:00:13. > :00:16.When things go wrong on the motorway, life or death is in the
:00:16. > :00:26.lap of the gods. This guy here, managed to stagger out of the
:00:26. > :00:29.vehicle of his own accord. When they go wrong on an estate in Luton.
:00:29. > :00:33.Why are you driving if you can't see? There's more to things than
:00:33. > :00:37.meet the eye. But when teenage criminals take the law into their
:00:37. > :00:47.own hands. You're nicked, chum, for burglary! They're only going down a
:00:47. > :01:06.
:01:06. > :01:16.In Britain, motorways make up just 1% of all the roads, yet they carry
:01:16. > :01:17.
:01:17. > :01:24.The daddy of them all, the M1, has been keeping traffic cops in
:01:24. > :01:26.Bedfordshire busy day and night for half a century now. 'Over the years
:01:26. > :01:29.the traffic 'on that road has increased dramatically' and
:01:29. > :01:39.consequently with all that traffic, sometimes things go wrong which we
:01:39. > :01:41.have to deal with. Traffic cops are specialists when it comes to
:01:41. > :01:44.dealing with accidents and speeding motorists on the motorway, but
:01:44. > :01:53.they're also always on high alert for criminals using it as an escape
:01:53. > :01:58.route. 'Yeah, I can confirm 99 are en route.' It's gone two in the
:01:58. > :02:05.morning and there's been a report of a burglary in Luton.
:02:05. > :02:11.suspected burglars are heading for the M1. Vehicle pursuit in Luton,
:02:11. > :02:14.not sure of the details of the vehicle at the moment. It's on the
:02:14. > :02:16.perimeter of Luton up near the airport. PC Craig Baker and his
:02:16. > :02:26.sergeant Tony Richardson are already on the M1 and preparing to
:02:26. > :02:26.
:02:26. > :02:36.head off the vehicle. Where, where is it now? Right, go up toward
:02:36. > :02:39.
:02:39. > :02:44.junction 10. 10? OK. Another traffic cop has beaten them to the
:02:44. > :02:50.chase and is behind the getaway car. Ah, Keith's got the follow. He's
:02:50. > :02:56.got it? Yeah, he's got it. We got a traffic unit behind it at the
:02:56. > :03:00.moment - Keith. We probably will pick it up coming down, we'll try
:03:00. > :03:03.and get it on the motorway and then depending what way we go we can
:03:03. > :03:06.look at putting some pursuit tactics into place. The traffic
:03:06. > :03:09.cops are specially trained in pursuit management tactics, PMT,
:03:09. > :03:13.which they will employ to surround the car on the motorway and force
:03:13. > :03:17.it to a halt. In case that plan doesn't come off the police
:03:17. > :03:21.helicopter with its night vision camera has been called for. 150
:03:21. > :03:28.we're going to hold at 10 and if you get to us, Keith, we're going
:03:28. > :03:32.to try and push it on junction 10 southbound. 'The idea of keeping
:03:32. > :03:39.the vehicle on the motorway is, it's a much' more sterile area that
:03:39. > :03:45.we can deal with. Have we got authority? Yep. Here it comes... Is
:03:45. > :03:54.it coming this way? No, towards Luton. 'Stand by, we're London Road
:03:54. > :03:57.towards Luton.' London Road now. But something has gone wrong.
:03:57. > :04:04.'Unfortunately, instead of coming my direction, 'it decided to turn
:04:04. > :04:08.towards Luton.' It's just what the cops didn't want. 'It was the worst
:04:08. > :04:12.route he could take, towards the town centre. 'That's the one place
:04:12. > :04:15.you want to try and keep it out of cos at that time of night, 'that's
:04:15. > :04:19.where you're likely to have pedestrians, in a town centre.'
:04:19. > :04:21.Luckily help's arrived in the shape of the chopper overhead. The crew
:04:21. > :04:24.have got the thieves on their thermal imaging camera, with a
:04:24. > :04:27.patrol car of PC Keith Nicholson and PC Chris Naughton right on
:04:27. > :04:32.their tail. 'They are now passing the police station, 'he didn't want
:04:32. > :04:34.to stop there.' They're not in any hurry to pull over but unlike some
:04:34. > :04:37.pursuits, this isn't particularly high-octane, high-risk stuff and
:04:37. > :04:42.the police are not having any difficulty following them. 'Towards
:04:42. > :04:45.Telford Way where he's indicating left.' For some reason he just
:04:45. > :04:50.wanted to tell us where he was going which is uncommon so it was
:04:50. > :04:56.fairly easy to follow him. And it's been fairly easy for Tony and Craig,
:04:56. > :04:59.call sign 150, to catch up to what is now a convoy. 'We don't want to
:04:59. > :05:01.be chasing it forever and ever 'cos the longer the chase goes on the
:05:01. > :05:07.more likelihood 'there is of someone getting injured, car
:05:07. > :05:16.crashing or something going wrong.' 150 ARV can you just be aware we
:05:16. > :05:23.are going to come alongside you in a minute. And 150 we've got a rear
:05:23. > :05:30.Panda, can the Panda break off as soon as, please. Obviously look for
:05:31. > :05:39.a decamp but not be directly involved please. We're second in
:05:39. > :05:42.the convoy. The plan is still to try and box the car in, but it's a
:05:42. > :05:51.very risky manoeuvre, especially not on the motorway. Ask Keith if
:05:51. > :05:54.he wants to take over as marked car. 150 to 298, Keith do you want us to
:05:54. > :06:04.take over as a marked police vehicle? 'Approaching the
:06:04. > :06:07.
:06:07. > :06:17.roundabout. It's a dual-end. Stand by. Take it afterwards.' Yeah,
:06:17. > :06:17.
:06:17. > :06:20.we'll take it after the roundabout, copy. The sarge is taking over the
:06:20. > :06:23.pursuit, it's a safer option than having an unmarked police car
:06:23. > :06:31.leading the way. 'Tony came along from behind and he's the pursuit
:06:31. > :06:38.commander so he took over. 'He was in a marked vehicle and then we
:06:38. > :06:43.just followed, from there.' Chris has been a bobby on the beat for
:06:43. > :06:48.five years but has only just joined Traffic. Being on a pursuit so soon
:06:48. > :06:58.is a real bonus. It's not a common thing nowadays, unless it's a high-
:06:58. > :06:58.
:06:58. > :08:14.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 76 seconds
:08:14. > :08:24.powered car and they're trying to Pull back, pull back, Keith. OK,
:08:24. > :08:35.
:08:35. > :08:39.get ready. OK, we've got two occupants. Chris isn't the only one
:08:39. > :08:43.who's new to all this. They were just two young kids. Really young,
:08:43. > :08:46.I think he was 15 to 17 years old, he didn't even have a licence.
:08:46. > :08:48.years ago Chris made more arrests than any other officer in
:08:48. > :08:51.Bedfordshire. Now he's on the Traffic Department his number of
:08:51. > :08:58.arrests are lower but his excitement is higher. Well, that's
:08:58. > :09:08.my first follow in five years so... ..I think that's the best time I've
:09:08. > :09:11.
