Episode 1 Robbed, Raided, Reunited

We're on the case of a crime that affects over one in 50 homes - burglary.

Coming up...

I don't like the thought of someone being in my bedroom.

I'm angry, very angry.

We're with the police in the pursuit of justice

as they carry out their raids.

There's some laptops on the bed, I think these are stolen property.

And we see how powerful it is when stolen goods

get returned to their rightful owners.

I'm just so pleased that you've found them.

The best day ever. I'm just so happy, I can't believe it.

First up today, we're in Yorkshire.

DS Steve Brookes has received a good old fashioned tip-off

and is preparing for a raid on a man suspected of committing a

spate of burglaries in a small community.

We've just received some information this morning.

A lad called Anthony is responsible for the burglaries.

The source tells me that there are laptops in this address.

There are mobile phones.

There is jewellery and the house is basically a storage place

for all the stolen property the burglars have stolen.

We will secure entry and Anthony will be arrested on suspicion

of burglary based on the intelligence we've got already.

Steve has been with the police for over 23 years, but even

with this experience under his belt, it's still a tense time.

We're on our way to Brinsworth. We've got three teams -

myself and Alex, DS John Dimberline and a further crew. I've dealt with him before -

prolific burglar, a cocky individual, full of himself.

We're going straight in, mate. Straight in there.

Right.

Police! Police!

Come downstairs, mate.

There's no sign of Anthony in the house,

but the team find another man and two women.

You're under arrest for suspicion of burglary, mate.

A quick search uncovers what appears to be stolen property.

Two mobile phones, boxed up.

Camera. All right, just put these handcuffs on, you're under arrest.

-I haven't done nothing.

-Well, there's stolen property here.

-It's not my house and I haven't done nothing.

-Sit down, please.

Sit down there. Two minutes.

We've got a number of crimes in this area which we are going to go through,

look at the property and then try and reunite each item with the owner.

Then, the team covering the back of the house spot the suspect.

Two minutes after arriving at the house,

the team at the rear have spotted a man running through

the back gardens. It could the missing suspect.

Steve can't see him. But the rest of the team are closing in.

Less than ten minutes after arriving at the house,

PC Mick Fletcher and DS John Dimberline make the arrest.

-We've locked up the lad that ran off.

-Anthony Wragg?

-Yeah.

-Brilliant. Absolutely delighted.

This lad that we've got in the back of the car

is a lad called Anthony Wragg.

He's the lad that the information was relevant to.

As soon as I went in the front of the address,

he's come out the back, run down the back alley.

I've seen him hiding behind a shed some 20 houses away.

I asked him to come out, he made no reply.

I told him if he didn't come out, I would send the dog in.

At this time, we don't have a dog, but he didn't know that,

so he came out, gave himself up

and has now been arrested on suspicion of burglary.

The information has turned out to be spot on - really accurate.

It's never nice when they run.

Especially not at my size and then when you find

and arrest them... Yeah, it does give you quite a buzz.

It's good news and I know the burglaries will stop

because I have dealt with Mr Wragg before

and he is one of our more prolific offenders, so I'm quite happy.

The other man arrested, is also familiar to Steve.

I've seen you somewhere before, haven't I?

Just sit on the settee. Did you say your name's Pete Fearn?

Put some gloves on, start fetching what we think's stolen property to be checked.

-'Have you booked him?'

-Yeah, we could just do with some bodies here.

Steve soon finds items that seem to match

those recently stolen in the local area.

Yeah, I've got you, John. There's some laptops on the bed.

I think these are stolen property.

With both men now under arrest,

they're taken to the station for questioning.

Stop in the car, Alex.

Just jump in, mate.

Now, it's time for forensics.

Lisa, a scenes of crimes officer, arrives to photograph the scene.

Meanwhile, Adam continues the search

and finds a number of mobile phones.

That's about nine now. I don't know, because there's been that many,

we've not kept track, but once we get back

and review what we've seized, we'll have a look at them all.

Forensic evidence such as fingerprints

could provide a concrete link between the suspects

and the stolen items.

Even if it's the smallest amount of evidence - a fibre, for example.

They're all little pieces to a jigsaw.

Any evidence from here would be collated and hopefully pieces

will start to be put together,

so we would be able to get a conviction out of those, as well.

With the search complete, the police have arrested their two main suspects

and seized over 100 items they believe to be stolen.

See, it's a great feeling.

First of all, when the person that runs off becomes arrested.

I've almost 17 years of service and it still gives you a buzz

when you put the handcuffs on them.

Secondly, when you can identify property

and return property to people that've been the victims of crime.

I mean, they want their property back and want some closure.

Back at Maltby Police station,

Steve and the team now need to sort through the items

and try to trace the owners of the stolen property.

I've got to say today has been quite an enjoyable day, because

we've had 12 burglaries committed, which is 12 burglaries too many.

When you've got families involved and particularly when they go home

and go back into the house and seeing somebody in their house,

disturbing people in the act of burgling the house.

That must be absolutely horrific.

Do I feel sorry for the burglars? No, not at all.

If they choose to burgle people's houses,

then I've got no sympathy whatsoever.

Hello, can I speak to Mandy, please?

Later, there's good news for some of the victims

of the Brinsworth burglaries.

You sound excited.

Aw, she's crying.

44% of burglaries happen in broad daylight.

Even when we're at home, we often forget to do the basics

like locking doors and windows behind us.

This is what happened in Peterborough,

when Parveen Ashraf returned home from a trip to Yorkshire.

I had the three children in the car and suitcases and bags

and all the paraphernalia you have when you have three young children.

As normal, I put all my bags in the utility room

and my husband hadn't come with us,

I think he was working, so I came in, said hello to him

and then I just sat chatting to him

and we just heard the door slam.

My husband said, "Is it one of the children?" I said, "No, the kids are playing in their rooms."

I walked over to the utility room and all my suitcases

and everything was there - it was full of all my stuff.

But I definitely saw the keys were jingling.

Parveen thought nothing more of it

but later that evening, she couldn't find her handbag anywhere.

I thought, "I'm just being haphazard and I've put it somewhere."

And then the realisation that somebody had stolen it.

I felt ever so stupid, really.

Stupid for being that trusting

and embarrassed that it could happen to me.

This is my home and I feel safe

and suddenly you go from feeling safe to feeling a victim.

As well as feeling vulnerable,

Parveen realized she'd lost some irreplaceable possessions, as well.

For a woman, our lives are in our handbags,

so pictures of my children, pictures of myself and my husband.

But I think what really hurt was the fact that my husband didn't

know there was about £250 in there because I didn't tell him

because I was saving up for his birthday present.

I would never carry £250 in cash on me.

She wanted to know if any of her

neighbours had seen anything suspicious.

In the morning, I checked with my Neighbourhood Watch guy, Peter.

He lives across the road and I asked him

if he'd seen anything because he's quite vigilant and he said,

"Oh, we saw somebody go into your garage

"and ride off on one of your bikes."

He said, "I thought it was your son."

So, he must have opened the door, got the bag,

gone to the garage and rode off.

Just unbelievable.

Parveen and her neighbours were dismayed

that a stranger had come into their close-knit community

and helped himself to their goods.

She never expected to see her handbag

or precious photographs again.

But fast forward seven years and council worker Ian Lilley

was busy tidying up the local neighbourhood.

The shrubs were nearly as high as these trees and were

overlapping the footpath by probably a metre,

so we came here with a chainsaw

and reduced the shrubs to a metre in height and, as we did so, we

uncovered a lot of rubbish, bottles and in that area there was a bag.

Unsure who it belonged to, Ian knocked on a couple

of doors before leaving the bag with Parveen's neighbour.

Peter walks over holding this little bag and I thought,

"Ooh, that's strange. That looks like my old bag."

I remember thinking, "No, don't be silly." And he said, "It's yours."

Unbelievably, Parveen's stolen handbag had been hiding

just 300 yards from her front door for seven years.

I opened the side wallet where the money should have been

and to my amazement, the money was still in there.

Just amazing -

how after seven years, everything that was stolen was in there.

I was absolutely elated, I couldn't believe it.

Parveen finally gets the chance to say thank you to Ian.

-How are you?

-All right, thank you.

Aw, thank you so much for finding my bag and everything.

It was a nice surprise for both her and myself

to actually get some money back, plus all her possessions.

She's even brought him a home-made snack.

-I brought you a little something.

-Right, thank you.

-Yeah.

Onion bhajis. Will they be all right?

-Give you sustenance for the day.

-Yes.

I think, even now, when I talk about it, I smile,

because it's an unbelievable story.

I was absolutely made up, over the moon.

Now to Essex, where police tackle an

average of 19 burglaries every single day.

It's 12.45 and another call is coming in.

A woman has come home from work in the middle of the day

to discover her front door is ajar.

She's worried the burglars may still be inside.

11 minutes after the 999 call, a local patrol team arrive on the scene

and establish the burglars have gone.

They're followed ten minutes later

by DC James Freeman from Basildon CID.

Jewellery. Upstairs mainly.

-OK.

-Looks like every room upstairs has been entered.

James used to work for his local council as an engineer,

but joined the police in 2009

because he wanted to make a difference.

My name is James Freeman and I'm a detective from Basildon CID.

The burglars may have gone but they've been inside long enough

to turn the normally immaculate house completely upside down.

For home owners Janice and Stephen, it's an awful lot to take in.

I came in and the door was about that ajar.

I thought, "Oh, my God, have I forgot to close the door?"

And then I thought, "No, I didn't." Because I remember I put my bag down

and I dropped something outside and I picked it up and I thought,

"Ooh, I better lock the door." So, it was clear in my mind that I did it.

James needs to act quickly to establish what has happened.

So, when you locked the door, how did you lock it?

-Double locked it.

-You double locked it with a key?

-And it's still in the locked position.

-Yeah.

And then I thought, "The laptop's still there,

"the telly's still there, no." And then when I went up after a little while

and I thought, "Oh, no, I think we've been burgled."

Then I heard a bump and I went, "Oh, my God.

"Someone's still in here." So I ran back out and sat in the car

and phoned the police.

James knows that the real crime here is the emotional impact

on Janice and Stephen.

I feel vulnerable, very vulnerable.

The fact that somebody's been in my house,

I don't feel too easy about that.

Slightly worried that we might get a return visit.

I don't like the thought of someone being in my bedroom.

I'm angry that someone's come into my house,

that I work 12, 14 hours a day to maintain,

while they are taking what they want. It's not on.

I'm angry.

Evidence gathering is key to James' investigation.

Scene of crime officer Mandy Ferris must quickly search for any

forensic clues before potential leads are lost.

Just to let you know that I'm going to do some fingerprinting.

Is it just upstairs that they've searched

or have they been downstairs as well?

-They've been in the drawers down there.

-OK.

Mandy wants to establish how the thieves got in

and out of the property.

I'm wondering if maybe they haven't exited through the back door,

they've just had it open as a back route just in case she's come through

the front and they've got a chance to run away.

But you can see, there's a layer of water already where it's been

raining in the past and there is no disturbance on there at all.

But things like that, it's quite easy for them to jump over

but there's nothing on there to indicate they've been on it. The back door's still locked.

If I go around the house with you, you can

show me what's been disturbed and we can have a look and see

what's been taken and we'll try not to touch as much as we can.

I mean, scenes of crime - generally, anything that has a nice,

shiny surface will hold a print.

This bag was in my dressing room and obviously it's been...

It's been shifted.

That room has been ransacked.

Because it was all neat and tidy.

-Everything put away?

-Put away.

Do you keep any jewellery in here?

No, I've got jewellery, but it's not valuable.

-Is it all, sort of, costume type?

-Yeah.

-This, I would say, is the worst.

-OK, this is the master bedroom.

Yeah, gone through.

And my husband's watch was on the bedside cabinet

and obviously that's been taken and he's got dive computers, cameras.

Obviously, things you don't think that are valuable.

No. They've had a good look through.

I mean, these are sock drawers, underwear drawers

and they've, obviously gone through, as you can see,

pulling everything out.

It's been ransacked. One of my cheap watches is still there.

But the most expensive watch that I own is gone, obviously.

That was on my bedside cabinet.

It is something that I've always wanted,

something I could never afford, but now I could.

And somebody's taken it.

James knows first-hand the lasting effect burglary can have on victims.

His aunt and uncle experienced a nasty break-in,

so he sees it as an important part of his job to reassure

people that they haven't been specially targeted.

Generally, 90% of burglars are opportunists.

They'll walk down the street and try door handles

and knock on people's doors to see if they're in.

If no-one's in, they'll give the house a go.

But it's very, very rare they'll ever try the same house twice.

They're as worried about being caught as you are of them

being in the house.

But these burglars have been particularly bold.

They forced a double-glazed PVC door in broad daylight.

There's screwdriver marks all down the side of the door.

That's really common with these doors.

But it's unusual, because it's double locked. They've key locked it,

which is normally the problem. If people don't key lock it

then they can just pop it open and it flies open.

Even though the door was double locked,

the burglars forced their way in.

Mandy wants to make sure the couple

won't be vulnerable to another break-in.

Obviously, they could do that again.

Basically, it's an older version of the UPVC door,

so your bolt comes straight out, whereas the new ones are hooked.

They're hooked, so, even if they are double locked,

they still can't get them open

because they are literally latched into the frame.

So you do need an upgrade.

In our job, I sort of joined because I wanted to help people.

So I always see it from the victim's side. But in films

where they show... You're always on the burglar's side

and not on the victim's side, whenever you see films.

And I always think about it afterwards

like I'm out to try and get them.

It's not me so much, it's my wife,

I'm worried about my wife. And she said before, if anything

like this happens, she said,

"I don't know if I could live in the same house."

Stephen and Janice need to feel safe in their home again

and it's Mandy's job to try and ensure the guilty are caught.

Sometimes by unusual methods - like taking a cast of the marks

left by the tool used by the burglars.

All screwdrivers are unique,

so this is really good, because if we do get anyone in custody or

if we find a screwdriver, or anything,

we might be able to link it back to this burglary.

And also, it can potentially link up to another burglary.

In fact, most burglaries are carried

out by a very small number of criminals.

When the police arrest just one burglar,

they often see a big difference in the level of crime in the area.

But right now, that's of little comfort to Janice.

She's realised she may have lost a

family heirloom that means a lot to her.

I haven't looked in a box - I've got earrings that my auntie left me

when she died. Now, if they've taken that, I will be extremely angry.

The other things can be replaced.

My earrings that my auntie left me - I'm just going to go and check

to see if they're still there.

No, I think they've gone.

My mother gave them to me.

She said that... My auntie never had any children,

"So she left you these."

And gave me them.

They're probably not worth nothing, but they are to me

and that's the effect that it has on people, I think.

Why do they do it?

It's not just the stolen treasures that cause so much heartache.

Knowing that the thieves have access to their personal paperwork

means that identity theft and fraud are serious concerns.

They've gone through that lot - that's our personal information.

Where was that kept normally?

That would have been in here.

All my wife's paperwork there has all our bank details on,

so that will be one thing - I'll have to speak to the bank.

So, the moral of the story is to shred, shred and shred again.

And if you do need to keep important paperwork,

hide it well out of sight.

But as James knows, thieves aren't invincible.

These people - they do slip up and they do make mistakes

they do leave fingerprints, they do leave DNA,

they are spotted by people and they will eventually be caught.

What we then try and do is build as strong a case as we can against them,

so that we are giving them as long as we can in prison.

Stephen now has to check on one of his prized possessions.

No, they're there. Now, that is amazing.

Ayy! Good.

-They obviously didn't look properly.

-They've not taken my dive computers.

Good.

It's great news, but James understands that the only

real consolation for Janice and Stephen will be

knowing that the culprits can't prey on any other innocent victims.

What we've got here is a hard-working family that unfortunately

someone has come and invaded their privacy.

Burglary is a very distressing crime.

But these people - they do make mistakes, they do leave fingerprints.

They are spotted by people.

And hopefully we can get someone for it.

Back in Yorkshire, PCs Mick Fletcher

and Chris Wright are examining the spoils of their successful raid.

As you can see, there's quite a wide array of property.

Six or seven laptop computers, a quantity of mobile phones,

TV, all the kids' games, there's pearls, there's all sorts of things.

Although I'm not an expert on Jimmy Choo perfume, I don't think

they're the type that would go out and buy Jimmy Choo perfume.

The team have successfully seized over 100 items

worth more than £10,000.

We weren't expecting to find this much property.

Hopefully, we'll be able to give some of these items

back to the people, where it's come from, and reunite them.

Hello, could I speak to Mandy, please?

Mick's first call is to Mandy Price,

who had been burgled two days before the raid.

I might have a bit of good news for you.

We currently have four people under arrest on suspicion of burglary.

During the search of the house where they've been arrested,

we've recovered two laptops - one eMachine and one Sony VAIO,

it had a username of Dale.

That's your son, is it?

I feel pretty confident that we do have your stuff then.

You sound excited.

Aw. She's crying.

Mandy heads straight to the station to identify her property.

It's an awful feeling to know that somebody's been in your house.

Then, for the last two days, I've just not felt safe because I know

there are people out there and I thought my home was secure.

I sat and burst into tears and he thought I was being...

He said, "Oh, are you a bit happy?" I said, "No, I am crying."

Cos I was just gobsmacked that

they'd actually been able to find them.

Right, Mandy, there's some things

here that we've recovered from today.

I would hope you can say, "Yeah, that's mine or that's mine."

Feel free to have a little look, see what you think's yours

and then we'll go from there.

Right.

She identifies her stolen laptop straight away

and then spots something of great sentimental value.

-That looks quite a...

-That's me mum's engagement ring.

-Is it?

-Yeah.

That doesn't actually fit my finger, so I have been saying

that I was going to have it made bigger.

But not got round to it, as yet.

This is the most sentimental... Yeah.

I'm just so pleased that you've found them.

I feel a bit more safe. When I go to bed tonight,

I think I might get some sleep.

-Good news.

-Yes.

-Thanks.

And Mandy's not the only one to get good news.

Katie and Wesley Harris were burgled just after Christmas.

They ruin people's lives. They've ruined our lives.

But luckily there are people out there that help you.

The heartless thieves stole over £1,600 of property,

including the children's Christmas presents.

The police have recovered nearly everything that was taken.

This year's not been very good for us,

but today has been probably the best day, hasn't it? To be honest.

Yeah, this is the best day ever. I'm just so happy, I can't believe it.

I bet you can't as well, can you?

The team are working hard to build a case against the suspects,

Anthony Wragg and Pete Fearn, for handling stolen goods.

Finally, PC Mick Fletcher gets some good news.

We've just received information that the people that were

both charged last night in respect of the burglaries that we've

been investigating pleaded guilty at court this

morning to the offences that they'd been charged with.

They've been remanded to Doncaster Prison as we speak

and they're going to be sentenced on the 31st of Jul...

Erm, 31st of January having both pleaded guilty.

It's a great result.

The guilty plea means the stolen property can be returned,

because it won't be needed as evidence in court.

And for Mick, who was once a victim of burglary himself,

he knows that getting these two prolific offenders behind bars

goes a long way to comforting the victims.

Until you have been burgled,

you can never describe that feeling to somebody.

Thanks very much, anyway.

Only if you've been that victim yourself.

Thank you, thank you.

The thought of somebody actually being in your house,

uninvited, it's like having your space violated.

Your place, the place that you go, you live, you sleep.

And to think that somebody's been in - broke in -

uninvited. Horrible feeling.

-A laptop. Is that yours, Dale?

-Yeah.

You know very well that they're going to be pleased.

Yeah, they're relieved.

They're relieved these people are off the streets, they can

continue about their normal, daily business and the things that they'd

thought they were never going to see again, they're now going to be

having back in their possession.

Now, for an update on today's stories.

Following the burglary in Essex, Janice and Stephen

listened to police advice on improving home security.

The case remains unsolved.

It could have been worse. Could have been a lot worse.

Police! Anthony...

After the raid in Yorkshire, the two women were released without charge.

Anthony Wragg and Pete Fearn pleaded guilty to handling stolen goods

and were each sentenced to six years in prison for their crimes.

That's all from us today, we'll see you next time.

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