Episode 19 Robbed, Raided, Reunited

Teams of police are fighting a rise in burglaries across the UK.

The Timberlands have gone!

-Oh!

-Oh, for God's sake!

The people that do this are professionals,

this is what they do for a living.

Specialist units working with the latest technology

and the community-minded among us...

I just wonder if you were around, if you heard anything.

-..to track down the thieves...

-Hold it right there, stop!

..and make sure they are held to account.

It's not just our expensive gadgets that are being taken from us...

They just went in, took what they could and went.

..it's our cherished heirlooms, too.

The thing that upset me most was the loss of my mother's engagement ring.

It's going to take a while to just get used to what's happened and get over it.

-Items that mean the world to us.

-I still get very upset over it.

I do, really.

But police officers love nothing more than to recover

these prized possessions...

I can confirm it is their sat nav, so, result.

-..and return them to us.

-I didn't expect to see it again.

To get those items back to people is really fantastic.

I think the owners might be crying in happy tears.

The police are amazing. I am forever indebted to them.

This is Robbed, Raided, Reunited.

-Thanks very much.

-I never thought I'd see this again.

I thank them from the bottom of my heart.

On today's programme...

A seemingly straightforward burglary turns into a real mystery...

Bit weird this one...

They've cracked the outside pane of glass,

but the second pane of glass is untouched, isn't it?

..forensics help crack the case after an 87-year-old woman

has a precious ring stolen.

Then they said, "We've discovered blood. Wonderful, we've got DNA!"

Police! Police!

And a dramatic double raid leads to a startling discovery

for Essex Police.

There's lot of things in here which jump out as being alien

to the scene. There aren't that many people who sleep with a baseball bat and a hammer next to their bed.

It's early evening and PC Paul Brown of Southend police

is responding to a call about a possible break-in.

The break-in was discovered by house-owner Julie El Sayed Zaki

when she returned home from work.

The first thing I noticed was that the dining room unit was open.

-Right, yeah.

-That wouldn't happen,

so I knew instantly something had gone wrong.

In 70% of cases, burglars get in through an open or insecure door.

The remaining 30% of the time, it's through a window.

But Julie hasn't managed to work out exactly how

the intruders got into her home.

So they've only actually cracked the outside pane.

-Did you open the window?

-No.

Very strange.

Looking for a means of entry, PC Brown is also unsure

why the thieves have smashed one side of a double-glazed window,

but left the other pane intact.

Until a specialist Scenes Of Crime Officer arrives,

PC Brown needs to assess the rest of the house.

The back door was wide open, and then outside there's glass.

And then when I went upstairs

you'll see they've just tipped drawers out, really.

What is obvious is that the thieves

have ransacked the bedrooms upstairs.

So what's actually gone at the moment, as far as you know?

-Laptop definitely.

-Yeah. And the rest you might not know

-until your daughter gets back.

-No. And until I start tidying up

in my room, I'd assume nothing, you know? But I haven't looked,

I haven't got much jewellery, but I haven't looked

in the jewellery box or anything yet.

Julie has lived in the house for over 25 years

and never been broken into before. It's come as a huge shock.

I always thought this is really safe in here

cos there, you know, these are my two best...

-the back of the house is the most secure...

-Yeah.

-Obviously.

And I don't know if my neighbours must've been out,

-cos how they wouldn't have heard I don't know.

-Do you lock that door?

Yeah. The last thing I do every morning is touch that door. I know it was locked. Absolutely,

-it was locked, yeah.

-What about the window?

-That would've been locked.

It is a bit strange. They've got in and they've wedged open somehow, haven't they?

The Scenes of Crime Officer, known as a SOCO arrives.

For operational reasons, we can't identify her.

The first thing for her to do is try and crack the mystery

of how the thieves managed to get through a window

with one pane of glass still intact.

Bit weird this one.

They've cracked the outside pane of glass

and they've taken all the beading out, or three sides of it,

and left the rest and then wedged the window open.

If you look underneath, the bolts are still engaged from the lock.

-I was going to say, is there lever marks?

-I can't see any.

There's some gouges along the top here...

But that's where they've taken the beading out.

So they haven't actually got in through this way

cos the second pane of glass is untouched, isn't it?

Still not sure that the thieves did get in through this window,

they check the other windows to see if they find the answer to this mystery.

-Oh, look they've had a go here as well, look.

-Yeah.

Oh, hold on. There's loads of damage along here.

-Have they tried all my windows?

-Yeah.

Come and look at this window, I take it this is new damage, yeah?

-Blimey!

-And this one as well, you see the beading on the edge?

-They've had a go at that one, too.

-Oh, God!

While the SOCO continues to search the windows,

PC Brown decides to look around the outside of the house for any clues.

Just looking for discarded property, really. Sometimes if they've,

if they're in a rush or they're disturbed

they might drop things, or empty out a purse, chuck it on the ground.

Just looking, really, for anything they might have got rid of.

Can't see anything obvious.

Meanwhile, the Scenes Of Crime Officer is convinced

that the window with the smashed glass panel must hold the answer.

But the mystery deepens when she finds beading that holds

the outside pane of glass to the frame, inside the house.

The other thing is this beading here.

-There's beading inside as well?

-How peculiar.

-So there's no reason to be in the house taking the beading out, is there?

-No.

Yeah, now and again you get one where you're thinking, well, it gets you thinking, really.

It's got to be our point of entry. There's no other point of entry it could be.

But they seem to have got the window open without having put lever marks around the window.

-So I don't know.

-If it was someone from inside

and was trying to get out, you wouldn't then damage the window

from the outside, would you? Cos they've had a go at all three windows, haven't they?

That must be the point of entry there, it's got to be.

The SOCO is not going to be beaten by this mystery.

She decides to look for further evidence around the window

to see if that can shine a light on who did the theft.

I'll just take a bit of the glass. If we do get a suspect,

when you smash a window you get a backward fragmentation,

so, you're always going to find glass on the suspect

if they're standing close enough.

Coming up... A crucial mistake by the burglar is discovered.

Straightaway you can see the glove marks

where they've been holding the glass so it doesn't all tip out when they're reaching round.

But first... For nearly all of her life, 87-year-old Joyce Steeds

has lived in her bungalow in the Surrey town of Cheam.

When she was younger, Joyce enjoyed a close and loving relationship with her mother.

Mother had a fantastically interesting life.

We got on like a house on fire. We had a sort of mental telepathy almost.

And we did lots of things together.

Sadly her mother died in 1964 and Joyce inherited a very valuable ring.

It was so valuable I was terrified to wear it.

So I went out and bought a £25 ring which looked exactly like it.

And I would wear it, and on high days and holidays

I'd put the good ring on.

Despite taking precautions, Joyce's world was shattered one day

when she returned home.

I came in through here and saw this glass absolutely smashed.

I thought, "Oh, my God."

And then this was completely smashed right through.

The door of my bedroom was open. So I walked straight into my bedroom

and immediately I realised that the drawers were out.

I knew immediately my ring had gone.

For a minute I couldn't think straight,

and then I thought, "999. I must dial 999."

To Joyce's horror,

she discovered the burglar had stolen all her jewellery.

Some of the costume jewellery he took was obviously not valuable.

He probably thought a lot of the things were gold,

which, of course, they weren't.

But amongst the costume jewellery was Joyce's most treasured piece.

The ring that once belonged to her mother.

I could not believe it and...

You know, it was part of my memories.

I just felt empty.

When something happens like that

I think you go on automatic pilot, in a way.

And then afterwards you begin to think,

"My God, there was someone in this house.

"They could've been here when I got here,"

cos one hears horrendous stories of burglaries.

Within minutes of her calling 999, the police arrived at Joyce's home.

There was this young policewoman came and she sat with me the whole time.

And, erm, detectives walking around there.

And then the next batch were the fingerprint people.

It was a man and a woman. They came in, were very, very thorough

and then they said, "We've discovered blood!

"Wonderful. We've got DNA."

The blood was sent away for forensic examination,

where it was compared against two million records on the National DNA Database.

After only a few days, Joyce received a phone call

from a detective, saying that they had found a match.

We know who it is. That's when he said he's 40 years old,

he lives in Croydon and he's done it before.

So, he said, "Is the name familiar to you?" I said, "No, not at all."

A few days later he rang me to say they'd got him.

Although the man was arrested and taken into custody,

there was no sign of any of Joyce's stolen jewellery.

My hopes completely went down.

I thought, "I'll never see that ring again."

But I asked where the other things could have gone.

They said he'd thrown them away.

To think all those lovely bits of jewellery were thrown away,

quite incredible.

Three weeks passed by and police still hadn't found

any of Joyce's stolen jewellery.

Then suddenly, the suspect admitted

he'd sold her mother's ring to a pawn broker

and gave them the address.

Police officers went straight to the pawn shop.

And finally, Joyce got the call she'd been waiting for.

He suddenly said, "Joyce, we've got the ring."

I couldn't believe it, I was excited as he was over the phone.

That's when he said, "Can we bring it over to you?" and I said, "Oh, yes!"

I thought I was going to burst into tears for a minute.

I thought, "Oh, this will be embarrassing.

But I managed to get myself together again.

Nearly a month after it was stolen, Joyce was finally reunited with her mother's ring.

When I finally got it back I couldn't believe it.

And it feels...

How can one say? Erm...

It just feels complete. It's safe now.

It just feels safe. It's there.

Joyce was so pleased with the way the police, and especially detective Mark Cooper, had helped her,

that she felt she had to express her gratitude to him.

Because he was always so helpful and he left a telephone number

to ring if I had any problems, but when he came, I said,

"Well, I don't know what I can do to thank you.

"The only thing I can do is, would you like a painting of your family or something?"

And he immediately brought from his wallet this picture of his family.

And it's the one thing that I can do as a thank you.

Today the painting takes pride of place in DC Cooper's home,

and he describes it as the most unique "thank you" he's ever been given.

Earlier on Robbed, Raided, Reunited we saw police in Southend

struggling to work out how burglars got into a resident's home.

Oh, look, they've had a go here as well, look.

Oh, hold on, there's a load of damage along here.

See all the dirt marks?

PC Paul Brown has now gone door to door

looking for witnesses that could help solve the mystery.

The neighbour a few doors down has been burgled.

Someone's basically managed to force her back window open.

Looks like they've come in the back gate. There's no other way round the side, is there?

I haven't seen a thing. I mean, I briefly went out about three.

-You haven't seen anyone lurking about?

-No.

With no new information to go on, it's down to the attending SOCO

or Scenes Of Crime Officer, to gather evidence

on how the burglar gained entry, which will move the investigation forward.

Somehow, we just don't know how,

they've managed to get the window open.

I wonder if they pulled that forward, got the gap,

opened the window and then just left the glass in it. That might be what they've done, I think.

See if it will do that.

Putting her theory to the test, she suddenly comes up with something.

I think maybe, they've just done this.

-Tipped it out and undone it, do you think?

-Yeah.

It would still be difficult to do it. So they'd just pull it out,

reach through and undo it and they've left the glass in.

It seems that the thieves have been really clever.

They've broken one pane, and lifted the other out of the way to get in.

All the SOCO has to do now is find evidence to back up her theory.

So anything we find on this side is actually a sterile side...

First all she finds are glove marks...

Straightaway you can see the glove marks possibly where they've been holding the glass.

..but then she finds what she's after.

There are marks here and they're not glove marks. Can you see those?

Yeah, here.

They're definitely fingerprints, aren't they?

It looks like on this side.

And they're in such a position, it's that sort of holding position from the outside, so...

Maybe there's two, one with gloves, one without, we don't know.

Although the thieves had been clever in the way they got in,

they weren't THAT clever - they've left clear fingerprints.

Having solved the mystery, the Scenes of Crime Officer

is now on the hunt for any more evidence around the other windows.

They've had a go at this one as well, haven't they?

The case now starts to really unfold.

I just asked the aggrieved if that's her screwdriver and she says no.

So I'll take that, cos that must be theirs.

The SOCO is also looking for anything that she can take a mould of.

Like if you go to the dentist and they take a cast of your mouth.

We can take a cast of tool marks, and preserve the marks it's made,

so if you were to catch someone that's got a screwdriver on them or something like that,

then you can compare it to the tool cast.

Homeowner Julie is still unsure how the thieves knew her home was empty.

A knock on the door is a classic to see if anyone's in.

Sometimes now they come in prepared with, like, leaflets for, you know...

-Oh, like a false pretence thing?

-For double glazing and things like that, yeah.

If you do answer they'll have some rubbish excuse, like,

they'll make up some name and ask if he's in, and you say no

and they go "Oh, sorry," and walk off.

Having cracked the mystery of the broken window

and come up with a fingerprint, the Scenes Of Crime Officer

turns her attention to the ransacked bedroom.

I'm just looking for suitable surfaces for fingerprints, really.

Clean, shiny, smooth surfaces are the best things.

Other things we can still work with.

I'm just sorting things out that I'm going to have a look at.

Amazingly, after having taken all the trouble to get in

through the window, the thieves only took a laptop

and missed the valuable possessions downstairs.

-They didn't take the Christmas presents.

-SHE LAUGHS

-They normally unwrap those or have you not got them wrapped?

-They're wrapped.

I usually leave them in my room, but I brought them down at the weekend

and I would say in all there's about 600 quid.

-You're lucky.

-Yeah, very.

I'd have died if they'd have taken those.

Finally, all SOCO has to do is compare Julie's fingerprints

with those she found on the window.

-Your prints get manually checked against what I found here and then eliminated.

-OK.

They get kept on file until the end of the case,

-and then they get destroyed.

-All right.

Only now is the trauma of being burgled beginning to sink in for Julie.

For me it's annoyance and that somebody's been in your house

and can they do it again? When my daughter comes back from uni

I know she'll hate being here on her own now.

But you just have to overcome it. You can't, you know,

what can you do?

At least PC Brown and the Scenes Of Crime Officer have solid evidence

that could catch the thieves and stop them causing any more misery.

Those fingerprints will be sent off to the fingerprint bureau

once the SOCO lady has got them all scanned up.

And they'll do a speculative search against any fingerprints

on the system - cos we don't have an actual suspect at the moment -

and see if we get an identification from that.

When burglary suspects are identified, Essex Police

seek to bring them in for questioning as quickly as possible.

It's 6.30 am at Southend Police Station.

The CID target team are preparing for a special early-morning operation.

Officer Chris Martin is briefing the team

on two men whose homes they will be raiding.

Information's been coming in over the last few weeks

that they're both involved in dwelling burglaries in the Southeast Essex area.

These are the chaps, I'll pass the pictures

round the circle in opposite directions.

Unusually in this case, the two burglary suspects are neighbours.

Because the addresses are right next to each other,

covering the back is going to be easier.

The team has warrants to arrest both men and to search their homes.

It's suspected they're working together in a joint criminal operation

We get intelligence in from all sorts of sources.

In this instance the intelligence is saying

that these two guys are involved in burgling people's houses, basically.

One does the burglary, the other buys it off him.

The street where both men live is five minutes away.

The Police suspect the man who lives in the upstairs flat

is not only buying stolen goods from his neighbour,

but could also be dealing drugs.

Officer Martin is hopeful the two flats may contain items stolen

during a spree of recent break ins.

We've had loads of burglaries recently

with all manner of things being taken, mainly jewellery

and electrical items, but we'll see what we get.

And the drugs at one of them, specifically herbal cannabis.

It's 6.30 am. To make sure both men are caught off guard,

the team will force entry to their homes simultaneously,

while officers also cover the back.

Officers quickly gain access to the upstairs flat...

..and then the downstairs.

Police! Police! Stay where you are!

-We've got locked doors.

-Police!

-Show us your hands!

-Cheers, thank you very much.

In the upstairs flat, the police find the man wanted for buying stolen goods, still half asleep.

He's immediately arrested.

And in the flat next door, the man suspected of selling him

stolen goods has also been taken into custody and a search begun.

As a similar search is about to start upstairs,

the first suspect is now dressed and handcuffed.

But it looks like he may have tried to dispose of something before the team reached him.

Did you see where it went?

-No, they ran round the block, round the corner.

-OK.

An officer stationed outside the back has made a discovery.

Just been standing there watching the window as the team went in.

Just as door's gone that window's opened and arms come out and drop this bag on the floor.

It's a remarkable piece of evidence.

The bag thrown out of the flat window is full of what looks like

a large quantity of cannabis.

The suspect is taken straight back to the station for questioning.

The team's suspicions that the man wanted for handling stolen goods

has also been selling drugs seem to be confirmed.

Now with him on his way to custody, the team's priority is to search for stolen property inside the flat.

There's a lot of things in here which jump out as being alien to the scene,

which are the widescreen television, that's in the bedroom alone,

erm...there's several in other bedrooms.

Games consoles, just loads of bits and pieces everywhere

which jump out as though there's something going on which probably shouldn't be.

As every room is thoroughly searched, officers also find

potentially dangerous weapons hidden around the flat.

These were found in the cupboard. They will obviously be seized.

There aren't that many people

who sleep with a baseball bat and a hammer next to their bed.

The police can't afford to leave any stone unturned

as they continue to gather evidence. As Sergeant Dovaston explains,

even Christmas presents have to be checked.

Whilst I don't want to be seen to be a scrooge,

the reality is these can't be afforded on benefits.

There has to be some supplement to that.

Another one there, mate.

It's vital the team establish where all these expensive items have come from.

With the man suspected of both drug dealing

and handling stolen goods, Sergeant Dovaston knows this case

is far from straightforward.

There's two folds to this. I mean, you've got goods

that are stolen and are wrapped up. I have seen it before

where people have actually taken goods,

they've actually wrapped straight up and given them to somebody else for Christmas.

On this occasion there is, we believe, certainly some stolen items within the premises.

More important than that, as well, we've recovered a number of items which we believe to be drugs.

It's how they're financing their lifestyle.

If drugs are supporting their lifestyle then this becomes proceeds of crime,

and obviously the value of this we're looking to recoup back through the courts at a later date.

The search in both flats is now complete

and a number of possible stolen items seized from the upstairs property.

Yeah, all in all it's been a good morning.

Plenty to do now. The day's just started.

The team will check these against the police database

to try and establish their true origin.

If they're confirmed to be stolen,

the officers can then reunite these items with their rightful owners.

Back at the station, with their suspect in custody,

the team's investigation continues.

-Is that everything?

-Yeah.

-Other than obviously the huge stuff.

-As you go through and book it in...

-Yeah.

-..could you do me a separate pile of all the drugs and drug paraphernalia.

-Yeah, yeah.

Any large quantity of drugs must be carefully weighed and catalogued

before being entered into evidence.

In a minute we'll go into an interview with him,

and basically give him a chance to account for why he's got so much drugs

and high-value electrical property within his flat.

At the moment all the electrical items are being checked out

by an officer to see if it is stolen.

And then we'll go through the procedures of deciding

whether or not we think he's the one stealing it or if he's buying it

knowing it's stolen, which obviously is the offence of handling stolen goods.

Following the raids, no items seized were proven to be stolen.

And no further action was taken against the man in the lower flat.

However, the man in the upper flat was charged and convicted

of possession of cannabis with intent to supply.

The intricate and painstaking work carried out

by the Scenes Of Crime officer at Julie's home really paid off.

The fingerprints found on the window led police to the man who broke in.

With this and over 40 other crimes taken into consideration,

he was given a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence.

The man suspected of Joyce Steeds' burglary pleaded guilty

and was sentenced to 32 weeks in prison.

Joyce remains grateful to the police after getting her mother's ring back.

I can't believe how I've been treated.

You felt as if you were a relative. They took so much trouble.

It was absolutely fantastic.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd