Episode 13 Caught Red Handed


Episode 13

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Transcript


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Thieves will steal our cars,

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our valuables, just about anything

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they can get their hands on.

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To cut down on crime and antisocial behaviour,

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police and other agencies are using new tactics and technology,

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where the bad guys get caught in the act.

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Brilliant footage. Police officers love CCTV.

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Local councils, shops and businesses

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are laying some traps of their own.

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

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And the general public too,

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can help unsuspecting crooks get their comeuppance.

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We definitely needed proof.

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

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It made him swallow his pride, it was brilliant.

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

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They might just get caught red-handed.

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Today, a threatening letter posted by a sinister stranger

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

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

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It all didn't seem real.

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The world just came to a big halt.

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Also today...

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Moments of terror at two businesses.

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Both suddenly faced with a knife-wielding attacker.

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The next thing you know,

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

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

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And this man's not exactly a power dresser.

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

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Farnworth, Greater Manchester.

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A man types a letter.

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He chooses his words carefully to have the maximum impact.

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The writer then walks down the street.

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He slips the letter underneath this door

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and instantly changes the lives of a happy family.

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Posting one letter.

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It had such an effect on all of us.

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A horrible ordeal.

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The worst couple of days of my life.

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The letter writer is a blackmailer,

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demanding money with menaces.

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Making false accusations to threaten a blameless young family.

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

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"I've been watching your family.

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"I know where you live."

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It was just horrific.

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Lives may be in danger.

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The police need to catch him and fast.

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This jewellery shop in Farnworth town centre

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

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I've been working here for about five years,

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since I bought the business

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and everybody seems nice and friendly

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and it's quite a nice community, really.

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

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Things couldn't be better, to be honest.

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

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children who are happy little girls.

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

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It was just a normal day like any other day.

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Opened up and came in.

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

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

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

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

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Started reading it and it referred to an amount of jewellery

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which we'd supposedly bought in.

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

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

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But it wasn't a mix-up.

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The letter accused Alex of buying stolen jewellery

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and demanded £1,353 in repayment.

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Carried on reading down,

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all of a sudden it starts getting threatening

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and they would burn my house down,

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and the children and my wife.

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It got quite graphic and quite horrifying really.

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Concerned for his family's safety,

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Alex phones the police

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and rushes to find his wife Anita.

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I could see in his face that something was up.

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He weren't for telling me in the street,

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so I walked back to the shop with him

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and then he told me.

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

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I don't think she,

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she took it in at first.

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Like, the impact of it.

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We're just a small family business,

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why is someone targeting us for such a thing?

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We don't do any wrong.

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But even more worrying for Alex,

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

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It came across as someone who had really done their homework

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and they'd thought about it and

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

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The world just came to a big halt.

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The terrified couple instinctively want to protect their family.

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My next thought was, "Get me children."

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She straightaway went to the school.

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

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It's like, where is he?

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With the family under threat,

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the police arrive at the shop within minutes.

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Alex and Anita were extremely worried,

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they just didn't know who this person was,

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why they'd been targeted

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and what was going to happen.

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

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

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The afternoon just, was just a big blur.

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The next thing I knew,

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

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It was a difficult decision for Alex to make,

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

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leave your life behind and go and stay somewhere else

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

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just exactly what we're dealing with here.

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Just four hours after receiving the blackmail letter,

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

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

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

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The journey was unbelievable

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

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But naturally, we couldn't say anything about it

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because of the young children in the back.

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At the safe house, the police install panic buttons,

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phone the family every 20 minutes

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and visit every few hours.

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They also check up on their family and friends.

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Police cars were issued to all of our houses

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and they were parked outside.

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

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It all didn't seem real.

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But it is all too real

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

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They start with the letter.

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

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just get an idea of who this man is,

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what's motivated them to do this.

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The first few lines accuse Alex of buying stolen jewellery

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following a house burglary.

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Claiming this caused the victim to become ill.

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We have to start then researching.

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

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

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Could this person who's written this letter

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

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There is no record of a burglary in the area.

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

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Each line of the letter is loaded with menace.

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

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Or something along those lines,

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

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Even the detailed amount of money the writer demands,

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£1,353,

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sounds, somehow, plausible.

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

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is his grandparent, so his motivation is high.

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"On page three are directions you will follow

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"in delivery of the money. Failure to do so

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"will result in the burning down of your home

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"and your departure from this world."

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I think that speaks for itself, really.

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

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

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and that there's maybe a team of people.

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With no leads and time running out,

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there is only one thing for sure,

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the police need to act quickly.

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We're dealing with someone who's,

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

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Later, at the safe house in London,

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Alex and Anita's lives are in limbo

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

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The family can't live like this for long.

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

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The only thing we had to go on

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was to view CCTV.

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What happens next will depend on some grainy camera shots

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and an extraordinary twist of fate.

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

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is putting power tools down his pants.

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But first, is it a Martian on a mission?

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Watch this space.

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An unearthly sight in a high street at midnight.

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It looks like an alien has landed

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but there's no need to panic.

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

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is with the thousands of pounds inside a cash machine.

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The home-made spacesuit is to protect him

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

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

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A while later, the urban spaceman boldly goes back,

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unmasked, to drench the cashpoint in water.

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

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Or perhaps, guilt has got the better of him.

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Either way, all this corrosive crook succeeded in doing

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was causing £30,000-worth of damage

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and providing a clear snapshot of his face.

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So the force will soon be with him.

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The police force.

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

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

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Armed raids on businesses carry stiff sentences

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but they still regularly happen.

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And it's not just big businesses with high turnover

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that are in the criminals' sights.

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It's any business with cash in the till.

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When something like this happens it affects everything.

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Changes your whole world.

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

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

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Tracking them down takes clever detective work and CCTV.

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

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

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hoping to get lucky.

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But the mood suddenly changes

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when a masked man bursts in brandishing a knife.

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He leaps over the counter, waving the blade

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and demands money from terrified cashiers.

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

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

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The dramatic CCTV footage

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

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

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And the next thing you know,

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

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Had the ladies challenged him

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

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They're both very shaken, very upset.

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

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actually going on and then the realisation dawned on them

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that they were actually being the victims of a crime.

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The ladies had the presence of mind to stand back

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

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have happened had he been challenged.

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Another person who has faced a man with a knife

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and knows how it feels is Shelley.

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She runs a hairdresser's shop in Bolton.

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Shelley lives above her salon Talking Heads.

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I've been here about ten years now,

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I live here as well

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so it's just convenient for everything, really.

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Work, home life, sorting kids out.

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But on a cold January afternoon,

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that is all about to change.

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That day was just like any other day.

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We come to work, had a laugh,

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did the customer's hair.

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I was at the sink, I glanced through the window

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and thought this guy looked a bit out of the ordinary

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with a scarf covering his face.

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

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come straight at me

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screaming, "Give me your money."

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And I just thought it was a joke

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

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It happens to everybody else, not you.

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

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

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But you're just watching that knife.

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Where's that knife going?

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As he come nearer with the knife,

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

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So, then he left me,

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went to my colleague,

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asked her for the money,

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started to pull her hair.

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

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The attacker turns his interest towards the till.

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He grabs the money and runs out.

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It's only after,

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you realise what could have happened

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but it was the longest 50 seconds of our lives.

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It felt like hours.

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

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as long as we're all all right.

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

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to track down the masked intruder

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who jumped over the counter looking for cash.

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He's reviewing the footage from the bookmakers closely.

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

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

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a light-coloured jacket and a black glove.

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What I'm also looking at

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

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You can see the Nike training shoe.

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

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

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

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

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I want to know where he has been

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just prior to coming in and carrying out the offence.

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Sort of following him backwards really.

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Prior to him committing the actual offence.

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John starts his search at the scene of the crime.

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

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

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Retracing the robber's escape route,

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John notices that a few local residents have CCTV cameras.

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And it turns out they have some very interesting footage.

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This is the offender, prior to the offence being committed

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and he's in a rear alley,

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which backs on to the premises that was attacked.

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

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the vest and carrying the same bag.

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This is the offender walking down the street.

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

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And then, straight after the robbery...

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

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

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which is the same bag that the guy was carrying

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prior to the offence being committed.

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

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

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which is fantastic evidence because you can see that quite clearly

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when he leaps the counter from one of the cameras,

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he's wearing the same shoes.

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

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

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

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The last sighting we had from a witness

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was that he saw the robber run up here

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and then turn right round this corner at the wall.

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Natural progression would lead him towards the supermarket

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in this direction.

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

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And when John checks the supermarket CCTV,

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

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He bursts out of some bushes,

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looking a lot less like a gangster,

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in a pair of shorts.

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Minus the mask and the balaclava.

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He thinks he's incognito

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but he's actually in big trouble

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when John searches the area.

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First item I found was this mobile telephone.

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

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Without even moving my feet I turned to my right,

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looked down and I found the black leather glove.

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

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

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

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

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"We'll get him from this."

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A careless crook and now his number's up.

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He's tried to beat the bookies

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but now the odds are stacked against him.

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I was able to take that knife

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

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and one of them was able to say,

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

0:18:010:18:04

John's got the weapon.

0:18:040:18:06

Crime scene investigators come along, they take the glove

0:18:060:18:09

and they take DNA samples from inside.

0:18:090:18:12

That went off to the science laboratory

0:18:120:18:14

and it gave me the name of the guy.

0:18:140:18:16

Now all John needs is an address

0:18:160:18:18

and the mobile phone holds an important clue.

0:18:180:18:21

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

0:18:210:18:24

that taxis from the Newcastle area had been ordered

0:18:240:18:26

and luckily for me, the taxi companies

0:18:260:18:28

who were requested to attend

0:18:280:18:30

actually send a text message back to your telephone

0:18:300:18:33

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

0:18:330:18:36

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

0:18:360:18:39

Thanks to some clever and determined detective work,

0:18:390:18:43

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

0:18:430:18:47

John now has a suspect in his sights.

0:18:470:18:49

He looks to his right just as he's moving

0:18:490:18:51

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

0:18:510:18:53

and you can see the silvery, grey hair.

0:18:530:18:56

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

0:18:560:18:58

"Well, I've never met you

0:18:580:19:00

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

0:19:000:19:02

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

0:19:020:19:06

and caused him to bury his head in his hands.

0:19:060:19:09

The CCTV evidence in this case was

0:19:090:19:12

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

0:19:120:19:15

It allowed me to see exactly what had happened

0:19:150:19:17

and it also allowed his barrister to say to him,

0:19:170:19:20

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

0:19:200:19:22

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

0:19:220:19:25

we would have been fighting a losing battle.

0:19:250:19:27

John's finally got his man.

0:19:270:19:29

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

0:19:290:19:32

Robbing another betting shop in Newcastle a few days before.

0:19:320:19:36

Richard Black pleads guilty to both robberies.

0:19:380:19:40

And is sentenced to ten years in prison.

0:19:400:19:43

A good result for John and his colleagues.

0:19:450:19:49

Everybody involved in the team played their part

0:19:490:19:51

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

0:19:510:19:55

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

0:19:550:19:58

When we spoke to them the morning after the robbery,

0:19:580:20:01

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

0:20:010:20:04

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

0:20:040:20:07

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

0:20:070:20:09

They thought it was great.

0:20:090:20:10

Such attacks are very rare.

0:20:160:20:19

But what should people do if they are confronted

0:20:190:20:21

by someone with a weapon?

0:20:210:20:23

Don't try to tackle them. Step away.

0:20:230:20:26

The value of the items that thieves want to take

0:20:260:20:30

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

0:20:300:20:33

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

0:20:330:20:36

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

0:20:360:20:39

And look where an offender's touched.

0:20:390:20:41

We can look back for DNA and for fingerprint evidence,

0:20:410:20:45

which can lead to the early identification of a suspect.

0:20:450:20:48

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

0:20:480:20:50

And try and make note of all of these things.

0:20:500:20:52

It makes it much easier for us to follow a path

0:20:520:20:55

with a dog later. We can track.

0:20:550:20:57

And also our police units and get people into the area

0:20:570:21:00

to try and locate the suspect.

0:21:000:21:02

People think other people have rung 999.

0:21:020:21:04

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

0:21:040:21:07

Now, a shopper in a DIY store.

0:21:110:21:14

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

0:21:140:21:17

He's a 'slippery' customer.

0:21:170:21:19

It's a weekend at this DIY store in Barnstable

0:21:260:21:29

and this man is looking to make a big saving.

0:21:290:21:32

100% off, to be precise.

0:21:320:21:36

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

0:21:360:21:39

He's loitering around the power tools section

0:21:390:21:41

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

0:21:410:21:45

which costs about £300.

0:21:450:21:49

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

0:21:490:21:52

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

0:21:520:21:54

He just walks out with it,

0:21:560:21:58

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

0:21:580:22:02

When the staff eventually find the drill is missing,

0:22:040:22:06

they hand this CCTV footage over to the police.

0:22:060:22:11

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

0:22:110:22:14

Until, that is, on the following Saturday.

0:22:140:22:17

Unbelievably, he's back.

0:22:170:22:19

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

0:22:190:22:23

He's on the lookout for any security staff.

0:22:240:22:27

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

0:22:270:22:31

He decides the coast is clear

0:22:310:22:33

and packs another drill away

0:22:330:22:35

into his own personal tool box.

0:22:350:22:38

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

0:22:380:22:42

and throw a spanner in the works.

0:22:420:22:44

He's not getting away with it this time.

0:22:480:22:50

Just as he tries to leave the DIY store,

0:22:500:22:53

he gets nailed.

0:22:530:22:55

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

0:22:560:23:00

and sentenced to a 13-week curfew order,

0:23:000:23:04

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

0:23:040:23:08

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

0:23:100:23:14

Blackmail and demanding money with menaces. A nasty crime.

0:23:190:23:23

But, thankfully, an uncommon one.

0:23:230:23:26

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

0:23:260:23:30

In Farnworth, Greater Manchester,

0:23:350:23:37

Alex and Anita's innocent family have received a letter

0:23:370:23:40

demanding money with violent threats.

0:23:400:23:43

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

0:23:430:23:47

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

0:23:470:23:50

The police are taking the threat so seriously,

0:23:500:23:53

Alex and Anita have moved

0:23:530:23:54

with their young children to a safe house.

0:23:540:23:57

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

0:23:570:24:01

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

0:24:010:24:04

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

0:24:040:24:08

With time running out,

0:24:090:24:10

the police are under pressure to find the blackmailer quickly.

0:24:100:24:14

Detective Karl Chandler is on the case.

0:24:140:24:16

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

0:24:160:24:19

and we need to move this investigation on.

0:24:190:24:22

This offence has taken place on the town centre

0:24:220:24:24

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

0:24:240:24:27

The police find out that Alex's jewellery shop

0:24:290:24:31

is covered by the town's cameras.

0:24:310:24:33

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

0:24:330:24:37

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

0:24:400:24:43

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

0:24:460:24:49

And posts an envelope under the shutters.

0:24:510:24:53

He slowly walks on.

0:24:540:24:56

This is the moment where this person commits the offence.

0:24:560:25:01

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

0:25:010:25:04

The man walks with a distinctive gait,

0:25:050:25:07

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

0:25:070:25:11

You see he appeared to have a limp,

0:25:110:25:12

he was quite a stocky build,

0:25:120:25:14

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

0:25:140:25:17

So, we could then start to backtrack.

0:25:180:25:21

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

0:25:210:25:25

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

0:25:250:25:29

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

0:25:290:25:32

While we were waiting to speak to the security,

0:25:320:25:35

I was looking across the car park

0:25:350:25:37

from the foyer of the local superstore,

0:25:370:25:41

when a man, matching the blackmailer's description,

0:25:410:25:45

walked past.

0:25:450:25:47

Limping,

0:25:470:25:48

bob cap, dark clothing, heavy build.

0:25:480:25:51

And I just thought straightaway,

0:25:530:25:55

it looks like the blackmailer.

0:25:550:25:57

But is this the right man?

0:25:570:26:00

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

0:26:000:26:03

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

0:26:030:26:07

So that raised the suspicions even further

0:26:070:26:11

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

0:26:110:26:14

Back at the police station...

0:26:140:26:16

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

0:26:160:26:20

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

0:26:200:26:24

Only 30 hours after their ordeal has begun,

0:26:240:26:27

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

0:26:270:26:31

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

0:26:310:26:36

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

0:26:360:26:40

Karl collects the CCTV footage from the supermarket

0:26:410:26:44

and it clearly shows the face of the man

0:26:440:26:47

who sent Anita and Alex's world into turmoil.

0:26:470:26:50

50-year-old Anthony Wilcock.

0:26:500:26:52

The offence of blackmail's a serious crime.

0:26:540:26:56

Demanding money with menaces,

0:26:560:26:59

threatening a family.

0:26:590:27:00

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

0:27:000:27:05

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

0:27:080:27:12

Not deterred by his bad experience,

0:27:140:27:16

Alex was back in business after only four days,

0:27:160:27:20

determined to continue a job he knows and loves.

0:27:200:27:24

It does cross your mind,

0:27:240:27:25

is it worth it being in the jewellery business?

0:27:250:27:28

Having to go through things like this?

0:27:280:27:32

Do you give it all up or...?

0:27:320:27:34

But you can't bow down to people.

0:27:340:27:37

You can't let people run your life.

0:27:370:27:40

To make sure his family never feel threatened again,

0:27:400:27:43

Alex put in a security system in his home.

0:27:430:27:46

But the experience has left them stronger.

0:27:460:27:49

It brought us close, we are a close family anyway

0:27:490:27:52

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

0:27:520:27:56

no matter what they say.

0:27:560:27:57

That's it for today.

0:28:020:28:04

Join us next time when the police and the public

0:28:040:28:06

catch more criminals red-handed.

0:28:060:28:08

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