0:00:02 > 0:00:03Bag snatchers, robbers and street crime.
0:00:03 > 0:00:05According to the latest police figures,
0:00:05 > 0:00:08more than 3,500 incidents of theft are reported
0:00:08 > 0:00:10every day in the UK.
0:00:11 > 0:00:14My advice would be definitely put a tracker on.
0:00:14 > 0:00:15It was very scary.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18But what happens to our belongings when they're stolen?
0:00:19 > 0:00:24Thief Trackers shows who takes them and where they go.
0:00:24 > 0:00:26Hidden trackers inside items
0:00:26 > 0:00:29like cameras, smartphones, and bicycles
0:00:29 > 0:00:31to trace their every move.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34The thieves think they have got away with it
0:00:34 > 0:00:36but we've got them under surveillance.
0:00:40 > 0:00:45Using undercover footage, CCTV and tracking technology,
0:00:45 > 0:00:48we'll get an insight into the criminal mind,
0:00:48 > 0:00:52and uncover the unseen journey that our possessions take
0:00:52 > 0:00:53when they're stolen.
0:00:59 > 0:01:03Today, the Thief Trackers are on the trail of a stolen personal computer tablet...
0:01:03 > 0:01:05He's taken it.
0:01:05 > 0:01:06Let's go, let's go.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09..coming face-to-face with the thief as he tries to
0:01:09 > 0:01:10cover his tracks.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17Plus, satellite tracking technology helps to trace
0:01:17 > 0:01:21one man's holiday home as caravan thieves strike.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24The next thing, it was a stinger across the road.
0:01:24 > 0:01:27There was no way they were going anywhere after that.
0:01:27 > 0:01:32And a phone snatch victim goes online to hunt down her missing phone...
0:01:32 > 0:01:34We located the girl on Facebook.
0:01:34 > 0:01:37..mounting her own sting operation to get it back.
0:01:37 > 0:01:41I think a lot of other people were disgusted about it.
0:01:45 > 0:01:51Almost 300,000 electronic devices are stolen each year across the UK.
0:01:51 > 0:01:54But often crooks are less interested in your tablet or smartphone
0:01:54 > 0:01:56but more in what it contains -
0:01:56 > 0:01:58personal information such as addresses,
0:01:58 > 0:02:02bank details and passwords - to steal your identity.
0:02:05 > 0:02:07Helping the Thief Trackers with our investigation
0:02:07 > 0:02:11is our specialist crime adviser, Alex Stewart.
0:02:11 > 0:02:13He was assigned to some of the toughest areas of London,
0:02:13 > 0:02:16both on patrol and as an undercover officer,
0:02:16 > 0:02:19in his time on the force with the Metropolitan Police.
0:02:19 > 0:02:22From theft, to drugs, to violent crime,
0:02:22 > 0:02:24he has seen what life is like on the streets.
0:02:28 > 0:02:31As night falls, the busy areas around city stations
0:02:31 > 0:02:34are a fertile hunting ground for thieves
0:02:34 > 0:02:37as members of the business community hit the pubs
0:02:37 > 0:02:38after a hard day's work.
0:02:38 > 0:02:39With all of the crowds,
0:02:39 > 0:02:42it's very unlikely that thieves will be seen
0:02:42 > 0:02:45and even more unlikely that they'll be caught.
0:02:45 > 0:02:49We fitted a tracker into a personal computer tablet.
0:02:49 > 0:02:51We won't tell you where, that would give the game away,
0:02:51 > 0:02:55but if it is stolen, we can use the GPS tracking signal to follow where
0:02:55 > 0:02:57it goes and track down the thieves.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04Watching their every move is the Thief Trackers undercover team,
0:03:04 > 0:03:07who will be mounting a covert surveillance operation.
0:03:07 > 0:03:09For their safety, you won't see them,
0:03:09 > 0:03:11but you'll hear their voices.
0:03:12 > 0:03:14Keep your camera on these guys.
0:03:22 > 0:03:26One of the team gets into position on some steps at a mainline station.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29The computer tablet with a tracker inside
0:03:29 > 0:03:32is in the pocket of a rucksack beside him on the steps.
0:03:32 > 0:03:36It's something we all do. The rest of the team watch from nearby.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39- OK, we're on. - The tracker in the tablet is live.
