Episode 11 Crimewatch Roadshow

We're live and standing by for your calls.

For the next two weeks we're out on the road with the police asking

you to help them catch the criminals in your neighbourhood.

Today, struggling to make a living from the land, the hard-working

couple conned out of their life savings. You have good days and you

have bad days. It is a life's work ruined in one night. We tell you how

to avoid falling for the same scam. And the new way to tackle dangerous

driving on the roads of the north-east.

Hello and welcome to the show that takes

to the streets of Britain to tackle the crime that affects us all.

The thieves who made off with a workman's van and his best friend.

All I could keep thinking was, they have got my dog. And we have got

dogs fighting crime, too. This week our road team's out with

police forces in the North East Today Sian is in Cleveland,

and she's at a scrap yard. Today is all about dangerous cars,

and how police are tackling bad We'll be finding out what can happen

to cars that are seized by police, and where I'm standing might just

be a clue. First, we head to North Yorkshire,

where farmers have become the latest targets in a scam affecting rural

communities right across the UK. For some farmers, life is not easy.

The long hours and exhausting work mean it is a struggle to make a

living. That is certainly the case for Denise and Derick Thomson from

Selby. To make their small farm pay, they work at the local cattle

market. On Wednesday, it is a very busy day. I am therefore a quarter

to five in the morning. I love work. But at the beginning of May, the

life of the couple loved was challenged by a very sophisticated

scam. It began with a phone call. Must've been about 20 past nine in

the evening. The phone went. They said it was somebody from Lloyds

bank. A cheque had been issued. The signature did not look right. The

call was from the fraud team querying a cheque for over ?11,000

from Derek's business account. He knew he had written that cheque.

Says to Denise, this does not seem right somehow. They were told to

call their bank directly. They hung up the phone and went to look for

the right telephone number. Derek came through, took a bank statement

and rang Lloyds from the top of the bank statement. They heard a

dialling tone and a different voice answered. The original caller had

never hung up, keeping the line open. Derek and Denise were still

talking to the fraudsters. He said that our bank account had been

compromised. He said what it meant was that I needed to move the money

from the account we had and put it into a safe and so the account. He

told me you would talk me through it. Denise may not have been so

reassured had she known that just minutes earlier the same con artists

had been on the phone to other farmers in Selby. They said they

were from the Visa card fraud squad and somebody was trying to take

?12,000 out of our bank account. She eventually started using -- asking

for usernames and passwords. She kept pressuring and pressuring. They

advised us to move the money. She was getting quicker at asking. Both

Jim and Sue were suspicious and each ended the calls. I didn't believe it

was a scam until my daughter told me to put the phone down. Then I

realised, hang on a minute, it could be. However, after three hours on

the phone, Derek and the were finally persuaded to transfer all

the money from their business accounts. That was not enough for

these tricksters. He suggested we transfer our personal monies into

this new account to be kept for 24 hours. He talked me through our

current account, our savings, my son's holiday money, everything. In

the end, Denise and Derek transfer defence of thousands of pounds, all

they had come into the con artist's account. Then he said to me, it

might have been about ten past 12 by now, I think we have got it sorted,

everything has settled. Now, I have missed my last bus. So I'll have to

walk home. But don't worry, he said, we've got you sorted. There you go.

We have not got long to recuperate our money. To be able to retire,

Derek can retire now, he has got to work. I'm nearly 66. We had some

money behind us. I could go to work because I love it. But if I didn't

want to do, I didn't have to do. But now I have to do. So you have to get

in your mind that you have to work now. You have good days and you have

bad days. It is a life's work ruined in one night. It is what it has done

to him as a person. It has broken him. Emotionally.

With me now is Richard Pearson, from the National Farmers Union.

It is not the first time you have come across farmers being targeted

like this? It is not. We have had ?63,000 conned out of farmers in

North Yorkshire. Last week members in Northumberland had been

approached. Why do you think farmers are being targeted? If you ring a

farmer, you ring a farmer, through to the person dealing with

finances. Like Derek and Denise, the average age of a farmer in the UK

over 50. Quite often these people have been -- belong to respectable

banks and listen to what they are told. They genuinely believe they

are talking to a bank? Yes, it is a very sophisticated scam. You are put

through to a person who asks you authentic security questions. You

have given members some advice but really this is in con that could

trick anybody? Absolutely. When you phone the number back, make sure the

line is free. Either use another phone or ring somebody else. Make

sure that you're not going back to the con artists. Some good advice.

