Sue and Jim Crime Scene Rescue

SIREN

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.

The fact that they've so brazenly done it as well. Very angry.

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

how we can all beat the burglars.

This is Crime Scene Rescue.

Coming up, we meet Sue and Jim, whose lives have been torn apart

after treasured family possessions were stolen.

You just hope one day it happens to them.

For Sue, in particular, it couldn't have come at a more

heartbreaking time following the recent death of her mother.

And, while the police try to solve this appalling crime,

I take on the immense task of not only making their home more secure,

but hopefully putting a little happiness back.

-Is that all right?

-Oh, thank you.

-That's all right.

-That's lovely.

"West Yorkshire Police, what's the emergency?"

Has it just happened now?

With a burglary happening around every 18 minutes,

West Yorkshire Police are a busy force.

It's 7pm on a cold Thursday night in Leeds

and, in the police control room, a break-in has been reported.

"How have they got into your property?"

West Yorkshire's police response teams are always ready for action.

What have they taken?

A few miles from the city centre, I've arrived at the crime scene

for a quick update with PC Rob Quinn, before heading inside.

Hello. I'm Rav. How are you doing? Are you all right?

Are you all right if we come in?

Yeah, yeah.

I understand it's a very, very difficult time for you at the moment.

-Yes.

-Are you all right just to say what happened?

I finished work quite early today

and so I got home about half past two. Sue were out with her dad,

and I left at half three - a game of snooker, as you do on a Thursday.

Yeah.

The next thing Sue rings me because... Well, the chain's on the door which is this one.

I says, "Right. Stay where you are. Do not go in. Something's happened."

I hoped to catch them in the act, but I just saw all the damage,

everything smashed, as you can see.

Is this the room, James?

Yeah. We think over the back fence.

Oh, James! I've just seen your window.

So they've smashed that pane in. The glass is all over the place.

Yeah. And they've smashed the pane at the side of the other door.

I think Sue may have disturbed them

because they haven't ransacked everything,

just sort of one half of the house.

Have you noticed if anything's been taken?

Oh, yeah. Well, we had a laptop there, which everybody's got now.

-Right. Her mum died recently which...

-It's irreplaceable.

Exactly.

Sue's laptop and camera have been stolen, but even more devastating

is the loss of a box of jewellery which was left to Sue

by her mum, Betty, who passed away only ten weeks ago.

Can you remember any particular items of jewellery?

Two wedding rings.

SHE SIGHS

-An emerald and diamond.

-OK.

It's all right, Sue, just take your time.

Do you have any pictures at all of the rings just to assist with identification?

As I say, no. Most of them...

-I'd only had them a few weeks because they were my mum's.

-OK.

-But it's the memories.

-These people...

-Yeah.

-You just hope one day it happens to them.

-Yeah.

-And then they feel the pain that you can see.

-Oh, quite right.

That's it. See, it's bound to be more the sentimental value, especially...

She only died a few weeks ago.

Right. Right.

It would have been her birthday today.

With Sue so distraught,

I can see why the police are taking this burglary so seriously.

To have the best chance of catching who did this,

it's hugely important even the smallest piece of forensic evidence is secured.

Scenes of Crime officer Chris Barley has arrived,

and he's quickly on the case, dusting for prints and combing the property for clues.

The police are hard at work, but my main concern is Sue.

Today would have been her mum's birthday and the burglar struck

while she was at the cemetery with her dad, Tom.

Her emotions must be all over the place.

So, when you came in, what did you find?

Well, I just saw the glass and I knew that it weren't good.

I realised then that, like an idiot, I'd left the jewellery out which...

I've not been in the right place lately.

And I just went upstairs and it's all ransacked,

and my dad's 90 and he'll be absolutely devastated,

because he just wanted me to have them.

Yeah. It's just awful.

It'd have been a bad day anyway, my mum's birthday and I've been up to the cemetery.

So this has just put the icing on the cake, hasn't it?

Well... You've got the... The police are here, they're on it.

Mm.

He's looking at... I'm just... I'm really hoping

he finds something in there that they can look at.

The police's hard work here is paying off, a spade has been found in the back garden

which appears to have been used to smash in the back door.

The occupants are saying that's not theirs.

They're saying it's not. It's foreign to the scene.

So, we're going to do what we call a flock swab of the handle.

We look for DNA.

While Chris Barley continues searching for clues,

PC Rob Quinn is going house to house, alerting the neighbours

to the burglary that has been committed on their doorstep.

I've heard absolutely no... I've been in all day, I've got a young baby.

Oh, right.

I heard absolutely nothing, to be honest.

I don't know how I managed to hear nothing...

I spend most of the time in the lounge which is at the back of the house.

And I only got back what, about twenty to six or something this evening.

Right.

And not heard or seen anything...

OK. Not a problem. Just be aware that there are burglars

working and operating in this area.

Chris Barley has now finished his search

and is taking the forensic evidence back to base to be analysed.

Once your home has been burgled,

you are 25% more likely to suffer the same fate again.

So the first part of my mission is to kick-start Sue and Jim's

road to recovery by making sure that their home is secured straightaway.

I've called in a glazier to board up their smashed back door

so they can at least feel safe enough

to get even a little bit of sleep tonight.

But I'm still worried about the long-term security of this house.

'Time to reveal my plan.'

The rear of your property is obviously where they've

come in, that's the weak point and I think there are things

we can do to toughen the glass, to toughen the doors.

I think a nice, strong, sharp new burglar alarm is a great

visible deterrent, if nothing more.

I could make a few phone calls

and I could get some people round to have a look at your home and hear

their suggestions about what they could do to make it more secure.

Is that something you think you'd like to have done?

Yeah, definitely. I'd sleep at night.

OK. Well, let's do that, then.

There's going to be quite a bit of work, it's going to be a late one.

So I'm going to have to make some phone calls,

-but I'll do it because I really want to help you both.

-Thank you.

-I'll let you get some sleep.

-OK.

-Right. Thank you.

Cheers, guys.

What happened to Sue and James is absolutely heartbreaking.

We really need to help them.

We need to secure the back doors, we need to secure downstairs,

we need to clean the place and fix it right up.

It's going to be a massive challenge but one we have totally got to do.

'Whilst West Yorkshire Police crack on with solving this crime,

'it's time for me to call in some favours.'

Hi, Lucy, it's Rav.

Hi, Lee, it's Rav.

Hi, Steve, it's Rav. I need your help.

We've had a burglary and the couple are obviously really upset

and I just really want to see if we can make the place

as secure and safe as we possibly can, and I think there's some stuff

that you might be able to do to really make it nice for them again.

Oh, you star, Lucy.

I'm afraid we haven't got much time.

Are you able to have a look if I send you some details?

Thanks, mate. Take care, bye-bye.

It's a grey morning in West Yorkshire and I am back at Sue and

Jim's house as there's no time to waste making them feel safe again.

The next step in my master plan is to get a full security

assessment from a police professional.

I've drafted in Dave Harrison, an expert in burglary prevention.

They've got quite an old-looking alarm box there.

Does that work? I don't know.

I'd suggest probably not.

That's something I noticed as well, actually.

It does look old and tatty and even if it did work,

the indication to a would-be burglar is it's probably not going to.

It looks old, doesn't it?

There's no locking system to supplement the garage door,

so they can be quite easily broken into.

And, of course, you've got your lighting system here.

It's far too low.

It should really be up at the top of the eaves.

'It's believed the back garden was the way into the property,

'so providing additional security round here is vitally important.'

Clearly this is where they got in.

Complete brute force to smash their way in through that door,

glass absolutely everywhere.

What can the family do to make that more secure?

What needs to be done there would be to replace the door set with a PAS

24 door and you'd be also looking at the possibility of laminate glass.

Great advice from Dave,

and luckily the calls I made last night are also paying off,

with the security transformation already picking up the pace.

'We're installing a brand-new alarm system,

'upgrading the exterior lighting, replacing the vulnerable doors,

'and improving the locks throughout the property.'

Dave and Tom, you're just doing the alarms, tell me what you're doing in here.

We're just adding another circuit into the kitchen because they didn't have any coverage in here.

So, previously there was nothing.

Had someone come in through the window, nothing would get activated.

But now, with the sensors you want to put in here, that's what's going to happen.

Yeah, they'll just go off and pick up the intruder

and the system will go straight into alarm.

'The burglary has hit Sue particularly hard,

'so I also want to focus on putting the heart

'back into the room that she loves most - her bedroom.

'Designer Lucy Roper is here to help.'

Lucy. Thanks for shooting over so quick.

