Episode 8 Crimewatch Roadshow

Good morning, it's Wednesday, we're live and waiting for your calls.

We're travelling the UK asking for your help to solve crime.

Today - a student's worst fears realised when she's followed home

I have never had anyone look at me the way he did.

The best way I could describe it was like an animal looking at a piece

And keeping drunks out of the cells and hospitals - a joint police

I'm a bit concerned now in case he walks around the corner

We're visiting the length and breadth of the UK tackling

A family who fled the Taliban only to be targeted by arsonists in the

UK. My wife woke up, if not she might not be here today. The men who

pretended to be police officers to get into a pensioner's home. I

opened the door because I thought it was the police. It was this horrible

man. It is meant to be my home, you're safe place. Alex was still

settling into student life in Cardiff when an incident after a

night out left her extremely shaken. At 1:30am she walked the familiar

route back to her halls of residence after visiting a friend. Just three

minutes from home she became aware and man was watching her. I saw a

man go into a dip in the wall. It set a nerve of, didn't feel right.

As soon as I walked past, he started following me. The first thing I

thought, it was just me. It is late and I scared myself. Then I started

dropping back to let him walk in front. He kept walking further

behind me, so I was aware he was definitely following me. Her house

was just around the corner and she thought she would be safe if she

could get there quickly, but she was feeling more and more uneasy. I was

not sure if he wanted to take my bag, or what he was going to do,

really. As I got to the other side of the bridge just by my student

halls, I heard him running under the bridge behind me. It was like a

scene from a horror film. I thought, this cannot be real. I got to my

halls and luckily got inside. But as Alex let herself in with a key card,

another student held the door open for the stranger. As they waited for

the lift, another student arrived and got in with them. The other guy

got off on a couple of levels earlier. There was a couple of

floors where it was just me and him and it was the hardest. It was so

difficult because I did not know what he wanted. I did not know what

he was planning to do. Alex and the stranger both got out on her floor

and the man pretended to head for another flat. But as she opened the

door, her worst fears were realised. I had my back turned to him and I

had a cold shiver down my spine. My instincts told me it wasn't right. I

saw him lunge at the door. He was grabbing my jumper and trying to

pull me out. I had his arm trapped in the door. I have never had anyone

look at me like he did. It was like an animal looking at a piece of

meat. A surge of adrenaline must have pumped through me and I closed

it completely on his arm. I just kind of stood up against the door.

Completely blank for a minute. It could have been so much worse. I am

grateful it wasn't. Alex's flatmate was oblivious to what was happening

just outside her door. I heard a noise and I thought it was just them

coming back being loud and drunk. I opened my door and she was crying

and shaking. Together they went down to tell security what happened.

Seeing the stranger captured on CCTV, Alex dialled 999.

This is extremely serious and we wish to identify this person and

speak to him prompts --. It does appear it was sexually motivated. It

must have been a traumatic incident and well done to Alex for fighting

back against him. I did not want to be on my own for a while. I could

not focus on anything and my head was all over the place. No one

should feel that small, pathetic or threatened. And we are with South

Wales Police today in Cardiff. Detective on is to Darren Roberts is

leading this investigation. Clear CCTV in this case, somebody should

know this man? It is extremely clear, it shows this man following

Alex back. The quality of the CCTV is extremely good. The film captures

him at various points in the building, including the lift?

Correct. Very good CCTV and a good facial, which is unusual. Alex was

quick thinking, used her adrenaline and managed to close the door on her

attacker and trapping his arm, so presumably he was injured? I presume

so, it was quite a heavy fire door. And the force Alex described using

on his arm should have resulted in a number of injuries. Alex was walking

home from a night out as so many students do, there is a new safety

advice? Common-sense, keep to well lit areas, walk confidently. There

are also devices available, applications and smartphones. How

does this new application work? If you are concerned for your safety,

if you shake your smartphone it will alert family and friends of your

exact location. That is good advice. I will just show people this. This

is the personal safety device we have talked about in the past.

Good advice there. Now it's time to have a look at today's Wanted Faces.

