Episode 3 Caught Red Handed

Thieves will steal our cash, our cars, our valuables -

just about anything they can get their hands on.

SIREN BLARES

But now the police are using cutting-edge technology

to catch the bad guys.

CCTV is gold dust.

-Great evidence for the police.

-Got to have him stopped.

Local councils, shops and businesses are fighting crime

with their own tricks and traps.

There's a eureka moment when you get that evidence.

And the public are using secret cameras to make sure crooks

get their comeuppance.

It makes me feel so angry.

He's paid the price. He's being dealt with.

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....

Ramzi's small village shop is his pride and joy.

So when a knife-wielding robber tries to get his cash,

Ramzi takes the biggest gamble of his life.

It's just a spur of the moment.

Adrenaline kicked in. I've been working day and night.

He wants money for nothing!

Perhaps it was unwise for a five-foot-five grandfather

to tackle a six-foot armed robber.

But it's the man with the knife who rues the day he took on Ramzi.

Also today...

businessman Paul discovers bundles of cash have been regularly

stolen from his safe.

I got all the lads downstairs and just said I've got one of the

most difficult speeches I'm ever going to make to the staff.

We've got a thief in the company.

So he lays a hi-tech trap for the culprit but

he simply isn't prepared for what it reveals.

To be betrayed like that is very hurtful.

And an ingenious plan to steal computers goes from bad...to worse.

This thief fancies himself as a cat burglar but

he needs to watch where he puts his paws.

The village of Cockenzie on Scotland's east coast is just up

the road from Edinburgh, a short bus ride.

30 years ago, village store owner Ramzi used to make

the journey daily as a driver for the bus company.

I used to drive the 26 bus.

HE LAUGHS

I remember seeing this shop for sale.

Ramzi was thrilled at the chance to buy the Cockenzie village shop

and rushed back to tell his wife and daughter, Sam.

I remember my dad coming home and saying,

"I've found an amazing place to stay."

So he brought us down one day and it took our breath away.

It was picturesque, serene, calm.

I thought, "Yeah. Absolutely lovely."

Since then, Ramzi has built the shop up, raised three children with

his wife, Rifat,

and established himself at the heart of the Cockenzie community.

Five and five is ten.

Everybody knows Ramzi. Everybody.

Cockenzie would be quiet, let's say, without Ramzi.

Basically, he's one in a million. Everybody is beautiful in his eyes.

Nothing is a problem for my dad, nothing whatsoever.

The whole community is like one whole family.

We have been there about 30 years now.

Customers, we've grew up with them.

We went through their sicknesses, health, divorces, marriages -

every part of life.

But, after 30 happy years in the shop, Ramzi's faith in human nature

is suddenly tested to the limit by a violent robbery.

It's just after 6am on a Sunday.

In the morning, I opened my shop and I'd done the papers.

Delivery papers.

The store has CCTV cameras which also record sound.

It isn't long before a customer comes in.

He asked me for cigarette papers. I asked him for his age,

to make sure he was over 18.

Ramzi gets the cigarette papers but then another man

bursts into the shop.

As soon as I open the cash register, this other guy comes running in...

The man crashes forward,

knocking the displays and baskets on the counter.

..and grabs the till.

He has a large knife

and points it an inch from Ramzi's face.

The customer runs out as a thief tries to grab cash from the till.

I tried to close the till but I couldn't close it

because his hand was in it.

Ramzi hangs on to the till for grim life

and shouts at the top of his voice.

That's the spur of the moment.

Adrenaline kicked in and I started to get very angry.

I've been working day and night. He wants money for nothing!

The six-foot-tall robber towers over Ramzi, who's only five foot five.

He said he's going to stab me.

"Give me the money. I'm going to stab you."

But Ramzi ignores the warning and continues yelling.

I thought if I shout somebody from the street might hear me

and come and give me a hand.

But no-one arrives to help so Ramzi goes on the offensive,

the opposite of what police would suggest.

I don't know where I got the strength from.

But I just grabbed his hood so he wouldn't stab me.

It happened so fast but to me it felt like hours and hours.