Never give your password or to anyone. Now this week's wanted

faces. John Keady uses a different -- number of different identities.

He was jailed for five years for a number of fraud offences and

released early on licence. He failed to stick to his conditions and is

now wanted back in prison. He has links to Cornwall, Hampshire and

Sussex. Police have been hunting this man since 2008. He was charged

with robbery and possession of an offensive weapon but failed to

appear at Birmingham Crown Court. He is originally from the Gambia. He is

slim and has a big Afro hair cut. This is Ross Nathan David Atkins. He

was convicted of possessing class a drugs with intent to supply, and

money-laundering, at Hull Crown Court but did not turn up for his

trial. He has an inch long scar in the centre of his forehead and the

centre of his forehead and another on his left cheek knew his nose. And

finally, Nathan Paul George Jackson. He also uses the name is

James Jones, Christopher Jason Roberts and Jay Roberts. He was

jailed for two years and five months for burglary in June 2012 and

released early on licence, but he has failed to stick to his

conditions. He has links to Eastbourne and Hastings in Sussex,

and Manchester. He has a tad too other words Dean and RIP Nicky on

his left arm, and a cannabis leaf on his left arm. If you know any of

these faces, get in touch. Now, car enthusiasts will spend

hundreds, sometimes thousands But adding spoilers, flashy lighting

and enhancing the engine's Up the road in Northumbria,

officers have been using this car to demonstrate the dangers

of souping up your motor, and to highlight the terrible

consequences of dangerous driving. Dorothy Toogood knows the cost of

speeding all too well. In February 2013, her husband, Roy, was killed

as he walked home from their daughter's house. The 19-year-old

driver had been trying to overtake another vehicle. Roy saw a car

coming towards him at a ridiculous speed. That was it. Roy was killed

instantly. The couple had been married for 40 years. It is the

little things you miss. Every morning I would get a cup of tea.

Every morning. It is that emptiness in the house as well as inside. We

have been robbed by somebody's stupidity. It could have easily been

avoided. In Northumbria, there were 28 deaths on the roads last year,

four because of dangerous driving. Now a new operation is trying to

tackle the problem of boy racers. Today, officers are at a rally.

Today we were in Northumberland and we are at a car rally. We have never

been invited to anything like this before. It is a big day for us and

for them. Police are trying to nip the problem is caused by boy racers

in the bud by educating them about the dangers of souping up their

motors. These are car enthusiasts who have spent a lot of money on

their cars. We want to put across, please, if you're going to have a

modification on your car, tell your insurance company what you're doing

and that by doing so you are legally OK on the roads.

What they have done is show us around and tell us this is what we

can do and can't do, try to keep us out of trouble. The force's

investigation unit have brought along a car it seized recently, a

good example of how not to modify your motor. One of the first things

we stand in the vehicle was two strobe lights. They are totally

illegal. That might not be life-threatening but the honour of

this car also changed the tyres and the replacements are dangerous. The

main body of the tyre was separated from the tyre wall on the inside. At

that have been driven at any time, the tyre wall could have failed and

both front tyres could have shredded and exploded. The owner has also

altered the engine and suspension. Because the modifications enhanced

the performance of the vehicle, the insurance company worth ensuring

this vehicle as a normal standard Ford focus. In fact, it wasn't.

Centre husband's death, Dorothy has dedicated her time to raising

awareness of dangerous driving. The operation is amazing. My family are

all behind it. Sometimes it is the innocent ones that really don't have

a clue what damage they can do when they just pass the test. There is

nothing to stop them getting into a huge powerful car and driving, and

it can have devastating results. I think they need to take a long hard

look at the damage it does to families. It just ruins lives. It

ruins their own life. The person who killed Roy is in prison. And his

family would be devastated. So it is not just my family that is

devastated. His immediate family will be, too.

The very serious consequences of dangerous driving. Inspector John

Heckels joins me now. As we heard, it ruins lives. It certainly does.

