Episode 13 Robbed, Raided, Reunited

We're on the case of a crime that's committed once every 44 seconds.

Burglary. Coming up -

It's just the fact that somebody's been in your house.

It's frightening.

We're with the police as they hunt down criminals.

If we believe he's in here, we've got the right to go in and force an entry.

And we'll see the joy

when what's been stolen has been returned to its rightful owner.

Really pleased to get it back. A real relief.

First up, Hertfordshire Police are on the hunt for a prolific burglar

who's wanted for multiple crimes by them and the Metropolitan Police.

In recent weeks, we've had a series of burglaries involving a male.

He's got a probation appointment at 6.00 this evening.

We're led to believe that he's never missed one of these appointments.

So we're keen to see if he turns up to his probation appointment

and hopefully catch him unawares

and get him in for at least four burglaries in our area,

but we know he's wanted cross border. Metropolitan are after him.

He's certainly been our number one target. We're keen to get him tonight.

Following a tip-off, PC Jill Brown and the team of seven officers

are heading cross borders into London.

We've been getting up at 4.00 in the morning to go to his address,

his associates' addresses.

And then we've stayed late at night to go back again in the evenings.

We've waited in pubs for him for three, four hours.

We've spent the last three weeks of our lives in one street

waiting for a vehicle and him to come in, which he did do last week.

Sadly, after a short pursuit in a very powerful car,

he got away from us.

Personally, I was in the car pursuing him,

so I've got a little bit more grit between my teeth.

I want to catch him. Because I'm bored of trying to find him.

He knows we've been knocking at his address for him.

That's the only downside.

So he may well have gone to ground and hid himself.

The team arrive in London.

They're undercover so they can blend into the crowd

and won't spook the culprit.

Heading towards the probation office now.

About 40 minutes until his appointment,

so we'll just site up at various locations

and check that we're all in place

ready for him to turn up, just in case he turns up early.

Ah, there's the bar with the red thing, I'm guessing,

so we'll meet down there. All right?

Jill's already in position.

Yeah, that's the building he's got his appointment in at 6.00.

There's only one entrance and one exit,

so we should be all right in that respect,

but it's just seeing him come in to get the troops in, so...yeah.

How do you think you look at the moment?

I think I look like a drug dealer.

Having scoped out the location, Jill gets the team in place.

Where do you want Neil and the others?

Um...if they could go the other side of the building

to see if he comes up from the opposite side.

-So further on down.

-Yeah.

-The other guys are opposite in the cafe.

-Right.

I'll cover this end and Sophie and Dan the Man should be here soon.

Fingers crossed.

The team of eight spread out and get into position.

I'm going to go now because people are going to look at me.

I'm going to blend. All right.

A number of officers are obviously dispersing to various locations

just so we've got people on actual eyeball with regards to the person.

There's a couple of other units coming down from our station,

as well, just to make 100% sure that we don't miss him.

Now it's just a matter of waiting to see

if the suspect will show up for his 6.00 appointment.

If he fails to show up, there could be serious consequences.

It's now 6.40pm and there's still no sign of him.

We're waiting for an update from probation.

Somebody's been in there, had a chat with him and see

if there's generally a time he's late, the length of time he's late

or if there's a window that they call it a day that he's missed his appointment.

We're still in our convenient places, covertly,

and basically we're just waiting to see how long we're going to be here for.

I'd say probably another 45 minutes, an hour.

We don't want to go and miss him.

So Jill and the team continue their stakeout, but he fails to show.

It's time for Plan B.

Yeah. Sadly, he knows that we are looking for him, clearly.

So we half expected this to happen,

so it's going to be a case of going to go and knock on the addresses

that we've known him to frequent or his mum's associates, etcetera,

so we'll head there now.

A recent intel's come in that he's at this friend's house.

She lets him shack up there, so we're kind of hoping he's there

or she might give us a bit more information.

Even if we just rattle some cages, ruffle some feathers,

we might get something else that will give us a lead for another inquiry.

More on this later.

But next, a story that really hits a nerve.

The Hawk and Owl Trust was founded in 1969

to conserve owls and birds of prey in the wild.

Paul Golledge is the chairman for the South Gloucester division.

His love of birds began as a young boy

and has grown ever since.

He now owns seven birds of prey.

The Hawk and Owl Trust is quite important to me

because it's the conservation of wild birds of prey.

As a young boy, he kept greenfinches and bullfinches,

goldfinches in the aviaries out the back.

And his father kept racing pigeons, so I suppose it's in the genes.

I first joined the trust about 20 years ago.

I thought I was keeping birds of prey, I want to do something for wild ones, as well.

Volunteers visit local schools, shows and village fetes

to give the public the chance to get up close to the birds

and learn more about them.

If you look at the end of the building, you'll see there's holes in it.

And the owls are allowed to fly in there

and they'd go and they'd eat the rats,

mice and voles that are in there

and help the farmer keep his crop clean.

It's very fluffy.

There's something special about birds of prey in general, really.

Being toward the top of the food chain, it's our ultimate predator.

Just amazing birds.

Paul and his fellow members had taken their birds

to a local fair and horticultural show.

We last used the trailer at a May Day show that we attended.

The trailer was then returned to my mother's drive.

Secured it with the handbrake as normal

and put the wheel clamp on and the lock through the tow hitch,

and just walked away and left it

and thought it would be there until I needed it the next time.

It was used on the Monday and it was there all day on the Tuesday

and it was there Wednesday after I came back

roughly 12ish from the shop.

I had my lunch and was doing my crossword

and realised it was time to go round my son's.

Mary often helps her son

by taking care of her grandchildren after school.

I opened the front door, locked it

and then looked across and thought, there's an empty space.

Oh, well, he must've asked somebody to come and fetch it,

but I never heard anybody.

And that's when I went round Paul's and when he came in from work,

that's when I went for him and said, "Thank you for letting me know

"that the trailer was being picked up today."

My reply was, "That's because no-one was supposed to be coming to collect it."

So I said, "What do you mean? Where's it gone?"

And I said, "Well, the trailer isn't there." He said, "Oh, don't be silly.

"Of course the trailer's there." And I said, "It isn't, it's gone."

He put his coat back on and we both came round

so that he could see that there was an empty space.

The trailer had been stolen.

I contacted the police and told them it was quite easily recognisable

by all the logos and detail on it.

Paul and his family also tried to find out

if anyone in the area had seen anything suspicious.

My mother and my daughter went knocking on neighbours' doors

to see if they'd seen anything.

Unfortunately, no-one had seen or heard anything at all.

I was pretty devastated that the trailer had been stolen.

There was a lot of information and stuff inside

that was of no use to anyone else other than the trust.

Inside the stolen trailer was all the equipment

the charity needed to raise money. It was a terrible blow.

He was very upset.

Because he'd only just furnished it out

with all the leaflets and the new gazebo.

The thieves had managed to steal the trailer in broad daylight

and somehow remove the wheel clamp.

I didn't think anybody would take anything like that.

I didn't think they'd have the nerve to come in on an afternoon

and just lift it off.

I think it was quite despicable, really.

Likening it to stealing a charity box off a desk or something like that.

It was going to cost the trust thousands of pounds to replace.

Money that should be going towards conservation.

I just couldn't believe that someone would do that.

I suppose all the internal contents of the trailer

were literally dumped somewhere or burnt.

And certainly, it knocked us back a bit

and we've had to put a lot of effort into getting everything new again.

Very disheartening.

We thought our efforts of getting it back were pretty slim.

We thought there was no chance of ever seeing it again at all.

Even though it was very upsetting,

Paul, David, and the other members were determined not to let the theft

get in the way of what was really important, the birds.

We still had quite a big show calendar to go to

and we kept to every one that we had booked.

A lot of friends, neighbours

and colleagues were quite shocked

to hear we'd lost our trailer

and a lot of fundraising activities were put together

to raise funds to find a replacement

and replace the stolen goods from inside.

There was a great response to their plight.

Thanks to donations, grants and fundraising events,

they now had enough money to replace their trailer.

All Paul had to do now was go shopping for a new one.

But as he was browsing online, he had a rather big surprise.

I stumbled across our own trailer that had been stolen.

It was quite easily recognisable to me as our trailer.

I sent the link to a colleague to help identify it.

One evening, I was checking my emails.

He'd put a line on there saying, "Do you think it looks like ours?"

And the more I looked at it,

the more I could see features on it that seemed,

although all the lettering, our hawk and our lettering was gone,

I could see that there were things about it that rang a bell.

So I emailed back to him saying,

"Yes, I think it's ours. I'm 90% sure that it's ours."

They called the police.

They asked whether the trust had anything that could prove

this particular trailer was theirs.

Luckily, David's son Gary,

who'd done a lot of repairs on it, was able to help.

Gary told them various things he'd done.

He had to replace this rear light cluster.

And he replaced that and while he was doing that,

he saw that this dividing plate

that should've been there was missing.

So he made this one up out of stainless steel

which he happened to have, and fitted that in.

He knew that was undercover, that nobody would know that was there.

So that really was the thing which really identified it.

This unique metal plate could be the key to recovering their trailer.

Paul and David gave the police the details.

Even though the trailer had already been sold on,

they tracked it down and went to examine it.

It took quite a while for the result of those enquiries to come back.

Eventually, it was proved positive that it was our trailer,

which we were really grateful for.

Amazingly, over a year after it was stolen,

the trust had their trailer back.

Yeah. Really pleased to get it back.

A real relief that all that, all those people's donations,

it can now go to conservation and not to replacing a trailer.

Conservation is what it's all about, so really pleased.

We're very grateful to Avon and Somerset Police

and Thames Valley Police

for relocating the trailer and getting it back to us safely.

During a burglary, thieves often target small, valuable property

such as jewellery or electrical items

that are easy to carry and sell on.

It's 9.30am in Rotherham

and DC Andy Shaw and PC Adam Broughton

are on their way to a burglary.

She's gone out last night, she's come home,

she's not discovered it, so I presume she's gone straight to bed.

Jane Wakefield has woken up to find her home has been broken into.

They've gained entry through the conservatory.

Adam and Andy head straight into the conservatory to look for any clue

that might help them to identify the burglar.

What have you touched?

Me husband went round it.

I've opened this door and come out.

I've not touched any of that.

Andy investigates the garden for any evidence

the burglars might've left behind when they smashed the window.

Charlie 13.

Getting scenes of crime to the house quickly

increases the chances of collecting crucial evidence.

Yeah, the burglary. Scenes of crime been allocated yet?

Jane's son Josh was also sleeping as the burglars broke in.

And it seems everything that was stolen belongs to him,

including a turntable he uses to DJ for friends.

My mum woke me up, because I'm lazy and I have a lie-in.

And she woke me up to tell me the window had gone through.

Then I realised my decks were in.

And it clicked.

Then she realised me headphones and laptop had gone off the side.

We'll go in here and discuss what we're going to do.

-Is that all right?

-Yeah, yeah, sure.

Josh, what about your decks?

Is there anything distinguishing about those we can identify them back this house?

-Serial numbers, any marks on it? Stickers you might have put on.

-No.

-My colleague's just doing some house to house if anyone's seen anything.

-Right.

And he'll also check to see if there's any cameras on the houses.

Jane's neighbour has heard about the break in

and popped round to give some moral support.

-I'm sorry.

-We're all right. It's just a bit upsetting, in't it?

-It is.

The only thing I could see was gone was his laptop and headphones and that.

I never heard a thing, I were watching telly...

with door shut, you know.

I've got that. If it's got the serial on it, I don't know.

Cheers. Thank you.

Luckily, Josh has kept the receipt and the box for his turntables

which will help identify them if the police can recover them.

For Adam, one of the most important parts of attending a burglary,

is giving the victims a voice in court.

What we do at the end of every statement

is called the Victim Statement Scheme which basically is

a chance for you to say how, as a victim of crime,

it's made you feel, this incident.

If we were to catch someone for it and it went to court

people at court would see how it's made you feel.

A lot of time people don't get to express

how this kind of thing makes them feel.

So, in your own words you can say anything you want,

it's your chance to say what you want, really.

-It's just that it is, it's just upsetting.

-OK.

And it's just...it makes you feel angry because

I work hard for a living and I think...

they should pity everybody else who's gone through the same.

I mean, that laptop were like four, five years old

-but it's the fact that somebody's been in your space...

-Yeah.

It's not a very nice feeling.

This is what this is for because, obviously, you've said

how it's made you feel and look how upset you're getting so...

It's just the fact that somebody's been in your house.

And you think there've been in while you've been asleep.

It's just a bit, it's frightening.

You never think it's going to happen to you, do you?

I can't imagine what it's like.

With their initial investigations complete,

Andy and Adam head back to the station.

Scenes of Crime are on their way,

and Victim Support will also visit Jane and Josh.

-All right, Jane.

-Yes, thank you very much.

-Thanks for coming so quickly, I appreciate it.

-All right.

We're back with Hertfordshire Police.

The team are still in London on the hunt for the prolific burglar

wanted by multiple police forces.

PC Jill Brown, DC Sutton and the team have been closing in for weeks.

Now, they're going back to visit his friends and family,

determined to follow every lead.

It's a sad fact of life that often criminals are more scared

about the reaction of their family and friends

than they are of the police.

So, by visiting their family and friends and making them aware

that we are seeking out these individuals

they will often hand themselves in to avoid the wrath of,

as I say, their family and friends.

Jill and Neil arrive on the estate.

Even though they try to keep their arrival quiet

and they are in plain clothes, Jill knows it doesn't always work.

Generally, on this estate, once they see us

they sort of know who we are.

There'll be phone calls put in to each other's addresses.

Because they all know each other.

As you can see, the next address we're going to

is that block there, so they'll know we're at a certain address.

That's why we're walking a little bit quick.

This is a big estate, so the team arrive from different entrances

in case the suspect has been tipped off and tries to escape.

They head to the first address on the list.

Their information suggests he could be hiding inside.

WHISPERS

This is where she lives - the top floor.

KNOCKS ON DOOR

-What do yous want?

-We want to come and search again.

He's not going to be here.

We need to speak to you about something.

-Speak to me about what?

-Can we come and speak to you?

-I'm not standing on your doorstep.

-Come on, let us in.

Quite a lot has happened in the last day, so we need a decent chat with you like human beings.

Jill, Sophia and DS Dan Stoddart

are familiar faces to the people inside.

Neil has over seven years experience with the force

and knows estates like this can be a tough place for police to work in.

The problem with these sorts of areas,

there's plenty of vantage points for people that know the estate and the area.

They obviously see us arriving as we're walking up to the address.

More often than not, they can be tipped off, they're actually in the address at the time.

Hence the last time we were down here, it was early in the morning,

not so many people up and two of the suspects were arrested

fairly early on in the morning, six or seven in the morning.

But obviously today, it's more of a question

of applying the pressure again to friends and family.

This gentleman knows we're not going to give up

and it'll be relentless.

The team are inside for ten minutes.

They have definitely made their presence felt.

Move that camera out of my face!

Leave it. Leave the camera.

-Move the camera out of my face.

-You'll get nicked for damage.

Move the camera out of my face!

Don't look at the camera then, walk off.

-Are you allowed to even do that without asking me?

-Yeah. He's in a public place, sorry.

You're not going to find him, so good luck. Ha ha!

See you later.

It wasn't very reciprocal.

Denying all knowledge of knowing this person

so she's just being a little bit obstructive.

But at the moment that was negative so we'll try the next address.

Jill and the team carry on their search.

They have a list of other places they still need to check out.

As you probably heard we had a frosty reception.

It was a matter of trying to glean what we could,

get some telephone numbers and move on to the next place.

If we go through enough doors and rattle enough cages

these people will pop out sooner or later.

Jill checks their suspect isn't hiding out in a local pub.

Yeah, these are some of the estate pubs he might visit.

Only the regulars who come off the estate.

Nobody hanging around.

These are sort of rat runs that you can see

they can quite easily hide in.

We've got no hope of finding them if they're on foot in here

but if they hang around the corners it might be just a case

of hanging around and waiting for them to turn up.

They've got CCTV outside the house so they'll know we're coming,

this family.

So we'll sort of hang back until we're in position and then we can

go and get that knock.

Mum will be expecting us, I've no doubt.

It's 9.20pm and Jill and the team of seven officers

arrive at the suspect's parents house.

LOUD KNOCKING

DOG BARKS

Every time we've come here there's always been someone in.

So we're thinking, bearing in mind there were two people

standing outside the house waiting, he's either in there hiding,

so we have to make a decision about whether we leave this door

or we go in.

The team scout the area to see if the suspect or his family

are anywhere to be seen.

Meanwhile, Sophia notices something that could mean someone is at home,

and not coming to the door.

Right, the situation is, there was a dog here barking a minute ago

and going mad.

-And...

-KICKS DOOR

..someone might have locked the dog upstairs.

The dog's on the balcony.

The balcony door's open with a light on in the kitchen.

Sophia and Jill need to establish

whether this prolific burglar is in the house.

It's double locked as well.

If we believe he's in there, we've got the right to go in,

we've got a right to force an entry.

We've got to have a reason to believe he's in there.

At the moment, we don't know.

Jill listens out for anything that might give them a clue.

Then, the suspect's parents and brother arrive.

Oh. Mum and Dad.

Hello.

Don't worry, we've not upset the dogs.

We haven't upset the dogs.

You know who we've come looking for.

After you.

This is another address of one of the people who's currently at large.

And we are talking to the mother and father to try and...

convince them that it's in their son's best interest to hand himself in or to see if they'll talk to us.

This is not the first time she's had the police come to her door

in the last 24, 48 hours.

And it's the third or fourth time we've been here ourselves in the last fortnight

and we'll keep on coming until such time as we have found the guy.

He ain't in there.

Yeah, he's nae in there.

He's not there.

He hasn't been there since we last visited last week.

He's rung his mum yesterday on an unknown number.

She doesn't know where he is, she couldn't hear any noise

or anything relevant in the background.

So, we are still at a loss, unfortunately.

She's got contact details for us again, and we've got her number

so we should be able to ring her

but I think the Met are going to keep visiting and so are we so...

Nothing new, he's not there.

Even though they didn't find their suspect this time,

Jill refuses to be defeated.

He will be ours.

We've no doubt of that.

When? Today, tomorrow, another day, but he will come.

We've got to find our way out of here so we might be a little while!

So, if we're still here in the morning, help us out!

As the night draws to a close, Jill, Sophia and the team

head back to Hertfordshire armed with some useful leads

that will hopefully bring them an arrest.

There's just time for an update on today's stories.

The case of the stolen trailer remains unsolved.

Since its safe return, Paul and his fellow members

have taken extra steps to make sure it doesn't get stolen again.

With the trailer now, we've got special identification marks

on the trailer itself so it's more easily identifiable.

The trailer is now secured at a new location

with quite a bit of security on it

so we hope not to see it disappear again.

Police have yet to catch the thief who burgled the Wakefields home.

And Josh is saving up for a new pair of turntables.

Hertfordshire Police were very happy that the prolific burglar,

Liam Peace, was caught by the Metropolitan Police.

Although he was not convicted for the crimes

that Jill and the team were chasing him for, he is currently serving

four and a half years in prison for separate burglary offences.

We'll see you next time.

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