Episode 16 Crimewatch Roadshow

A for eight years I was a police officer with one thing on my mind,

to catch criminals and face them to -- its force them to face justice.

I swapped the police station for the TV studio. Over the past two

years, Crimewatch Roadshow has brought more than 40 criminals to

justice. We are into our 4th and final week of this series and we

have been inundated with quality leads on a suspect. So far, your

information has led to the arrest of a former police officer wanted

in connection with a scam targeting NHS staff. And a convicted rapist

on the run for four years is now behind bars, thanks to your help.

All of which goes to show you can take the policeman out of the

uniform but you can't stop me catching criminals. This is

Welcome to Crimewatch Roadshow. We're in the final week travelling

round the country on the front line with local police solving crime.

We start off with some great news in our appeal for two men. This

month in the striped top was arrested at the weekend but we

still need to find the other guys. Today: We want to find the thug who

did this to an 83 year old in his own home.

And, they came armed with an axe and a gun, all for the sake of �300

and some cigarettes. Plus, the eagle owl almost killed

by a gunman. Let's swoop on the thugs who did it.

All this week, we're working with the Gloucestershire, Gwent and

South Wales police forces. We'll start off today with

Gloucestershire. Miriam is in Newent. I gather you've met some

feathered friends this morning? Welcome to the International Centre

for Birds of Prey, in the Forest of Dean. We're surrounded by a

wonderful collection of beautiful birds. And we'll be meeting a very

special owl later. With me for the next couple of days is the BBC's

Good morning, Miriam. Welcome to my home patch. The area around us here

looks absolutely stunning. But you shouldn't be fooled. There's plenty

of crime out there. And later in the programme, I'll be

showing you how criminals are using traps like this to snare songbirds.

Now let's get straight on with our first appeal.

The distressing story of an 83- year-old man terrorised in his own

home. In January this year, 83-year-old

pensioner John Astman set out on his regular dog walk. But minutes

later, he encountered a man who was I came here two years ago. I had a

partner who was blind. And we were doing fine, until she contracted

pneumonia, and she died. I was left here on my own a year ago. It is a

very, very quiet place, and some very, very nice neighbours around

here, the ideal place for older people. With his partner gone, it

is down to John to look after her beloved Yorkshire terrier Jamie.

now take her for a walk every night. Because, she has a little do that

in the daytime and she wants a little supper. After she has had

her little supper, she wants to go for a walk. Makes no bones about it,

she asked to go, so I have to take home every night. I have done that

ever since Pat passed away. But on this particular evening, John's

regular routine would be violently It was dark those nights, dark at

5pm, you see. This particular night, I had been down as far as the main

road on the footpath leading to my little bungalow. And, there was

someone coming down, had quite dark clothes, had a pack on their back.

This is a nice little dog. He was stroking her, saying, I have just

come up to my house but he says he has lost the keys to get in. I am

not out of my house. I have got a spare set in Cheltenham Foster I

said, just at the top of the road there is a bus straight through to

Cheltenham. A bus will come a long they're very

frequently. You couldn't Sperry pound for the

bus? And haven't got any money on me. He said, do you live around

here? I began to get a bit worried about it then. I said, yes, not too

far away from here. He said, a wonder if I could have a cup of tea,

I'm very cold. I am not going straight home, by

meeting a couple of people. I began then to be very, very

careful. I watched him go out of sight. And I went in. I came in

here. I locked the doors. And I thought, I think how will get the

police to come and have a look at him. I got the directly out and I

was going to ring the local police station. Instead of dialling 99 and

which I wish I had done, and looked for the number. I could hear

movements going on outside with the doors. The next thing, he opened

What happened to John that night is truly horrific. Later in the

programme, we'll be hearing more from the police. They have an e-fit

image of his attacker. For now, back to Rav and today's Wanted

Faces. Let's take a look at who we've got

on the board for you today. This is 51-year-old James Fielder.

He was arrested and bailed, but has been on the run since September

2010. He's wanted in connection with conspiracy to supply class A

drugs, and handling stolen property. Fielder has a strong south east

accent, and sometimes has longer hair, tied in a ponytail. He has

contacts in north Devon, west London and also in Thailand. But

where is he now? This is Benjamin James Reeve. Reeve

was released early from a five-year jail sentence for robbery in

September 2010. But he failed to keep to the conditions of his

release. He's also wanted in connection with a case of supplying

cannabis. He has links to the Hampshire and Essex areas, and has

a small tattoo of a bull's head on his neck. Do you know where he is

now? Take a look at this man: Geoffrey

West. He's wanted by officers from the Serious Organised Crime Agency

in connection with the supply of cocaine. West has connections to

Liverpool and Spain. He has bands of Celtic tattoos on both arms, and

a four-inch scar on the back of his left shoulder. Have you seen him

recently? If so, let us know. Polish man Pawel Jakub Koperski is

our final Wanted Face of the day. He was initially arrested in

connection with the supply, use and manufacture of controlled drugs,

but failed to attend court in November 2009. Koperski, has

connections to the Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire areas. And has a

tattoo of a pair of lips with the words, "Kiss me" on the right side

of his neck. If you recognise any of these faces,

the number to call is: 08000 468 999. Or text us on 63399. Text CW,

space, and then your message. Please, leave the space, or your

message won't get through. Or, email us. [email protected].

Don't forget, all the Wanted Faces are on our website. Now it's over

I've been covering the issues that affect the people of

Gloucestershire for the past five years. And, believe me, there's

more to this place than farming and Gloucestershire is classically a

rural county. 600,000 people make it their home. From the Cotswolds

in the north. Down to the valleys in the south. This is an area that

offers both stunning, traditional landscapes and modern city living.

That is of course what it will tell you in the brochures but what is

crime like here? What other police dealing with day-in, day-out?

A new one visiting Gloucestershire as a county will be struck by how

beautiful it is. You can go to the Forest of Dean, Cheltenham, to the

Cotswolds. But scratch underneath the surface, and you will find

problems with burglaries, organised crime groups, prostitution and

human trafficking. We deal with a whole range of policing issues.

Like many other police forces, we have had our fair share of high-

profile crimes. Frederick West was today charged with murder, he has

been accused of killing his daughter. The body believed to be

has was found in the garden on Sunday.

There is a perception of crime only happens InterCity's, urban areas.

Throughout the country, crime happens in rural areas, for

instance, poaching. What we are seeing increasingly is organised

gangs of criminals coming into our county from elsewhere, driving

four-wheeled drive vehicles and armed with high-powered rifles,

taking our deer. One resource at the heart of Gloucestershire's work

The forensic work we do is very varied. It is our mission to use

forensic science in the fight against crime in Gloucestershire.

We have a lot of forensic experts and a lot of technology at our

disposal which we used in gaining a The figures seem to show the

overall crime in Gloucestershire is falling. The challenge now is

keeping that up when budgets are We are very proud that crime has

fallen again in Gloucestershire, around 6% reduction this year. But

we are also going to have less money than we have had previously.

We will have 15% less police officers in Gloucestershire which

is difficult. We need to make sure we are using everyone in the right

way, and keeping officers in uniform local and visible for the

communities are to reassure them, and being able to deal with serious

and complex things as well. It will be a really tough challenge.

Back to Steve in Gloucestershire later. But first: This is a CCTV

sign warning people they are on camera. But some people clearly

Take a good look at this car parked in Wolverhampton in April this year.

The passengers open the boot of the car before running into the store

and snatching armfuls of sports clothing. As they run out, some

staff give chase and one manages to grab a thief who drops most of the

clothing. That doesn't stop them piling the rest into the car and

they are off. Help the police tackle these these, tell us who

they are. It is January this year and these

two have used a crowbar to force their way into weighed Greenwich

builders' merchant. First, they want to make sure they do not leave

behind too many clues. One burglar waits by the door while the other

finds the CCTV. He puts it out of action before they still a large

amount of cash. But he should have kept his face fully covered before

he disabled the camera. If you recognise him or his accomplice,

then please give us a call. Heat and light on this couple

walking into the shoe department of Selfridges in Oxford Street, London.

They have a good look around but don't seem that interested. They

spot a bad left alone on a chair. While the man Shields her from view,

the woman steals a purse. You can see her checking it. Let us stamp

out their activities. If you know who they are, tell us and we will

make sure the police hotfoot it around to see them. If you know

anything about any of those people featured, the number to call is:

08000 468 999. Or text us on 63399. Text CW, space and then your

message. And leave that space, or your message won't get through. Or,

email us. [email protected]. Still to come this morning on

Crimewatch Roadshow: Who shot Harley?" The eagle owl was lucky to

survive. And, armed with an axe and a gun, the raiders who terrorised a

shopkeeper. Plus, find out what happened when John Astman came

But before that there is time for an update with our appeals. On

Friday we asked for information on Felix McCann. He was wanted in

connection with a burglary of a pensioner. We received a large

number of calls and the information has been passed to police. We

received promising information relating to the front door robbery,

with two thugs followed their victim home and attack him. Two

callers have given us potential names. And we appealed for help to

find the man who dresses in a Burkha and robs travel agencies in

Bedfordshire. So thanks to everyone who has got in touch. Now back to

Miriam. Meet Harley the eagle owl. A couple of months ago he was

involved in an attack which left him close to death. The great

British countryside, a place we like to think of as an oasis of

tranquility. We like to think of ourselves as a nation of animal

lovers, but things like this make you question whether that is true.

We were devastated when we found out what happened. It was such an

impressive sight. We used to come out and see the owl. When it

disappeared, it was really sad. minutes from Gloucester in the

forest of dean is Stowfield Quarry. Possibly the last place to expect a

rare species of owl to settle. But that is happened. I turned up about

two years ago. It would turn up for the odd day. He would bring Bakara

bits and birds that he would catch. And he could down and feed next to

you. It just had become natural like. The owl settled in Stowfield

Quarry and the quarrymen adopted them. And they named it Harley.

Soon it was going to get out that there was an owl, an eagle owl

living in the quarry. It could be seen flying around. Its hoot was

quite distinctive. And whereas the quarrymen didn't seem to take

offence, it is possible that someone did find the hoot annoying.

He used to come down and sit on the pole every night. It started in

January. We could hear his very loud hoot and he came down about

6.30 at night and stay there most of the night. He was quite a

friendly owl. But this friendly owl was soon to become a victim of a

heartless crime. On this evening in February, a gentleman came to a

residential area near quarry and saw Harley the eagle owl, perched

on a telegraph pole. As he was watching it, he heard a shot. The

owl fell to the ground. I believe the man then turns and saw either

one or two males, one of whom had an air rifle with them. It happened

on the Friday by the Sunday we thought it strange, because the owl

hadn't been back. Some of the neighbours which we weren't aware

about had done a search for the owl to try to find oit it but we

weren't able to find the owl. Harley was missing for five days

until a quarry worker spotted him on the side of the road. I was on

my way to work about five o'clock and I saw it on the side of the

road in the dark. I pulled over and got my coat out and chased it up

and chucked the coat on it and managed to catch it and put it in

the truck and phoned the falconry centre. Harley arrived in a

critical condition. It was touch and go with his operation. It is

not something that vets are used to having to deal with. There were a

lot of elements that could have gone wrong. It was a miracle and

now he has ended up becoming a fully fledged member of our

demonstration team. That is incredible from where it began.

Harley's personality has made him a hit with the visitors. It beggars

belief that anybody would want to shoot an eagle owl. There is no

reason to do that. So if anybody has any information, however small.

I would like them to contact me as soon as possible. Jemima Parry

Jones runs the centre here. Harley was lucky to survive? Yes it could

have been a shot in the eye or even have killed him. What kind of a

person would do this? It is beyond me. It guess somebody who got fed

up with the noise and decided to do something about it. I know he is

still recovering. But could we see him fly? Yes Adam's going to see if

he can fly. There he goes. Stunning. He has had to have a lot of work on

one of his wings. In your arm you have two bones, what happened was

one was broken and he had a fix ateor stuck in there. You see on

his wing where the damage is still there. It will take a while?