:09:11. > :09:21.ever had in a traffic car. They're going to get a Divisional to get
:09:21. > :09:24.him back. The supervisor's coming down for that. All incidents
:09:24. > :09:28.involving police cars have to be investigated and if there is any
:09:28. > :09:31.damage a supervisor will have to be called in and a report filed. But
:09:31. > :09:38.Tony's confident he won't be getting in any trouble. What way
:09:38. > :09:41.you going? I was expecting a little bit of damage 'because of the way
:09:41. > :09:44.they were driving, and if your bringing' a vehicle to a stop like
:09:44. > :09:48.that you expect a little bit of damage. But extraordinarily there
:09:48. > :09:54.isn't any... ..apart from a little scratch and a bent mirror. T-cut
:09:54. > :10:00.minus mirror. See, there you go. T- cut. Done. Tony has now got to be
:10:00. > :10:02.breathalysed. Every person that we deal with, whether it's police
:10:02. > :10:04.officers, ambulance, fire, members of the public, everyone involved in
:10:04. > :10:08.a crash, collision will be breathalysed and that's no
:10:08. > :10:11.different for me. Put your lips around the tube and blow
:10:11. > :10:21.continuously until I tell you to stop. Tony's practically out of
:10:21. > :10:26.
:10:27. > :10:31.gas... ..and air. Zero. Thank you. But he hasn't been drinking. And he
:10:31. > :10:35.wants to retire soon. He won't go! I tell you what I didn't have a
:10:35. > :10:41.cool head when I looked over and realised you hadn't filled the poxy
:10:42. > :10:51.thing up. We're driving down, 26 miles to run. Who says It's my
:10:52. > :10:59.
:10:59. > :11:01.fault I didn't fill it up? Now it is time for Tony to get tanked up..
:11:01. > :11:05.Slicing through the heart of Bedfordshire is the busiest stretch
:11:05. > :11:12.of the whole of the M1. 30 miles of it. Nearly all affected by years of
:11:12. > :11:15.carriage-widening roadworks. With the roadworks at a 50mph speed
:11:15. > :11:18.limit so, when things do go wrong they're a lot slower, and therefore
:11:18. > :11:28.not as many people get hurt and injured, but there's some nasty,
:11:28. > :11:29.
:11:29. > :11:32.nasty incidents occur. In a small room at Toddington Service Station,
:11:32. > :11:42.CCTV is being monitored around the clock should any nasty incidents
:11:42. > :11:50.
:11:50. > :11:52.And this evening, something very A major disaster has struck. A
:11:52. > :12:02.forty-tonne truck has careered over the central reservation smashing
:12:02. > :12:06.
:12:06. > :12:16.into the busy traffic travelling in Tony and Craig are rushing to the
:12:16. > :12:19.
:12:19. > :12:21.scene. They need to get there fast. En route obviously to the motorway.
:12:22. > :12:25.Just under the Toddington Services report of lorry gone over central
:12:25. > :12:28.reservation. We've got a unit at the scene at the moment. As far as
:12:28. > :12:32.casualties, we've got one person at least, and that person is currently
:12:32. > :12:40.unconscious. They call these crossovers, the very worst kind of
:12:40. > :12:45.accident on a motorway. If we have a crossover, and thank goodness
:12:45. > :12:48.they're pretty rare, all I can think of is the worst. Invariably
:12:48. > :12:51.one of those vehicles, the one crossing over will be a heavy
:12:51. > :12:59.because, you know, they're the ones that can actually get through the
:12:59. > :13:02.barriers. 'On every single one of those occasions there will be
:13:02. > :13:11.carnage 'and it's only a matter of luck 'whether there's going to be
:13:11. > :13:16.serious injury but most probably death.' Fortunately, the rush
:13:16. > :13:19.hour's over and getting to the motorway has been straightforward.
:13:20. > :13:25.The main issue on a major crash like that is making sure that
:13:25. > :13:31.access is available to the emergency services. So if you need
:13:31. > :13:41.any more ambulances or fire engines that they're not stuck in traffic.
:13:41. > :13:44.But access, all of a sudden, is a problem. People are trying to
:13:44. > :13:52.escape being trapped on the motorway by turning back up the
:13:52. > :13:59.slip road. What don't help is when you've got people down here doing
:13:59. > :14:02.u-turns and trying to come back up. Once we've got an agreement we can
:14:02. > :14:05.do it safely, it's fine, but you got people turning around already.
:14:05. > :14:07.What they forget is interference with the emergency services coming.
:14:07. > :14:11.If we've got fire engines coming down it then hinders everything
:14:11. > :14:14.getting here. But you can see now how quick the carnage... You've got
:14:15. > :14:22.the whole motorway stopped. 'All three lanes were blocked. Lane
:14:22. > :14:25.three of the other carriage way was blocked and there was carnage.'
:14:25. > :14:28.150,000 vehicles a day use this part of the M1, with it at a
:14:28. > :14:38.standstill the whole region could grind to a halt and literally
:14:38. > :14:38.
:14:38. > :14:45.millions could be effected. -- affected. But Tony's main concern
:14:45. > :14:51.is for the people involved in the smash and those helping them.
:14:51. > :14:54.well not so nice. 'When we first get there it is most definitely the
:14:54. > :15:00.fire service and ambulance's job 'and we stay out the way and make
:15:00. > :15:05.it as easy as it can be for those.' Against all the odds, no-one has
:15:05. > :15:15.been killed. Somehow, the driver of this car a VW Passat has survived
:15:15. > :15:18.
:15:18. > :15:21.being hit head-on by the out-of- control lorry. And unbelievably, he
:15:21. > :15:27.isn't badly hurt. The driver of the lorry is being treated in the
:15:27. > :15:30.ambulance but it's not clear what exactly his injuries are. This guy
:15:30. > :15:33.here, managed to stagger out of the vehicle of his own accord where
:15:33. > :15:37.he's lost consciousness just down there. He was unconscious,
:15:37. > :15:44.breathing at the time... 'The driver of the wagon pretty much
:15:44. > :15:47.collapsed' at the roadside. The paramedics suspected that he had
:15:47. > :15:57.spine, pelvis, neck injuries so they were obviously very concerned
:15:57. > :15:57.
