Episode 5 Caught Red Handed

Thieves will steal our cash,

our cars, our valuables -

just about anything they can get

their hands on.

But now, the police are using

cutting-edge technology to catch the

bad guys.

We want to make sure we've got a

concrete case.

Enough evidence to convict at court.

Local councils, shops,

and businesses are fighting crime

with their own tricks and traps...

It's just unbelievable that she

thinks she can get away with this.

..and the public are using secret

cameras,

to make sure that crooks get their

comeuppance.

Fair means or foul, I was

going to get rid of him.

I thought, we've got her!

And I was so happy! Thank God!

So, anyone who's up to no good

had better think twice.

They might just caught red-handed.

Today, Samantha is nervous about

running

a clothes shop for the first time.

But all is going well,

until in the dark hours of one

Halloween...

..a ghostly man in a grotesque mask

breaks into her shop.

I felt sickness and dread in the pit

of my stomach.

The man and his accomplice want to

steal designer dresses,

and for Samantha, it becomes a

late-night horror show.

Also today, Elaine and her family

finally persuade her World War II

veteran dad to hire a carer,

because his health is deteriorating.

But soon, he faces a new problem,

when his own home becomes a crime

scene.

Dad got his wallet, and one of the

20s was missing.

He was visibly shaking, hurt,

and felt quite sick.

And, Neil nicknames and shames

shoplifters on a poster board

in his hardware store. He's had

enough of people stealing

his takings.

We lose £30,000 worth a year.

It equates to one or two

members of staff.

Neil's called his latest thief

Mr Till Man,

because he tries to steal

from a cash drawer.

But it turns out Mr Till Man is a

few tools short of a full box.

Every year, over half a million new

businesses are started in Britain,

by people dreaming of a brighter

future.

Sometimes, they've invested their

life savings.

But burglars don't care about that.

All they're interested in...is easy

money.

Milford Haven in Wales

is well-known for its marina and

the independent shops

which line its town centre.

Samantha owns one of them,

a clothes store.

She and husband David

settled in the town with their two

children eight years ago.

My husband served 27 years in the

Army and it's his home town.

So we decided to come here because

we thought it would be a good

upbringing for the children.

It's a very safe area.

After David retired from the Army

in 2011,

the couple decided to take an

enormous risk,

using their life savings to

buy a clothes business.

I'd never run a shop before.

And we used my husband's pension,

so it was quite a gamble.

But we felt that we wanted to put

something into the town

and by having the shop, I think,

within the town,

you're providing a service to the

community.

For six years, the store ticked

along nicely.

But then one Halloween,

a midnight invasion by burglars

meant Samantha's business dream

took a nightmarish turn.

It's early in the morning on a

weekday

and Samantha receives a phone call

from the police with bad news.

Her shop's been broken into.

I felt sickness and dread

in the pit of my stomach.

She rushes to the shop and finds

clothes

lying on the pavement outside.

Her front door has been smashed in,

and there's a metal beer barrel

sitting on top of broken glass.

I could see that a lot of stock had

been taken,

and it is a very unsettling

and very heartbreaking feeling.

A forensics police officer arrives,

and Samantha tells him that her

security cameras

might have captured the crime.

They watch the recording,

and at 11pm, as the clock ticks

towards midnight on Halloween,

the security video turns into a

horror movie.

Out of the darkness, a ghostly

figure in a scary mask appears...

..and kicks the door.

He walks away.

But then a minute later, he

reappears with what looks like a

crutch.

He strikes the door,

cracking the glass.

He rams the glass with the end of

the crutch,

but still doesn't break through.

The ghostly villain is determined to

force his way in

and five minutes later,

he's back with a new and rather

unusual implement

for breaking glass - a heavy beer

barrel.

Watching this recording is very

upsetting for Samantha.

It feels like a huge violation,

and anger, that they've got no

thought for anybody else.

Now he's broken in,

the burglar goes to the back of the

shop and grabs a large bundle of

expensive clothes.

