0:00:02 > 0:00:04Britain's bobbies see some bizarre things.
0:00:04 > 0:00:08I think they'll think twice about stealing an owl in future.
0:00:08 > 0:00:13For this series, with the help of victims, cops and crooks,
0:00:13 > 0:00:16- we've unearthed the UK's most audacious...- Go faster!
0:00:16 > 0:00:20- ..deviant...- The guy's completely naked in the chimney.
0:00:20 > 0:00:23..and downright daft acts of criminality.
0:00:24 > 0:00:28Stealing from a CCTV shop is not ironic, it's moronic.
0:00:28 > 0:00:30These odd offences all prove one thing -
0:00:30 > 0:00:33crime doesn't pay
0:00:33 > 0:00:37and the police won't rest until they get their man.
0:00:37 > 0:00:38We had him bang to rights.
0:00:38 > 0:00:42So observe your right to remain silent as we sentence you
0:00:42 > 0:00:47to 30 minutes of guilty pleasure in the weird world of Bizarre Crime.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50# Crime don't pay, crime don't pay!
0:00:52 > 0:00:54# X and Y were the best of friends
0:00:54 > 0:00:58# They stuck together round the awkward bends
0:00:59 > 0:01:03# Since the killing Y tries to find
0:01:03 > 0:01:06# A way to pay the guilty back in time
0:01:06 > 0:01:08# Crime don't pay, crime don't pay!
0:01:13 > 0:01:18Coming up: a law-breaking Lothario cons his way into not one
0:01:18 > 0:01:20but three women's hearts...
0:01:20 > 0:01:23I'd put my heart on the line, my soul on the line,
0:01:23 > 0:01:26just to find out that nothing was real.
0:01:26 > 0:01:30..and one man's potty and peculiar plan to dodge a speeding fine
0:01:30 > 0:01:32leaves police utterly perplexed.
0:01:32 > 0:01:35You almost question your own judgement,
0:01:35 > 0:01:38that somebody would do something so stupid.
0:01:43 > 0:01:44For our first case
0:01:44 > 0:01:48we're heading to a picture-perfect Lincolnshire village,
0:01:48 > 0:01:54a calm countryside oasis full of tea shops and neatly trimmed lawns.
0:01:54 > 0:01:55It's also the scene of
0:01:55 > 0:01:58one of Britain's most bizarre bank robberies.
0:01:58 > 0:02:02- It was like an explosion. - Total destruction. - Why would we be targeted?
0:02:02 > 0:02:03It was bizarre.
0:02:12 > 0:02:15Welcome to Woodhall Spa.
0:02:15 > 0:02:17It's a quiet, elegant little parish
0:02:17 > 0:02:20and the residents like to keep it that way.
0:02:21 > 0:02:24It's a very quaint, charming village.
0:02:24 > 0:02:25Hi, Mike.
0:02:25 > 0:02:30Here we have tea rooms, restaurants, quite a few curiosity shops.
0:02:30 > 0:02:32This is the smallest shoe shop in Britain.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35It's only three feet wide at one end.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38If we were in a TV show, I suppose it would be Heartbeat.
0:02:38 > 0:02:42Somewhere between Emmerdale and The Archers, I would suspect.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48But one morning, in March 2010, shockwaves were sent through
0:02:48 > 0:02:53this rural haven when a gang of armed robbers rolled into town.
0:02:53 > 0:02:58But they didn't come armed with the usual swag bag or shotgun.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02Bizarrely, these guys were wielding a mechanical digger.
0:03:02 > 0:03:06In the dead of night, the crims rumbled up the high street
0:03:06 > 0:03:08in the stolen digger,
0:03:08 > 0:03:12using it to smash into the bank and rip the ATM from the wall.
0:03:13 > 0:03:17- It looked like there'd been an explosion. - Absolute destruction.
0:03:17 > 0:03:19We're used to a hole in the wall, but not that big!
0:03:19 > 0:03:23The crooks abandoned the monster machine before making off with
0:03:23 > 0:03:27the cash dispenser and its contents - a tidy 33 grand.
0:03:30 > 0:03:34Detective Sergeant Richard West of Lincolnshire Police
0:03:34 > 0:03:36began the investigation.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39A number of local residents did in fact witness
0:03:39 > 0:03:41some or all of the offence.
