0:00:06 > 0:00:10Good evening. This week, is Yorkshire couple tell us how it took
0:00:10 > 0:00:14more than an hour for proper treatment to reach some of the most
0:00:14 > 0:00:18seriously wounded after the Manchester Arena attack. I joined
0:00:18 > 0:00:21forces with local trades meant to help a disabled couple who live just
0:00:21 > 0:00:24a stone's throw from here.
0:00:33 > 0:00:38Hello, I'm Keeley Donovan. This week we are the Humber bridge. Coming
0:00:38 > 0:00:42up... Why were ambulance and fire crew held back from helping some of
0:00:42 > 0:00:45the most seriously injured in the four way at the Manchester Arena
0:00:45 > 0:00:49after the bomb attack in May.I just kept shouting, we need paramedics
0:00:49 > 0:00:56now.Also tonight... The kindness of strangers, as I asked local trades
0:00:56 > 0:01:00people to help the disabled couple left in the lurch by the builder.
0:01:00 > 0:01:04It's looking brilliant!Later in the programme... The Lincolnshire, and
0:01:04 > 0:01:12who preyed on bereaved family.He seemed so convincing, you wonder how
0:01:12 > 0:01:20on earth you were taken in.In May, a suicide bomber killed 22 people at
0:01:20 > 0:01:22the Manchester Arena. Five of them from Yorkshire and hundreds were
0:01:22 > 0:01:27injured. Inside Out has learnt that some of the most seriously wounded
0:01:27 > 0:01:32had to wait for more than an hour before they received expert medical
0:01:32 > 0:01:35treatment. Colin Paterson also investigates why fire crews were
0:01:35 > 0:01:38held back for more than two hours.
0:01:46 > 0:01:50On May the 22nd, Salman Abedi made his way to the Manchester Arena. He
0:01:50 > 0:01:54waited in the four way for the Ariana Grande concert to finish. As
0:01:54 > 0:01:59fans started streaming out, he detonated a suicide device.There
0:01:59 > 0:02:06was rubble and dust in the air, smoke everywhere. And then it...
0:02:06 > 0:02:11Then there was a screaming, wasn't the?There was just too much for
0:02:11 > 0:02:16three paramedics to deal with. There were homeless people helping,
0:02:16 > 0:02:20members of the public helping. I'm a paid public servant and I wanted to
0:02:20 > 0:02:25help, I just wasn't allowed to help. That night, the emergency services
0:02:25 > 0:02:28treated hundreds of people, many with life changing injuries. But
0:02:28 > 0:02:31what we have learned is that some of the most seriously wounded had to
0:02:31 > 0:02:37wait for more than an hour before receiving any kind of expert medical
0:02:37 > 0:02:43treatment. Tonight on Inside Out, we ask, why did that delay happened?
0:02:43 > 0:02:49What effect did it have on the injured and the dying? 12 months
0:02:49 > 0:02:53before the bomb, a training exercise was staged at the Trafford centre on
0:02:53 > 0:02:57the outskirts of Manchester. Authorities were pleased with how it
0:02:57 > 0:03:02had gone.We are delighted. The aim of the exercise was to stress test
0:03:02 > 0:03:07all of the organisations that would respond to a terror attack.But what
0:03:07 > 0:03:12happened on May the 22nd, when a real terror attack took place?
0:03:12 > 0:03:18Salman Abedi triggered his bomb at 10:31pm. On the night, I was here,
0:03:18 > 0:03:22right in the centre of Manchester. And in the aftermath, I was
0:03:22 > 0:03:25interviewing people on Radio five Live, trying to piece together what
0:03:25 > 0:03:31had happened.Everybody just out of running as hard as we could.The
0:03:31 > 0:03:37whole building shock. There were bodies everywhere.How long were you
0:03:37 > 0:03:44lying there for?Well, probably and our.So, on the night, people were
0:03:44 > 0:03:48telling me that some of the injured were waiting an hour for treatment.