I was trying to bang his head so he would be hurt and leave me alone.

Ramzi manages to close the till.

The frenzied attacker blindly waves his knife around

but doesn't harm Ramzi.

Fortunately, he took a fright.

HE SHOUTS

Ramzi's brave resistance has worked.

The armed robber decides to run away.

He's managed to steal just £10.

I was very, very angry so I ran after him

but then I said, "No, no. I'm not going out of the shop."

Then after about two or three minutes I composed myself

and phoned the police.

Somebody tried to rob me.

Er, just about two minutes ago.

The police arrive minutes later.

At home nearby, Ramzi's daughter, Sam, is waking up to alerts on

her phone and computer from friends who've seen the police at the shop.

She rushes to see her father.

I've got no shoes on, no top, no nothing.

I'm just running, basically.

I've got 1,001 things going through my head.

A police officer stops Sam outside the store.

He said, "Your dad was a brave man."

I can remember hysterically screaming,

"Does that mean he's no more?"

He's like, "No, but we can't say anything at this point."

It was just the worst day of my life.

She was very worried and crying.

I was worried that she would phone my wife.

She might take a fright and something might happen to her.

Ramzi notices Sam outside.

He comes to the door and is a bit dazed. Me being me,

"Oh, my God! What's happened to you? What's happened to you?"

"I'm absolutely fine. I'm absolutely fine. Is your mum OK?

"Is your mum OK?"

Sam's sister arrives and they go inside.

The shop was an absolute mess.

Me and my sister look at each other and we're like, "Cameras."

When they check the CCTV camera recording they are distraught

their dad was in such extreme danger.

What we saw and how close the blade was,

it was just awful.

It's only money. His life was more important.

But when I think why he'd done it or how he must've felt at the moment,

I thought, "Yes, very proud of him for doing what he done."

I was being brave and silly at the same time.

Silly because for a couple of pounds, your life is worth more than that.

Brave because you have to protect your own property.

If you're not brave then anybody can trample you.

The police assure Sam they'll catch the robbers soon.

But she wants to identify the man herself.

She gives the footage to the officers and takes a copy home.

My younger brother's here with the wee ones and of course

he's getting a bit hysterical here.

"I'm away to search in the streets." I goes, "Rather than doing this,

"I've got it on USB.

"Why don't we put it on social media and we'll take it from there?"

Sam posts the footage online and she's stunned by what happens next.

We had a massive response, which was very overwhelming.

I had the name within the first three minutes.

Sam immediately calls the police and they arrest the prime suspect.

Priceless moment to hear that he was arrested.

I was very proud of the police that they caught the culprit

very quickly so he could commit no other crimes.

In court, the arrested man pleaded guilty to robbery and assault.

He was sentenced to three years and two months behind bars

with a further two years on licence.

Ramzi hopes the man will change his ways.

I was very sad, the young man ruining his life.

He can make better life for himself.

I don't want to see him go to prison all the time.

I just want him to be a nice citizen of the community.

Despite being shaken by the attack, Ramzi went straight back to work

and his faith in human nature has been quickly restored.

Customers came in and had a wee banter with him.

"You're not going to hold us up, Ramzi, are you?!"

A few people got himself back to his normal self.

I'm very grateful to the people of Cockenzie because

they are very, very helpful to me and very supportive.

And it's not just the locals who've been supportive.

Because the footage was online,

Ramzi received well-wishers' messages

from all around the world.

From America, from Canada, from Turkey.

Some were former customers, some were people that had stayed here.

Some were relatives of relatives that are here.

Unbelievable support.

One of my customers, she phoned up from Sweden that she was

very worried about me.

That makes me laugh! It makes me proud, too.

I admire my dad. He's my hero.

I don't think I could ask for a better person to be my father.

Say bye-bye.

Now, a foolhardy attempt to come down through the roof ends up

being mission really impossible for a bungling burglar.

Breaking through a ceiling tile,

this thief is lowering himself into a computer store.

He's caught on camera and, as he's about to find out,

he's also caught on a dangling cable.

I guess you could call that a tripwire.

Now, ironically, the only thing that doesn't come with

wireless in this hi-tech store is our thief's left shoe.