I was horrified to think that

obviously it was stock

that I'd paid for,

so really it was my money.

The man lifts a backpack off one of

the mannequins,

then goes to the door to pass the

stolen goods to an accomplice.

They leave with Samantha's valuable

stock.

But the show isn't over yet.

15 minutes later, and the men are

back.

One goes to the till.

I keep my till empty at night.

And he tries the key, which was a

key to my stock room.

He tries to open it, and obviously

it's the incorrect key.

It's frustrating for Samantha and

the police officer,

that both men's faces are covered

with ghoulish masks.

And being Halloween, they won't even

arouse suspicion in the street.

I felt quite devastated,

because I realised at that point

that we may never ever find out

who had been involved.

But the men's attempt at a slick

operation is about to run into a

problem.

Because as one of them leaves, and

tries to get past the beer barrel,

he gets caught up in the clothes,

and suddenly he goes bump in the

night...

..falling flat on his face.

The other man comes over to see

what's happened.

He'll wish he hadn't, because one of

the cameras captures a moment

that will come back to haunt him.

He's obviously had problems

speaking to the person he's with,

and at this moment, he removes his

mask quickly, at which point I felt

quite uplifted in a sense and...

Praying, almost, that people would

recognise who he was.

The ghostly figures then gather up

their ill-gotten gains

before vanishing into the night.

Samantha's business has been dealt

a bitter blow.

That stock value would be maybe

£4,000.

The police officers take away the

footage to try and identify the man

who removed his mask.

And Samantha's left to come to terms

with what's happened.

It's the run-up to Christmas,

and the timing of the burglary

couldn't be worse.

It took me to a very dark place.

I cried for much of the time.

Because it had had a huge impact

on my life,

and obviously on my family's life.

I did actually think at that point

that I may have to close.

But a few days later, Samantha gets

some welcome news.

The police have identified and

arrested the burglar who took off

his mask.

My immediate feeling was of relief.

I thought, I can't let this beat me

any more.

For the future of my family,

I believed that I had to make the

shop work

and to completely turn it around.

While Samantha's fortunes were on

the way up, the unmasked burglar

was about to be sent down.

When he appeared in court, the man

was sentenced to 18 weeks in prison.

Since the break-in, Samantha has

improved her security

with bars on the door and a new

alarm system.

And she's been able to put her

frightening Halloween

well and truly behind her.

The future after this incident is

looking quite positive now.

I've introduced a few new brands to

encourage our younger shoppers

into the shop and we hope to be

here for many years to come.

This armed robber is about to find

out the hard way

that you don't mess with Post Office

staff in Cardiff.

Wearing a mask, he struts in

demanding money

and points a large knife at the

52-year-old shop assistant.

But if he expects her to be

terrified,

he's going to get a painful

surprise.

Take that, and that!

She's pulled out what looks like a

rolling pin.

The robber tries to threaten her

again,

and gets another swipe for his

trouble.

When he refuses to go away,

the angry shop assistant bravely

comes around the counter

and chases him out.

Thankfully, the courageous woman's

uninjured

and because of her actions,

nothing's been taken.

But police are still keen to track

down this would-be robber.

Though he's probably lying low

after being beaten

at his own game by a brave

shopkeeper's counterattack.

A World War II veteran keeps finding

his money's going missing.

As soon as his back is turned,

a woman who's been hired to help him

decides to help herself.

His health may be frail,

but a decorated sailor who survived

the dangers of war

isn't the sort of man to be cheated

by a sneaky thief.

Peter, from Spalding in

Lincolnshire,

is a 89-year-old Merchant Navy

veteran.

He was awarded two medals for the

dangerous work he undertook at sea

after D-Day in World War II.

His daughter Elaine

and the rest of his family are proud

of Peter's bravery.

My dad joined the Merchant Navy

when he was 15

and his first ship was actually

torpedoed.

And ten people died,

and ten people survived.

So that was his first-ever trip.

What a way to start, really.

Peter suffered a damaged eardrum

when his boat was hit,

but thankfully, survived the rest of

the war.

And in 1951, he married his

long-time sweetheart, Sheila.

Mum and Dad had a great

relationship

Mum and Dad had a great

relationship

and had my sister and I.

We had great family holidays.

Peter and Sheila were happily

married for 54 years.

Unfortunately, I lost my mum to

cancer in '05.

It was a hard, sad time.

And he still misses my mum

every day.

Elaine lives in Hertfordshire,

two hours away.

But she visits her dad every week,

and speaks to him daily

over the internet.

My dad's got the latest technology,

so we FaceTime a lot.

Because he's not very mobile now,

he walks with a Zimmer Frame.

Because Peter's health started to

deteriorate over recent years,

he agreed to his family's suggestion

that he employ a carer

to look after him two days a week.

But it turned out that the carer

was less interested in Peter's

wellbeing than she was in his cash.

It's a Monday in autumn.

Peter has decided he'd rather

not talk on camera,

but he wants us to tell the story of

what happened with his carer.

It all starts with Elaine receiving

a worrying phone call from her dad.

He noticed that his money was

getting less and less.

He likes to pay cash for everything

and he ended up having to withdraw

more and more.

So, something wasn't right.

Peter suspects the money's going

missing from his wallet.

So he decides to carefully check it

every time a visitor leaves his

bungalow.

The next day, he has a visit from

his regular care assistant.

She's been with him for well over a

year

and Peter's come to regard her

as a friend.

When this woman left, dad got his

wallet and counted the money.

And lo and behold, one of the 20s

was missing.

Peter finds it hard to accept that

someone he had grown to trust

could be stealing from him.

We FaceTimed, and he was visibly

shaking, hurt, and felt quite sick.

The fact that this woman could

actually do this,

it's not a nice thing to see.

You know, a frail old man,

you know...almost in tears.

It occurs to Peter that he could be

making a terrible mistake,

so he decides to seek more proof.

Dad said, she's coming back again

on Friday morning.

Let's do it again.

After the woman leaves on Friday,

Peter checks his wallet and finds

that money's gone missing.

Knowing how astute my dad is,

it could only have been her.

Elaine goes with her father to

report what's happened to the

police.

They say they need clear-cut video

evidence before they can take things

further.

We kind of thought, well,

shall we just sack this woman?

But then we were thinking, well,

if she's doing this to my dad,

how many other people is she doing

it to?

They hire a security expert,

who installs a covert camera,

and tells Peter he mustn't give the

suspect carer any indication that

it's there.

It was just like a little black box

on a shelf in the corner.

It was set to go off at a certain

time.

The following Tuesday,

the camera's in position and ready

to roll as soon as

the woman starts her shift.

Peter puts his wallet in its usual

place on a table by his chair.

Everyone's on tenterhooks.

My dad especially - the fact that

he was not well anyway,

having that woman in the house...

..knowing what she was doing...

How would you feel?

I really felt for him.

The carer arrives,

and Peter realises he needs to act

normally

to avoid giving the game away.

He's gone to get a shower,

as usual.

But while he's washing,

the camera shows how she goes

into the empty sitting room,

and heads straight for his wallet.

She's stolen a £20 note.

After Peter finishes his shower,

she leaves.

The security expert

retrieves the footage,

and shows the family what this carer

has been up to.

It was disbelief.

You really can't believe

what you're seeing.

And especially when it's your dad!

But even though they appear to have

caught the theft on camera,

there isn't a clear shot

of the woman taking Peter's cash

out of his wallet.

So the family decide to try

again when she comes next,

from a different camera angle.

Peter's already proved

he's a good actor.

But now he must prepare

for a repeat performance.

He was amazing, I don't think I

could do it.

Trying to act normally...

I think he deserves an Oscar.

The woman arrives, and Peter goes

for his shower.

As he leaves the room,

she glances across to a window to

see if anyone is looking in.

Then, she goes over to the wallet.

Glances again at the window...

And with the coast clear, she takes

a £20 and a £10 note,

then pops the wallet back,

and goes in to see Peter.