:15:57. > :16:00.about him. 'When we got there, 'Andy went to the lorry driver,' I
:16:00. > :16:04.went straight to the Passat expecting the driver to be in a
:16:04. > :16:07.mess and he had a bump on his wrist and it's almost one of those things
:16:07. > :16:10.where you can't believe it's happening to you. You're looking
:16:10. > :16:17.around, saying this can't be here, this really can't be here. We just
:16:17. > :16:23.expected there'd be bodies everywhere. The man's injuries are
:16:23. > :16:27.negligible but he's off to hospital anyway. 'Just looking at the damage
:16:27. > :16:31.to the Passat, I was amazed that anyone could walk out of it.' I
:16:31. > :16:34.know the guy was carried away on a spinal board but as I understand it,
:16:34. > :16:42.that was purely a precautionary measure and he had virtually no
:16:42. > :16:45.injuries at all afterwards. thing has saved him. He was wearing
:16:45. > :16:49.his seat belt, if you look you can see it's still in the same position,
:16:49. > :16:52.it's not retracted. So he definitely had his belt on. Can you
:16:52. > :16:56.imagine if he weren't wearing that? I'd be knocking on somebody's door
:16:56. > :17:01.about now. Looking around, it can be seen that the dividing barriers
:17:01. > :17:09.were simply flattened by the lorry. For the rest of the lucky survivors,
:17:09. > :17:12.it'll be a moment they will never, ever forget. All I could see was he
:17:12. > :17:16.was in the middle lane, as he should be, and all of a sudden he
:17:16. > :17:19.reared off and then he just took off, and it was like he flew
:17:19. > :17:23.through the air. It's, it's a really frightening thing... I think
:17:23. > :17:26.I'll be seeing it for a long time, I'm going to cry now. So yeah,
:17:26. > :17:32.it's...scary. I dread to think what they were thinking when it was
:17:32. > :17:39.coming towards them... And knowing that they were going to hit it
:17:39. > :17:42.head-on and there was absolutely nothing they could do about it.
:17:42. > :17:45.traffic all going along here, I suppose is doing about 50mph cos I
:17:45. > :17:49.think it's in an average speed camera zone. So probably if people
:17:49. > :17:54.were going faster it would have been worse so you had time to, you
:17:54. > :17:57.know, just slow down. We had spoken to a few witnesses and once the
:17:57. > :18:00.initial shock of everything had calmed down for people it became
:18:00. > :18:10.obvious that there was a fault, probably either with the driver of
:18:10. > :18:11.
:18:12. > :18:14.the lorry or maybe with the lorry itself. Although no-one's died, the
:18:15. > :18:17.fact that it could so easily have been a catastrophe means the
:18:17. > :18:23.southbound carriageway is going to remain closed for quite some time
:18:23. > :18:26.while investigators find out exactly what went wrong. After
:18:26. > :18:29.having come across the central reservation, he hit this, the
:18:29. > :18:32.Passat head-on, and ended up in lane one and stopped and then after
:18:32. > :18:42.a few seconds moved over to the hard shoulder and apparently, after
:18:42. > :18:44.
:18:44. > :18:51.a few seconds he got out and then collapsed. There was a suggestion
:18:52. > :18:57.that he was taken ill at the wheel. If there is a potential for a fatal
:18:57. > :19:00.or a life-changing, we will pull out all the stops to investigate.
:19:00. > :19:08.Eventually, when we've made room we're going to spin all of this
:19:08. > :19:13.around... Superb, OK. I'll take that from you. Yeah, yeah, that's
:19:13. > :19:19.cool. 'It's a huge decision, when you think about it, to close off a
:19:19. > :19:25.main arterial route' like the M1 motorway to do your investigation.
:19:25. > :19:31.It's a big decision to take. Despite the cost, the motorway will
:19:31. > :19:34.remain closed until the investigation's complete. When
:19:35. > :19:42.they're not chasing car thieves or picking up the pieces after bad
:19:42. > :19:46.crashes the traffic cops' stock in trade is enforcing motoring laws.
:19:46. > :19:54.Even coming to the end of a long shift, PC Shona Gillen is more
:19:54. > :19:57.eager than most to catch illegal motorists. It can be hectic
:19:57. > :20:05.sometimes as she's, she buzzes like a bee and she's always after
:20:05. > :20:09.everything. 'But, she, you know, she gets results, so it's good.'
:20:09. > :20:11.just think that it's come from years of experience.' It's eleven
:20:11. > :20:18.years of me stopping vehicles and stopping people, you generally get
:20:18. > :20:21.this feel and you go with your gut instinct. Coming up to some traffic
:20:21. > :20:31.lights on the outskirts of Luton, Shona's got that feeling about a
:20:31. > :20:34.car going past the other way. This car here that's just gone past, I
:20:34. > :20:37.should come out and patrol round here more often, you know? 'As the
:20:37. > :20:40.driver came round the corner,' he had this kind of reddish complexion
:20:40. > :20:47.on his face and just didn't look quite right and initially I thought
:20:47. > :20:52.he was a drink driver. Under The Road Traffic Act, Shona can stop
:20:52. > :20:57.and request any driver to produce their documents. 'Something just
:20:57. > :21:06.clicked inside me, I thought that car needs stopping.' He's done a
:21:06. > :21:09.left. And there's no time to waste. He's pulling over. The car's
:21:09. > :21:14.pulling over but suspiciously, two passengers have got out rather
:21:15. > :21:18.promptly. 'They didn't run away but they, it was like they didn't want
:21:18. > :21:28.to be 'associated with having been in the car. 'I would certainly bet
:21:28. > :21:37.an awful lot,' an awful lot, there was something in that car. Is this
:21:37. > :21:42.your vehicle? Yes, it is my car. The driver seems quite amenable...
:21:42. > :21:49.I've, I've just been...erm, the hotel. ..if a little vague. Have
:21:49. > :21:54.you had anything to drink today? OK, you've got a brake light out.
:21:54. > :21:58.Have I? Where do these, do these, where do these people live? Erm,
:21:58. > :22:03.they live, I-I...they live... they don't live here? Well, they
:22:03. > :22:10.asked me to drop 'em, they said they knew someone here. Matt, he
:22:10. > :22:18.said he lived there he doesn't. was able to go down the road and
:22:18. > :22:28.just catch up with, erm, well one of the other two. That's her Mum's
:22:28. > :22:30.
:22:30. > :22:33.house? So where you going now? going round to the back garden.
:22:33. > :22:37.man's story is a good 'un, but typically Shona hasn't bought it.
:22:37. > :22:41.'I locked the traffic car and as I've run round the corner' she was
:22:41. > :22:44.quite a way away up that road so there was no way she was going into
:22:44. > :22:54.the back garden of that house which is what matey boy had initially
:22:54. > :22:58.
:22:58. > :23:08.said. What were you going in the house for, then? That's where her
:23:08. > :23:28.
:23:28. > :23:31.Mum lives. If they hadn't been in such a hurry to disappear they
:23:31. > :23:36.might not have aroused any suspicion. But now, after all their
:23:36. > :23:39.flimflam Shona's going to follow her hunch and search their car.
:23:40. > :23:42.believe there was something in that vehicle that they didn't want us to
:23:42. > :23:47.find 'so I searched the vehicle under the Police and Criminal
:23:47. > :23:53.Evidence Act.' Shona's instinct is spot on. They've been on a shopping
:23:53. > :23:55.spree. It's got the security tag still around it. It's worth quite a
:23:55. > :23:59.bit of money really, which is obviously why they've just decided
:23:59. > :24:03.to get out and walk away. There's also some pliers, handy for
:24:03. > :24:10.removing the security tags. All in all, a tidy haul of toiletries
:24:10. > :24:13.worth over �200. They've obviously just committed a theft from a shop
:24:13. > :24:16.which is why they wanted to get away in the first place and why
:24:16. > :24:24.both the passengers had got out the vehicle to disassociate themselves
:24:24. > :24:31.with anything that was in that car. I want to blow my nose, can I go
:24:31. > :24:38.and get a tissue out me car? Oh... OK. OK. What's your name, flower?