0:03:40 > 0:03:41Now it's a waiting game.
0:03:46 > 0:03:50It's a busy thoroughfare, making it a theft hot spot.
0:03:52 > 0:03:54- First guy, first guy.- Did he stop?
0:03:54 > 0:03:56- No.- He definitely looked at it, didn't he?- Yeah.
0:03:58 > 0:03:59The guy on the bike.
0:04:01 > 0:04:02Quick look.
0:04:05 > 0:04:06Gone.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20It's not long before the team sees someone of interest.
0:04:25 > 0:04:27Hold on. I've seen this guy before.
0:04:27 > 0:04:28This guy walked past a second ago.
0:04:30 > 0:04:32It's the same man.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36He has now walked past the team twice.
0:04:36 > 0:04:38It's that guy again with the folder.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41- He's back.- I think he bottled it.
0:04:41 > 0:04:44Yeah. He's been circling around.
0:04:56 > 0:04:57It's the guy with the folder back.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03- I think he's going to go for it. - Yeah, he's taken it.
0:05:03 > 0:05:04OK, let's go, let's go.
0:05:07 > 0:05:09The thief slips away into the night,
0:05:09 > 0:05:12but the GPS signal from the tracker shows where he goes.
0:05:14 > 0:05:16And the Thief Trackers are on his trail.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24As it's dark, the Thief Trackers check the footage
0:05:24 > 0:05:26to see what the thief looks like.
0:05:26 > 0:05:28They need to make sure they get the right man.
0:05:30 > 0:05:32Right. It's that way to the right.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39Later, the undercover team track our stolen tablet.
0:05:39 > 0:05:40How close are we?
0:05:41 > 0:05:44And they come face-to-face with the thief.
0:05:52 > 0:05:56More and more of us are taking to Britain's roads in a caravan.
0:05:56 > 0:06:00To some, they're an ideal way to explore the country.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03But these homes on wheels are easy targets for criminals,
0:06:03 > 0:06:09who have hitched up and towed away over almost 2,000 caravans in 2015,
0:06:09 > 0:06:12as happened to one proud owner in Bristol.
0:06:12 > 0:06:14We like to get away with our caravan
0:06:14 > 0:06:16just for wee holidays, wee breaks,
0:06:16 > 0:06:19just the freedom it gives you, it's phenomenal.
0:06:19 > 0:06:22Because I'm in the pub and restaurant trade,
0:06:22 > 0:06:24my days off are in the middle of the week,
0:06:24 > 0:06:26so you don't get away at the weekend.
0:06:26 > 0:06:30So I'd hitch up the van, get away Tuesday, Wednesday,
0:06:30 > 0:06:33come back and basically, you could do that every week.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36We use the caravan for holidays all over the place,
0:06:36 > 0:06:40we've been right up to Glasgow, round the top end of Scotland,
0:06:40 > 0:06:43and not last year, the year before, right down to Devon.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49Cost me 17-and-a-half grand, that van, brand-new.
0:06:49 > 0:06:53You don't spend 17-and-a-half grand without thinking you're going to take care of it.
0:06:53 > 0:06:58The main thing was get it on a tracker, good alarm system.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01To protect his investment, John called in a tracking company.
0:07:02 > 0:07:06Spending quite a lot of money on a caravan,
0:07:06 > 0:07:09and you fill it with all those little bits and bobs,
0:07:09 > 0:07:11it's a little bit like an extension of your home.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14It's not like your car, you don't have too many precious
0:07:14 > 0:07:15things in the car, but your caravan,
0:07:15 > 0:07:20you take it really seriously and you don't want to lose it.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23It's not just about getting a new one if your old one goes,
0:07:23 > 0:07:25it's all those bits and bobs,
0:07:25 > 0:07:27all those memories you're protecting for people.
0:07:29 > 0:07:33John's worst fears came true when in the early hours one morning,
0:07:33 > 0:07:34he had a rude awakening.
0:07:34 > 0:07:38It was a Sunday morning, late Saturday night, the phone went,
0:07:38 > 0:07:41this voice says, "It's Phantom here, your alarm's gone off."
0:07:41 > 0:07:45I was thinking, "My alarm's gone off? I can't hear anything."
0:07:45 > 0:07:51Then it suddenly started to sink through - my alarm, as in my caravan alarm.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56And she says, "It's activated."
0:07:57 > 0:08:01In the event of an alarm trigger, we speak to the customer,
0:08:01 > 0:08:05see if it's just a false alarm, get them to just check what's occurring.
0:08:07 > 0:08:09The van is parked in the field at the back of the pub,
0:08:09 > 0:08:12so I'm walking through to get to the rear door,
0:08:12 > 0:08:14which overlooks the back.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18Looked down over the car park
0:08:18 > 0:08:20and I could see two shapes
0:08:20 > 0:08:22trying to hitch up my van.
0:08:22 > 0:08:26With his caravan about to disappear, John quickly called the police.
0:08:26 > 0:08:30Phoning treble nine and from a licensed premises,
0:08:30 > 0:08:32I got a fantastic response because there was a robbery in progress.
0:08:34 > 0:08:38This guy's starting to pull out of the field with my van on the back.
0:08:38 > 0:08:40By this time I'm half dressed,
0:08:40 > 0:08:43he's not getting away with my van and I'm thinking,
0:08:43 > 0:08:45"If he hits the motorway up the road, I've lost it."
0:08:47 > 0:08:51I ran down the fire exit on my side, jumped into my car...
0:08:52 > 0:08:56..and he pulled out one side of the car park
0:08:56 > 0:08:58as I come to the other side,
0:08:58 > 0:09:01and he started heading up to the M5 junction.
0:09:05 > 0:09:09If there is a theft and the caravan is on the move,
0:09:09 > 0:09:11then that data is coming through fairly consistently.
0:09:11 > 0:09:15We're almost plotting it every 30 seconds or so,
0:09:15 > 0:09:19that position will be on screen and we're usually on the phone to
0:09:19 > 0:09:21the boys in blue who are hot in pursuit.
0:09:24 > 0:09:27As I pulled out, the first police car arrived, I shouted,
0:09:27 > 0:09:31"That's him there and I'm following him," and shot straight off
0:09:31 > 0:09:34after him, and the policeman turned round and he joined me.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40Running up, through the first set of lights, hit green, great,
0:09:40 > 0:09:44catching up on this guy, second set of lights were red,
0:09:44 > 0:09:46he is going through and I'm thinking,
0:09:46 > 0:09:48"Should I go through, should I?"
0:09:49 > 0:09:51Police car right at the back of me, my luck,
0:09:51 > 0:09:53he was going to give me a ticket at the end of this.
0:09:57 > 0:10:00No. I pulled in, let the police car go through
0:10:00 > 0:10:02because he had the blues and twos on,
0:10:02 > 0:10:05he shot through and I had to wait until the lights changed.
0:10:11 > 0:10:13As we're driving up the road, "Pass him, pass him, get in front of him,"
0:10:13 > 0:10:16and the policeman was trying to get in front of them but this guy was
0:10:16 > 0:10:19swerving right across the road and I'm thinking,
0:10:19 > 0:10:22"No, no, no, get past him, get past him, no, no, no!"
0:10:22 > 0:10:26Every time he'd swerve, I thought I could see my van going over the side
0:10:26 > 0:10:27of this field in a minute.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32It was very scary. Very scary.
0:10:32 > 0:10:37He kept swaying the caravan across to stop the police car getting in front.
0:10:39 > 0:10:44As we got up towards the motorway junction,
0:10:44 > 0:10:46we got a police car in front of him.
0:10:46 > 0:10:48All of a sudden,
0:10:48 > 0:10:53this one at the back beside me starts waving me to slow down.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56The next thing, there was a stinger across the road.
0:10:57 > 0:10:59Punctured the tyres on the van.
0:11:01 > 0:11:03And the caravan.
0:11:03 > 0:11:07And there was no way they were going anywhere after that.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10They just sort of ground to a halt, the police surrounded it,
0:11:10 > 0:11:13gets these two bodies out, one male and one female,
0:11:13 > 0:11:17and this other copper comes back to me and says,
0:11:17 > 0:11:22"Mr Brown, I'm sorry I had to puncture the wheels on the van as well."
0:11:22 > 0:11:24I said, "I'm not fussed.
0:11:24 > 0:11:26"My van's here, thank God for that!"
0:11:27 > 0:11:30You see it on the telly all the time, people doing these manoeuvres,
0:11:30 > 0:11:32but to actually see it and be
0:11:32 > 0:11:36in on it as it was happening was absolutely phenomenal.
0:11:38 > 0:11:40John's was a slightly weird one
0:11:40 > 0:11:43because he kind of caught them outside and
0:11:43 > 0:11:45was involved in the chase himself.
0:11:47 > 0:11:49We would never advise customers
0:11:49 > 0:11:51to get involved in a police chase kind of thing,
0:11:51 > 0:11:53but there was no stopping him.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56I couldn't believe it, how prepared they'd come.
0:11:56 > 0:11:58They know what they're doing, it's not a casual,
0:11:58 > 0:12:02just happened to be passing and see your caravan.
0:12:02 > 0:12:04My advice would be definitely put a tracker on.
0:12:04 > 0:12:08If it's a toss-up on the money side, definitely go for the tracker.
0:12:16 > 0:12:20Tracing your stolen property to retrieve it from the hands of the thieves
0:12:20 > 0:12:22before it's sold on is not an easy task.
0:12:24 > 0:12:28Earlier on, one of the team set themselves up
0:12:28 > 0:12:30outside a busy railway station.
0:12:30 > 0:12:32The rest of the Thief Trackers watched
0:12:32 > 0:12:35as a suspect passed by several times
0:12:35 > 0:12:37before eventually stealing the tablet.
0:12:39 > 0:12:43- He's going to go for it. - He's taken it. - OK, let's go, let's go.
0:12:48 > 0:12:49The thief disappears into the night
0:12:49 > 0:12:52but the undercover team are hot on his heels,
0:12:52 > 0:12:55following a signal from the tracker in the tablet computer
0:12:55 > 0:12:56which shows his every move.
0:12:59 > 0:13:03But they pause to check the footage from the snatch to make absolutely
0:13:03 > 0:13:05sure that they know who they're after.
0:13:18 > 0:13:20Right. It's that way to the right.
0:13:20 > 0:13:24Now they know what he looks like, the team are back on his trail.
0:14:05 > 0:14:08The team now know what the thief looks like and, despite the risk,
0:14:08 > 0:14:09they will confront him.
0:14:09 > 0:14:11He's taken it, OK let's go.
0:14:14 > 0:14:15Sorry to bother you.
0:14:19 > 0:14:21No, no, no. You can check my bag.
0:14:21 > 0:14:23- I've got no tablet.- Samsung tablet?
0:14:23 > 0:14:24- No, man.- Sure?
0:14:24 > 0:14:25Yeah.
0:14:26 > 0:14:30He hasn't got the tablet on him and although he denied it,
0:14:30 > 0:14:32we know he definitely took it.
0:14:42 > 0:14:43Not a white tablet?
0:14:43 > 0:14:45- You can check my bag... - OK.
0:14:47 > 0:14:48OK, no worries.
0:14:51 > 0:14:54We've caught up with the thief, but not the stolen tablet.
0:14:56 > 0:14:58But the tracking signal is still live,
0:14:58 > 0:15:00showing the tablet is somewhere nearby.
0:15:16 > 0:15:19Where's it saying it is now? How far is it saying we are from it?
0:15:19 > 0:15:20In this section here.
0:15:23 > 0:15:25A blue dot. The tablet.
0:15:25 > 0:15:27I think it's in this block somewhere.
0:15:30 > 0:15:32A way in, yeah.
0:15:32 > 0:15:35The tracking signal hasn't moved from this spot so it's
0:15:35 > 0:15:38likely he's hidden the tablet, so the team search the area.
0:15:56 > 0:15:57Yeah.
0:15:59 > 0:16:01It's definitely locked.
0:16:01 > 0:16:03You know what? It's easy enough to climb,
0:16:03 > 0:16:07he could've done that easy enough. Let's check round the side and see what the craic is round there.
0:16:12 > 0:16:17But there's any number of places the stolen computer could be in these dark alleys.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46- Found it.- That's amazing. Wow.
0:16:46 > 0:16:47One for the tracking squad.
0:16:47 > 0:16:48Yeah.
0:16:49 > 0:16:51Trackers one, robbers nil.