And we start with this man, police believe he's called Henry Akhigbe

question the 30-year-old in connection with a serious sexual

Detectives in Manchester want to question

the 30-year-old in connection with a serious sexual offence against

He has connections to the Oldham area and Nigeria,

Oldham, Manchester and Stockport but has links to Hull, Scunthorpe,

Sussex Police want to question the 37-year-old

in connection with a robbery in which a man was struck over the

Charlton has connections to Oldham, Manchester and Stockport

but has links to Hull, Scunthorpe, Cumbria and London.

Officers from the Met Police want to question him in connection with

a road accident in which a man was injured and later died.

Originally from Ghana, 45-year-old Kusi has links to South London.

He also has a scar beneath his left eye.

If you recognise any of these, pick up the phone and call others. --

call others. Emergency crews dedicate themselves

to helping others but sometimes they find themselves under attack from

the people they are trying to head. We have the fire crime unit at South

Wales Fire and rescue. Tell us some of the problems because we had some

CCTV footage that shows it in action? This CCTV footage to place

on November the 5th last year. The youth in question verbally abused

others. He laid down in front of one of the fire appliances preventing

the crews from getting to a scene. Any delays could prove fatal.

Shocking, stopping you getting to where you needed to go to. You have

this new fire engine this morning. It has got some kit on it, how can

it help? As our crews are becoming under attack, we have fitted our

appliances with CCTV. We have a camera in the front and also we have

cameras on the side of the vehicle here. And at the rear providing 360

degrees cover. Should our crews come under attack, or obstruct does in

our duties, we can capture that on film and provide it to the police to

help prosecute them. So we can see the camera on the back and assign

clearly saying CCTV cameras in use. Is it bringing any results, does it

help? No, it is there to raise awareness and informed the public

but we have seen a 33% increase in the number of attacks since we have

had the cameras fitted. That is quite shocking.

The family who fled the Taliban in Pakistan only to find themselves

under threat in the UK. The kids they are asking, you are very good,

white are the people, they burn our house? This family fled their home

country fearing for their lives. We were attacked in Pakistan by the

Taliban. Our property, house and everything is burnt. We are

protecting their identities to ensure they cannot be traced by

those who knew them in Pakistan. When I got to the UK, I know this is

safe country. Having uprooted their children to seek safety and asylum,

in April this year the family was once again forced to leave their

home. Around four o'clock, we heard the sound of the fire alarm and my

wife and my kids and me, we all woke up. They rushed downstairs to find

their front room full of smoke and flames. When we saw the fire, it was

completely shocking. We were all very scared. Upset. We tried to save

our kids and our lives. Although they managed to get outside, the

blaze had taken hold. By the time the Fire Service arrived

the house was engulfed by the flames. If the smoke alarm did not

work, then my wife did not wake up before me, maybe we are not alive

today. It is a small house, the fire was intense and it gutted the house.

But luckily the children were rescued. Forensic investigation show

this fire was no accident. We know the fire was started with petrol.

Police would like to talk to a person on a bike seen on CCTV at

around the time of the incident. The cyclist is riding a light coloured

bike. Is possibly a man and wearing a three quarters length cut

trousers. While the arsonist is still at large, the family don't

feel safe in their adopted country. The kids they are asking questions.