And he struggles to untangle it.

It's not like this in the movies.

Shoe back on, he decides to get on with the thieving but forgets

to cover his face until it's too late.

D'oh!

Unsurprisingly, being a hi-tech store, everything is alarmed,

and the hapless thief's forced to give up empty-handed.

He decides to go back the way he came in,

trying to escape without leaving a trace.

Less cat burglar, more bull in a china shop.

This decidedly non-master criminal is still at large but police hope

the footage will lead to somebody identifying him.

The camera shows he hasn't got a leg to stand on.

And probably needs locking up for his own safety.

There is a saying,

"Keep your friends close but your enemies closer."

But they can be one and the same thing,

when a friend, someone you trust, lets you down.

A safe cracked.

Someone I'd known for 20-odd years.

A friend betrayed.

Just couldn't believe it was the person who it was.

Nobody wins.

Big price to pay for a small amount of money.

Stevenage in Hertfordshire.

In the 1950s thousands of houses were built here to accommodate

Londoners moving out of the capital looking for a fresh start.

Three decades later,

Paul came to the area to set up a new business and it soon thrived.

We were a fencing company but over the years people asked us to

do other jobs.

We've been a successful company for the best part of 30 years.

A lot of family members involved.

Paul employs 20 people, mostly mates from his footballing days

who'd been with him from the start.

Some of the friendships, 30-odd years, 20 years at a time.

It's been a close-knit company that's been good

and I've enjoyed it that way.

Paul's office is directly above the factory floor.

He likes to be close to his team.

Valuables and petty cash are kept in a safe behind his desk.

My secretary keeps money in the safe because the lads are paid

in cash each week.

In all his years running the firm, Paul's never had to take

serious disciplinary action against any of his staff.

We have had one or two things go missing but minor.

In the building industry,

it's not acceptable but these things do happen.

Paul had a security camera fitted years ago.

Because his employees are his friends,

he thought he'd never need to use it.

But he was wrong.

It's a normal day in the office, but then Paul's assistant tells him

she thinks money has disappeared from the safe.

My secretary asked me if I had been in the safe

and taken some money out.

I had to answer honestly that I didn't know

because I always go in and out of the safe,

thought it might be myself... getting old, maybe, I don't know!

Paul puts it down to his forgetfulness,

but over the next couple of weeks, more money goes missing

and he realises he must do something about it.

My first instinct was to be absolutely gutted because I knew

it was someone within the firm,

and that is one of the hardest things in life,

when you have known people long term,

an absolute kick in the stomach, it really is.

Paul's investigation begins.

He checks the CCTV footage, but sees nothing unusual.

His office is always locked when left unattended

and only a handful of trustworthy staff have keys.

But then he remembers there is a spare key in the cutlery drawer.

We had hidden a key in case we had forgotten any of our keys.

Any thief could have found the key in the drawer,

which explains how he gets into the office.

But the safe has a combination code,

and that is only known by Paul and his inner circle.

The only way that they can find the number to the safe

was to deliberately look

while it was being accessed by authorised members of staff.

Paul's investigation has reached a dead end,

but he is determined to find the thief.

I made a phone call to a surveillance-camera company,

who were absolutely superb, waited for all the staff to leave,

came early evening when the offices were all shut.

The security expert suggests hiding a tiny spy camera in a box file.

The guy drilled out the hole,

fixed and installed the covert security camera,

stuck it on the inside,

documentation there to cover it up, straight onto the safe

and you would never have known

that camera was there in a million years.

A state-of-the-art kit records footage whenever it senses motion.

The trap was set, simple as that.

And, within days, money goes missing again.

Paul and his secretary get together to watch the spy-camera footage.

We are both wondering who it could be

because you are turning over who you think it was.

We were both wrong.

Paul is stunned.

The thief is one of his oldest and closest friends.

The man has entered his office wearing bright yellow rubber gloves

to avoid leaving fingerprints.

He goes straight to the petty-cash box

and takes out hundreds of pounds.

Once he's pocketed the cash,

the thief puts everything else back into the safe as he found it.

