Hooking a Thief Break-in Britain - The Crackdown

Every minute of every day,

someone somewhere is getting burgled.

It doesn't sound good.

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

It never ceases to amaze me how much mess these burglars cause for 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. I am having a lot of palpitations today.

It's just heartbreaking.

But in this series, we are fighting back against the burglar.

Police forcing entry! Police!

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.

Hello. Today on Break-in Britain:

Ruthless burglars smash a conservatory window

and leave a young mum feeling threatened in her own home.

I won't sleep tonight.

I'll just think now they know what's actually in there, they're going to come back.

And I am visiting a student house in Leeds which was raided

in the early hours by a cat burglar who shinned up the drain pipe.

I was sleeping directly above where the person broke in.

If they hadn't just wanted to come in and take the TV,

I don't like to think about it. It's quite a frightening thought.

It's a sad fact of life that some areas in the UK

are more prone to burglary than others.

Crime hot spots crop up all over the country

and although the police work tirelessly to catch the thieves,

tens of thousands of break-ins are reported every year.

In many burglaries I get called out to,

the thieves have targeted cash, gold, electronics.

It sounds from what the police have told me

in this case the thieves have targeted something quite different.

Casey and her partner Shane live in Bramley in Leeds

with their six-month-old son, Harley.

Casey has lived in the area all her life and has never felt unsafe.

Until now.

How did you discover that you had been burgled?

I was in bed this morning.

My partner woke me up and he said, "You better get up."

I said, "Why?" He said, "We've been burgled."

So I have got up and come down and rung the police straight away.

-Where was that left?

-That was inside the bag.

While Casey, Shane and baby Harley were fast asleep,

hard-nosed criminals were fishing for an easy steal.

What have they taken from inside the house?

From in there, they have taken a big fishing backpack

full of fishing baits, fishing hooks, rod bags.

A fishing chair also came out of there as well.

-It costs a fortune, fishing gear.

-Yes.

Builder Shane is an avid angler

and has invested his hard-earned money in some top-notch kit.

But in a matter of minutes,

thieves have netted 500 quid's worth from under his nose.

I think someone has either seen Shane bringing his fishing gear in

after one Sunday afternoon, left it a bit to quieten down and then come.

Or it's someone we know.

Someone who knows that Shane's hobby is fishing

and that it is worth a lot of money.

As with nearly half of all burglaries,

the crooks have got in around the back, smashing their way

through one pane of double glazing and popping the other one out whole.

PC Jordan Housen surveys the crime scene.

They have taken some items from in here and then gone

out to the shed as well and taken some items from there.

So there are quite a lot of forensic opportunities, so we will request forensics to examine the window

and hopefully get some fingerprints from there and also the areas contaminated in here.

Fingerprints and DNA are vital in the hunt for thieves.

Find a spot of blood and it could lead to a conviction.

Meanwhile, Casey has to live with the violation of her property.

-How did you feel when you found out then?

-Not nice.

You think, is it going to happen again? Are they going to come back?

What are they going to take next?

Then you also think, is it someone we know?

I am well known around here so you would think people know who you

are and they are not going to touch your property, but I don't know.

You just think it's never going to happen to you but then it does.

They have prised the shed open, they have taken a bit of equipment in there.

They have left quite a bit in there as well.

So whether they have been disturbed or not, I don't know,

but we'll ask some neighbours if they have seen or heard anything

and we'll ask if there's any CCTV or anything like that.

-Did you hear anything in the night?

-No.

Harley woke up at about 3:30am screaming

and I came in and popped his dummy in. He is in the back bedroom.

I turned him back onto his side and went straight back to bed.

So that could have been what woke him up because that shed makes a racket when you open it.

I just didn't think to look out of the window.

Casey might not have seen anything

but there's a chance a neighbour has.

Sorry to bother you. Have you got two minutes to speak, if that's OK?

Jordan is on the case with some good old-fashioned door-to-door.

There has been a burglary a couple of doors down the road.

Did you see or hear anything last night up to this morning

-between 10:00pm and 7:00am?

-No.

And he has already turned up some potential evidence.

-So it's the first time, this morning?

-Yes.

So yesterday it wasn't there?

Good stuff. Thank you for your time.

If there's anything else you need, phone the 101 number, OK? Lovely. Thank you very much, sir.

If he's saying that he has not seen this screwdriver before, it's just in the garden,

there might be nothing to connect it to the crime at all

but with regards to how they have gained access,

it is definitely prudent to seize it and also get it fingerprinted.

A good lead, but it's not enough to make Casey feel secure.

I won't sleep tonight.

I will be up every two minutes because I just think

now they know what's in there, they're going to come back.

The first thing Shane said this morning was, "I'm moving anyway."

But we shouldn't have to do that. This is my house, this is where I was brought up.

I'm not going to get scared off by anyone, no way. I'm not going to do that, no.

If it helps you out, we've got our experts

and they can come around and have a look at the place and see

where the weak points are and see if we can get it shored up for you.

-Yes, that would be great.

-Make sure you can stay.

Yes, we definitely want to stay. I definitely won't go.

At least the thieves didn't break Casey's spirit, and we're

going to upgrade her security so the whole family feel safe again.

The next day, and the rain doesn't stop crime reduction officer

Nick Whitcombe giving his expert opinion on Casey's security.

As usual, they have got in through the back,

so have a look around there and see what you think.

Yes, but even looking from here,

look at the size of those privet hedges at the back.

How much cover are they going to give

in the favourite domain of the burglar?

-It gives them time. Let's go.

-All right.

You don't need to open the gate. You can go around it.

Yes, gates tend to be a much better defence

when actually attached to both sides.

Nick is concerned by the back hedges that provide the perfect

cover for a lowlife on the prowl.

He has noticed the flimsy shed door

and seems to have spotted something on the window.

I've had my hands full with the dog.

Fat lot of good she was on the night of the burglary!

But what do you reckon of it?

I've had a look at the back garden,

looked at this window, which is the point of entry.

They've forced it, but breaking glass -

there's always a risk they're going to cut themselves, and they have.

Oh, they have?

-There's what looks like blood just here.

-Oh, yes.

So forensics need to come and take swabs of that. DNA. We love DNA.

This is a major find

and could be just the evidence needed to identify the thief.

There is a big market for fishing gear.

It's expensive and the stolen stuff is easy to sell on.

Catch of the day for a proper crook.

I would suggest that the person that nicked them

knew what they were coming for and knew where to get rid of them fast.

So overall, as it stands at the moment,

what would be your security assessment for this place?

At the moment I would give it...

..a five.

-So plenty to improve on?

-Plenty to improve on.

We can do lighting, look at that fence, it's too low.

Let's build the height up with something that is wobbly,

doesn't hold body weight, a bit of trellising.

But it is absolutely gutting for the guy

who has lost all his fishing gear.

-Oh, aye. You would be devastated.

-Very personal thing, fishing gear.

You can't touch people's fishing gear.

Shane didn't have any home insurance so it's going to take a long

time on the building site to replace his precious kit.

So a lot of issues to tackle here

and I will need to call in my fisherman's friend.

-"Hello, Neil speaking."

-Hiya, Neil, it's Dan.

-"Hiya, Dan."

Yeah, listen, I've got a bit of an odd job for you, mate.

I need you to make sure that a family's fishing rods

-don't get nicked again.

-"All right. That's unusual, but yeah, yeah."

Good. I'll give you the address.

"Yeah. Send me the details and I'll get round there

"and make it secure for you."

Brilliant. Nice one.

"All right, cheers. Bye."

He's heard it all before.

'We'll be back later to give Casey's home the security upgrade

'it desperately needs.

'But first, Keeley's on the trail of another burglary

'just four miles away.'

SIREN WAILS

'I've been called to Woodhouse,

'an area that's home to the University of Leeds.

'It's a popular place to live for thousands of students,

'but it's also well liked by the criminals.'

A few years ago, this student area of Leeds had one of

the highest burglary rates in the whole country.

It's full of multi-occupancy student houses,

where security isn't a priority.

Take this house -

in the last four years, it's been broken into ten times.

And this is the call that reported the eleventh.

Officer Mark Huckle is first on the scene

and goes through events with housemate Tamar,

an engineering student from South Africa.

This morning, someone got up to use the bathroom and, er...

Well, she lifted up the seat, sat down and then,

about two minutes in, realised there was something wrong with the seat.

So she had a look and there's a footprint on the back

-of the seat and mud on the windowsill.

-Right.

And then she had a look downstairs and noticed the TV was missing.

So she called the police.

What an awful shock.

Your bathroom's a private place

and knowing a stranger's invaded it is quite disturbing.

The window's been found insecure, there's mud on the...

obviously, bathroom windowsill.

There's obviously a footmark on the back of the seat

as if someone's obviously climbed in and stepped onto the seat.

In the dead of night, an opportunist burglar

saw an open window and went for it.

Tamar and Mark take stock of what's missing.

-The TV was on the wall there.

-Right.

I think the TV was plugged into the wall there.

-So they've taken the power cable.

-Yeah.

That's the only thing you can see that's missing at the moment?

-Yep.

-Right.

Luckily for Tamar, this thief headed straight for the TV

and didn't risk being caught by trying any of the many bedrooms.

You might think it's OK to leave a first-floor window open,

but not in this neighbourhood.

The evidence suggests that that window's been insecure

and they've obviously climbed in that window.

To do that, you can only access it by either going up that drainpipe

and along the drainpipe that runs across from the bathroom,

or this neighbouring drainpipe.

A gutsy move, but with the cover of darkness

and no security light to contend with, far from impossible.

I caught up with Tamar soon after the event.

How's it been?

It's been pretty stressful, actually. It's always...

The first thing I noticed is... I often check the front door

when I leave and...like, my stress level has been

so high that I've found myself coming back two blocks

just to check if the door is still locked. And it's like a...

Genuinely a bit panicky every time I leave the house.

I didn't have insurance when we got robbed,

so that's been on my mind, as well.

What would happen if someone had actually gone into my room

and taken some of my stuff?

As a PhD student, Tamar's room holds expensive equipment

and university work that's irreplaceable.

But lost belongings are never the only concern.

I was sleeping directly above where the person broke in.

They walked past two of my housemates'

bedroom doors to get downstairs.

If they hadn't just wanted to come in and take the TV,

it could've been... I don't like to think about it.

It's quite a frightening thought, that there was someone

ill-intentioned walking about in my house.

Tamar's clearly shaken,

and this villain has left their mark in more ways than one.

Their first step is as clear as day.

We map trainer footwear from suspects,

so therefore, we'll do a lift on that and when the lift gets taken,

you'll probably get an even better print than what you can see there.

So that might give us an indication in terms of what footwear

they might've been wearing, which can be as good as a fingerprint.

This acetate print will be cross-referenced against

the police database and could turn up a match.

We'll find out later.

Now, you would think in a house that's been burgled ten times,

that the security would be top-notch. So, is it?

And what about the alarm? Because you have got an alarm, haven't you?

Yeah. But the letting agents have had problems with tenants

in the past setting off alarms and not knowing how to turn them off.

So they don't hand out the codes.

No code means no active alarm.

Fat lot of good that is.

You've got locks on each of your bedroom doors. Are they sturdy?

Do you feel like your stuff is safe in the bedrooms when you leave it?

They're not all that sturdy.

I think if someone could get into the house,

they could easily get into the bedrooms without any hassle at all.

I keep everything in my bedroom. My room is my home,

the house is sort of the neighbourhood,

I guess you could say.

And actually, if you owned your home, your room,

you'd probably put more than just one lock on the door.

I would have a lot of deadbolts.

We've got a crime-reduction officer coming to the house this afternoon.

He's going to give it a rating out of ten and then he'll suggest

some measures that we can put in place to make it a lot safer.

-How's that sound?

-That's a good idea.

-Yeah?

-That will make you feel safer about your bedroom and the house?

-Absolutely.

We'll be back later in the programme

to find out what makes this house so attractive to thieves.

And what can be done to protect the people and the property inside.

Meanwhile, on the other side of Leeds in Bramley,

Casey and Shane are still in shock

at having £500 worth of fishing gear nicked.

And Casey's got her own theory on who done it.

I don't think he'll have got far.

I definitely think it's someone off this estate.

He'll try selling it to the wrong person

-and I'll hear something about it and find out.

-Yeah?

In a tight-knit community,

victims often feel like they've been targeted personally.

And only the police investigation can put Casey at ease.

So far, the screwdriver found

in a neighbour's garden has been discounted,

but there has been a development with the blood found on the window.

The DNA has been linked to a known criminal who lives less than

five miles from Casey and Shane.

He's been charged previously with burglary

and the police are on his case.

