Killer on the Loose Traffic Cops

Tonight, the traffic cops are chasing auto-burglars,

who'll stop for nothing.

-What's your name, mate?

-James.

Dealing with breakdowns...

HE SOBS OK, I will phone an interpreter.

..and break-ups.

The worst first date I have ever had in my life!

Running after people who've been drinking...

Let's go!

..or using knives.

That's a big knife.

And hunting for a killer on the loose.

The puzzle deepens.

We didn't know whether we were investigating what could possibly have been a murder.

Just north of London, in Hertfordshire,

reports are coming in that an expensive Mini Cooper

has just been stolen.

Luckily, traffic cops Chris Payne and Nathan Cattley are not far away.

Oh! That's where we are.

It's becoming increasingly rare to have your car stolen,

thanks to recent technological advances

that have made it virtually impossible for criminals

to get into them and start them.

Instead, they need to steal the keys first.

3 Whisky 7. We're en route on the 602.

What's it that makes them think it's stolen?

Oh, it's their own?

The people who reported the Mini being stolen are doing their best to get it back.

A stolen vehicle was being followed

by two friends of the person who had had the vehicle stolen.

Whenever there's a pursuit over the radio, everyone wants to get in on the act.

Ross Clark is no exception.

The road that it was being pursued along,

sort of comes out no more than a quarter of a mile from the motorway junction.

And as we were coming off, I was thinking to myself,

we're either going to get on the back of this pursuit

or we're going to be able to get there,

get a stinger out and sting it.

Patrolling in his unmarked police car,

Jim Norton was able to get behind the Mini

by pure chance.

As I came up to the Datchworth turn-off, the B197 at Woolmer Green,

a Mini pops out the junction, across my path.

I'll never forget it.

Brake discs were glowing red, orange-hot.

I thought it had one of these snazzy set of wheels that glow in the dark,

but it was because the brake discs were literally burning so hot, they were glowing.

For some reason, the driver's got his foot on the brake

while he's driving along.

I'm thinking...stolen Mini. This has got to be one of our auto-burglaries

that we suffer.

So, this is going to be some real professional criminals out there,

stealing cars overnight from addresses by means of burglary.

The way the car's being driven, the chances of an accident are great.

Especially now as he's suddenly discovered how to drive

without his foot on the brake.

Your heart jumps up into your mouth.

You think, "It's really the wrong time to accelerate."

You can see what'll happen.

He hit a tree, and into a bus shelter.

You're thinking, "This person's going to be probably really badly hurt."

But somehow, he isn't.

You could tell he's under the influence of something, whether drink or drugs.

The car thief doesn't have any obvious injuries at all.

Criminals have this irritating ability of escaping

any harm for what they do. I quite often liken them

to cockroaches. They can get blown up or go through car crashes,

yet they're just indestructible.

They'll be back next week stealing cars and taking drugs.

Does it hurt anywhere in particular? Are you bleeding at all anywhere?

I don't really know, mate.

First thing I knew, I hit that thing...

then all of a sudden, you were...

-That's all I...

-You understand you're under arrest?

-I know, I'm...

-You understand, for theft of a motor vehicle?

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

-OK, fella.

And he's then come clean. He says, "I've consumed 20 cans of Foster's," I think it was,

"and taken some spliffs - cannabis -

"and I'm on this anti-depressive medication as well."

The Mini's absolutely wrecked as well.

I'm thinking, "This thing looks like it's going to catch fire."

It's gone into the side of a bus stop.

Hello, guys.

It's proper smoking. I won't be surprised if that goes up in a moment.

I take it you've called Trumpton for this? It is smoking quite heavily.

RADIO: 'I'll give them a call.'

Thank you.

If that had been sort of...

three o'clock in the afternoon,

he's done 50mph into a bus stop.

That would have just been horrendous.

Sierra 6 have arrived.

Not overly concerned at the level of injuries at this point.

Obviously, I'll wait for an update.

He was complaining of pains to his neck and back,

due to the impact of the collision.

So we immobilised him,

basically by taking control of his head,

C-spine immobilisation. So if there was any cervical or spine injuries, they were basically protected.

Which leg am I touching?

Eh?

Which leg am I touching?

Even though he's committed these offences, our first role is to provide first aid and trauma care.

-We'll leave you to it.

-Cheers, thanks a lot. Take care.

It looked like his brakes were actually locked on, or jammed on.

A lot of the time as he was coming along the road,

you could see a lot of smoke coming from the wheels themselves.

So when it had turned right, you could see the brake discs were glowing red-hot.

He's accelerated as he's come down over the hill,

and it's basically gone out of control, clipped the kerb down here,

bounced, and smashed into the bus stop there.

He's come round too fast, and you can see the skid marks where the back end's slid across the road,

and he's hit the kerb. And that's bounced him up the kerb, into the bus shelter.

The smashed Mini belongs to a girlfriend of the lads who were following it,

who'd had her car keys stolen.

-So you knew it had been pinched out of her handbag, and you set off in your motor?

-Yeah.

She had her handbag stolen,

and they've assumed her car keys are in that handbag,

and they've put two and two together

and thought whoever's stolen her handbag is probably going to come and look for her car.

And when they're on their way back to where she'd had her car parked,

they saw it coming out.

So we chased him, and...

we're on the phone to the police at the same time, giving them directions,

and then this is what happened.

Luckily, one of them's a racing driver as well! So he's managed to keep up with it quite well.

They've given a really good commentary over the phone to the control room,

so they've managed to catch up with the vehicle.

Apparently, it had no lights on at one point.

Certainly, without their assistance, we'd never probably have found that vehicle that night.

We've found a few things in the jacket pocket of the driver.

We've found a couple of mobile phones, one of which is a BlackBerry,

which we believe to have belonged to the owner of the Mini.

The cops need to find out exactly who the auto-burglar is.

Obviously, we can't do mobile ID, cos he's being treated.

So we've basically used his PDA here

to assist us in confirming his identity.

So I'm looking at the...

picture there.

The man is James Bevan,

and he's failed the roadside breathalyser.

He blew well over,

and then, obviously to get an evidential sample from him,

we can't take him back to the police station,

stand him up next to the Intoximeter to get an evidential sample from him,

because he's injured and he needs medical treatment.

So the next step is to get a doctor out

and request a sample of blood for analysis.

Yeah, you can see it from here.

Yeah, the tip of...

Yeah, keep that shining on it.

The traffic cops just need one or two measurements for their report,

and then the road can be reopened.

He's completely smashed.

He says he's had 20 cans of Foster's,

he's had cannabis about four hours ago,

-he's had all these other...

-Heroin as well.

-He says he's had heroin now?

-Yeah.

He says he's had Valium and everything else.

They offered him gas and air. It wasn't strong enough.

-Not going to hit the spot!

-No.

I doubt it, with all he's had.

He's been charged with eight offences, which are

aggravated vehicle taking,

failing to stop for police, dangerous driving,

using a vehicle with no insurance,

driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence...

I think there's even some malicious telecommunication offences,

cos there's been a couple of fake 999 calls from a drunk man in Hertford town centre,

which was him also.

Yeah, bit of a silly boy, really.

In the 1990s, car crime amounted to more than 20% of all crime.

Nowadays, that figure has dropped to less than 10%.

Even so, stolen cars are still high on tonight's priority list for Ross.

Night shifts is the time of the auto-burglar.

He's on the lookout for them with Mike McCoy.

So we're driving round the ring road at Watford,

and I see this really nice Porsche Cayenne.

And I'm thinking...

"Yeah...

"That kind of fits the bill of the kind of car that's going to get stolen at this time of night."

Whisky 3, can I have a vehicle check, please, quickly?

Then suddenly it starts being driven like an absolute loon -

really erratically and at loads of speed.

And I'm like, "Right! We're on here. This is definitely stolen.

"This is definitely going to be an auto-burglar. We'll have a pursuit here."

So I get all excited, and Mike gets a bit excited,

and I start calling it in.

OK, we're just following this vehicle at speed.

We're...

At Wiggenhall Road, down towards the dump.

We're going for a stop shortly.

They go like stink, those Cayennes, don't they?

It's not only auto-burglars that set the alarm bells ringing.

In Watford and round our area,

we have a lot of drug dealers.

Those guys often hire a really nice car -

it'll be like a Range Rover Vogue, or a Porsche Cayenne,

or an Audi Q8 or something like that.

And they'll hire it on a short-term lease, and they'll go and do all their drug-dealing and so on.

Perhaps it's some kind of status symbol with them.

And that was the other thing that was running through my mind.

Sadly for Ross, it's not the case this time.

OK, just pop yourself out the car for me a second.

A very well-dressed Asian lady and her elderly mother sitting next to her and a load of kids in the back.

It was just like...

I was not expecting that at all.

But she may not be driving legally.

She says she's got a provisional driving licence.

Provisional?!

Just step over here so you're not in the...

I can't... I can't quite put...

the car, the way you were driving,

and the occupants of the car

being children and yourself and that.

-What kind of driving licence do you have?

-An international one at the moment.

-It's in the process of getting changed.

-OK.

-And a provisional UK licence?

-Yes.

-What country are you from?

-Kenya.

-You're from Kenya.

-And how long have you been in England?

-Um, well I've just come back on Wednesday.

OK. How long have you been living in England?

Um, about four months or so.

Right.

So how come you've got a UK provisional licence? When did you apply for that?

Because I wanted to change it. I've been in and out of the country for a long time.

And so I have applied for it, but I just haven't been here long enough to have sat the test.

Right. What's your immigration status?

-You're a British citizen?

-Yes. I was born here.

So if you were born here, why have you got an international licence?

Because I never lived here.

Right. Do you have any ID at all on you?

I have a bank card, if that's enough.

A credit card and debit card.

Go and grab those bits for us. That'd be cool.

-I'm not believing this for a minute. Are you?

-It's a bit weird.

An international licence is only valid for a year after first entering the UK.

And, if on a provisional, the woman needs L-plates.

You obviously have got a foreign licence.

Because at some point in time, you've acquired points in the UK,

probably driving on that licence.

Does that sound about true?

Cos what we do is we create a record for you to put points on it,

and then you can accumulate them that way.

They did say to me that when I change it, they will roll over.

Right. Well, what they've actually done is that you've got two records in England.

The first one being you're a non-licence holder,

which is the one where you applied points on your foreign licence,

and then, obviously, you've got a provisional licence,

-which you got on the 1st of November 2008, which is...

-8?

Yeah. 2008.

And now she's going to get some more points.

But the points on her provisional licence

and a £60 fine are the least of her problems.

She's also having her prized Porsche seized.

We're not going to allow you to drive any further.

-OK.

-Because you're not allowed, basically.

You've only got a provisional licence in the UK.

The only time you can drive is with L-plates

-and someone...

-Who's got a driving licence.

-Well, yeah,

a UK driver's licence for more than three years and is over the age of 21.

-OK.

-Yeah?

Um...

I'll be honest with you.

If we had been checking your speed on Beechen Grove

and we could get an accurate reading on that,

then you would also get a speeding fine as well.

When I walked round to the front of that car and saw you in there,

rather than, like, four gangsters or whatever,

the way you were driving in that kind of car,

I was just like, "What's going on?" Children in the back.

-It was a bit of a shock.

-We'd just done a big Tesco shop.

Right.

-So how do I get my car back home?

-Shopping?!

-Yeah, because we're on holiday.

Anyway, do I get my husband to come pick up the car, or do I...?

No. Unfortunately, the situation is

the vehicle gets recovered to one of our compounds...

She called up a taxi and we waited with her.

It was quite late at night, with kids, and so on,

so we would have waited with her until the taxi turned up.

That's quite good, innit?

A little less right foot, eh?

OK. Thank you very much.

-Bye-bye.

-Take care.

Bye.

The lap of luxury inside.

-Can't even afford to tax it.

-How much is the tax?

455 sheets!

455 quid to tax it?!

Mate, that's like... That's my spending money for the month.

Busy night, eh?

Yeah, there's bits and bobs going on, definitely.

It's turning out to be a busy night for suspected vehicle crime.

A roadside number-plate-reading camera near Stevenage

has picked out another stolen car.

There was an ANPR hit on the vehicle.

Straight away flagged up as being a stolen vehicle.

So we've all gone to where the vehicle has hit the camera

and started to search for it.

Jim's been joined in the hunt by his colleagues Nathan and Chris.

I'm just trying to get through to someone to find out if we've got any more details,

cos it's an overdue hire one.

Stealing cars after hiring them is certainly one way

to avoid the difficulty of getting hold of the keys.

Jim has found the car -

a Renault Clio - in an Asda car park.

Luckily, he was in an unmarked car,

so he was able to sit up at a point

fairly in the shadows

and wait, hopefully for people to return to the car.

We've come in the delivery entrance way...

..off of London Road.

Just trying to see... I think we can get through

to the front.

So we're out of view.

A plan had been put together that the vehicle would be recovered.

But in the meantime, we would sit there, continue to observe the vehicle,

and hopefully the offenders might return to it before we recovered the vehicle.

It could be a long wait.

We're all at various points round the entrance to Asda.

At times like this, you find out who your friends are.

You learn a lot about people in that time.

A bit of mickey-taking's quite normal.

And it sometimes involves Nathan and his resemblance to a certain well-known footballer.

He's got a picture of Frank Lampard on his locker.

He loves the fact he's compared to someone so high-profile.

There's worse people to look like, I suppose!

While the Asda stakeout continues,

in Bedford, Tanveer Hussain and Chris Norton

are lingering at another car park

for a man they suspect is a drunk driver.

It was an anonymous tip-off that a person...

regularly drinks at the Half Moon pub,

and he drives this van, and this is the registration.

Tan has no qualms about going after people who have been snitched on.

If you choose to go to a pub in your car and drink,

expect to have a police officer waiting round the corner when you leave.

Simple as that.

We had some intelligence previously,

suggesting he was also drinking at the Duke public house,

which was just up the street.

Chris and Tan are going on a pub crawl.

As we drove into the pub,

Chris noticed a male walking across the road.

Painter's trousers.

Decorator's van - it's got to be our man.

I don't think he clocked us.

-Did he clock us?

-No.

The way he was walking across,

you could tell he was drunk straight away.

Tan, you won't be able to see the car park if we park here.

I know he's got to come right...

Once again, the cops want to catch their prey in the act.

This lay-by here.

Now, for some unknown reason, and he's never done it before,

he got out the car and says, "I'm going to have a look."

As the male crossed the road, he went out of view,

so I just wanted to be sure that he went into the pub car park and not walked further up the road,

or we'd be sitting there for half an hour and nothing would happen.

As I got closer, I just heard the sound of an engine.

Let's go, let's go!

'I immediately realised it was him.'

And the next thing I hear is the slap of feet

and the huffing...the panting of breath.

And Tan runs back - "It's him, it's him!"

You're a naughty boy!

Pick up the van.

I found Mr Drunk, walking back towards the pub.

And I just got in his way.

SIREN BLARES

The white van man's in no hurry to pull over.

That is funny!

The police computer says the man's name is Wayne -

Wayne Hughes.

He took his time. I got out.

And, as normal, just nice and polite, "Thank you for stopping."

Wayne, though, is far from happy.

-BLEEP

-knobs!

He was actively resistant towards us.

All right, don't be cross. Don't be cross.

What's your name?

-Bert.

-Bert?

Right.

If you're going to go down that route, Bert, you're under arrest.

He was just being...

obstreperous towards us, and I just thought,

I'm not going to play your game.

If you're going to lie to me or treat me like a fool,

my patience wears very thin very quickly.

-Sorry?

-You say it's my driving?

I can tell by the smell of the alcohol on your breath...

-But that's not why you pulled me over...

-BLEEP.

OK. lovely.

We saw you walking around, then you went to the pub and then jumped in your car.

You were very unsteady on your feet.

If the police have enough suspicion somebody has been drinking and driving,

they don't have to use a breathalyser.

We can just arrest them, Section 4.

That's what Chris did.

It's late-night shopping back at Asda.

But at last, something's happening.

Jim's spotted two people coming towards the stolen hire car.

Nathan and Chris need to move fast,

so there's no chance of the car or the occupants getting away.

It's very important, from an evidential point of view,

to get them in that vehicle.

The problem we then have is that we don't want that to then turn into a pursuit.

Contrary to popular belief,

we don't want pursuits.

Whisky 7, are we going in?

Yeah, we're in there now.

OK, yeah. Got it.

We came in, all lights blazing.

Cut the vehicle off

so that he couldn't go forwards or backwards.

You're under arrest on suspicion of the theft of a motor vehicle.

-You don't have to say anything...

-What?!

You don't have to say anything, but it may harm your defence

-if you fail to mention when questioned anything you later rely on in court. Understand?

-For what?

This vehicle is showing as being outstanding stolen from Avis rental cars. OK?

Oh, my days!

What's your name, fella?

Courtney... Oh, my days! Officer, listen to me. Let me explain something...

The male driver is very, very heavily built,

so my concern was to gain control of him straight away.

On my mother's life, you're arresting me for no reason.

The car's showing as outstanding stolen.

He made mention there had been problems with payment,

but really didn't give a great account as to why.

-You understand?

-Now you want to put me in a cell for hours...

We're going to speak to you, make some enquiries about it, but at the moment,

because you were in that vehicle and you've driven off, it's reported stolen and you've been arrested.

Nathan had gone to the passenger side and was dealing with the female passenger,

which allowed me to conduct a search of the vehicle.

You need to understand that whoever owns this car, which isn't him,

has reported it stolen.

WOMAN: How do you know it's not his?

Well, I know it isn't his car,

because I know who the registered owner of it is. And it's not him.

-Have you got any identification on you?

-No, sorry.

The man's into sport...

or serious self-defence.

Couple of baseball bats.

He plays baseball, does he?

He does sports with kids.

No, seriously, he plays with kids and stuff like that.

All sports-related.

As there's a baseball in here as well, I'm guessing you play baseball?

-INDISTINCT RESPONSE

-Well, that's it, then, isn't it? I didn't say anything to you.

He had a perfectly legal reason to have those.

But you have to remain calm and establish the facts before...

you react.

Some paperwork in the boot might show

if he's got a perfectly legal reason for having the car as well.

What's he said about why he's got the vehicle?

-He said there were payment issues.

-Pardon?

-He promises it's all to do with the payment.

So whatever that is.

'We often get hire vehicles that we stop.

'And...in those vehicles...

'You'll find a number of pieces of documentation'

relating to the hire of several vehicles

over a very short period of time.

Rental cars, rental cars, rental cars.

'So you have to ask questions

'as to why a person is hiring several different vehicles

'over a short amount of time.

'What is their reasons for doing that?'

You can draw your own conclusions from it.

But you've got to

remain impartial to a certain extent,

and you need to look at the evidence you have in front of you.

The reason you're in this situation is because you're in a vehicle that's been reported stolen.

It's because you saw two black people and you felt the need to pull them over.

-Well, if you think that, I'm sorry you think that.

-It's racism to the highest degree.

-That's what it is.

-OK.

-Always is with police officers.

They just see black people and think they're doing wrong.

Guess what? He works with kids. Guess what? I work.

We pay our taxes. It doesn't mean we're criminals just because we're black.

Jesus!

But you're in a stolen vehicle.

-In a stolen vehicle?!

-The fact remains.

That I knew nothing about!

'The reason they were stopped had nothing to do with their backgrounds.'

Had it been a...middle-class white person in that car,

it would have still got stopped.

To make matters worse for them, the pair are going to be searched and taken to the nick.

-INDISTINCT COMMENT

-Yes.

You need to be spoken to by the officers who are going to be investigating this offence.

The girl's name is Scarlett, and, unfortunately for her,

she's out with a man on a first date

that's not turning out so well.

You don't understand. You wasn't even here. Don't come here and start hearing half the story...

I'm doing my job.

I'm searching you before you go in the car.

-Doing your job?!

-I'm searching you before you go in the car. That's why I'm here.

This is just absolutely ridiculous.

'I think she got a bit more than she bargained for.'

Are you happy that I've got nothing on me?

Happy?

It's not for me to be happy, it's for this officer to be happy.

You know what, I've got things to do, and I don't have time to be talking to you.

Can you just hurry up, get this over and done with so you can let me go?

-Would you like this?

-Yes, please.

This is literally an £800 bag. Can you make sure nothing happens to it?

When we get to the police station, it'll be put in a locker and nobody else will touch it.

-Not on the floor!

-Can you put your sunglasses in?

-Those are £250 glasses.

Throw them, then.

I really don't appreciate that sarcasm.

'The decision's been made by our Oscar 1,'

the inspector, and he said, "We'll get the vehicle recovered.

"There's always forensic opportunities in the vehicle that we can use."

Come on, you as a woman should know I'm not going to run off in four-inch heels!

I can't say I've ever seen you in four-inch heels.

'Obviously, being stopped by the police when you're on your first date - not ideal, I suppose!'

She was planning on a candlelit dinner somewhere.

Not...

..custard doughnuts as Asda!

While the couple get transported to the police station

and their car gets taken away from Asda,

the white van man caught drinking and driving in Bedford

is already being booked in for a night in the cells.

Listen, like I said in the car, let's talk this out.

You're here for a reason. You've got yourself in this mess. The custody sergeant will deal with you.

-We're going to get you out as soon as possible.

-OK.

Wayne is still fuming that he didn't get the chance to blow into the roadside breathalyser.

Why didn't you ask for a breath test?

Because he's explaining to you about your demeanour.

He's not explaining. You are.

-You keep talking over me.

-Well, I'm sorry, I don't mean to.

If your attitude...

I don't want to...

'He thought we were picking on him, when we weren't. We were just doing our job.'

I can understand why the traffic officer has decided...

How can you tell that from me walking across the street?

-Sir, I've tried my best...

-How can he tell by me walking across the road?

He's pulled me over, opened my van door, pulled me out and arrested me.

He's not asked for a breath test.

-Your first words out of your mouth, which I remember, were

-"BLEEP

-sake!"

-Then you've got out of your car and I've invited you into the back of my car.

-Yeah.

-I got into the front while you sat in the back...

-I agree.

I moved my chair forward to give you legroom.

And you were already in a bit of a huff.

And I said to you, "What's your name?"

And you went, "Bert."

And you did it in such a way

that I believed you were going to be obstructive to me.

If I was your size,

would you have, um...

would you have dealt with me differently?

-It's got nothing to do with your size.

-OK, then.

That's good to know.

Chris didn't really get off to a good start with him.

And by looking at his demeanour and the way he was, I decided to stay quiet.

It wasn't until we got to custody

that I got a bit involved, because I knew I would be putting him on the Intoxilyser machine.

Keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going,

keep going, keep going, keep going.

-When you hear the beep... Keep going...

-BEEP

The man's blown hot and cold all night.

Now, he's blown over.

77 and 76.

So that's over 50. We'll take the lower out of the two, which is 76.

It's going to be a straightforward charge.

Wayne's more than double the legal drink drive limit.

He's facing a lengthy ban, and will need to watch his back in the future.

'If somebody gets disqualified as a result of drink driving,

'then we're going to try and get him disqualified again for driving whilst disqualified.'

I think it's only fair that we use the intelligence system

the best way we can.

And if intelligence suggests somebody is driving whilst disqualified,

then we're going to be around the corner.

Back in Stevenage, the two occupants of the hired Clio

out on a first date at Asda

have arrived at the police station.

Due to the vehicle being reported as stolen,

he was charged with taking a vehicle without consent

and using a vehicle with no insurance.

Scarlett's facing a very minor charge.

-Being carried in a stolen motor vehicle.

-Being carried in a stolen motor vehicle?!

That I didn't know was stolen!

If you'd been carried in a stolen motor vehicle that you didn't know was stolen,

then maybe you'd have that too...

Having never been in that situation...

Oh, well, not all of us are goody two-shoes like you.

Not all of us have the privileged white way of life.

He just said they'd...

just met...

on a date, had gone to Asda to get some food,

and then this all happens.

He didn't think it was a great experience,

and I don't think he thought that his relationship with her would probably go much further.

Right, so...

Do you want me to take off my bra and panties too, or is that too much?

The bra...it's up to the custody sergeant.

Next time any guy asks me out,

I'm going to ask for their licence, their registration, their insurance...everything.

Ask for proof that they own the car.

-But how would you know?

-You want to see the V5.

-What's the V5?

The registration document that proves you own the car.

You're such a romantic, Nathan.

She was allowed to speak to her mum and tell her what was going on.

Mummy, I've been arrested.

Please just come and get me when I'm done!

It's in Hertfordshire.

She was taking it in a lot better humour than I would have been

if I'd been arrested for being in a stolen vehicle.

Love you. Bye.

-She said she's going back.

-That's a good idea.

I think we ended up having a laugh and a joke about the whole situation.

Definitely the worst first date I have ever had in my life!

And he won't be getting a ring back.

Definitely not!

As far as dates goes, I wouldn't...

I could not believe how bad it's gone!

After his terrifying Mini adventure

and a few hours in the hospital,

a taxi has arrived to take James Bevan home from the nick.

He's ready.

INDISTINCT COMMENT

Is he at the front desk?

Yeah, he's wearing his green suit, cos we cut all his clothes off him.

We were asked to take him home,

and, reluctantly, I did.

I'm all...bruised. Bit bruised

and battered sort of thing, where I shook about.

He showed a little remorse. Not much.

I don't think there was much mentioned about the poor owner of this car.

I'm alive. Didn't kill no-one, so...

I suppose...

'I find it very difficult sometimes to sit there and listen

'to someone go on and on and on'

when I've seen the damage and the hurt that they've caused.

Oh, I've got, um...

bail till the 7th of September.

So...my birthday's on the 5th, so...

I can...

celebrate that knowing that I'll be all right.

I don't want to go to prison.

But if I go to prison, I go to prison.

I done the crime, so do the time.

'I have very little time for people like that.'

The only remorse they have is the fact they got caught, I find.

Catching car thieves and picking up the pieces is only part of the job.

Beds and Herts traffic cops must go beyond that.

Come on, Mr Poland. Out the way.

Thank you.

People with knives are now an everyday occurrence for them.

Officers from the Highways Agency have put in an emergency call

about a man waving one around on the side of the busy M25.

Highways officers, HATOs,

had asked a foreign heavy goods vehicle driver

to leave the hard shoulder, because he was parked on there,

and they described him as becoming very irate

and threatening them with a knife.

Traffic on the four lanes has backed up after an earlier accident,

and is probably why the driver decided

to stop illegally on the hard shoulder.

'His driver's hours were running out.

'Every heavy goods vehicle driver can only drive

'for a certain number of hours with a tachograph,'

before he must stop driving,

because he'll be over his hours and committing an offence,

to stop them falling asleep at the wheel.

He said, "No, no, I no move," blah, blah,

so I told him about the EU bit,

saying write on the back of your tacho, find a safe place...

Yeah, yeah.

He's got a little peeling knife. He's like this with it. Oh!

The lorry driver's only been using the knife

to peel potatoes for his supper.

He's just got excited and just been waving it around.

It's not like he's threatened them with it or anything like that.

He's from Poland, the kingdom of the potato,

and not the only lorry driver on the hard shoulder.

So he's there making himself some dinner,

and he is rudely interrupted by the Highways officers saying,

"You can't park here. You need to go,"

so he's become very irate and ranted at them in Polish

whilst waving his knife around

that he was peeling his potatoes with.

-Polish?

-Yeah.

-Polish.

-Tell him your Polish.

-What's that?

You know two words, don't you?

I do know two words in Polish.

None of them are going to help us in this situation, unfortunately.

Did you wave that...

Yes.

..at them?

You sitting in here...

They told you to move. Yes?

-I no understand.

-Come with me.

The job is a hot potato.

He needs to be given a ticket for parking on the hard shoulder,

and then he needs to be told to go away and find somewhere else to park.

Where is your insurance?

-Why, why, why?!

-Because you stopped here!

Stop crying at me.

HE WAILS

-Out!

-I don't understand English rules!

-Follow me.

I am not a problem!

Here is one, two, three, no problem!

I am problem?

Where I am problem?

The driver's convinced he's being picked on.

And it was a complete nightmare. He just didn't want to know.

He felt he was really hard done by, I think.

Why, where is problem?

Come with me. I will phone an interpreter.

Where is problem? Please! Look!

One, two... look!

The man's got evidence -

pictures of other lorries that were parked up too.

Where is problem?!

Calm down!

Where is problem?

40 minutes, what's the problem?

Come with me.

HE WAILS

No! I problem! 40 minutes!

Fella! Fella! Calm down.

Please! Please, no!

Just walk.

Just walk! Oi!

HE WAILS

What seemed a simple job is going horribly wrong.

Oi!

HE WAILS

-Fella!

-I can just arrest him.

The HATOs have just made him cry.

Come on! Come on!

Horrible HATOs made you cry.

He's all right. He's just...

-He's just very upset.

-'We couldn't get through to him,'

so we thought we'd take him to the car,

get a Polish interpreter and tell him what was going to happen.

He is starting to cry and have a temper tantrum,

like a kid, basically.

He's really got his knickers in a twist.

'They were just some really baggy sort of trousers.'

Yeah, they just fell down, which was...

..a bit weird.

The traffic cops are quite used to breakdowns, but not this kind.

Calm down!

HE SOBS

Calm down, all right?

I no problem!

OK. Chill out!

He was quite a good actor, or he was very, very upset.

He's mad, quite frankly.

He's with the police, and we need to sort out why he's stopped

on the hard shoulder of the motorway.

Can you just tell him that? He's not going to get hurt.

If he listens to us, he'll be fine.

INTERPRETER SPEAKS POLISH ON RADIO

He was one of three lorries.

There was a lorry in front of him that had stopped

but had since gone when the HATOs told him to move on,

and there was a Turkish chap behind him.

We were going to give the Turk a graduated fixed penalty

-for stopping on the hard shoulder.

-OK, so that's that one.

-So he's the blue one, yeah?

-Yeah, yeah.

-Does he speak English?

-No.

'Woodsy gave the Turkish chap a £30 fine and told him to leave.'

We can take money off people at the roadside, so...

Thank you.

OK. All right. Drive carefully.

-OK.

-Bye bye.

-Bye bye.

'Once I spoke to him with the interpreter,

'he tried to say that he had a problem with his tacho.'

The reason why they're dealing with him in this way is

because all the other ones left when they were told to,

and he stayed at the side of the motorway.

That's why we've been called, and he was peeling potatoes

and eating his dinner, not fiddling with his tachograph.

His problem is, he doesn't really understand what's going on.

He's going to be charged £30, basically, for stopping

on the hard shoulder of the motorway,

which he's obviously not allowed to do. His company have said

that if he hasn't got the £30, they will pay that money for him.

I think once that had dawned on him

that it's not as serious as potentially being locked up

and taken away for the night, he calmed right down.

There are no more tears,

but the potato peeler has still got a chip on his shoulder.

20 years driver. 20 years.

No problem. Russia. Turtsia.

Complete Europe, and no problem.

-England, problem.

-OK.

No problem complete Europe.

You know what they do, don't you?

I... no problem. 40 minute, go.

Go on, that way.

Luckily, the traffic cops have now got an easy way

to deal with foreign drivers.

The graduated fixed penalty ticket's something that is quite new.

It's something that I think the French police

have been doing for a long time.

It basically says if the person doesn't have an address

you can summons them to or they're foreign,

they're not from England, they don't live in England,

they don't have a residence, then you can give them the ticket

and take money from them to pay for the ticket.

Next minute, he was handing me the £30.

That was the end of the matter, really. Then he shook our hands.

-Happy? Big smile.

-Right, OK.

-Sorry.

-All right.

-Sorry.

-OK?

-Bye.

He may have been a bit bananas,

but he's not leaving without his potatoes.

Yeah.

'Dave dealt with it very well.

'And you have to. You're a police officer.

'You represent the law and order in England and Wales,

'so you have to deal, no matter how ridiculous someone's being,

'you need to say, you know, be professional with them,

'but really, as a member of the public,'

you just want to say, "Grow up.

"Stop behaving in such a stupid manner and just man up, will you?"

You're getting a £30 fine for stopping a vehicle

on the hard shoulder and peeling potatoes. That's it.

While the Polish knifeman heads off to finally get a bite to eat,

reports are coming in of another sighting of someone with a knife

20 miles north in Bedford.

At least Chris and Tan won't be

tackling this risky job on an empty stomach.

RADIO BEEPS

Yes? Pass details, please?

-RADIO:

-'Thank you very much. We just had a call reporting

'that there's two Eastern European males

'camped under the bridge.

'Informant's asked them to move on Sunday and Monday,

'but found them again the next day.

'He is concerned, because he's noticed a machete.'

Nice.

The situation's been logged, apparently.

'They've not caused a problem, but concern due to the machete.'

We've got a problem with knife culture in this country,

and the general public are brilliant.

They report anybody with a knife or an imitation firearm,

or they believe it's a firearm, or a hammer,

or even a screwdriver,

because those items can kill or seriously maim or hurt people,

so they call us quite readily.

Two men are roughing it beneath the bridge over the river.

They've been asked to move on previously,

and they've refused to do so.

We are going to a location with tasers

just to see what's going on, to try and speak to these individuals.

It's not advisable to approach anybody with a knife,

and although taser is a very effective tool against knife crime,

you don't really want to face anybody with a blade.

Chris and Tan are meeting a local beat bobby already in the area.

There they are.

The land all belongs to the local borough council.

You are not allowed to camp or hunt or fish there

without permission, with a licence for fishing.

So it's going to be... it is along here, isn't it? Towpath.

The weir's literally just here.

'The actual informant says there was...

'a sheath near to the machete,

'but it was too small for the machete to get in.

It's just a matter now of finding the men.

'It was very vague. It was one of those,

'"I've seen somebody by the river here-ish."

'I remember hearing the Benny Hill music,

'because we walked up and down'

that embankment or towpath several times,

'just trying to locate these people.'

Tan has finally got scent of them.

Hi, guys.

How are you? You're OK, yeah?

-Do you speak English?

-Yeah.

-OK.

How many days have you been here?

-Er... five days.

-Five days.

The men are homeless and Polish as well.

They were living off the grid.

They didn't seem to have any fixed abode.

Have you been spoken to today by anybody?

Yeah, there's been a guy from the marina about...

-Yeah.

-One hour ago.

He just tell us that we...

You have to leave, yeah.

-So I just picked it up.

-OK.

The machete is here.

That's a big knife.

Say that once again?

You're not allowed that.

-Is that all you have? Do you have anything else?

-No.

-Nothing else?

-Maybe a small knife somewhere.

OK, tell me where. Where?

Somewhere in there. On this side.

Can I have a look in your bag?

OK. Just stand there for two minutes, please.

Empty your pockets.

OK.

Have you not got no home?

The men are surviving on fish they catch in the river...

Fish gut...

..as well as some stimulants.

Do you use heroin?

No. Amphetamines.

-No? Sorry?

-Amphetamines.

Amphetamines. Do you have any here?

-No.

-Are you sure?

-Yeah.

-RADIO:

-'Lovely. Thanks very much.'

-What name did he give you? Was it Martin? First name.

-Yeah.

Another one.

Yeah. Relation to what we found under the circumstances. Seize them.

-Get them booked in.

-Yeah.

-Advice.

I think that's the most appropriate action, as opposed to...

You do chummy, I'll do this chap.

We're going to take both of those knives

and we're going to book them into Property. OK?

You're very lucky under the circumstances

as to how we found them, we're not arresting you. OK?

-All right.

-You can't...

if you're walking the street with those knives,

straight away you'll be arrested, my friend.

-All right.

-You can't do it.

-So we're going to book them in, and they'll be disposed of. OK?

-OK.

-Do you understand?

-Yes.

On the streets, you're not allowed to have a locking blade

or a locked blade, and that's so commonplace for us.

As patrolmen, we come across it daily.

No fish? You've taken them all, that's why!

As citizens of the EU,

there's no question of the men being in the country illegally.

They are just not used to our laws on camping out and machetes,

being POLES apart from theirs.

They were using it for...

To survive. They were camping and they were using it

in the camping environment,

and they were not using them in anger,

so I think the actions that we took were right.

-Let's go.

-Sorted.

One hour, chaps. One hour.

Are you OK? Yeah, if you don't mind.

If you take them back to Greyfriars and book them in for disposal,

-that would be brilliant.

-Cheers, boys.

Investigating the aftermath of serious accidents

is part and parcel of a traffic cop's job.

They are the experts with all the tools,

but every now and again,

extraordinary incidents happen that completely fox them.

Colin Ainsworth and his colleague Neil Crosier

have been called to one such case.

A man's body has been found

lying beside the road on the outskirts of Hertford.

There wasn't any vehicle, which was quite odd at the time,

because it had come across that it was an RTC.

You know, we're looking at a fatal, and the offending driver's made off.

A passing cyclist discovered the body,

but it's not clear how it got there.

'The gentleman was cycling home...

'..or to work, one or other,'

and had seen a wallet lying at the side of the road,

so found the wallet, picked it up,

and as he picked it up, he saw the foot on the fence

and decided to call the police.

We'll throw some kit out...

RADIO DROWNS OUT SPEECH

As far as I know, there is some vehicle involved

and a deceased male within the vehicle.

We've mentioned the skid marks.

They're just down assessing the scene at the moment,

to see whether it's a road traffic collision.

In which case, then obviously,

we've got the road closed already, which is good.

-There's no car down there.

-There's no car?

So just possibly a vehicle involved, we don't know at the moment.

The local inspector is taking charge because at the moment, it's a body.

If he decides that it's likely to be an RTC, then we'll take over,

but until then, it's their job.

Traffic Sergeant Neil Emmerson attends all fatal collisions

in the area, but is hedging his bets on the cause of this one.

We didn't know whether we were investigating

what could possibly be a murder.

I obviously went and liased with the Inspector there,

I deployed my units, and then basically,

we then called out the Major Crimes Task Force officers,

because it is being treated as a crime.

Oddly, the man's wallet and keys were not on his person,

but lying neatly at the side of the road.

A witness saw and found the wallet first, stopped, went to pick it up,

so I think he's had his hands up and lifted it...

Has he got glasses there as well?

There are skidmarks on the road,

but we need to rule out other things,

like deliberate acts.

Hopefully, it is a collision, so then our boys can get involved in it.

The body is one side of the fence,

with its foot sort of caught between two wooden posts.

He's either had an impact which placed him there,

or he's had an impact and been placed there immediately after.

He's not very big at all. You could quite easily just fireman's lift him

and then just throw him over the thing.

Even though he wasn't a big man,

the distance from where he might have been struck on the road

to where he was found is considerable.

My initial thoughts was that

this person had been hit

and then he was deliberately put the other side of that fence.

The SOCOs have videoed it and they are showing the video to MCTF,

so they can try and work out

-what they want done with the scene.

-Right, OK.

What is quickly becoming apparent

is that there is very little hard evidence to go on,

either on the ground...

-There's nothing to suggest there's any blood trails going in...

-No.

..or on the body.

'I've dealt with plenty of collisions

'and I did A-levels in Physics.

'Although I'm not a collision investigator,'

it gives you an idea of how some of the mechanics of it would work.

The skid marks appear, to me, that they were too wide apart

to be a fairly small vehicle,

and if it is a larger vehicle,

they tend to have a flat front and if people are hit by them,

they tend to go downwards, rather than upwards,

which would suggest he wouldn't get thrown over a fence.

And if it had been a smaller vehicle, whether it be

a Transit van, or something smaller

that would throw the person in the air,

the skid marks on the road would have been narrower.

And so the two didn't add up.

Shall we arrange to get...

The man has been identified from what is in his wallet

as a 66-year-old local man named David Alderson.

He was married with three sons

and he had two daughters by a previous marriage as well.

A police doctor is examining the body.

-Rigor mortis is setting in.

-Yeah.

I mean, you're talking about...

He is looking for any clues to how, or when, the man might have died.

What's the time period for that to start setting in?

-After about seven hours.

-After about seven hours?

But in order to get him that height, to be hit,

-you must have injuries on the pelvis or chest.

-And there's nothing?

-You know?

-Yes, yes.

-A force to lift him. There's no obvious marks.

All the injuries were superficial,

except for a slight cut on his upper lip, injuries were all superficial.

No obvious injuries or bruising to his trunk, his back,

his pelvis, his legs,

so my immediate thought was that he couldn't have been hit by a car.

All the evidence there is at the scene is being collected.

Whenever two things come into contact,

there is transfer from one to the other.

So any of the items that you have on the outside -

jacket, jumper, trousers,

in this case, gloves, hat, shoes - were seized

as exhibits, bagged up,

so they could be analysed in a laboratory later on.

I think that might be a glove print, or something.

You've got a bit of blood on the inside.

Something that may ultimately be crucial in cracking the case

has been found.

On the glasses here, we've got some traces of blood

on the inside part of the lens,

so what we are trying to establish is,

how did these items get placed, or located, at the side of the road?

Would they have just fallen out of his pocket on impact?

Was it a case that an impact has taken place

and a third party has then pushed the body, or lifted the body and put it

over the side of the fence and placed those items at the side of the road?

It's still too early to say at the current time, but the puzzle deepens.

Either way, somebody somewhere knows the answer to the puzzle.

It makes you wonder about some people in society.

The fact that somebody could leave somebody's father, husband,

somebody who has got a family

and people will want to know what's gone on.

If it wasn't for that cyclist, he could still be there now,

without anyone knowing.

He could have been there for a long time. And so...

it makes you wonder about how people can do that kind of thing.

A post-mortem examination of the body showed that there were

internal injuries, consistent with being struck by a large vehicle.

And at his inquest, the coroner's verdict was that

he did die as a result of a road traffic incident,

but he wasn't able to say whether it was accidental or not.

Today, Family Liaison Officer Clare Sprint

is still unable to bring David's widow, Minnie,

any good news about the case.

After a full investigation, the police are no nearer to solving it.

-Right, how are you and the family?

-Er, not too good at the moment.

-No?

-No.

-OK.

-Still trying to come to terms with everything that's happened.

David was a Jehovah's Witness and known locally as the Penny Man.

Dave wouldn't just sit around, he had to be doing something.

He'd go out in all weathers - rain, snow -

just so he could get out and about and look for pennies.

And whatever he picked up, he'd bring home,

put in a jar and he'd save them and give them to his religious group

that he used to be in.

But Minnie is convinced there is more to her husband's death

than meets the eye.

Because he went to the doctor's and he left the doctor's

at about 5:30pm, 5:45pm, he'd have come home,

washed, changed, and gone straight to his meeting,

because he was always first there. And, er...

But then I was told that the meeting was cancelled,

so why he would have been where he was, I haven't got a clue.

A passing motorist did see some people at the scene

who have never come forward.

She saw three smartly-dressed people - a woman and two blokes.

The woman and the bloke were kneeling down near the fence

and this other bloke was in the road, beckoning the traffic round.

She said she didn't want to stop

because she had her children in the car.

Hard to get it into your head, really.

He had a lot of years ahead of him still.

We all reckon he was put there.

Some road accidents are a mystery,

non more so than this one.

Despite all the efforts of the police,

the killer is still on the loose.

A £2,000 reward is being offered by Crimestoppers

for any information that might lead to an arrest.

James Bevan, who stole the girl's Mini, after stealing her handbag

with the keys in it, was given a prison sentence,

but deferred for six months on the condition he doesn't reoffend.

Wayne Hughes, AKA Burt,

pleaded guilty to driving whilst over the limit

and was put on probation for a year

and banned from driving for three years.

The man with the rental car wasn't charged with taking it

without consent, but he was found guilty of driving

without any insurance and was fined £345

and given six points on his licence.

His unfortunate date Scarlett wasn't charged at all.

And it turned out that the woman who had her Porsche seized

had been driving on a one-year international licence since 2002.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd