Episode 12 Caught Red Handed

Thieves will steal our cars, our valuables,

just about anything they can get their hands on.

To cut down on crime and antisocial behaviour,

police and other agencies are using new tactics

and technology where the bad guys get caught in the act.

Brilliant footage. Police officers love CCTV.

Local councils, shops and businesses are laying some traps of their own.

As soon as he walked into the picture, I knew who he was.

And the general public too

can help unsuspecting crooks get their comeuppance.

We definitely needed proof.

You're not going to get away with it. You might as well just pack up.

It made me swell up with pride, it was brilliant.

So, anyone who's up to no good had better think twice.

They might just get caught red-handed.

Today, when teenage tomfoolery turns to terror,

a husband and wife come under attack in their own home.

And I was absolutely terrified.

I watched it and I was appalled. Completely appalled.

And at a children's indoor playground, some big bad boys

haven't come to play games.

It was all a whirlwind. My heart just sank,

I felt sick, I felt completely violated.

And in a Lancaster nightclub,

an uninvited guest helps himself at the bar, then bottles it.

Romney Marsh in Kent.

This area is well known for its beautiful countryside,

historic heritage and wildlife.

It's where many people go to retire, relax and enjoy the sea air.

But the elderly couple who live here have their dream of a peaceful life

rudely shattered...

..when youths gather outside their property

and systematically torment them.

My wife was crying her eyes out on the bottom of the stairs.

Bill has said it's the worst noise and experience he's had

since the War.

Hidden police cameras capture the bad behaviour, not just once

but night, after night, after night.

80-year-old Bill and his wife worked and lived in London.

But when they retired, they made a few changes.

My father was a bit of a philosopher when he wanted to be.

And, when he retired, he said,

"Son, I have retired from work, not from life."

That's what retirement's all about -

doing what you want to do, when you want to do it...

..and making the best of it.

And what they wanted to do was to get away from the city

for a change of pace.

We decided to downsize, go into the country.

And we'd been coming down to this area, ooh, since

almost time began.

They settled in a small town in the Romney Marshes

and fell in love with this picture-perfect cottage.

It's Grade II listed.

It means that we've got to keep the external as original

wherever possible.

Mandy Kimpton is also a newcomer to the area.

She works as a Police Community Support Officer

and knows most of the people in the neighbourhood.

Bill and his wife could totally be your nan and grandad.

They are just the nicest people.

Run the local museum, known very much in the community as well.

Bill is also known by some of the local teenagers.

His house is near a square where they often gather.

The square has always been a meeting place for the children

mainly because, of an evening, the square was well lit.

Generations have hung out in this same place.

I've spoken to many residents of this area where they've said,

"Yeah, I used to hang around there with my can of pop

"and a packet of crisps and meet my friends."

Groups of teenagers can make a fair amount of noise

but Bill and his wife have been tolerant

and have a good relationship with them.

We've all been kids ourselves.

We've all got out of hand one time or another, so you..

...you're not trying to be grumpy

and you're not trying to be an old fuddy-duddy.

Bill and his wife, at that point, absolutely never used to call in.

They weren't at all worried by people gathering outside

near to where they lived.

And Bill doesn't mind when a ball sometimes comes over his wall.

We did our best to compromise by allowing the kids,

if the ball came over in the garden, just to come in,

collect the ball and shut the gate on the way out.

Went on very well like that.

But then, the gang of teenagers gets older and bigger

and so does the level of their noise and boisterous behaviour.

They were being...

a little more rowdy.

Every now and again, a thump of a football on the door or the window

frightens the life out of you.

Can you imagine being in your front room

when your front door is your front room?

So when that is being shook or hit,

that is actually battering within inches of your life.

Trying to be, wherever possible, civil,

most of the kids were quite civil.

Say, "Oh, sorry, governor," or, "Sorry, mate," you know.

And they'd go off.

Then we had some new youths move into the area

and I think the children were quite influenced by the new faces.

So you kind of get that ringleader kind of gang style of behaviour,

and I think that was the turning point, really.

A few deliberately aim their football at Bill's

Grade II listed house, causing damage to the walls and roof.

It got to the point where I was using the 101

to the police very frequently.

Bill's repeated calls prompt action and the police designate the area

as a dispersal zone, which gives them extra powers.

We would look to make sure that there wasn't the congregation

and to move people on

that were congregating outside the address.

We'd take children home,

explain to their parents what they'd been doing, we'd...

constantly be taking them home, saying,

"Please, don't play here. You need to move on."

Despite we were sending people away and we were focusing

our resources on that specific area, it still wasn't enough.

The antisocial behaviour gets increasingly intimidating

until it becomes full-blown harassment.

Both of us were born before the Second World War,

so we had a bit of stress in our youth.

You just can't walk around without looking over your shoulder.

You get to that stage...pff.

You know, it's...

it's difficult.

The police change their tactics.

The only way to stop the youths now is to bring charges.

For that, they need evidence.

They supply Bill with a logbook

so he can write down the details of each incident.

By keeping the log,

it allowed some of the frustration to be put down on paper.

Any diary that is kept of events is vital

to provide the court later a greater understanding of what's happened.

Mandy also arranges for the installation of some hidden

CCTV cameras.

I was so pleased once I managed to get that authority.

It meant so much to me.

I wanted to gather this evidence to help sort out the couple's problems

cos it was just so distressing for them.

His diary entries can then later be tied in with CCTV

and then it can be played in court.

And a CCTV image is worth 1,000 words.

The cameras are left running for nearly a month,

and this is just some of the harassment they witness.

It's 10 o'clock on a Saturday night

and the group of youths are gathering.

One of them cycles up to Bill's house and knocks on the window.

A moment later, another youth goes over to hammer a bit louder.

And goes to bang the door.

Then, others pick up the idea.

They were riding their bikes round, banging on the doors and the window.

And start using their bikes to make more of an impact.

And I think somebody just thought,

let's have a go at kicking the door in.

These aren't young teens

and they can hit the house with a lot of force.

I could hear the wood of the door splitting under the impact

and I'm wondering, what do I do...

..if the door gets kicked in?

I'm obliged to protect my property, I'm obliged to protect my wife...

who, at the time, was crying her eyes out...

..on the bottom of the stairs.

And I was...I was absolutely terrified.

But the house withstands the onslaught.

Even the windows survive having stones thrown at them.

The group runs off a little later when the police arrive.

But the next day, they are back again, trying to kick the door down.

And they don't stop there.

A few days later, they repeatedly target the house

with a football, deliberately causing damage.

The police collect the camera evidence.

I'd been on rest days, and I came back in

and the whole team in my police station were like,

"You have to see this. You won't believe what evidence

"we've gathered from the cameras."

And I watched it and I was appalled.

Completely appalled as to what had happened.

You can hear from a witness what they're experiencing,

but it really brings it home to you when you see the images.

They identify and arrest eight of the youths

and immediately inform Bill and his wife.

It was a great relief.

The stress that we'd been suffering was reduced phenomenally.

In court, seven pleaded guilty to harassment

and one to a public order offence.

They are given various sentences depending on their age

and involvement.

Conditional discharges, restraining orders, fines and referral orders.

It's a short, sharp shock for them and their families.

I think it may have surprised them.

I hope it did because, if they can correct their behaviour now,

they will be a lot better off in future.

The council have now taken action to make sure

this kind of incident doesn't happen again.

It's fantastic, there's now overt cameras being placed

on the square, which will significantly reduce problems

in the future.

We still get young people gathering

but nobody is going out their way to create trouble.

Thankfully, this type of sustained harassment is quite rare.

However, we do need to keep an eye out, not just for ourselves

but also our neighbours as well.

But what exactly counts as harassment?

Harassment takes many forms.

It's about creating alarm and distress

and people feeling uncomfortable in their own homes, for example,

where it may be that the simple things -

people knocking on the door at different times of the night,

your next-door neighbour might be putting their music on

particularly loud, people... Sort of verbal abuse.

There's a whole range of things that that covers.

Harassment doesn't always have to be face-to-face.

Nowadays, we do see problems being reported through social media.

Lots of young people are using social media.

Quite often we see bullying.

It might just be the nature of the language that's being used

or perhaps it's specific threats that are being made

and we do take that extremely seriously.

First instance, if you feel as if your quality-of-life

is being affected by somebody else, ring us and we'll talk it through.

A children's play centre needs to win a new

and serious game...

of beat the burglar.

When I seen that footage,

that's when I got excited and thought, "We're onto something."

And this crook thinks he can hold his drink

stuffing stolen bottles down his trousers.

But he's picked the wrong day and the wrong bar.

But first, someone who literally takes the biscuit.

A word of advice for anyone planning to rent out a property -

get a lettings agent who doesn't have a sweet tooth.

This guy is showing a prospective tenant round a flat

when he notices a specially attractive feature.

As his client has a look around,

the agent clearly has something more important on his mind.

That something is just to the right

of another special feature of this flat -

a hidden camera that the owner has left running

just to see if it works.

The prospective tenant finishes his inspection and leaves the flat

and the agent just can't hold out any longer.

He nips back and picks up...

..a chocolate bar.

Yes, this wally-Wonka's downfall is his sweet tooth.

He snaffles the choccie treat and takes it to a galaxy far, far away.

The owner showed the footage to the agent's boss,

who promptly sacked him.

Having bitten off a bit more than he can chew,

the chocoholic chap is now taking a break.

And no, it's not a KitKat.

Unscrupulous thieves will target anywhere, even a play area,

somewhere that exists to keep children cheerful

and give their parents a break.

A busy indoor play centre in the village of Mere Brow,

near Southport, Lancashire.

CHILDREN SQUEAL

This happy place was set up as a family business

for children to come and experience a world of fun.

CHILDREN SHOUT

But no sooner is the centre up and running, an out-of-hours visit

from a gang of burglars wipes the smile off everyone's face.

The sound of fun and laughter is replaced by the sound

of a sledgehammer smashing glass.

And it was, it was just heartbreaking.

We'd put our life and soul into getting Jollie's Barn up and running.

The police will need help from the press and the public

to catch the gang red-handed and put a stop to their game.

CHILDREN LAUGH

Sarah, a former teacher,

and her husband had the idea to open an indoor play centre

three years ago.

I just thought it was something that was missing from the local community.

An opportunity came up to rent this space

and I had a change of career path

and we just took a chance and went for it, really.

They started from scratch,

and it took a lot of hard work to get the business off the ground.

It's my life. I live, breathe, eat, sleep Jollie's Barn.

The whole family does, to be honest.

The centre is on the edge of Mere Brow village

and a business park surrounded by farmers' fields.

I'm very fortunate. I've got some fantastic staff who are local.

We're all extremely passionate about what it brings to the community.

You wouldn't expect a place designed for children to have fun

to become a target for criminals.

But one Sunday afternoon,

Sarah gets a disturbing phone call at home from her father-in-law.

He just said, "Sarah, there's been some bad news.

"Jollie's Barn has been broken into.

"I'm on my way." He only lives up the road. He literally picked me up.

It was all a whirlwind.

My heart just sank, I felt sick, I felt completely violated.

I didn't know what I was expecting when I turned up here.

The centre had only just closed for the night.

They arrived to find the front door smashed in

and the police already there.

The safe, which contains nearly £3,000, is missing from the office.

Soon, a police forensic team arrive to check everywhere

for fingerprints.

PC Thomas Jay

is one of the investigating team that visits Sarah the next day.

Sarah was in pieces.

It was a new business trying to get things up and going.

So it's building up that rapport with Sarah

to try and make her feel...bit more reassured that the police

are going to be something about it and, hopefully, catch the offender.

No clues come from the forensic work

but they do have footage from Sarah's CCTV system to look at.

And this is what they see.

Only a moment after the last staff member has left,

a dark car pulls up.

Two men get out while the driver waits in the car.

One of them carries a heavy sledgehammer over to the door.

He smashes the glass.

The other man heads straight for the office.

He's in there for just eight seconds before he comes out with the safe.

The men drive off.

But this footage gives the police a chance to identify the burglars,

and they want it to be seen by as many people as possible.

The decision was made on the spot, really.

"Let's get this CCTV out to the general public to view."

Sarah and her staff also used their social media skills

to try and get the men identified.

I think, within about 10 minutes of actually getting the nod

from the PC in charge, we were on loads of social media,

front page of about five local papers.

It was just amazing.

The big push for information pays off the next day

when PC Thomas Jay receives an anonymous tip-off.

It was along the lines of,

"I've definitely seen that vehicle in a DIY store in Liverpool.

She said, as soon as she seen the vehicle on the footage, straightaway

she recognised this being the same vehicle at this DIY store,

where she then describes seeing two males carrying a sledgehammer

and she described them as local scally lads.

A DIY store is usually a good place to go for something concrete,

and the video evidence they supply turns out to be just that.

When I seen that footage, that's when I got excited and thought,

"We're onto something."

These pictures were recorded just an hour and a half

before the break-in at the play centre.

A dark vehicle with a missing hubcap approaches the store.

The car at the burglary also had a hubcap missing.

As it parks, the numberplate is captured on camera.

Two men get out.

They wander around

before one goes towards the heavier demolition tools...

..to choose a suitable sledgehammer.

They don't try to steal the hammer. Like normal, law-abiding citizens,

they pay up at the cash desk.

To try and put names to their faces,

PC Jay sends still images of them to all of his colleagues.

That was circulated to local forces and we had quite a quick response

to say they recognised the two people in the footage

and we put a name to the two faces.

They are eventually tracked down and arrested.

PC Jay goes to interview them about the play centre burglary

but they remain silent throughout.

I wasn't frustrated, it's their right given to them.

Cos I knew we had the evidence, no matter what he said.

Although they questioned two men about the break-in

at Jollie's Barn, only one was charged.

In court, 24-year-old Adam Donohue

is sentenced to five years and two months in prison

for his part in the play centre burglary and other offences.

-CHILDREN SHOUT:

-One, two, three!

Sarah and her staff have now got over the bumpy start

to their business.

They're impressed by the efficient way the police tackled the crime.

It couldn't have been written, it was just textbook from the word go

of how they've basically caught them, and how the public responded.

Everybody was getting involved, offering suggestions,

offering names of who they thought it was.

To finally actually have full CCTV footage of this person

in a local store, buying what they used to smash the window,

was just brilliant.

And at Jollie's, everything and everyone is jolly once again.

Now to a more grown-up type of play centre.

Nightclubs are often the target too, because the rich pickings

of money and booze make them very tempting to thieves.

Lancaster, in the northwest of England.

A man enters a nightclub.

But if anyone's asking, he's not dancing.

Instead, he's here to steal money from a till,

but he struggles to get it open.

Unfortunately for him,

he's not come with the right tools for the job,

so he has to go back to get them.

But before he gets back,

the owner and a friend have come to check on the premises.

I stood up and just said "Look, what are you doing here?"

And then he just turned around and bolted for it.

But the pair set off after him.

They're determined to make this footloose thief face the music.

5ives, in Lancaster, is run by local entrepreneur Rob Dookie,

and it isn't the first nightclub he's managed.

I've been working in this industry for about 23 years

and this is our biggest project up to now.

But recently, he has had some setbacks.

We've had it for about six weeks and,

over the course of the six weeks, we've had two break-ins.

Although the nightclubs take up all of Rob's time,

they're not open every night of the week,

which is something the last set of burglars took advantage of.

A group of youths broke in through the fire exit,

stole a TV and some alcohol.

Those hooded burglars weren't identified.

A close colleague, also called Rob, helped clear up after that raid.

It was just a kind of a...a bit of a worrying thing, you know,

seeing my friend's business being broken into.

I think...yeah, it's just a bit out of order.

You know, he works hard for what he's got.

But, incredibly, just two weeks later, it happens all over again.

And it's not a case of Saturday night fever.

It's a Tuesday afternoon when a fire door opens and a man appears.

This bad lad's not here to boogie, he wants to get boozy.

Heading behind the bar,

he gets a bottle of drink and stuffs it down his trouser leg.

But this bitter bootlegging is not enough for him.

He finds what he's really looking for - a cocktail of keys,

but will one of them open the till?

Well, it's not that one.

And it's not that one either.

With all that hard work, he pauses for refreshment,

and this drink goes straight to his legs too.

He leaves, clinking as he goes to get more tools to bust open

the till.

And it's then that Rob arrives to complete some paperwork.

As I'm driving up to my car parking space,

I've looked to the left, I've noticed the door's open.

I've gone inside and done a search of the building.

The door's not only open, it's damaged

and he films it on his mobile phone.

It looked to me that he'd used a crowbar.

There's a lot of strength to break that door open.

I was looking around.

I was conscious somebody might be in the building.

I kind of was prepared for somebody to jump out on me,

whether it was one or two people.

At the time, I was very nervous, but adrenaline takes over.

And I've called a colleague to come over and help me fix the door.

His friend arrives.

While he's waiting for Rob to come back,

he hears a noise and finds they have a visitor.

I heard a scuffling and I went to question him.

I stood up and just said, "Look, what are you doing here?"

And then I've come from the bar into here.

The guy has got literally here, he's literally stood here

and he's looked at us both and gone, "Is this a club?"

Now, at that stage, we just said to him, "Can we help you, mate?"

He's just turned around, hood's gone on his head and we followed him.

Then he starts running, so we run after him.

He's leapt the stairs, and then he runs down there and we follow him

all the way down there.

The two friends pursue the intruder.

We knew that if the guy had got away,

probably, the chances of the police catching him

would have been very slim.

Rob's racing through the streets.

I'm a very fast runner.

So I would have been belting it.

But I wasn't dressed for running at the time.

Just as they all begin to tire, Rob notices staff

from a neighbouring store having a chat

and shouts to let them know what's happening.

"Stop, help! I'm getting tired," something along them lines.

I think it was obvious that he was a thief by that stage -

had me running around after somebody in a suit

and this guy running around with rucksacks, bolt cutters,

all sorts, hanging out and dropping from his pockets

-all over the road.

-Two of the store staff join the chase

and the burglar runs out of steam.

I've run down the steps and then literally got into the road

and just jumped on him by this stage.

And just all of us overpowered him and then we was that tired

that it was easier just to sit on him and call the police.

The police take over from the citizen's arrest.

Police officer immediately recognised the guy.

And he just said, "Nice to see you again, fella.

"We've been looking for you." And then handcuffed...

then handcuffs him straightaway.

As well as the video evidence of the burglar's fancy footwork

at the nightclub, the police find his fingerprints all over it.

Rob realises he almost came face-to-face

with the man on his own.

If I'd have turned up for work 15 minutes earlier,

I would have walked in on the guy in here

and it could have been a different story.

In court, the man pleaded guilty to three separate burglaries.

One at a residential property, as well as the one at the nightclub,

and is sentenced to 20 weeks in prison.

Rob's now hoping the spate of break-ins is over,

and he's installed more cameras as a deterrent.

But in case somebody else should turn up at the nightclub uninvited,

he's making sure he'll be ready for another impromptu road race.

It's not something I want to do without training.

I'm back at the gym a lot at the moment now, though,

so they can bring it on if they want to have another crack.

That's it for today.

Join us next time

when the police and the public catch more criminals red-handed.