Episode 7 Robbed, Raided, Reunited

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

Burglary.

Coming up...

Just a bit disgusted that he's broke into a dead man's house.

..we're with the police in pursuit of justice

as they carry out their raids.

Shut up!

And we'll see how powerful it is

when stolen goods get reunited to their rightful owners.

I can't put it into words, really, how I feel.

Heart's going.

Really delighted.

First up today, we're in Rotherham, Yorkshire.

The thieves have stolen treasured artefacts including

a communion box and communion wine.

They've even taken groceries meant for the community's soup kitchen.

But the thieves have left a vital clue.

A half-smoked cigarette was found on the scene

and DNA evidence has now been linked to a known offender.

Today, DC Andy Shaw and the team are bringing him in.

Part of the team have already gone out this morning

to try and arrest this male.

We've gone to one address, been unsuccessful.

They've gone to the second one where they believe

he is in the address and he's not allowing access

so we're going along with the door knocker to gain entry by force.

Andy has been with the police for 16 years and for him,

the best part of the job is bringing criminals to justice.

Are we doing it?

The team believe the suspect

is at this second property but isn't opening the door.

LOUD BANGING

You've had your chance!

LOUD BANG

Shift from behind door!

INDISTINCT SHOUTING

Shut up!

Is the rest of the house secure?

The man they are looking for is inside,

and PC Phil Connell and DS John Dimberline waste no time getting the handcuffs on.

You're under arrest.

You don't have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned

something you later rely on in court.

Anything you do say may be given in evidence.

But he doesn't want to come quietly.

BLEEP!

INDISTINCT SPEECH

BLEEP!

-Are you going to stop struggling?

-Just get in the car!

-I need you to stop struggling!

-SUSPECT SHOUTS

Stop struggling, then.

-I'm not struggling!

-WOMAN: Why don't you ask him nicely?

-We have!

-We've asked him nicely! Stay there!

Just calm down and stop kicking out.

In this potentially dangerous situation,

it takes three men to detain the suspect, Michael Parker.

He will now be taken to the station for questioning

about the break-in at the church.

One careless moment of throwing away a cigarette has led to this.

Back in the house, the team is going through everything,

searching for any evidence which could link the suspect

to the break-in at the church.

With 23 years' experience on the job,

Phil knows suspects will go to any length

to hide stolen items from police.

You've got quite a lot of compartments in stuff like this

and sometimes it can be looked over simply as a household appliance

but it's a good place to be able to secrete stuff and hide stuff.

There's nothing in there, though.

During the raid on the first property,

the team seized a box and DC Richard Howe thinks

it might have come from the church.

Obviously, we're going to preserve the box for forensics.

That's why I'm wearing the gloves.

It's where they put the Communion bread

when they do Holy Communion at the church.

This will obviously get taken to the church later

and hopefully identified.

It's got a unique number on it so hopefully that church can say,

"They have them at other churches but specifically it's stolen from ours."

Once we've completed the search here and looked for further stolen property,

then these inquiries will continue through the day

and maybe late into this evening but hopefully,

with all the forensics,

it's a successful operation and we get him sent away.

Later, there's some good news for St Paul's Church.

Now to a story that proves that you should never give up hope.

West Mill Farm in Hertfordshire is a popular spot for trout fishing.

John Sinclair is a keen angler

and spends much of his spare time fly fishing.

Normal day. Bit cold but it was a nice day. Set my tackle up.

Started fishing.

Working my way round the lake, trying different places, different depths.

I'd already caught a couple of fish.

On about the third cast I got hooked up in something

and I thought it was probably a branch or log or something.

I started pulling it in.

Had to use my hands to pull it in cos it was too heavy for the rod.

I pulled it out the water

and as I pulled it out, I realised there was something wrapped up in it.

So, I got it on the side,

started unwrapping it

and there was all these bits inside.

It was clear John had landed something very unusual.

I found that it was bits and pieces of jewellery

and coins of some description.

Incredibly, John had recovered over 30 items,

including brooches, a necklace, cufflinks and a ring.

For John, this was a catch of a lifetime.

That sort of thing doesn't happen very often. No.

Quite rare.

John's remarkable haul was covered in mud and silt,

so he headed home to work out exactly what he'd found

and where it might have come from.

Put them in soapy water, washed them all off.

Then when I was sorting through it, I found a buckle.

My wife works in a hospital and she said, "It's a nurse's buckle."

Silver dollars from the 1800s

and bits of jewellery and I realised that they must be from a robbery,

so I got in touch with Hertfordshire Police.

One morning just after Christmas,

we received a telephone call here at Hertford

from a gentleman who said that he'd dredged up some items

from a fishing lake.

Now, initially, that raced my heart a little

because I wondered what on earth he was going to say next.

Thankfully, he went on to explain that he'd pulled up

some jewellery boxes.

He discovered there were some jewellery items

and some coins dating back to the late 1890s

and some commemorating Churchill's time in office.

So, they were clearly quite old and potentially quite valuable.

Stephen, who's been with Hertfordshire Police since 2007,

had to use all of his detective skills to try and track down

the owners of this mysterious treasure and link it to a crime.

The two names on the badges could be the vital clue needed

to crack the case.

We believe, looking back at the crime records

and having matched the description of the items,

that they may have come

from a burglary in September, 2011, locally.

In September, 2011, Alan Burns and his partner Angela Leslie

returned home from an overnight business trip in Brighton.

Coming through the door, there was no indication that we'd been burgled

because the only thing that I noticed coming in

was that the handle on the French doors was up.

They came through here.

They drilled this lock out

and then this door just opened.

I would have come up the stairs with the bags.

As soon as I got into here,

we realised the drawers were out all over the place.

All the small drawers were on the bed,

all the contents of the drawers were taken.

All these drawers were emptied.

They had all this stuff out.

They took one of the pillowcases off the pillow

and then went away with the contents of what they'd taken.

The thieves had made off with over £7,000 of their belongings.

But for Angela, there was one item that was priceless...

When I qualified as a nurse in 1961,

my parents gave me, my mother in particular,

a silver buckle that we used to put onto a belt

and wear as then qualified nurses

which meant an awful lot to me at the time,

having passed my three-year exam.

I was very upset when I'd lost it.

Very, very upset. More upset with that, probably, than anything else.

18 months later and Angela and Alan still had no news

on their stolen possessions. Until now.

Stephen had successfully matched John's mysterious catch

to Alan and Angela's burglary.

Their stolen possessions were dumped in the lake,

amazingly a mere mile away from their house.

Stephen now has the enjoyable duty of returning these items

to their rightful owners.

This part of the job's really good because it brings closure

to the victim, but also it allows us to see their reaction.

Hopefully, fingers crossed, it will actually be their property.

I'm pretty certain it is.

-Hello, sir. Are you Mr Burns?

-I am indeed.

-Hello. It's PC Evans.

-We've been speaking on the phone. How are you?

-OK.

-Good. Lovely.

-Thank you very much.

-Good morning.

-Hello.

-Angela.

-Hi. Stephen.

-Hello.

-Stephen, would you like a cup of tea?

-Very good. Thank you.

-Come in.

-Thank you.

-This is the exciting bit.

-It is, yes.

Now, we've got the property.

We're fairly certain it's yours.

So it's all been bagged up, all secure.

So we'll just open it and I'll hand it over to you

and just confirm it's yours, really.

OK. So, the main bulk of the items

are in the jewellery box here.

Right. That's definitely ours.

-That's definitely my buckle. That's so exciting.

-Excellent.

-Cos that's what you showed most interest in, wasn't it?

-Yes, it goes back a long time.

-So if I just put them on here, is that all right?

-Or this one.

-We've got the nurse's buckle...

-For definite.

..and then we have a great deal of coins here,

commemorating Churchill

and then the amber beads and then a few more items.

-My son bought me that one so that's great.

-Your son bought you that one?

-Yes.

-Numerous pairs of cuff links.

-They'll be yours.

-Amazing.

-That's the vast bulk of the items.

-Amazing, really, isn't it?

-It's incredible that it's actually been found.

-Very good.

-Excellent.

-Tremendous.

-Wonderful.

-It's extraordinary.

-Super.

-Very pleased.

-Really good to bring it back to you. All right.

-No worries. Thank you very much.

-So kind.

-Thank you.

Really nice to actually hear the story behind particularly

the belt buckle which until actually meeting them in person

I didn't quite realise how important it was to her.

A gift that was given to her some years back by her mother.

So it was really pleasing to see

a genuine reaction to that piece at least.

Everybody has said, "What is it you want back most of all?"

Angela would have said, "We'll have the buckle."

I can't put it into words, really, how I feel. My heart's going.

Really delighted. Absolutely delighted.

Of all the things that we actually lost,

that probably was the greatest sentimental value.

There's a lot of time and effort put into targeting burglaries

and burglars across Hertfordshire.

Last year alone, there were 600 less burglaries across Hertfordshire

so it just goes to show that we can help

and bring back a little bit of closure

and ultimately the property that is taken from these types of crimes.

We've got nothing but praise for the police. They've been superb.

In Aughton near Rotherham, Natalie Watson has discovered

her stepgrandfather's house has been broken into.

South Yorkshire's DI Phil Wyer

-and PC Caroline Marsh arrive quickly to investigate.

-Natalie?

Break-ins are never pleasant but this one seems particularly callous.

Natalie's stepgrandfather Frank Gilberthorpe

only recently passed away

and the family have been trying to come to terms with their loss.

-You live here then?

-No. We live three doors up.

-Right.

This has been empty.

-For how long? Just a few days?

-A couple of months.

The first time my dad goes away for a couple of days and this happens.

Natalie and her stepdad Michael live up the road.

In the days since Frank's death,

Michael has spent a lot of time at the house

sorting through his father's treasured photos and keepsakes.

But he always leaves everything tidy.

And you're not aware if anything's been stolen?

-No because I don't know what's been left or taken out or anything.

-Right.

-There was no alarm on?

-No.

-Do you leave any lights on or anything like that?

-No.

We only live three doors up

so we thought we'd be able to keep an eye on it anyway.

84-year-old Frank Gilberthorpe sadly passed away in August, 2012.

A Yorkshireman born and bred, the retired joiner was

a popular character in the village where he lived.

The whole community have joined together in mourning his loss

and Natalie can't believe that just three months after Frank's death,

some thieves have burgled his empty house.

We're just a bit disgusted that they broke into a dead man's house, basically.

-Yeah.

-My dad's been through enough.

I can tell you're very upset now but you were upset on the phone

when I spoke to you earlier as well.

It's more that, it's the sentimental aspect.

You can't really broadcast what I think about the people

that break into other people's houses because largely

the people that do it are doing it for their own benefit.

They're doing it for their own gain,

regardless of other people's feelings and other people's rights

and people's rights to privacy,

rights to feel safe in their own home

and rights to feel safe from people breaking in.

Fortunately and touch wood, I've never been burgled.

But we see the effects it has on people all the time

and it's a very unpleasant thing to suffer.

Can I request Scenes of Crime, please?

The police are calling in forensics to see if they can find

any fingerprints or other evidence that might lead them to the culprits.

The crime couldn't have come at a worse time.

Natalie's stepdad has decided to take a few days away

whilst he's dealing with his grief.

Have you not spoken to your dad at all about it yet?

-I can't get in touch with him.

-Right.

Well, it's clear that things have been disturbed, isn't it?

-Things have been looked through.

-They wouldn't have left things out like this.

How long is it since you were actually in here?

It must have been about three weeks ago.

-Can't say for certain if anything's missing at this stage?

-No.

Natalie now faces an agonising wait for her stepdad to come home

so they can work out what exactly has been stolen.

All the time my dad lived here, he's never been broken into

or anything taken.

He's got enough on his plate, as well as trying to sort this out.

Obviously, some drawers were pulled out

and I don't know if they've taken anything because I don't know what was left here

from when my father had been in.

-Natalie, have you shifted these keys out onto the side here?

-Pardon?

There's some keys on the side.

Are they... Do they relate to the back door?

I don't know if they're the front door.

If they're to find a criminal who broke in,

Phil and Caroline have to try to gather as much evidence as they can.

And quickly.

The Scenes of Crime officers will get impressions of the marks

made by the tool used for the break in

and hopefully match them with other crimes or burglaries on their system.

There's clear tool marks on that second door as well.

It's not just been bodily pressure.

They've actually had some kind of instrument or tool with them

like a screwdriver or something.

They'll take a couple of photographs

and examine the scene for fingerprints

and they'll look at anything that may have been touched

or has been touched amongst these things to see if there's

any suitable surfaces that they might be able to get fingerprints from.

Although it may have been a random opportunist break in,

Phil can't rule out that it's someone who knows Frank recently died.

Obviously, somebody knew the house was empty

-and then just tried their luck.

-It may be so. Possibly.

When it's empty and there's no lights on or anything.

Whilst Phil gets as much information as he can from Natalie,

Caroline checks what the neighbours have seen.

-CID. Your neighbour's been burgled.

-I know.

-You found it, didn't you?

-I did, yes.

-Is there anything you can tell us about it?

-Only that I found it this morning.

I don't know what time. About ten minutes before she phoned you.

I nipped out this morning, came back and I saw the door.

So I went and told Natalie.

-Have you seen anything else suspicious?

-No, not at all.

-Anyone going down the backs?

-No, not that I've noticed.

I only put security lights up last week

and I didn't notice it go off last night at all.

Whether it was last night or this morning...

-You've not heard anything?

-Nothing, no. Normally don't. It's quiet.

-Close together?

-Yeah.

-Do many come down this back here?

-Not many, no. That's the thing.

-Because it's only to these properties?

-It is, yes.

-We all know each other and know the cars and everything.

-Right. OK then.

-Thanks for your help anyway.

-No worries.

It's good to know that the neighbours will be on the look-out for any intruders,

but Phil's aware that a break in of this kind can leave

the victim's family feeling very vulnerable.

What will happen is you will get what's called a reassurance visit

by a community support officer. They'll come round

and they'll talk to you about crime prevention

and what you can do to make the property more secure.

The cheapest things that are most effective,

other than putting extra locks and bolts on the door is lighting.

Security lighting is one of the best and most cost-effective things that you can do.

All the other houses have got lighting.

We've got lighting on his garage.

The only thing that you need to bear in mind,

if your dad or somebody else decides to do it, is the fact that

it needs to be as high up as possible so that they can't interfere with it.

If they can reach it or they can get a sweeping brush,

they will and they'll move it and just carry on regardless

because it won't affect them.

But they'll not stand there, forcing doors open

and trying to take beading out of windows whilst they're lit up like a Christmas tree.

Although the police can't immediately solve the crime,

Phil thinks it's important to offer Natalie some reassurance and advice

on how to protect Frank's house.

My dad's away at the minute

so there's nobody for me to get help off.

The police have been brilliant.

The officers hope they can get enough evidence to lead them

to the culprit's door, so Natalie and her family can rest assured

that Frank's home and treasured memories

will be left in peace again.

Following the morning raids in Rotherham, PC Phil Connell

is on his way to visit St Paul's Church

with what he hopes will be some good news.

As a result of warrants this morning, we've arrested a suspect...

..and within that premises we recovered

a metal church Communion box

so we're just on our way to meet up with the staff at the church

in order to get it identified so that we can go and interview

the suspect which has been arrested and put that to him.

Phil and DC Katey West arrive to meet the church warden and treasurer, Ann Brown.

What would be good to start with, if you could, please...

Could you show us where the initial point of entry was

-and where the sacristy, is where this has come from?

-This is the sacristy.

-Right. So this is where it's come from?

-I think it came out of there.

-And it would have been in that cupboard?

-Yes, it would.

Where would they have got in and which door did they force?

-You've got to appreciate we weren't the initial officers who came to it.

-Of course.

So, what we're wanting to do is just get an idea in our minds

where they came in.

St Paul's Church was built in 1902.

The stained-glass window smashed by the burglars

was an original feature.

-That was the point of entry.

-Where the window's boarded?

-Yes, and the cigarette butt was found down here.

-Down there.

And of course, it doesn't belong to anyone in the church.

Obviously, there's a no smoking policy in a church.

Yes, that's right.

We don't have a lot of things,

we don't have a lot of money

and it's very upsetting to know that someone hasn't got the respect

for our respect for the church and worshipping God.

And I do find that really, really upsetting

and a lot of the older members were really upset.

They were really violated.

Every time they come in and they see the window, it does upset them.

All Phil needs now is a positive identification of the Communion box.

My colleague mentioned earlier, we've done a warrant this morning

and we've got some property that we believe is from your burglary.

-I think it's a Communion box.

-Yes, that's ours.

-Is that from this church?

-It is from this church.

-OK.

It does have a postcode on the back which we checked is your postcode

-that's engraved on it.

-Yes.

So you can positively identify that as being property

stolen from the church in the burglary?

That would have been in the sacristy where there's no public allowed.

OK. That's great.

What we'll do now is take a statement from you to that fact

-because we've got someone in custody...

-Oh, right.

..for the burglary. So we're going to go back

-and we can then put that fact to him. OK?

-Yes, that's fine.

-Lovely. Thank you.

Phil hopes this visit will go a long way towards reassuring

the community that this type of burglary is very rare.

We don't get a lot of these type of jobs, but when they do come in,

they're quite hurtful, really,

because most people would look on a church as being sacrosanct

and just somewhere where people are going to get help or seek refuge

and then this happens to them.

It's really upsetting that it's an easy target.

Very often I think these kind of people do pick on easy targets.

It'll be nice to know the outcome.

But when things like this happen, people see it in the community

and I think it's important that we get people to task for it

because then they can actually see a positive message

coming back from the police.

Now for an update on today's stories.

In the case of Alan and Angela's burglary,

police believe the thieves had thrown the stolen items

into the lake because they were too easy to identify

and therefore hard to sell on.

The items were found underwater

and we suspect they've been there for some time,

so there is very, very limited if any chance of any forensic opportunities

or any fingerprinting or DNA.

So at this stage, the crime will be closed off as undetected

pending any further inquiries.

Angela and Alan revisited Millennium Lake

where their treasured possessions were found

and they met up with fisherman John and his wife Jill

to thank them in person.

-Thank you very much.

-All the best.

-Nice to meet you.

-Cheers.

Made her day, as they say.

John was really pleased to see the items back with their rightful owners.

When I found it, it was completely black.

You couldn't even see the patterns at all

because it was so manky.

It's come up nice, hasn't it?

-We're so pleased you got that back.

-Yes.

Back in South Yorkshire, Frank Gilberthorpe's bereaved family

were relieved to find out that nothing was taken in the break in.

No-one's been charged, but the family have looked at their security

and can rest more easily now

knowing they've done what they can to protect Frank's home.

Following the two successful raids, and compelling DNA evidence,

Michael Andrew Parker was charged with the St Paul's Church burglary.

He was sentenced to 34 months in prison.

Police successfully recovered the Communion box

and a glass dish the church use for Easter ceremonies.

Ann Brown was delighted the police caught the burglar.

Wonderful, really.

Yes, because hopefully it will teach him not to do it again

and to respect the people's beliefs and leave churches alone.

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

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