:00:05. > :00:11.Tonight we are in Yeovil, tracking down a man who calls himself the
:00:11. > :00:15.Debt Doctor. Jeremy Topley claims he could help sort out your
:00:15. > :00:21.finances but ended up costing his clients thousands of pounds --
:00:21. > :00:26.Jeremy Hockley. The tea is beyond belief what this man has done. I am
:00:26. > :00:30.basically penniless because of the Debt Doctor. All so in the
:00:30. > :00:34.programme, controversial proposals to drill for gas in the Mendips.
:00:34. > :00:41.And claims from America that it could even make your tap water
:00:41. > :00:49.flammable. And 30 years of Bristol's communications aid centre
:00:49. > :00:52.and a pioneering piece of work to give people a voice. I love my mum
:00:52. > :01:00.and dad. The that is the first time you have been able to say that with
:01:00. > :01:10.a voice. With hard-hitting stories from close to home, this is Inside
:01:10. > :01:16.
:01:16. > :01:21.The high street is busy, but does anyone actually have the cash to
:01:21. > :01:26.spend? Today the average man in the street owes almost �30,000. It is
:01:26. > :01:30.no wonder that debt management has become big business. But what
:01:30. > :01:34.happens when a company that helps people pay off their debts leaves
:01:34. > :01:38.them tens of thousands of pounds out of pocket? I am helpless. I
:01:38. > :01:42.don't think I will ever see my money and I don't think anybody
:01:42. > :01:48.else will. Personally, I hope they lock him away and throw away the
:01:48. > :01:52.key. Simple as that. I am one at the trial of a self-styled Debt
:01:52. > :01:57.Doctor whose treatment left his clients feeling worse. Can I ask
:01:57. > :02:01.what you have done with your clients' money, Mr Hockley? The way
:02:01. > :02:05.things are making no longer use it as an escape. This is Jeremy
:02:05. > :02:08.Hockley. It is the height of the credit crunch, but for this man,
:02:08. > :02:14.business is good. We are seeing greater numbers of people in the
:02:14. > :02:18.office, whether it be personal loans or for businesses. He runs
:02:18. > :02:23.Debt Doctor, a company helping people try to pay off their debts.
:02:23. > :02:28.Based on the Somerset potato farm, the company flourished when times
:02:28. > :02:32.were tough. It meant Mr Hockley, a former bankrupt with a string of
:02:32. > :02:37.failed companies behind him, could now enjoy the high life, living in
:02:37. > :02:42.a smart home and even sponsoring his favourite football team, Oxford
:02:42. > :02:46.United. And all thanks to other people's money. Our number one
:02:46. > :02:51.client has gone up to 8.2 million and we have half a dozen people
:02:51. > :02:56.over �1 million, but Our typical client is over �60,000, and this is
:02:56. > :03:01.unsecured. It really is starting to affect everyone of every background.
:03:01. > :03:05.One of those affected his this lady. For when you are after your
:03:05. > :03:09.eyeballs in debt it is a horrible feeling. It hangs over you and
:03:09. > :03:12.becomes a terrible burden, and emotional and physical burden.
:03:12. > :03:16.Despite years as a successful television executive, Carol saw her
:03:16. > :03:21.finances hard hit by the failure of her own business and the economic
:03:21. > :03:26.downturn. My endowments did not pay out, like a lot of people in
:03:26. > :03:31.Britain. My pension didn't turn out the way I thought it would, so in
:03:31. > :03:35.my 50s I found myself when I should have had no mortgage, insolvent and
:03:35. > :03:40.facing a very happy early retirement but ended up in a
:03:40. > :03:44.mountain of debt. As her debts grew, her health deteriorated and she was
:03:45. > :03:51.diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer and her
:03:51. > :03:57.illness meant she could not work. If I try to use the computer, the
:03:57. > :04:03.90s when the pain gets worse. Always. If you are self-employed
:04:03. > :04:07.and you get ill, that is a fatal combination. Ironically, Caro's
:04:07. > :04:13.sickness was to find her -- provide her with a financial lifeline. In
:04:13. > :04:17.2009 her health insurers paid out a lump sum of �21,500. Now she could
:04:17. > :04:21.face their creditors and with the Debt Doctor she thought she had
:04:21. > :04:27.found a specialist to could help. It was wonderful to have money that
:04:27. > :04:32.was mine. It was something I had paid in four years and I gave it to
:04:32. > :04:36.Debt Doctor to continue paying my monthly credit to bills and at that
:04:36. > :04:41.point I thought Debt Doctor was super. They got the creditors to
:04:41. > :04:45.stop phoning me. I was not well. The money seemed to be safe and all
:04:45. > :04:50.right. Debt management is a regulated industry, and there are
:04:50. > :04:54.excepted standards whether a service is charging a fee, like
:04:54. > :04:59.Debt Doctor, or a charity like the Citizen's Advice Bureau. People in
:04:59. > :05:02.debt should be cautious before handing over any management to a
:05:02. > :05:06.debt management company. They should be clear that any money they
:05:06. > :05:10.handover is properly protected so in the event of something else
:05:10. > :05:15.ralph -- going wrong, the fund will be safe. For Debt Doctor, things
:05:15. > :05:21.went wrong. Earlier this year the company told clients it was going
:05:21. > :05:25.bust. The first thing I thought was, oh my God, my �21,500, all the
:05:25. > :05:31.money I haven't the world. As soon as I heard that Debt Doctor had
:05:31. > :05:35.gone bust, I wrote immediately to them, demanding my money to be put
:05:35. > :05:44.into my bank account and sent it recorded delivery. Lo and behold,
:05:44. > :05:51.two weeks later, he came back refused. Refused and an open. That
:05:51. > :05:54.was my letter to Debt Doctor, which was to let me have my cancer money
:05:54. > :05:58.back. We have spoken to several former clients of the company and
:05:58. > :06:01.they had a similar story to tell. In many cases they borrowed tens of
:06:01. > :06:06.thousands of pounds from family and friends to give to the Debt Doctor
:06:06. > :06:11.and it has almost disappeared. Yet the company's clients had every
:06:11. > :06:15.reason to believe their money should have been safe. Debt Doctor
:06:15. > :06:22.operated through a network of 60 affiliated financial advisers
:06:22. > :06:28.across the country, advisers like Robin seely. I had somewhere
:06:28. > :06:32.between 30 and 40 clients at the time. A client account would be
:06:32. > :06:36.opened in the name of the client and the client was assured that the
:06:36. > :06:40.money was safe and they are purely and simply for the purpose of
:06:40. > :06:44.resolving their financial difficulties. And that, in fact,
:06:44. > :06:48.he's in the word of the agreement in the letter signed by them.
:06:48. > :06:53.the company went bust, the independent advisers were shocked
:06:53. > :06:58.as their clients. A website went down and any attempt to contact the
:06:59. > :07:03.head office either by e-mail or telephone was met with no response.
:07:03. > :07:09.That was the first inkling that any of us had but perhaps things were
:07:09. > :07:13.not as they should have been. I had no contact whatsoever from Jeremy
:07:13. > :07:19.Topley or anyone at Debt Doctor. And no -- neither did any of my
:07:19. > :07:23.fellow consultants. It seemed that we, along with the clients, had
:07:23. > :07:30.been somewhat abandoned. So what happened to all the money? Debt
:07:30. > :07:34.Doctor was a trading name for Jeremy Hockley's company Hermes
:07:35. > :07:39.Financial Solutions, which showed it had a �490,000 hole in its
:07:39. > :07:43.assets. And we discovered a month before Debt Doctor ceased trading,
:07:43. > :07:50.all the money held in supposedly protected client accounts was moved
:07:50. > :07:53.into a single company account. In total, about �600,000 from more
:07:53. > :07:58.than 80 clients is missing. To find out if anything was left of his
:07:58. > :08:05.clients' money, Robyn took Hermes financial solutions to court on
:08:05. > :08:08.their behalf. I believe Mr Hockley was of the opinion that because
:08:08. > :08:12.they were financially disadvantaged, no one would be able to do anything
:08:12. > :08:16.about it. So there for all he needed to do was to lie low for a
:08:16. > :08:24.couple of months and he would be free to pursue whatever future he
:08:24. > :08:28.wanted. However, we have gone to the court and we have got a company
:08:28. > :08:33.that has been put into liquidation and there will be questions for him
:08:33. > :08:37.to answer. But finding Jeremy Hockley to answer those questions
:08:37. > :08:43.is not easy. Nobody at Debt Doctor's former headquarters knows
:08:43. > :08:49.where he is. He is no longer here. The business ended just before
:08:49. > :08:57.Easter. Any idea where he has gone? And no idea at all. The 80 leave
:08:57. > :09:03.owing rent? Yes. A lot? Yes. So we tried his home. Jeremy Hockley is
:09:03. > :09:07.not here, and he sold his house in the last few weeks for �400,000.
:09:07. > :09:15.But we have managed to track down him to Yeovil where he has started
:09:15. > :09:25.a new life helping run a nightclub. Mr Hockley? Can we have a word with
:09:25. > :09:25.
:09:25. > :09:34.you? Hello, Mr Hockley, I'm from the BBC. We want to ask you what
:09:34. > :09:44.has happened to your client macro - - clients' money? Can I ask you
:09:44. > :09:44.
:09:44. > :09:51.what has happened to your clients' Mr Hockley? Do you have anything to
:09:51. > :09:55.say? Do you have anything else to say, Mr Hockley? Well, it seems Mr
:09:55. > :10:01.Hockley is unwilling to talk to us, and quite where his clients' money
:10:01. > :10:06.has gone is anyone's guess. Liquidators are still investigating
:10:06. > :10:10.Debt Doctor's books. In the meantime, it is clear that this is
:10:10. > :10:14.one doctor who has made his patience can be shown a lot worse.
:10:14. > :10:19.It is beyond belief that this man has done this. I am basically
:10:19. > :10:23.penniless because of Debt Doctor. So I'm afraid I have to say, in a
:10:23. > :10:33.way, they wrecked my life. And if there is something you would
:10:33. > :10:34.
:10:34. > :10:44.like us to investigate, why not The later on the program, life
:10:44. > :10:51.
:10:51. > :10:55.without speech. How new technology Your voice gets drowned out and
:10:55. > :11:00.it's difficult to hear you. Next, a controversial way of extracting
:11:00. > :11:04.energy which could be coming to the Mendips. It is called fracking, and
:11:04. > :11:08.it involves drilling deep underground to try and uncover new
:11:08. > :11:12.reserves of natural gas. Controversial, because of fears it
:11:12. > :11:18.could lead to water pollution or even of earth tremors. Here is
:11:18. > :11:23.Scott Ellis. In America, fracking for gas is a
:11:23. > :11:33.one trillion dollar industry. It is highly profitable and highly
:11:33. > :11:33.
:11:33. > :11:38.And before long, fracking could come here to the West Country. This
:11:38. > :11:44.170 square mile area in Somerset is licensed for drilling, and one
:11:44. > :11:54.operator, UK Methane, has already sunk in a test drill with plans for
:11:54. > :11:59.two more. Fracking is one option If I said fracking to you, do you
:11:59. > :12:04.Know What I Mean? For a king? Know. I think I heard it somewhere. It
:12:04. > :12:13.sounds rude. I suspect it means something quite unusual and you are
:12:13. > :12:17.Hydraulic fracturing involves drilling thousands of feet to gas
:12:17. > :12:27.that is trapped in deep Shale frocks. Small explosions open up
:12:27. > :12:30.cracks, followed by the fracked itself. -- the fracking itself. You
:12:30. > :12:40.take water, sand and a few chemicals, force them into the
:12:40. > :12:45.ground and the gas comes up to the service. -- surface. Fracked gas is
:12:46. > :12:50.now all the rage in America. It has revolutionised their energy sector.
:12:50. > :12:55.15 years ago, the US was building liquified natural gas terminals
:12:55. > :12:59.around the coast. They felt they were running short of gas supplies.
:12:59. > :13:04.These were at terminals for importing natural gas from places
:13:04. > :13:08.like Qatar but now they are export terminals, so it America is
:13:08. > :13:13.exporting gas to other countries. It is a phenomenal turn around.
:13:13. > :13:19.a lack of regulation in America has caused a backlash over fears that
:13:19. > :13:23.fracked Gas has escaped into underground water supplies. The
:13:23. > :13:29.industry denies that fracking is the only possible cause, but this
:13:29. > :13:36.year controversy came here to the UK when a high pressure fracking
:13:36. > :13:38.operation near Blackpool was followed by two earthquakes. On the
:13:38. > :13:45.day the earthquake report was released, protesters should things
:13:45. > :13:50.up, taking this footage as they occupied the site. The company has
:13:50. > :13:54.admitted it is highly probable their fracking contributed to the
:13:54. > :14:00.earthquakes. They have stopped the process while they improve
:14:00. > :14:04.underground monitoring. It does not help oil production, it is time
:14:04. > :14:09.consuming, so we are trying to put everything in place to make sure
:14:09. > :14:14.nothing like this can happen again. Fears about water supplies being
:14:14. > :14:19.poisoned and triggering earthquakes - it has not been a great first
:14:19. > :14:27.year for fracking in the UK. Or is everybody just exaggerating? What
:14:27. > :14:32.do the experts think? Bristol has its own earthquake Studies Centre,
:14:32. > :14:37.where they can recreate seismic activity. Here is the brittle
:14:37. > :14:44.earthquake which shook Christchurch in New Zealand in February, killing
:14:44. > :14:50.181 people. -- brutal. They also monitored the two earthquakes in
:14:50. > :14:55.Lancashire leagues to the fracking process. What we are seeing it is a
:14:55. > :14:59.simulation similar to the fracking earthquake. It is every about three
:14:59. > :15:04.seconds at a very low amplitude. The earth moves about one
:15:04. > :15:08.centimetre - not enough to cause any structural damage or injury.
:15:08. > :15:12.From an earthquake point of view, the a vast amount of evidence that
:15:12. > :15:16.is out there from the fracking processes around the world is that
:15:16. > :15:22.the earthquakes generated by it are very small, and insignificant from
:15:22. > :15:26.a structural engineering point of view. Not everyone is convinced.
:15:26. > :15:30.Richard set up an anti- fracking group in the Mendips, of which is
:15:30. > :15:36.an area where fracking could be used to unlock gas reserves. But it
:15:36. > :15:42.is not earthquakes that bother him. The issue I have got is that the
:15:42. > :15:46.chemicals they pumped underground to create this effect. They pump a
:15:46. > :15:53.mix of chemical brine at very high pressure into loose rock, called
:15:53. > :15:57.Shale, and the gas fizzes out of the Shale. The problem is that
:15:57. > :16:01.these chemicals are really noxious. Hundreds of thousands of people get
:16:01. > :16:08.their water from the Mendips. If you look over there, you can see a
:16:08. > :16:13.reservoir. That is fed by a river which goes underground and pops out
:16:13. > :16:20.again. What if you get chemicals leaking into there? It is too big a
:16:20. > :16:23.whisker, for what is a very small gain. What else goes into the well?
:16:23. > :16:28.This chemical... And the industry makes no secret that chemicals are
:16:28. > :16:35.added to the water used for fracking. In the UK, every additive
:16:35. > :16:42.has to be approved by the Environment Agency. It is in the
:16:42. > :16:46.City of Bath where fracking is feared most. The hot spring waters
:16:46. > :16:51.is sustain the leisure and tourism industry, which employs thousands.
:16:51. > :17:01.It is water which falls first as rain in the Mendips. This is from
:17:01. > :17:04.
:17:04. > :17:09.the bowels of the Earth, is it? OK. Cheers.
:17:09. > :17:15.Yes, an acquired taste. It is an unusual taste. The council leader,
:17:15. > :17:21.and some MPs, are worried. If fracking comes to the Mendips, Mike
:17:21. > :17:25.the rush for gas disrupt Bath's vitals brings? -- might have.
:17:25. > :17:28.worst-case scenario, you could have the water going elsewhere. To be
:17:28. > :17:31.truthful, we don't know the journey that the water takes to get here,
:17:31. > :17:36.other than the fact that it takes thousands of years from falling on
:17:36. > :17:41.the Mendips to arriving at our springs. We would like to see no
:17:41. > :17:48.fracking in any area that effect sow water supply, until someone has
:17:48. > :17:53.proven to us that there is no risk. -- that affects a our water supply.
:17:53. > :17:57.That is an irreversible decision. The government does not think a
:17:57. > :18:03.moratorium is necessary, all that fracking poses a direct threat to
:18:03. > :18:06.water aquifers. But politicians in Bath want stronger guarantees that
:18:06. > :18:12.the city's water supply will be protected from drilling miles away
:18:12. > :18:18.on the Mendips. So, how soon before fracking comes
:18:18. > :18:22.here to the Mendips? UK Methane have told us it could be years away.
:18:22. > :18:25.They are more interested in fracking first in South Wales and
:18:25. > :18:30.then Kent, but this is the energy business and things can change
:18:30. > :18:38.quickly. The director of UK Methane has told
:18:38. > :18:41.us that fracking will only be used as a last resort in the Mendips.
:18:41. > :18:48.But many remain sceptical, including Mendip quarry manager
:18:48. > :18:53.Nigel Taylor. Canal Bristol seismologist allay his fears? --
:18:53. > :18:57.cannot our. We know that there is water which is essential for human
:18:57. > :19:02.life up to 700 ft down into the Mendips. Who says this water will
:19:02. > :19:06.not go down into the case and brushed back into the systems,
:19:07. > :19:13.poisoning the aquifers for millennia? If we went for the
:19:13. > :19:17.unregulated approach, where companies had gone in with us a lot
:19:17. > :19:20.of studying, we should not do that. We could drill some test wells and
:19:20. > :19:24.see what is happening and slowly built up a picture of what is going
:19:24. > :19:28.on. I agree we should do it in a very different way to what has been
:19:28. > :19:33.done in the USA. The government wants to win over the public so it
:19:33. > :19:39.can expand fracking operations in the UK. Gas burns more cleanly than
:19:39. > :19:46.Cole, said it helped to reduce emissions. It is all a question of
:19:47. > :19:52.balancing the benefits against the risks. -- so it could help.
:19:52. > :19:56.Scott Ellis on the hunt for gas in the Mendips.
:19:56. > :20:01.Being able to talk to each other is something most of us take for
:20:02. > :20:05.granted. But imagine for a moment if you weren't able to speak. For
:20:05. > :20:15.the last 30 years, the Bristol communication aids centre has been
:20:15. > :20:20.
:20:20. > :20:27.When it comes to hanging out with friends, 14-year-old Stefan
:20:27. > :20:31.Clatworthy is in his element. Stefan has a particular type of
:20:31. > :20:39.cerebral palsy and is unable to speak. But he has developed a way
:20:39. > :20:44.With those closest to him. -- communicating with those closest to
:20:45. > :20:49.him. Stefan has been using a book to communicate and it is very
:20:49. > :20:55.effective for him because he can easily turn the pages. He knows the
:20:55. > :21:05.book very well, and we understand how he uses the book and we can
:21:05. > :21:07.
:21:07. > :21:11.understand his talk however, it does have limitations because other
:21:11. > :21:14.people do not understand how to use the book so well.
:21:14. > :21:19.Sometimes he has difficulty when he wants to communicate with strangers.
:21:19. > :21:24.So, to make life a bit easier, Stephan has enlisted the help of
:21:24. > :21:28.some old friends. I first met Stefan as they reveal little boy
:21:28. > :21:34.and I was his speech language therapist. He was about four and
:21:34. > :21:44.years old and he already had that look of determination in his eye.
:21:44. > :21:45.
:21:45. > :21:48.He was a very engaging child, who really wanted to communicate.
:21:48. > :21:52.Bristol Communication Aids Centre is based within the North Bristol
:21:52. > :21:59.NHS Trust. The service was the first of its kind to open in the UK.
:21:59. > :22:03.This year, it celebrates its 30th anniversary. Looking back 30 years
:22:03. > :22:08.ago at what was available, which we had to wheel in, and what is
:22:08. > :22:11.available now, we have come a long way. We want to get information to
:22:11. > :22:20.people so they know what is available and what services they
:22:20. > :22:26.can access. The centre sees around 150 patients every year. Another of
:22:26. > :22:30.those is Marie Shields. She has been diagnosed with motor neurone
:22:30. > :22:40.disease and is losing her ability to speak. She relies on written
:22:40. > :22:52.
:22:52. > :22:57.communication. Everyday tasks like It is what makes us human beings,
:22:57. > :23:02.being able to engage with another person, to have an element of
:23:02. > :23:05.control of a our lives, and to participate in conversations - it
:23:06. > :23:10.is such a huge part of what we do. To have that taken away is
:23:10. > :23:16.devastating. You have got to try and look at the circle for as long
:23:16. > :23:21.as it is there. Stefan is getting help from the children's
:23:21. > :23:26.communication aids team in the Westbury-on-Trym. He is trying out
:23:26. > :23:32.an eye based machine. The computer's character is following
:23:32. > :23:42.his eye movements to make the words he would like to say. We need a few
:23:42. > :23:44.
:23:44. > :23:49.more squares on the page. Excellent. Excellent. But he is finding it a
:23:49. > :23:57.bit tricky. He, himself, actually communicated that he was not
:23:57. > :24:01.feeling confident about it. And because he has some difficulties
:24:01. > :24:06.controlling the motor movements of his eyes, I think that is why it
:24:06. > :24:11.was not that successful. Instead, Stefan is trying a computer with a
:24:11. > :24:19.touch screen. It is actually collaring it to read, and so the
:24:19. > :24:29.red colour is showing you which one you on. Blackcurrant juice. The
:24:29. > :24:42.
:24:42. > :24:46.water. The next one is talking in At the adult communications centre
:24:46. > :24:56.at Frenchay Hospital, Marie is trying out a different touch screen
:24:56. > :24:57.
:24:57. > :25:05.device. COMPUTER: Hello and welcome to the centre. It is whether you
:25:05. > :25:14.would feel confident about getting this out at the supermarket. They
:25:14. > :25:23.are quite...? Funky. Back at home, Stefan is trying out his touch-
:25:23. > :25:26.screen communication aid. We have actually mirrored the vocabulary in
:25:26. > :25:36.his communication book, because he knows that really well, so he does
:25:36. > :25:37.
:25:37. > :25:42.not have a lot of learning to do. don't like you any more. You smell.
:25:43. > :25:48.Who are you going to use that with? Hopefully not his teachers! It is
:25:48. > :25:53.trying for Stefan to try the computer out at school. Stefan has
:25:53. > :25:56.a plan in the summer holidays. is going to take a photograph, a
:25:56. > :26:00.post some photographs of Bristol in different months of the year, and
:26:00. > :26:04.he is going to make a calendar and try to make some money and sell it,
:26:04. > :26:13.aren't you? Which month are you starting with? Can you use your
:26:13. > :26:17.machine? COMPUTER are: August. you taken a photograph already?
:26:17. > :26:26.In preparation for that money- making scheme, Stefan is using his
:26:26. > :26:31.machine to improve his mathematical skills. I bet you know this one.
:26:31. > :26:40.Well done. I thought you would know that one. Marie is also now able to
:26:40. > :26:44.communicate, with an innovative new system. Computer: I find this more
:26:44. > :26:50.portable and easier to tide on at the moment. Plus it does lots of
:26:50. > :26:53.other things. I am a bit biased. I love my technology. When you are
:26:53. > :26:59.diagnosed with a live faltering condition, it can be an incredibly
:26:59. > :27:04.scary time. People want to know that there are technologies out
:27:04. > :27:11.their that can support them participating. -- life-altering
:27:11. > :27:20.condition. I am pleased they invest so much time to get the right
:27:20. > :27:26.equipment for people. COMPUTER: Lemon squash. I want something to
:27:27. > :27:34.drink. Stefan Cherise the machine that was easiest for him to use and
:27:35. > :27:39.had the vest vocabulary. -- Stefan that shows. He will be able to
:27:39. > :27:49.select what he wants and make statements and comments and
:27:49. > :27:51.
:27:51. > :28:01.contribute to the conversation, without any intervention. I love
:28:01. > :28:07.
:28:08. > :28:17.the... I love the... More muck. -- mother. I love, I loved mother,
:28:18. > :28:18.
:28:18. > :28:25.That is where we bring things to a closed tonight. If you would like
:28:25. > :28:31.to keep in touch with us, you can find us on Facebook and Twitter.
:28:31. > :28:36.Next week, we investigate why the police were slow to respond to a
:28:36. > :28:40.week 999 call from a man threatening to kill himself. Bus,
:28:40. > :28:43.an alternative view of his unbarred Kingdom Brunel. We need the