Episode 19 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

so the bad guys get caught in the act.

The CCTV is gold dust.

-Great evidence for the police.

-Got to have him stopped.

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

The eureka moment when you get that evidence.

And the general public, too,

can help unsuspecting crooks get their comeuppance.

People won't stand by.

-I couldn't sit back and do nothing.

-Yes! We've got her!

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

They might just get caught red-handed.

Today, she's thankful for some help.

But this man doesn't want her thanks.

He wants her purse.

He rips it roughly out of her hands and runs.

To me, it's just one of the worst crimes you can have.

He preys on elderly people.

He even targets the same victim twice.

When I came back, my money was gone.

I went to see her, and I said,

"Marion, I cannot believe that this has happened to you again."

Also today, in Shakespeare's Stratford,

a real-life Shakespearean plot of intrigue and betrayal.

We couldn't believe it, really.

You just don't expect someone to be that dishonest with you.

At a Tudor museum, all's not well and doesn't end well

for a trusted friend.

And where's the best place to park a stolen car?

Next to these two other cars?

Well, maybe not.

The thieves haven't yet noticed that those two cars are...

police cars.

Well, they will soon.

A CCTV camera view of a busy street in the City of London.

A woman in her late nineties is walking home from the shops.

Just behind her, a man is heading the same way.

Although the woman's walking slowly, the man never seems to catch up.

Why does he keep stopping, looking around, etc?

He's not checking a map on a phone or anything like this.

He's acting in a suspicious nature.

This man is, in fact, stalking the elderly woman.

He preys on defenceless victims

and he is following his latest victim home to steal her handbag.

It's absolutely despicable

that a person deliberately targets vulnerable elderly people.

90-year-old Marion also falls prey to this deceitful burglar's tricks.

I really couldn't believe how somebody could con you into that.

The City of London Police

are determined to catch this callous thief.

The Square Mile of the city

is better known for its skyscrapers and financial offices.

But thousands of people live here, too.

PC Christine Phillips has been walking this beat for six years.

A lot of people,

they think about the City of London, it's just the financial district

where everybody comes into work and they go home at the end of the day.

But we also have about 8,000 residents who live in the city.

Being a Neighbourhood Officer,

you are actually part of that community.

People know you, I get to walk out, I patrol the area.

One of the city's residents

is 90-year-old grandmother Marion, who lives in sheltered housing.

We're very lucky to live here,

because you're safe as houses,

and I've been here for ten years.

Marion has had no experience of crime here

until one summer's day, when one particular man comes to call.

A CCTV camera covers the front door of Marion's building.

It's mid-afternoon,

and one of the other elderly residents is returning home.

She has a key to let herself in.

But now this man appears.

He holds the door open before it closes,

for another resident to come out.

It's Marion.

She's only popped out for a few moments

for some medicines to be delivered,

and she's left her flat door unlocked.

The man continues on into the building.

The chemist is supposed to deliver my pills.

So I went outside and sat on the ledge just outside the door.

Marion patiently waits for her delivery.

Five minutes later, the same man, now without his T-shirt,

walks out of the building, straight past Marion.

Eventually, she returns to her flat.

And when I came back, my money was gone.

Marion's shocked when she realises her handbag must have been stolen.

I felt very vulnerable.

And it made me realise you should lock the door,

and everybody then here locked their doors.

The police check for fingerprints and DNA,

but the burglar has left no evidence behind.

PC Christine Phillips goes to see Marion.

She didn't let on how upset she was, distressed, but you know it is,

and so you do actually offer support to the person.

But, fortunately for her, she does have family around that visit,

so she's not there by herself, panicking.

Christine examines the CCTV footage.

Unfortunately, only the side and back of the man's head can be seen.

Out comes our suspect.

He's now not wearing that top that he had on.

It's covering Marion's handbag as he's walking outside.

The police don't know who the man is.

But then, some weeks later,

Christine hears about a burglary in another housing estate.

Here, too, an elderly woman has had her handbag stolen from her flat.

But this time, the burglar finds a different way to con his way in.

She told me that a person had come up to the door of her flat

saying that he was working on some repairs in the flat next to her,

could he borrow a pen and a piece of paper

to leave a note for the people there?

The woman lets the man in and goes to get the pen and paper.

As he went, she looked and, straightaway,

she realised her handbag had been stolen.

Again, there's no forensic evidence or CCTV from this crime scene.

But Christine suspects there may be a link with a series of thefts

in a neighbouring area of London.

There had been a spate of burglaries with a similar method,

also targeting elderly, vulnerable people.

She contacts the officers investigating those burglaries

and looks at their CCTV evidence.

This is footage from one of those crimes.

A man pretends to help an elderly woman with a shopping trolley

through her building's front door.

He keeps his hands covered so he doesn't leave any fingerprints.

Now he dupes the woman into getting out her purse,

then just wrenches it out of her hands and runs.

The footage is poor quality,

but Christine's convinced it's the same man.

It's absolutely despicable

that a person deliberately targets vulnerable people,

not to have any regard for the consequences on those people

frightened in their home, maybe have medical implications, etc.

To me, it's just one of the worst crimes you can have.

Then there's yet another burglary in Christine's area.

And, incredibly, it's Marion

who becomes a victim for the second time.

CCTV images show the man at her building's front door.

My intercom went

and I said, "Who is it?"

So they said, "I can't get any answer from number five.

"Do you think I could come in

"and borrow a pen and paper?"

Marion kindly offers her help.

He came in.

He sat there.

The man asks for a drink of water.

I went just to get the glass.

Then he was gone.

Marion is shocked to discover two handbags have been stolen.

And the bag that I had there was gone

and I had a bag there, and that was gone.

I couldn't believe it, how somebody could con you into that.

He surely must have a conscience.

As well as personal items in the bags,

Marion's lost bank cards and £350 in cash.

Christine is dismayed to hear the news.

I went to see her and I said,

"Marion, I cannot believe that this has happened to you again."

You know, "It's just awful. We've just got to have him stopped."

Christine and her colleagues in the City of London

intensify their search for the burglar.

But they still don't have a clear image of his face.

Then he strikes yet again on Christine's beat.

An elderly woman has her bag stolen after she arrives home.

She was late nineties, very limited eyesight,

and he'd picked her as a target.

Believing the burglar may have followed his victim home,

Christine checks CCTV footage from cameras on the woman's route

and sees this man.

Why does he never actually catch up with a person of that age

who's walking very, very slowly?

Why does he keep stopping, looking around, etc?

He's not checking a map on a phone or anything like this.

He's stalking the woman.

And this footage provides a breakthrough for Christine.

She now has a clear image to share with other officers and the public.

I decided to go around the area and make some local enquiries,

show the images to a few people to see if anybody recognised the male.

Several shop workers and market traders

think they've seen the man before.

Christine asks them to keep watch

and to ring the police if he reappears.

Two weeks later, one of her lookouts phones in.

He called up and said, "He's here, I know he's wanted for this crime."

Operators in the control room swung the cameras round in that direction

and they could see him walking behind an elderly lady

who, in a similar manner, was on her way home to the neighbouring estate.

Officers got to the scene to actually do a stop on him.

The man is arrested.

He's 43-year-old William Beggs.

He protests his innocence,

but Christine and her colleagues set out to prove otherwise.

They examine data from his mobile phone to track his movements.

They also search his home.

And they actually found, when they searched the premises,

the jacket that he had been seen wearing on the CCTV footage

when he stole the handbag from Marion,

which was absolutely fantastic news.

I had good news to take back to my victims at last.

After all the evidence is collated,

Beggs is charged with a total of 17 burglaries.

In court, he is sentenced to ten years in prison.

The City of London's residents can rest easier

now this thief is off their streets.

I was really pleased we finally found this person

who is deliberately targeting vulnerable people.

It's really good that he's been put away for quite a long time.

And Marion's also pleased the man's behind bars.

I was relieved that he couldn't do that to anybody else.

Now I take heed not to be conned and coerced by a conman.

Most people who come knocking at the door are honest and trustworthy.

But, sadly, as Marion found out, some aren't.

But there are steps we can take to help keep ourselves

and vulnerable friends and neighbours safe.

Often, people will try and pretend to be somebody that they're not.

If they are from a legitimate company or a service provider,

they will have identification

and they'll be quite happy to wait while you check out who they are.

It's OK to tell them to come back at a scheduled date and time

when you can perhaps have a friend or family there.

You don't even have to open the door.

If you look through the viewfinder and you don't feel happy,

don't open the door.

You can be rude in such circumstances.

There are some basic things that you can do which aren't expensive.

Most doors can come with door viewers. You can put chain locks on.

It creates that little bit of distance

between you and the person knocking on the door.

This is about protecting you,

so if it doesn't feel right, it probably isn't.

If there was a contest for Britain's dumbest criminals,

these car thieves in Greater Manchester

would score pretty highly.

It's nearly 2am.

A couple of thieves have stolen a Mercedes

and have decided to stash it overnight in this car park.

But they're having trouble getting in.

Maybe they should have paused

to wonder why the gate has such a complicated security system.

You see, this is no ordinary car park,

and the cars in it aren't ordinary cars.

They're police cars, because it's a police station car park.

And at this point, a police van comes up behind them.

Now, who knows? They might have got away with just driving calmly off.

But no. These two completely lose their marbles.

They lurch forward and get stuck on a grass verge

before jumping out, running across a main road

and diving into a river.

Not surprisingly, the police in the van

find all this more than a little suspicious.

The men are chased, caught and arrested.

It makes life a lot easier for the police

when criminals in stolen vehicles

actually bring themselves to the station.

And as for the thieves,

when they're brought back to the police car park,

this time, it's a lot easier getting past the gate.

A man runs amok on a rampage of mindless vandalism

and smashes his way into a shop.

Came round the corner to be faced with four broken windows.

I just couldn't believe what I was seeing.

I was thinking, "Why is he doing that?" It was just sheer madness.

But when he runs outside again,

he meets his comeuppance coming round the corner.

Surely no-one would stoop so low as to steal from a friend.

But, sadly, there are people out there

who will betray the trust of people they know well.

Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire.

The owners of a Tudor museum, John and Janet, are living their own

Shakespearean-style tale of treachery.

They suspect one of their staff is stealing from them.

It wasn't so much the money. It was the principle.

The betrayal is the thing that hurt.

Visitor numbers are up, but takings are down.

We felt quite angry. It was quite traitorous, really.

With the help of a camera,

the couple hope to discover whether there's a thief in their midst

or if it's all much ado about nothing.

The medieval market town of Stratford-upon-Avon

is a popular tourist destination,

largely thanks to its connection with William Shakespeare.

Its historic status attracts thousands of visitors every year.

John and Janet run one of Stratford's many museums

dedicated to Tudor Britain.

Tudor World is an independent museum in the heart of Stratford-upon-Avon

within a 16th-century property.

It was a tavern called the Three Tunns, owned by William Rogers,

whose nephew was Shakespeare's godson.

You can sit at the table of William Shakespeare,

you can sit on the throne, you can try hats on,

you can smell what it was like.

If you fall down on those cobblestones outside,

you can be safe in the knowledge

you've fallen over on the same cobblestones as William Shakespeare

when he's had too many beers.

As well as being open to the public,

the museum hosts school excursions by day

and, by night, they run a special ghost tours.

Taking over the museum was a midsummer night's dream come true

for former council worker John and ex-teacher Janet.

We both love history,

so we gave up proper jobs to take over this place,

and now we dress in costumes, we do acting, the accounts,

we do everything between us.

The two history buffs can now live each day

in the era they're so passionate about.

If you look back historically,

it's probably one of the most eventful periods.

-Intrigue.

-Spies.

-Marriages.

-Adultery.

Births, deaths, executions.

Everything's there. It's just brilliant.

But then a drama of their own begins to play out,

a tale of deception,

when the couple suspect a thief is pilfering from the museum gift shop.

We started to notice money was going missing.

Sometimes, it seemed like it was really busy,

and then when you check the takings later in the day,

you think, "Well, it's actually not what we should be taking."

Their staff are fellow enthusiasts, so John and Janet can't believe

one of these trusted colleagues could be stealing from them.

You just don't expect someone to be that dishonest with you.

To catch the thief in the act,

John turns to a very 21st-century method of detection.

I decided that we would install CCTV.

I went off and bought a kit.

We had it pointed straight down

so you could see any transactions with the till.

You could see people handing money over, change being returned.

It's a Sunday morning, and the camera is recording.

In costume, one of John and Janet's most loyal employees,

and a close friend, is behind the till.

We didn't initially see anything happening, and we thought,

"Oh, dear, I feel really bad now," to, you know, have been suspicious.

And then we saw it.

Wearing his black hat,

their black-hearted friend pockets a £10 note.

The camera above his head sees him start stealing

just ten minutes into his shift.

And it doesn't stop there.

Some tourists enter.

He takes the entry fee, but doesn't ring up the sale at the till.

He leaves the cash on top of the draw.

As soon as the visitors go into the museum,

he stashes the cash in his doublet.

It's heartbreaking for John and Janet.

Obviously, the betrayal is the thing that hurt.

And your emotions go from shock to anger.

He's been with us for years.

He'd had his wedding here, you know,

and he always said how much he loved the job,

and we couldn't believe it, really.

Other visitors pay for souvenirs on sale in the shop.

Leaving the till open after another customer and another sale,

he builds up a pile of notes on top of the till drawer.

He hands out change.

Then, when alone, he folds the cash and stuffs it into his pouch.

Janet's astounded. This is her livelihood.

There we go.

We're making a whole sort of £2.50 on the tea towel

whilst losing £20 there!

Brilliant.

Over his seven-hour shift, the stealing goes on and on and on.

Then, when for a few minutes there are no customers,

he takes a moment to gloat and count his takings.

He decided this would be a perfect opportunity,

on our time, in our shop, with our money,

to count it up,

just to make sure, you know, he's doing quite well.

I couldn't believe the cheek he had and just be so blatant.

By the end of the day, the thief has stolen £190.

Without the footage, there's no way I could have confronted him.

I knew that I'd have to take action.

I wasn't even so much... At the time, it wasn't so much the money.

It was the principle.

John hands the evidence to the police

before finally confronting his friend.

We then called him in a couple of days later,

where I told him that I was letting him go for stealing.

And when I told him that, he looked completely shocked.

And then he turned on the big doggy eyes like he was going to cry.

"John, I would never steal from you. I'm your friend."

Which I just said...

"I have the evidence

"and this matter's been reported to the police."

And he was then asked to leave the premises.

It's the final act in this costume drama.

The police pay the false friend a visit.

He admits his guilt and is given a conditional caution.

He has to pay back the money to John and Janet.

The whole experience has left them feeling betrayed.

There was so many times that he would come to us

and ask for money in advance because he was doing badly.

We'd always give him a sub.

And the same when he had his wedding here.

Obviously, we didn't charge them.

We just wanted them to have a nice day.

However, at the museum,

the couple can now get back to the business of enjoying a rosy future

living life in the past.

We are so passionate about it.

You'd expect life in a rural town to be all peace and quiet.

But that makes it all the worse if a criminal comes to call.

Truro, Cornwall, in the early hours of the morning.

This man is on a trail of destruction.

He's already vandalised three shops,

and now he's broken into this hardware store.

He was just on a mission to cause mindless criminal damage.

It was just sheer madness. I couldn't believe my eyes.

He causes thousands of pounds worth of damage and misery

for the owners and staff.

He hit each window four or five times.

Lots of shards of glass across the shop.

There was furniture that he smashed up, and it was just...

You know, it was just awful to see that.

But this vandal is about to get his comeuppance.

Truro is officially the only city in Cornwall,

and its busy shopping centre

has attracted a wide variety of independent stores.

Amongst them is this fabric shop, where Sarah works with her family.

Truro Fabrics has been going for just over 30 years.

It was set up by my dad and mum,

with my nan originally on the shop floor as well.

I came in when I was 19,

I was going to help out over the Christmas period,

and I've been here ever since!

No, it was lovely. There's not many people that can say

they've worked with their nan and their parents.

Just around the corner,

this hardware store has been in business even longer.

Thank you very much.

Ina works there as a floor manager.

The shop, actually, has been open for way over a hundred years.

We've got quite a few staff that have been here quite a long time.

People get advice on anything they need

and it's as much for the staff

as it is for the products that we do that people come in.

Truro isn't known as a crime hot spot.

But on one Friday night,

its shopping centre becomes the target

of a man on a wrecking rampage.

It's 2.15am.

The security cameras are recording inside Ina's hardware store

when a man outside throws something at the window.

GLASS SMASHES

It smashes.

He reaches into the shop through the broken window and grabs a chair

and flings it at the window several times

to break the rest of the glass.

He steps into the shop.

The alarm starts to ring.

But he's intent on destruction.

He starts by kicking down a couple of stands.

Seeing a camera, he throws a hammer at it.

But misses.

Even with the alarm sounding, the man appears in no hurry.

But after 20 minutes of random vandalism,

suddenly, something startles him and he breaks into a run.

In the morning, it's 6.50 when Ina arrives to open the store.

Going inside, it's obvious there's been a break-in.

I saw the stands strewn on the floor and whatnot.

I thought, "Oh, God."

When I went to the top of the steps and looked around,

you could see things had been thrown,

things had been knocked over, and it was just...

You know, it was just awful to see that.

Ina is not the only victim.

Nearby, Sarah also makes an unpleasant discovery

when she arrives to open her family's fabric shop.

Came round the corner to be faced with four broken windows.

So I was like, "Oh, great.

"Mum and Dad are away, what do I do?"

It's just a nightmare when Dad's not around.

He holds all the information.

So it was like, "Ohh, no. Not now, please."

It's clear the damage is deliberate.

He'd hit each window probably at least three,

if not four or five times.

It just seemed so needless. It was mindless criminal damage.

And, unfortunately, he left us a whole mess to sort out.

Although there's been no break-in,

the shop's interior has been badly affected.

The glass, although it hadn't broken,

it had projectiled lots of shards of glass across the shop.

The floor was like it had been covered in frost.

It was just glittery.

So we had to cordon off the shop and stay shut.

Sarah calls the police,

who tell her other places have also been vandalised.

The lady on the end of the phone was saying,

"I'm the police, we'll contact you and come and look at the damage

"and see what the situation is with you as well."

At Ina's hardware store, when she phones the police,

she's surprised to hear they already have a suspect in custody.

When Ina checks back on her CCTV recording,

she sees what's happened.

I just couldn't believe what I was seeing.

I was thinking, "Well, why is he doing that? What...?

"What's he gaining from that?"

It was just sheer madness.

I couldn't believe my eyes.

She watches as the culprit nonchalantly leaves the store.

But in the distance, Ina now sees something that cheers her up a bit.

The man who so casually wrecked her shop

is about to lose his cool.

He looks down the street and then suddenly starts to run.

He's been spotted by a police officer,

who gives chase and nabs him.

That just made me smile, to be quite honest!

I was amazed that that happened,

and the fact that he was caught, you know,

so it was brilliant, absolutely brilliant.

And in her fabric shop nearby,

the police give Sarah the good news that they have caught the man

who has confessed to vandalising her store, too.

That was nice to know that they'd actually got somebody for it

and that he'd actually admitted to having done it.

In both Ina's, Sarah's and other Truro shops,

the cost of replacing expensive windows and damaged stock

runs into thousands of pounds.

Other people have got to clear that up,

other people have got to put right what he's put wrong,

and I couldn't understand why somebody would be like that.

In court, the 24-year-old pleads guilty to one offence of burglary

and five counts of criminal damage.

He is sentenced to eight months in prison and ordered to pay costs.

The hardware store and the fabric shop

have now improved their security, and it's back to business as usual

for the shopkeepers and their customers in Truro.

We had several customers bringing flowers and cards

to say they were sorry

and if we wanted to do a collection towards the windows,

that they would be happy to contribute.

They were surprised that something like that would happen in Truro.

The customers were fantastic.

They were thrilled to bits that he was apprehended and caught

and justice was done.

That's it for today.

Join us next time,

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