The evidence couldn't be more clear-cut.

I just couldn't believe it was the person it was, couldn't believe it.

Someone that I'd known, played football with and against,

for 20-odd years.

If he'd come to me and asked me for any financial help,

it would have definitely been forthcoming.

To be betrayed like that...is...

is very, very hurtful.

Very, very hurtful.

But the security-camera recordings hold a further disturbing secret.

When Paul watches the footage once more,

he hears something that shocks him.

When the light switch goes, you hear the light switch go

and then, after that, you can hear him talking to someone.

MUFFLED SPEECH

There's someone else there.

The sound is nearly inaudible,

but it seems like the thief is talking to an accomplice.

MUFFLED SPEECH

Paul realises why there's never been any evidence recorded

on the office security cameras.

The CCTV cameras were switched off at the main power supply.

They've been coming in, turning the CCTV off, doing the thefts,

turning it back on again.

Paul has no idea who the accomplice might be,

but he's got the evidence he needs to confront the thief.

I got all the lads downstairs and just said,

"I've got one of the most difficult decisions and speeches

"I'm ever going to make to the staff.

"We've got a thief in the company.

"And it hurts me to say it, but,"

I said, "The thing is, I know who the thief is.

"The thief knows who he is, I know who he is,

"because he has committed the crime

"wearing the loudest pair of yellow gloves you could ever know!"

I then looked at the gentleman in question

and, in industrial language,

told him to leave immediately and I was going down the police.

While Paul is giving a statement at the station,

the thief hands himself in.

He had no choice really, but...

He done probably the bravest thing,

rather than run away and not face what was coming to him.

In court, the man admitted stealing.

He was ordered to pay costs, compensation and fined.

The accomplice was never identified.

I don't think he is a bad, bad person, I really don't.

He's just made one stupid decision and it's affected his life,

his friendships... Such a shame.

Because of what happened,

Paul decided to bring his retirement date forward.

He is now leading a life of leisure.

We have to move on now, but I hope other people learn

that it's a big price to pay for a small amount of money.

Security cameras can be highly effective,

but they can also be turned off, faulty or damaged,

so it's always good to have a backup plan, just in case.

CCTV is fantastic, but it's not entirely foolproof,

so you do need to make sure that

your images are properly backed up

and that your backup facility is secure.

The CCTV cameras don't hold the data, it's the hard drive,

so you've really got to make sure

that your security around the hard drive is second to none.

You should make sure the hard drive isn't obvious,

isn't in the same place as the camera,

in case somebody wants to damage it or destroy it,

so is it in another room, can it be secured, can it be hidden away?

There are some fantastic gadgets available on the market

in relation to CCTV and security.

You can even upload images directly from your CCTV to your mobile phone,

so even when you are on holiday, out of the country,

on business, you can see exactly what's happening at home

or at your particular business premises.

If you're going to use a CCTV camera within your property,

it's essential that you have it in the correct position.

You want to capture the criminal's face as they come through the door,

so use your friends and family to test it

and make sure you get to grips with the system

before you actually use it.

Portsmouth on the south coast, a major naval port

and, for many a sailor on shore leave, famous for its friendly pubs.

The Milton Arms first opened its doors to thirsty customers

400 years ago.

Chris is the latest in a long line of owners.

Taking over a pub is a big plunge,

but I've really enjoyed the challenge. There's long hours,

but it's really rewarding when you see it all come together

and music events we are doing here

are getting lots and lots of popularity and some good feedback.

Because Chris's music nights are so well attended,

pub takings are on the up

and so are donations to charities the pub supports.

Chris was encouraged to get involved in fundraising

through a close friend, Matt, who was a volunteer youth worker

before he tragically took his own life two years ago.

Matt worked with troubled teens at the local shelter.

Probably one of the nicest people you will ever meet.

I think that it's testament to him

that people still remember him so fondly.

For me and his family and his best friends,

it was exceptionally difficult for us to...

to try and process, really, losing someone who was so close to us,

so we wanted to have some form of legacy

whereby we could use his name in a positive manner.

Chris decided to celebrate Matt's life

by raising money for a local charity he was involved in.

It's called Motiv8 and it helps young people like Katie.

I first got involved with Motiv8 when I was 13,

struggling with school and life at home.

Motiv8 really did help me out.

Katie now wants to go to university

and, to help her and the other teenagers, Chris raises money

through a collection tin next to the pub's till.

It raised a considerable sum in donations each month,

until one day, it is stolen in broad daylight.

Chris is angry.

He feels it insults the memory of his friend

and sets out to track down the thoughtless thief

by enlisting an army of locals.

It's a Sunday afternoon when one of the barmaids, Carla,

discovers the theft.

Carla went to go and make a donation in the charity tin

and it wasn't there. I'm thinking,

"Who the hell has taken this charity tin?!"

There's lots of personal attachment to it as well,

but just in general, for a charity tin to go missing is terrible.

The Milton Arms has security cameras,

so Chris asks another barmaid, Danni, to see if the CCTV recording

shows exactly what day and time the charity tin disappears.

I knew that it was there Thursday cos I put some money in there,

so I went through to Friday and you can see it there

and then you can see it not there.

So, the tin was stolen two days ago

when Chris and Danni were getting the pub ready for the weekend.

They go through that day's footage minute by minute.

Just before the time the tin disappears,

a customer, who isn't a regular, comes into the pub.

The guy had come in saying can he wait for his girlfriend

and I was like, "Yeah, that's fine."

He takes a seat at the bar, whilst trying to make the scene

look little bit more casual,

pretending, as it appears, to use his phone.

At the time, Chris is up a ladder to the right of the man,

decorating the pub, and Danni is stocktaking to the man's left.

He checks she isn't looking at him

and then slowly moves his hand towards the donation tin.

You see him giving it a quick nudge

to see exactly what the potential reward is going to be

from this risk he is about to take.

He then asked for a glass of water,

so then I gave him a glass of water as well.

Here it comes.

The man takes a sip...

..undoes his jacket...

..waits until Chris and Danni are looking the other way...

..and then snatches the tin,

but just as he's nearly got it covered,

this clumsy bloke almost drops the lot.

I did hear money fall, but when you look,

you don't think to think that someone has got a charity box,

you just think they've dropped their change.

Chris was too far away to hear the charity tin being juggled.

He must have been thinking that was his moment, he'd be caught,

and he thought it was his lucky day when it wasn't.

The thief hides the tin in his jacket

and carries on pretending to wait for his girlfriend.

He even joins in with Chris's conversation as he walks by.

I had just spoken to Danni about the fact that Noel Gallagher

had been booked for a local music festival

and he piped up and said, "Noel Gallagher? Really?"

And I was like, "Yeah."

He pretended to speak to the person on the phone, "Let's get tickets."

A few minutes later, the thief walks out,

taking money meant for teenagers like Katie, not for him.

There was a number of times

I might have sworn to try and calm my anger

because seeing someone be so cold in the taking of something

that means a lot to everyone that has been involved in it, really,

it had a massive negative effect on me, really, I think,

to put it bluntly.

The thief may not have dropped the tin, but he has dropped a clanger.

Chris is a skilled events promoter and knows how to spread news fast.

He enlists the help of a colleague, Steve, and they spring into action.

Steve made the decision to put it onto social media

because we've got such a large network

of all the businesses that we are involved with.

In a matter of minutes, the thief's face is popping up

on computer screens and smartphones across the city.

The snowball effect from that was massive.

I think we had over 500 shares within an hour.

His image spreads through Portsmouth fast

and he soon realises he's got nowhere to run.

Within 24 hours,

the person had given himself up and made himself known to police.

Case...closed.

In court, the man pleaded guilty to four counts of theft,

including the charity tin, and was sentenced to three months in prison.

Chris was delighted with the outcome and the way his customers

rallied round to help the charity afterwards.

People were happy to come and drop in coins

and then it started to turn towards people were happy to drop in notes,

with more and more local businesses and people

offering to support them more, so there has been a big benefit

for something that could have lost a lot, basically.

That's all for today.

Join us next time to see some other villains

who have been Caught Red Handed.