Episode 5 Robbed, Raided, Reunited

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

He left his phone.

My Timberlands have gone. 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...

Just wondered 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.

Very upset over it, 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.

Coming up, police investigate a Christmas burglary at a family home.

-They've had loads of stuff.

-Oh, for God's sake.

It's like they've come in and just shopped for their family. All different things have gone.

Officers in Aberdeen raid a flat on the trail of stolen property.

-Police!

-These are the guys I wouldn't expect to see cycling about for fitness.

And I wouldn't expect to see a £1,000 bike in their flat.

A dramatic discovery by police brings a special delivery for one happy homeowner.

-Hopefully we've got something for you. It's like Christmas come early.

-I didn't expect to see it again.

And a famous footballer is reunited with a precious, long-lost gift.

These items have come from a number of burglaries

with a number of victims across a very large geographical area.

Christmas. The season for goodwill, good food and family.

There's another, far less pleasant Christmas tradition.

For a few individuals, it's about taking rather than giving.

It's 5pm in Southend, Essex.

Police burglary investigator Mark Sawyer is en route

to a family whose home has been robbed four days before Christmas.

Received a call from a gentleman who's returned home to discover his rear door has been forced open.

Horrible time of year for it to happen.

Ten minutes after the family called 999,

a police forensic team arrived to examine the house.

Now, half an hour later, Officer Sawyer takes charge.

I'm going to be the officer investigating this burglary.

I think, I'm not sure because I haven't checked everywhere, I think my iPod has gone.

They've had a go at our Christmas presents here.

Obviously left that because I presume it's too big. If they're on foot, I don't know, I presume so.

But there's nothing else that we can see. We've not checked particularly.

My wife hasn't been in that long so we've not checked everywhere.

They've had a go at the presents.

Paul and Sue Hooper returned home from work to find their Christmas presents ransacked.

And it isn't the first time this has happened.

-We were burgled 11 years ago, two days before Christmas 11 years ago.

-Really?

-We were wrecked.

Burglaries tends to rise over Christmas as thieves look to take advantage

of the dark nights and houses full of expensive presents.

I just feel shocked again, really. It's not very nice, is it? Especially this time of year.

Each burglar specialises in how they get in,

whether that's through the front door, a side window or the rear door.

So they're looking for a particular type. They're not actually looking at the house as what the contents are,

but it's how they're going to get in.

It could be that your house is the first one they've seen

where it's that particular style of door where they specialise in getting in.

So it's purely an opportunist.

-So when was the last time the last person left the house this morning?

-Me.

-It was yourself, yeah?

-Is that ten past nine?

-About that, yeah.

-Right.

Until their daughter Charlotte returns to check her bedroom and presents under the tree,

the full cost of the break-in remains unknown.

Be quite nice if they give us ten minutes with the burglar once they've been caught.

Well, there is something that's called restorative justice.

They have the opportunity to put the victim and the burglar in the same room.

-On their own?

-Unfortunately not, no.

-I wouldn't think so.

-Not unsupervised, no.

The next step for Officer Sawyer is to find how the burglars got in.

-Is that locked, is that closed?

-No, they've undone the bolt there.

-Definitely bolted. It flaps in the wind otherwise.

-Gained entry through the side gate.

Once in the rear garden, they've probably got some time then to do whatever they need to do

to gain entry. On this occasion they've smashed the rear glass.

They've probably used a small tool that would cut seat belts and smash glass in an emergency.

It's like a steel hammer, it's very small, that would puncture the glass.

With forensic tests already complete, the next stage is to make the property secure.

Burglars, too, are interested in their own security.

They don't want to be seen. They don't want to be heard. And they don't want to be hurt, either.

So that's the three sort of things that they like not to happen.

At last, Paul and Sue's daughter Charlotte returns home.

Now the family will find out how bad this burglary really is.

Shall we go and have a look and see? Come upstairs and see.

Yeah, the drawers in my room. My two watches have gone, both of them.

My two Tiffany bracelets have gone. My Links bracelet's gone. Cameras have gone.

-I think my Mulberry bag's gone.

-Your what?

-Mulberry.

-Mulberry bag?

What about our Uggs? Did you check for our Uggs?

-They've had my Uggs.

-Grey?

-Yeah.

A number of Charlotte's most valuable items have been stolen,

from expensive jewellery to her designer sheepskin boots.

Charlotte knows exactly what presents were under the tree.

It's time to find out how ruthless the burglars have been.

This is my Christmas list of everything that I've bought and wrapped that was under the tree.

Quite a lot of it I can see that's gone.

I think there's quite a few presents missing. They've had loads of stuff.

I imagine they've obviously ripped it, seen what it is and put it in the bag.

-I noticed under there the big red box.

-Oh, that was yours!

-I can't see anything else.

Paul's main present to his wife has been stolen and his own Christmas surprise is ruined.

They've obviously seen your present, Dad!

-Don't tell me.

-For Paul, there's nothing to laugh about.

Happy Christmas! You've got one present here.

The true scale of this break-in is becoming clear.

I assumed that they'd come in here and just nicked...

Because it looks like all small stuff. But now that.

-They'll sell them.

-I've got Timberlands there now.

I can't believe it. I never even looked.

-My Timberlands have gone!

-Oh...

-Oh, for God's sake.

-There, look.

-Timberlands, yeah.

And this, there's just nothing on it.

Looks like 10 or 12 shirts gone, I'd say. Oh, I don't know.

These criminals have treated the family's home like a department store.

It's like they've come in and just shopped for their family, isn't it? All different things have gone.

PC Sawyer has a full list of stolen items,

a crucial step if he's ever to be able to reunite the family with their possessions.

The rear door has been patched up and the broken glass swept away.

-Well, I'll let you carry on with your evening.

-Thank you.

-You take care.

PC Sawyer begins to broaden the investigation,

starting with speaking to the neighbours.

-Unfortunately your neighbour during today has been burgled.

-Really?

-Yeah, yeah.

I was just wondering if someone may have seen or heard anything.

The smallest detail could crack this case. He tells the neighbours to call him immediately

if they remember seeing anything significant.

Thank you very much. Thank you for your time.

There's a variety of things taken, from clothing, Christmas presents,

so my personal opinion would be that a number of people involved

and literally each person would have their own sort of preference as to what they wanted to take.

Obviously somebody up to no good in the area. So for your own...

I can see you're part of the neighbourhood watch.

-We've also got an alarm.

-Oh, you've got an alarm? Oh, right. Excellent.

-Just make sure you have that on at the right times.

-Yeah, will do.

No family should have to go through what the Hoopers are experiencing.

For PC Sawyer, this investigation is just beginning.

We've been very successful over the last few weeks in terms of catching people.

In the next 20 minutes, half an hour, an hour, somebody could be stopped carrying the items.

The night is young and anything can happen.

Catching burglars red-handed isn't the only way police recover your valued items.

Across the UK, they're also cracking down on the trade in stolen goods.

Aberdeen, a city of historic streets and cultural landmarks,

also has one of the highest rates of burglary in Scotland.

Police!

Drugs are the root cause of most burglaries in Aberdeen.

Many drug dealers will accept stolen goods as payment.

These dealers can also be armed and dangerous.

You wouldn't want that pointed at you, would you?

In response, Grampian Police launch regular operations to fight back and catch those responsible.

Sergeant Dave Ferguson and his team at Grampian CID are preparing

to raid a flat for stolen goods linked to the sale of drugs.

Intelligence has been received over the past month that they have been dealing heroin from that address.

It's on the north side of the city. We'll go along in convoy, make sure every room is covered

as we're going into the house. Everybody handcuffed, taken in.

Officer safety, we're wearing body armour. Be aware, we do know the threat,

we're going into this place and we're searching, watching out for any needles.

We're all kitting up with body armour now because we don't know

the threat we're going to encounter going into the flat.

When we do go there, we will force the door

and get what we call a rapid entry into the premises and get the persons secure.

The team mount up and head for a suburb,

aware of the fact stolen goods are often moved on quickly.

Certainly one of the guys that's in the flat

or we expect to be in the flat, he's a known resitter,

so he accepts stolen property for the drugs he's been selling.

We'd kind of like to think, you know, we might find some laptop computers in here and high-value property.

Dave and his officers wait nearby for an advance party to gain

access to the ground floor of a block of flats.

We don't want to be all standing out the front of the building,

he looks out the window, sees us and throws his drugs away or disposes of them.

Access to the ground floor now secured, they move in,

braced for what could be a serious physical confrontation.

Unexpectedly, one of the suspects turns out to be in the lobby, where he is quickly detained.

He volunteers the keys to the flat, allowing the team to get in without smashing the door in.

But the police can't be certain the flat is empty.

Police!

With no-one else at home, the two men are brought up for questioning.

Just got a few quick questions. Right, before I do a caution, you're not obliged to say anything.

Anything you do say may be noted down and may be used in evidence.

First question being, do you understand the caution?

Are there any controlled drugs in this flat?