P, you are very nice, mother is a very good mum. Why do the people

burn our house? It is about as serious as you can debt. Arson with

intent to endanger life is a life imprisonment sentence. It endangers

everybody in the street. If the police can find everybody who did

this, it is good for me and my family. If an individual is willing

to set fire to a house full of young children, is a very dangerous

individual and I need to know who he is. The family has lost everything

and are homeless. They have lost everything including the children's

toys, and if it wasn't for the quick thinking of somebody shouting an

internal door, the incident would have been graver. Do you have any

idea who has done it? No idea, and we would welcome any leads from the

public that they can give us. There is a still picture from the CCTV,

not a great picture, but it shows a person you are interested in

speaking to. This person is seen on a bicycle at the time of the fire

and is vital to the enquiry. The person is riding a pale bicycle,

wearing a pair of three quarters length trousers and is possibly

carrying something in his right hand. This was in the early hours,

around 4am in the morning on the 30th of April of this year. Just

prior to fall in the morning. Thanks for running this to -- running us

through that. Numbers will be on screen to get in touch. When there

is a suspicious fire, the services need to work out of its been started

deliberately, and this is where fire investigation dogs like Pepper

comment. Matt Dixon has been training Pepper. -- come in. What do

they do? They look for flammable liquids. When we suspect arson, or

we want to rule it out, it's a tool we can use. Once the fire is out, we

can send the dog into the scene and they can look for traces of

flammable liquid left behind. What is Ever going to do this morning? We

have set up a scenario and we had an arson, we have gloves that have been

recovered. We are going to send over Pepper and she will hopefully show

is the glove with the white spirit that the arsonist was wearing.

Fantastic. Pepper has special kit on as well. She has. She is just

indicating the glove with the turpentine on. She gets the ball as

a treat. She always wears a harness when she is working. So she knows we

are playing at this game at the moment. Most importantly, she wears

little boots to protect our feed from Sharp 's -- objects, broken

glass, nails and any areas that might be hot, because the last thing

you want is the dog getting injured. Well done, Pepper. There are not

many fire investigation dogs like her. Only approximately 15 in the

country that do the job we do. It started in about 1985? The first dog

was in the West Midlands, and that was in 1985, and that was the first

dog in Europe. It is still growing, but they are a brilliant and

invaluable tool. Absolutely. You are doing a great job. Later in the

programme, Matt Dixon will be here with another dog, Kai, putting them

through their paces. It's a very doggy show as we have another

hard-working canine. Gorgeous Honey is here, a guide dog, and would you

believe that there are ten reported attacks by other dogs on guide dogs

every month will stop new laws came in earlier this year to give

assistance dogs greater protection. We can also meet Honey's owner.

Jonathan, if I start with you, assistant dogs had little protest in

-- protection, did they? Up to 25% of the attacks have been repeat

attacks. Up until now, the police have not have the power to respond

in a robust way. New legislation means that an attack on a guide dog

or an assistant dog is seen as an attack on a person, so it's an

aggravated attack, which means that the new legislation says that if

people are caught in that situation they could be imprisoned for up to

three years in extreme cases. The law applies to dogs working and also

free running. Kerstin, you know first-hand how serious an attack on

a guide dog can be, because your dog before Honey, Norman was attacked in

tragic circumstances. Tell us what happened. I was taking my

seven-year-old daughter to the school bus, walking down the lane

and I was aware of dogs on the other side and didn't think of anything --

did not think anything of it. Then one came across the lane and

attacked my dog in its harness. We can actually see some pictures now.

We are looking at photos of Norman. Awful injuries on his face and also

his body. I know he was able to make a physical recovery from knee

injuries, but he was never the same, mentally and it was very sad what

happened. He had to be retired because he became nervous of other

dogs and he would pull away if he was approached by another dog. He

never actually worked after the attack, and I did have to take him

out on the leader couple of times. -- on the lead a couple of times. A

couple of weeks after he was attacked, he officially retired.

Very sad. It's not a case of just giving you another one, because it

is difficult for a number of reasons. It severely affects people

's independence and reduces their confidence to get out and about.

Secondly, you have seen the pictures, and the trauma for the dog

is intense. The lifetime cost of a guide dog is about ?50,000 and we

have had five dogs that had to be withdrawn because of significant

attacks. It takes about two years to grow and build and bring a

partnership together, and with a dog attack it can take 20 seconds to

destroy it. Such a long time to train. You were very lucky with

Honey. How long did it take you to get together and how has the bond

been? I only had to wait three weeks, but that was pure luck. I

could have waited 18 months. She's a great dog and I have bonded with

her, but I had to go back to using a white cane to three weeks, which is

slower. I had to have three weeks off work at a moments notice, which

is never easy. It was a difficult time. I can imagine. Well, thank you

both for coming in. Now, South Wales Police are

launching a poster campaign They're trying to catch

a man who sexually assaulted a woman on her way home from a Halloween

party at a Cardiff nightclub. It's a crime that we ran

an appeal for on the Crimewatch If he has done it to me, he could do

it to somebody else. He just thinks that he's got away with it now, you

know? Well, DS Gavin Sullivan, you won't let him get away with it. You

are determined to catch this man. Remind us what happened. It was

around 2am in the early hours of Friday morning, 1st of November. The

young lady in question met her attacker near Clarence Road Bridge

and was attacked some distance away, just across the way from here.

You have brought the poster with us, and you are launching a

campaign. It's in a number of languages which reflects the diverse

ethnicity base of the community. We are trying to get as much

information as we can about this gentleman here. We wish to speak to

him. We are putting it in shops and various business premises in the

area, for people to come forward and tell us if they know this person. He

has a distinctive taboo on his left arm, but he also is five foot seven

up to five foot eight in height, medium build, and from the Indian

subcontinent. Lots of information there. Thanks very much. Look out

for those posters in Cardiff. Right, lots more still to bring

you this morning, including: A son who came to his mother 's aid

in a robbery and feared the worst. When I looked into the house, all I

could see was my mother's legs protruding from behind the wall. And

a joint police initiative to help those who have overindulged. We come

down and take them to the treatment centre, just to be safe.

But first, we've got four men we'd like you to

This guy is double trouble, make no mistake. He raids to bookmakers in

central and south London in March, telling staff he is carrying a

concealed gun. In this betting shop in Bromley, he threatens cashier 's

with a weapon he says is wrapped in a plastic bag. He makes off with

?373, but three days later, he walks into another bookies, this time in

Lambeth, claiming he is packing a gun in the waste bag in his

trousers. He leaves with ?432 and is clearly captured on camera. Police

believe this is the same man and they need your help to end his

stealing streak. This man is after a bargain, but he

doesn't plan to pay cash. He is browsing at a pawnbroker in

south-east London, and then decides to take a seat. From here, he can

see what is behind the counter and what he is after is mobile phones.

He asks a member of staff to look at one of them, and he takes the

opportunity to sit closer to the counter. He is in no hurry, chatting

to the staff, but his attention is now firmly on those bones. And with

a final round, and a glance straight at the camera, he leans over and

swipes a handset worth ?180. Does this phone thief ring a bell? Give

us a call. It is lunchtime at this pub in

Richmond, London, and a con is about to happen. Outside the pub, an

elderly man is sprayed with liquid by a complete stranger. Seeing the

old man's distress, a passer-by guides him into the pub. But this

good Samaritan is and all he seems. He knows the 84-year-old has just

withdrawn ?400. He takes the old man's code, saying he will watch it

in the pub's toilet. Shaken by his ordeal, the old man waits by the bar

and then heads to the gents. That is when the man who sprayed him walks

in. Police say that in less than a minute, the pension is Rob by the

two men, who ran out of the pub with the money. The barman must realise

something is wrong because he chases after them. Help us to identify

these cowards before they strike again.

Now we're hearing this morning about dangers faced by emergency services.

Alcohol often plays a part, so in the first project of its kind in the

UK, emergency services in Cardiff have come together to find an

innovative way of keeping people out of the police cells and hospitals

It's Friday night, and in Cardiff, like so many other cities, there's

always a danger that the party atmosphere might turn a little sour.

Before the night is over, some of the revellers may well find

themselves in a hospital or even a police cell. We have a duty of care

to people when we come across them in the street and they are not in a

fit state to look after themselves. But all this can take up valuable

police time and resources. It takes the officers away from where they

are needed most. But the police have come together with the ambulance

service, street pastors and the health board to offer a solution, a

pop-up emergency unit, open on Friday and Saturday night, geared

towards treating drunken partygoers. From a police point of view, it has

managed to free up our time because we are not waiting for an ambulance

to attend. It is in a close location to where the pubs and bars are, so

they can go there quickly and be dealt with, which means my officers

can remain on the streets and do their usual duties. The work of the

nurse led alcohol treatment centre is pioneering. The aim of it is to

keep the intoxication -- intoxicated patients out of the unit, which

frees up the police and the ambulances and puts people in the

right place. The patients will come in waves. We have six or eight come

in at once. You can't do it with just that amount of Star. The police

clean up the sick, top and bottom. -- amount of staff. There is no

shortage of casualties for the unit this evening. I'm a bit concerned

now. If he walks around the corner and he falls over and hurt himself,

that is my concern at the moment. We are going to take you to the alcohol

treatment centre? We have asked a mobile medics to come down and taken

to the treatment centre so he will be safe and he can be sobered up

before he goes home. Since it was started, we have had 387 individuals

attending the centre, and only 33 of those were taken to hospital. You

can see how successful it has been in preventing those individuals from

being taken to accident and emergency. The centre ensures that

its patients sober up in a safe environment, keeping them off the

streets and out of trouble. It is this young man's 18th birthday and

he's decided to celebrate it with us. It wouldn't work without the

police, because it can be a hostile environment. But those police that

work with us, they act as an extra health care assistant at time --

time. They make it what it is. Not only is the joint effort paying off

by keeping drunken revellers off the streets and out of hospital, it's

also making a dent in the crime rate. The most recent figures show

it is at an all-time low, and within the city centre the alcohol

treatment has significantly helped us in achieving that reduction. It's

a fantastic scheme. A great partnership, and the results speak

for themselves. Seven out of ten cases that go into A at the

weekend are alcohol-related. This is to act like a triage centre for

those individuals. We can facilitate them at the centre so we are not

wasting time for ambulances and we are free to carry on with our

duties. Torque is through the impacts the front-line staff have

when people have drunk too much alcohol. You must meet some

aggressive people sometimes? It is aggressive people, working in the

treatment centre. The main aggression in a main A unit

decreases because of the centre. What about the partnership? The

police had to roll up their sleeves? They do, they get their

hands dirty and clean up the vomit and other bodily fluids that might

be around. Talking about what you have to do when you step it up a bit

and somebody has had too much to drink. You do have measures and the

law at your disposal? One thing we have is the section 27 disposal

notice so if we can identify individuals who have had too much to

drink and think they are a risk of committing alcohol related disorder,

it means they have to leave the city centre. If they come back in, they

will be arrested and spend the night in a cell. As we heard some of the

problems, it is also on the road. You are trained in basic driving and

you have this police car that can help you. Unfortunately there are

times we are attacked. It is vital we have the relevant skills and

training. Camara is now, every time in these cars? There are four Camara

's in the car. This is to recognise an automatic number plate. It will

tell as any information. Fascinating stuff. If you had a knock at the

door from someone shouting, police! Chances are you would open it. That

is what 81-year-old Beryl did to her cost.

I would not open the door normally. 99% of the time I would not open the

door. Who is there? Police. They could have killed her and they could

go on to kill somebody else. When 81-year-old Beryl Hawkins developed

a heart condition, her son, Stephen and his wife took over the flat

downstairs to be close to her. We moved here about three years ago for

her peace of mind so she had somebody there if she needed, to

look after her. Stephen was also on hand to reassure Errol that if

strangers ever came knocking. I have always told my mother, don't answer

the door to anybody if you don't know what it is. The one time she

did not do it, is when something did happen. The evening of April the

4th. Beryl had settled down for the night when an unexpected visitor

called. He rang the door bell. I went to the door, as to who it was.

He shouted it was the police. Naturally I opened the door. It

wasn't the police, it was this horrible man. He pushed me inside.

Pushed me on to the floor and put his hand over my mouth. Shut up and

be quiet. I don't know what I was thinking, I was petrified. I wanted

to get my heart spray. He told me to be quiet. The man held her down and

direct did two of the men to search her flat. They found the safe in one

of the bedrooms. I was binding the floor with my foot to attract my

son. I heard a couple of small thuds and thought it was the neighbours

doing something because they quite often do DIY. Shortly after that I

heard about three or four knocks and realise the noise was coming from

upstairs from where my mum lives. Stephen Ray Stubbs stirs. As he did,

two of the men came bursting out of his mum's flat. As I was at the

front door, I looked into her house. All I could see where her legs

protruding from behind a wall. Fearing the worst, Stephen went to

help his mum but as he did, the third man sprang out at him. When we

were at the front door, I tripped on something so I lost my balance and

my grip. Hearing the noise, Stephen's wife raced to Beryl's aid.

I felt he wanted to hurt me. He put his hand out towards my face. But he

was too strong, lost my grip and he ran off. Mum, mum! That Audi was

caught on CCTV and police later found it abandoned. They have been

traumatised by this incident. They have had to install extra security

measures because they did not feel safe after this. Excessive violence

was used against an 81-year-old who could not defend herself. The one

thing they took was the safe. The only thing I am pleased about is the

fact the safe is empty and I would like to have seen their faces when

they opened it. Alison is having treatment for torn tendons in her

wrist. The whole family is trying to come to terms with what happened. I

thought she was going to die. I really did. I thought, no you can't.

I try not to think about it because when I think about it I get all

shaking, nervous. When it was happening I was dreadfully afraid. I

was terrified. A particularly nasty attack, what can you tell others

about the menu are looking for? Three men involved, all of similar

descriptions described as white, 5'10" tall with slim build. One has

ginger hair and want has a strong Irish accent. You are looking for a

car and you have brought along this number plate. This number plate was

cloned on that occasion and there is a car driving round with this number

plate that is legitimate. Tell others about the car you are looking

for. This grey Audi A3 has left the scene, a powerful model and was

later recovered in the West Mercia Police. Looking for witnesses in

that area as well. They got away with the safe like that. I want to

ask you about what people should do. The lady thought it was the police

and that is the only reason she let them in. Have your chain on, ask for

identification. Genuine police officers in uniform or not, will

have identification and will be happy to see it. They barged in in

this case. Now we really need

your help to trace two violent robbers who attacked a man near his

home in Hillingdon in North London. The incident happened on

Frithwood Avenue on the 6th March and was captured on CCTV

which we can see now. As the victim was leaving

his home at about 9:15am, They knocked him to the ground

and carried out a brutal assault, The attack was so violent we've

had to blur some of the footage. But

during the attack the men then took the victim's car keys, wallet and

watch which is worth about ?6,000. We can see an image

of the watch now. The model number is SC38S and it

has a serial number of BO-27854. Have you seen a watch like this.

Earlier we saw Matt Lee Dickson with P. He has brought along Kai now. I

am in the process of training Kai to be a drowning person search dog. He

will look for human remains below water level. There are a couple of

dogs in training in the UK but to my knowledge there are no operational

dogs doing this job. So it will be quite specific. How do you do that?

I presume it takes many hours? The training is in a related, same with

the fire investigation dogs, it is about the dog wanting to get its

toy. The toy becomes submerged and hidden and the dog is trained to

bark for his toy and you transferred that behaviour across to the sense

of human remains below water level. We are dying to see Kai in action.

Can you put him through his paces. We are training him as part of the

flood rescue team. That is what the throne line is about. We will train

him to retrieve throw lines to craps and vessels and things and

potentially swim across a river and run round the tree with the line and

tie it off. Very relevant with those floods. He has his life jacket on.

We are a little bit wet! Well done Kai. He did well, did he? This is

about getting him used to the environment and getting him used to

being in the water and get used to the throne line being exciting and

being a toy. It is fascinating seeing the work you are doing. Time

for a quick update. Lots of calls again on our Wanted Faces. Police

chasing something up on that. Also on the man who followed a student

home in Cardiff and police say they are following up leads at

yesterday's programme at the petrol station robbery in Coventry.

Detectives say they have new leads but are encouraging anyone with

information to come forward. Sian, where will you be tomorrow? After I

have dried off, tomorrow I will be finding out what it takes to be a

front line police officer. Also following a community officer as he

tries to take anti-social behaviour OFT the streets. There will be some

more fraudsters caught in the act on framed and shamed. Finally we will

leave you with another look at the Wanted Faces. Callers if you know

where they are. -- Claimed and Shamed.