:24:38. > :24:40.My name's Charles Hornby. Charles? Yeah. Charles, have you ever been
:24:40. > :24:45.in trouble with the police before? Ever been arrested? Erm...yeah,
:24:45. > :24:49.yeah, oh, yeah. Are you well known to us? No. OK. 'He reminded me of
:24:49. > :24:53.somebody's granddad, really. 'He was very...he seemed quite nervous,
:24:53. > :24:57.'he was being very woolly about his answers. 'He didn't really know why
:24:57. > :25:05.he dropped them off or who lived at that address.' And he was kind of
:25:05. > :25:07.playing a bit dumb. They said to drop them here. 'And all it was
:25:08. > :25:16.doing was arousing my suspicions even further.' We found some items
:25:16. > :25:20.in a carrier bag in the car. Are they yours? No. No, they had bags
:25:20. > :25:25.with them. What kind of bags would they have with them? Erm... I think
:25:25. > :25:28.a green bag, I think. I didn't really take no notice. Right, OK.
:25:28. > :25:31.think. Oh, dear, but it's in your car. I take it you're saying
:25:31. > :25:34.there's something in there that shouldn't be. Well, quite possibly.
:25:34. > :25:40.OK, yeah, well... I'm asking for your account before we do anything
:25:40. > :25:46.about it. Yeah, no, it's... They're not my bags. They're not mine.
:25:46. > :25:56.have they got in the back? Don't wander off, please. BOTH: No, we
:25:56. > :26:06.
:26:06. > :26:10.won't. A check of the man in glasses has revealed he likes to do
:26:10. > :26:12.a bit of shopping, but he's not one for loyalty cards. I think he was
:26:13. > :26:16.wanted for a number of offences in Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire and
:26:16. > :26:18.a warrant as well. So he was going nowhere. Nowhere apart from the
:26:18. > :26:22.nick. All three are going to be arrested on suspicion of
:26:22. > :26:26.shoplifting. OK, what's happening is you two are both also under
:26:26. > :26:33.arrest on suspicion of the theft. haven't done anything. On suspicion
:26:33. > :26:38.of theft... Tell him. Tell him, please. You don't have to say
:26:39. > :26:44.anything but it may harm your defence if... There's little honour
:26:44. > :26:47.amongst these thieves. It's... It's something that they've, I'm sure
:26:47. > :26:50.they've sort of prearranged that if they get caught he'll take the
:26:50. > :26:53.blame. He's just taken full responsibility. At the end of the
:26:53. > :26:56.day, getting out and running off up the road isn't the actions of an
:26:56. > :26:59.innocent party. They'll stick together to the point where there's
:26:59. > :27:02.no return, then they'll just dump each other in it. Their supermarket
:27:02. > :27:04.sweep has earned them today's star prize... A trip to the police
:27:04. > :27:11.station. Back on the M1, the investigation into why there was
:27:11. > :27:17.nearly a disaster on the motorway has begun. The question is, why did
:27:17. > :27:23.the lorry cross over to the other side of the road? A specialist
:27:23. > :27:26.accident investigator has arrived to take stock of all the evidence.
:27:26. > :27:32.'The first walk-through is' let's see what you've got, and then speak
:27:32. > :27:35.to the people in charge. And you then start to pick out - the
:27:35. > :27:44.barrier was down, you've then got a mass of vehicles, and in particular
:27:44. > :27:47.one seriously damaged vehicle. And then, it's sort of then blocked out.
:27:47. > :27:50.Although the suspicion is that the lorry driver is to blame for the
:27:50. > :27:56.crash, Bob will do whatever it takes to ensure there weren't any
:27:56. > :28:00.other reasons for it. You've got to get it right and you only ever have
:28:00. > :28:04.one chance. 'It therefore has to be done properly and correctly at the
:28:05. > :28:08.time and... 'and you know, if it takes a couple more minutes extra,
:28:08. > :28:11.'then that's what it's got... That's what you've got to do.'
:28:11. > :28:16.though it's the first real big crash he's been to, Chris has been
:28:16. > :28:19.put in charge. 'Everybody's doing their little bit,' and one person
:28:19. > :28:22.has to take the investigation on. 'Because there wasn't any apparent
:28:22. > :28:27.serious injuries and it wasn't life-changing, 'then it's just one
:28:27. > :28:32.of the officers that turns up,' it becomes their job to investigate.
:28:32. > :28:35.So it was my turn, being the new boy. The lorry driver's initial
:28:35. > :28:42.account was that he had begun to feel unwell and had intended to
:28:42. > :28:45.pull off at the next junction, just a few hundred metres further on.
:28:45. > :28:48.Another witness, still at the scene, the driver of a southbound lorry
:28:48. > :28:56.that narrowly escaped being hit, remembers graphically what happened
:28:56. > :29:00.next. As he came over, he wasn't even in the driver's seat, it threw
:29:00. > :29:03.him out the seat. He was over the other side of the cab. Because I
:29:03. > :29:06.could see his high-vis jacket. And so I ran up there and... When it
:29:06. > :29:16.had all stopped, like, and helped him out. And he thinks he passed
:29:16. > :29:20.
:29:20. > :29:22.out. So... Yeah, scary stuff. gone from lane one of a three-lane
:29:22. > :29:25.motorway, 'come straight across, over the central reservation,
:29:25. > :29:28.'collided with two or three cars, collided with a camper van, then
:29:28. > :29:31.parked up.' He says he doesn't remember anything, and then he woke
:29:31. > :29:35.up slumped at the wheel, and then he couldn't open his door so he
:29:35. > :29:42.climbed out of his... Out of his cab window, fell to the floor and
:29:42. > :29:50.he was then seen to by a first aider before the ambulances arrived.
:29:50. > :29:52.But for Bob, something doesn't quite add up. Now, we've got an
:29:52. > :29:55.impact, the lorry's come through, we've got an impact on this
:29:55. > :29:59.nearside reservation, and then we've got an oil trail all the way
:29:59. > :30:04.along here. And then it finishes in lane one when the lorry's moved
:30:04. > :30:10.across to the hard shoulder. There's a bit of a strange scenario
:30:10. > :30:14.going on here at the moment. From the evidence, it appears that the
:30:14. > :30:18.lorry came to a rest, but it then moved again to its final position
:30:18. > :30:21.on the hard shoulder. You work your way through the scene and obviously
:30:21. > :30:24.there is then another movement of the vehicle. Is that again
:30:24. > :30:26.consistent with someone that is ill at the wheel? You know, they've
:30:27. > :30:30.actually come to rest in lane one, they've got... They've stopped
:30:30. > :30:35.their vehicle facing the wrong way in a live running lane, I'll move
:30:35. > :30:44.the vehicle onto the hard shoulder where it's safer. I... I don't know,
:30:44. > :30:49.I mean, to me, it just... If it's come to rest, it's come to rest.
:30:49. > :30:52.Why move the vehicle? It's been nearly seven hours since the
:30:52. > :30:57.accident brought the southbound M1 to a halt. Once the barriers are
:30:57. > :31:07.repaired, it will at last be reopened. The cops' investigation
:31:07. > :31:07.
:31:07. > :31:16.Long after their shift was supposed to have finished, Shona and Matt
:31:16. > :31:19.are still hard at work dealing with the suspected shoplifters. 'Once
:31:19. > :31:21.all three had been booked into custody, I had to make sure 'that
:31:21. > :31:26.there weren't any further outstanding offences for them 'that
:31:26. > :31:29.they'd need to be arrested for and interviewed for at a later date. I
:31:29. > :31:34.was really surprised at the amount of intelligence that popped up for
:31:34. > :31:40.each of them. It's a possible warrant for this chap. Non-payment
:31:40. > :31:43.of fines. Warrants have been issued for the arrest of all three of them
:31:44. > :31:49.for previous suspected offences. There's an outstanding warrant of
:31:49. > :31:54.�625. So she's not going anywhere tonight. He has a warrant, a non-
:31:54. > :31:57.payment of fines warrant, erm... For �257.84. So once he's been
:31:57. > :32:05.dealt with for the theft, he'll be arrested for non-payment. So he
:32:05. > :32:08.isn't going anywhere tonight, he'll go to court tomorrow. The man in
:32:08. > :32:14.glasses and the woman appear to be serial shoplifters and have even
:32:14. > :32:22.been caught on CCTV. It's expensive booze, as well as toiletries that
:32:22. > :32:32.they seem to be interested in. They just pop it straight into their
:32:32. > :32:46.
:32:46. > :32:52.shopping bag and calmly walk out. Come out here, please. The man is a
:32:52. > :32:55.drug user and shoplifts to fund his habit. Most, I would say most
:32:55. > :32:58.shoplifting, in fact, pretty much most crime is drug-based. You can
:32:58. > :33:01.see that on the people that we've stopped. They're a pretty pathetic
:33:01. > :33:06.little group really, when you think about it. But that's their life,
:33:06. > :33:09.their lifestyle and they won't change until they get off drugs.
:33:09. > :33:15.Because of the amount of thefts uncovered, the police have got
:33:15. > :33:19.authorisation to search the suspects' houses. They've gone to
:33:19. > :33:22.do a section 18 on the property, to see what stolen property, if any,
:33:22. > :33:25.is a their home addresses. So what's going to happen now is
:33:25. > :33:27.they'll be kept in the cells till tomorrow morning and interviewed
:33:27. > :33:30.for the offences we've arrested them today for and their
:33:30. > :33:38.outstanding crimes. And then they'll be sent to court and then
:33:38. > :33:43.dealt with in Hertfordshire for Sometimes even minor road traffic
:33:44. > :33:47.accidents warrant a fast response. News is coming in of another
:33:47. > :33:49.collision, not on the motorway this time, but on an estate in Luton
:33:49. > :33:59.where it's reported the driver involved doesn't want to stick
:33:59. > :34:00.
:34:00. > :34:10.around. That me? Yeah. 1261. 'We do have get there quite quick, cos
:34:10. > :34:11.
:34:11. > :34:14.obviously we don't want the driver disappearing.' It could suggest
:34:14. > :34:17.numerously, whether it could be a stolen vehicle someone's trying to
:34:17. > :34:24.leg it from, or it's just an exaggeration on someone's part that
:34:24. > :34:27.someone's looking to walk away. You just don't know till you arrive.
:34:27. > :34:32.'When we got there, there was a number of people in the street,'
:34:32. > :34:35.all debating about a crash that had occurred. Everyone all right? 'My
:34:35. > :34:39.initial actions were to find out who was actually involved in it,
:34:39. > :34:48.'as opposed to who the passers-by and who the onlookers were.' I live
:34:48. > :34:58.next door to him, yeah? Sorry, hang on, hang on, hang on, hang on. So
:34:58. > :35:00.
:35:00. > :35:10.you're... You're... His neighbour. Yeah. At number 64? 68. 70.
:35:10. > :35:23.
:35:23. > :35:27.You're at 68? The driver involved is still here. That's it. Something
:35:27. > :35:37.happened to your suspension and you smashed into the car? My eyes
:35:37. > :35:39.
:35:39. > :35:42.are...eyeglasses...little problem. You can't see? I think we soon
:35:42. > :35:45.discounted that. And he came up with the suggestion that he'd got
:35:45. > :35:49.on the wrong glasses and actually couldn't see. You can't see? No, I
:35:49. > :35:54.can't see. You can't see anything? Why are you driving if you can't
:35:54. > :35:57.see? I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It's no good being sorry, you could kill
:35:57. > :36:03.someone, couldn't you? No, I'm not driving fast. You're not driving
:36:03. > :36:10.fast? OK, so you just knock someone down very slowly then. Yes. Yeah,
:36:10. > :36:13.OK. I think we've got a problem with you, young man, don't you?
:36:13. > :36:18.Always, I'm just a hard-working person. OK, right. You got a
:36:18. > :36:22.licence on you? I got it in... got a driving licence? No.
:36:22. > :36:29.don't have a driving licence? have but not in my pocket. OK, do
:36:29. > :36:39.you have insurance for the vehicle? Yeah. OK. It's a construction
:36:39. > :36:41.
:36:41. > :36:45.company. Production company? Construction. Construction company.
:36:45. > :36:54.Can you come and sit in our car for us, all right? The man with the
:36:54. > :36:57.glasses has managed to drive into somebody's parked car. Basically,
:36:57. > :37:00.you've got a parked car here. The guy the sergeant's speaking to at
:37:00. > :37:03.the moment has... I'm not sure which way he's been going yet, I
:37:03. > :37:07.think he's been coming down the road. And for an unknown reason
:37:07. > :37:10.he's gone into the side of him. And it transpires his vision isn't very
:37:10. > :37:13.good and he's already said he shouldn't be driving cos he can't
:37:13. > :37:22.see. You're driving but you can't see through your glasses, why?
:37:22. > :37:27.can see in my glasses. Someone goes in here, a headlight. Yeah... OK.
:37:27. > :37:31.Right, you need... You can understand my problem. Yeah, you
:37:32. > :37:34.need to go to the opticians, don't you? Yeah, yeah, I always go to
:37:34. > :37:44.Space Savers. Getting his glasses from Space Savers could be the
:37:44. > :37:52.
:37:52. > :38:02.problem. Raminder. 28. Yeah. Yeah. 74. 74? Yeah. The neighbours
:38:02. > :38:06.
:38:06. > :38:09.have taken a dim view of what's gone on. Just thought I hope his
:38:09. > :38:18.insurance will cover the damage, that's all. Look at the car, the
:38:18. > :38:22.whole back end's gone in. Right, let's see how bad your eyesight is
:38:22. > :38:25.then, shall we? He's going to be made to read a licence plate, a
:38:25. > :38:28.test recognised by the Highway Code. Tell me what that car registration
:38:28. > :38:31.number is. With the glasses on. can't see, you know. The spray.
:38:32. > :38:35.Right, with your glasses on, tell me what that number is. To pass, he
:38:35. > :38:45.must be able to read it from 20 metres away. You can't see it, OK.
:38:45. > :38:47.
:38:47. > :38:54.Walk a bit further, closer. OK? Erm... Yeah. You can see it, where?
:38:54. > :38:58.Now? J O J. J O J. OK, that's fine. Do us a favour, hold that. Just
:38:58. > :39:02.there. Because of something on his glasses, concrete spray, he says,
:39:02. > :39:08.he can only see the number from 10 metres. He's failed the test. If
:39:08. > :39:12.only he'd gone to Space Savers. 'The test is 20 metres,' and he
:39:12. > :39:15.could see after 10 metres, this number plate. Which was a bit of a
:39:15. > :39:21.concern to me, the fact that he was driving in the dark in these
:39:21. > :39:27.glasses only being able to see that much. Right, that there, providing
:39:27. > :39:37.you can see it, is details of the car you hit, OK. It's got the
:39:37. > :39:59.
:39:59. > :40:03.gentleman's name, his insurance company, his address I feel guilty.
:40:03. > :40:06.I feel shame. But I am only British single guy who is going to work on
:40:06. > :40:12.concrete bridges. Tall, skinny guy. You can see my arm, you can see
:40:12. > :40:15.everything. But I feel ashamed. I am not going to any drive more.
:40:15. > :40:19.is the norm for any road accident, the driver is going to be put
:40:19. > :40:24.through the procedure of a breath test. Have you drunk any alcohol in
:40:24. > :40:27.the last 24 hours? No? Good man. OK, because you were involved in a road
:40:27. > :40:35.traffic collision, OK, we require a specimen of breath. Have you ever
:40:35. > :40:38.done this before? No. Right. Never in my life. OK, no problem. You
:40:38. > :40:41.understand what I'm telling you, yeah? OK, seal your lips around the
:40:41. > :40:45.tube, long continual breath, blow. Keep blowing, keep blowing, keep
:40:45. > :40:48.blowing, and stop. OK, what it does now, it analyses your breath for me.
:40:48. > :40:55.And it'll tell me if anything, if you've got any alcohol in your
:40:55. > :41:00.system. From what you were telling me it should come up zero. But it
:41:00. > :41:07.hasn't. Even for a seasoned traffic cop like Craig, the reading that
:41:07. > :41:13.has come up is a complete shock. Have you seriously not drunk any
:41:13. > :41:21.alcohol? It's well over the 35 limit. You're lying to me. You're
:41:21. > :41:24.under arrest. OK. The man appears to be blind drunk. You don't have
:41:24. > :41:27.to say anything but it may harm your defence if you fail to mention
:41:27. > :41:32.something which you later rely on it court.... Come on. This way.
:41:32. > :41:35.Nice try. 134. At that reading, you expect to be seeing signs, some
:41:35. > :41:43.form of sign, be it slurred speech, staggering a bit, not making sense
:41:43. > :41:47.with your words. Actually, being four times the limit, as he is,
:41:47. > :41:50.most people wouldn't still be standing. 'I think both myself and
:41:50. > :41:53.Craig thought the machine might have been a little bit wrong,'
:41:53. > :42:03.because the guy walked, talked, didn't smell of any alcohol, and as
:42:03. > :42:09.far as I was concerned he was as sober as anyone. A little bit of
:42:09. > :42:17.what? Only a vodka and one beer. Vodka and beer? Only. How much
:42:17. > :42:22.vodka did you have? Erm... ..that much. Just that much, and a beer?
:42:22. > :42:29.No, beer is fuller. But only that much. OK. So you're telling me
:42:29. > :42:35.you've only today, you've only had one vodka and one... Beer. And...
:42:35. > :42:38.Two beer. And two beers? Yeah. I'm not a bad guy. No, no, no, no. No-
:42:38. > :42:44.one's saying you're a bad guy, but we'll see what your reading is.
:42:44. > :42:48.Because I can't see. It's concrete spray. I think what we'll go with,
:42:48. > :42:53.you can't see and you've had a bit too much to drink. Yeah. Yeah, I
:42:53. > :42:57.think that's fairer... I can understand. It's my fault. I mean,
:42:57. > :43:03.him himself, he's a very personable guy. But at the end of the day,
:43:03. > :43:06.he's a potential killer. And that's why we have to get him off the road.
:43:07. > :43:09.The roadside breathalyser is normally pretty accurate. Even so,
:43:10. > :43:17.the man who's still showing no outward signs of being drunk is
:43:17. > :43:20.going to be tested again on a specially calibrated machine.
:43:20. > :43:26.know, he was walking steadily and he was talking all right, his eyes
:43:26. > :43:32.looked OK. Everything said that he was sober. For the offence of?
:43:32. > :43:35.Positive breath test at a road traffic collision. While we're
:43:35. > :43:39.waiting, can you put everything in your pockets on here for me,
:43:39. > :43:42.please? 'We took him back to custody, where we booked him in
:43:43. > :43:46.with the custody sergeant.' He obviously saw the funny side of it,
:43:46. > :43:50.as well. Cos people just haven't seen it, to get the blind and the
:43:50. > :43:58.drunk in one go, and especially to be standing like he was. He did
:43:58. > :44:04.throw a lot of officers. What are they? Equally bizarre is what's in
:44:04. > :44:10.his pockets. You don't know what they are? After drink. You have
:44:10. > :44:17.them after a drink. Oh, my God. That could be the problem. What are
:44:17. > :44:21.they? I've no...I don't know! are in fact poppy heads, used to
:44:21. > :44:24.make poppy tea, which can contain morphine. Are these poppies?
:44:24. > :44:31.Despite being in his pockets, the man doesn't seem to know anything
:44:31. > :44:38.about them. Hang on, they're in your pocket. Not my jacket. It's
:44:38. > :44:41.not your jacket? No. My friend's jacket. It's your friend's? After
:44:42. > :44:45.we drink, I wear it. And then drive the car. It was quite comical, the
:44:45. > :44:49.way he come out with everything just to try and push it all the way,
:44:49. > :44:52.and no, it's nothing to do with him. Right, come on then. Go on, keep
:44:53. > :44:55.going, keep going, go on, go on, go on, keep going, keep going, keep
:44:56. > :45:00.going, keep going, keep going, go on, lovely. We've done it. All
:45:00. > :45:03.right. OK, do you want to sit down before you fall down? Right, well
:45:03. > :45:13.unfortunately you're just over the limit by a little bit, sort of,
:45:13. > :45:13.