0:03:41 > 0:03:47It was obviously dark, the offenders were wearing balaclavas or masks.
0:03:47 > 0:03:51It was really impossible to identify any of our offenders.
0:03:51 > 0:03:55Although there was a gargantuan piece of evidence in the shape
0:03:55 > 0:03:58of the digger ditched at the scene, police couldn't find prints,
0:03:58 > 0:04:03fibres, hairs or anything else that might link a suspect to the crime.
0:04:03 > 0:04:05It was quite apparent to the police
0:04:05 > 0:04:08that this would in fact be a challenging investigation.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11Detective Sergeant West had only one other lead.
0:04:13 > 0:04:17# Now I ain't sayin' she a gold digger... #
0:04:17 > 0:04:20A few days before the bank blitz, another different digger
0:04:20 > 0:04:22had been stolen from the farm of Will Nelstrop.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28I got a phone call from a neighbour who said,
0:04:28 > 0:04:31"Well, have you had a forklift stolen in the night?"
0:04:31 > 0:04:33Sure enough, it was gone.
0:04:33 > 0:04:35What the thieves didn't know
0:04:35 > 0:04:39was that Farmer Nelstrop had taken out a lifting rod for repairs.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42Unfortunately for the thieves, they got going up the road
0:04:42 > 0:04:45and realised the forklift wasn't doing what it should do.
0:04:45 > 0:04:47This old timer just couldn't get it up.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50# And I gotta take all they bad ass to showbiz... #
0:04:51 > 0:04:54Detective West suspected Farmer Nelstrop's digger
0:04:54 > 0:04:57may have been the first one to catch the gang's eye.
0:04:57 > 0:05:00The forklift was abandoned over here, facing the pole here,
0:05:00 > 0:05:02and the forks were in the ground
0:05:02 > 0:05:05somewhere in the area of this long grass here.
0:05:05 > 0:05:09Convinced there was a link between Farmer Nelstrop's digger
0:05:09 > 0:05:11and the one used to smash and grab the ATM,
0:05:11 > 0:05:17police scoured the spot where this first stolen vehicle was dumped, and found a clue.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20The location of the cigarette butt was wholly consistent with
0:05:20 > 0:05:23someone getting out the cab and discarding it.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28Forensic analysis showed the fag butt belonged to Lee Boydell,
0:05:28 > 0:05:32a man with convictions for 193 previous offences.
0:05:32 > 0:05:37At that point we had Boydell's DNA on a cigarette end in a field.
0:05:37 > 0:05:40It was a significant breakthrough in the investigation
0:05:40 > 0:05:43but it was far from conclusive and complete evidence.
0:05:43 > 0:05:47Police might have had a clue linking Boydell to one stolen digger,
0:05:47 > 0:05:52but they had nothing to connect him to the digger left at the bank or the robbery itself.
0:05:52 > 0:05:56It looked like the thieves would be living it up with their loot.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59But two weeks later, Lincolnshire Police made a breakthrough.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04By sheer chance, someone taking photos
0:06:04 > 0:06:07to oppose a planning application on a disused poultry farm
0:06:07 > 0:06:10found a truck with the sorry looking remains of an ATM.
0:06:10 > 0:06:14# Go to a cash machine
0:06:14 > 0:06:15# To get a ticket here... #
0:06:15 > 0:06:18The ATM was essentially completely wrecked.
0:06:18 > 0:06:22There was a reel of receipts bearing the HSBC logo
0:06:22 > 0:06:26which quickly identified the ATM taken from the bank in Woodhall.
0:06:26 > 0:06:31In this old chicken farm, Detective West and his team
0:06:31 > 0:06:36found a smoking gun, or should that be a smoking man?
0:06:37 > 0:06:41The DNA profile was in fact recovered from a cigarette end
0:06:41 > 0:06:44which once again was the DNA of Lee Boydell.
0:06:44 > 0:06:47A decision was taken at that point that he should be arrested
0:06:47 > 0:06:49and interviewed about the matter.
0:06:49 > 0:06:54Lee Boydell was in fact in prison serving a separate, unconnected sentence.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58Yes, unbelievably, just five days after the ATM theft,
0:06:58 > 0:07:01Boydell had been locked up for another offence.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04So what exactly happens when the bloke you want to nick
0:07:04 > 0:07:06is already in the nick?
0:07:06 > 0:07:10We took him out of prison, interviewed him, took him back to prison, went to CPS
0:07:10 > 0:07:13who eventually agreed that we had a case to charge him,
0:07:13 > 0:07:16and he was arrested on his release from prison and charged,
0:07:16 > 0:07:18and went straight back to prison.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21The short sentence he'd just served was merely an appetiser
0:07:21 > 0:07:24for the main course of porridge he was now facing.
0:07:26 > 0:07:29Thanks to the diligence of Lincolnshire Police,
0:07:29 > 0:07:33Lee Boydell was sentenced to five years for his fag-fuelled felony.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36I can only hope this serves as a lesson to both Boydell
0:07:36 > 0:07:39and to others that choose to engage in this type of crime.
0:07:39 > 0:07:41As for the residents of Woodhall Spa,
0:07:41 > 0:07:44their ATM is happily churning out cash
0:07:44 > 0:07:48to keep the tea shops and shoe shops in business.
0:07:54 > 0:07:58A forklift truck is undoubtedly an odd accessory for a heist,
0:07:58 > 0:08:03but is by no means the most bizarre thing that robbers have used in raids.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06# I'm sticking with you...
0:08:06 > 0:08:08Take this confused crook, for example.
0:08:08 > 0:08:13He seems to think a stick-up should actually involve... well, a stick!
0:08:13 > 0:08:15# Anything that you might do...
0:08:15 > 0:08:18And it can't be easy wielding wood with carrier bags on your feet...
0:08:18 > 0:08:20# I'm gonna do too...
0:08:20 > 0:08:24..as well as contending with the world's most surreal stand-off.
0:08:24 > 0:08:28# Anything that you might do
0:08:28 > 0:08:31# I'm gonna do too. #
0:08:32 > 0:08:36Remember, it's not the size of your stick but how you use it.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43And if you think a six-foot stick is strange,
0:08:43 > 0:08:47wait until you witness the oddities in this week's Criminal Countdown,
0:08:47 > 0:08:51which presents the weird weapons used by robbers around the world.
0:08:53 > 0:08:58Do not adjust your sets, this is indeed a man trying to rob a restaurant with a remote control.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01One foolish felon pretended it was a gun as he attempted to hold up
0:09:01 > 0:09:04- a Chinese takeaway in Stirling... - Don't shoot.
0:09:04 > 0:09:08..maybe hoping that hitting the pause button might stop staff in their tracks.
0:09:08 > 0:09:10The plot was plain prawn crackers
0:09:10 > 0:09:14and workers refused to hand over so much as a bean sprout.
0:09:14 > 0:09:16And on the subject of food,
0:09:16 > 0:09:19what do a courgette, a can of tuna and a Twiglet have in common?
0:09:19 > 0:09:23No, they're not ingredients for a surreal episode of Ready Steady Cook.
0:09:23 > 0:09:25Tickle our taste buds.
0:09:25 > 0:09:31They've all been brandished in raids on a booze store, a betting shop and a bank.
0:09:31 > 0:09:33# Get yourself an egg and beat it...
0:09:33 > 0:09:37And our list of culinary crooks wouldn't be complete
0:09:37 > 0:09:39without the American outlaw who used a banana
0:09:39 > 0:09:44to hold up an internet cafe in Colorado, and then ate the evidence before police arrived.
0:09:44 > 0:09:46This guy's bananas.
0:09:46 > 0:09:48But it's not just the pantry that robbers raid
0:09:48 > 0:09:50in their search for fake firearms.
0:09:50 > 0:09:55In Glasgow in 2007, a hopeless heister went from the bathroom to the bookies
0:09:55 > 0:09:59with a bog roll up his sleeve, claiming it was a gun.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03Unconvinced, staff overpowered the not-so-canny crim,
0:10:03 > 0:10:05but not before he managed to bite the boss!
0:10:06 > 0:10:10More bizarre still was Chicago's swine flu bandit,
0:10:10 > 0:10:12who pulled off a staggering nine heists.
0:10:12 > 0:10:16His criminal cry wasn't, "Give me the money or I'll shoot,"
0:10:16 > 0:10:19but, "Give me the money or I'll sneeze,"
0:10:19 > 0:10:23as he threatened to expose staff to the nasty H1N1 virus.
0:10:23 > 0:10:26# I got her disease...
0:10:26 > 0:10:29And if you can't rely on the power of the cough,
0:10:29 > 0:10:31how about the power of the mind?
0:10:31 > 0:10:34One Russian woman used her hypnotic abilities to rake in more than
0:10:34 > 0:10:402.6 million roubles - that's nearly £60,000...
0:10:40 > 0:10:42# Sometimes your words just hypnotise me...
0:10:42 > 0:10:47..after she mesmerised a bank teller into handing over the dosh.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50But the number one spot in this week's Criminal Countdown
0:10:50 > 0:10:52has to go to the randy raider who, in 2007,
0:10:52 > 0:10:59caused a buzz in a betting office after he terrorised staff with his girlfriend's vibrator.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02Talk about perverting the cause of justice.
0:11:02 > 0:11:05- # I'm not your toy... - Oooh, you bad boy.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11Our next case tonight involves police across the UK,
0:11:11 > 0:11:14who were on the hunt for a callous conman and shameless love rat
0:11:14 > 0:11:19who not only left a trail of broken laws throughout the country,
0:11:19 > 0:11:20but also broken hearts.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25I'd put my heart on the line, my soul on the line,
0:11:25 > 0:11:29just to find out that nothing was real.
0:11:29 > 0:11:31# Got me looking so crazy in love...
0:11:32 > 0:11:35Paula Rushton is a nurse from Cardiff.
0:11:35 > 0:11:39One evening in September 2007, her life was transformed
0:11:39 > 0:11:42when she bought tickets to Disneyworld on eBay.
0:11:42 > 0:11:46I put in a question to the seller and it just sort of went from there.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49I chatted for an hour to him. What a lovely bloke.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52The seller was Belfast-based John Cope.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55They were both separated with children
0:11:55 > 0:11:57and became very close, very quickly.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00# I told her you are the love of my life...
0:12:00 > 0:12:03Over the next week they spent hours chatting on the phone
0:12:03 > 0:12:06and eventually arranged to meet, but when the big day came
0:12:06 > 0:12:11the excitement of a first date soon turned sour when John dropped a bombshell.
0:12:11 > 0:12:15His brother, he told her, had taken an overdose.
0:12:15 > 0:12:17I just really wanted to put my arms around him
0:12:17 > 0:12:21and give him a really big hug and say, "It's going to be all right".
0:12:21 > 0:12:23What Paula didn't know
0:12:23 > 0:12:27was that John's brother hadn't attempted suicide.
0:12:27 > 0:12:31Cope was in fact a serial fraudster, and an arch manipulator
0:12:31 > 0:12:34who was spinning Paula this horrifying yarn to win her trust.
0:12:34 > 0:12:38For anybody, any common person, that would trigger sympathy,
0:12:38 > 0:12:43empathy and a wish to help. That's exactly what he plays on.
0:12:43 > 0:12:47Although she felt for Cope, Paula couldn't cancel the family holiday,
0:12:47 > 0:12:52but while she was away the pair were in constant contact and Cope decided
0:12:52 > 0:12:56to tug harder on her heartstrings, telling her his brother had died.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59And although I was thousands of miles away,
0:12:59 > 0:13:03I still felt this need to try and help him in anything I could.
0:13:03 > 0:13:08When she landed back in the UK, Cope was waiting for her at the airport.
0:13:08 > 0:13:11And I gave him that big hug that I'd wanted to give him all week.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14Over the coming months, the romance blossomed
0:13:14 > 0:13:17and Paula felt she had found her ideal man.
0:13:17 > 0:13:19He was always wanting to treat me.
0:13:19 > 0:13:21# Just the way you are...
0:13:21 > 0:13:24He was fabulous. I thought, "What a gentleman."
0:13:24 > 0:13:28At the start of their relationship, he would seem to be very charming
0:13:28 > 0:13:31and with promises, there's dreams.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34And the next dream Cope sold Paula was a family Christmas
0:13:34 > 0:13:36with all the trimmings.
0:13:36 > 0:13:38I had money for the children's presents,
0:13:38 > 0:13:43I had the biggest Christmas tree, I had somebody who's telling me
0:13:43 > 0:13:47he loved me and I was going to have such a fantastic Christmas.
0:13:47 > 0:13:51All they had to do was pick John up from the airport.
0:13:51 > 0:13:53Families were reunited in the airport,
0:13:53 > 0:13:56I was waiting for my turn, I was waiting for him to come through
0:13:56 > 0:14:02and waited and waited and waited.
0:14:02 > 0:14:06A heartbroken Paula got home to an e-mail from an apologetic Cope,
0:14:06 > 0:14:10explaining that his ex-wife in Belfast had asked him
0:14:10 > 0:14:12to spend Christmas with his kids in Northern Ireland.
0:14:12 > 0:14:17"I'm torn between you and I'm torn between my children."
0:14:17 > 0:14:22The shocking truth, however, was that John was still happily married to the woman in Belfast
0:14:22 > 0:14:26and he'd been planning all along to spend Christmas with her and their two children.
0:14:26 > 0:14:30# Why'd you have to go and make things so complicated?...
0:14:30 > 0:14:34Cope tried to make amends by turning up at New Year with Champagne,
0:14:34 > 0:14:39but just because it was a new year it didn't mean Cope wasn't soon up to his old tricks.
0:14:39 > 0:14:41He'd gone up to Birmingham to visit his family
0:14:41 > 0:14:45and they'd gone to the graveside of his recently deceased brother,
0:14:45 > 0:14:50and at the graveside he had a breakdown.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53When it comes to a point where he feels as if there's pressure,
0:14:53 > 0:14:59he may present with manipulative tactics which are suggestive of emotional crisis,
0:14:59 > 0:15:04and those are either to escape the relationship, or to give himself space.
0:15:04 > 0:15:07Through a fictional secretary called Claire Thompson,
0:15:07 > 0:15:09who was actually Cope himself,
0:15:09 > 0:15:14Paula was told her boyfriend was out of contact until further notice.
0:15:14 > 0:15:18That same secretary then began requesting money for Cope.
0:15:18 > 0:15:22That totalled over £4,000.
0:15:22 > 0:15:26After a miraculous recovery, Cope returned.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29Got himself on his feet. Oh, he came round.
0:15:29 > 0:15:32He promised Paula and her kids a dream holiday
0:15:32 > 0:15:36but days before they were due to jet off, Cope sent Paula an e-mail
0:15:36 > 0:15:41saying he was trying again with his wife, and disappeared for good.
0:15:41 > 0:15:43And that's when the police came knocking.
0:15:46 > 0:15:51He was wanted for fraud against a company in Ireland.
0:15:51 > 0:15:53It was very upsetting
0:15:53 > 0:15:58and of course, the questions that it left in my mind needed answering.
0:15:58 > 0:16:01A devastated Paula looked into John's past
0:16:01 > 0:16:04and each new discovery was a hammer blow.
0:16:04 > 0:16:08It was as if somebody had literally pulled the rug from underneath you.
0:16:08 > 0:16:11She found spyware installed on her computer.
0:16:11 > 0:16:16Every keystroke, every e-mail logged and a report sent.
0:16:16 > 0:16:22There was no holiday, no secretary, no dead brother.
0:16:22 > 0:16:24It was all lies.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27But the most shocking revelation was yet to come.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30When Paula tracked down John's brother,
0:16:30 > 0:16:34she discovered that the man of her dreams was married.
0:16:34 > 0:16:35Not just to one woman, but two!
0:16:35 > 0:16:39It was a good job I was sat down at the time, or I'd have fallen down.
0:16:39 > 0:16:44In 1996, the philandering felon married a woman in Luton.
0:16:44 > 0:16:48Nine years later, without divorcing, he married a woman in Ireland.
0:16:48 > 0:16:52By 2007, he had started an affair with Paula in Cardiff.
0:16:52 > 0:16:56As well as juggling wives and girlfriends, Cope was evading police
0:16:56 > 0:17:01in England, Ireland and Wales on multiple fraud charges.
0:17:01 > 0:17:04# All you ever told me are lies...
0:17:04 > 0:17:06This stuff happens in newspapers and magazines,
0:17:06 > 0:17:09this stuff happens on television to other people.
0:17:09 > 0:17:14I'm far too ordinary for this to happen in my life,
0:17:14 > 0:17:17but it was happening and it was very hard to cope with.
0:17:17 > 0:17:20Paula took the brave step of forming an alliance with his wives.
0:17:20 > 0:17:22# Shut up, just shut up, shut up...
0:17:22 > 0:17:25His wife in Belfast found hidden papers that showed
0:17:25 > 0:17:28he was still married and the police were called in.
0:17:28 > 0:17:31The case of John Cope was reported to me by his wife.
0:17:31 > 0:17:35She came across a divorce petition from a previous wife
0:17:35 > 0:17:37from Luton Crown Court.
0:17:37 > 0:17:42From there we investigated further and discovered that he indeed was married to a previous lady.
0:17:42 > 0:17:45# Lies, you're living in a fantasy...
0:17:45 > 0:17:49As well as being wanted for fraud, Cope was now facing bigamy charges.
0:17:49 > 0:17:54Tracing John Cope was difficult. Through other colleagues he was located in the Birmingham area,
0:17:54 > 0:17:56arrested, brought back to Northern Ireland,
0:17:56 > 0:18:00interviewed about other matters and this matter and charged to court.
0:18:02 > 0:18:07Once there, all the women in Cope's life turned up to see him sentenced.
0:18:07 > 0:18:10# Sisters are doing it for themselves...
0:18:10 > 0:18:14And we all sat on the front row, shoulder to shoulder.
0:18:14 > 0:18:22His face went ashen to see who was there and who was side by side.
0:18:22 > 0:18:28He must have known at that point that his world was about to collapse.
0:18:28 > 0:18:31Cope got 18 months for the various fraud offences
0:18:31 > 0:18:33and a further five for bigamy.
0:18:33 > 0:18:36John Cope was a guy who habitually told lies,
0:18:36 > 0:18:39lived on the edge of the law, lived on his wits,
0:18:39 > 0:18:44appeared to believe he could be one step ahead of the law at all times,
0:18:44 > 0:18:48but on this occasion the law caught up with him and he got his just rewards.
0:18:48 > 0:18:54Despite this odd and horrifying experience, Paula hasn't given up hope of finding Mr Right.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57If a relationship came along, I wouldn't say no
0:18:57 > 0:19:02on the basis that I'd previously had a relationship with John Cope.
0:19:02 > 0:19:04He hasn't put me off men for life.
0:19:12 > 0:19:15Time for more clips featuring what looks like clumsy crooks in action.
0:19:15 > 0:19:21This, taken from the net, seems to show a feller robbing a gun shop.
0:19:23 > 0:19:24DOG BARKS
0:19:24 > 0:19:28Looks like he's failed to spot the owner's secret weapon -
0:19:28 > 0:19:31man's best friend at his very best.
0:19:31 > 0:19:34At least that bloke kept a grip on the gun.
0:19:34 > 0:19:36# Drop it like it's hot Drop it like it's hot...
0:19:36 > 0:19:40Here's a YouTube gem, featuring what appears to be
0:19:40 > 0:19:43a burglar with a bad case of butter fingers.
0:19:43 > 0:19:45Looks like a very slippery character.
0:19:50 > 0:19:54For Bizarre Crime, we've turned the spotlight on the cops,
0:19:54 > 0:19:59asking serving and retired officers from across the country to recount
0:19:59 > 0:20:02the funniest and freakiest things they've encountered.
0:20:04 > 0:20:08What you're about to hear might sound far fetched,
0:20:08 > 0:20:12but it's the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
0:20:14 > 0:20:18Welcome to Bizarre Crime's Police Confessional.
0:20:18 > 0:20:20Exhibit G...
0:20:20 > 0:20:22Dead Fred.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25There used to be a gentleman called Fred who used to have a good
0:20:25 > 0:20:30drink and ring the police feigning a burglary or another crime and
0:20:30 > 0:20:34whenever you got there Fred would always be pretending to be dead.
0:20:34 > 0:20:38We always had to respond, just in case.
0:20:38 > 0:20:40On this occasion we were sent to Fred's.
0:20:40 > 0:20:45As usual, his front door was open and when myself and the new recruit that was a bit of a clever dick,
0:20:45 > 0:20:49and he wouldn't listen to any advice, walked in,
0:20:49 > 0:20:53there was Fred laying on his living room carpet, seemingly not breathing.
0:20:53 > 0:20:57The new recruit pushed past me and said, "Leave this to me."
0:20:57 > 0:21:04Dropped to one knee and started to give Fred mouth to mouth resuscitation.
0:21:04 > 0:21:08I knew I could have intervened... I didn't.
0:21:08 > 0:21:13After a few seconds Fred couldn't hold his breath any longer and he burst into laughter and so did I.
0:21:14 > 0:21:19It was very unprofessional but we've all got to learn.
0:21:24 > 0:21:28For our final case we're heading to Manchester for a story
0:21:28 > 0:21:30that's as baffling as it is bizarre.
0:21:30 > 0:21:32It just stood out as being wrong.
0:21:32 > 0:21:36It involves road signs that have appeared to have sprouted legs,
0:21:36 > 0:21:38an expert in resurrecting the dead...
0:21:38 > 0:21:40I was somewhat intrigued.
0:21:40 > 0:21:43..and an understandably confused cop.
0:21:43 > 0:21:47You question your own judgement, that somebody would do something so stupid.
0:21:50 > 0:21:53The curious case began one evening in 2005
0:21:53 > 0:21:56when this shadowy figure in a car was driving home from work.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59He's asked to remain anonymous,
0:21:59 > 0:22:02so for the purpose of this film, let's call him Lewis.
0:22:02 > 0:22:06It was a journey like any other until Lewis was flashed.
0:22:06 > 0:22:12But a few days later, rather than receiving the one speeding fine he was dreading,
0:22:12 > 0:22:16Lewis was surprised to have two demands drop on his doormat.
0:22:16 > 0:22:19After I received the two tickets, I was alarmed and quite shocked.
0:22:19 > 0:22:23According to the police, 'Lewis' had exceeded a 30 mile per hour
0:22:23 > 0:22:27speed limit on Princess Parkway, just south of Manchester,
0:22:28 > 0:22:32and again on Albert Royds Street way over on the other side of the city.
0:22:32 > 0:22:37But 'Lewis' was adamant though, on each occasion he'd been driving in a 40 zone.
0:22:37 > 0:22:42Determined to prove his innocence he set about snapping some photographic evidence.
0:22:42 > 0:22:45He sent the photographs off to Manchester Central Ticketing office
0:22:45 > 0:22:47along with a letter contesting the fines.
0:22:47 > 0:22:52When I sent the letters in I was hoping that the alleged speeding incidents would have been dropped.
0:22:52 > 0:22:56The police received the letters and investigated.
0:22:56 > 0:23:00Sure enough, the fine in the first street had been issued in error.
0:23:00 > 0:23:02The second ticket, however, was sound.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05'Lewis' had been speeding in a 30 zone and yet
0:23:05 > 0:23:09bang in the middle of this 30 zone was a 40 mile an hour sign.
0:23:09 > 0:23:12So how did it get there?
0:23:12 > 0:23:15Staff at the Central Ticket Office were immediately suspicious.
0:23:15 > 0:23:19There was something about the photographs which just didn't look right.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22The sign wasn't in the right spot for the location and to me
0:23:22 > 0:23:26it just stood out as being wrong.
0:23:26 > 0:23:30The matter was passed to Sergeant Mark Beales, who started to suspect
0:23:30 > 0:23:32that 'Lewis' was trying to pull a fast one.
0:23:32 > 0:23:36It was like playing poker and he was hoping that we wouldn't be having a
0:23:36 > 0:23:39look at his hand which unfortunately for him is what we did.
0:23:39 > 0:23:45It very quickly became apparent that both the 40 mph signs
0:23:45 > 0:23:47pictured were one and the same.
0:23:47 > 0:23:51It begged the question... he's never moved the sign?
0:23:51 > 0:23:52Yes, that's right.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55Sgt Beales was convinced that 'Lewis'
0:23:55 > 0:23:58had taken a few snaps of the 40 mph sign at the scene at the first fine,
0:23:58 > 0:24:02before scaling a 14 foot pole and dismounting it.
0:24:02 > 0:24:03He suspected that 'Lewis'
0:24:03 > 0:24:07had then driven 25 miles to Albert Royds Street where he'd
0:24:07 > 0:24:10attached the sign to a lamp post and taken a few more snaps.
0:24:10 > 0:24:15Suddenly 'Lewis' was looking at a much more serious offence...
0:24:15 > 0:24:17perverting the course of justice.
0:24:17 > 0:24:21It's an offence for which you can quite simply
0:24:21 > 0:24:24and quite easily end up with a custodial sentence.
0:24:24 > 0:24:26Shocked...just couldn't believe it.
0:24:26 > 0:24:30If I wasn't experiencing it all myself I would have thought it was a joke.
0:24:30 > 0:24:33I was adamant I was innocent.
0:24:33 > 0:24:37With 'Lewis' protesting his innocence it was down to Sgt Beales
0:24:37 > 0:24:40to prove the signs were one and the same which is where this bizarre tale
0:24:40 > 0:24:42takes an even more peculiar twist...
0:24:44 > 0:24:46when police called in this man.
0:24:46 > 0:24:50I reconstruct faces from bodies which have been
0:24:50 > 0:24:52found in ditches or tombs.
0:24:52 > 0:24:57Richard Neave is best known for his work modelling
0:24:57 > 0:24:59the face of Lindow Man whose preserved remains lay
0:24:59 > 0:25:02undiscovered in a peat bog for nearly two thousand years
0:25:02 > 0:25:05before he was dug up and restored to his former glory.
0:25:05 > 0:25:09But instead of studying faces of the dead, Sgt Beales had
0:25:09 > 0:25:12asked Richard to scrutinise a couple of speed signs.
0:25:12 > 0:25:15They're quite sophisticated things,
0:25:15 > 0:25:18they're on the side of the road and naturally
0:25:18 > 0:25:24they get damaged a little bit. And so by looking at these little features,
0:25:24 > 0:25:30you can get a pretty good idea of individual characteristics.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33Richard Neave carefully analysed the images side by side
0:25:33 > 0:25:36and spotted significant similarities between the two.
0:25:36 > 0:25:42There was, just at the bottom end of the 4, quite a big mark.
0:25:42 > 0:25:45It's this kind of thing that one's picking up on.
0:25:46 > 0:25:51There really wasn't much doubt that they were the same on both sites.
0:25:51 > 0:25:54With expert proof that the signs were one and the same,
0:25:54 > 0:25:58the police charged 'Lewis' with perverting the course of justice.
0:25:58 > 0:26:02I felt like I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me, basically.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05It was just so surreal, I couldn't believe it was happening.
0:26:05 > 0:26:07I did not believe I had done anything wrong.
0:26:07 > 0:26:09Despite the mounting evidence, 'Lewis'
0:26:09 > 0:26:15insisted he was innocent right up until the first day of the trial when he made a dramatic U-turn.
0:26:15 > 0:26:19I got told that I could be looking at six to nine months in prison,
0:26:19 > 0:26:23you know, it would have affected my family, I would have lost my home.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26It was mortgaged, so obviously I could not be working.
0:26:26 > 0:26:29Therefore I pleaded guilty under duress for those reasons.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32In court, 'Lewis' was given a punishment
0:26:32 > 0:26:34almost as odd as the crime...
0:26:34 > 0:26:39an intermittent jail sentence of 56 days which would mean that
0:26:39 > 0:26:41he'd be locked up, but only at the weekend.
0:26:41 > 0:26:46Every Friday for the following six months 'Lewis' would wave goodbye
0:26:46 > 0:26:50to his family before checking into a secure unit where he was held
0:26:50 > 0:26:54until Sunday and then released ready for work on Monday morning.
0:26:54 > 0:26:58In the cold light of day and on reflection you think to yourself,
0:26:58 > 0:27:03"How on Earth could he have ever expected to get away with it?"
0:27:03 > 0:27:06To even think we wouldn't spot it is astonishing really.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09To this day, 'Lewis' denies the offence
0:27:09 > 0:27:12but there are no doubts in Sgt Beales' mind.
0:27:12 > 0:27:16The fact is, the evidence was overwhelming he wasn't truthful,
0:27:16 > 0:27:18and he went to prison.
0:27:23 > 0:27:28Next time on Bizarre Crime, an odd airport terror alert sparked
0:27:28 > 0:27:32- not by bombshells but eggshells. - I thought, "What's this?"
0:27:32 > 0:27:37Officers are used to dealing with terrorism... the last thing we expect is someone trying to do this.
0:27:37 > 0:27:41And police are baffled by a bogus blueblood whose true identity
0:27:41 > 0:27:45remained a mystery even to his own family.
0:27:45 > 0:27:47We asked our mum, "Was Dad ever a Lord?"
0:27:47 > 0:27:51I went, "Yeah, your dad's no more a Lord than I'm Queen Elizabeth."
0:27:56 > 0:28:00Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:28:00 > 0:28:04E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk