Harry and Linda Crime Scene Rescue

There are 700,000 burglaries

in the UK every year.

But right across the country, dedicated police teams

are on the offensive, waging war against the criminals

who steal from local homeowners.

Police! Open the door, otherwise, entry's going to have to be forced.

For the victims of these crimes, it can take months, even years,

to come to terms with what's happened.

I feel absolutely sick that they think they've got the right

to be able to do what they've done. I really do.

But in this series, we're about to show them, and you,

how we can all beat the burglars.

This is Crime Scene Rescue.

On today's show, we meet Harry and Linda,

a remarkable couple who have had a run of bad luck.

Now what should have been a day of happiness

has turned into another day of despair.

So today, you actually went to see your grandchild for the first time.

-Born today.

-Yeah.

-And this is what you come back to.

-Yeah.

What's worse, the thieves have stolen treasured possessions

belonging to Linda's mum.

-You just think they're...

-Gone.

She does. I mean, she'd had it years and years and years.

And while the police try and catch the criminals,

we take on the challenge of transforming their home,

in the hope that we can put the happiness back into their lives.

-We couldn't think what you'd do that'd make it...

-Oh, it's...

-But it's incredible, isn't it?

-Absolutely brilliant.

'West Yorkshire Police. How can I help?'

It's 10:30pm, on a cold night in Leeds,

and a burglary is being called in.

'How have they got inside your house?'

According to recent figures,

there have been over 14,000 domestic burglaries

in West Yorkshire, but the police here

are doing everything in their power to tackle the criminals.

'Have you just got home?'

'Oh, what a shame!'

Just outside the city centre,

I've arrived at the home of Harry and Linda,

with officers from West Yorkshire Police.

Just very briefly, what's happened?

Obviously, they've rifled through your drawers and some cupboards.

They've just ransacked all the cupboards and the drawers.

We just had another grandchild born...

-We've just had a grandchild...

-Today? Congratulations.

And then you get back to this.

So you actually went to see your grandchild for the first time...

-Yeah.

-Born today.

-Yeah.

-And this is what you come back to.

-Yeah.

-And she were born at ten... ten past two this afternoon.

-Yeah.

And, of course, we went there.

A lovely, beautiful new baby.

-We come in and...

-Came back to this.

-I said, "What's...doors open for?"

-Oh, dear.

I looked and I said, "Oh, God, somebody's been in!"

I don't know.

Linda, what's happened to your foot?

I've broken a metatarsal bone. This was the start of it.

It's been absolutely horrendous.

Three weeks before Christmas, I did this.

-My son, he's lost...

-Taken his finger off.

-..half his finger.

-And crushed his foot.

-And all his foot's all crushed.

The week after, my husband crossed over the road

and got run over - knocked down.

What else could happen?

Oh, dear! You've really been through it, haven't you, you two?

'Talk about unlucky, and then this happens.

'Harry's laptop, and treasured jewellery

'passed on from Linda's late mum have all gone.

'While I'm taking this in, PC Thomas Powell is upstairs,

'hunting for clues.'

The glass top is ideal

and the mirrored wardrobes have obviously been...been moved.

Hopefully, touch wood, there'll be some fingerprints,

but unlikely, from what I can see.

I can see a couple of glove marks, so...

But they've come in here and had

a right good root around, unfortunately,

which is the worst part of it, really, especially for the victims

when they come home, especially after a day like today.

To come home to this

is not going be a happy ending for them, unfortunately.

'It's certainly been an emotional day for Harry and Linda,

'but PC Richard Crossland is doing his best

'to help them keep their spirits up.'

It can be traumatic, but try and focus on that little one.

You know what I mean? Because that's the main thing at the moment.

'It's hard to comprehend

'the terrible time this couple are having,

'but I want to let them know I'm here to help.'

First of all, I'm sorry that we've had to meet in these circumstances,

with such a horrible thing that's happened to you,

but are you all right to tell me - what's actually happened today?

They've obviously got in through the stable door we've got at the back.

The top one hasn't got a lock on it,

there should be screws running through.

-Sort of prised it open?

-Prised it open, and then they...

Got the latch up and got in through that.

I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.

It's an awful thing to come in and, you know,

-somebody's been in your house.

-How would you feel about us

assessing your home, with the aid of the police,

and if they find any weak spots

like that back door, which doesn't have adequate security at the moment,

-that we put that on for you?

-Fine.

-That's brilliant. Yeah.

-Anything that helps will be more than welcome.

-Yes.

-OK. I think that's what we're going to do.

-Good.

-Oh, that's lovely. Thank you.

On first impressions, the burglars have made a real mess of this home.

But I'm sure there's plenty of things I can do

to help make them feel safe and secure again.

While the police continue their investigation,

I want to see if I can reverse Harry and Linda's recent run of bad luck.

Time to hit the phones and assemble an army of volunteers

to help turn their fortunes around.

Is that Paul?

Hi, is that Steve?

Dave, it's Rav. How are you doing?

Laura, hi, it's Rav.

We've got a couple, Harry and Linda, that've been burgled recently

and it's really, really upset them, as you can imagine.

The door itself's fine, but the locks are really, really poor.

They're a lovely couple, Harry and Linda,

they've really been through some absolutely shockingly bad luck recently.

I want to do the inside of their home, so it actually...

it feels like home again for them, because at the moment, they can't relax.

We don't have much time on this, unfortunately.

Thanks for your help, Paul...

Cheers, then. Bye.

My team of local heroes is taking shape,

and I know with their help, we can really make a difference.

It's the morning rush hour in Leeds

and things have been equally as hectic at Harry and Linda's.

Last night, the police continued to focus on solving this crime,

carrying out a full forensic assessment.

For me, my first challenge is to make this home

as safe as it can possibly be, and there's no better place to start

than with a review of their security.

I've drafted in crime-prevention expert PC Paul Croft.

Thanks for coming. You've had a look at this property and we need to up this security,

I think, by quite a bit. I notice they have got a light, I'm not sure it's working.

I believe it's not working.

So if you've got something installed, it's been put there for a reason.

We need to either look to replace that, or certainly repair it,

so that it does the job that it's been designed for.

That would light up this area, no-one's going to sneak around,

so we need that to be working. Anything else at the front?

If you look at the houses across opposite, they've got alarm boxes.

This particular one hasn't, which, again,

is saying, you know, to us, it hasn't got an alarm on it.

That's something we could look at.

There is a garage here

and although it doesn't link directly into the house,

it's still generally quite a vulnerable place.

Is there anything you can think we could do there?

If we're installing an alarm on the property, perhaps we could

put the alarm onto the garage door, as well as part of the alarm system.

Yeah. Nice and easy.

So just an extra sensor, perhaps, on the door, so if that's moved,

-it would set the system off.

-I'd say so, yes.

-OK.

Let's have a look at the side and the back of the house,

see if there's anything there.

This is where the thieves broke in

and, to my mind, it's the most vulnerable part of this home.

So we see round the rear of the property now,

this conservatory, a possible area of weakness.

Just looking at it, it's a massive concern.

That's just coming away, isn't it?

If you gave that a really good tug,

that's going to open, isn't it?

Yeah, very vulnerable. Something definitely needs doing about that.

But the biggest concern is the backdoor.

We've got a slight mark in here, where it appears

that the offenders have simply put something in,

and if I give it a push...

-There we go.

-Now, that door was locked.

-Yeah.

-We haven't just left that open there, have we?

-No.

That door was locked, and by you just pushing in the right place,

you've just popped that door right open.

So that seriously needs addressing, and fast.

A massive area of concern, yes.

From my chat with Paul, there's certainly plenty to do

if we are going to improve the security here.

There's no time to waste in getting this transformation started.

So it's great my team of helpers have arrived

to get things moving at Harry and Linda's.

We're installing a brand new alarm and upgrading the lighting,

but it's the back of the property that is particularly vulnerable,

so it's vital we make this a priority

to stop the burglars coming back.

Locksmith Steve is on the case.

This particular window...

..the catches it has on aren't very strong.

So we're putting additional window locks on,

making the window a lot more secure.

My mission is not just about security,

I want to make this house feel like a home again,

and for that, I've called in designers Kate and Laura.

This is the scene of where the burglary took place,

so we want to give it back to them as a nice place they can relax

and put the memory of the burglary behind them.

Is this something you think you might be able to transform and help us out with?

Yeah, absolutely. I think they've had a bit of a rough time,

so it would be really nice to give the room a bit of a revamp for them.

Something soft and neutral, just a nice, family, relaxing space.

They are so close to their family because they were actually

visiting a brand new grandchild when this burglary took place.

So if you can incorporate the family element into this,

I think they'd really appreciate it.

Maybe looking at, they've got a lot of family photos around,

so maybe look at creating a bit of an area

to show those off to best effect as well.

I think remove the arches and put some new paper on there

that's going to make a great feature.

A lot to be done and we don't, unfortunately, have too much time.

So it's going to be tough. But you reckon you can do it?

-Absolutely, yeah.

-Definitely.

-We're up for the challenge.

Well, the designers are confident and the tradesmen are cracking on.

But for Harry and Linda, the impact of the burglary

is really starting to hit home.

I think, actually, it hit me mostly when I went to bed.

It were just a matter of climbing over all the clothes

-and then you're thinking...

-Constant reminders what they've done.

-Yeah.

And, you know, you sort of...

I got into bed and I'm thinking, "My God," you know,

"they were there not long since."

Recently, her mum died and we've added the wedding ring to...

-Yeah. I got a wedding ring.

-That's what started you.

-Yeah.

Sorry...

I hadn't thought about it, you know.

But, you know, I hadn't thought about it in...

-You just think...

-Gone.

I mean, she'd had it years and years and years.

50 years, hadn't she? And more. 60 years.

It really unnerves you.

It does, a little bit, yeah.

They say... You know, I've heard people say that, you know,

they've been burgled and you think, it's awful, is that.

But it's... You don't realise how bad it is.

No. Until it happens, no.

Now I think, my God, why didn't we do this, why didn't we do that?

Just simple things which can stop it as well, you know.

But you just, you just put things off, don't you?

Well, we're putting things off no longer

and work is well under way to make this home more secure.

But we're not the only ones who've made progress.

The police have a promising lead.

We've discovered further evidence at the scene

and that's in the form of some gloves that have been left

near to the scene of the burglary.

Those gloves have been seized by police officers

and have been packaged and are now at our forensic laboratory,

where the scientists are trying to recover DNA from those gloves

that can then be profiled and go onto the computer

and, hopefully, bring a match up from those.

So the investigation is moving forwards.

As night falls over the city,

the police have returned to Harry and Linda's neighbourhood

to look for additional leads

and offer support to the local community.

If you can go round the neighbourhood, please.

I've given you all your house numbers already.

Do some house-to-house and see if we've got any witnesses to this offence,

and do home security assessments, where required.

The operation is being led by Sergeant Sue Needham,

who's also paying Linda a visit.

My visit now is to see the victim,

bearing in mind the burglary happened last night,

just to offer her some reassurance and crime-prevention advice.

Sometimes, when you've been burgled, you can't remember everything that's been stolen,

so there may be other things that have come to light today.

-So, I'm aware that a laptop was taken, and some jewellery.

-Yeah.

And I've just... I had some pictures of my jewellery,

and a lot of it was my mum's.

I knew there was three rings

and I'd forgotten until I saw this picture,

-but her wedding ring as well's gone.

-Oh, dear.

At the moment, as we speak, we've got the Police Community Support Officers

going round all your street now, all the houses that back onto here,

doing house-to-house.

It's called Operation Optimal. We've been doing this

for about a year now and it has reduced the burglaries by about 50%.

-So it is working.

-Yeah.

-If we arrest anybody, obviously, we'll let you know.

-Yes.

And from the house-to-house that we're doing now,

if anything comes back from that, I'll let you know about that as well.

Yeah. Oh, right, love. Thank you.

It's early morning.

Harry and Linda are leaving home, as things are shifting up a gear.

-Bye!

-See you guys later.

I've called in my band of Good Samaritans to help put

a little happiness back in their lives.

OK, folks. Thanks for rushing down at such short notice.

We're all here to help the people living in this house - Linda and Harry.

They have had the worst luck imaginable recently,

and that's where you lot come in.

What I want to do, with your help, is to fix up this house.

Let's make it as safe and secure as we possible can.

So what we do have is a really deserving couple.

What we don't have, unfortunately, is a lot of time.

So let's get in there, get cracking, and get this place fixed up.

ALL: Yeah!

To complete my mission, we need to finish tightening up the security

with the alarm, lights and locks.

And I really want to put a smile back on Harry and Linda's faces

with a transformation of their ransacked living room.

The first things to disappear are Harry's DIY purple arches.

-Are you ready to have the panelling taken off yet?

-Yes, please. Take it down.

The ceiling's next, then paper the walls tomorrow morning.

I think we should make our target. It's a bit tight, but we should do it.

And, at last, that vulnerable back door is being dealt with.

This is perfect because if your house has poor security,

you are six times more likely to get burgled

than a home with even basic protection.

Back in the living room, the designers also have plenty of ideas.

The new light fittings have gone up, the old ones are out.

So we've got lots of nice, bright light in here,

which will really lift the space.

We've got the furniture, new furniture arriving,

all the accessories are coming in.

So once all the painting is done,

we can start cracking on with all of that as well.

The much-needed security update is really coming on,

and I'm so pleased with what locksmith Steve has done

to protect the back door.

This is where they broke in.

It had absolute minimal security.

-In fact, it had none on the top part of this door.

-Absolutely.

You've changed that in a few simple steps.

We've put what's called

a British Standard lock on this door, a deadlock,

and it throws this extended bolt out,

and we've added another bolt here.

-So if...

-So, now it's like one door.

So you can have it like that,

or you can create just the one door

by putting that down and closing it.

You've instantly improved the security.

So where it had just a latch before,

we've now got one, two, three points of security on the top door...

-Absolutely. Yes.

-..as well as the bottom lock.

-That is much, much better than it was.

-Absolutely, yeah.

-Excellent.

As well as the local tradesmen and women, family friend Jean,

and Harry and Linda's daughter, Nicola, are also pitching in.

Their new granddaughter is too small to be here,

but there's a team of other little helpers.

How important will it be for them to have this room back again

-and feel like home?

-Oh, really important.

-They're here all the time.

-Absolutely.

-Kids running round,

and it'll be fantastic.

You think this will be one little nice thing that's happened recently?

-And they really, really do deserve it.

-A lovely couple, aren't they?

But one of our little volunteers has her own design ideas.

-Try and make it smoother.

-Yes. I might help Tara out a bit.

-Tara.

-There's quite a bit on the floor there, Tara.

Quite a lot. And now on my arm.

'What a mess! This could take some time.'

Look at your shoe!

What a transformation!

The security fix is almost complete

and the inside's coming along nicely.

But as you can see, still loads of work still needs to be done,

so those painters are going to be here well into the night.

Hopefully, it will all be done before Harry and Linda get home tomorrow.

It's 8am, and as Leeds wakes up, the police have made a breakthrough.

Their work has led to them arresting someone

in connection with the burglary.

A suspect was identified for these offences

and the suspect was arrested. He is now

on police bail, pending the outcome of the forensic results

on the gloves that were recovered near to the scene.

But as soon as we have that DNA profile recovered,

that will be put against him, as a suspect,

to see if we can find a match with it.

If that's the case, then he will be rearrested

and brought in for further interviewing.

So the DNA could be all important in solving this case.

At the house, our team of helpers got up early to get the job finished.

They've only got a few hours until Harry and Linda return home.

The lights are going up, the alarm is being wired in,

and the living room is coming on.

Full wall in half an hour. I'm happy with that.

The wallpaper's also up,

so now Liam can put the finishing touches to the alarm.

This alarm is a unique piece of kit which will call

your friends or family if there's a break-in.

We've gone for a wireless system in this house.

We've tried to keep it really simple for the couple.

It literally sets and un-sets, like a car alarm would.

Basically, we've got two buttons on here.

We've got a set button and an unset button.

We've also got the option of a panic system.

So by pressing the two buttons together,

we can send a panic signal through.

When it is triggered,

the alarm system will dial three pre-set numbers.

So if the alarm is activated,

three numbers that Harry and Linda can choose

-will be alerted that the alarm has gone off.

-Yes.

-Like family members or friends.

-Yeah, definitely.

So, I'm in bed, I hear a noise downstairs,

I think there's an intruder there, I press these two buttons.

HIGH-PITCHED ALARM WAILS The alarm system goes off.

The alarm system works.

We can silence that alarm by just pressing the unset button.

That's now gone off.

And in a couple of seconds, we should get a phone...

And it says here, "Intruder Alarm".

What a brilliant system!

And it's nice and simple to use, and the best thing is,

it's not going to cost them any money every month, is it?

That call's come off their phoneline.

It's literally a five-pence call from a standard landline.

Excellent.

We're into the final countdown, and inside, it's a hive of activity.

The floor's going back down.

Pete's just building a table for the girls.

A couple of curtain pulls to put up, pictures, and then that's us.

That's it.

You'd never know now. Don't tell anybody.

Job done, and just in the nick of time.

But my main concern has always been

the security of Harry and Linda's home.

We've installed a state-of-the-art burglar alarm,

put up dusk-till-dawn lighting,

and added locks to the vulnerable windows.

PC Paul Croft is back to take a look and he seems particularly impressed

by the changes at the rear of the house.

This is the back door, which was the area

that the intruders forced their way in through.

At the time of the burglary, there was literally

no security on the top part of this door whatsoever, as you identified.

-That's right, yes.

-We've put in this five-lever lock here,

a British Standard lock.

Is this an improvement on what you saw before?

It is a vast improvement, as you've said.

If you remember, we pushed it and it just simply fell open.

As you can see there, you know, it's nice and solid now.

So what we've done to that is absolutely excellent.

They're not the most secure doors anyway, the stable door,

so that's always something to bear in mind if you're putting a door in.

People like them, but security-wise, they're at the lower end of the scale

and quite difficult to secure. You must bear things like that in mind.

But as long as it's a significant improvement on what we had before,

then that's going to be good for Linda and Harry.

-We've certainly achieved that, yes.

-Excellent. I think they're nearly here, so let's go and see them.

Harry and Linda are home,

but what are they going to make of all our hard work?

-Come on up, Harry, how are you doing?

-Very well, sir.

-You're all right?

-A little apprehensive.

Apprehensive. Linda, how are you doing?

-Hiya. I'm fine.

-Are you all right?

-Yes.

-Good to see you. How's your leg?

-Er, it's there!

-All right? Well, we've made a few changes on your house.

-Right.

Let's start with the front.

You can see in the corner there,

you've got a brand-new intruder alarm.

In darkness, you can see it flashing away,

so it's going to alert anyone to know that this house is secure.

Harry, we've also put in a sensor in your garage there,

so all your stuff inside's also protected by the alarm.

Obviously, that's going to set the alarm off.

A nice new light as well. Look at that light there.

It's what we call a dusk-until-dawn-style light,

so it's going to give a nice gentle light round here,

so no-one can hide around, sneak and get up to no good in the darkness.

-That's good.

-All right? If we go round the back of the house,

there's a few changes we've made there too.

Here's the back door, obviously, that was attacked.

-You can see here, we've put...

-You've put another lock on there.

There's a much, much stronger lock on here

and we've also put a little adjoining part on here,

-so you can actually open it as one door now, if you want. OK?

-Yeah.

We've also, just so you know, put some window locks on your conservatory,

because you had a couple of windows that looked like they'd had a bit of play.

I think they'd tried to get in there.

It looks like they have, so we've put some window locks on,

so there's no movement in there.

-Good. Yeah.

-That's brilliant, yes.

-So that's the outside.

-It's getting better and better.

-Oh, no.

-Do you want to have a look on the inside?

-Oh, yes!

This couple's home was completely ransacked by the burglars,

who heartlessly stole some of their most precious possessions.

But I'm hoping all our efforts will help put some joy

back into their lives.

We've done the outside for security,

but as a little extra, we wanted to give you your home back.

-Oh! Look at this.

-And we want to give you somewhere where you can relax

-and try and ignore what happened.

-Oh!

Here you are, Harry, come in.

-Because we know how much it upset you.

-Oh, I can't believe it.

We wanted to try and get...

-That wall!

-..the memories of the burglary out as much as possible

and try and put some nice memories back in, so you can enjoy this.

You've certainly done that, my friend, you've certainly done that.

We couldn't think what you'd do that'd make it...

-But it's incredible, isn't it?

-Absolutely brilliant. I just...

You've never seen me lost for words, have you?

I'm stuck for words, I'm absolutely stuck for words.

-It's incredible, isn't it?

-Absolutely fabulous.

Oh, I can't believe it.

You've got your new table and chairs over there.

Oh! Oh, yeah. Look.

Have a look on the wall over there at some pictures as well.

-Oh, they're lovely. Oh, it's absolutely...

-Isn't it?

I just can't... It's so nice.

You guys have had the most rotten luck, to say the least.

This has gone a long way to putting it right, hasn't it, pet?

-Oh, it has.

-A long way.

-It really has, it's so nice.

-But the arches have gone, Harry.

-I know, yes.

-Yay!

The arches have gone. Is that all right?

You thought you'd miss the arches?

I don't miss them at all. That's far better.

It looks absolutely incredible, it does.

Well, none of this would have been possible

without the help of your friend Jean, your family,

and also, loads of local tradesmen and women

that have dropped everything, after they heard

what happened, and I got on the phone

and told them and they came straight round and made this possible.

Many of them have worked well into the night to do this.

I'm sure they would love to say hello to you

and I'm sure that you'd like to say a big hello to them.

-They're actually outside.

-We'd like to say thank you to them.

-We would.

I'm so glad they love it.

After all their terrible misfortune,

it's great to see the smiles back on their faces.

Harry and Linda, meet the team.

It is so nice, it's absolutely brilliant.

It's incredible, girls, thank you, guys.

All of you. I don't even know you, but...

It has been... It's absolutely beautiful.

They look overwhelmed by the generosity of my team,

but there's one change that's caught Linda's eye -

Harry's purple arches have gone.

Was it terrible to get them off, then?

He did a good job putting them on, I'll give him that!

That is such a good feeling, when you take something so negative

and you can turn it into something so positive.

All these tradesmen and women and family members and friends

rushing round together to make this the start of, hopefully,

much happier times for Harry and Linda.

-It is so nice.

-Yeah.

-Yes, so, thank you.

-You deserve it.

Time for the real test.

What do their family think of the changes we've made to their new front room?

I think it's absolutely fabulous. Beautiful.

-It's very different, isn't it?

-Absolutely lovely. So light.

-I think it'll feel more like home again, won't it?

-Yeah, yeah.

One less thing for them to worry about, isn't it?

More like their own space again, yeah.

After the burglary, definitely. Yeah, it's beautiful.

What a result!

The police are still working on this crime, but they also have

a very clear message for any would-be burglars out there.

What you have here is a family that have been devastated by a burglary,

because burglary devastates people's lives.

You've got local tradesmen who've come in to help put things right

for these people and restore their faith in the local community.

Our message to the burglars is quite clear -

if you're going to mess with people's lives,

then we're going to mess with you.

We're going to come knocking on your door, morning, noon, and night,

because that's what we're there for.

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