So after the theft of the fishing rods,

I know the police are going to be working hard to reel in the burglar.

But we've got our own job to do,

making this young family's house safe again.

And there's only one man for that job, Neil Goldup.

He's kitted out thousands of houses

with state-of-the-art security systems.

He's a burglar's worst enemy.

-I'll put it up there.

-Yeah.

Quite high up, so it's facing anybody coming up these stairs.

-It'll catch them. Yeah?

-Yeah.

Is this a real CCTV camera, or is it a dummy?

It certainly looks like the real thing,

but if we can't tell, then nor can the common crim.

And inside, a burglar alarm that's even Lola-proof.

There's no sensor in the back, so if your dog is in the back,

if it's there when you set your alarm,

it's not going to set off because your sensor's in this room.

-Right, OK.

-That's your new lock, new keys.

As I say, your key goes in sideways now.

It's a good visual deterrent from outside,

-so burglars won't touch these locks now.

-Right.

You've got locks on all your downstairs windows.

Outside...you've got the security light up.

As soon as anybody walks up this path, walks through this door,

-it'll light them up.

-Right.

So you can just look out the window and you'll see them there.

-And your trellising.

-Yep.

I think with that trellising up now, it's secure,

but it's flimsy enough, if they try and get onto it, try and climb it,

it'll collapse and they'll break their legs or arm, or summat.

What a transformation!

Neil's turned this place into a burglar's nightmare.

And it means Casey and Harley might just sleep tight after all.

Across town, the footprint found in Tamar's student house

is being investigated.

West Yorkshire Police records contain several thousand

footprints taken from people in custody

and can match even a popular shoe with known criminals.

Sadly, on this occasion, there's no match.

But that's not the end of our story,

as crime-prevention officer Nick is here

to figure out how a burglar got into this house

for the eleventh time, and to stop it happening again.

So this is an area rife for burglary.

It is, because the people that live in this block allow it to be.

That's one reason.

Another reason is the access, all that down there,

perfect access, getaway points.

The majority of the places are full of students or ex-students,

all with their own private electrical goodies in there.

'And if those electrical goods

'are visible, you're inviting trouble.'

They've probably looked from here...

up through that window,

and if you look now you can see the television bracket on the wall.

Just about, through the grubby windows!

Well, you won't see the telly, cos that's gone.

'Valuable items shouldn't be left on display.

'If Tamar and co had shut their curtains,

'this burglary might have been avoided.

'The drainpipes were coated with anti-climb paint that's

'supposed to make the surface too greasy to shin up,

'so what happened?'

Let me show you here.

The surface of it, it smudges, because it's not fresh stuff,

it's old and it needs redoing.

Now, they've grabbed hold of it here, because they've broken the surface

and slid it to one side.

-You can see the fingerprints on it?

-There.

-Oh, yeah!

Probably glove marks.

'Anti-climb paint does what it says on the tin,

'but only if you maintain it and repaint every couple of years.

'And age has got the better of the front door, too.'

-Look at it.

-It's not in great condition, is it?

-It's tired.

It's worn out. It's not up to standard. The lock...

..moves backwards and forwards!

'Round the back, there may be bars on the windows and doors, but it all

'looks neglected - not surprising,

'as the students don't own the building.'

What about the score out of ten?

-They can have a three.

-A three?

-A three.

The biggest change that's needed here will cost absolutely nothing,

and that is the mentality of the occupants of the house.

There's windows and doors been left open.

'And an open window was all it took.

'I'm going to pass Nick's assessment on to Tamar,

'but in the meantime, we need to get painting.

'Well, I say "we"...'

I'd love to offer my help,

but I think you only come with one paintbrush.

I've got plenty of paintbrushes. But I'll look after this one meself!

'This paint can be used on any dry surface

'and leaves a lasting impression on all those who touch it.'

If you get it on your skin, it takes a long time to wash off.

If you get it on your clothes, call it a day and throw them away.

'It's not just a nuisance.

'A paint stain can connect crime scene to burglar,

'and it's certainly effective.'

There's a street not too far away from here that was getting hit

really bad by burglars climbing up the pipes, so we put anti-climb

paint on every pipe in them streets and it stopped it overnight.

'Beefing up your home security works,

'and with the help of West Yorkshire Police,

'there are far fewer burglaries in Woodhouse now

'than in previous years.

