Part 1 Silent Witness

This programme contains some scenes which some viewers may find upsetting.

MAN SHOUTS

HE CALLS HER NAME

Hey.

# Testator silens

# Costestes e spiritu

# Silentium. #

Are we OK to...?

Yeah.

Are you Murder Squad?

-Yeah, DI Ryman.

-Dr Chamberlain.

This is Dr Alexander.

-And the victim?

-An imam.

This was his mosque.

Name's Amir Aziz.

One of his congregation was attacked here about a month ago.

Racially motivated?

Possibly.

Did you get the person who did it?

No, but we're thinking it could be connected.

OK.

So, he has got grazes, cuts and bruising to the face and head,

possibly from a fall.

From the top of the stairs?

No, I don't think the injuries are bad enough for that.

No CCTV in here or outside.

Uh! OK.

Check across the road, will you?

Ma'am.

Shall we?

One...two...three...

He's been stabbed.

Good morning!

Something you all should see.

Right, then,

we have got blood.

Really? Where?

Traces here.

So, he was attacked in here and, what,

-tried to get away and fell partway down the stairs?

-Yeah.

Or was pushed.

And blood on his mobile, too.

He made a call?

Yeah. Just before he was found. He hung up before it connected.

What number?

Me?

'Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to London.

'Please remain seated, with your seatbelt securely fastened,

'until the captain turns off the seatbelt sign.'

-He's been such a good baby!

-He's been cramped up for ages.

Hello! Hello!

INSTRUCTION TONE

UNBUCKLING CLATTER

MUFFLED POLICE TRANSMISSION

-After you.

-Are you sure?

-Yeah.

-Thank you very much.

VIBRATING TONE

Mr and Mrs Rachid, this is Dr Alexander and Dr Chamberlain.

I'm so, so sorry about your brother.

-Can we see him?

-Of course.

There is just something we need to run past you first, if that's OK.

We are not required to obtain next-of-kin's permission

-for a postmortem, but...

-Islam doesn't allow it.

-No, I understand...

-Except for where the death may have resulted from

a criminal act.

Amir wouldn't want it.

I understand that what we're asking isn't easy,

but this is a murder investigation. We need all the evidence we can get.

The alternative could be that we miss something vital

and your brother's killer gets away with it.

I don't think any of us wants that.

OK.

-Thank you.

-This way.

There is one more thing...

When were you last in Amir's office?

Yesterday, both of us.

We are going to need your DNA and prints, too, if that's OK?

Claire?

Little man.

Come in.

We already have his prints from the previous case. We needed to screen

people locally and he led by example.

Are you OK, being here?

So, he knew you well enough to have your mobile number?

Yeah. Well, like I said, he was incredibly helpful.

Why would he call you direct, rather than 999?

CAMERA CLICKING

Rigor's not yet begun to set in, so time of death estimated

at no more than three hours ago.

Bruises and abrasions to the face

and on the costal margin, possibly from the fall.

But it's likely to have been the stab wounds that killed him.

Why would anyone want to target him?

I mean, specifically, him.

Take your pick.

He was anti-fundamentalist and wasn't afraid of saying so.

Then, there is the usual suspects who just hate him,

because... because that's what they do.

Sorry, my friend.

Hmm.

Knife tip.

'OK, so,'

this is from a security camera at the end of the street.

The mosque is here,

just out of shot.

And this taxi was parked there from around five past five,

-for 20 minutes or so.

-This morning?

Mm. Would have been around the time Amir Aziz died.

We are checking the licence plate now.

All right, there is no sign of the knife in or around the mosque.

-Prints?

-In his office - plenty.

Parishioners, probably,

if that's what you call them.

And...this chap - I ran him through the database - John Sutherland.

Previous for affray, on an English Defence League march.

Cheers.

We have got a trace on that numberplate.

That's him.

John Sutherland.

The same guy.

He's the taxi driver.

I wouldn't touch him.

Wouldn't want me hands to smell of curry.

This was your taxi at eight minutes past five this morning,

parked outside the Bridge St mosque.

What were you doing there?

Waiting to speak to Amir Aziz.

First prayer.

So you knew him?

How come my prints are in his office, if I didn't?

How did you know him?

-Everybody knows him, don't they?

-What were you doing in his office?

He invited me in, to talk.

-Brave guy.

-Me?

Him.

-When?

-When was I in there?

Yesterday, about nine.

-What did you talk about?

-Islam.

Like what, about Islam?

Like whether the Wahhabi interpretation of the Koran

has any validity or whether it should be dismissed out of hand.

'But you didn't go into the mosque this morning?'

'No.'

'You just hung around outside?'

'Yeah.'

'Hmm. Why?'

Just to let him know I was there.

To intimidate him?

-I was reminding him.

-Of what?

That there are consequences to what we do and what we say.

I just liked him to know I was watching him.

So...while you were...

sitting there...this morning...

..what happened?

-What did you see?

-People coming and going.

One guy running.

What did this "guy" look like?

Like they look - brown, with a beard.

Is that it?

That's it.

Found this in your wallet.

Your son, right?

Ollie.

Where was this taken - Helmand?

Mmm.

Can't have been far from where he was killed, then. Taliban, IED.

How did that make you feel?

Like killing every Muslim you ever set eyes on?

Including Amir Aziz.

They undermine this country's role,

your son's role in that war, am I right?

He stood up and said we shouldn't have been there. What was it?

"Every death...

"was a complete waste.

"A failure."

Your boy died for nothing.

That's what he said.

Yeah?

A Muslim man.

Is that why you had to terrorise him?

I have principles, Ms Ryman.

And I stick to 'em.

But I'm not a stupid man.

If I'd wanted to hurt him...

..you wouldn't get to know about it.

SHE SIGHS

BABY CRIES

BABY CRIES

WATER RUNS

Get your hands off of him!

All right, calm down, just trying to help.

We're done.

Pleasure.

'An attack on one of us is an attack on us all.

'And building trust again takes time,

'but people need to know that we're at the heart of this community.

'We have to reach out and make connections with people,

'whoever they are.

'Don't let hatred ruin our lives.'

That was Amir about a month ago.

Though, what he said, who wants to fall out with?

PHONE RINGS Excuse me.

He had no partner, no wife?

No.

-Do you?

-Me? No.

And you're straight, are you?

Why?

Just...

..if you wanted to make a connection...

that would be OK with me.

The second independent postmortem's been done, so we can release

-the body to the family, if you're happy with that?

-Yeah, great.

Yeah, good.

What? Hey, all right! Take it easy!

-I embarrassed you.

-No, no.

But?

-What, a woman's never come on to you before?

-Well...

I'm sorry, patience isn't my virtue.

I think something, it comes straight out of my mouth. No filter.

-It's scary.

-Totally.

Look...

you were good with Amir's sister.

No argument, but lots of empathy.

And I thought there was a little something here.

Maybe I'm wrong.

But I didn't want to let it pass in case I wasn't, so...

-Are you OK with that?

-Yeah, yeah.

I'm OK with that.

PHONE RINGS

Ryman.

Drug squad have picked up a trafficker in a hotel

-near the airport.

-Yeah, and what's that got to do with me?

They missed the mule he was meeting with,

-but they recovered her mobile.

-And?

We were going through a list of calls Amir Aziz made over

the last few days, trying to identify the numbers.

And one of them was to a Turkish registered phone.

It was that mobile.

What are you saying, that the drug mule got a call from Amir Aziz?

'Bingo.'

DOORBELL RINGS

KEYS JANGLE

BABY WHIMPERS

BABY CRIES

DOOR OPENS

DOOR SHUTS

LOW MURMURING

Shhh...

-Don't just not call.

-I left a message.

-I was up half the night worrying.

-I left a message!

Mama...

SHE LAUGHS

Oh!

Drug squad got a tip-off that led them to the traffickers,

but nothing on the mule.

Now, here she comes out of the hotel, and...

-..into the bin goes a phone.

-Oops.

-And then?

-See, that's your lot.

No more cameras, no more footage.

-And that's the phone?

-Yeah, there's nothing on it. It's been wiped down.

-It's heroin, right?

-Mm-hmm, looking at just over a kilo.

-Street value of what, 60, 70 grand?

-I reckon.

Don't get your hopes up, it's clean, too. No prints or DNA.

OK, so, she checks into the airport hotel and, what,

-passes the pellets there?

-Yeah, which is unusual.

Normally they cork themselves up, wait a couple of days,

make sure they're clear.

So what's her relationship to Amir Aziz?

-Maybe he was involved.

-In trafficking heroin, an imam?

No.

What's her name?

Isma?

-The baby, Jan or Yan, they're Dutch.

-Ah, no, these are false.

-False passports?

-Yeah. Well, they're good.

Good enough to get through passport control, but we got on to Dutch

immigration and they're stolen from the real Claire Isma and doctored.

-So who is she, then?

-I don't know, pick a name, any name.

-Hey.

We've got the flight she came in on this morning from Istanbul.

Plane is still on turnaround.

That's worth checking out.

-Might give us a chance to get some

-ID. I've got a plane to catch.

How many years has it been, Mum? Hmm?

-And you just turn up like nothing's happened?

-Jakob...

-Not a word in all that time?

-That's enough.

-No, he's right.

You're right.

-Can I hold him?

-Sure.

Oh!

Coffee's ready. Biscuits.

-TO BABY:

-Hello, Musa.

I'm your baka.

You can call me Baka.

Am I OK to ask about his father?

I think I have a photo somewhere, actually.

What's he called? Zak.

He was from London, too.

Where is he now?

He died...

A few months ago.

And...and you were married?

You will have been married?

So...

..how did you get back?

Are you pleased to see your sister?

Got all that out of your system?

Well...

Can we get these guys out of here, please?

-They haven't cleaned in here, have they?

-I hope not.

I told them to hold off.

-What seat number have we got?

-60D.

(60D...)

-Oh, sorry, am I in your seat?

-Oh, thank you! Yeah.

That's OK.

Thank you.

Sh, sh, sh.

Oh, sorry.

-I've got some...

-Oh, no, it's fine, I've got some wipes, thank you.

Can you hold that? Thank you.

(Come on, baby...) Time to buckle up, baby.)

Can you fasten your seatbelts now? Thank you.

Yeah...

-Do you want to?

-Can I?

-Yeah.

BABY GURGLES

-I'll pick up his dirty things.

-OK.

OK, we got a couple of prints.

-One's from a baby...

-The other's from the mother?

-Maybe.

-Who could still be Dutch, remember?

I'll get on to Interpol

so we can run the prints through their database, too.

Mr and Mrs Rachid are back... with friends.

THEY SPEAK OWN LANGUAGE

-Did the postmortem help?

-It did.

Thanks for agreeing to it, it answered some questions.

Why would anyone want to do that to him?

We got a match on prints from the plane.

Sarah Begovic.

Begovic. What nationality is that?

-Well, this will be the UK database, right?

-Mm-hm.

Here we go.

-What?!

-What's up?

I don't know.

Why don't I have clearance?

Where's Musa?

He's fine, he's... having a nap in the bedroom.

Do you want to lay the table?

Sure.

How are things with Jakob?

Good.

Working?

He showed me some of the things you posted online.

That was a while ago.

You've changed your mind?

You want to talk about this? Really?

I want to know what you're thinking.

Just tell me.

You want me to say that...

-I was young and naive?

-No.

What, then?

That I should have stayed here with you and made you proud?

No.

Just not lie to me and disappear without even saying goodbye.

Why are you back, Sarah?

So Musa can know you.

And...so you can know him.

-I need a favour, Mum.

-SHE SIGHS

I need you to take Musa for a while.

I can't live like this, can I, just wondering

when someone's going to tap me on the shoulder?

You're going to the police?

So...

I'll take care of him after that.

And now?

Mum...

SHE SIGHS

I can't get drawn into anything.

And neither can Jakob.

There have been consequences.

And you're a mother now, you have responsibilities.

-So you need to do things properly.

-Mum...

You done the Parmesan?

Chief Inspector Waite.

Counterterrorism.

Sarah Begovic, Bosnian extraction.

Came to this country in 1997 with her mother and younger brother.

Now goes by the name of Umusa Al-Britani.

Left home two and a half years ago for Iraq,

ended up in Raqqah in Syria.

Married to another British jihadist, Zaki Latif, known as Zak.

-The child is his, presumably?

-Yeah.

-And where is he?

Killed three months ago in a firefight in Fallujah, Iraq.

Would you be so kind?

You bet.

By the time Begovic's mother realised she was being radicalised,

it was too late, she was already out of the country.

And since then, she's been all over social media,

acting like a recruiting sergeant for them.

Dozens of women have followed her out there.

And him?

He was portrayed as this incredible warrior,

had a massive online following among Muslim kids here.

They were the golden couple, him on the front line,

her in the Women's Brigade, sort of moral police.

Hugely influential.

So what's the connection between her and the murdered imam?

We don't know. Amir Aziz wasn't on any watchlist.

But he was in touch with her, so...

It follows therefore he might have known she was heading home.

-And indeed been instrumental.

-No, he wasn't...

He was anti-extremism big time. He said so publicly.

IF...he knew she was coming back, he would have reported it.

He was a good guy.

A really good guy.

Regardless, we're bringing in his family to see

if they know of any connection.

If she's such a big cheese, what's she doing back here now?

Well, maybe she had a change of heart.

-Her husband's dead and she wanted to come home.

-Unlikely.

-She gets in packing heroin?

-Why not?

Maybe smuggling drugs was how she paid her passage.

No committed Islamist would have anything to do with drugs, no way.

Not if she is who you say she is.

Well, like I say, maybe she's not committed any more.

Maybe she managed to get away.

That's possible, but people have tried to escape before

-and either been killed or captured.

-Not everybody.

-The odd person's got out.

-Yeah, but not people like her,

with that kind of profile.

She's massively committed.

Now, if she's here, she's been allowed to come.

Why?

Why do I do this, let you persuade me to drive you around?

Well, I wouldn't have asked, but...

I wanted to get you on your own.

What?

I didn't want her making a fuss, so...

I'm telling you instead.

I've left some money under the bed in my old room for her.

And for Musa, too, if he needs it.

Why would he need it? He's with you.

Why would he need it?!

It doesn't matter, just tell her.

What you've done to this family... Jesus Christ!

-What I've done is right.

-Mum can forgive you, but I will never...

-Stop the car!

-Oh, I get it, you know?

When you're a kid, all those guys online, guns over their shoulders,

looking like they're on first-name terms with Allah.

-But now, you still believe in that shit?!

-Stop the car!

BRAKES SQUEAL

(Here you are, baby.)

You know what?

They put a bullet in Dad because he wasn't like them,

he wasn't one of them.

Well, your lot are no different.

Where are you on the Amir Aziz murder?

John Sutherland, the cab driver, is still in custody.

And you'll keep me up to speed?

-Yeah, of course.

-Thank you.

Mr and Mrs Rachid, this is Chief Inspector Waite.

I'm sorry for your loss. Thanks for coming down so promptly.

OK...

We're investigating the possibility that your brother may have

become associated with someone we are actively seeking

in connection with other offences.

So this is the guy who killed him?

No, this person wasn't in the country at the time.

-And what are these offences?