My pleasure.

This is a hard one.

OK, so obviously this is the bedroom of Jim and Sue and, although

it's tidy now, this was absolutely ransacked when they came in.

So, I really want to see if you can do anything.

I'm sure the incident has had a big effect on, you know,

how she feels about being in this room, so I think we'll be

looking for her to come in and see it as being totally different.

About 70% of people who've been burgled

say the emotional trauma is the worst,

and actually putting redecorating and changing the nature

of the room actually helps to combat some of those feelings.

Obviously such a traumatic experience for them,

especially when the family's gone through such a hard time recently.

So, I think it would be really nice if you could do this and make it feel like home again.

We're going to do our best.

'Now I've got the transformation under way, I want to see how

'Sue is coping with the trauma of the burglary in the cold light of day.'

How was last night, did you manage to get any sleep?

Not much.

-No, I can imagine.

-Probably a couple of hours.

I was thinking about all the bits of jewellery that have gone

and who they belonged to and how long I'd had them,

and things just kept popping up and

obviously putting the things back in the drawer.

Gold, antique cuff links I'd forgotten, that were my grandad's.

So, yeah, more sentimental items.

-Yeah.

-More sentimental...

And one of the things you won't mind me saying is that what you were

actually really genuinely nervous about was telling your own father...

-(Oh, God, yeah.)

-..About what happened.

Yeah. It was just upsetting.

I mean, some things he'd bought her and, you know, passed on to me.

I can help turn Sue and Jim's house back into a home,

but only the police can solve the crime.

They are still working hard to gather clues, but unfortunately,

the forensic trail has gone cold, with the evidence from the spade

found at the property failing to provide a positive link to any suspects.

The swab has now come back as inconclusive.

There wasn't enough of a sample to do a match on any offender's

DNA, so that line of enquiry has now come to a halt.

But the police are rising to the challenge of trying to crack this crime.

They're carrying out a procedure called cocooning,

going door-to-door in Sue and Jim's neighbourhood,

hunting for clues and alerting more residents to the burglary.

There may have been a witness to this incident, or a witness

that's seen something suspicious but when the crime report was taken this

morning, perhaps those people were at work and weren't available when

the officers went door-to-door then, so we've come back at a later time.

Hopefully we might catch somebody.

Cocooning is a key way of reassuring the local community

following a break-in and raising awareness about home security.

It's basically a property database

-that you can register your electrical items.

-Mm-hm.

So laptops, TVs, cameras.

It's going to be a long night.

Through her job as a mental health community worker Sue has given

so much to others, but now it's her turn to be looked after.

Her heartbreaking story has hit a nerve within the local community,

and more and more tradesmen and women, friends and neighbours

are pulling together to help turn around this dreadful situation.

Sue and Jim have moved out for the night

so we can really get our teeth into transforming their home.

It's a really good turnout and really exciting to see

so many people offering to help.

There is still a lot to do, so it's amazing to have so many trades

on board, and we've got all types here and they are all hard at work.

'And neighbour Dean is one of those who really knows what Sue

'and Jim are going through.'

I think nearly everybody in the street's been a victim,

-over the years.

-I'd imagine it hit you pretty hard when you got burgled.

It's something you wouldn't want to happen again.

It hits you hard and they've come into your house

and it's very upsetting, especially for some of the older people.

So, no hesitation for you to come round and help out.

I'm pleased to help.

Shirley, you've come to help and we've some stuff here that will go in the bedroom.

You know Sue better than anyone because you've been friends for a number of years.

To have all the rings and all the jewellery

and memories pinched, from her mother,

that's just devastated her, I think.

So we're trying to fix this place up as good as we can

-and the bedroom's the main area.

-Yeah.

Because, whoever did this has gone in there,

they've rifled through her personal belongings.

It was all over the bed, they made such a mess, and I'd imagine

that will be horrible for her to go back in that room.

If we can make this a nice clean start, do you think she'd like that?

I think she'll love it.

I think it'll be really good for her.

Brilliant, Shirley. I wish we all had friends like you.

'Family ties are very important to Sue and Jim,

'so it's no surprise Sue's daughter Louise has donned her

'overalls and is ready to get stuck in to transform her mum's bedroom.'

Have you ever done much painting before?

-No!

-You were saying your friends and family will probably laugh when they see you with a paintbrush.

It's not what you're known for, but you're still giving us a hand,

-because you know this is a big thing for your mum.

-It is.

It's really knocked her confidence, I think it has really affected her.

At the beginning of October, I had my daughter, which is my mum's

first grandchild, and then a few weeks afterwards, my nana

passed away, and it's obviously really affected us quite a lot.

It's a massive amount to happen all at once.

I mean, I can see that it's obviously upsetting for you as well.

And I know one of the things that upset your mum the night this

happened, when I spoke to her,

which people wouldn't ordinarily think of, was the fact that she

had a camera stolen and the camera had pictures of your baby girl.

Yeah. We only managed to get a couple of photos of my nana

with my daughter before she passed away so...

it was something that we really wanted to keep hold of.

-Yeah. She was really upset, wasn't she?

-Yeah.

-As you all are.

-Yeah.

All right then.

But you think if we do this

and we've a nice relaxing area for her and we try and take

away those horrible memories about what happened in this room,

because obviously this was ransacked by whoever did this,

you think that will help out a little bit?

I think so because it's totally different,

it will be different to what she's had before so hopefully she'll be able to start again.

'The bedroom is coming together, but the security is a bigger job.

'Thankfully everyone is selflessly pitching in to make

'it as safe as houses.'

As the sun sets over the city, real progress has been made at the house.

It's been a long day for everyone.

I think we're about on schedule.

We've got wallpaper going up, as you can see.

We're halfway there with the drawers.

I think we're... I think the paint's drying eventually,

and just finally getting a bit of light so we can carry on probably until quite late this evening.

Come on, Dean. Dean!

I know where you live!

There's so much left to do still,

I just hope it's all done in time before Sue and Jim get home.

'West Yorkshire Police have stepped up their presence around Sue

'and Jim's home to ensure the community feels safe and protected.

'It's part of Operation Optimal, the force's crime prevention

'strategy, where patrols are increased as a high-visibility deterrent

'to stop further burglaries in the area.'

You just stop anyone who's, you know, walking around

if we think they're up to no good or anything like that.

We'll ask what they're doing, the details - their names

and where they're from, basically, and run them through our radio and see if they're known to us.

The burglary at Sue and Jim's remains unsolved.

However, the break-in does have some very specific clues which

could tie it to other incidents in the local area.

To target the patio doors and windows

with shovels,

taken from the garden shed,

is an unusual MOS in itself.

So the intelligence unit are trying to come up with offenders

that use that modus operandi

in that area.

So the hunt for the criminals continues.

Sue and Jim's world was turned upside down

when a burglar broke into their home, ransacking the place

and taking the jewellery which had been left to Sue by her late mum.

So we are trying not only to fix her home,

but ease the trauma that she's feeling.

The final push is to get the toughened doors in, put approved

locks on the windows and garage door, install the exterior lighting,

as well as adding the finishing touches to Sue's beloved bedroom.

This is Tom who's, at the 11th hour, helped us out

by reupholstering a bed base.

Do you mind rephrasing that? It was my daughter that did it.

-Oh, right. OK.

-She must take full credit.

Sue's friend Shirley is also back on the case,

making sure it looks as though the burglars have never been here.

'And, with the new security measures being put in place,

'hopefully they will never come back.'

It's great that you've got all these secure points and the locks

are even better than before, but what about the actual glass itself?

The glass is toughened on the inside, which is anti-shatter,

and then, on the outside, it's a laminate glass, so if they actually

hit it with anything they've got to go through three skins.

Fantastic. So it's not actually going to smash on the floor,

like it did before, it's going to be like a windscreen.

It'll break like a windscreen

on the inside, but on the outside it's got like a thin millimetre

of plastic inside, so you can't get in it.

Brilliant. You've not had one yet, have you?

-No, no. No, we haven't.

-No. Let's keep it that way.

-It's top stuff.

That's what I want to hear. Brilliant. Thanks, lads, good work.

'Well, I'm happy with the work,

'but what does our crime reduction specialist Dave Harrison think?

'He's back to take a look.'

Dave, welcome back.

Obviously quite a bit of work's happened on the house.

-Yes, it has, yeah.

-A couple of improvements.

You can see the additional security on the garage,

-so it will be safer than it was.

-Locked from the inside, additional security. Like it.

Which is good and it's something I guess anyone could do at home,

it's not going to cost a massive amount of money.

Lighting has been improved on the front.

Yeah. Again it's a vast improvement on the lighting.

What we can see, though, is a nice, shiny new burglar alarm box.

And I'm always a big fan of that because I think it does make

a nice, visible deterrent, especially with the lights flashing away.

It shows that it is going to be secure inside.

So, yeah, again a vast improvement.

When you're walking past,

the security of this house has been vastly improved.

OK, Dave, obviously we're round the back of the property now.

These are the doors that were originally smashed in by the intruder,

and they've clearly been replaced. What's your thoughts here?

Yeah, I think again, you know, they've done a very, very good job.

We've got a quality door set that's been put in with a frame.

I'm happy with that and I would

rate it certainly eight out of ten.

They've done a good job.

I'm happy with it, I'd be happy to live here.

Good man. That's what we like to hear. Thanks, Dave.

'I'm over the moon we've got Dave's seal of approval,

'I only hope this improved security will give Sue

'and Jim the peace of mind they truly deserve.'

The local community's come together, worked really hard, obviously,

to put something back into the lives of this family.

From West Yorkshire Police's point of view and north-west Leeds'

point of view, we'll treat this very seriously.

We'll look at all the lines of enquiry and make sure they're

followed up to bring this to a satisfactory conclusion.

'Jim's at work, but Sue has returned home to discover just what

'changes we've made.'

Hiya, Sue. How are you doing?

OK.

-Are you all right?

-I think so.

-Are you nervous?

-Yeah.

Come on in. Let's take a look at your house.

Now, there's a few things you might notice look slightly

different from here.

A nice new light there,

so that's nice and bright if anyone activates it in the dark.

It's going to brighten up this area

so there's no sneaking around over here.

-See up there...

-Yeah.

-..Flashing away...

-Great.

..A brand-new burglar alarm, and also, we've put extra

security on your garage as well, so keep everything safe inside.

Jim will be happy with that with all his bits and pieces in there.

-Do you want to have a look in the back?

-Yeah.

And here you can see, obviously, your brand-new back doors.

Oh, fantastic.

-Really, really sturdy and secure.

-Brilliant.

-OK. Do you want to go inside?

-Please.

-Let's go.

'Sue's bedroom was completely ransacked and violated by the burglars.

'So my army of helpers have pulled out all the stops to create

'a beautiful, peaceful bedroom for Sue, banishing the mess, destruction

'and, hopefully, the bad memories from the night of the crime.'

Oh!

What do you think?

I think it's lovely.

Oh!

-Is it all right?

-Oh, God, yeah.

Because we know how upset you were.

We wanted to make it feel like home again.

-Oh, God, it's gorgeous.

-Is that all right?

-Oh, thank you.

That's all right.

It's lovely.

Well, I'm glad you like it. That's the main thing.

Oh, I do. It's beautiful.

Do you think Jim will like it?

I don't care.

HE LAUGHS

It's my bedroom.

Obviously, this was horrendous what happened to you, to say the least.

To come in and see this now, has it helped just a small bit,

to take away some of the pain?

It's helped a lot, yeah, cos it was trashed.

And it didn't feel nice.

Knowing that someone had been in and rifled through your things?

-Yeah. They'd wrecked everything and, ooh, yeah.

-Dirty and...

That's something.

It's brilliant. Thank you.

There's a lot of people that did rush round

and some are friends and family, some are your neighbours.

-I can't thank them enough.

-Some local tradesmen and women.

-And a few of them are outside and they'd love to meet you.

-Oh, do they? Thank you.

-And you want to meet them, I'm sure.

-Lovely.

-They'd like to see you.

-I can't believe it.

Come with me.

There's some faces that you recognise, and many that you won't.

No. Oh, thank you. Thank you.

-Thank you, everybody.

-You're welcome.

'I love it when a plan comes together,

'and this community has worked tirelessly to make it happen.

'And there's possibly only one person happier than Sue - her dad, Tom.'

To see a smile back on her face, it's been great.

The people concerned, I mean, it's smashing, really good.

Oh, it's amazing when something so negative can be turned around

into something so positive, and it's so nice to be able to help her out.

'It's been an incredible journey from the despair of the burglary

'to the happiness that's now on Sue's face.

'But none of this would have been possible without the friends,

'tradespeople and family who were all

'so intent on making this house a home again.'

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