0:00:02 > 0:00:05Britain's bobbies see some bizarre things in the line of duty.
0:00:05 > 0:00:08They'll think twice about stealing an owl in future.
0:00:08 > 0:00:12And for this series, with the help of victims, cops and crooks,
0:00:12 > 0:00:16we've unearthed the UK's most audacious...
0:00:16 > 0:00:17- Go faster! - ..deviant...
0:00:17 > 0:00:20The guy's completely naked in the chimney.
0:00:20 > 0:00:23..and downright daft acts of criminality.
0:00:23 > 0:00:27Stealing from a CCTV shop. It's not ironic, it's moronic.
0:00:28 > 0:00:33These odd offences all prove one thing - crime doesn't pay.
0:00:33 > 0:00:35The police won't rest until they get their man.
0:00:35 > 0:00:37We had him bang to rights.
0:00:37 > 0:00:41So observe your right to remain silent as we sentence you
0:00:41 > 0:00:46to 30 minutes of guilty pleasure in the weird world of Bizarre Crime.
0:01:12 > 0:01:14Coming up:
0:01:14 > 0:01:18An odd airport terror alert sparked not by bombshells but eggshells.
0:01:18 > 0:01:20I thought, "Wow. What's this?"
0:01:20 > 0:01:23Officers are used to dealing with terrorism.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26The last thing we expect is someone trying to do this.
0:01:26 > 0:01:28And police are baffled by a bogus blueblood
0:01:28 > 0:01:32whose true identity remained a mystery even to his own family.
0:01:32 > 0:01:35We asked our mum if Dad was ever a Lord.
0:01:35 > 0:01:40I went, "Your dad's no more a Lord than I'm Queen Elizabeth."
0:01:44 > 0:01:49For our first case we're heading to the North East of England to sunny South Shields.
0:01:49 > 0:01:53Everybody's really surprised when they get here how wonderful it is.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57It's home not just to Joe McElderry
0:01:57 > 0:01:59but also an odd booze-fuelled boating felony
0:01:59 > 0:02:03that must surely rank as one of the most bizarre episodes
0:02:03 > 0:02:05in the town's proud sea-faring history.
0:02:05 > 0:02:09It hadn't happened before and it hasn't happened since.
0:02:09 > 0:02:11I'm Captain Jack Sparrow and I'm going to sail home.
0:02:13 > 0:02:15Sunderland lads Alan Ramsey and Sean Johnson
0:02:15 > 0:02:18have made a vow not to go drinking together any more.
0:02:18 > 0:02:21- Come give us a hug.- Piss off.
0:02:21 > 0:02:26When these two go on the lash, all hell usually breaks loose.
0:02:26 > 0:02:28We just enjoy life. Come here!
0:02:29 > 0:02:33But the moment that ultimately made the lads make their pact
0:02:33 > 0:02:36came in June 2007
0:02:36 > 0:02:40when Sean and Alan decided to head out of town for a tear-up,
0:02:40 > 0:02:44hopping on the Metro and heading seven miles north to South Shields.
0:02:44 > 0:02:47We were drinking on the Metro, a bottle of vodka.
0:02:47 > 0:02:50- About a bottle each. - THEY LAUGH
0:02:52 > 0:02:55Sozzled by the time they got to South Shields,
0:02:55 > 0:02:58the boys tried to pace themselves.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02- More beer, more beer, more beer. - By 3 o'clock we were smashed.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05When I came in they were in and they must have had a canny drink
0:03:05 > 0:03:08cos it was a canny day, you know. It was nice weather.
0:03:08 > 0:03:12They were canny on mortal, like. I mean mortal.
0:03:12 > 0:03:13It was non-stop arguing.
0:03:15 > 0:03:17They staggered out here, man. Mortal.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21After an entire day of drinking, it was time to head home.
0:03:24 > 0:03:26But there was one small problem.
0:03:26 > 0:03:30They'd missed the last Metro back to Sunderland and they had no money for a taxi.
0:03:30 > 0:03:35The choice was a seven-mile hike home or a night on a park bench.
0:03:35 > 0:03:38We decided to walk back down through the park.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41And that's when they spotted their ride home.
0:03:41 > 0:03:43Spotted a pedalo.
0:03:43 > 0:03:47Yes, a pedalo, designed for calm, still waters,
0:03:47 > 0:03:49not for voyages on the high sea,
0:03:49 > 0:03:53but that didn't stop these drunken sailors hatching a plan
0:03:53 > 0:03:56to drag it over a main road to the beach
0:03:56 > 0:04:00before launching themselves out into the chilly, treacherous North Sea
0:04:00 > 0:04:05and, despite darkness, drunkenness and a distinct lack of a map,
0:04:05 > 0:04:08gently peddling the seven miles home to Sunderland.
0:04:13 > 0:04:17You know, as normal people do, if you miss the train, you just...
0:04:17 > 0:04:19- Pinch a pedalo.- Aye!
0:04:21 > 0:04:24Come on. Get it up here, man.
0:04:24 > 0:04:26The pedalo was heavier than they bargained for
0:04:26 > 0:04:29and 10 yards into their caper they were knackered.
0:04:31 > 0:04:33So, displaying more front than South Shields,
0:04:33 > 0:04:38the cheeky chappies asked an unsuspecting passer-by for help...
0:04:39 > 0:04:42..telling him they were workmen taking the boat for repair.
0:04:42 > 0:04:45He helped us cross the road. He done the most carrying.
0:04:45 > 0:04:46THEY SNIGGER
0:04:46 > 0:04:48He did!
0:04:49 > 0:04:54Meanwhile Colin Tron, a security guard at the nearby Sundial pub, did a double take.
0:04:54 > 0:04:59I was astonished seeing them drag a peddle boat out of there
0:04:59 > 0:05:03half way across the road then stopping, having a rest on it.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10They couldn't carry theirselves, let alone drag a boat along the road.
0:05:10 > 0:05:14The cars were going round it and everything!
0:05:14 > 0:05:16You don't see that every day, do you?
0:05:19 > 0:05:24Their antics had also been spotted on CCTV and the police were called.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26As I pulled up I remember seeing
0:05:26 > 0:05:29a huge white pedalo.
0:05:29 > 0:05:35We actually stopped them just before they were about to launch it into the sea.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39By the time the police came they were round the side
0:05:39 > 0:05:43trying to get it over the bollards. It was that heavy they couldn't.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46So I approached them, asked them what they were doing,
0:05:46 > 0:05:49and one of them looked me in the eye and said....
0:05:49 > 0:05:52"I'm Captain Jack Sparrow and I'm going to sail home."
0:05:52 > 0:05:55They said, "No, you're not." I went, "I am."
0:05:55 > 0:05:59So immediately both young men were arrested
0:05:59 > 0:06:01on suspicion of theft of the pedalo.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06The plan to set sail to Sunderland in a stolen pedalo was scuppered.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09Bad for the lads in the short term,
0:06:09 > 0:06:11but definitely good in the long term.
0:06:11 > 0:06:17Had they set sail, I don't think they would have made it to their destination.
0:06:17 > 0:06:21The chances of a successful trip is virtually zero.
0:06:21 > 0:06:25Pedalo craft are not designed to be at sea even in the calmest of conditions.
0:06:25 > 0:06:28They would be in serious difficulties very quickly.
0:06:28 > 0:06:31If we weren't stopped getting into the sea,
0:06:31 > 0:06:34the waves and that going about, we'd have been dead.
0:06:34 > 0:06:35Or in France.
0:06:35 > 0:06:41According to Sean, when the court heard he'd claimed to be Captain Jack Sparrow,
0:06:41 > 0:06:43the room broke out in laughter.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46The judge had to send us out because they were all laughing.
0:06:46 > 0:06:50It's not often you can get a judge laughing.
0:06:52 > 0:06:56The lads were ordered to pay £200 in compensation
0:06:56 > 0:07:00to cover the damage they'd caused and Sean got a 12-month supervision order.
0:07:00 > 0:07:05They also learned a lesson any potential pedalo pinchers might want to take note of.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08What may be a prank at the time may have serious consequences.
0:07:08 > 0:07:14If we hadn't intervened, who knows? There may have been tragic consequences.
0:07:14 > 0:07:16Having been saved from the perils of the high sea,
0:07:16 > 0:07:20Sean and Alan have cut down on the piracy and the piss-ups.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23We've both settled down, you know what I mean?
0:07:23 > 0:07:26We've settled down.
0:07:26 > 0:07:30For now it looks like the waters of the North East will remain pedalo free.
0:07:33 > 0:07:38In Bizarre Crime we're treating you to the most calamitous criminal acts caught on camera.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48First up is this feckless felon who was cunning enough
0:07:48 > 0:07:50to break his way into a supermarket
0:07:50 > 0:07:55but not quite smart enough to figure out how he'd make his getaway.
0:08:03 > 0:08:07Surely that mid-air Cossack dance will help him fight the force of gravity.
0:08:11 > 0:08:13Alas not.
0:08:13 > 0:08:18Undeterred, he's back up the ladder quicker than you can say hairline fracture.
0:08:37 > 0:08:39Having seemingly lost the use of his left arm,
0:08:39 > 0:08:43he uses his chin to shuffle the ladder to a new spot,
0:08:43 > 0:08:47no doubt hoping that changing his location will change his luck.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54Oh, dear. It looks like this crocked crook will be bedding down
0:08:54 > 0:08:57in the vegetable aisle until the police arrive.
0:09:02 > 0:09:06For our next story we're checking into Birmingham Airport, where,
0:09:06 > 0:09:11thanks to one keen-eyed cleaner and committed counter-terrorist officers,
0:09:11 > 0:09:14one crook's dodgy dealings between Britain and the Middle East
0:09:14 > 0:09:16didn't even make it off the runway.
0:09:16 > 0:09:22The counter-terrorist officers have taken out one of the biggest criminals, probably internationally,
0:09:22 > 0:09:25and certainly as far as the UK's concerned.
0:09:26 > 0:09:30In May 2010 one seemingly ordinary traveller arrived at Birmingham Airport
0:09:30 > 0:09:35for a flight to South Africa with a stop-over in Dubai.
0:09:35 > 0:09:39After checking in, he headed to the business-class lounge
0:09:39 > 0:09:41but rather than enjoy a leisurely wait for his flight
0:09:41 > 0:09:45some bizarre behaviour began to arouse suspicion.
0:09:45 > 0:09:51A gentleman came towards the shower room carrying two bags with him.
0:09:51 > 0:09:55After about 20 minutes or so the gentleman came out
0:09:55 > 0:09:59and I went to go and clean up after him, realising that in fact
0:09:59 > 0:10:04he hadn't used any of the facilities there. I became very suspicious.
0:10:04 > 0:10:07John scoured the scene for something out of place
0:10:07 > 0:10:14and, sure enough, there in the nappy bin the shifty shower dodger had laid something very odd.
0:10:14 > 0:10:15I thought, "Wow. What's this?"
0:10:15 > 0:10:21Two egg boxes. In one of the boxes there was actually an egg still inside it.
0:10:21 > 0:10:26Automatically I thought it might be something to do with terrorists.
0:10:27 > 0:10:32John immediately alerted the police and the counter-terrorism unit moved fast.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35They detained him under schedule seven of the Terrorism Act
0:10:35 > 0:10:38thinking that this person might be involved in terrorism.
0:10:40 > 0:10:42The suspect's name was Jeffrey Lendrum,
0:10:42 > 0:10:46a 47-year-old former member of the Rhodesian SAS.
0:10:46 > 0:10:49Desperate to prove he wasn't a terror threat,
0:10:49 > 0:10:52Lendrum wasted no time in revealing exactly what he was hiding.
0:10:52 > 0:10:55Strapped to his belly was a belt made of socks,
0:10:55 > 0:10:58housing no less than 14 more eggs.
0:10:59 > 0:11:03The officers would be thinking, "Well, what is this? Is this drugs?
0:11:03 > 0:11:06"Is this potentially explosives? What is it?"
0:11:06 > 0:11:10Lendrum's own explanation was as odd as his body belt.
0:11:10 > 0:11:15He said that he had heard that if you strap eggs around your waist it helps with back pain.
0:11:15 > 0:11:18Unsurprisingly, the police weren't buying it.
0:11:18 > 0:11:22The officer knows straight away that there's something fishy going on.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25It may not be terrorism but it's clearly against the law.
0:11:25 > 0:11:29Confident Lendrum was packing wildlife, not weaponry.
0:11:29 > 0:11:32Police called in the help of animal cop Andy McWilliam
0:11:32 > 0:11:36and aptly named Lee Featherstone, an expert bird breeder.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38The fact he'd strapped them to his abdomen
0:11:38 > 0:11:41showed to me that he was trying to keep them warm
0:11:41 > 0:11:44and these were going to be live viable eggs.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47The description they gave to me that these eggs were a reddish brown,
0:11:47 > 0:11:50it sounded to me like they were bird of prey.
0:11:50 > 0:11:53Immediately I looked at them and said they're peregrine eggs.
0:11:56 > 0:12:00The peregrine falcon can achieve speeds of over 120 mph.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03With only 1,400 breeding pairs left in the UK,
0:12:03 > 0:12:07the birds receive the highest level of protection.
0:12:07 > 0:12:11Because of their rarity and speed they're highly sought-after hunting birds,
0:12:11 > 0:12:13especially in the Middle East.
0:12:14 > 0:12:15CAMEL HONKS
0:12:15 > 0:12:19We believe they were actually destined to somebody
0:12:19 > 0:12:21who had their own personal collection.
0:12:21 > 0:12:26Falconry, historically, it's been a sport in the Middle East
0:12:26 > 0:12:30and certain members of society want valuable birds.
0:12:30 > 0:12:32Suddenly it all made sense.
0:12:32 > 0:12:37Smuggling rare and endangered breeds is big business,
0:12:37 > 0:12:39worth an estimated £6 billion worldwide.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44Dropping off his curious cargo during his stop-over in Dubai
0:12:44 > 0:12:48would have provided Lendrum with his very own healthy nest egg.
0:12:48 > 0:12:52He could have made up to £70,000 on this particular trip.
0:12:52 > 0:12:56But instead of cash, Lendrum was landed with cuffs
0:12:56 > 0:12:57and sang like a canary.
0:12:57 > 0:13:01He admitted that all the eggs had come from four nest sites
0:13:01 > 0:13:04in the Rhondda Valley in Wales.
0:13:05 > 0:13:09Lendrum revealed how, using his SAS skills, he'd reached a rare nest
0:13:09 > 0:13:13by climbing to the top of trees before abseiling down.
0:13:13 > 0:13:17It seems he was a dab hand at poaching eggs
0:13:17 > 0:13:21and had even scaled cliff faces and dangled from helicopters
0:13:21 > 0:13:23during past raids on nests in Canada and Zimbabwe.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26The counter-terrorist unit officers have taken out
0:13:26 > 0:13:30one of the biggest wildlife criminals probably internationally,
0:13:30 > 0:13:32and certainly as far as the UK's concerned.
0:13:33 > 0:13:37At Warwick Crown Court the world-class crook was sentenced
0:13:37 > 0:13:42to two and a half years for stealing and smuggling the precious peregrine eggs.
0:13:42 > 0:13:44It was a great result all round.
0:13:44 > 0:13:46A court sending out a clear message
0:13:46 > 0:13:49that these offences won't be tolerated
0:13:49 > 0:13:53and all in all it was a tremendous job.
0:13:54 > 0:13:58As for the little stowaways, bird lover Lee took them under his wing.
0:13:58 > 0:14:02But his job as foster father got off to a strange start.
0:14:02 > 0:14:05He needed to keep the eggs warm for their journey home
0:14:05 > 0:14:07so in a touching twist to this tale,
0:14:07 > 0:14:11the very scheme that Lendrum hatched to smuggle the eggs
0:14:11 > 0:14:13was used to save their lives.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16I literally used the socks and I put them inside my shirt
0:14:16 > 0:14:20and done my coat up and drove very, very carefully.
0:14:20 > 0:14:25Under Lee's care, 11 of the 14 eggs hatched healthily.
0:14:25 > 0:14:28They ate me out of house and home several times.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31I now know what it feels like to be a peregrine parent.
0:14:31 > 0:14:34The hatchlings couldn't stay in Lee's nest forever.
0:14:34 > 0:14:37When they were strong enough they were returned to the wild,
0:14:37 > 0:14:40where no doubt they're flying free today.
0:14:40 > 0:14:44We all came together to ensure that they're out in the wild where they should be.
0:14:51 > 0:14:55Poaching eggs may be peculiar but it's certainly not the most surreal sort of smuggling
0:14:55 > 0:14:58and stashed away in this week's Criminal Countdown
0:14:58 > 0:15:02are the most bizarre bootleggers from around the world.
0:15:02 > 0:15:04Checking in first is the man who,
0:15:04 > 0:15:09when asked by officials at Los Angeles airport if he had anything to declare, responded...
0:15:09 > 0:15:11I got monkeys in my pants.
0:15:13 > 0:15:16Two tiny pygmy monkeys, to be precise.
0:15:16 > 0:15:20Officers also found 50 orchids and six birds of paradise in his luggage
0:15:20 > 0:15:25while his travelling companion had a couple of Asian leopard cubs in his rucksack.
0:15:25 > 0:15:29They claimed they were setting up an animal sanctuary in Costa Rica.
0:15:29 > 0:15:30A likely story.
0:15:31 > 0:15:36At Melbourne Airport in 2005, officials' suspicions were aroused
0:15:36 > 0:15:39when they heard sloshing noises coming from one passenger.
0:15:39 > 0:15:43The canny crook had created a plastic apron to wear under their coat...
0:15:46 > 0:15:51..complete with water-filled pouches containing 51 tropical fish.
0:15:51 > 0:15:54Equally impressive are the uniquely designed budgie smugglers
0:15:54 > 0:15:58used by one man on a flight from Vietnam to the States in 2009.
0:15:58 > 0:16:02The elaborate custom-made leggings allowed to him to secrete
0:16:02 > 0:16:05over a dozen songbirds under his slacks.
0:16:07 > 0:16:11But some smugglers don't rely on pernickety pouches or sophisticated socks,
0:16:11 > 0:16:14they just slip their contraband cargo into their hand luggage,
0:16:14 > 0:16:17even if it is a Chihuahua,
0:16:17 > 0:16:21as spotted by Irish inspectors at Dublin Airport in 2009.
0:16:24 > 0:16:29Astonishingly some crims have resorted to smuggling people rather than pets.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36In Sweden in 2008, police believed that a gang of crooks
0:16:36 > 0:16:39were placing dwarves inside bags before stowing them
0:16:39 > 0:16:42in the luggage-holds of long distance coaches.
0:16:42 > 0:16:44The mini marauders stole valuables from coach trippers
0:16:44 > 0:16:48before returning to their hiding places with the loot
0:16:48 > 0:16:51and being picked up by their accomplices once the coach arrived.
0:16:53 > 0:16:57But for sheer audacity, this week's top spot must go to the devoted wife
0:16:57 > 0:17:01who was stopped by guards at a prison in Mexico in 2011
0:17:01 > 0:17:06after she was spotted acting nervously and struggling with a suitcase.
0:17:08 > 0:17:11Inside, wearing only pants and socks,
0:17:11 > 0:17:15they found her husband, whom she'd been trying to smuggle out of jail.
0:17:15 > 0:17:17I don't know how he got there.
0:17:19 > 0:17:23Time now for some more dim crims caught on camera
0:17:23 > 0:17:25and from the word go
0:17:25 > 0:17:28this heister's attempt to hold up a London bank is hopeless.
0:17:28 > 0:17:32The second he hands over his demand note the security shutters fly up.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37But his next blunder really is priceless.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40He's frantically pushing the door he's convinced is locked...
0:17:43 > 0:17:46..when all he needs to do is pull.
0:17:52 > 0:17:56As he gives up and resigns himself to waiting for the police,
0:17:56 > 0:17:59a little old lady toddles in with ease.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02The dopy door basher finally realises his mistake,
0:18:02 > 0:18:05grabs his coat...and pulls.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14For Bizarre Crime we've turned the spotlight on the cops,
0:18:14 > 0:18:18asking serving and retired officers from across the country
0:18:18 > 0:18:22to recount the funniest and freakiest things they've encountered.
0:18:22 > 0:18:26What you're about to hear might sound far-fetched
0:18:26 > 0:18:28but it's the truth,
0:18:28 > 0:18:30the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
0:18:32 > 0:18:37Welcome to Bizarre Crime's Police Confessional.
0:18:37 > 0:18:39Exhibit I - the river.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44We decided to take a burglary suspect down to the River Tees
0:18:44 > 0:18:48to point some houses and premises out that he'd burgled.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51We hadn't put any handcuffs on him and he decided
0:18:51 > 0:18:55that he was going to make his great escape by swimming across the Tees.
0:18:55 > 0:18:58But he didn't realise that the tide was out
0:18:58 > 0:19:02and he ended up up to his waist in mud
0:19:02 > 0:19:08and we actually had to get the air sea rescue out to pull him out of the River Tees mud.
0:19:08 > 0:19:11He'd got up to about his neck by then.
0:19:11 > 0:19:16Never again did we allow anybody to go out without being handcuffed.
0:19:16 > 0:19:20He got charged with trying to escape and all the burglaries.
0:19:26 > 0:19:30Our final case tonight takes us into the rarefied world of the aristocracy,
0:19:30 > 0:19:34where to be a Lord you either have to be born into it
0:19:34 > 0:19:36or work for it. Or you could just fake it
0:19:36 > 0:19:41like this bogus blueblood who, for over 20 years,
0:19:41 > 0:19:46weaved such a complex web of lies that even his own family didn't know who he really was.
0:19:50 > 0:19:54In January 2005, immigration officials at Dover detained a man
0:19:54 > 0:19:58by the name of Christopher Edward Buckingham.
0:19:58 > 0:20:01His passport had aroused suspicion when a routine check revealed
0:20:01 > 0:20:06an exact match between his details and those on the Register of Deaths.
0:20:06 > 0:20:09DC David Sprigg took him in for questioning.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12He was very nicely dressed and very nicely spoken
0:20:12 > 0:20:15and he did look like a country gent.
0:20:15 > 0:20:17It wasn't until we got into the interview stage
0:20:17 > 0:20:20and I started asking him questions about himself
0:20:20 > 0:20:22that the alarm bells started ringing.
0:20:22 > 0:20:26The mystery man surprised Sprigg by telling him
0:20:26 > 0:20:31he wasn't just any old Christopher Buckingham but the ever so grand Lord Buckingham.
0:20:31 > 0:20:35We did do a Google search and the only Lord Buckingham we could find
0:20:35 > 0:20:39was a very expensive pedigree cat.
0:20:39 > 0:20:43I asked him if anybody could verify that he was Lord Buckingham
0:20:43 > 0:20:46and he told me to ring his ex-wife.
0:20:46 > 0:20:51He said, "Do you know a Christopher Edward Buckingham?" I said I'd been married to him.
0:20:51 > 0:20:53The course of the conversation went,
0:20:53 > 0:20:56"We have reason to believe that he isn't who he says he is."
0:20:56 > 0:21:01She said, "Well, I don't think he is Christopher Edward Buckingham
0:21:01 > 0:21:05"but I'd love to know who he is," which absolutely astounded me.
0:21:06 > 0:21:10Amazingly, even though she'd been married to him for 12 years,
0:21:10 > 0:21:14Jody wasn't sure who the man in Sprigg's office really was.
0:21:15 > 0:21:20She'd met Buckingham in 1984 in Germany, where she was...
0:21:20 > 0:21:22# Working as a waitress in a cocktail bar. #
0:21:22 > 0:21:24..and he was doing the washing-up.
0:21:24 > 0:21:28They enjoyed a whirlwind romance and were married within six months.
0:21:28 > 0:21:32The couple then settled in England and had two kids,
0:21:32 > 0:21:34but as the years went by Jody began to suspect...
0:21:36 > 0:21:37..something wasn't quite right.
0:21:37 > 0:21:40I'd accused him a number of times of just being secretive.
0:21:40 > 0:21:44Other than claiming he'd had a diplomat for a dad
0:21:44 > 0:21:48and a top-notch education, Buckingham's past was a mystery.
0:21:48 > 0:21:51There were very few pictures of his background.
0:21:51 > 0:21:56I had a picture of his so-called parents and that was it.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59He was secretive about everything he did.
0:21:59 > 0:22:00We had computers in the house.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04He had them all passworded so I couldn't get into them.
0:22:04 > 0:22:09I was increasingly thinking, "This isn't right."
0:22:09 > 0:22:12Buckingham's bizarre behaviour put a strain on the marriage
0:22:12 > 0:22:17and in 1996 the couple separated and Jody began to do some digging.
0:22:17 > 0:22:22I very quickly rumbled that he hadn't been to Harrow school or Cambridge University.
0:22:25 > 0:22:29And as the kids got older they began to ask questions too.
0:22:29 > 0:22:33They'd been out shopping with Dad in the West End of London
0:22:33 > 0:22:37and Ed said, "Did you know Dad was a Lord?" And I laughed.
0:22:37 > 0:22:39He flipped out a credit card
0:22:39 > 0:22:42and it said Lord Christopher E Buckingham on it.
0:22:42 > 0:22:46We were both like, "What the hell? What is this?"
0:22:46 > 0:22:50Then when we got home we asked my mum, "Was Dad ever a Lord?"
0:22:50 > 0:22:55I went, "Your dad's no more a Lord than I'm Queen Elizabeth."
0:22:55 > 0:23:00The title of Duke of Buckingham had actually died out nearly 300 years ago
0:23:00 > 0:23:04when the bloke who built Buckingham Palace perished without an heir.
0:23:04 > 0:23:05People called Lord Buckingham
0:23:05 > 0:23:08don't necessarily have the surname of Buckingham.
0:23:08 > 0:23:12There have been Dukes of Buckingham whose surname was Stafford
0:23:12 > 0:23:16and whose surname was Temple-Nugent- Brydges-Chandos-Grenville.
0:23:16 > 0:23:21There's not been a Duke of Buckingham or Lord Buckingham whose surname was Buckingham.
0:23:21 > 0:23:23I don't think there's a single person alive today
0:23:23 > 0:23:27who can legitimately call themselves Lord Buckingham.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32Not only was he definitely not a Lord,
0:23:32 > 0:23:37DC Sprigg was soon able to confirm that he wasn't Christopher Edward Buckingham either.
0:23:37 > 0:23:44He'd discovered that Christopher Edward Buckingham had died in 1963 aged just eight months.
0:23:44 > 0:23:49He suspected the imposter had used the dead child's birth certificate to somehow get himself a passport.
0:23:49 > 0:23:54I showed to him in interview a copy of the birth certificate
0:23:54 > 0:23:58and the death certificate of Christopher Edward Buckingham eight months later,
0:23:58 > 0:24:02and I believe he said that it wasn't the same person.
0:24:02 > 0:24:06Convinced the man they'd detained had a fake identity,
0:24:06 > 0:24:09police charged him and he was bailed until his trial.
0:24:09 > 0:24:14I then made it my job to try and find out exactly who he was
0:24:14 > 0:24:17and why he'd got a false identity.
0:24:20 > 0:24:23The police searched the fake Lord's luggage
0:24:23 > 0:24:27and found a letterhead that said "from the Office of Lord Buckingham"
0:24:27 > 0:24:29and gave an address in Northampton.
0:24:29 > 0:24:34Instead of being a country estate, the address turned out to be a house on an estate.
0:24:34 > 0:24:38# Oh, he lives in a house, a very big house in the country. #
0:24:38 > 0:24:42When the case finally went to court, the lying Lord pleaded guilty
0:24:42 > 0:24:45to giving false information to obtain a passport
0:24:45 > 0:24:48and was sentenced to 21 months in prison.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51Even then he refused to reveal exactly who he was.
0:24:51 > 0:24:55He was asked by a High Court judge directly,
0:24:55 > 0:24:59"Are you ever going to tell us what your true identity is?"
0:24:59 > 0:25:02And he replied in open court, "No."
0:25:02 > 0:25:05What did annoy me was the fact that he was going to prison
0:25:05 > 0:25:07and I still didn't know who he was.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10# That's not my name That's not my name... #
0:25:10 > 0:25:13While the man with no name was doing time,
0:25:13 > 0:25:16DC Sprigg uncovered evidence suggesting that
0:25:16 > 0:25:18as well as posing as an English Lord,
0:25:18 > 0:25:22Buckingham had pretended to be Alexi Romanov, a Russian royal,
0:25:22 > 0:25:24a German called Hans Peter Schmidt,
0:25:24 > 0:25:28plus Richard James Thomas, David Alan Thomas,
0:25:28 > 0:25:30and David Robert Allen.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33But of course none of these was his true identity.
0:25:33 > 0:25:36So just who exactly was he?
0:25:36 > 0:25:39It looked like the riddle would remain unsolved
0:25:39 > 0:25:44until out of the blue Jody received an e-mail from a man in America.
0:25:44 > 0:25:47He'd spotted coverage of the case online
0:25:47 > 0:25:49and recognised Buckingham as his brother.
0:25:50 > 0:25:54It turns out that the dodgy duke was actually Charles Stopford,
0:25:54 > 0:25:57one of nine children who'd grown up in Orlando, Florida.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00Seemingly he'd always been obsessed with Britain
0:26:00 > 0:26:04and had even perfected an English accent by watching Monty Python.
0:26:06 > 0:26:09He pulls off an English accent really well, obviously.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12But why would he go to all the trouble
0:26:12 > 0:26:14of adopting a completely new identity?
0:26:14 > 0:26:18For a man like this I would hypothesise that he isn't
0:26:18 > 0:26:23excited by it, that it's more psychologically necessary for him,
0:26:23 > 0:26:27something that he used right from a child, I think,
0:26:27 > 0:26:33to try and manage probably some internal difficulties he had in being who he was.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36People are always going to want an escape somehow.
0:26:36 > 0:26:42I'm guessing this is how my dad decided he wanted to escape his home life and reality.
0:26:42 > 0:26:44On his release from prison
0:26:44 > 0:26:48officials refused to issue Charles Stopford with a British passport
0:26:48 > 0:26:51and he was deported in 2006.
0:26:51 > 0:26:55He now lives in Switzerland and, although he's stopped pretending to be a Peer,
0:26:55 > 0:27:00he's formally changed his name to, yes, Christopher Edward Buckingham.
0:27:00 > 0:27:04Whatever he's calling himself, he's lucky to have two kids who want to stay in touch
0:27:04 > 0:27:08who have also formed a forgiving take on all that's happened.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11No one's perfect, basically.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14Yes, this is pretty big
0:27:14 > 0:27:16but everyone makes mistakes in their lives.
0:27:22 > 0:27:24Next time on Bizarre Crime,
0:27:24 > 0:27:27police unmask the master of daft disguises
0:27:27 > 0:27:29behind a dodgy driving-test scam.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32He would be paid about £3,000 a time
0:27:32 > 0:27:35to take both the theory and the practical test.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39A nightmare neighbour launches a weird criminal campaign.
0:27:39 > 0:27:41He used to stand behind the hedge
0:27:41 > 0:27:45when it was absolutely teeming it down with rain, whistling.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48And a family man turns urban terrorist
0:27:48 > 0:27:53with his botched and bizarre attempt to dodge a speeding ticket.
0:27:53 > 0:27:55Solution was to try and destroy the camera.
0:27:55 > 0:27:58You'd think it was hit by a rocket launcher. It was a real mess.
0:28:06 > 0:28:10Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:28:10 > 0:28:14E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk