Episode 4 Crimewatch Roadshow

want to track down the idiot whose mindless act of vandalism led to the

Roadshow. We're live again this morning and raring to go. We need

your help to put crooks behind bars. accident. The cruel con which robbed

a derrick of his life savings. Police need to track down the

tricksters. And utter madness. The motorists who think it's OK to film

car crashes while they drive. Our roadshow team has now made it to

Northamptonshire. And they kick off their time there in Corby. Sian,

what's happening there? Hi, Rav. It is a bit windy. Well, Corby is a

former steel town and they've had some pretty serious problems in the

past here. The statue is a reminder of its heritage. This is a headline

from from the time around seven years ago when people were

apparently "living in fear of the thugs". But since then there's been

a 40% fall in both crime and anti-social behaviour in the town.

We're going to be out and about with police to see how they've helped

turn things around. Like most towns and cities across the UK, Corby does

have its fair share of graffiti vandalism. Later on we'll be seeing

how they track down the culprits. Thanks, Sian. Now to another far

more serious form of vandalism. Having your car tyres punctured or

slashed isn't just infuriating, it The beautiful Polish pharmacist and

her doting English husband. I met Joanna in 2007. We liked each other

straightaway. We got close. We became a couple. She was someone you

couldn't help but like. She had great qualities as a person.

Everyone loved her. John and Joanna were married in Poland for years

after they met. We found a house and were going to start a family there.

The next thing was to enjoy our lives together. But it was not to

be. Going to work, the day after Easter Monday. I used to go in

earlier than she did. She was getting ready to go to work and left

five minutes after me. She left home at Grange Park in Northampton for

her 15 mile commute to work. But she phone call and there was peace in

reception and they said there was a car crash and my wife was involved.

-- police in reception. I said, is Joanna OK? He said, no, I'm afraid

be etched on my brain for ever. I into a signpost. It seemed like a

tragic accident. But the police investigation would reveal that this

was no accident. Our specialist team initially sent the tyres away to be

examined by scientists. The outer rim of the tie had been damaged on

numerous places and it was not consistent with the damage the car

had been involved in. The vandal had struck the night before the crash.

He had left the tyre fatally weakened, a ticking bomb, which

exploded under the pressure of the journey on a fast road. They came to

the flat and said, we are at looking at the tyres and we believe they

were tampered with deliberately. And therefore, it's a potential

manslaughter case. Police confirm the vandal who did this will face

manslaughter charges. This was vandalism and Joanna paid the

ultimate price for it. To find out it was caused by what caused it,

it's just another kick in the teeth, and added insult, really.

know three other vehicles also had damage to their tyres and they were

all parked within 200 metres of her home address. In each of the other

cases, the people came out of their car in the morning and identified

their flat tire. Sadly, Joanna never saw the damage to her tire.

Joanna's killer is still out there. The person who committed this damage

committed a criminal act. But they probably didn't intend for Joanna to

die. We are still looking for somebody who knows who is

responsible for this offence. those who loved Joanna need to see

someone brought to justice. It's just an added punishment for us

because we have got to go through life knowing that somebody caused a

Joanna's death, and somebody hasn't been caught. Until then, we are

never going to be able to rest. Someone's got to have the courage to

go forward because a harmless so-called prank have killed someone.

It is robbed me of my life, devastated a lot of people 's lives.

Heartbreaking. DCI Martin Kinchin is with me now. Is there any evidence

at all that anyone was trying to deliberately target Joanna? No, not

at all. On the night her car was damaged, we know at least four other

vehicles were damaged in that area so there's no reason to think she

was deliberately targeted. And this was not the only spate of tyre

vandalism in the area around that time? It was overnight on Monday the

10th of April just after the Easter weekend. There were similar damage

on the 30th of July in the next village along. We think it was

linked to this occurrence. This was a black Honda car she was driving.

What is your message to the community? Somebody knows who

committed this damage. If the type of crime committed by young people

who are hanging around in the area. They may have spoken to their

parents or friends about what happened. People must know someone

who did this damage. It's a terrible impact on her family and her husband

in particular. I know you are in touch with him a lot. He's been

devastated, quite naturally, and can't find closure because it's an

undetected crime but it's affected the wider family. She had a twin

sister from Poland and his equally devastated by what happened. And her

parents. Your message to anybody who might have done this and thought was

a bit of a laugh? It's not a laugh it's malicious damage and it caused

a catastrophic event like this to happen where somebody died. A very

serious crime and if you know anything about it, please get in

touch. Thanks, . . Now it's time to take a look at today's first batch

of CCTV. A shop in central London. Is this man looking for a pair of

new shoes? Believe it or not, he's more interested in her handbag. That

Red Bull on the floor, to be precise. Watch now as he reaches in

and takes her purse out. He's in no rush to leave, though, after making

sure he put his shoes back, he leaves the shop. Let's catch this

this year. This man had for the hair section. He's looking at the pair

straighteners, and I don't think you're going to need those, looking

at your here, mate. A bit of a fumble with the security tag and it

is off. Another furtive look around and he hides the straightness in his

jacket. If you know this hair conjures criminal, you know what to

do. A laptop left on a bus in London now. The bus soon fills up and this

man takes a seat next to the forgotten computer. He spots his

chance and, cool as a cucumber, helps himself to the lost property.

You can see him using his jacket to hide what he's up to. Do you know

this man? Give us a call if you do. If you recognise any of that lot,

get dialing. We're on 08000 468999. Or you can text us on 63399. Text

CW, space and then your message. That space is really important. If

you don't put it in, your message won't get through to us. Of course

you can also e-mail us too. The address [email protected]. Now, it's

time for a quick appeal, that urgently needs your help. Durham

Police have asked us here at Crimewatch Roadshow track down a man

who is wanted for assault. On seventh May last year, the bank

holiday weekend, Marco Oswald had stopped off for some food at The

Urban Oven takeaway in Claypath in Durham's city centre at around one

in the morning. Then, completely unprovoked, this guy punched Marco,

then dragged him to the ground in a headlock, before doing the

unthinkable. And a bit of a warning here, you might want to look away

now. He then proceeded to bite part of Marco's left ear off. Truly

shocking behaviour. And he needs to be caught. Do you know him? Maybe

you were there on the night and saw it happen. Tell us who this guy is.

Graffiti. It's all too common a sight all over the country. It costs

a fortune to clear up. Tens of millions of pounds a year. Stacey

Poole is from Corby Borough Council. Do you get many complaints about

graffiti? We've had a significant decrease in the last two years in

amount of graffiti reported from about 700 per year to about 250

reports. That's good news because people get very angry about

graffiti, don't they? The local residents have a sense of pride in

Corby in their local communities and we have a proactive and reactive

team that responded to the graffiti and get removed as quickly as

possible. This is just a demonstration and all will become

clear later. You respond to graffiti very quickly, don't you? We have a

turnaround time of 24 hours for offensive graffiti and then we are

pretty much on a 48-hour turnaround for standard graffiti reports.