As soon as the woman leaves,

Peter lets Elaine know more money

has been taken.

I said, "Right. I'm not putting

my dad through any more."

I phoned the woman up, and I said,

"I know what you've been doing.

"I'm sacking you." I didn't tell

her that we'd been filming.

And she was saying, "How dare you?

"What do you mean? I've never

stolen," and all this on the phone.

And I said, "I don't care,

"just don't ever come near my father

again."

The police arrest the woman.

In court, she changed her tune and

pleaded guilty to the two thefts

that had been caught on video.

She was sentenced to 150 hours of

unpaid community work,

and ordered to pay £220 in costs

and compensation.

Peter is now looked after by a

different carer,

who the family trust 100%.

And he continues to sail on with the

same fortitude that took him to war

as a teenager.

It's his 90th birthday coming up,

and the amount of effort it takes

for him to get up, do anything...

But he's still forcing himself out

of that chair, out of bed,

to actually be independent.

It's absolutely amazing.

There are millions of carers in the

UK,

There are millions of carers in the

UK,

and very few of them are dishonest.

But it's always wise to take

precautions when hiring anyone

who's got access to our house,

or the homes of our loved ones.

I think an important thing to know

about somebody

before you employ them is in fact

why they've left their previous job,

and if they're happy for you to

speak to their previous employer.

And if they're reluctant to allow

you to do this,

then I think that would raise some

concerns.

I would strongly advise anybody

bringing an employee

into their home,

to ask them for their DBS check, to

check on their criminal history.

If they're unwilling, or unable

to provide it,

then you take a pass on them,

and you interview somebody else.

A really simple thing that you can

do to find out

about somebody's history is to have

a look on social media.

Perhaps you'll find out something

that they didn't disclose

during the interview, and it's

really interesting -

if you put somebody's name into a

search engine,

along with the town where you are or

where you think that they used to

reside, then effectively you can get

quite a lot of information back.

We have a reputation of being a

polite society and not wanting

to be too intrusive. But you can't

be too intrusive in this situation.

And if it doesn't feel right, then

move on, ask them to leave politely

and look for somebody you feel

comfortable with.

There's trouble at t' till in a

hardware store,

when a shoplifter goes after a cash

drawer the moment a staff member

leaves it unguarded.

The thief smuggles the till into a

quiet corner to remove the cash.

But the light-fingered felon

has a problem -

the member of staff is on his way

back,

and will discover the theft

any moment.

Mackay's family hardware shop in

Cambridge has been a popular

destination

for local builders and DIY-ers for

generations.

It's something of a regular on

Caught Red Handed,

because in recent years, it's also

proved popular with shoplifters.

And the store's owner, Neil Mackay,

has come up with a radical

solution - posters displaying images

of people suspected of stealing from

the store.

Well, here's our famous Rogues'

Gallery.

CCTV images of all the people

we've caught recently.

We name them after the products

they've attempted to steal.

Neil's nicknaming and shaming of

thieves,

and his extensive security camera

system, are helping reduce

losses,

together with his vigilant staff.

People like Nigel, who works in the

power tool department,

and is always on the lookout for

shoplifters.

I don't think it's fair on the

people

who are working hard for a living,

and it's money which pays our wages

and bills.

I don't think people should be

allowed to get away with things like

that.

Nigel thoroughly enjoys working at

Mackay's,

but he doesn't enjoy it when a thief

chances their arm

as soon as his back is turned.

Especially when it isn't only tools

they're after,

but the store's hard-earned cash.

It's early afternoon on a busy

Saturday.

One of the store's CCTV cameras

shows Nigel standing at his post

in the power tool department.

A customer asked me where some goods

was,

so I took the gentleman out to the

garden department and showed him

what he was looking for.

While Nigel's taking the customer to

a different part

of the shop, a man peers through

the front door and comes in.

He walks behind Nigel's counter, and

looks at the goods on display.

He might seem innocent, but actually

this man's a thief,

and he's not here to buy - he's here

to steal.

Nigel is waylaid as he makes his way

back to his till.

I spoke to a couple of members of

staff behind their counter.

While Nigel chats to his colleagues,

the man has noticed his till is

temporarily unguarded.

I think he must have been in before

at some point,

so he knew there was a till behind

there,

that he could get at quite easily.

He continues to stake out Nigel's

till for several minutes,

circling the racks of tools nearby.

He knew what he wanted to do,

and was just waiting for the

opportunity to take the money.

When he thinks the coast is clear,

the man walks behind Nigel's

counter,

makes sure no-one's watching,

and pounces.

He grabs Nigel's till drawer, and

tries to remove it,

but it's attached by a cable.

His plan has hit a snag, and

Nigel will be back any minute.

And as the view from this other

camera shows,

it's not just the staff that the man

has to worry about.

A customer's about to walk past

and spot what he's up to.

So he quickly puts the drawer back.

Then the man seems to move away from

Nigel's counter,

but he's actually gone to pick up a

pair of scissors he's seen nearby,

before going back to Nigel's till

again.

The thief crouches down and cuts the

cable securing the till.

Having removed the drawer,

the man takes it to a quiet part of

the shop

and starts trying to open it.

But not surprisingly,

a drawer designed for storing money

isn't easy to get into.

After struggling for several

minutes,

the frustrated thief gives up.

He hides the drawer in some

shelving,

perhaps planning to come back and

retrieve it later.

Then he leaves the store.

When Nigel returns to his till,

he's horrified.

As I walk behind the counter, I

normally check my cash drawer.

There was nothing there!

Looked down under the counter and

saw a wire hanging down...

It was a moment of panic.

I shouted out that someone's stolen

my till drawer

from under the counter.

Everybody jumped to alert,

rushing around,

trying to find out where it had

gone to.

The till's been well hidden, and

despite a thorough search,

the team can't find it.

Nigel's beside himself with worry.

After 34 years of working in the DIY

business,

I've never had a till been stolen

from my counter,

what I've been in charge of.

So, yeah. It was quite a shock to

the system.

With a heavy heart, Nigel reports

the theft to the police.

But then he gets some good news.

The manager, luckily enough, found

the drawer at the back of the shop.

That made me feel relief,

cos I did feel guilty at times

for not being on the counter.

Sort of blaming myself.

Even though the duty manager has

found the till drawer,

and Nigel was only away from his

station for a few minutes,

he feels responsible and goes to

apologise to shop owner Neil.

He was very nice about it, saying,

"It's not your fault,

"these things happen..."

Although no cash has been taken,

Neil is keen to check out what their

various security cameras have

recorded.

I was absolutely amazed at

what I saw.

The bungling would-be burglar

didn't even wear gloves.

So when a police forensics officer

arrives and dusts the drawer for

fingerprints, he gets a positive

result.

We got some really good fingerprints

off it.

There was only mine on there,

and his.

With the fingerprints and CCTV

pictures,

the police identify the man,

who has a history of offences.

They go and arrest him

and Neil has another pilferer poster

to go on his wall of shame.

Here we have our latest entrant on

the Rogues Gallery, Mr Till Man,

who's been caught. And being before

the courts...

..we won't be seeing him

for a long time.

The man was sentenced to nine months

in prison for a series of crimes,

including his attempt to get into

the Mackay's till.

All the till drawers in the store

are now kept under lock and key.

Fortunately, we have our own

fasteners department,

so they've been using a lot of the

stock and bolting everything down.

Neil's son Andrew recently joined

the business,

and is just as security-conscious

as his dad.

We've got to keep everything chest

height.

So no matter where you are in the

store,

you are able to see not only the

staff, so they can help you,

but also anyone who might be acting

suspicious.

Neil has asked Andrew to devise a

comprehensive anti-thief strategy

which they are calling

Operation Metamorphosis.

I'm trying to make sure that Andrew

has the best opportunity to make our

business successful in the future.

That's it for today - and that's it

for a few more criminals,

who've been caught red-handed.