:45:13. > :45:16.about four times the limit. Yeah? Yeah, four times the limit.
:45:16. > :45:21.reading backs up the initial roadside test. He's going to need
:45:21. > :45:25.some real tea to help him sober up. 'He had a wife and he's got
:45:25. > :45:28.children as well. 'And he did state the day after, he was going up
:45:28. > :45:38.north with his family, 'and he'd be under the influence of alcohol with
:45:38. > :45:45.
:45:45. > :45:51.those in the car.' So it's just a... In Luton, Shona is back on duty,
:45:51. > :45:55.and on the lookout for more bad drivers. She doesn't find it hard,
:45:55. > :45:58.because for some reason she's got a knack of being in the right place
:45:58. > :46:00.at the right time. 'Being on traffic gives me a chance to do
:46:00. > :46:08.what I enjoy doing best really, reacting to circumstances 'and
:46:08. > :46:11.being able to go hunting. 'Nine times out of ten you're bound to
:46:11. > :46:15.come across something.' And that unfortunately, or fortunately for
:46:15. > :46:25.me, just happens to be my way, that things come to me without me having
:46:25. > :46:28.
:46:28. > :46:32.to look too hard. Already something has caught her eye. What are these
:46:32. > :46:37.two getting up to over here? 'My attention was drawn to two guys at
:46:37. > :46:43.the side of a quite nice Jaguar car parked up. 'It just looked like
:46:43. > :46:51.it'd been dumped, just literally driven in and stopped.' Hello! Yeah,
:46:51. > :46:54.who's car's that then? This? Yeah. It's mine. It's yours, is it?
:46:54. > :46:58.Are you driving it? Yeah, well not at the moment, no. Why? What's the
:46:58. > :47:02.matter with it? It's got something wrong with it underneath. Oh, has
:47:02. > :47:06.it? Yeah. Oh, heavens. Where have you driven from this morning then?
:47:06. > :47:12.We went from our home. Which is where? In Bray. Right, and where
:47:12. > :47:17.are you going to? We've got to wait here now. My dad's coming. Right,
:47:17. > :47:20.what's wrong with it then? Let's have a look. It's got a problem
:47:20. > :47:23.under here. Golf Alpha Seven, is there any unit that can come and
:47:23. > :47:28.assist me, please, on Dunstable road, next to the ESSO garage?
:47:28. > :47:32.'Yeah, we're behind you.' You do learn how to read people, and you
:47:32. > :47:35.do know how... When they're lying to you, you can pick it up pretty
:47:35. > :47:41.quickly, cos they...they waffle. And they're a little bit woolly
:47:41. > :47:48.with their answers, so to speak. So did you drive here, then? No.
:47:48. > :47:52.did you get here? Here? Yeah. How have you got onto this forecourt.
:47:52. > :47:56.My...my friend come and drove us here. And now he's gone. Have a
:47:57. > :48:01.look. Step away. Step away, just step to the back of the car for me.
:48:01. > :48:06.Just go and step to the back of the car. I'm not going to bend down if
:48:06. > :48:15.you're that close to me. Just move away and I'll have a look. Have you
:48:15. > :48:21.got the keys to your car? What's the...? Nothing, they're
:48:21. > :48:26.both...hang on. Can I have the keys to your car, just two seconds?
:48:26. > :48:29.Just... Sorry, he's searching this guy's jacket. Right. Which made me
:48:29. > :48:33.think, has he got something on him? He's seen all the police cars and
:48:33. > :48:36.wants to dump stuff. So I pulled up. They're being cagey about how they
:48:36. > :48:39.got here. They said there's something wrong with the car and
:48:39. > :48:43.someone's collecting it. So I want to check it and get some details.
:48:43. > :48:46.Is that all right? Sorry. Enough to give us a search? The man in the
:48:46. > :48:49.baseball cap's story really doesn't add up. It's his car and he had the
:48:49. > :48:52.keys, yet he says somebody else, who's not there, has been driving
:48:52. > :48:55.it. Well, no, that's why I'm wondering how your car's got here.
:48:55. > :48:58.I told you, my friend. And then it bloody went kaput underneath.
:48:59. > :49:02.there's nothing hanging down. well, I don't...I don't... I don't
:49:02. > :49:05.really see... So who? Is it your...? That's all right, no, it's
:49:05. > :49:10.fine. Yeah, but I don't really see why all these police cars are here.
:49:10. > :49:17.You know, what for? Nobody was driving it when you come here.
:49:17. > :49:24.that's fine. You know that, so... was get... I think I was getting my
:49:24. > :49:27.jacket out of the back. So it's your car, is it, Paul? Yeah, it is
:49:27. > :49:30.my car but my brother's the one on the log book. Oh, right, OK. Paul
:49:30. > :49:34.has got an explanation why he wasn't driving his car. It's very
:49:34. > :49:37.annoying. I mean, I can't drive because I'm... I've had a crash in
:49:37. > :49:40.2002 and I mean, it was a stolen car, and, you know, my girlfriend
:49:40. > :49:44.died and because of that I'm... I think I've changed my life. And,
:49:44. > :49:51.you know, I loved her and so to drive, for me, would just be stupid
:49:51. > :49:56.and I wouldn't do it. Paul is a disqualified driver. Thank you, I
:49:56. > :50:00.appreciate that. See, I haven't had... Haven't no bad dealings with
:50:00. > :50:05.the police for quite some time now. I used to be a real bad one, you
:50:05. > :50:11.know. Yeah, but I'm not any more. Without any proof he was driving
:50:11. > :50:14.today, Shona's going to have to let him go. But it really rankles.
:50:14. > :50:19.though he'd come up with his story, I still believed that he'd been
:50:19. > :50:21.driving. He'd seen the amount of police vehicles in the area, and
:50:21. > :50:25.had thought, actually I'd better stop driving before I get caught
:50:25. > :50:31.driving, and then leave the car and then come back when all the police
:50:31. > :50:35.cars have disappeared. That's what I had in the back of my mind. But
:50:35. > :50:38.there is a glimmer of hope for Shona. She's going to check the
:50:38. > :50:48.garage's CCTV system to see if anything might have been caught on
:50:48. > :50:49.