0:17:06 > 0:17:08Our crime advisor, Alex Stewart,
0:17:08 > 0:17:11a former Met police officer, analyses the crime scene.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16So, this is where it happened, and looking at the footage,
0:17:16 > 0:17:20what we can see is that he's made two or three attempts going past,
0:17:20 > 0:17:21scouting it out...
0:17:25 > 0:17:26..even at one point
0:17:26 > 0:17:29looking like he's going to grab it and then bottling it.
0:17:31 > 0:17:34He's then moved in, very quickly grabbed it...
0:17:38 > 0:17:41..and the tracker is showing that he headed this way.
0:17:44 > 0:17:47So, the tracker is showing that he's come off what is still
0:17:47 > 0:17:51quite a busy street here onto this quiet cut through,
0:17:51 > 0:17:54presumably because he's trying to avoid being spotted.
0:17:57 > 0:17:59He may know this area quite well.
0:18:00 > 0:18:03It's on this quiet side street where we meet him again.
0:18:06 > 0:18:09No. Seriously, you can check me.
0:18:09 > 0:18:10I don't have it.
0:18:10 > 0:18:12- Samsung tablet.- No, man.
0:18:13 > 0:18:14Seriously.
0:18:14 > 0:18:19So he's found a quiet street to stash the laptop in a pile of rubbish.
0:18:26 > 0:18:29Presumably working on the theory that it'll not be disturbed until morning.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32Of course, what he didn't reckon on was Thief Trackers
0:18:32 > 0:18:34following his every move.
0:18:38 > 0:18:39It's a common trick,
0:18:39 > 0:18:42stashing the stolen item on the theory that we'd have to find it
0:18:42 > 0:18:45on him in order to be able to prove anything.
0:18:45 > 0:18:49Of course, what he did not reckon with was that we filmed him taking it.
0:18:49 > 0:18:53That's one for the Thief Trackers and we still have the unblurred footage
0:18:53 > 0:18:57of the tablet thief in action, which we're more than happy to share with the police.
0:19:07 > 0:19:09As we've seen on Thief Trackers,
0:19:09 > 0:19:13it only takes a second for thieves to steal your property.
0:19:16 > 0:19:19Crooks will strike just when we least expect it
0:19:19 > 0:19:20and on a Friday night,
0:19:20 > 0:19:24there are rich pickings to be had around pubs and bars.
0:19:24 > 0:19:26It's the end of the working week,
0:19:26 > 0:19:29a chance to unwind with friends, but an ideal opportunity
0:19:29 > 0:19:31to have your pocket picked,
0:19:31 > 0:19:36as one regular at a local pub in Leicester found to her cost.
0:19:42 > 0:19:46It's a local, so we're always in there and we get on quite well
0:19:46 > 0:19:49with the barman, so we tend to sit at the bar and have a few drinks
0:19:49 > 0:19:50and just have a laugh.
0:19:51 > 0:19:55Everybody knows everybody, everyone says hello to everybody.
0:19:55 > 0:20:00So it was just a regular Friday night, ended with no events, really,
0:20:00 > 0:20:02and we headed home.
0:20:02 > 0:20:04But that is when I realised that I hadn't got my phone.
0:20:06 > 0:20:10That sheer panic just goes straight through you. I was running round,
0:20:10 > 0:20:15trying to look for it, I emptied my whole handbag out
0:20:15 > 0:20:19and was ringing the phone from my boyfriend's mobile
0:20:19 > 0:20:21and it was switched off.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24In my head she'd lost it or dropped it in the canal or it's gone.
0:20:24 > 0:20:29I couldn't see the people I was with that night stealing it.
0:20:29 > 0:20:31So I just forgot about it.
0:20:31 > 0:20:34But Gemma wouldn't really forget about it.
0:20:34 > 0:20:35The next day,
0:20:35 > 0:20:38first thing, straight up to the local pub,
0:20:38 > 0:20:43we had a look on CCTV to see if we could see anything.
0:20:43 > 0:20:46Unfortunately, where I was sat at the bar
0:20:46 > 0:20:49the bar pumps were in the way and you just couldn't
0:20:49 > 0:20:52see where my stuff was.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55By this time, I was sort of convinced
0:20:55 > 0:20:58that I definitely hadn't lost it.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01I was kind of leaning towards the fact that someone had stolen it,
0:21:01 > 0:21:04but then when I was looking at the CCTV,
0:21:04 > 0:21:07I knew everyone in the pub and I thought, no, nobody could do that.
