Episode 4 Robbed, Raided, Reunited

Every single minute there's a burglary in the UK.

Oh, my jewellery! Oh no!

It's an invasion of your personal space.

Somebody has been in your house going through your stuff.

It's not just your expensive gadgets that are under threat,

it's your priceless, irreplaceable heirlooms too.

What's that football expression? You feel gutted.

Items of huge sentimental value.

Dad was very proud of his entire career in the fire service,

so to have the medals stolen, I know he was devastated.

It can be a difficult time.

What's that saying, an Englishman's home is his castle?

But dedicated teams of police are on the case.

Police!

-Police!

-Police!

With specialist burglary units across the country

chasing down the villains.

-Just calm it down.

-And let us just do our checks.

Using every hi-tech tool at their disposal.

Working with the Good Samaritans among us.

Would you recognise him if you saw him again?

Yes, I think I probably would.

To make sure justice is done.

Their ultimate aim, to recover your prized possessions.

We're dancing!

I've just found a bag of satnavs.

And return them to you.

It's amazing, the work they've done.

We got all our stuff back.

I'm very pleased with the police and they've been so good and kind.

I have nothing but gratitude for the efforts they have made.

This is Robbed - Raided - Reunited.

Thank you so much.

-Thank you so much.

-That's all right.

Thank you ever so, ever so much for that.

On today's programme: the incredible story of how one thief

went to extraordinary lengths to cover his tracks.

This is certainly one of the most unusual cases

where we've managed to recover stolen property and return it.

A group of young treasure-hunters give police a puzzle to solve

when they uncover a mysterious haul.

I said to my dad, "William has found some gold and silver."

And he said, "Oh, my Lord!"

And then I was like, "Yeah, I know."

And the police race to stop an unusual robbery in progress.

Stay! Put your hands up!

What have you got on you?

Opportunist thieves usually want to get away

from the scene of their crime as quickly as possible.

In September 2010, on the M62 near Hull,

Humberside Police are in hot pursuit of a suspect car.

Inside the car is a man police think is responsible for burglaries in the local area.

The police chase the car until suddenly pulls over on the hard shoulder.

The suspect jumps out and heads for a nearby field.

The police pursue him, when he suddenly stops,

gives up and is arrested.

That same day, 80-year-old widow, Leonie Thornhill

was cleaning her car at the front of her house.

When she came in and walked into her bedroom, she made a shocking discovery.

My two boxes in which I keep my jewellery were on the bed

with all the contents spread out.

And I realised we'd had a burglary.

I then looked at my ring stand to see if my rings were there.

And they were gone.

I thought, "Oh my gosh. What do I do now?"

The items that had been taken from Leonie were irreplaceable.

When it was taken, I was upset, because my husband bought me one

many years ago and that was the ring I was most proud of, yes.

When the police went house to house for witnesses,

a neighbour reported seeing a young man acting suspiciously.

Crucially, they had noted down the registration number of his car.

This registration was then matched to the car of the man

police had chased on the M62.

However, no stolen goods had been found on the suspect or in his car.

Detective Sergeant Gavin Osborne was responsible for finding out

what the suspected burglar had done with Leonie's stolen items.

We quickly established from the victim exactly what had been

taken from within her property.

That gave us an indication as to what we are looking for

and where he may have possibly disposed of it

as he's been making his way along this field.

But after an extensive search of the area, nothing.

For DS Osborne, that left only one other option.

It was only some hours later it became apparent he'd actually swallowed the jewellery.

The suspect was arrested

and taken to hospital for X-rays to see what he had swallowed.

He went for the X-ray, and on that X-ray we could quite clearly see

that he had two pieces of what appeared to be rings inside his body.

The dilemma we then had was how we were going to get them back.

It could take anything up to a week for those to pass naturally

through his body, and again, we spoke to him

and emphasised the sentimental value of what we believed was inside him.

And he took that on board and after about a week of being in prison,

I got a phone call to say there was a package there for me to collect.

And then before we could return them,

because of the obvious health risks, we took them to a local company

who agreed to professionally clean them free of charge.

Shall I put a bit in your basket?

The rings were delivered back to their rightful owner.

I got my rings back, and they came back sparkling.

Beautiful, they were.

She was amazed that we had managed to recover the property

and when she became aware of the process that the rings

had been through, she was even more amazed at the lengths we'd gone to.

Now I don't know how they found them, I don't know who found them,

that's up to them, but bless him, I wouldn't want his job.

My rings came back looking better than they did when they went.

And all my friends say, how can you even think of wearing those when you know where they've been?

And I say I don't care where they've been, I'm still wearing them.

One of Leonie's rings was not found,

but she was pleased to get the other two, and life went back to normal.

Little did she know that this was not quite the end of the matter.

Out of the blue, the police received a call about the burglar.

He'd been taken into hospital having collapsed.

It turned out that they'd taken him into hospital and when they opened up

his chest cavity, they found a third ring inside his left lung.

This single ring came and yes, it was mine,

and he had apparently swallowed this ring with the other two

but this one, unfortunately for him, went down into his lung.

Bless him. He deserved everything he got.

I've been in the police service for 29 years.

This is certainly one of the most unusual cases

where we've managed to recover stolen property and return it.

I'm very pleased with the police because they couldn't

have been quicker, they couldn't have been more pleasant,

and they've been so good and kind. That's all I can really say about them.

The strange behaviour of burglars is something the police have to constantly second guess.

Why, for instance, would a burglar hide his haul

of expensive silver outside a suburban garage?

That's just what happened in January 2012 in Guildford, Surrey.

The hoard of silver was discovered by three local children,

Max, William and Shona.

I said to my dad that William's found some gold and silver

and he said he didn't believe it.

So we went down and he said, "Oh, my Lord, it's real."

I was like, "Yeah, I know."

There were over 30 pieces of silver and gold.

I think it's worth billions and billions of pounds. Quite a lot.

All of it, all together. It would be billions of pounds.

It might not be worth billions of pounds,

but at Guildford Police Station, DC James West

and DC Barry Jutsam are given the task of finding out

who this treasure belonged to in the first place

so they can give it back.

What we will probably do is take the property out

and have a look at it and maybe just do a few more inquiries on it.

With no obvious reason why the items were dumped, this is a real mystery.

-Thanks very much.

-No problem.

-It's only one exhibit, isn't it?

Yes, it's all in one. Is it going back to the owner now?

No, we're looking into it. We are not sure who the owner is at the moment. Thanks very much!

Max, William and Shona's find doesn't match anything listed

on the police stolen goods database.

And as the loot was exposed to the weather, there was a lack of forensic evidence.

West and Jutsam must examine the recovered items for clues

as to who they might have belonged to and where they came from.

So this one here is inscribed on the bottom,

"Good wishes from us all. Happy 21st! 1968."

So some significance to someone.

-DC West spots something else.

-"DBL."

DBL?

It's another possible lead, but they will need to get more

than just initials to track down the owner of the property.

One of the last items out provides an even more intriguing clue.

-This one here.

-What's that?

-This is a plate from Ackworth School.

That's just got the inscription of the school name on there.

The initials on the tankard and school crest on the plate

give the team a strong lead.

Ackworth School would appear to be in West Yorkshire.

West Yorkshire.

I'll phone the school and see if they have heard about this.

Hello, my name's James West, I'm a police officer with Surrey police.

We've found some property

and we're trying to work out where it's come from.

If the school can match the initials and birthdate on the tankard with a former pupil

or member of staff, their records could be key to solving this case.

All right then, thanks very much for your time. Thanks. Goodbye.

They're going to call us back.

Then another discovery connected to the mystery.

DC Jutsam gets a message to call Mark Cremmin, Max's father,

who originally reported the recovered silverware to the police.

Morning, Mark. Barry Jutsam, CID Guildford.

Mark has found another bit of treasure and thinks it might be part of the same haul.

Would it be convenient if somebody pops up later to recover that item?

It will be this morning and somebody from the team will pop and see you.

Thank you, bye.

He found a box which he describes as where the knives and forks were,

so it could be just a cutlery box or something like that,

but he's there this morning and wants someone to pop up and see.

It is fascinating to try and work out where this property has come from.

The police are hoping that the new items found by Mark

will provide the final clue and lead them to the owner of the entire haul.

-Hi, is it Mark?

-Yes.

-DC West. I spoke you to on the phone.

-Nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you too.

I've just come round about you finding some more property.

The one you found last night.

Is it quite close to where you actually found it, those garages over the back?

That way.

-OK, you all right to come up and show us?

-Yes.

-That's OK.

-I'll take that off you.

-OK.

It's a few days since Max, William and Shona

made their initial discovery.

As they're at school, DC West needs Mark to show him

where the first haul of items was found.

This is where I came round the corner here,

and I saw - basically there was a bag with a load of stuff in.

-What was the bag?

-It was like a blue bag, like polythene.

-A polythene bag, not a holdall?

-No.

It'll be difficult to get evidence from the new item Mark recovered.

The box is actually sealed.

There is a key at the front that would fit in there.

Maybe we could get in and see if there's anything

that may identify the owners of the property.

The best thing would be something with a name and address.

It's unlikely, these things don't usually happen, but it is quite

intriguing and exciting to find out where it's come from.

Back at the station,

DC Jutsam has found some keys amongst the silver haul.

We've got two keys.

That one doesn't fit, I don't think.

Cinderella is not going to the ball at the moment.

No. Both keys don't fit.

Coming up, the team get a potential breakthrough in the case.

We've been able to trace those initials to a pupil in school

at that time and the age would seem to be a very close match.

That's excellent. That's fantastic.

It's 7:20pm in Northampton, officers Watters and Greenham are responding to a robbery in progress.

We had reports of a phone box down here on this road,

someone has tampered with it and possibly taken the money, or stolen the money from it.

When they arrive, there's no one to be found.

But they do find evidence that someone has tried to get the money.

We have a small drill hole just there where someone has tried to get the coins out from there.

And there's fresh particles on the floor there.

Someone's only just done it.

We need to locate someone who has a sort of drill piece on him.

No money is missing, but attempted phone box robbery is serious.

Over £7 million a year is lost

due to theft and vandalism of phone boxes.

PC Greenham notices the local shop has CCTV.

-Someone's had a go at drilling the phone box.

-When, now?

A short while ago, yeah.

The owner may not have noticed anything

but the shop surveillance system may have recorded the attempted theft.

The shop does have CCTV, so hopefully that will pick it up

and give us a description of anyone messing around in there.

The officers scroll through the footage.

Can you take that back a touch, because I saw two guys,

and the one guy went to the floor.

-Two figures catch their eye.

-You see the two at the back?

At 7:09pm you can see two lads going to the phone box

and one of them keeps bending down to the floor

and getting back up again and looks to be passing him.

The suspected thieves have been caught on camera interfering with the phone box.

For the police, it's an interesting turn of events, but the men have vanished.

Then a call comes in.

'We've got two people at the phone box now and it looks like they've got a drill.'

Council CCTV is witnessing another phone box being attacked.

The robbery is happening 15 minutes away on the other side of town.

Again, there's two males at a phone box trying to get the money out.

Will they get there in time?

An update comes through from the Council CCTV room.

The CCTV still has two lads on camera,

one of them potentially with a drill.

They're a few minutes away from the phone box location.

It's a race to catch the vandals red-handed.

..In that case I'll wait at the top end.

RADIO COMMENTARY CONTINUES

They make it. And one of the men is still there.

Stay there, mate. Stay! Have you got anything on you now?

Put your hands up. What have you got on you?

What have you got on you?

The second man has run off. This man didn't have that chance.

All right, chap, put your hands just behind your back for a minute for us.

Good lad.

Just take a seat in the back here.

With the suspect detained, Sergeant Watters checks

with the CCTV operator to make sure they have the right man.

Yeah, just confirm, this one we've got here,

was he at the scene doing anything?

'The one male you have got had a drill put into the cash box.'

The physical evidence backs up the CCTV.

Again, another fresh drill mark there with particles on the floor,

so it's obviously recently been done.

Both phone boxes have been damaged in exactly the same way...

by drilling into the money box.

No money was taken, but it's enough to arrest the man and take him into custody.

The officers are still missing the other man...and a drill.

The other male we're looking for has disappeared into the estate,

so he could potentially have taken it with him.

We'll try and see if they've chucked the drill away or hid it somewhere.

An update comes in from a second police team searching nearby.

Another colleague has found the other suspect, so hopefully we'll get some sort of result there.

A police van has arrived to take the man in for questioning.

At this time, you're under arrest for attempted theft from a machine.

Everything will be explained when you get to custody. Yeah, there you go.

All right? Up we go, watch your head.

Yeah, good lad.

At the station, the other man has already been taken into custody.

This man continues to deny everything.

-I've been charged.

-You haven't been charged, you've been arrested.

-On suspicion.

-Suspicion of what?

-I've told you already.

At this stage he is unaware he has been caught on CCTV.

Is there any evidence of me holding any tools?

Or in possession of any tools? No, no, no. I'm asking you.

That's what I'm saying to you. Everything will be explained to you in the interview, won't it?

Listen! Do you really think I'd rob a phone box? Are you mad?

-I'm not mad, no.

-No, neither am I!

If you're being aggressive...

I ain't being aggressive! Am I being aggressive?

We're going to take you to a cell.

Cell 10. Cell 10!

Right, this way.

The police will not accept any threatening behaviour from suspects.

-BLEEP

-doing?

-Come on.

The man is safely restrained in a holding cell.

-Is there anything else on you?

-No.

No jewellery or anything like that?

Suddenly, he collapses.

The police act fast.

They need to check if he is unconscious

and shine a light into his eyes.

-Yeah, that's unusual.

-We know you're awake.

You're just being silly now.

Come on, come on, fella!

We've checked his pulse, he's got a pulse, he's got eye movements,

he's blinking, and you can feel his breathing.

But just to be on the safe side we've called an ambulance.

The paramedics arrive.

You're not unconscious, because unconscious people don't respond when you tickle their eyelashes.

Come on!

Come on, mate.

You need to talk to us, come on.

A check of his vital signs shows nothing out of the ordinary.

Come on, talk to us. Come on!

The officers can't take any chances.

We'll take him down the hospital, where he can be checked over.

-That's the way.

-He's actually quite lighter than I thought he'd be.

The man is taken to A&E, escorted by police officer.

When he's back and given the all-clear, we'll take him back here and he'll be interviewed.

Whether his condition is genuine or not will make no difference to the arrest procedure.

We can keep somebody for a maximum of 24 hours without applying to a magistrate.

If somebody is taken to hospital, that clock is suspended

and restarts when they come back, so it makes no difference.

They're here in police custody for longer, but some people think

it's a quick, easy way out and it will eat up some time if they go down the hospital.

Earlier, on Robbed Raided Reunited,

we saw DCs James West and Barry Jutsam trying to trace the

owner of a large haul of silverware discovered by three local children.

With no police record of the stolen items, they searched the property

for clues, finding a tankard with a birth date and initials.

DBL.

As well as a silver platter with a school crest.

Within just a few days, DC West gets back in touch with the school

to see if they've been able to discover the mysterious DBL.

-Hello there, it's James West calling from Surrey Police.

-Hello, James.

I've got a message to give you a call

just in relation to that property that was found.

'Yes, we've looked through the archives and we have had some of

-'our scholars do a tour around their extensive network.'

-OK, fantastic.

'One of the tankards you've recovered had got some initials on

'and we've been able to trace those initials to a pupil in school at that time.'

Yeah, DBL.

-The tankard with the 21st birthday inscribed?

-'That's right.

'I believe you'll find that will be Desmond Brook Lawrence.'

That's excellent, thanks very much.

We'll get back in contact to let you know how we get on.

-'Thank you very much.'

-Thanks a lot.

Desmond Brook Lawrence is an old pupil of Ackworth School.

A quick search of the voters' database brings up his address.

There he is.

DC West runs the address through the police computer.

Here we go.

We've got a burglary at the home address

between 25th December last year and 3rd January.

Let's have a look at the property screens.

A silver trophy is missing. I would imagine that property has come from this burglary.

The system reveals the victim was out of the country when the crime took place,

meaning an accurate list of the stolen property

has not yet been supplied to the police.

This explains why the items didn't show up on DC West's original search of the police computer.

It's a fantastic breakthrough.

We haven't got a telephone number.

We'll do some research on that and go round and see him.

We're dancing!

DC West loads up the stolen silverware

and sets off to reunite them with their rightful owner.

The mystery may be about to be solved.

-Hi, Mr Lawrence.

-Good evening.

-Detective West.

DC West finally comes face-to-face with the elusive DBL.

The home of Desmond Brook Lawrence was burgled six weeks ago.

We got quite a lot of silver here, it's like the Antiques Roadshow!

Since their discovery by Max, William and Shona, behind a garage,

the items alone provided the only clues to the identity of their rightful owner.

Desmond recognises them immediately.

Here's the tankards.

That was a 21st birthday present.

Do you remember who bought you it?

I think it was my mother or father.

Fantastic. Where did you get all these items from?

My parents.

My parents died about 10 years ago

and they had been collecting all this all their married life.

How long were they together for?

-About 60 years.

-60 years!

They collected these and then left them to you as an inheritance?

-Yeah.

-Fantastic.

Among the items is another tankard with a different set of initials.

This is my father's initials.

-I think it was a wedding present from my mother to him.

-Oh blimey!

Being able to reunite Desmond with his family heirlooms

is the best part of the job for DC West.

Those items that Desmond was telling us about there, were very personal to him.

There was a tankard for his dad, and for him for his 21st birthday

and there's a plate that's come from the school on the 200th anniversary.

That means nothing to the people who've taken it,

other than some money when they sell it.

So to get those items back to Desmond is really fantastic.

Desmond also had the key to the mysterious box

but it turned out to be empty after all.

Thanks to Surrey Police and Max, William and Shona,

these irreplaceable family items are back where they belong.

The man arrested by police at the phone box

and later taken to A&E was examined as a precaution,

then returned to the police station for interview.

The drill wasn't found and no money was stolen from either phone box.

So no further action was taken against him or the other man arrested.

In the case of the stolen jewellery, the suspect pleaded guilty

and was sentenced to 30 months in prison.

After having a ring surgically removed from his lung,

he now has health problems that will affect him for the rest of his life.

I feel sorry for him, really, because he went through all that pain

and I've got them back.

So he's really suffered for nothing, hasn't he?

The case is still open on Desmond's haul of stolen silverware

and it's still a mystery as to why these precious items were dumped.

But returning them to Desmond was a satisfying result for the police and the young treasure-hunters.

Really pleased they've got their stuff back.

I think the owners might be crying in happy tears.

From the children who first called it in,

through to the Ackworth School,

I suppose it's like a jigsaw that we're trying to piece together

to put the property back into his cabinet.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd