Episode 13 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 him swallow his pride, it was brilliant.

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

They might just get caught red-handed.

Today, a threatening letter posted by a sinister stranger

means a sudden frightening change in the lives of an innocent family.

It was like something off the TV, to be honest.

It all didn't seem real.

The world just came to a big halt.

Also today...

Moments of terror at two businesses.

Both suddenly faced with a knife-wielding attacker.

The next thing you know,

these two ladies are there and there's a knife in their face.

I don't think I've ever felt fear like that before.

And this man's not exactly a power dresser.

So why is he stuffing electric power drills down his trousers?

Farnworth, Greater Manchester.

A man types a letter.

He chooses his words carefully to have the maximum impact.

The writer then walks down the street.

He slips the letter underneath this door

and instantly changes the lives of a happy family.

Posting one letter.

It had such an effect on all of us.

A horrible ordeal.

The worst couple of days of my life.

The letter writer is a blackmailer,

demanding money with menaces.

Making false accusations to threaten a blameless young family.

He was saying, "I've been watching you.

"I've been watching your family.

"I know where you live."

It was just horrific.

Lives may be in danger.

The police need to catch him and fast.

This jewellery shop in Farnworth town centre

is a small family business, run by Alex and Anita Kinner.

I've been working here for about five years,

since I bought the business

and everybody seems nice and friendly

and it's quite a nice community, really.

They've been married for seven years and have two young daughters.

Things couldn't be better, to be honest.

We get on fantastically and we've got a lovely circle of friends and...

children who are happy little girls.

But then, one morning, their happiness is suddenly shattered.

It was just a normal day like any other day.

Opened up and came in.

Kevin, who works here, noticed the letter on the floor

with just the word 'Kinners' wrote on it, nothing else.

Thought nothing of it and just put it on the side.

A little while later, Alex gets round to opening the letter.

Started reading it and it referred to an amount of jewellery

which we'd supposedly bought in.

Straight away I knew we hadn't bought anything for that amount.

So, at first, I thought he was getting mixed up with somebody else.

But it wasn't a mix-up.

The letter accused Alex of buying stolen jewellery

and demanded £1,353 in repayment.

Carried on reading down,

all of a sudden it starts getting threatening

and they would burn my house down,

and the children and my wife.

It got quite graphic and quite horrifying really.

Concerned for his family's safety,

Alex phones the police

and rushes to find his wife Anita.

I could see in his face that something was up.

He weren't for telling me in the street,

so I walked back to the shop with him

and then he told me.

And it's like, just didn't register.

I don't think she,

she took it in at first.

Like, the impact of it.

We're just a small family business,

why is someone targeting us for such a thing?

We don't do any wrong.

But even more worrying for Alex,

is the blackmailer claims that he's been watching their every move.

It came across as someone who had really done their homework

and they'd thought about it and

it was someone not to be messed with, to be honest.

The world just came to a big halt.

The terrified couple instinctively want to protect their family.

My next thought was, "Get me children."

She straightaway went to the school.

Cos it was like, he's saying that he's been watching us.

It's like, where is he?

With the family under threat,

the police arrive at the shop within minutes.

Alex and Anita were extremely worried,

they just didn't know who this person was,

why they'd been targeted

and what was going to happen.

There's nothing in that letter suggests to me that this was a hoax.

The police are taking no chances and put safeguards in place.

The afternoon just, was just a big blur.

The next thing I knew,

we was asked if we could go to a safe house in London.

It was a difficult decision for Alex to make,

because essentially, what we're asking him to do is,

leave your life behind and go and stay somewhere else

for an indefinite amount of time until we can find out or assess

just exactly what we're dealing with here.

Just four hours after receiving the blackmail letter,

the couple have to pack up the kids and head for London.

Telling the girls that it's a treat, a holiday.

We had a police escort part of the way going down to London.

The journey was unbelievable

cos me and Alex was constantly wanting to talk to each other.