That was a devastating case. The driver was very young and he has now

impacted on his own life and he was recorded at 100 mph. The car itself

was modified. That wasn't declared to the insurance company and the

actual named driver shouldn't have been on the policy. So many lives

affected in that case. Tell us about this particular car and how you came

to get this. This particular car, again, it's a young driver who has

modified the vehicle that also it has very dangerous defects. One of

the defects is so serious that the tyre could be flaked at any time.

The core is exposed to so that is really a safety critical defect. The

engine itself purports to be a family car, 1.2 litre vehicle. It is

actually souped up to almost two litres, which is not the purpose it

is built for. It's dangerous. There are some flashing blue lights in the

grill. Police vehicles are the only ones that can have that. You've

taken it off the road. We can close this bonnet because what are you

going to do with it next? We would like to crush this particular

vehicle and it is a clear message about dangerous driving. Let's get

the bonnet down so that they can start the crushing process. We have

to move back now for safety concerns because they are going to be putting

this car through the crusher. While they do that, tell me, why are you

targeting the drivers of modified cars particularly? We tend to find

that dangerous drivers modify their cars, don't tell the insurance

company and then they can void is the policy from inception by not

disclosing those defects and modifications to their insurance

companies. We will just stand back and see the crushing in the process.

This can cost a lot for police forces. Yes, around about 150 to

?200 per vehicle. We can crush up to 1000 vehicles per year. 47 already

this year. Thank you. Come back to us later when this car will be

absolutely crushed. Blimey! Coming up later: A family

owned business hitting hard times after a break-in. It was a case of,

are we able to keep functioning as a business or will we have to shut

down? And I'll be finding out how thieves

stole equipment out of an ambulance, putting it out of action for weeks.

But first, we're off to the quiet village of scorned and in North

Yorkshire, where thieves drove off with more than they bargained for.

-- Scorton. I just couldn't believe it. I thought, how does somebody do

that? ! Everything I owned went in that minute. The last few years that

join Bob Dixon have been hard once. He suffered a heart attack and major

knee surgery but at last, he was on the mend and pleased to be back at

work. I went to work as normal at about 8:15am. I got to the site as

normal, opened the van up, got some tools out. I was working on the

bungalow roof. As always, Buster the family dog was with him. He likes

it. He goes everywhere with me. He sits inside the van, I leave the

door open for him, he hops in and out and is quite happy. That day,

Bob spent the morning working on the roof whilst Tyler worked in the

kitchen. He had actually gone to the shop at 11:15am. The shop at Scorton

is about a three-minute walk. Bob always made sure that the gate to

the drive was closed so Buster couldn't get out. But when the Tyler

returned from the shop, he noticed that the gates were open. He thought

I had gone off somewhere because the van had gone and he went round the

side of the house and he said, "oh, I thought you'd gone". That's when I

ran round the front and he was like, "it was there when I left". Three

minutes ago it was there. At first I thought it was somebody having a

joke. And then I realised it was no joke, it was actually happening. Bob

hadn't just left his van unlocked. He'd also left his keys inside. The

van was an easy target and there for the taking. It was just a shock. I

didn't know what to do. CCTV footage from a neighbour's house shows the

road just outside the bungalow. You can see a black Mitsubishi Shogun

driving slowly past the property, going in the direction of

Northallerton. A few minutes later, you see the same vehicle come back a

bit slower. And then a short time after that, a male walks across the

road, shielding his face, and goes to the Gateway of the property. He

enters the Gateway and then the van is driven out of that location with

the side door still open. But it wasn't just Bob's van that had been

stolen. I'd got my phone, which was in my pouch, and I phoned the

police. She was asking me questions and all I could keep saying was,

"they've got my dog. If they kick him out on the roadside, he'll be

won over". Worried sick about Buster, Bob and his wife took to the

road. The thought of him being in that van and not knowing where he

was going or what they were going to do to him... I would have looked for

him for ever. Believe me, I would have gone round and round and round

until I found him. There was no sign of him. The police said, put it on

Facebook and you might get some response. The reaction from people

was unbelievable. Then, after hours of worrying and searching, Bob got a

phone call to say that Buster had been found on the side of a road

near Hartlepool. He had been taken to a rescue centre. It was a big

relief, it really was. It was heartbreaking to see my dog. It

really was. I ran up and got and I'd never seen a dog so relieved to see

in the body. He was absolutely going nuts when we got there. The girls

behind the counter said, "we didn't put him in the kettles because he

was so shaken up -- kennels. " Bob had lost his livelihood. Everything

I owned was in that van. Everything. I have about ?3500 worth of tools in

the van at any time. They had all just gone. I've worked out it is

going to cost me at least ?12,000 to try and get back on the road again,

by the time I got another van, got my tools built up again. And because

the keys were left in the van, Bob doesn't think he will get a penny

back from his insurance company. Everything I owned just went in that

minute. And now I'm very angry. Very, very angry. Pisi Kalinka Smith

Owen is with me now. A callous theft of the van but of Buster, too. Yes,

a lovely dog. Tell us about this man and also the black car because there

is a CCTV. The CCTV basically shows a black Izuzu Trooper or Mitsubishi

Shogun sing a location in suspicious circumstances. A male wearing a

white T-shirt takes the van off the drive and drives off with the side

door open. Buster was dumped by the side of the road. Where was he found

and can Matt help you in your investigation? It can. We believe he

was dumped in the County Durham area and the van registration for Bob's

van, a white Vauxhall, and this is the registration plate. Bob's

livelihood was stolen. A lot of the tools were high-quality tools,

Makita and De Walt drills and grinders. Most of them have, either

on the tools themselves, or on the boxes, company-macro on them in

black writing. And if you can help us find out who stole the van and

who are Buster, get in touch. -- they have A B Joiners written on

them. If you are a smoker, you might be tempted to buy cheap cigarettes

but when it comes to illegal tobacco, saving a few quid can have

some pretty nasty side-effects. Authorities across the UK are

clamping down on their sale. Sarah Smith from Trading Standards

is with me and also Collin Singer from Wattel UK. What is illegal

tobacco? There is a variety of types. -- wagtail UK. These are

cheap white or illicit whites. There is no legitimate market for these

products. They are made solely for the illegal tobacco market. They are

not regulated. Quite often, they come out of China or Russia. You

find them in their areas and sizes. Some will have warnings on, someone

at. So they're quite unusual. These will only be illegal if you see

these. They're often sold in various shops. And we can see some footage

of one of your teams, Collin, now. This is a normal looking shop but

tell me what's going on. This dog is indicating on a shelf there in a

shop and underneath the shelf there is a concealment of quite a lot of

illegal tobacco. We can see some false shelving there that they've

put into hide these things. It's really coming. But the dogs can

sniff out where we can't. This is the advantage of a dog. We can such

promises a lot more quickly and accurately than human search teams

and they're very effective. We've just seen how effective they were

there. We're going to put my low to the test. Somewhere in the studio,

our crew has hidden some illegal tobacco. I'm going to let you and

Milo go off and find it. Sarah, while Milo goes off to find that,

it's worth noting that is because these may cost a bit less than

normal cigarettes, they can be even more dangerous than the normal ones.

That's right. They're not regulated like legitimate tobacco and quite

often, they contain a lot more nicotine, more carbon monoxide and,

certainly, in some cases they've been found to contain 1.5 times more

tar. So they don't care what's going into them. Milo is having a good

look there. He's having a good look around, isn't he? But it is also

worth saying that if somebody does get caught selling these, there are

very stiff penalties. Will come to that in a minute because I can

see... This looks like there is some kind of indication. Is this the

right thing? As you can see, Milo has frozen on this bag, which means

there is probably tobacco concealed. Let me have a look. I'll have a look

inside. He's definitely pointing at something and he's found it. That is

the illegal tobacco. What does he get now as a thank you? It is a

reward -based system. Milo works for his tennis ball so I'll give him

that now. Sarah, they get very serious penalties if they are caught

selling this. Yes, the penalties for counterfeiting is imprisonment and

an unlimited fine. Other tobacco sentences carry six months in prison

and a ?5,000 fine. Very serious. Thank you all for joining me today.

Let's go back to Shannon. -- Sian. We need your help to catch some

shameless thieves who stole equipment from an ambulance. Dave

Edwards is from the ambulance service. What happened? It was the

12th of April and we had a double crew ambulance attendant a very

poorly 90-year-old male patient with breathing difficulties. They took

this mobile unit. Tell us about that. The incident was on St

Andrew's Road in Bishop Auckland and as we attended to the patient, they

broke into the vehicle and stole the mobile terminal. That provides

essential information to our crews in terms of getting to jobs, in

terms of satellite navigation as well as getting to the hospital and

safety information. Absolutely critical. Would it be valuable to

anybody else? I've been informed by our electronics department but it is

of no use to anybody else. It isn't a computer. It is only part of one.

It is a ?150 loss to us but what is even more an issue is the downtime

of the vehicle. 18 days in total. Completely unacceptable. So you

couldn't attend emergencies. Thanks very much. Back to you, Rav.

Please get in touch if you can help with that. It's time to take a look

at today's CCTV. Will you recognise anybody?

A quiet picturesque village in North Norfolk is the unlikely setting of

our next crime, where a dark coloured carpels up on the road

opposite the village post office and get out. -- two men get out. The

cart drives off in parts further up the road while the men point a gun

at the counter screen in the post office. They make off with nearly

?1600 and are picked up down the road by the same vehicle. Let's stop

these muggers before they strike again. It is early morning in March

at a sorry petrol station and somebody is about to make quite an

entrance. -- Surrey. The robber brushes himself down and pushes past

the member of staff to get to the till. Even with the help of a

screwdriver, he is having difficulty prising open. When he finally goes

commonly takes ?150 in cash and fills his pockets with as many

packets of cigarettes possible. Detectives say the man has a

noticeable limp. Call us if you recognise this limping loud. --

lout. We are on board a Newcastle bound train last November. A man is

helping people on and off with his bags. That is nice. But before the

train pulls into Durham, he takes a passenger's brown suitcase, walks

down the carriage and hands it to a female companion. The couple split

up and meet again at the station barriers. Police say the victim

realised her case was missing when the train got to Newcastle. Inside

was her clothing for a family funeral she was attending that day.

Can you name these light fingered luggage lifters? Call us now.

Give us a call, or text us - you need to text CW,

And that space is really important - if you don't put it in,your message

And remember if you'd like to speak to someone anonymously

We need your help to catch these selfish thieves who brought a small

business to its knees. On the outskirts of Middlesbrough is a

small family business run by Father and daughter are Bill and Michelle.

I am a daddy's girl. My dad is everything to me. I always say that

Michelle works for me because she is very good at her job, not because

she is my daughter. And she is very good at her job. They specialise in

restoring cars... Usually arrive between half past five and six and

drivers comment. They are allocated to work. They go off for the day and

we carry on with administration. On the 19th of February, the day began

with bad news. Is one of two of the drivers had come in before me and

rang me to say that a disaster had happened. They told me a break-in

had happened. The night before, burglars had broken into the yard,

targeting the 27 brand-new transit vans being stored there. In all, the

thieves took one and 17 wheels and tyres -- 117. To remove the number

they did in the time frame they did it, would require some equipment

such as compressors and airguns. The cost of the theft for the business

was huge. ?155 per tyre, a shocking total of ?18,000. It was a case of,

how are we able to keep functioning as a business, or will be have two

shutdown? Not only is it the cost of repairing all the vehicles now, it

is the cost of security. We have made everything as secure as we can,

but it is going home at night thinking, are you going to face more

the next morning? For Bill, Michelle and family, the personal cost was

even greater. My dad started getting very unwell. He started becoming

very stressed, very agitated with everything. Every day I had

something to deal with, with the insurance, with customers. I

actually hadn't realised how much it had affected me until fairly

recently. Bill suffered serious heart problems and has struggled to

work ever since. I getting close to what could have been retiring age

anyway, but I am now more certain that I'm going to back out of the

business as much as possible. Sunday is my dad has not been here and I

find myself looking at his desk thinking, that should meet by night.

-- that should be my dad. He didn't want me to see him like this. He

just wanted me to keep the office going. And we have got this tyre,

which is similar to the ones stolen. DC Matthew Waterfield

is with me now. These are big and bulky.

Transporting them is not an easy task? No. This team was organised.

They had equipment. They have advanced to remove the tyres. Why

did they take the tyres and not the vans? These tyres cannot be bought

in this country. They get imported. And also, the resale value. Where do

you think they may have ended up? They could be anywhere. They could

be sold to businesses, individuals are exported to Europe. We are

appealing to anybody who witnessed anybody around at the time. Or

anybody who has been sold these tyres. -- who has been sold these

tyres. Good luck. Now, we've heard a lot

about dangerous driving on this programme, but it's not

always that easy to spot offenders. So, to get a better view,

the Cleveland and Durham forces are There are about half a million heavy

goods vehicles on the roads of the UK. In 2012, they were involved in

271 fatal collisions. And the figures are on the rise. But

spotting those who are not driving safely can be difficult.

Particularly from the seat of a squad car. If we are in a traffic

car, the drivers have to look up. Queue, operation riding high. Police

hope this lorry will give them the edge. We are at the same height as a

driver. We can look straight across, look at the drivers to see if they

are committing offences, on their mobile phones, playing computer

games etc. Being the same height is fantastic because we video the

evidence and that evidence can be produced in court. Many of the

day's lorries are as well-equipped as any family car. But if they are

involved in an accident, they are far more lethal. The vehicles are

comfortable to drive. Some drivers become complacent. Compared to a

car, if they are unable with a car, they know who is going to win. Most

of the drivers are concentrating on the road. But as the riding high

lorry is overtaken by a white truck, PC Ian Turner sports that its

driver is using the phone. In the patrol car behind the lorry is PC

Bruce Thorpe. We turn up at the scene once the offences have been

identified. Afternoon, sir. How are you? The reason I need to speak to

you is weirdest investigating an allegation that you are using your

mobile phone. The driver is booked for not being in proper control of a

vehicle and find on the spot. For the sake of ?10, he is going to walk

away with a ?1 fine and a minimum of three points. Some people think

crimes like this are minor but PC Ian Turner and the team often deal

with the accidents that can follow. I don't think people realise there

are actions. A simple mistake can have fatal consequences. Soon the

team spot another driver who appears to be flouting the law by not

wearing his seat belt. The unmarked car driven by PC Thorpe is tasked

with pulling the lorry over. Afternoon, sir. Do you have any

documentation? I have got IDE. While the driver is taken back to the

police car to be booked, a vehicle inspector gives the lorry a once

over. The unsecured chocks at the back are a cause for real concern.

They can simply slide straight off. There is nothing keeping them there.

If these are not strapped down, they could cause somebody severe injury

or possibly a fatality. Until the chocks are secured, the lorry is not

going anywhere. Back in the police car, background checks are carried

out on the driver and it is not looking good. He has expired

licence. He is driving a vehicle with no licence, which means he has

no insurance. It could -- it gets worse. The driver left high and dry.

It is time to tell his boss he has been issued with a fine and will not

be back at work any time soon. Another good result for the team.

Let's find out how we're getting on with that illegally modified car.

It is not getting onto well! Not at all. But this is a clear message we

want to send out about dangerous driving. We're not going to allow

these cars on the road. This is the ultimate end of this particular car.

Let's get a closer look. It has just been turned into scrap metal? It

has. You would look to crush a a thousand cars a year. Already we

have seized 47 of these cars. 37 people have been arrested with a

combined disqualification in years of 26. That is the important message

you want to get out there? Absolutely right. It is education as

well as enforcement. This will be the ultimate end of your car if you

are driving it dangerously and have it in dangerous condition. That is

the car and it is in a cube. There have been some problems with the

phone lines this morning. They are up and running now. If you have any

information, call now. Locations have been given first several wanted

faces we showed you last week. Now Sian,

where will you be tomorrow? Rav,

I'm really excited about tomorrow. We're at the

National Police College's Forensic Centre near Durham, where they've

recreated an entire street. Different crime scenes are staged

here - and it's used to teach I went back to school for the day to

learn all about fingerprints, footprints and photographs, and

tomorrow the officers at the centre Now,

if you'd like to watch any of the CCTV featured in today's programme

again, just head to our website. And stay with BBC One -

in an hour we're catching insurance But

for now I'll leave you with another Somebody out there knows

where these people are.