Are there any large amounts of cash in this flat?

The search reveals a variety of drug-dealing equipment.

There's scales, numerous mobile phone SIM cards, which we would expect in a dealer's flat.

There's the knives for cutting up what we'd call the gear.

Everything's there but there's certainly a small amount of herbal cannabis

that's been found at the moment.

As predicted, there are also a number of possible stolen items,

including an expensive mountain bike.

The Gary Fisher pushbike is probably valued at about £1,000.

Now, these are the guys that I wouldn't expect to see cycling about for fitness

and I wouldn't expect to see a £1,000 bike in their flat.

Other items believed to be stolen include two cameras and an iPod.

The two men are taken in for questioning on suspicion of handling stolen goods

and possession of drugs.

The confiscated items go back to the station

to be checked against a database of stolen property.

Officer Emily Hesp has to find out whether seized items are stolen or not.

Just having a check for the make and model, and any serial numbers so I can check it on the system,

see if it comes back as stolen property.

Every bike has a unique serial number marked on it,

as do electrical items like the seized cameras.

Any time we take any property we believe to be stolen,

we check it against our crime file system

to see if it relates to anything that has been stolen, and if it has,

we would then contact the original owner and get them to identify the property.

The more details you can give when reporting stolen property,

the greater the chances you'll get it back.

If not a serial number, then a detailed description

will give officers like PC Hesp something to work on.

On this occasion I can't find anything matching the description of the bike downstairs.

Doesn't mean to say that it's not stolen. There's just no record of it on the system.

Bike theft is serious business, often with links to organised criminal gangs.

But police investigative teams are working round the clock

to catch the thieves and recover as many stolen bikes as they can.

In one such operation, police raided a series of lock-ups,

including a garage in a quiet suburb of Hertfordshire.

Inside, they found thousands of pounds' worth of stolen bikes.

The investigation is being led by Detective Sergeant Bull.

There's a couple of images that we have here of our main subject being arrested from his home address.

We arrested 13 people. We charged seven of those people.

In terms of convictions, these guys have now pleaded guilty.

This morning, DS Bull and DC Miller are hoping to reunite another owner with their stolen bike.

This one was advertised on eBay and sold to an innocent purchaser for £820.

The bike matches the description of one stolen in a burglary four and a half months earlier.

The officers must confirm it's going back to its rightful owner.

His home was broken into and the three bikes were stolen.

This is the last one we need to take back to him.

Avid cyclist Steve Cowell built his bike from scratch using top-of-the-range parts.

This was a bike you couldn't buy in the shops.

Yeah, completely different bike. Loved it. Just a shame to lose it, really.

When Steve's home was burgled, the only things that were taken were the family's three expensive bikes.

If it was that calculated and they knew what they were going for, how did they know what we'd got?

Had they been following my daughter, maybe, when she was doing her paper round to see where she lived

and realised she'd got a half-reasonable bike?

Had they seen us come back at the end of a ride on a weekend when we'd been out?

It's quite unnerving, really, but at the same time you try to do your best to not unsettle the kids

as well because they probably feel it more than we do in that respect. So, yeah, it's quite difficult.

Steve had only had his bike on the road for three months before it was stolen.

This would've been the only photo I had of me on the bike

because the bike only came on the road, really,

when I'd finished it end of April, beginning of May.

The first proper ride that I had to do where we've got any photos was on the London to Brighton

this year with some friends of mine. So it's the only photo I've got of this bike before it was stolen.

Two of Steve's bikes were found and returned to him after the Hertfordshire garage raid.

But police couldn't find any trace of his special self-built bike.

A few weeks later, the team intercepted this bike after it was sold on the internet.

DS Bull and DC Miller need Steve to prove it belongs to him.

-Hi.

-Hi.

-DS Bull, Herts Police.

-Steve Cowell.

-How you doing? You all right?

Hopefully we've got something for you.

-It's like Christmas come early, isn't it?

-I didn't expect to see it again.

OK. Obviously you've had the two bikes back already. So hopefully this is number three.

As you know, it was sold on to an innocent purchaser in Derby.

We'll take it out of the box and you can show me exactly why it's identifiable to you.

Steve hasn't seen his prized bike for four and a half months.

What was the initial purchase price of this one?

-Well, I bought it as a frame and built it up in bits.

-Oh, OK.

So obviously it's difficult to say, but frame retails for about 2,000.

So obviously the component parts you've added on yourself. Can you tell me which ones they are?

Pretty much everything. Brakes, Ultegra SL brakes, Ultegra 6700 gear set.

-The Kinetic One wheels.

-And the tape that's on the rear forks?

That was on the frame already. That's part of the frame.

If you've got the documentation so I can just verify the serial numbers.

It's straightforward for Steve to show the bike is his. He's got the frame's serial number.

Oh, fantastic.

-The bike with the wheels, the gear sets, everything.

-Brilliant. Superb.

-So this is definitely your baby, then?

-Yes.

Do you plan to keep this one?

I'm not sure, to be honest. I have replaced it.

There is a sentimental value to it. Again, because of some of the people I ride with,

I've got a couple of friends that potentially might be interested in upgrading.

Then I'll pass the funds back to the insurance company.

Excellent. Well, we're more than happy. Thanks ever so much for seeing us today.

Glad it's your cycle and it's a pleasure to return it to you.

All right, sir, thank you very much for your time. Really appreciate it.

Police advise to always keep a record of the serial number,

make and any other marks that can help identify a bike if it's stolen.

These details can be registered online,

which helps police return recovered bikes to their rightful owners.

It's good to get it back. It'll be interesting to see what it's like to ride again,

given that obviously it's in a pile of pieces at the moment.

I'm pleased with the work the police have done.

It's quite clear that when you see the sort of depths they've gone into

with this operation, it's amazing, the work they've done.

They've been very helpful, very friendly. They've been good.

A test run now. Hopefully everything's going to be OK and no further problems.

See you in a minute.

The thieves who stole Steve's bike used auction websites to sell on their stolen goods.

The police also use the internet as a powerful weapon against burglars,

and as a means to reunite property with its rightful owners.

In London, the Metropolitan police are currently using websites

to display a huge haul of seized stolen property.

DS George led the operation, codenamed Avitus.

We raided a number of addresses over east London and Essex,

where we recovered all the property that's here today, nearly 500 items.

The estimate is that it's somewhere in the region of £500,000.

Our priority is identifying as much of the property as possible, handing it back to the lawful owners.

The bulk of the items we're talking about are watches, and they're high-value watches.

Your Rolexes, your Cartier. This Cartier watch here, it's got a value of about £15,000.

But as yet we've been unable to trace who it belongs to.

These aren't opportunist thieves who steal what they can from general members of the public.

They're highly organised and carefully target the rich and sometimes the famous.

We believe that the people responsible for these crimes are organised,

targeting the people, and they know who they're looking at and what they're looking for.

The haul includes some items the police hope to reunite with a high-profile owner.

The former Arsenal footballer Lauren was burgled in March 2005

and several luxury watches were stolen.

I got back to the house, everything was open. You feel that they stole your privacy because, you know...

Today, he and his wife have flown from Spain to find out if any of the recovered items are theirs.

-I think you'd recognise that if that was yours.

-No, it's not.

-Not yours?

-No.

-Right, OK. And that one.

-Yeah.

-This is...

-That's the one, yeah?

-This is one of them, yeah. That's mine.

LAUGHTER

-That's one of mine.

-All right, brilliant. Thank you very much indeed.

The police have done a fantastic job. After six years, you never expect anything from the robbers.

The recovered watch is worth £10,000. For Lauren, it's of great personal value, too.

This was one of the special ones because my wife bought this for me.

Not only the value of the watch, it's more the sentimental issues.

Lauren, his wife and watch can all return to Spain.

For DS George, it's a pleasing success,

although the scale of the case means there's still a lot of work to do.

These items have come from a number of burglaries

with a number of victims across a very large geographical area.

We're talking sort of anywhere around the east and south of England,

where these items have been stolen from.

Nice if they give us ten minutes with the burglar once they've been caught.

Sadly, despite the police efforts, the Christmas burglary

at the home of Paul and Sue Hooper remains unsolved.

In the Grampian Police raid, one suspect was warned for obstructing a drug search.

The other man was charged with possession of cannabis.

The bike seized at their flat was not registered as stolen.

Steve Cowell decided to sell his recovered bike

and return the money to his insurance company.

He has made several security improvements at his home.

Since the burglary, we've put an alarm on the house.

We've even gone to the extent, somebody told us the best thing was to use a baby monitor.

If somebody comes across the fence like they did before,

we'll hear it hopefully before they get entry to any of the buildings.

The Hertfordshire Police bike raids led to over £100,000 of stolen property being recovered.

Six people pleaded guilty to charges relating to handling stolen goods.

In terms of property recovered, we're talking about 100 grand's worth of kit.

In terms of crimes detected, that kit comes with 33 individual crimes.

So you've got 33 individual victims of crime that have got their stuff back and have seen justice done.