Episode 4 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,

the police and other agencies are using new tactics and technology

where the bad guys actually 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 won't get away with it. You might as well 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 shocking attack on a 60-year-old cashier.

She actually doing the scene out of "Psycho"

where she's stabbing the door with a knife.

He's attacked by a woman wielding a knife,

but the courageous man locks the door to stop her getting out.

Also, today, someone has had their fingers in the till at this pub,

but who is it?

I bet all eyes were actually on me!

Is one of their friends or workmates a thief?

A tricky situation at Tricky's bar.

And, it's not "Bridezilla", this is a bloke.

He's caught on camera nicking wedding dresses,

but is about to have his big day ruined.

Ashford in Kent.

We're watching a CCTV camera footage

from inside a 24-hour convenience store.

It's nearly 5am and Michael is manning the shop on his own.

As a 60-year-old grandfather, he likes the night shifts

because they are usually quiet.

But this night is about to become one he'll never, ever forget.

A young woman in a hoodie enters the shop.

Then, suddenly, she turns on Michael demanding money from the till

and she's armed with a carving knife.

But if she expects to frighten Michael, she's very much mistaken.

I went to her, "I'm not going to give you anything.

"You won't get away with it. You might as well stop now and pack up".

A vicious struggle starts

and it's the beginning of a bizarre series of events which will

see Michael locked in with a violent and unpredictable woman

who swings between attacking him and tending to his wounds.

One minute she's standing there trying to kill me

and the next minute she is trying to mop up the blood.

Michael is locked in the shop with a Jekyll and Hyde attacker.

I can tell just from seeing Michael, he's been subject to

something very horrific.

This local store and petrol station is on one of the main roads

that runs through Ashford.

Michael has worked here for the last six years

and with an ever-expanding family, he has no intention of slowing down.

I'm 60 years of age and my youngest son has just informed me

that my tenth grandchild is on the way,

which I wasn't very pleased about.

Especially with Christmas and everything else,

it does become expensive.

But, er... No, I love kids.

The shop is open 24 hours a day

and Michael often works the night shift on his own.

Apart from having to deal with the odd shoplifter,

he's never had any serious trouble.

I wouldn't say that I would be apprehensive or worried about

the next person who walks through the shop being an armed robber.

No, I don't even think about that.

Generally speaking, Ashford is a pretty safe place to be.

Like every town, it gets its excitement from time to time,

but we don't often have as serious a crime as an armed robbery.

As were about to see, that's exactly what happens in Michael's shop.

He's nearing the end of his shift at 5am

and is waiting for the morning's milk delivery when the woman enters.

My first impression was that she was just another customer.

She was wearing stuff you would expect because the weather

was still pretty cold - a scarf around her neck, hoodie.

But she is not just another customer.

She asked me to give her it. And I said, "Give you what?"

And she went, "Give me the money".

And to back up her demand,

from her pocket she pulled out a nine-inch carving knife.

I realised that she was being serious.

Although shaken, Michael keeps a cool head and, at first,

tries to reason with the woman.

"Don't be silly, love", I said. "You're on CCTV camera.

"I'm not going to give you anything. You won't get away with it.

"You might as well stop now and pack up".

She ignores his advice and lunges at him with the knife blade,

but she gets a surprise herself because Michael grabs her wrist.

The company I work for, their attitude is,

if someone draws a knife, you stand back, give them what they want.

That's all well and good, but they're not drawing the knife

on the company, they're actually drawing the knife on me.

The woman starts to jab more wildly at him

but Michael dodges the blade and stands firm.

At one point, she actually manages to make contact,

but it didn't actually pierce the skin.

He presses a panic alarm which alerts police to the robbery

and squad cars are dispatched by Ashford police.

But the woman is getting more agitated.

The high counter is stopping her from getting to Michael

so she tries to smash through a security door to his left.

I managed to get my foot against the door to stop her from coming in.

She's actually doing the scene out of "Psycho"

where she is stabbing the door with the knife because she can't get in.

It's a terrifying moment,

but Michael manages to block the door and dial 999.

I left the phone ringing so that whoever picked the phone up

could actually hear what was going on.

At the other end,

the emergency call-taker hears there's a knife involved

and updates the police officers who are already rushing to the scene.

When you are informed that there is potentially a knife involved,

the adrenaline does kick in.

But, suddenly, the woman seems to give up and heads for the exit

and this is when Michael does something extraordinarily brave.

Seeing there are some people outside the door,

he's afraid they'll be in danger and he presses a hidden button

that locks the door.

She was threatening them through the door.

If I had let her go, she might... She could have gone and done anything.

A courageous action to protect other people,

but it means he's trapped inside with a violent attacker

and now she really wants to get at Michael.

She tries to climb the counter

and this gives him a slim chance to disarm her.

She put the knife in her hand on the counter to climb.

I proceeded to grab her wrist with my left arm.

As they frantically tussle, the woman grabs at Michael's neck

then she violently yanks the blade free...

..leaving a large cut on his hand.

But what happens next is truly astonishing.

After even more stabbing, suddenly she stops.

When she realised she'd cut me,

she had a change of heart.

The woman even lays down her knife and goes off to get a can of drink.

Michael moves the knife away.

There's quite a bit of blood on the floor and that, in itself,

I think was enough to convince her that, you know, it might be bad.

The woman fetches some kitchen roll to help Michael nurse the wound.

One minute she's standing there trying to kill me,

and the next minute she is trying to help me rather than hurt me.

But, sadly, this show of concern is short-lived.

The woman gets fired up again

when she sees more people outside the door.

She's realised there's no escape.

But now, she picks up a glass bottle to use as a weapon.

She was walking up and down the shop

threatening the people outside with a broken bottle.

Later, the police race to the shop after Michael's alert.

I see that she had a weapon

and from her demeanour she'd be ready to use it on us.

They have riot equipment and pepper spray.

The police somehow have to get in to disarm this violent woman

without Michael or anyone else, including themselves, getting hurt.

Now, this isn't a ghost, it's a chap in Swansea who hasn't

a ghost of a chance of getting away with, er, a crime of fashion.

This petty thief with a pile of wedding gowns has just kicked

in the back door of a bridal shop and snatched a number of dresses.

Maybe he has seven brothers who are marrying seven brides.

Whatever the reason,

I'm sure he'd like to draw a veil over this particular CCTV camera.

These pictures helped police to track the man down

and they raid his home the next day.

They find the dresses stuffed unceremoniously

into an under-stairs cupboard.

They charge him with illegally attempting to have and to hold them.

He is sentenced to nine and a half months in prison for this

and one other offence.

Hopefully, from now on, he'll learn to love, honour and obey the law.

Next, from weddings to funerals

and the last place you'd expect to find crime would be a crematorium,

which makes the actions of these heartless thieves

even more shocking.

Liverpool.

Stealing from funerals has started to become a problem.

You'd like to think security was something you could have

quite low down on the agenda for cemeteries.

And security is the last thing Chris thought he'd need

at his mum's funeral.

We went to put her in the hearse and then I noticed

two people that were there had no connection with the family.

And the mystery guests are not there to pay their respects.

Springwood Crematorium is part of Allerton Cemetery in Liverpool,

one of the largest cemeteries in the UK.

Chris Jennat regularly visits his family's memorial.

It's where his grandfather was buried, but also where

he comes to remember his sister, his dad and, most recently, his mum.

You only have one mum, don't you? So, she was great.

She'd have done anything for you, you know?

Mum Bridget was adored by her five children and many grandchildren.

When she succumbed to pneumonia at the age of 83,

the family were grief stricken.

It was a shock for everyone because she was a character.

Some of the one-liners she used to come out with, you know?

We were a very, very close family.

The family arranged the funeral.

Some very special blue and white flower arrangements

are ordered in her memory.

It's the last thing you've bought for your mum.

So, whatever the expense was, it doesn't matter, does it, really?

It's agreed that Bridget should be cremated

at Springwood Crematorium that's run by Liverpool City Council.

It's the busiest of our two crematoria in Liverpool.

It's an area of peace and tranquillity

and remembrance for many families.

Dale Willis has helped run all the city's cemeteries for 14 years

and that includes their protection.

We do have a security presence in all the cemeteries.

We have all the cemeteries locked at night and opened the next morning.

But we do have pockets of antisocial behaviour.

And Dale begins to notice a very upsetting trend.

We had a couple of reports of flowers going missing

and I am shocked that people would do something

that would impact on a family in that way.

After talking it over with local funeral directors,

Dale decides to take action.

There's only one way to resolve that...

To install CCTV equipment.

Two cameras are installed and signs are put up to make the public aware.

A few weeks later, it's the day of Bridget's funeral.

A couple of onlookers catch Chris's eye

as the coffin starts the journey to the crematorium.

We went to put her in the hearse and then I noticed, er, two people

that were there had no connection with the family.

I thought nothing about it.

Then the funeral got under way - a great service -

then we came to Springwood Crematorium.

The flowers were put in a place just outside the crem'.

Following the ceremony, the family return home.

They plan to move the flowers to the memorial the next day.

I got the phone call saying that the flowers had been pinched.

Chris is appalled by the news.

It's absolutely disgusting, isn't it?

To think someone could do such a low thing, like.

It actually gives another dimension of stress

and anxiety for the family at what is already a very difficult time.

Staff at the crematorium check the CCTV recording

and this is what they see.

It's early evening on the same day as the funeral. A car pulls up.

Two women get out.

One opens the boot while the other makes a beeline

for the family's large blue and white flowers.

It seems as if they knew the tributes to target.

The crematorium hands the footage over to Merseyside Police

who identify the women from their car registration.

They are arrested.

Chris gets to see the footage and thinks he's seen the women before.

I realised they were on the corner of the street as we were

bringing my mum out.

During the women's arrests,

the police discover flower arranging paraphernalia in one of their homes.

It seems they were using Bridget's flowers to sell on as new tributes.

Words can't describe what they've done.

But there's a full description of what they've done in court.

The woman who picked up the flowers has previous convictions

and is sentenced to ten weeks in prison.

Her accomplice is given eight weeks, suspended for 12 months.

Both have to pay compensation.

It was pleasing, certainly for the family, that justice had been done.

We are in a position now where we're not having any thefts

and I that can only be seen as a positive thing.

My mam will be made up that they've been caught.

Hopefully now she's looking down and saying, "Well done!"

Coming up, a disappearing act at Tricky's bar when cash vanishes.

We were all really gobsmacked.

It's sleight of hand by a trusted barmaid.

We just couldn't believe it. Everybody was shocked.

Back to Ashford in Kent where, in the early hours of the morning,

a violent attempted robbery has been taking place in a shop.

This young woman is wielding a large carving knife

with which she's been attacking Michael, the 60-year-old cashier.

Now, she's using a wine bottle as a weapon.

Michael has bravely locked her inside the shop alone with him

to protect the people outside and he's trying to calm her down.

I was saying, "I've locked the doors.

"They can't get in and I'm not opening the doors to let you out

"because you might have a go at them".

My idea was that I was protecting them as well as herself by keeping

the situation contained in the shop.

But the woman is having none of it and continues her threats.

Outside, the police have now arrived much to Michael's relief.

When the police turned up,

I was relieved to see that the end was in sight.

But the woman is not about to give up.

Now she also threatens PCs Ryan Duffy and Jason Gisby

who are outside the door.

The first thing I see is this woman with a wine bottle in her hands.

She appeared very agitated, very angry...

She smashes it against the front door.

..and from her demeanour, she would be ready to use it on us.

-But it's Michael they fear for most.

-We know Michael.

We've chatted to him many times in the past.

He appeared very distressed, very shaken up.

There was a risk that she would return to him.

It was right to get in there as quickly as possible.

Throughout his ordeal, Michael has kept a cool head

and now he signals another way in to Ryan and Jason.

If they went around to the other door at the back, they can get in

because I can open that door without her being able to get out.

The police get the message and equip themselves to arrest

the violent woman without injury to Michael or the woman or themselves.

Ryan gets a riot shield while Jason arms himself with pepper spray.

While other officers distract the woman at the front of the store,

Michael opens the back door by pressing a button.

Ryan and Jason enter. Once inside, they split up.

Jason calls out to the woman to draw her over, but she's in no mood

to come quietly and walks towards him with the broken bottle.

Ryan steps out from an aisle behind her as she approaches Jason.

She was jabbing the broken bottle towards my face.

I instantly pulled my pepper spray and sprayed it towards her face.

Ryan has come behind her almost at the same time

and has struck her with a shield.

They got her down but she still struggles.

Just wildly throwing her hand around with this broken bottle.

She finally gives in and they handcuff her.

It's a good, safe arrest.

That was it, basically. All over and done with.

They took over and I could relax. HE LAUGHS

While and officer takes a look at Michael's cut hand,

the police help the woman recover from the pepper spray.

She was polite, she spoke to us.

When a person has been exposed to pepper spray

we have a duty of care to them and after-care,

so we usually sit them still,

advise them not to rub their eyes and give them other advice.

The woman is taken to the police station

and Michael goes home.

He turns up for work again the very next day,

but he soon realises that the robbery

has affected him more than he thinks.

I couldn't stop crying, so...

erm...they sent me home.

I think it was just shock, basically, over the next two days.

I went and saw a therapist for a few weeks to sort of, like,

get it out of my system.

Now, I don't think nothing of it.

You know, it happened.

It's gone and done and, er, life goes on.

It's a reminder of exactly how much these crimes

affect the innocent people involved.

In court, she pleads guilty and is sentenced to six years in prison.

Michael is given a special commendation for his courage

and determination to stop the violent woman

and contain her safely until the police could arrive.

He was receives a Certificate of Bravery

from the High Sheriff of Kent's office and a special cash award.

I suppose, to get any reward is a nice feeling.

To get one you can actually display on the wall

and say to your children, your grandchildren,

"That's your grandad", you know, that's got to be nice.

That is nice.

Mercifully, it's very unlikely any of us

will ever face an attack like that.

Michael bravely took on his attacker,

but is that wise to do so if someone is wielding a weapon?

My advice would be to try and back away.

Don't try and intervene.

Try and call 999 if at all possible,

if it's not going to aggravate the person with the knife.

You might not be able to talk to us, but we can still listen.

We can still hear what's going on.

We can figure out who the phone belongs to

and we can start to do the work to locate you and get help.

You need to keep your distance from somebody.

We call it the "fighting arc", so we put our arms out and if somebody

is at an arm's length from you, then that gives you a fighting chance.

Think calmly and then look for your best escape route

if it's safe to do so.

If it's not safe and you need to engage in some kind of conversation

with that person to keep them calm and de-escalate

any kind of threat until the police arrive, then do that.

We'd all like to think we could trust the people we work with.

After all, we spend a lot of time with them.

So what if some money went missing

and it could only be someone who is close to us?

Accrington, Lancashire.

A tricky issue at a bar called Tricky's.

Totally, totally shocked.

In all the times I've had pubs in, say, over 30 years,

it's the first time anything like that's happened.

Money has been disappearing from this popular local pub,

but who is taking it?

I bet all eyes were actually on me!

The owner has a trick up his sleeve, a hidden camera.

It looks like a smoke alarm.

The camera is built inside so you can't see it.

The camera is there in case of trouble at the bar,

not for secretly spying on the people he knows and trusts.

Difficult, very difficult.

Accrington.

Famed for its football team

and making the hardest building bricks in the world,

it's also home to Tricky's.

-It's named after its owner.

-Well, sort of.

It's Richard, so the nickname for Richard is Dick.

Dickie, Dickie Mint, Tricky, Tricky Mint,

Tricky Dicky and it fell to Tricky Dicky.

It stayed like that so we just shortened it to Tricky,

and some call me things I can't say on camera!

After running pubs on and off for 30 years, now, at the age of 70,

running Tricky's is Richard's dream come true.

From the first time I ever came in, I've always wanted this pub

and I finally did get it.

The bar is a firm local favourite and a fun place to be.

Tricky's is the place where you've got all your regulars.

Sunday afternoons is brilliant. In fact, every day is.

I love working here.

Love working here.

Richard's staff are all local, including three young sisters.

Some others, like Sharon, have known him for years.

It's one big, happy family.

He's not a pushover, but he's not...

He's not strict and, you know, he lets...

As long as we're doing our job.

Even this easy-going and trusting boss

had to have security cameras installed when he took the place on.

It's actually part of your licence now to have CCTV

and someone that can use it if there are any incidents.

So far, Richard has never needed to check footage from any

of the cameras, including the one in the smoke alarm overlooking the bar.

I even forgot it was there myself.

But one Friday night, that all changes.

Richard comes to work to find there's no £20 notes in the till.

At first, he's not too worried.

It's been a quiet night... So what?

Other nights are good.

But the next Friday isn't any better so Richard checks the coin drawer

to see if any of the 20s have been wrongly put in there.

But, no.

And he's shocked to discover there are coins missing, too.

There was £80 missing in pound coins.

He asks Sharon the next day about the missing money,

as she works the early evening shift on Fridays.

She said, "Check under the till.

"All the money's there." I'm saying, "What money? There's no money there."

She said, "Are you joking?

"I had a really good night last night up to six.

"There's loads of money there".

But there isn't. Richard can only think the worst.

There's a thief about and it has to be one of the people

he trusts like family.

Totally, totally shocked.

The most likely suspects are the Friday staff.

That's Sharon and a popular 21-year-old girl

who's one of the three sisters that worked there.

We've known the family for many, many years.

My stepdaughter is a big friend of her mother's.

I bet all eyes were actually on me!

You know? It's horrible.

Richard knows he must check his CCTV footage,

but first, he calls the staff together

to give the culprit a chance to own up.

Sharon gets the wrong end of the stick.

My hand went straight up!

I've got a bit of a thing for Pepperami.

So I told him, basically,

"You might see me with a few of them stuffed in my mouth!"

No-one owns up so Richard goes off to look at the footage

in a room on his own and this is what he sees.

The 21-year-old sister has just taken over the shift from Sharon.

She appears too busy herself with the usual barmaid duties,

but appearances can be deceiving,

because, on a closer look, she also shows some skilful sleight of hand.

While customers are lost in conversation,

the young barmaid takes four bags of £2 coins

out of the change drawer and puts them in her handbag.

That's the £80 that was missing when I checked later on in the night.

But that's just for starters.

Half an hour later, the barmaid decides she deserves another tip.

She lifts the drawer in the till containing the 20s,

grabs a handful and leaves them right next to her handbag.

Ten minutes later, she comes back

and shoves the notes inside the bag.

She's making room in her bag for more money.

She's pushing the coins to one side

plus the notes she's already taken.

After another 45 minutes,

the barmaid decides to get another round in.

A few more 20s on the house.

Rewinding back to her previous Friday shift,

he sees the same routine.

Pull some pints, pull some more money.

Richard decides it's time to call last orders.

He tells the rest of the staff who has been stealing.

We were all really gobsmacked.

They just couldn't believe it.

Everybody was shocked. The sisters were just in tears.

He's looked at her as a daughter, you know.

He even said to us, I look at her like family.

Richard confronts the young barmaid.

I asked her why. She was just crying, crying, crying,

as I suppose you would do when you've been found out,

saying she was so sorry.

When I said, "How much have you taken?" she said, "I don't know".

She's just spent it.

And then she went.

Leaving Richard with a dilemma.

I thought, "Well, if it's just a few hundred pounds,

"I'm going to ruin this kid's life,

"so, I'm not going to go to the police."

But, at that point, we didn't know what she'd taken.

Richard becomes less forgiving

when he sees the barmaid's attitude on a social media site.

He decides it might be better if she learns a lesson.

She was showing off her new dresses and designer gear

and bags and shoes.

I just thought, she is just taking the Mick here.

He takes action.

So, I went down to the police station,

made a formal complaint.

The barmaid pleads guilty.

She is sentenced to 12 months community supervision

and ordered to pay £500 in compensation.

Things are now a lot less tricky at Tricky's.

The two other sisters work here. They'll continue to work here.

There's nothing wrong with the girls.

Of the staff I've got at the moment, I think they'll be OK.

Although, just to be on the safe side,

Richard has since upgraded his CCTV system.

I dread to think what he's seen on them.

I dread to think what he's seen on them cameras with us lot!

We didn't know half of 'em were here!

Barmaids beware!

That's it for today.

Join us next time when police and the public

will be catching more criminals red-handed.