Episode 9 Crimewatch Roadshow

This morning on Crimewatch Roadshow. The 67-year-old have-a-go hero Finn

in a bid is her life trying to stop a car thief. The police need to

Welcome to Crimewatch Roadshow. The show that uses your information to

fight back against crime. Today we're taking on the bag thieves.

How a new piece of software is helping the police catch them in

the act. And we're trying to locate a car jacker who drove off leaving

a pensioner for dead. Plus: We'll be out with the police

in one of Nottingham's toughest estates.

We're in the East Midlands all this week. Today, we are in a tiny

village with a big claim to fame: East Stoke just outside Newark in

This really is a village with a difference.

People here got so fed up with crime, they raised �50,000 to make

East Stoke the first crime-free village in the UK. We will be

finding out what that actually means later in the programme. BBC

East Stoke may well be a no-go zone for criminals. But just 11 miles

away is the market town of Southwell. It's had a spate of

burglaries over two months. We need Let's get on with our first appeal.

A day trip turned into a nightmare for have-a-go hero Jean Burrows,

when an opportunist thief targeted her car.

I just thought, he's not having my car. And I kept saying to him: "Get

out of my car, get out of my car!" As she looked up, there was all

blood on her face, and it was all over the road, and I just kept

thinking, why? The morning of 13th November 2010.

And Jean was driving to pick up I went and turned left up Windmill

Rise to pick Sandra up. Here we can see Jean's car on the

CCTV as she drives to pick up her friend Sandra.

I think it was about eight o' clock that she said she'd come for me,

and I was ready. Nothing out of the ordinary, just a

normal day. For now. Then we went up to Birchwood Lane,

and turned right down there to pick Fred up. Sandra went to fetch him.

Then Sandra was coming with Fred, so I went to put his bag in the

back of the car. Perhaps naively, Jean left her keys

in the ignition. It was a mistake that almost cost

her life. I was aware of this young man

walking around past the pub. I wasn't really taking that much

notice. I was concentrating on getting Fred's bags in the back and

getting him in to go. A lone opportunist spotted the keys,

and made his move. Just as he got level with my car,

he just ran and jumped in. Have-a-go hero Jean reacted

immediately, without thinking of the consequences.

I ran down to the car and tried to get my keys out, and he kept

I just thought, he's not having my car. I kept saying to him, "Get out

of my car, get out of my car!" there was Jean trying to get the

Who it was incredibly brave of Jean. Later we will be giving you the

clues to help track this thief. Simon with an appeal about a spate

of burglaries just 11 miles from here.

I'm with DI Ali Jones, who's been investigating the burglaries that

have happened in Southwell in just two months. And one of the victims,

Tony Smith. What happened? I went out for a meal. When we came

back, someone had broken in to the house. All our electrical goods

were gone. And my credit cards and wallet. And they had been through

personal documents, bank details. This is a small place. Seven

burglaries is a lot. Are you linking them? We are, there have

been a number of burglaries from the end of March until May, four of

which we can link. Security lights have been moved, like so have been

taken out. The same method? Yes. You have some interesting CCTV, not

of somebody in a burglary but connected with Tony. This man has

used his bank cards to take money out of a machine on the evening of

the burglary. So you have captured images of him using the card?

is right. On the forest road. great CCTV. That CCTV is also on

our website so you can take a closer look, hopefully somebody

will recognise this man. If you do, please call, and put a stop to

these burglaries. Now back to Rav with today's wanted faces.

Let's give this man, Paul Morrisey a birthday present he'll never

forget. He's 28 today. And Gwent Police want to talk to him in

connection with an offence of affray, following a fight outside a

Newport nightclub. He's known to have contacts in the Newport area,

and police believe he's still in South Wales. If you know where he

is, let us know. And we'll make sure the police give him a very

special day. Do you recognise this man? Eskander

Kwareem is wanted in connection with a rape in the Kidderminster

area in January 2007. He is originally from Iraq, but has lived

in the UK since 2003. He's known to have links to the London and Leeds

area. Have you seen him recently? Do you recognise Jamie Anthony

Pearson? Detectives in the north west of England want to talk to him

in connection with conspiracy to commit robbery. He's known to have

contacts in the Manchester area, in particular Newton Heath. If you

know where he is, please don't approach him, just give us a call.