0:21:11 > 0:21:15The next few days, I was just searching on the internet for a replacement phone.
0:21:17 > 0:21:22And then there was one sort of iPhone 6 that was white
0:21:22 > 0:21:23which was the same as mine.
0:21:26 > 0:21:27And it said it was brand-new,
0:21:27 > 0:21:31they only wanted £100 for it as well and I thought again,
0:21:31 > 0:21:36a brand-new iPhone that has just come out, they're like 700 quid.
0:21:36 > 0:21:40I had a look on the picture and you could see that there was a slight
0:21:40 > 0:21:44see-through case on the phone and I thought,
0:21:44 > 0:21:48"Mine had a see-through case on it," but again, it is non-descript.
0:21:48 > 0:21:51I screenshotted the picture and sent it to my partner.
0:21:51 > 0:21:53Dinner time comes, she said, "I've found it."
0:21:53 > 0:21:57I said, "You can't have, there are millions of phones out there."
0:21:57 > 0:21:59She's adamant, "This is my phone."
0:21:59 > 0:22:04Gemma wasn't giving up and enlisted her good friend and colleague Katie.
0:22:04 > 0:22:05She was in first thing in the morning
0:22:05 > 0:22:07on the computer and as I came in,
0:22:07 > 0:22:10she e-mailed me a link. And on the mobile phone,
0:22:10 > 0:22:14they had only taken a picture of the top half of the phone,
0:22:14 > 0:22:17so they had cut out the IMEI number.
0:22:17 > 0:22:22Every mobile phone has its own unique 15-digit code number
0:22:22 > 0:22:24known as an IMEI number.
0:22:24 > 0:22:26She said, "Do you think it could be mine?"
0:22:26 > 0:22:31I said, "I think there's as much chance it might be as it might not,"
0:22:31 > 0:22:35and it all sort of spiralled out of control from there, really.
0:22:37 > 0:22:40The seller was listed and the name was there,
0:22:40 > 0:22:44so I got my friend to put that into WhatsApp,
0:22:44 > 0:22:48the number, and just message her to see if the phone was still available.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55So when you put the number into WhatsApp and you send a message,
0:22:55 > 0:22:59that person comes up on the WhatsApp chat, so that's how we started,
0:22:59 > 0:23:02we started with this girl, asking about the phone and I said,
0:23:02 > 0:23:04"Make it look like it is a real phone sale,
0:23:04 > 0:23:08"just pretend to be a customer, someone who will come and buy the phone."
0:23:08 > 0:23:10She looked familiar, somebody I may have seen,
0:23:10 > 0:23:13but I thought, "There's millions of people."
0:23:13 > 0:23:17Again, I screenshotted the photo and sent it to my boyfriend.
0:23:17 > 0:23:22She sent me a photo of the person she thought might have took it
0:23:22 > 0:23:25and I recognised the name that she sent with the photo.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30So I rang her and said, "You're probably onto something here."
0:23:30 > 0:23:33We'd located the girl on Facebook.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36And then on her photos was the dad, saying Happy Fathers' Day,
0:23:36 > 0:23:40and the dad had been in the pub with us that night,
0:23:40 > 0:23:43so we totally knew it had to be her.
0:23:43 > 0:23:47When I seen the photo of him, I felt disappointed,
0:23:47 > 0:23:49because I've known the guy for quite a while.
0:23:49 > 0:23:51I thought, "That's definitely it,"
0:23:51 > 0:23:53cos he was the only one who was there that night
0:23:53 > 0:23:55who I really I thought had took it.
0:23:55 > 0:23:58The girl came back to reply to say that the phone wouldn't be
0:23:58 > 0:24:01available to come and look at at the end of the day
0:24:01 > 0:24:03so we'd have to act pretty fast,
0:24:03 > 0:24:06and then she deleted the WhatsApp message
0:24:06 > 0:24:08so you couldn't get back on it.
0:24:08 > 0:24:12Then I suggested one of our colleagues phone.
0:24:13 > 0:24:18He was really good on the phone, he was so, like, he was bartering with the woman,
0:24:18 > 0:24:20even knocked it down to 80 quid.
0:24:20 > 0:24:23I was like, no, just buy the phone!
0:24:23 > 0:24:26Give her what she wants, just meet her.
0:24:26 > 0:24:29So we arranged the meeting, arranged the time.
0:24:31 > 0:24:35And the scene was sort of set.
0:24:35 > 0:24:40The woman had said, who was selling the phone, had said she was sending her boyfriend to deliver it,
0:24:40 > 0:24:43so we were to just give him the money.
0:24:43 > 0:24:47So we decided to choose a meeting place
0:24:47 > 0:24:53near to where we all worked so that we could get a few people together
0:24:53 > 0:24:55but that was close enough to a police station as well,
0:24:55 > 0:25:00so that if anything happened we'd run to the police station.
0:25:02 > 0:25:07Three of us went and we met Gemma's partner there.
0:25:07 > 0:25:11He was in his car with one of his friends who had come down,
0:25:11 > 0:25:13just in case the numbers were against us
0:25:13 > 0:25:15or in case it did go wrong.
0:25:15 > 0:25:18Obviously, you've got these two girls
0:25:18 > 0:25:20involved in this sort of dodgy phone sale, if you like,
0:25:20 > 0:25:23and I was just really conscious of all of our safety.
0:25:23 > 0:25:25That's what frightened me the most,
0:25:25 > 0:25:28because you didn't know what to expect from the other person.
0:25:40 > 0:25:43When he did turn up, my friend jumped out to meet the guy.
0:25:44 > 0:25:48He was looking. He was like, "Oh, yeah, what's wrong with it, then?"
0:25:49 > 0:25:52And he was just like biding his time, really.
0:25:52 > 0:25:55My colleague had said,
0:25:55 > 0:25:58"I'll give you a thumbs-up behind his back if it's the phone,"
0:25:58 > 0:26:01and on his hand he'd written Gemma's IMEI number
0:26:01 > 0:26:05of her mobile phone, the last four digits,
0:26:05 > 0:26:08so that as he was looking at the phone, discreetly,
0:26:08 > 0:26:11he'd be able to check the last four numbers and see if it tied up with
0:26:11 > 0:26:12what was written on his hand.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17He just played it dead cool, like nothing was going on,
0:26:17 > 0:26:20and it was all running absolutely swimmingly.
0:26:22 > 0:26:26He finally managed to get like sort of a sneak peek at the serial number
0:26:26 > 0:26:30and the last four digits matched the last four digits of mine.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36We see the thumb go up, so like, go.
0:26:41 > 0:26:43My friend took the phone off him straight away,
0:26:43 > 0:26:45gave it to Gemma.
0:26:45 > 0:26:49And then, sort of, before you knew it we'd all piled back in
0:26:49 > 0:26:50our own cars, I'd got the phone.
0:26:54 > 0:26:57And we all just drove off, like madness, getaway cars.
0:27:01 > 0:27:03And then we all just drove round the corner and that's when we pulled in
0:27:03 > 0:27:05and just double-checked all the phone
0:27:05 > 0:27:09and were sort of celebrating round the corner when we realised.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13She just rang and she said, "Excuse me,
0:27:13 > 0:27:15"did you just steal the phone from my boyfriend?"
0:27:15 > 0:27:19I was like, "No, you stole the phone and we've just got it back."
0:27:19 > 0:27:23I said, "I've got to go back to work. I'm on my dinner break."
0:27:23 > 0:27:26Play detective on my dinner, I've not even had my dinner yet
0:27:26 > 0:27:28and all this is going on.
0:27:28 > 0:27:30And then when I came back into the pub
0:27:30 > 0:27:34and explained the story to everybody, nobody could believe it.
0:27:34 > 0:27:38So Gemma got her phone back, but as it was someone they knew,
0:27:38 > 0:27:40they decided not to press charges.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43I think a lot of other people in the pub were disgusted about it.
0:27:43 > 0:27:46On the home screen, all you had to do was press the button
0:27:46 > 0:27:49and there was a massive picture of me and my boyfriend on there.
0:27:49 > 0:27:54And everyone knows us in the pub, so it wasn't like, oh, he found it,
0:27:54 > 0:27:57he didn't know whose it was.
0:27:57 > 0:28:00It was so obvious that that was our phone.