-I'll... We'll come to that.

Can I first of all ask you, do you recognise this woman?

What about this man?

It was taken a while ago now, but...

Yeah, I've seen him.

A long time ago, though.

Where?

At the mosque, do you remember?

No.

I've seen his face.

LOUD BANG

SHOUTING: Armed police! Get down now! Get down!

-On the floor!

-Suspect on the floor.

-JAKOB:

-Mama?

You, down, get down! On the floor!

Keep still!

Keep still!

She was in your home, but you didn't think to report her?

She's my sister.

Harbouring a terrorist is a criminal offence.

So charge me.

You do what you want. Waterboard me, I don't give a shit.

I've told you everything I know.

Except what she's doing here.

Maybe she's here to start again, to make a life for her kid.

I don't know why she's home.

-Where were you going in the car?

-You know where I went.

You've been monitoring my phone since she left,

-you know my every move.

-You left your phone at home.

You're protecting her. Why?

Why?

I say Islamic and what do you see in your head?

A guy with a straggly beard and a gun or a woman wearing a burqa

with a pair of glasses over the top of it, am I right?

OK, well, maybe not you,

because you probably read the Guardian or whatever.

But most people.

Hang on, how does this relate to Amir Aziz?

Well, he was in contact with a jihadist.

Therefore it follows he must be involved in terrorism in some way(!)

That's Waite's thinking.

He's called Mohammed, he must be about to detonate.

Anyway, enough.

-Let's talk about you.

-Hmm, really?

-I think I'd rather stick to religion.

-Good old C of E?

Wrong. Catholic, actually.

Oh, guilty boy. Lapsed?

Yeah.

Yeah, though it still hums along in the background.

Can't ever quite throw it off.

So...

..do you...

do want to go on somewhere, or...?

Do you?

Should I stand up?

I didn't even know she was in the country.

And the money, you didn't know that was there either?

No.

Where is she now?

-I don't know.

-You don't know?

I fed her, she bathed the child and then she...

she went on her way to do...

..whatever she's going to do.

-Meaning what?

-Give herself up.

She wants to come home.

She told you that, did she?

And you believed her, even though she lied to you

before she went to Syria?

You can't believe a word that comes out of her mouth.

BABY FUSSES

Look, I brought my daughter up in a secular environment.

I didn't influence her.

-So you don't agree with her politics?

-No.

And you condemn what she stands for?

Her man, Zak Latif...

18, he ends up in a young offenders' institution.

-He's radicalised in there.

-And he paid for that with his life.

But your daughter, she grew up in a nice, comfortable home.

So nothing ever happened to her to make her feel the way she did?

She had nothing to overcome in her life?

'1995...

'..Srebrenica.

'1,000 of us were slaughtered by the Serbs.'

Amir!

'Sarah was there.

'She remembers.'

It's history.

Look it up.

You never wanted revenge for that?

Me?

What would taking revenge achieve?

And Sarah? That never influenced her?

'Here, she's just a middle-class English girl with no excuse.

'But I know different.

'She saw her father die just because he was Muslim.'

GUN BLAST

-ECHOING:

-'Papa?'

This country's been good to us.

But it also started a war in Iraq that killed hundreds

and thousands of Muslims.

And then there's Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib

and rendition and torture,

and drone strikes on innocent people.

So how hard is it for them to sell their propaganda?

How hard is it for our children

to think that there's a better world out there?

So do I condone what she's done?

No.

But do I understand why she's drawn to do it?

DISTANT SIRENS

KEYS JANGLE

SHE SIGHS

SHE DROPS KEYS

So, how long have you lived here?

Five, six years?

Since my divorce.

-You were married, too?

-Oh, yeah.

To an Irish guy - Catholic, like you.

It was my fault it ended. He was a good guy.

What?

What?

Another "good guy".

I don't get it.

That's what you said about the imam.

-Meaning?

-Nothing, nothing, just...

Faith can blind people sometimes, can't it?

You mean me with Amir Aziz?

-Look, I'm sorry...

-No, come on, you said it.

What, you think my faith in him

is blinding me from the guy he really was?

-Is that your thinking?

-It's a theory.

-Theory!

Well, I know what I know and I'm hardly ever wrong.

Even if you say so yourself!

If I like someone, then that's it.

TV: '..members of the Transport Union had been due to walk out

'for 24 hours on Thursday evening in a dispute over pay.

'Now, after two days of talks,

'they say they'll take proposals for a 3% pay rise to their members.

'A murder investigation was launched today after Amir Aziz,

'a well-known imam and fierce critic of Britain's war in Afghanistan,

'was found dead in west London in the early hours.

'Mr Aziz's body was discovered at the Bridge Street mosque

'shortly after the morning prayer.

'Police are currently holding a man in custody on suspicion of murder.

'They're appealing for anyone...' KNOCKING AT DOOR

'..anything suspicious in the area around 5am to get in touch.

'A spokesman said that, at this early stage, detectives are keeping...'

'An attack on one of us is an attack on us all.

'And building trust again takes time.

'But people need to know that we're at the heart of this community.

'We have to reach out and make connections with people,

'whoever they are.

'Don't let hatred ruin our lives.'

'We have to reach out and make connections with people,

'whoever they are.

'Don't let hatred ruin our lives.

'..hatred ruin our lives.'

If you're come to tell me I can go, we don't need a conversation, do we?

Interview with John Sutherland. Time is 5.36am.

Last time we spoke, you said you liked to intimidate Amir Aziz.

No, I said I sometimes like to remind him of my presence.

By parking your cab outside his mosque. You also like to follow him.

There's news footage of Amir giving an interview online

and there you are in the background. Bit of an obsession, am I right?

It's not against the law for me to go to a public event, is it?

-No.

-SHE SIGHS

Look, I'm trying to help you here.

Really?

I don't believe you had anything directly to do with his death

but I do think you could have information.

You were hanging around him.

-There must have been things you've seen, people...

-I already told you.

But you just assumed I was bullshitting, didn't you?

I could've said I saw the man do the deed

and you wouldn't have believed me. Your mind was already made up.

This is the guy you said you saw outside the mosque, yeah?

-Describe him.

-Like I said - Asian, bearded.

Age? 20s.

And why did you notice him? Why him? Weren't there other people around?

He was running.

He tried to hail me but I can't pick up without a booking.

Did you see what happened to him? Where did he go?

There's a minicab place around the corner. My guess is he went there.

-We should call this in.

-Don't even know who he is yet.

This is definitely the block, is it?

-Where the minicab dropped him off?

-Yeah. But they're all boarded up.

Except for that one.

Begovic.

'This is a message to my brothers and sisters in the UK.

'We are here in the land of the Caliphate

'and we are proud to protect your honour.

'But, oh, brothers and sisters,

'we implore you to strike upon the necks of the infidel.

'Tear apart those who want to install the laws of Satan in our lands.

'Only then will we enter Paradise

'and be like a bird flying free in Jannah.'

This is DS McRae.

Request ARV backup immediately to Maythorpe Road.

'So strike at them where they work and play.

'Strike at their hearts.

'Let them know that vengeance is upon them.'

GUNSHOT

GUNFIRE

SOUND ECHOES

RADIO CHATTER

LABOURED BREATHING

Is she alive?

How did they find us, huh?

Your mother?

So what the hell was Begovic doing here?

Ryman wasn't following her, was she?

'To hit Ryman from the first floor,'

the gun would've had to be pointing downwards

by about 10 degrees, meaning...

-It would have hit the window here.

-Exactly. Except it didn't.

It hit it here.

Why go to all the trouble smuggling him in just to try and off-load him?

Because this is a trip she isn't intending to come back from.

# Testator silens

# Costestes e spiritu

# Silentium. #