Yes.Less Not indigenous to this country. How did he get here?

Probably somebody bought him as a baby. They have flown him and maybe

found they had taken on more than they realised. They make a

tremendous noise and the neighbours don't like it if they're close.

Will he be put back into the wild? No, because he is not an indigenous

species, he must stay with us. Harley and and my staff will be

together a long time. What will his job be? Because he likes people,

we're going to fly him for the public. So he gets exercise and

lots of expose tkwrour people. That is what he likes best. Can he

expect once he is recovered to live a long life? Oh yes. Myledly eagle

owl is 37 -- my elderly eagle owl is 37 this year. Slow will be here

for the rest of his life. Frpbgs he will probably outlive me. Harlly

loves having people around. Thank you. Now Steve is with the man

looking into this crime. Simon is with me from the RSPCA. Harley is a

non-indigenous species. So it is a grae area as to whether an offence

is committed Yes he does not have there same protection as our native

owls. But anyone shooting a bird and leaving to it wounded possibly

has committed an offence. You don't take it any less seriously? No.

telling what is happening with song birds. They are getting targeted.

We're getting more calls in relation to people taking our

British finches, our song birds, out of the wild for their own

purposes. Whether it is to sell or to increase their own stock. These

are some of the bits of equipment that we're finding they are using.

How much of a problem is it? We're investigating up to 100 incidents a

year. Also what is interesting, show us thousand the traps are used.

People can use them in their gardens. Yes people are feeding

guards in the -- feeding birds in the garden. They will have a call

bird in the bottom, encouraging birds to come in. They come in, see

that there is seed here and think it is a free meal. Land on the

perch and it would set them all off. There we have three birds in that

particular cage and they can be sold for between �50 to �70. Thank

you. If you have information about what happened to Harley the owl or

any other wildlife crime; please get in touch with us. The numbers

are on your screen. Now back to the In March guitarist Craig Ogden was

victim to an elaborate scam that saw him lose an �18,000 guitar like

this. He was booked to perform at a memorial service but before the

service accepted an invite to join mourners for food. But there was no

mourner, no funeral and when he got back to the church his guitar was

gone. Craig we have to talk about this scam that you were victim of.

How did they con you? I was booked to play at a memorial service for

this guy called Pat's brother. We arranged to meet before the service

to meet at the church, see where I was playing and store my guitar and

then join his family and friends for lunch. He sent me off in a taxi,

because he had to wait to get catch late comers. But at that point when

I was gone he went and stole my guitar. The strangest thing he went

straight from stealing my guitar to make -- meeting a colleague of mine,

did the same, stole his guitar as well. Well let's look at the guitar.

It is not the same, but it is similar. It is almost identical.

The same makerser, it is made by Greg Smallman. The detail and the

armrest, the type of wood on the back, the shaping, all identical.

The only distinguishing thing tr from mine is a semi circular bit of

damage above the sound hole that would, it is obvious you couldn't

hide it. So that would identify the instrument. But they don't make

many of these. Greg works on his own. And to see a Smallman for sale

is rare. But to see one with that damage it is clear it would be mine.

There is a waiting list to buy 1-1? Yes there is a five or six year

waiting list. You feel for this and you thought it was a genuine job.

You have heard somebody else has been done. A colleague was booked

in the same way. We had been contacted by e-mail. And the same

scam. It was, there was nothing unusual about it. This guy, we

established a nice dialogue through e-mail and the phone. He followed

my career and heard CDs. I had a No 1CD. We talked about that the the

next disk. After you have had e- mails. You tried to make contact.

The day he stole it. No more contact that day. Then we reported

the instrument stolen. Then he e- mailed us both for days saying he

wanted to return to instrument and talking about being a con man,

wearing fake hair and it was all a distrabs. He had no intention of

returning the instruments. Hopefully somebody has information

and we can get that guitar back. If you know anything about this con,

please give us a call. Now back to Steve. We're only a short drive

from Gloucester with where at the start of the year a shop was

attacked by robbers. A small shop in Gloucester. A family business

about to be rocked by a vicious armed robbery. Armed with an axe

and a gun, two men carried out this crime. The on bri took place in the

Kone Hill area in a shop on the corner of Newton avenue. Christian

was working the late shift alone. Normally I was working the till.

That day was quiet. I was filling in the chocolate. He had been

working here only for a few days. He had no idea how horrifying his

night would become. Near two centimetres were checking out the

store. -- two centimetres were -- two criminals were checking out the

store. They went to the church up the road on the left. They stashed

their bike behind a church. They speak to three youths and tell the

The first person came in quickly and put their hands around my head.

There was a short struggle with the shop assistant. This CCTV shows

Christian at struggling to fight of his attackers. With an axe held to

his head, he refuses to give in until one of them pulls out a gun.

Take that and I will shoot you! this point the shop assistant is so

scared he complies with their request. He said, if you don't open

the till, I will shoot you. Christian gave the attackers what

they wanted. Having got what they came for, the two men came back

where they came from. They pick up the bike from behind the church.

Seconds later, they abandon it, and make off on foot where they are

caught on CCTV. The thugs made off with just �300 cash, and another

�200 worth of cigarettes. The ordeal's left Christian traumatised.

I'm very scared, very scared. also scared. This is a very serious

offence with a fire arm and also a hand axe. These people need to be

caught, because they pose a danger to the public. From that day, he

said, I'm not going to work here. In the square, a bike is later

discovered. That bike is an Apollo mountain bike, sold exclusively by

Halfords, and was silver in colour. The fact that they cycled here

suggests that they live within cycling distance. So we would ask

for the public's help do they recognise them or the bike. We need

the public's help to identify who these people are.

DC Gareth Morgan, you're the man looking into this investigation.

You have great CCTV of the incident itself. But the robbers have

covered up their faces, is there any more information? We believe

the CCTV will be key to identifying these offenders. The main offender

has a large backside as is obvious. When he leaves, you can see what

appears to be blonde or light ginger coloured hair protruding

underneath. We believe people in the community will recognise this

person. Do you believe these people are from the local community?

store is well secluded, and the fat one defender cycled to it, it

suggests they live within cycling distance. This was a particularly

vicious attack, they came with a gun and an axe all for just �300.

The offender with the Hand Gun have threatened to shoot the young

assistant. We are urging the public to help us to catch these people.

You've got the bike the robbers used? This is a silver Apollo

mountain bike which is exclusively sold by Halfords. They stopped

making his bike in 2004. The bike is in good condition. We believe

people in the community will know about this. Thank you, Gareth.

Remember, if you know anything about this robbery, please get in

touch. Without your help, we can't Some really shocking CCTV in that

attack in Gloucester. As Steve said, if you do know anything, please get

in touch. Here's some more footage This troubled got a lot more than

he bargained for when he attempted to steal from his newsagent in

Greenwich in March. The hooded man runs and brandishing a knife but

the shopkeeper decides he is having none of it. He throws his newspaper

at him, then reaches behind the counter and grabs a wooden pole and

chases the rubber away. He might have left empty-handed but the

police still need to catch him. Here is one punter who is

determined to get in. This is late March and he starts faulting this

wall at the back of his Manchester bar. He opts for him more subtle

approach, hurling a beer barrel at the back door of the pub. He

threatens the barmaid and forces her to open the till. He is

disturbed by a regular and fillies out the back door. Let us help the

police to come at -- to catch this determined Robbo. Give us his name,

please. It is January, these three are all

wrapped up but his is not the cold they are protecting themselves from

but the CCTV cameras. One stays by the door. The other jump over the

shop counter and steal hundreds of pounds worth of Consols and games.

They make sure they share the load. Here they are leaving with their

arms laden. Put an end to their games, tell us who they are.

If you know anything about any of those incidents, the numbers are on

your screen. Or, if you wish to remain anonymous, you can call

Crimestoppers. 0800 555 111. Now, Earlier, we met John Astman, an 83-

year-old whose quiet life was violently disrupted by a robber.

The injuries John suffered are In January this year, 83-year-old

pensioner John Astman set out on But minutes later he encountered a

man who was about to bring terror He said, "I want to talk to you."

said, "Well, I don't want to talk to you." I said, "You get off out

and go back the way you've came You're in serious trouble now. Get

out. No, I need some money. opened that drawer. There was

nothing in there and I told him, And he started looking over there

Get out now. I want some money. got something in my back, and he

said: "I''ve got a gun here. I'm I put my hand round there quick,

and grasped his hand, and it fell on the floor. It was a letter

opener shaped like a sword. I tried to get out through that door. But

of course, I'd bolted and locked it. He went out there very quickly.

Then, because he thought I was trying to get out of that door.

There was a bread knife, and he then he put it to my throat and

said: "I'll cut your throat if you I got most of my teeth knocked out,

As well as John's terrible injuries, when he returned home he discovered

treasured jewellery belonging to both his mother and his beloved

Pat's engagement ring, he'd taken That was the 28th January, and he

took her ring. Well, the 28th of January that was my mother's

birthday. And when she died in hospital, they gave me her ring.

And of course it was rather a treasured possession. John found

the strength to come through this terrible ordeal by drawing on the

memory of his partner. It's time I probably went into a nursing home,

that was what I felt. I do feel scared, I nearly gave up. I know

Pat would not have given up like Pat was a very, very practical

person, and Pat wouldn't have given up. This is particularly vicious

incident where an elderly vulnerable male, Mr Astman, was

attacked. We're appealing for witnesses to come forward, to see

if anybody was in the area at the relevant time, or if anybody

recognises the description of the man or the e-fit that was issued.

DCI Marc Flannery, you're the man heading up the hunt for this

violent robber. John is recovering, how is he? Even though he has

physically recovered, he is still suffering, it warns him daily, the

nasty attack which took place in his own home. You have an e-fit

image. Describe his character? is in his early twenties, 5 feet 8

inches with mousey coloured hair and a side parting. Slim build.

Sporty clothing, tracksuit bottoms, some white trainers on which had

coloured stripes on the bottom. also have some other information

for us today. Since the attack, John Astman has said he think he

has seen the attack upon more than one occasion. The last time he saw

this person, there was a distinctive description, the

offender was wearing a white hooded top with a number 86 on the back

and riding a red mountain bike. you think this chap is local?

we have always believed the offender was a local person. We are

asking the public to help to identify this man. If anyone out

there knows anything at all, please get in touch. The numbers are on

I've just got time to give you a quick update on some of the appeals

so far: We have taken a call while we have been on air about Pawel

Jakub Koperski. We believe he has been seen at the

weekend. And some good calls about Philip Graham, wanted for burglary

offences. We have had possible sightings of him. Police say they

now have strong Leeds, thanks to your calls. Thank you to everyone.

Miriam, you featured an e-fit in that last appeal. A computer

generated image of a criminal, based on a witness's description.

We've got a test to see how accurate these pictures are. I

believe you have a totally innocent person, someone from the crew I've

not seen before, to pose as a We'll just turn the camera round.

Here's one of our crew. Let's take a look.

The first person in the frame is this man here. I have never seemed

that person the 4th. That is all I am going to get, I will try to

memorise that picture. Straight after the programme, I'm

going to talking to an expert meet up with the man who creates

pictures like this, but with new technology. Tomorrow we'll see just

how accurate the match is. Miriam and Steve, what have you got

for us tomorrow? Tomorrow we're moving down to

Frampton on Severn, a beautiful village where a nursing home has

fallen victim to a conman. I've got my chemistry set at the

ready. I'll be getting lessons on what forensic officers do at a

crime scene. Thank you both. For more details

about the crimes on today's programme, head to

bbc.co.uk/crimewatchroadshow. Finally, we'll leave you with