'The police offer crime prevention advice

'and encourage students to register their property

'on the Government-supported website Immobilise.

'That way, if items turn up as stolen goods,

'they can be easily identified and returned.

'Tamar's still feeling uneasy about the security of his room,

'so Neil's found the perfect solution to ease his mind.'

We've got a room alarm for you. Nice and easy to use, remote control.

And then, if anybody comes in and trips the room sensor,

-it's going to scream.

-Right, shall we test it?

-Let's give it a tester.

-Right, if you want to go out, then, I'll turn it on.

-OK.

And then I'll give you a shout when to come in.

So I'm the burglar. Thanks(!) I get to be the burglar.

You've got a face for it. KEELEY LAUGHS

Thank you(!)

Right. ALARM BEEPS

I've come to burgle you!

So, that's flashing now, so it's giving you chance to turn it off.

ALARM WAILS Because you've not turned it off...

-Right! Good? Happy with that?

-Yep, that's great. Thank you.

'With Nick's expert advice and Neil's skilled installation,

'there's a fighting chance this house won't be burgled again.

'But it really depends on these guys, the residents,

'and Tamar's leading the way.'

I didn't even think about things like leaving windows open,

and now it's just second thought to make sure windows are closed

and locking the door, as well,

just making sure things like that are done.

All of us have been working on that.

This has built a bit of a community with us, and also,

because we're spending more time together, we've come a bit closer.

You've actually made friends because someone's burgled the house?

Yeah, pretty much. We don't have a TV to watch any more,

so we have to entertain each other!

And you feel generally a lot safer in the house.

With the security that we've added now, and I've also got round to

getting myself insurance, I do feel a lot safer.

We didn't think it would happen to us,

and it did, and now we are making sure it won't happen again.

Improving security in a student or multi-occupancy house can be tricky.

We've had to look at not only the house as a whole

but also the individual rooms, as well.

But one thing that's come out of this burglary is

more of a community has developed, and I think that will go some way

in making the house a lot safer, too.

'Back in Bramley, Casey

'and Shane have learnt from police that the man who stole their

'fishing kit was arrested

'and admitted to this and another burglary.

'Paul Whitley was sentenced to two years, four months in prison

'when he appeared at court in Leeds.

'Sadly, none of Shane's equipment was recovered,

'but, hey, there's plenty more fishing kit in the sea.

'It's the family's safety that's important,

'and expert Nick's returned to give

'his verdict on the security upgrade.'

Neil's been grafting on this place.

Yeah, you can see it from a distance, the alarm box,

-nice and bright, in your face.

-Yeah.

We've got a camera looking directly at the steps to the front door,

we've got a good-quality light, and even from here you can see

that you've got the TS007 lock, which is what we want.

So there's four things visually that the burglar's going to go,

"Oh, that's four things against me".

Four things immediately to change their mind.

'And there's a fifth.'

So, there you go, that wasn't there before. That's what we've put in.

You can see this. No, it's not strong. We don't want it strong.

We want it so that it will collapse, make a noise, make a mess.

Why not...

..get some nice blackberry...

dry, live ones, wind it all in there?

No burglar's going to want to collapse on them without

bleeding all over the place.

So, now that you've seen what we've done,

what would be your security assessment for this place?

I think we can have...

..an eight here. Eight and a half, because I love this trellising.

Hi, Casey! All right?

'And Nick's not the only one who's chuffed!'

-I notice you've already had a go at the alarm.

-Yeah, I love it, yeah.

I'll be using it every time, even if I nip to t'shop or anything.

-Are you feeling better cos of it?

-Yeah. Definitely.

Yeah, 100%. I definitely feel safer in me own home.

Now, Nick's come back to do his security assessment.

-Eight and a half out of ten.

-Oh, brilliant. Yeah.

-That's as good as it gets from our Nick.

-Yeah! Yeah.

I just can't wait for Shane to come home now, tell him all about it.

-I'm glad we could do some good for you.

-Me, too. Thank you so much.

-I appreciate it so much.

-That's brilliant.

That's what we like to hear.

'So that's two houses in Leeds transformed from easy targets

'to super-secure properties,

'and everyone inside's feeling a whole lot happier.'

Well, that's it for now.

-Remember, keep those windows and doors locked.

-Bye-bye.

-Ta-ra.