costs quite a bit, I'd imagine? costs about �25,000 per year. It

takes a pal officers time, and the equipment which goes with the

removal of the graffiti costs money. Julian is starting what he would be

doing for the cleaning up. Tell us the process. Literally, he will come

along and applied our biodegradable solvents which will start the

breakdown process. And then he will follow it on with another gel which

absorbs the paint and then he will blast it off with water and

everything becomes non-reactive once the water hits it. It's quite

remarkable, as these chemicals go on, it's beginning to disappear, but

the chemical is dangerous? Not at all. They are solvent -based, but

when water reacts with them, they've stopped working and our

biodegradable and they won't harm the environment. It's a busy

department, isn't it? Absolutely, we are very proactive and reactive to

the general public. We will be back later to check exactly how those

chemicals do work. But it's not only graffiti and anti-social behaviour

which have been a problem in Corby. The town's also suffered high levels

of more serious crime. We've been out with police seeing how they use

a radical approach to try and stop crime before it happens. Ten years

ago, Corby was blighted by crime and anti-social behaviour. Corby

descended into a lot of crime and anti-social behaviour and it was not

the most pleasant place perhaps to live at that time. I wouldn't say

there were no go areas but let's just say, if you park the police car

on some of the Estates, you probably would have a window broken when you

came back. In 2006, it was branded Britain's blackspot. At the time,

drugs, shoplifting, vehicle crime, burglary, those crime types were

pretty high. Something drastic needed to happen to turn things

round. The police are now taking a hard line approach towards the

serial offenders. Criminals in and out of prison. We will come down on

you, take you to prison, take you to court, get you onto a curfew,

control you. We will do that relentlessly. Police officers in

Corby started routinely visiting the homes of known criminals

unannounced, day and night. These are called disruption visits.

have had complaints of harassment by people because of that, but I will

take that all day. If my officers go and knock on the door three or four

times, I will accept that. I do not think we can harass people when we

are protecting the wider public. These police officers are paying a

visit to a number of repeat offenders. We carry out disruption

visits for well-known local offenders. They have either just

been released from prison or are on the list currently. Somebody who has

committed one offence for criminal damage when they are 18, we're not

looking to make their life a misery. This is more about those who have

chosen the path of criminality, showing them how to get out of the

cycle. First they drop in on 43 serial burglar, who has spent 22

years of his life behind bars. His last stint ended three years ago. He

has had a number of convictions for minor can -- minor offences since

then. Did you apply for housing? Yes. I want to go there. That is

where my family are. I have only had one conviction since 2008,

shoplifting. Mark has a history of drug use and officers want to offer

any support they can to help him turn his life around.

I have had enough. I'm not going back to prison. I've done well this

time. Stick with it, be a bit more patient and hopefully you will get

the home you want. Take care. Goodbye. It's probably the most

positive I have seen somebody. I think he has realised if he works

with us and engages with us, we will help him. It would be a more

positive way of life. So far, so good. Next stop is a burglar with a

long criminal record who only got out of prison two weeks ago.

sure what sort of reaction we will get, to be fair. He is fully aware

that he will be disrupted at any time. It will come as no surprise to

him knocking on his door. Is it all right if we visit? Yes, come in. All

my friends are settled down, working, doing their own thing. That

is the sort of stuff I want. The man says he wants to turn his back on

crime. That sounds quite positive. Take care. All the best. Sound. Nice

one. It is very early days for him, but he now has a family to think

about. That seems to be his motivation, to find work to provide

a better lifestyle for his family. If the people who are at risk to the

rider public -- it is the people who are at risk who we are helping.

is a controversial approach, but the tone has reaped the rewards. Crime

and anti-social behaviour has cut in half. Life is better, the place is

better, it is more likely you will not be burgled. The public have

responded well. I have seen that change over the last few years and I

can definitely see the impact. Initially there was resistance and

people would not answer their doors. But we have continued with it, and

if they do not answer the door, we knock it in. The police are very

proud of the response they have been having because the crime figures

here are in full view, and they are now in the green as opposed to being

in the red. But let's talk about the method they have used to achieve

this. Inspector Carl Sturman is with me. Some people will say this is

harassment. How do you justify it? can see that point of view, because

we use some fairly strict measures with offenders. We make no apology

for that because we work on behalf of wider society. With the council

and the agencies, we are keen to engage offenders and give them

alternatives to crime. You are knocking on their doors stay a

night. Some people will come out of prison and will consider they have

served their time. Some people do not want to engage with us

initially, but through intensive engagements, continuing to knock on

their door, visiting them, offering alternatives, making it easier to

engage in society as a contributing member, eventually almost all of

them come round. We are offering help and support. What about

anti-social behaviour? You have had a response. They are both down.

These figures reflect that. It is always a precursor to crime so we

are keen to engage with that. you. Now it is time to look at

today's wanted faces. Police are today's wanted faces. Police are

looking for your help to find these today's wanted faces. Police are

looking for your help to The police want to find this man, and question

him in connection with a serious knife attack. He is originally from

Turkey but has links to Northampton, Coventry, and London. This man is

the next wanted face. He was arrested almost ten years ago in

connection with the rape of a woman in Telford. He was released on

police bail but failed to return for further questioning. He has

connections to Wolverhampton and North Wales. This photograph was

taken ten years ago saw his appearance might have changed. Do

you recognise this man? He was jailed for GBH in 2010 and released

early but did not stick to the conditions. He has a tattooed saying

God bless on his left forearm. Finally we have Mohammed Islam,

wanted by officers in Northamptonshire. He speaks with a

Bangladeshi accent. He often carries a satchel over his shoulder. He has

connections in London and Southampton but police believe he

could be anywhere in the country. If you know where any of this lot are,

pick up the phone. You can also text us. Remember to include the space in

your message. You can also e-mail your message. You can also e-mail

us. Still to come on the programme today: The coppers who are putting

other motorists at risk. -- gawpers. This next case is despicable, a

widower targeted by conmen who tricked him into hanging over --

handing over his life savings. Derek Mold 74. He worked hard before his

retirement. I started as a conductor on buses, then an inspector. Derek

was married for 36 years but he lost his wife 17 years ago, and since

then has lived on his own. He a really nice guy. He relies on other

people to come in and do stuff for him, help him out, because he has a

heart condition. February the 14th this year, Derek noticed two men

walking towards his house full of I saw them coming out of next door's

garden, having seen them come out, I thought it was odd. Of the men

claimed they were doing some work on the loft. They said they needed to

check his wall. As they sounded plausible, he invited them in. He

showed them up to the loft entrance and even went to get a ladder for

them. But these guys were not builders. Once his back was turned,

it was time for the scam to begin, and it was going to be an ASCII one.

They ripped out a handful of loft insulation and soaked it with water

so it would look like there was a problem. -- it would be nasty. They

then called him and told him he had a serious leak in his attic. They

said there was a lot of water. was concerned. The scam was on. The

men had a solution. They said they could get a machine to dry it out

but it would cost �6,500. Huge sum of money. They said it was only a

deposit, so he would get his money back. All part of the trick.

machine will come in, do what it has got to do, then Saturday morning

they will fetch it out of the house and give you the deposit back.

he hesitated, the conmen piled on the pressure. He said we would be in

trouble, they would report it. They had the gift of the gab. Derek did

not have �6,000. In desperation, he offered them �3000 instead full.

said they would accept that. last piece of the jigsaw was about

to fall into place. Derek what to his building society and withdrew

�3000. Most of his life savings. got back at 2:30 p.m. And the phone

started ringing. Please believe the gang might have been watching,

waiting for him to come home. Minutes after he told them he had

the cash, I young man in a Houdini came to collect the. They had

Derek's savings. -- a young man in a hoodie. They were not finished with

him. They were back on the phone saying he needed to get them the

rest of the money. If he rang me once, he rang me 40 times. He said

they had been in touch with my bank and building society. Derek refused

to pay, but he still wanted to believe the men would bring the

machine. When they did not return he finally rang the police. It was too

late. They have long gone. Detectives say this was a very

specific date it -- sophisticated scam, so plausible that others are

at risk. They will be doing it again, because it is easy money.

They are leeches feeding off older people who are vulnerable. What they

did was despicable. They deserve to be caught, and they deserve to be

punished. It was a terrible thing to happen to Derek, and DC Tanya

Flavell is with me now. You said there is a serious risk this could

happen again and there could be more victims. Absolutely. We believe

these offenders are networking and we are looking to see if people can

ring in with information. You want information about people who might

have seen these men in Northampton, but people across the UK who might

have been scammed to get in touch. Definitely. Have these people can

have -- have members of the public had these people knocking on their

door? Has it been suspicious, were they offered repair work? Any

information is vital to the investigation because it is a

terrible offence. You have been in touch with Derek a lot. How is he?

Derek is a lovely man but it has had a huge impact on him. Financially,

it has had a huge impact. It was his life savings. It has hit him hard.

There is a danger that people might feel embarrassed about what has

happened and do not report it. It is vital they reported, isn't it?

Definitely. A lot of elderly people feel embarrassed, they cannot tell

family members. We are looking for anyone to ring in today, did someone

happen -- did something happen to them? Did they get offered a large

amount of money? Have us a call. IMac you have one last piece of

advice. If you don't know them, don't answer the door. Don't take

the risk will stop -- don't take the risk. I'm joined by Tim Pocknell

from Trading Standards who specialises in doorstep crime. Tim,

welcome. Now what happened to Derek there is unfortunately an all too

familiar story. What other cons are doing the rounds at the moment?

of the moment we are aware of is people knocking on people 's doors,

cold calling, saying they are from Dyson and they want to get in your

property, service your vacuum cleaner for you, for �150. So they

say they will do that, and then they are not genuine because we have

spoken to Dyson about this and they say they would never cold call at

all unless you book an appointment so it's a complete scam. They have

said, although it's a nationwide problem, there's five problem

postcodes, Plymouth, Guildford, Tonbridge, Birmingham and Carlisle,

so be extra vigilant if you live in any of those postcodes. What else

should people look out for? Another scam is taking the BBC's good name

in vain. People are having rogue traders turning up at the

properties, doing work to the driveway, the roof, taking the

money, and then other rogue traders will come along afterwards and say,

we found them, we can get your money back for you, they are in custody,

but if you give a �4000, we can give you �10,000 back. They have used the

Crimewatch Roadshow name in one instance. They are saying they

represent the BBC, and they can get their money back if they give them

an advance? Complete rubbish. The BBC would never do anything like

that. Another complete and utter scam. What else can people do to

protect themselves from this? anybody comes to your property,

knock on your door, and you answered, you can ask them to leave.

If they refuse your request, all come back later, you reported to the

trading standards. If you're not sure of the person at your doorstep,

bring your local police on 101. If someone comes to your property and

you agree contract, over �35, for goods and services, you can cancel

your contract within seven days. If they don't give it you inviting

commit a criminal offence as well. Taking someone to a cashpoint as

well? It's an aggressive practice, you shouldn't do that. No legitimate

business would never do that. Thanks, Tim. We have been making a

mess in Corby. The graffiti has been chemically treated. Now at the

moment of truth, will we be able to get it clean? Julian, off you go.

The water is sprayed on. Over the chemicals, it does seem to be

working. I'm hugely relieved because, if it hadn't, I would have

been here all morning with my scrubbing brush. It's a serious

problem and cost the council thousands of pounds to clear up and

Northamptonshire Police got involved. PCSO Phil Wane is from

Operation Illustration. We know these people who do this graffiti

leave clues to their identity behind, don't they? They leave

tags, nicknames, and link themselves to the graffiti so they are big

clues in a way. We have got some of these tags from Northampton. What

can you tell us about them? These have been doing their work around

the Northampton and Wellingborough areas and the main roads in the

county. Those are tags is the in the area. Yes, images combined from

those graffiti writers. They do take some risks as well. They go to

places they shouldn't. Often it's committed during the night time when

nobody is about. The railway lines, the road network, and somebody could

potentially be killed at night with trains and fast vehicles moving.

that is trespass as well. And there's one person who takes huge

risks. Yes. It's the SOK tag. He takes big risks getting onto high

buildings around the town centre. Thank you very much. Now time for

some more criminals caught on camera. Watch carefully. It's the

run up to Christmas. Last year, and in an electronics store in South

Ruislip, one couple seem keen to get their Christmas shopping done early.

They take a shine to a laptop but it's going to take teamwork to get

it out of the store. After some careful manoeuvring, he gets it free

of the security device. Then his female friend doesn't seem too

concerned as he starts the �350 laptop up his jacket. But not a lot

gets past the security cameras. Do you know this secret Santa and his

friend? Give us a call. A convenience store in Peterborough,

March this year. This man looks like he's just come in to buy a drink.

But he once more than liquid refreshment. He pays for his drink

and as the shopkeeper opens the till, he sees the opportunity and

pulls out a knife. Threatening him and grabbing at the money. He

finally gets his hand in the tail that the shopkeeper still tries to

fight him off. In the end, he gets away with �140. If you know anything

about him, you know what you need to We're on the night bus, central

London, mid-December last year. This woman is fast asleep. The man spots

and easy target and takes a seat behind her. He's noticed she stopped

her phone. Watch him shuffled his feet and Ben Dover until he's got

the expensive smart phone within reach. Eventually he gets hold of

it. Look away, ladies. He then makes his getaway whilst his victim sleeps

on. Do you recognise this sneaky thief? You know what you need to do.

If you recognise anyone you can call us on 08000 468999. Or you can text

on 63399. The e-mail address is - [email protected]. Plus, of course, you

can call Crimestoppers anonymously roads every year. But, however

horrific an accident, it can be tempting to have a look to see

what's happened. But taking your eyes off the road, even for just a

moment can be deadly. Road accidents can cause delays and

tailbacks lasting hours. But some of these crashes are completely

avoidable. There's a 15 minute delay as onlookers slow down to see what's

going on on the other side of the road. It's known as rubbernecking.

Whenever there's an accident, there will be held up as drivers going the

other way tried to take a look. But it can have much more serious

consequences than just delays. dangers of rubbernecking, even a

momentary glance onto the opposite carriageway, off the road in front

of them, has the potential to cause damage or injury to other road

users. Rubbernecking causes minor accidents but in Fabry last year, a

Land Rover left the M1 in Northamptonshire and other drivers

stopped to help but then a Peugeot estate approached the scene.

driver was seen to look at the road traffic collision, not paying

attention to where he was going at the time, and, unfortunately, when

he looked back in front of him, the traffic was slowing, he lost control

of his vehicle and collided with the parked vehicles on the hard shoulder

and unfortunately died at the scene. It serves as a tragic reminder that

rubbernecking can kill, even when at driver glances over at an accident.

But some do much more than that. A quick search of a video sharing

website reveals dozens of clips like this one. As the camera turns, you

say it was filmed by the driver, whilst it was still moving. Not only

is filming accidents where people may have been seriously injured or

killed ghoulish, it's also incredibly dangerous. Drivers are

concentrating on getting a good shot, not where they are going. Some

videos appear to have been taken by lorry drivers. But police in

Northamptonshire are doing something about it. This lorry crash shut down

the M1 for 11 hours and has rescue teams worked at the thing, officers

turned their attentions to the other side of the road and caught 80

drivers filming or photographing the scene. It was offence if, using a

hand-held device while a vehicle is in motion and they were not in

proper control of the vehicle. received letters warning them and

their employers that they could face prosecution. Police are so concerned

they have bought one of these. Inspector Jen Helm is with me. What

is it? It's like a giant windbreak. It is a large fabric screen but

officers can direct particular if they going to be for a long time,

and visual barrier between the main flow of traffic and vehicles

behind. It works on two fronts. The victims of the collision are often

having the worst day their lives, injured, and it gives privacy and

dignity. In addition, it removes the temptation for other drivers to take

a good look become distracted. And they can cause more accidents, often

as serious as the original. They've only got to look away for a few

seconds, haven't they? There's no such thing as a quick look. If you

are travelling at 60 mph, and glance away for three seconds, it 80 metres

you have covered without knowing what happened in front of you and

that makes a very dangerous driver. And it's illegal, too. People will

be familiar that handheld devices are illegal, if you're not

concentrating, you are driving without due care and if you cause an

accident, potentially death by dangerous driving. The screens could

become a common sight on the roads. The Department for Transport has

spent more than �2.5 million buying 122 giant sets of screens. They will

be rolled out over the summer. A quick update now. A lot of calls

coming through and a possible name on that shocking story of the woman

who died in a car crash after her tyres were slashed so that's very

positive. Some good information through one of the faces from

yesterday, Andrew Stevenson Wilson, after a robbery offence. Good

information about where he could be at the moment. Sian, tell us where

you are going to be tomorrow. Tomorrow I'm going to be the centre

of Northampton with a brand-new mobile police station which is

aiming on cracking down on drink fuelled violence particularly at

weekends. We need your help to track down three masked men who tied up a

couple in their own home. See you tomorrow. Thanks, Sian. For more

details about all the crimes on today's programme head to

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