it with them.

This lovely home has been turned upside down

and it's devastating to see.

Steve and Pauline have lived here for seven-and-a-half years

and have two children and two family pets.

What was it like when you first came home?

It's horrible knowing that somebody has been in there.

It's frustrating that somebody has had the nerve to come in.

This is our home, this is where we bring the children up.

Luckily, there's...

All of the damage...they've been into every single room, under the beds,

everywhere, into all the drawers.

It looks like the only thing that is missing is the personal laptop.

Not much may have been taken, but to add insult to injury,

the windows and door on the conservatory were brand-new.

They were only installed a week ago.

Every single window and door got replaced.

That's another job to do now.

I heard you say to the police officer

that you got the top-of-the-range locks on the door.

That's what we thought.

We basically said to the window guys, "Do we need to have these replaced?"

"No, no, they won't come through these doors." Which they haven't.

They've come through the window, not through the locks.

-You must be miffed about that.

-Hmm.

The officer has taken a statement off Steven.

The family are clearly shaken up by what has happened today.

And now the police are speaking to neighbours.

Somebody must have heard a massive pane of glass smash.

Hello, sir.

We're just conducting some door-to-door enquiries.

It happened during the daytime, so we're going round the houses

to see who was in during the time that the break-in happened

and if they've seen or heard anything.

While the officers get on with the investigation,

I want to do my bit to help Steve and Pauline.

I can see that you are both, not only angry,

but upset that someone has been in here.

What I would like to do for you

is get our security expert to come round and have a look at things

and fix things for you,

and also add anything

that he thinks might help you to feel safer and more secure.

That's what we'd like to do for you,

to make you feel a bit more at home in your own home again.

-How do you feel about that?

-That would be great.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

Right, I'll get on the phone to him and get it sorted ASAP.

He can have a good look round and see what would make you feel better.

-That'd be great.

-Thank you.

Just 8% of burglars force their way in

by breaking or cutting glass in a window.

I've asked crime reduction officer Richard Fulton

for his professional opinion on how secure the rest of the property is.

This is where the burglar broke in.

Obviously, they've still got the glass to be reglazed.

What do you think of this part of the property?

Standard sort of conservatory.

There are a number of issues with this particular type of construction.

I would be recommending at this point

to upgrade to laminate glass

which has got a plastic film within the actual make-up of the glass

so that's a lot stronger.

Richard is also concerned

about a potential entry point for unwanted visitors.

We've got a fairly easy point of entry to this garden

from this particular side.

It's on the road side, so it's fairly easy to pop in and out.

There's a little bit of fencing at that side,

but it is very easy to breach.

It'd be quite easy for them to hop over and just climb down the steps.

It's just easy to hop over and, obviously, then you're in.

After giving the rest of the house the once-over,

it's number crunching time for Richard.

Out of ten, what mark would you give this property for its security?

As it stands at the moment, I'm going to be really mean with this one.

I'm going to give it a six.

There's a few issues that I'm not happy with,

which we can quite easily overcome and make it a lot more secure.

-Plenty to do to improve the security?

-Yes.

With lots to be getting on with,

it's time to break the news to Steve, Pauline and Annabel the dog.

I've had Richard round, he's looked round the property,

at the locks, the shed and the fact you haven't got an alarm.

He's only given you six out of ten.

What do you make of that?

It's mediocre, room for improvement.

Just mediocre.

We'll be back later to see if we can push that score up

with some simple improvements.

Earlier in Neath, South Wales,

I met Deborah, who was left distressed

after discovering her beloved caravan had been broken into.

If I'm asleep in there, if somebody can get in that easily,

they can take anything they want, even my life.

This greedy thief had an attack of the munchies during the break-in

and devoured a few of Deborah's Viennese Whirls.

But the packaging left behind

was taken away by the crime scene investigators

and is now in the hands of the forensic lab.

Criminals are known to consume food and drink

during the course of committing a burglary.

Sometimes they will drink alcohol and leave a forensic trace then,

because of the saliva aspect.

Sometimes they will actually cook food.

But, unwittingly, they have given us a line of inquiry when they do that.

The police use various methods to try and lift prints from evidence.

In this particular case,

one of the things they are doing is spreading a black magnetic powder

to illuminate any prints left on the packaging.

That is a fingerprint.

This area here, although it's very poor quality,

does appear to be a finger mark.

So I'll capture that

and see whether it's of any use to the Fingerprint Bureau.

A print may have been found,

but it's not good news.

Unfortunately, on this occasion,

we didn't get a positive forensic hit on that.

Very often, there are a number of reasons why we don't get a hit.

That could be down to the criminal being forensically aware,

the texture and make-up of the item that's being submitted.

But that doesn't say that the case is closed,

because there are always other lines of inquiry.

That is frustrating to hear,

but hopefully this cake crook will still be caught.

So the security assessment on Deborah's caravan wasn't promising.

But I've got Tony down here to see what he can do.

Tony is already hard at it installing a PIR alarm.

That's a motion sensor alarm to me and you.

-Hi, Tone.

-What's happening, how are you?

-Good.

So a cold day in a caravan lock-up in the Valleys -

I told you telly would be glamorous.

Yeah. It's all it's cracked up to be.

What have you got for us?

I'm installing a PIR sensor here.

It's got a SIM card in here

that enables it to phone a mobile recipient.

Whenever this is triggered,

it will then call whatever number you programme in

and let them know that the alarm has gone off in the caravan.

So any intruders who come in from now on,

Deborah is going to know, because she will get a phone call.

She'll get a phone call. There's also a siren on it as well.

Brilliant, I'll let you get on with it. Cheers.

This alarm sounds a cracking idea. Just what Deborah needs.

Nice one, Tony.

While Tony is getting on with that, I'll make some of my own

door-to-door enquiries with the locals.

Seen anyone suspicious round here the other night?

All right, then.

Didn't see anything.

Lot of long faces when I asked.

That's enough horseplay from you, Dan.

Back to business in Leeds.

Steve and Pauline are hard at work in the pub they run.

I've called in legendary security fixer Neil to make their home safer

following a break-in through their conservatory.

Our security assessor was concerned about the gap in the back fence

where wannabe burglars could easily get in.

But Neil has a prickly solution.

It's what they call Prick A Strip.

It's the only legal thing you can put on top of fencing.

You know what my question's going to be - are these animal proof?

I'm worried about cats getting their paws and claws caught on that.

When I've put them on, ten minutes later, I've seen a cat walk along it.

So cheap, effective and pretty easy to fit.

-Easy enough for me to fit?

-Yes, yes. Of course it is, yeah.

At night-time, you're not go to see this.

If they try and come over it, it is going to shock them.

Sheds can be a burglar's treasure trove.

Not only for things to steal,

but also for equipment to use to help them break into the house.

So Neil is securing this shed with a special bar and new fixings,

making it more difficult to get into.

And inside the house, Neil has some great gadgets

to help Steve and Pauline feel more secure in their home.

-There's clearly still some security issues here.

-Like the glass missing.

That will get replaced.

-But you're concerned about the locks and the handles.

-Yes, that's right.

What we've got is a padlock.

It's specially designed to go over handles and lock the handles down.

Is that why people wind stuff round it like shoelaces?

Yes, I go to a lot of properties where they have put a belt round,

or just tied it with a piece of rope.

That's not making any security difference at all.

Because all the burglars will do is take the handles off from the outside

and they can gain entry that way.

The only thing it's doing is, potentially, it's a fire hazard.

But this one, all it does is clamp over the top of the handles.

There's no locks involved, because it works on a ratchet.

-And that's it, all locked.

-That's completely secure.

To take it off, you just press both of them at the same time

and pull it out.

-And that's a good visual deterrent from outside.

-Yes.

These French door security locks can be picked up for around £15 -

money well spent.

-And they could double as walkie-talkies.

-OK, then.

-Have you got tea?

-More tea. More tea.

Obviously, it's been recommended that Steve and Pauline get an alarm.

But when you've got furry friends,

it can be a bit difficult, because they can set the sensors off.

We'll have to see what Neil's got to say.

There's quite a few alarms out there that are animal proof.

What you need to be looking for is having window and door contacts.

Because if you put PIRs up,

although most of them are pet friendly,

unfortunately, cats will tend to set them off,

because they climb all over the place.

Because they're set at human height and, if a cat climbs,

-they're going to set them off.

-Yes, it will set them off.

You can put contacts in. That is a room contact.

You can see it's flashing, so it's actually picking us up.

But the contacts we're going to put on here are magnetic contacts.

-So if the door or window is opened, they go off.

-That's right.

I'm going to cover all access points downstairs.

We're still going to put a PIR, room sensor, in the conservatory.

Because they're going to section off the conservatory,

-the animals aren't going to go in there.

-Yes.

They are the best ones to fit, because it picks up any movement.

Steve and Pauline thought they had super-duper locks on their new conservatory.

Security assessment showed that they were just the basic ones.

Steven and Pauline have only had this conservatory for a few weeks.

It's brand-new and, when they bought it,

the salesman told them that these locks were top of the range.

Well, I can, just by looking at it, not doing any investigation,

-that is just a very basic lock.

-This must aggravate you.

The bane of my life for nearly eight years now,

trying to combat this type of problem.

What is the difference in price

between one of these and the decent locks?

The cylinder in there, er, you'll pick up £8-£10.

But the high security T S007 3-Star,

you're looking at between £45 and £65.

So this is the kind of lock that people should be looking for?

-It is, yeah.

-Crucially, it's got the three stars in the front.

-That's what you should be looking at.

-And the British Kitemark.

The British Kitemark with three stars

and that means it's passed the snapping test.

You can bin that. Put one of these good ones in.

We're really making sure the house is safer. Lock, stock and barrel.

I think Neil has done a fantastic job of the security upgrade,

but there's someone else we need to impress

and that is Richard from the police.

-What do you think now?

-Much improved, really happy with that.

The locks have been changed, the alarm system is in,

there's a couple of extra bits.

The shed has been improved in security.

-So you're going to be more generous now when I ask you to give it a mark out of ten, aren't you?

-Yes, I am.

Because I'm happy and things have gone well this afternoon, we've done a really good job.

What do you reckon? What's the magic number for this property?

-The magic number - you can never get a ten...

-No, so you've told me.

So I've told you. I think an eight and a half would be really good.

And that's a pretty good score,

-we're happy with it being nearer to ten.

-That's right.

Let's hope the occupants are really happy with that.

I'm sure they will be.

He drives a hard bargain, but eight and a half is a really good score.

I can't wait to tell Steve and Pauline

and, after a hard day's graft,

what better place to do it than in the pub?

We've had Richard back

and he's given it an eight and a half out of ten now.

-Does that make you feel happier?

-That's a lot better.

I'd like to know what the one and a half was for.

He's very strict with his gradings!

You'd have to have a moat round it

and Alsatian dogs roaming round the perimeter to get a ten, I think!

Hopefully now, you'll feel safe, both at home

and when you're at work and you leave your home as well.

Thank you.

Great work, Keeley. A pint of bitter for me, by the way.

I'm in Neath in South Wales and about to show Deborah

the improvements we've made to her precious caravan.

Deborah, I thought there was going to be nothing that would make this caravan any more secure.

But we have found you a little gadget.

It's an alarm and, whenever there is an intruder in there,

you'll get a phone call to your mobile phone.

Let's give it a go.

-ALARM BLARES

-Right...

-That's loud, isn't it?

-The siren is going.

I didn't want to be in there too long. You've got your mobile phone.

MOBILE PHONE RINGS

-"Caravan alarm."

-It actually tells you that's the caravan alarm.

-Yeah.

So you would've had that when the burglar got in.

A, they would have known that there was an alarm in there.

And B, you would have known they were in there.

I'm a lot happier now than I was a few days ago.

-Good.

-Thank you.

That alarm is a great bit of kit.

We've also given Deborah a good old-fashioned sign

to warn any potential lowlifes

that there is nothing worth breaking in for.

It's so difficult to make caravans totally secure,

but with the improvements we've made,

I'm sure Deborah and her family

will be free to enjoy many more happy holidays to come.

Those thieves may have got a taste of cake,

let's just hope they buy one from the bakery next time.

I'm happy we were able to help Steve and Pauline make their home safer,

for them and their furry friends. That's it for today!

-Until next time...

-Ta-ra for now.

-Bye-bye.