But naturally, we couldn't say anything about it

because of the young children in the back.

At the safe house, the police install panic buttons,

phone the family every 20 minutes

and visit every few hours.

They also check up on their family and friends.

Police cars were issued to all of our houses

and they were parked outside.

It was like something off the TV, to be honest.

It all didn't seem real.

But it is all too real

and the detectives need to find out who the blackmailer is and quickly.

They start with the letter.

We have to look at every single line in that letter to try

just get an idea of who this man is,

what's motivated them to do this.

The first few lines accuse Alex of buying stolen jewellery

following a house burglary.

Claiming this caused the victim to become ill.

We have to start then researching.

Has there been a robbery at somebody's home recently?

Had somebody perhaps had a stroke who'd been burgled?

Could this person who's written this letter

be a relative of the people who've been burgled?

There is no record of a burglary in the area.

And Alex knows he hasn't bought any stolen jewellery.

Each line of the letter is loaded with menace.

Perhaps he's had some sort of, maybe, a military background.

Or something along those lines,

that he won't be deterred from carrying out these demands.

Even the detailed amount of money the writer demands,

£1,353,

sounds, somehow, plausible.

He's obviously implying that the lady who's suffered the stroke

is his grandparent, so his motivation is high.

"On page three are directions you will follow

"in delivery of the money. Failure to do so

"will result in the burning down of your home

"and your departure from this world."

I think that speaks for itself, really.

"I will receive a call when this has been carried out."

That kind of implies there's more than one person involved

and that there's maybe a team of people.

With no leads and time running out,

there is only one thing for sure,

the police need to act quickly.

We're dealing with someone who's,

on the face of it, seems like he's prepared to carry out this crime.

Later, at the safe house in London,

Alex and Anita's lives are in limbo

We were discussing what we're going to do if they don't catch them.

The family can't live like this for long.

The police know it's urgent that they must find the letter writer.

The only thing we had to go on

was to view CCTV.

What happens next will depend on some grainy camera shots

and an extraordinary twist of fate.

Coming up, drilling down to the truth of why this DIY shopper

is putting power tools down his pants.

But first, is it a Martian on a mission?

Watch this space.

An unearthly sight in a high street at midnight.

It looks like an alien has landed

but there's no need to panic.

The only close encounter this space invader's interested in having

is with the thousands of pounds inside a cash machine.

The home-made spacesuit is to protect him

from the acid he's painting on the machine's metal casing

For some reason, he thinks he can melt his way to money.

A while later, the urban spaceman boldly goes back,

unmasked, to drench the cashpoint in water.

Maybe he's hoping to speed up the chemical reaction.

Or perhaps, guilt has got the better of him.

Either way, all this corrosive crook succeeded in doing

was causing £30,000-worth of damage

and providing a clear snapshot of his face.

So the force will soon be with him.

The police force.

In the past, people used to be afraid of high 'way' robbery.

Nowadays, that's more likely to be high 'street' robbery.

Armed raids on businesses carry stiff sentences

but they still regularly happen.

And it's not just big businesses with high turnover

that are in the criminals' sights.

It's any business with cash in the till.

When something like this happens it affects everything.

Changes your whole world.

Quite clearly he was after cash and he got away with £220 in cash.

Often they're lone attackers, rushing in and out.

Tracking them down takes clever detective work and CCTV.

The quiet town of Chester-le-Street in County Durham.

It's a summer evening and a few punters are in this betting shop

hoping to get lucky.

But the mood suddenly changes

when a masked man bursts in brandishing a knife.

He leaps over the counter, waving the blade

and demands money from terrified cashiers.

One of the women hands over the contents of the till.

And while the stunned customers watch on, the thief escapes.

The dramatic CCTV footage

finds its way onto the desk of Detective Sgt John Woodhall.

He was quite athletic, he leapt the counter, sort of, in one leap.

And the next thing you know,

these two ladies are there and there's a knife in their face.

Had the ladies challenged him

or had gone towards him, it could've ended a whole lot worse.

They're both very shaken, very upset.

I think at first a little bit confused as to what was

actually going on and then the realisation dawned on them

that they were actually being the victims of a crime.

The ladies had the presence of mind to stand back

and just let him get on with it. But I shudder to think what might

have happened had he been challenged.

Another person who has faced a man with a knife

and knows how it feels is Shelley.

She runs a hairdresser's shop in Bolton.

Shelley lives above her salon Talking Heads.

I've been here about ten years now,

I live here as well

so it's just convenient for everything, really.

Work, home life, sorting kids out.

But on a cold January afternoon,

that is all about to change.

That day was just like any other day.

We come to work, had a laugh,

did the customer's hair.

I was at the sink, I glanced through the window

and thought this guy looked a bit out of the ordinary

with a scarf covering his face.

Next thing, he come through the door, pulled a knife out,

come straight at me

screaming, "Give me your money."

And I just thought it was a joke

because nothing like that's ever happened really around here.

It happens to everybody else, not you.

I just thought, is it a friend playing a prank?

It's not real, it's not a real knife.

But you're just watching that knife.

Where's that knife going?

As he come nearer with the knife,

my reaction was just to put the shower in his face.

So, then he left me,

went to my colleague,

asked her for the money,

started to pull her hair.

I said, "Give him the money, it's not worth our lives."

The attacker turns his interest towards the till.

He grabs the money and runs out.

It's only after,

you realise what could have happened

but it was the longest 50 seconds of our lives.

It felt like hours.

I don't care, he could have took £5, £5 million,

as long as we're all all right.

Back in Chester-le-Street, it's John Woodhall's job

to track down the masked intruder

who jumped over the counter looking for cash.

He's reviewing the footage from the bookmakers closely.

For the moment, it's all he's got to go on.

All you can see there is he's wearing a ski mask,

a light-coloured jacket and a black glove.

What I'm also looking at

is when he jumps over the counter with the training shoes.

You can see the Nike training shoe.

And from other camera angles in the store you can see the sole

and the sole has a light grey/silver coloured panel running down them.

To find the masked man, John sets off to do some super-sleuthing.

From experience, it's like, rewind the video,

I want to know where he has been

just prior to coming in and carrying out the offence.

Sort of following him backwards really.

Prior to him committing the actual offence.

John starts his search at the scene of the crime.

From the witnesses we were able to say that the offender ran

directly up this street and headed all the way to the top.

Retracing the robber's escape route,

John notices that a few local residents have CCTV cameras.

And it turns out they have some very interesting footage.

This is the offender, prior to the offence being committed

and he's in a rear alley,

which backs on to the premises that was attacked.

We're able to see he's wearing the light-coloured jacket,

the vest and carrying the same bag.

This is the offender walking down the street.

This allows me to see the black backpack with the silver grey panel.

And then, straight after the robbery...

Same camera, same street, he's got the same coat on,

he's wearing the ski mask on his head and you can see the bag,

which is the same bag that the guy was carrying

prior to the offence being committed.

And this, again, is the same footage from a different camera angle.

It allows me to see, there, the grey panel on the bottom of his shoes,

which is fantastic evidence because you can see that quite clearly

when he leaps the counter from one of the cameras,

he's wearing the same shoes.

The man tried his luck at the bookies. It's running out.

So, that gave us the impetus, then, to look for the bag

and the opportunity to see where he came from prior to that camera.

The last sighting we had from a witness

was that he saw the robber run up here

and then turn right round this corner at the wall.

Natural progression would lead him towards the supermarket

in this direction.

And this here, to my right, is where we believe the offender made off.

And when John checks the supermarket CCTV,

suddenly, all bets are off for the balaclava'd man from the bookies.

He bursts out of some bushes,

looking a lot less like a gangster,

in a pair of shorts.

Minus the mask and the balaclava.

He thinks he's incognito

but he's actually in big trouble

when John searches the area.

First item I found was this mobile telephone.

It was just sat on the top of the long grass, peering up at me.

Without even moving my feet I turned to my right,

looked down and I found the black leather glove.

It's that point I shouted to colleagues to come down.

When they arrived, within feet of where we were standing,

we found the knife. Once we found the items there,

I thought myself, "Yeah, we've got our man.

"We'll get him from this."

A careless crook and now his number's up.

He's tried to beat the bookies

but now the odds are stacked against him.

I was able to take that knife

and show it to the two ladies who worked in the store

and one of them was able to say,

"Yeah, that knife is a similar size, similar shape."

John's got the weapon.

Crime scene investigators come along, they take the glove

and they take DNA samples from inside.

That went off to the science laboratory

and it gave me the name of the guy.

Now all John needs is an address

and the mobile phone holds an important clue.

It was quite apparent from the nature of the messages on the phone

that taxis from the Newcastle area had been ordered

and luckily for me, the taxi companies

who were requested to attend

actually send a text message back to your telephone

to tell you your car is on its way to your home address

and provide you with that home address. So, that was fantastic.

Thanks to some clever and determined detective work,

and the help of yet more CCTV from the day of the robbery,

John now has a suspect in his sights.

He looks to his right just as he's moving

and you can see he's got quite pointy facial features

and you can see the silvery, grey hair.

And it allowed me in interview to show this and say,

"Well, I've never met you

"but sitting two feet away from you across a table, that's you."

Which sort of took the wind out of his sails a wee bit

and caused him to bury his head in his hands.

The CCTV evidence in this case was

the straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak.

It allowed me to see exactly what had happened

and it also allowed his barrister to say to him,

"I think you need to hold your hands up with this one,

"you're pretty much stuck." So, without the CCTV,

we would have been fighting a losing battle.

John's finally got his man.

And it turns out, this armed thief has had a very busy week,

Robbing another betting shop in Newcastle a few days before.

Richard Black pleads guilty to both robberies.

And is sentenced to ten years in prison.

A good result for John and his colleagues.

Everybody involved in the team played their part

and the result in the end for the victims was great.

I don't think for one moment the victims ever thought we were going to catch him.

When we spoke to them the morning after the robbery,

it's, he's got a ski mask you're never going to find out who he is.

And then when I went and told them, "Yeah, we've arrested somebody

"and we've charged him," they couldn't believe it.

They thought it was great.

Such attacks are very rare.

But what should people do if they are confronted

by someone with a weapon?

Don't try to tackle them. Step away.

The value of the items that thieves want to take

is not comparable to your own safety and your own life.

Perhaps you'd want to make note of the clothing that they're wearing.

Any tattoos, significant marks or scars. Are they wearing glasses?

And look where an offender's touched.

We can look back for DNA and for fingerprint evidence,

which can lead to the early identification of a suspect.

Did they go in a vehicle? Which direction did they go?

And try and make note of all of these things.

It makes it much easier for us to follow a path

with a dog later. We can track.

And also our police units and get people into the area

to try and locate the suspect.

People think other people have rung 999.

You ring 999, then you know for sure that it's been done.

Now, a shopper in a DIY store.

He's looking for tools but he's not a 'paying' customer.

He's a 'slippery' customer.

It's a weekend at this DIY store in Barnstable

and this man is looking to make a big saving.

100% off, to be precise.

But this chap is not the sharpest tool in the box.

He's loitering around the power tools section

and he's about to help himself to a top-of-the-range cordless drill,

which costs about £300.

There it goes, straight down the front of his trousers.

I hope for his sake, it's turned off.

He just walks out with it,

although, I imagine, walking may just be a little, um, uncomfortable.

When the staff eventually find the drill is missing,

they hand this CCTV footage over to the police.

Everyone thinks the crook has probably got away with it though.

Until, that is, on the following Saturday.

Unbelievably, he's back.

When it comes to shoplifting, he reckons he knows the drill.

He's on the lookout for any security staff.

But he's failed to notice that the CCTV cameras are focused on him.

He decides the coast is clear

and packs another drill away

into his own personal tool box.

He scarpers. But the manager and the security team have spotted him

and throw a spanner in the works.

He's not getting away with it this time.

Just as he tries to leave the DIY store,

he gets nailed.

The man is made to pay £289 for the drill he got away with

and sentenced to a 13-week curfew order,

meaning he can't leave his home between 6pm and 6am.

Plenty of time to catch up with all that DIY around the house.

Blackmail and demanding money with menaces. A nasty crime.

But, thankfully, an uncommon one.

But that's no comfort for Alex, Anita and their family.

In Farnworth, Greater Manchester,

Alex and Anita's innocent family have received a letter

demanding money with violent threats.

It was detailing how he was going to come and burn my house down

and my children's life would come to an end.

The police are taking the threat so seriously,

Alex and Anita have moved

with their young children to a safe house.

We were just like a coiled spring, really. Constantly alert.

I could see Alex was, he was been strong for me

cos he knew that I would take it really personal and to heart.

With time running out,

the police are under pressure to find the blackmailer quickly.

Detective Karl Chandler is on the case.

Alex's life and his family's life's on hold

and we need to move this investigation on.

This offence has taken place on the town centre

and I know the town centre is well-covered with CCTV.

The police find out that Alex's jewellery shop

is covered by the town's cameras.

And so it was a case of just sitting through that footage.

Karl watches pedestrians as they pass in front of the shop.

At around 8.15 in the morning, one of them stoops down.

And posts an envelope under the shutters.

He slowly walks on.

This is the moment where this person commits the offence.

As a police officer, we've got something to work with.

The man walks with a distinctive gait,

making him easier to follow as he crosses the town centre.

You see he appeared to have a limp,

he was quite a stocky build,

looked like he was wearing a dark jacket and a bob cap.

So, we could then start to backtrack.

It looks like the man is heading for a supermarket further down the road.

But with the store shut for the night, Karl has no choice

but to wait till the next morning to check their camera footage.

While we were waiting to speak to the security,

I was looking across the car park

from the foyer of the local superstore,

when a man, matching the blackmailer's description,

walked past.

Limping,

bob cap, dark clothing, heavy build.

And I just thought straightaway,

it looks like the blackmailer.

But is this the right man?

They stop and ask him for his address, which turns out

to be on the same road as the blackmailer's ransom drop-off point.

So that raised the suspicions even further

and it was at that point we decided he was to be arrested.

Back at the police station...

He made no comment to a number of questions asked but then later

he did speak and did explain that he was the person responsible.

Only 30 hours after their ordeal has begun,

the police phone Alex and Anita to tell them the good news.

Real relief, unbelievable. Best news I've ever had.

It was like, I'm going to burst out, saying we can go back.

Karl collects the CCTV footage from the supermarket

and it clearly shows the face of the man

who sent Anita and Alex's world into turmoil.

50-year-old Anthony Wilcock.

The offence of blackmail's a serious crime.

Demanding money with menaces,

threatening a family.

And so, you can see that the sentence would reflect the crime.

In court, Wilcock is sentenced to four years in prison.

Not deterred by his bad experience,

Alex was back in business after only four days,

determined to continue a job he knows and loves.

It does cross your mind,

is it worth it being in the jewellery business?

Having to go through things like this?

Do you give it all up or...?

But you can't bow down to people.

You can't let people run your life.

To make sure his family never feel threatened again,

Alex put in a security system in his home.

But the experience has left them stronger.

It brought us close, we are a close family anyway

and nobody's going to take our family away from us,

no matter what they say.

That's it for today.

Join us next time when the police and the public

catch more criminals red-handed.