:50:49. > :50:57.one of their cameras. And it has. And the CCTV showed the chap with
:50:57. > :51:00.the baseball cap getting out of the driver's door. So this story of his
:51:00. > :51:07.mate driving him onto the forecourt, having broken down and left it
:51:07. > :51:10.there and waiting for recovery was clearly just that. From just a
:51:10. > :51:12.little bit of police work and some questioning, we've got a
:51:12. > :51:21.disqualified driver who we've not even seen driving but he's been
:51:21. > :51:24.caught on CCTV driving. It's the end of the road for Paul. Even
:51:24. > :51:31.though his driving ban from 2002 was up, he had never bothered to
:51:31. > :51:37.retake his test and become a legal driver again. So you know, like
:51:37. > :51:42.it's driving whilst disqualified, ain't it? Yeah. Yeah. When were you
:51:43. > :51:46.disqualified? A long time ago? Yeah. Was that me that got you
:51:46. > :51:49.disqualified? No, no. Unless you was there when... Paul's looking at
:51:49. > :51:53.a further disqualification from driving and will have his Jag
:51:53. > :51:57.seized. A bitter pill for him to swallow. It is pretty bad, because
:51:57. > :52:01.it's going to be quite horrific for him to not only be in an accident
:52:01. > :52:05.where somebody's died, but to have lost a loved one. It does make you
:52:05. > :52:07.think, oh, it must be quite hard for him to even get back in a car,
:52:07. > :52:17.let alone consider driving it, especially when you've been
:52:17. > :52:19.
:52:19. > :52:22.Following the terrifying crossover accident near Toddington on the M1,
:52:22. > :52:29.the traffic is running normally again, and Bob's side of the
:52:29. > :52:39.investigation is all but over. He's discounted there being any
:52:39. > :52:46.
:52:46. > :52:49.mechanical problems with the lorry itself. Using the plan, we can plot
:52:49. > :52:52.the vehicles through, identifying impact points and vehicle movements.
:52:52. > :52:55.And although his sketches tell the story of how it all happened, they
:52:55. > :52:58.can't begin to tell why it happened. However, there's been a discovery
:52:58. > :53:01.that could help answer the question. In the cabin of the wagon that he
:53:01. > :53:03.was driving, we found various documents that related to him and
:53:03. > :53:06.his driver's history. Whenever people drive heavy good vehicles
:53:06. > :53:09.professionally, they must keep a tachograph, which is effectively a
:53:09. > :53:12.record of how long they've been driving, how fast they've driven
:53:12. > :53:15.and how far they've driven. There were a few discrepancies over the
:53:15. > :53:18.course of a few months. On a few occasions he'd exceeded his daily
:53:18. > :53:21.driving allowance. He'd failed to take breaks and so forth. He had
:53:21. > :53:24.worked the previous night, finished in the wee small hours, and then
:53:24. > :53:27.had a telephone call from his drivers' agency telling him that
:53:27. > :53:37.this particular company were a man short and that he would be required
:53:37. > :53:41.
:53:41. > :53:51.to work. That left him a fairly short amount of time between shifts.
:53:51. > :53:54.
:53:54. > :54:02.We worked out he'd been without food for 17 hours. And we just
:54:02. > :54:04.couldn't believe that. 'There's always a cause to an accident.
:54:04. > :54:10.'Whether that be a mechanical failure, whether that be someone's
:54:11. > :54:15.poor driving, 'there's always a cause to an accident.' We obviously
:54:15. > :54:20.need to find out what his version of events are. Three weeks after
:54:20. > :54:23.the accident, they are at last going to hear his side of the story.
:54:23. > :54:30.In order to do it formally, he's been summoned to the police station
:54:30. > :54:34.to be arrested, on suspicion of dangerous driving. We need to
:54:34. > :54:39.ascertain some detail from him that we're not able to just talk to him
:54:39. > :54:43.about. We need to do it formally so that we can gather his version of
:54:43. > :54:46.events as evidence. He remembered passing the services, and as he
:54:46. > :54:53.passed the entrance to the services he remembered feeling a bit woozy,
:54:53. > :54:58.sweaty, clammy and generally unwell. He considered moving to the hard
:54:58. > :55:02.shoulder, but that was coned off. He then thought that he could make
:55:02. > :55:09.it to the safety of the junction, and that was the last thing that he
:55:09. > :55:12.remembered. However, he also revealed that when he was in
:55:12. > :55:16.hospital, it was discovered that he had a pre-existing medical
:55:16. > :55:18.condition that could cause him to lose consciousness. As a
:55:18. > :55:21.consequence, the Crown Prosecution Service decided it could not
:55:21. > :55:27.proceed with the case, despite a lack of sustenance also being a
:55:27. > :55:33.possible cause. I presented the evidence to the CPS to say, 'this
:55:33. > :55:36.is what the hospital have said, this is what we BELIEVE might have
:55:36. > :55:40.happened.' Andy and I think he had low blood sugar, he's passed out at
:55:40. > :55:43.the wheel, because of the amount of time that he has gone without food.
:55:43. > :55:48.And because of that, the CPS said we can't run it, purely can't run
:55:48. > :55:57.it. Because if a credible medical expert comes up and says, yes, he
:55:57. > :56:00.had that condition, it would be thousands of pounds wasted at court.
:56:00. > :56:03.The driver of the crushed Passat who survived the impact with the
:56:03. > :56:13.lorry, Nigel Sweeney, has been left feeling frustrated, but lucky to be
:56:13. > :56:19.alive. Jeez. This... Seeing it like that is... Understand why, you know,
:56:19. > :56:22.the damage was done. As soon as I got into hospital, I thought to
:56:22. > :56:28.myself, well, how could that have happened? What...what was...? Why
:56:28. > :56:33.did the lorry swerve? It's the first time he's seen the pictures
:56:33. > :56:36.of the crash. See, even now, I can't remember it like that. I
:56:36. > :56:41.can't... I just... Just remember walking away. It's actually quite
:56:41. > :56:44.horrendous. It's worse than I thought it was. Took a time for the
:56:44. > :56:47.lorry to hit me and I keep thinking to myself maybe I could have
:56:47. > :56:57.avoided him. Could I have done something to... To have stayed out
:56:57. > :56:58.
:56:58. > :57:02.of his way? Huh...Jeez. Oh, God. I'm glad I've seen it now because
:57:02. > :57:09.it... It's actually different to what I remember, and now I can
:57:09. > :57:13.actually piece it all together, to be honest. I felt that I cheated
:57:13. > :57:21.death, basically. I really thought I was going to die when I saw the
:57:21. > :57:25.lorry come bearing down on me. disqualified Jag driver who wasn't
:57:25. > :57:28.so lucky when he was caught in the act on a garage's CCTV, was banned
:57:28. > :57:34.from driving for a further three years and given a 12-week suspended
:57:34. > :57:37.prison sentence. The man Shona thought was
:57:37. > :57:42.somebody's granddad was fined a �100 and given six points for
:57:42. > :57:46.driving without insurance or a valid licence. He wasn't charged
:57:46. > :57:49.with shoplifting. His two passengers were though, the male
:57:49. > :57:51.was given a four month suspended prison sentence for two counts of
:57:51. > :58:01.theft and his accomplice a community order for a number of
:58:01. > :58:02.
:58:02. > :58:05.different offences. The young driver chased and caught by the
:58:05. > :58:09.cops turned out to be only 16 years old. He wasn't a burglar after all,
:58:09. > :58:12.but he had pinched his mum's car, for which he was given a three-
:58:12. > :58:17.month Youth Referral Order. And the tall skinny guy didn't only
:58:17. > :58:20.lie about the amount he had drunk, he also lied about his identity. He