Gwent Police are keen to find this man Mustaffa Bilgassam, although he

may be using a different name now. He failed to appear in court back

in August 2008, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to defraud.

Bilgassam is originally from Libya, but is known to have contacts in

South Wales, South east England, Leeds and Edinburgh. If you know

where any of these people are, get And please, leave the space, or

your message won't get through to Still to come on Crimewatch

Nottingham police patrolled some of the city's toughest estates

cracking down on anti-social behaviour.

Can you help us find the thief who landed a have-a-go grannies in

hospital? But before all that: CCTV is now pretty much everywhere you

go. But some crooks seem to have completely forgotten about the

cameras and carry on regardless. See if you recognise any of this

lot. We all like a flutter. If you are

going to take a gamble, you have to learn to take the good with the bad.

Clearly, this punter on the gaming machine on the Old Kent Road hasn't

got to grips with this because when he loses, he takes it badly. Very

badly. He heads off to the toilet, arms himself with a weapon, and

attacked the offending machines, all of them. Then, he walks away.

Do not let him win by getting away with it, can you tell us who he is?

This is a petrol thief with a difference. He pulls up in his red

van at a BP service station in Basildon and fills up at �60 worth

of fuel. He looks like he's going to pay but in fact he does not. He

turns around, jumps back in the band and drives away. Help us catch

this fraudster or, tell us who he Everyone likes to pamper themselves

but this woman really seems to be pushing the boat out in Boots in

West Wickham. She is stocking up on her favourite brands but isn't

prepared to pay. She leaves the store. 10 minutes later she comes

back for more. It turns ugly when they secured to guard follows her

and he has a struggle to recover the goods. This woman proves that

beauty is only skin-deep. Do not let her get away, and tell us who

she is. Now remember, if you recognise any

of the people featured in the CCTV, please get in touch. The numbers

are on your screen. Now back to Miriam in our crime

free village. The villagers of East Stoke were so

fed up with crime on their doorstep, they decided to do something about

it. Sid David is the lead for the local neighbourhood scheme watch,

and the mastermind behind the campaign to create a crime-free

village what on earth is a crime free village? We had lots of petty

crime. Trailers being taken, prowlers, somebody even had their

chickens stolen. What are the new security measures? We have CCTV is

in most of the village. Every house has an intruder alarm. And up-to-

date locks on their windows. There are 12 state-of-the-art

cameras dotted around the village. And the pictures are all fed back

here. Russell is demonstrating this. This is the image we are getting

outside the hall. Miriam is on the camera. Cheryl is from the village.

It has already benefited. Yes, we had people looking for scrap metal

and had gained access through the back door and surprise me at my

house when I was looking after my children. They went across to

another neighbour's property. We got in touch with the guys with the

computer, they did numberplate recognition and got in touch with

the police. Weren't you a little worried about Big Brother watching

the these cameras? It was a reassurance in that situation and

has proved to us it is a bonus having it. Superintendent Paul

Anderson, do the police support this? The villagers macro taking on

board things you would expect the police to do. We are very

supportive of this initiative. As we have heard, one of the key

things is giving the police the ability to detect crime after it

has happened. But probably for us, a greater benefit is deterrence.

People may not know whether cameras are, they are no cameras are here.

Since their installation there has been a remarkable drop in crime.

This because people know there are cameras? Absolutely. Combined with

the other measures people have taken, and we commend them for it,

it has led this to be an award winning village.

While it might be possible to keep a tight reign on crime in a small

village, combating crime in London requires even more determination.

One wine bar owner was so fed up with thefts from his customers, he

decided to do something about it. On average there is a shoplifting

offence committed every minute in the UK. Here were over half a

million incidents of personal theft in England and Wales last year. The

effect on the victims of It is important, when your handbag

has got some jewellery. Or pictures of your family that are

irreplaceable. If it's your laptop, and you've done a lot of work on

that. That's important. Gordon's near the Embankment is the

oldest wine bar in London. It's very dark and gloomy inside, a

haven for pickpockets. They plagued the place to such an extent there

were over 80 reported thefts a year. So the owners decided to do

something about it. Did you have a big problem here

with pickpockets? It seems the ideal environment for them. Lots of

people having a good time chatting with friends and drinking, and

particularly inside as well. The pickpockets and thieves used to

love coming down, because there are two entrances as well. They'd come

down, they'd choose a darker spot. And just take stuff.

Pubs and bars all over London use CCTV. But until now, there hasn't

been an effective way of collating that footage and using it to catch

But until now there hasn't been an effective way of collating that

footage and using it to catch thieves. They had to do something

urgently about the problem of thefts in the wine bar but how

could shops and bars instantly warn their neighbours and crucially the

police that they should be on the alert? The old processes were so

convoluted it took weeks before the police would phone us up asking for

footage. I just felt very powerless when a customer sad they'd had

their bag stolen. There was nothing we could do. All we could do was

take the details down and say go and talk to the police. I wanted to

give the police what they needed so they could get on with their job.

Because they are very effective at catching people but they're just

bound up in administration and red tape. By working with police, Simon

developed technology called Facewatch. If someone suspicious is

seen on CCTV, the shop owner can now make an instant movie clip. The

clip is then uploaded onto the website and neighbouring shops and

bars receive an alert with the The police are also able to log on

and identify the villains. Facewatch will save lots and lots

of police time. To scour through footage trying to find the actual

moment of theft is very, very difficult. It takes a lot of police

time and often ends up in frustration because the officer

wants to find the suspects and they can't find them. The system is

having a massive impact with a number of successes including a bag

snatcher at Gordon's. There is a particular incident involving

Gordon's wine bar. You can see also that everyone is having a good time.

They are with friends, having a drink. The last thing they are

looking is their property that's been put on the floor beside them.

This gentleman is standing at the back everyone else seems to be sat

around drinking. He's looking down at the handbag that he's seen and

he's pulling it with his feet. He's picked it up, he's placed it under

his own jacket as a disguise leaves un-noticed by everyone. And you see

him coming out of the door just there. With the bag. Looking at the

goodies that he's just stolen. he's gone. Catching shoplifters

became a priority for Vision Express. In this latest incident,

when where were the staff at the time? They chose to come into this

corner. Did they choose this corner because it was out of sight?

believe they were targeting that particular set of frames. You had

this system in place at the time. Has it helped? The next day we

could trawl through images and put the best shops on. The local police

are able to immediately access it. It saves hours of police time

trawling through fitted, allowing them to focus on the incident

itself. There is a good picture of him coming into the premises. He is

having a good look around, isn't he? You can see the woman, taking

frames of the shelf. She is placing the security tags just underneath.

She has put the glasses in her bag. Did we get a good facial shot?

when she comes into the premises. Has she been identified? No.

police are trying to trace these potential shoplifters. We would

like your help to identify these two characters. If you know them,

please get in touch. Now back to Simon in Nottinghamshire. Cannabis

is the controversial drug with many people arguing it is harmless and

does not justify the attention it gets from the police. That is not a

view shared by Nottinghamshire Constabulary, as they demonstrated

earlier this week. Operation Barnes Stormer. This operation has been

responsible for the seizure of �2 million worth of cannabis and

heroin since 2009. Nobody knows better than the local bobbies about

what is happening on the ground. Small teams aren't yielding really

picked results. When that information comes in, it is time to

This is the first warrant of the day. They have broken down the door.

They're looking to see if there are signs of an illegal cannabis

factory. It has been set up in a hidden loft space. There are a few

young plants. At the second a dress, signs that the tenant is the dealer

and is brought in for questioning. There are 14 bags of cannabis in

their individual deal bags. Not a great deal in terms of amount.

done! Police! So, within a few seconds of them breaking down the

door, they have found the loft is full of cannabis plants. This is

definitely the biggest factory of the day they have uncovered. The

heat and the smell of quite unbearable. 15 plants which could

generate �7,500 every 12 weeks or so. A very lucrative crop. This is

a money-making enterprise, isn't it? No mark -- it is one large

party, isn't it? I am joined by Inspector Steve Payne, who is

responsible for policing that area in Nottingham. Is it worth almost

resources for a drug that some Cannabis is not the drug it used to

be. There is a clear link between cannabis, acquisitive crime and

antisocial behaviour. What other effects has it has? Crime has

dropped. We use it to target offenders. If you are and bowled in

crime, Antisocial Behaviour Act and you have the drugs habit, we will

not at your door and work with the other people to ensure it happens.

We will be tried crime down and make the estate a better place.

are going to carry on. Have you ever had a letter like this? It is

a scam. It is promising a deal too good to be true. It is a hoax. Your

mother fell victim to this sort of thing, didn't she? My mother

received one of these letters. She sent off a fee for the prize that

did not arrive. Her name got put on to a suckers list. This name

resulted in my mother receiving 30,000 scam letters. They would ask

your mother to send �10, �15, in order to receive a huge jackpot

which did not exist. When she passed away she was still waiting

for the wind will that never came. She was convinced these people were

genuine. She developed a personal relationship. We could not get

power of attorney and we could not redirect her mail. You have been

proactive about this. You have a huge demonstration that you are

going to tell me about more. This sculpture was made by the children

from Aldborough Park Primary School in Bristol. They have made it at a

paper mache. They have made heads to represent the victims and they

have evil eyes at the bottom to represent this gamma. The idea is

to get children involved so they can educate parents and

grandparents and spread the word that through the younger generation.

These are actually scam letters which the youngsters are putting on.

That is right. It is made out of spam mail. About 30,000 letters

made it. It is raising awareness and getting the children involved

as well. You are heavily involved with this from a police point of

view. How big is the problem? is serious crime. �6.5 billion the

year is going to these fraudsters. That is a massive amount of money.

Probably the tip of the iceberg. From one letter going through your

door and a cut of �10, you win a million, and then �20 to do the

admin three, �30, �40, it grabs you. They sell your details to other

fraudsters. Suddenly it is 20, 30 letters a day. In some cases, over

100. We are trying to educate the people - educate the victims. They

still believe they are going to win. It is not just them, it is the

families. They go through so much turmoil in trying to convince their

parents and loved ones they are being scanned. I would say, look at

the sculpture, look at this programme and to not do it. Do not

send money to people you do not know. All you youngsters as well,

carry on what you are doing. Time for some more criminals that have

been caught in the act. This man looks like any other shoppers

browsing this mobile-phone shop in Stratford. He appears to be looking

for a handset and chats to a staff member about it. Once he spies the

object of his desire, he fiddles with it and then gave us the phone

into position before producing a pair of scissors, snipping the

security wire and legging it. Let's put a stop to this phone pest. Give

us a call. It is late evening in a north Manchester shopping centre.

This Travel Agents is closed. You'd think it is late to book a holiday.

This will not want to break in. Four men wearing balaclavas use

sledgehammers to smash the doors. They tried to break into the shop

offers but love it when an alarm sounded. They escaped in a five-

door silver car that was waiting outside for them. You know who

these robbers are? It is a lovely spring day in Newham in London in

March of this year. These two men seem to be enjoying the sunshine.

Are they? It becomes clear they may have other things on their mind as

they cross the road and walk into the side door of this house. 10

minutes later they are out, clearly carrying a major part of their loot

- a flat-screen television - right past the CCTV camera. If you know

who they are, give us their names and we will make sure the police

pay them a visit. You can get his second look of all the CCTV on the

website. We have been on air for nearly two weeks and we have had

some great leaps from you put a lot of people have said they have been

hit by similar crimes to the banner Times credit card theft we talked

about yesterday. One caller has provided us with a name. Another

court about the sculpture we featured yesterday. We have a name

for one of the suspects which has been passed on to the police. Now

back to Miriam in East stake. Earlier in the programme we met

Jean he was not going to let anyone take her car without a fight. He is

what happened next. 67-year-old Jean was waiting to go out for the

day with her friends when an opportunist struck and the knee-

jerk reaction nearly Costa his life. I just thought, he is not having my

car. There was blood on the face and it was over the road. I turned

left and pit sunder up. I went up to pick Fred up. It was not long

before the nice day out took a turn Realising that the man was about to

steal her car, brave Jean wasn't prepared to stand by and let it

happen without putting up a fight. I ran down to the car and tried to

I ran down to the car and tried to It's obvious to us that have been

investigating this crime that the person responsible for it just

seized the opportunity and jumped into the vehicle, complete

disregard for Jean's safety. For Jean, this tussle wasn't to be

the end of it, things were about to go from bad to worse.

I carried on trying to get the keys out, and he started speeding up.

Next minute, she was going down the street.

The car started to pull away slowly at first, but got steadily faster.

Jean was dragged from her feet, and landed face first on the concrete.

The driver sped off, leaving Jean injured in the road.

The next minute, she was across the other side of the road on the floor,

flat out on her stomach and he head. I was sitting in the gutter with

people round me, and blankets, and apparently I was covered in blood.

I said, "Jean, stay still, stay still." as she looked up, there was

all blood on her face and it was all over the road.

There was a pool of blood behind me, and I can just remember thinking,

"I hope that wasn't my blood." But it didn't register at the time that

it probably was. I just kept looking down at Jean

and saying, "You all right? You'll be all right." I'd cracked my skull,

down that part. And I'd broken my nose.

The extent of Jean's injuries were so horrific that even her

grandchildren hardly recognised her When they came in, Ruby's ten and

Molly's eight, and the look on My daughter says, "I think they

were frightened of hurting you". They'd never seen me like that

before. It really upset me to think If I'm outside and it's a bit dusky,

or early in the morning, then I'm looking over my shoulder all the

while thinking, if he's still walking about, is he going to do it

to somebody else? I just kept thinking, why? You know,

why did he want to do it? I dread to think what could have

happened, if I'd had grandchildren in the car or dogs in the car. It

could have been a lot, lot worse. I struggle to see how this person

can sleep at night. When that vehicle drove away, Jean was left

in the road. She was bleeding heavily, and had very serious

facial injuries. Residents and local people and one of the

witnesses went to her assistance, and that would have been seen by

the person driving the vehicle away. I think that person needs help, he

really does need help. Because to do something like that, he's got to

have something wrong. I don't think he can be mentally stable to do

something like that. I struggle to come to terms with

how somebody can do this, I'm not for one minute suggesting we have

got somebody in the community that is a violent person, I think their

main aim was to seize the vehicle, and take the vehicle away. However,

things escalated, and the offence became far more serious than they

intended. I appeal to that person to come forward and speak to us.

And give their version of events. Why this occurred, how it occurred.

And what they've got to say about Jean's injuries as a consequence of

what they have done. I'm here with Jean and her husband Keith.

What made you try to grab the keys to your car? I didn't think, I just

thought, he is not going to have my car. You don't think about things

at the time. I thought, he is not having my car. It is not an

expensive car, why does it mean so much to you? I have always liked

these models, you can get your dogs in the back, it is a workhorse.

irreplaceable for you? It is, for me. What do you feel about the fact

this chap is still out there? feel sorry for him, I feel that he

needs help. If anybody knows who he is, they ought to come forward. He

does need help. I do not want him to hurt anybody else. Do you see

yourself as have-a-go hero? Would you do this again? I think I

probably would, because you do not think at the time. You just think

about what is happening and they are not getting away with this will

stop and I tried to stop him. glad you're still in one piece.

Simon is with the officer in charge of this investigation.

What happened afterwards? The vehicle was abandoned on

Rodgers Lane in the town centre on a service road. We are eager to

speak to anybody who may have seen his car being abandoned and the

person who left it there. It was quite busy at the time. Lots of

shoppers in the town centre. On the day, there was a cycle event taking

place where many cyclists were unpacking their cars in the car

park. If you have any information, please get in touch. All week, I've

managed to tag along with a specialist unit dedicated to

combating anti-social behaviour, across some of Nottingham's

toughest estates. Nottingham police have decided to

deal with anti-social behaviour head on, by sending out special

patrols at peak times to target They could be trapped in here, they

think it is a playground. Most of the incidents that the anti-social

behaviour car is called to are relatively minor. Things like

disputes between neighbours. But the officers are also trying to

prevent offences happening in the first place. There are three

patrols a week for the teams of officers, whose job is a mixture of

social work and crime prevention. The patrols are on the lookout for

anti-social behaviour on two estates. The Meadows and Clifton,

said to be the biggest council estate in Europe when it was first

PC Ken Meller and PC Adam Francis are called to a house where a youth

has caused a disturbance. He's just set a fire up there. While Ken

deals with the complaint, the Fire Service arrives. But there is

nothing remaining but the boys smouldering clothes. The officers

decide to track him down at his mother's house, but he's not in.

We're not gonna nick him. But we'd like to talk to him. He's going to

end up in big trouble. ASBOs, convictions, cautions. Where does

it end? For the patrol to be effective,

having the parents back-up is essential. That's always a bonus.

If you've got parents who are interested and bothered about the

behaviour of their children. Sadly, it's often the case they're not.

The other anti-social patrol has heard a child hasn't got home from

school. The police have got a report of a missing boy. He is

about ten years old. They have got a description. The police

helicopter is up, they are looking for him. So the anti-social

behaviour car team are now a missing persons team. They're

Whilst the beat officers continue the search for the missing boy, PC

Anthony Parker and PC Darren White They have been called to a ruined

mansion, which is a magnet for You see that once the kids are in

here, they're protected really. Nobody can see them. Only the

residents over that side can see what they are up to. Once they get

inside, it's clear that the intruders are long gone. So has

that been pulled off?' yes, that's been pulled off. You can see from

the drinks cans that someone's been in. The patrol are more worried

about the welfare of any would-be trespassers. The worst could happen

and they could be trapped in here. They think it's a playground. If

something happened to them, it could be a while before someone

finds them. Any word on the missing boy yet?

No, there's no word of him. The officers at the scene are

investigating as many leads as they can. Phoning school friends, people

who may have seen him. CCTV, things like that. Making enquiries to

The good news is that thankfully the missing boy was found live and

Last week on Crimewatch Roadshow, we asked you to help police locate

convicted rapist Tolgay Istek. Thanks to your information, he was

arrested within four hours of the programme. The Turkish national had

been on the run for four years, causing his victim incredible

distress. Miriam went to meet her, and asked how she felt about the

Going back over the last four years, how has your life been affected by

what happened to you? At it has changed a lot of things about me,

my personality. The way I react to people. How did it change your

personality? I think I was a lot louder, I maybe a bit more wary of

anyone else around me. When he got away, how did you react? When you

got the news? I was devastated. It was like I had gone through the

whole court process for no reason. It was so long, it had been quite

hard to deal with anyway. Were you frightened, knowing he was out

there? I was frightened he would be coming after me but more that I

didn't know where he was or what he looked like, it could have been

anyone around me. Where were you when you found that this man had

been caught? I was in my house. I had just spoken to the police

earlier, to say it had been on Crimewatch. I wasn't really

expecting anything to come of it because it had been so long. Then,

to be telephoned a couple of hours they tend to be told he was in

Kirsti, I can believe it, it was overwhelming. I don't think I

believe it now. It was amazing. What did you say to people watching

Crimewatch Roadshow, and they know who committed a crime but they do

not want to ring? I would tell them to phone up. It has helped me so

much, especially the sky would not be behind the eyes if it were not

for Crimewatch. People think it is a TV show, it is there for

entertainment, but it does help people's lives and help them to

move on. What about your future now? I am looking forward to my

future. Since I have been told, I have been a lot happier already. I

can see anything going well. everything has changed for you?

A Thanks to you, one more criminal is behind bars. So keep those calls

coming. An update on the wanted faces and CCTV. One call about one

phase which police are saying is very significant. We have passed

that information on, thank you. One viewer has recognised a man on

yesterday's CCTV stealing petrol. We have passed that information on

to police. Miriam and Simon, where are you

tomorrow? We're heading off to Derbyshire

where we're asking for information on an arsonist who set a fleet of

lorries ablaze, nearly destroying a family business.

And I'll be trying to trace the owner of a diamond ring worth

�5,000. Thank you both. For more details

about the crimes on today's programme, head to