0:03:48 > 0:03:53Shortly after 11pm, that's half an hour after the bomb went off, those
0:03:53 > 0:03:57who had been in the foyer, injured, but were able to walk, were
0:03:57 > 0:04:04evacuated to hear. This is Victoria station. Ambulance crews from across
0:04:04 > 0:04:08England treated the injured who had been able to escape the scene. But
0:04:08 > 0:04:13for those in the Fourier, expert help was still very limited. Before
0:04:13 > 0:04:18the police cordon was made secure, only one North West Ambulance
0:04:18 > 0:04:21Service paramedic made it into the foyer. Over the next hour, she was
0:04:21 > 0:04:26joined by two more paramedics. The eyewitnesses we have spoken to say
0:04:26 > 0:04:31that more medical help was desperately needed. Kim and Phil
0:04:31 > 0:04:33Dick from Bradford were in the Fourier to collect their daughter
0:04:33 > 0:04:42and granddaughter. Seconds after the explosion, a victim with serious
0:04:42 > 0:04:47injuries collapsed in front of him. She could hardly walk. She was
0:04:47 > 0:04:51stumbling, bleeding from her arm and her mouth and her leg. And all of
0:04:51 > 0:04:55her hair was burned. I does the latter, because she was going to
0:04:55 > 0:05:00fall. We heard all of this screaming -- I just grabbed her. People were
0:05:00 > 0:05:04screaming and running out. We got the bandages out and we were keeping
0:05:04 > 0:05:16them and talking to them.How long was this?Just over an hour. I just
0:05:16 > 0:05:18kept saying, you are being really brave. We could hear the ambulances
0:05:18 > 0:05:22all the time. I must have sounded like a parrot, I did went on and on
0:05:22 > 0:05:24and on.As time passed, concern grew about the lack of paramedics in the
0:05:24 > 0:05:28Fourier.The normal police and the armed police came in. I kept
0:05:28 > 0:05:34chanting, we need paramedics, we need paramedics now. They said, we
0:05:34 > 0:05:39adjust making sure there are no more bombs.An hour after the explosion,
0:05:39 > 0:05:44the wounded in the foyer was still receiving Basic first aid rather
0:05:44 > 0:05:48than expert paramedic help.The longer it went on, the more silent
0:05:48 > 0:05:55it became. It was really eerie. People who I had seen a little
0:05:55 > 0:06:00earlier who were severely injured when our bed. They made a decision
0:06:00 > 0:06:03at some point, about an hour and ten minutes after the explosion, I
0:06:03 > 0:06:09think, that the medical staff weren't coming up to the foyer. But
0:06:09 > 0:06:14we were going to evacuate all of the casualties.Security fears may
0:06:14 > 0:06:18explain why only three paramedics could enter the so-called hot zone,
0:06:18 > 0:06:22where the bomb had gone off. But it's harder to understand the delay
0:06:22 > 0:06:27in the arrival of Fire and Rescue staff. Commanders on the night held
0:06:27 > 0:06:33Fire and Rescue staff back at the stations until 12:18am. Fully one
0:06:33 > 0:06:38hour and 47 minutes after the blast. The Fire Service made a decision to
0:06:38 > 0:06:41go to a rendezvous point, which is normal practice as the Ambulance
0:06:41 > 0:06:46Service. The Ambulance Service were called forward. At this stage, I'm
0:06:46 > 0:06:50unsure as to why the Fire Service were delayed so long.Greater
0:06:50 > 0:06:55Manchester Fire and Rescue Service has a technical response unit. These
0:06:55 > 0:06:59are people trained specifically to deal with terrorist situations. That
0:06:59 > 0:07:03unit took part in the Trafford centre exercise last year. But those
0:07:03 > 0:07:10in charge on May the 22nd decided not to deploy the unit. Save the UK
0:07:10 > 0:07:15Fire Service is the major online platform for firefighters in the UK.
0:07:15 > 0:07:20And on the night of the Manchester bomb, those who were on duty used
0:07:20 > 0:07:24this page as the events were unfolding to vent their frustrations
0:07:24 > 0:07:30that they weren't being sent to the arena.I've been a firefighter in
0:07:30 > 0:07:34Manchester for nearly ten years, and I've never, ever felt so much guilt
0:07:34 > 0:07:38in all my life. We were only half a mile away from helping. Half a mile
0:07:38 > 0:07:42away from potentially saving lives. And that will always stick with me
0:07:42 > 0:07:47forever.A paramedic lady came to us, pleading with us to help,
0:07:47 > 0:07:51because they needed it.One firefighter who was on duty that
0:07:51 > 0:07:56night has come forward to the ask how it felt.We heard the main
0:07:56 > 0:07:59ambulance command and control guy saying to his staff, basically this
0:07:59 > 0:08:03is what's gone on. I can't guarantee your safety. If you don't want to
0:08:03 > 0:08:08go, you don't have too. At this stage, I'm asking for volunteers.
0:08:08 > 0:08:13Add to a man and woman they put their hands up and did they have so
0:08:13 > 0:08:17much paid to do. The paramedics, I won't say they were having a go at
0:08:17 > 0:08:24us, they were asking why we were not there. We were helpless. As
0:08:24 > 0:08:27uniformed service, you do what you are told to do. I don't want the
0:08:27 > 0:08:31public to think that we didn't want to go all we were scared to go. We
0:08:31 > 0:08:34were held back by the senior management. The firemen wanted to go
0:08:34 > 0:08:38and do what the paramedics were doing. We can fetch, Carey,
0:08:38 > 0:08:40administer basic first aid. There were homeless people helping,
0:08:40 > 0:08:45members of the public helping. I'm a paid public servant and I wanted to
0:08:45 > 0:08:52help, I just wasn't allowed to help. After a terror attack in Mumbai in
0:08:52 > 0:08:552008, the UK Government said it wanted Fire and Rescue staff to be
0:08:55 > 0:08:59able to assist the Ambulance Service with casualties if a similar attack
0:08:59 > 0:09:03should happen here. But since then, no agreement has been reached with
0:09:03 > 0:09:07the Fire Brigades Union.It's a truly terrible situation. It's an
0:09:07 > 0:09:14impasse that we are torn, do we stop our people doing it? Do we tell them
0:09:14 > 0:09:17not to volunteer? The standard firefighter, if you like, has had no
0:09:17 > 0:09:20training whatsoever, no awareness training, let alone procedural
0:09:20 > 0:09:25training. It's quite scandalous.The Fire Brigades Union wants its
0:09:25 > 0:09:28members who attend terror attacks to know the compensation for their
0:09:28 > 0:09:32families will be automatic. At the moment, they would have to prove
0:09:32 > 0:09:36that there are employers were negligent.I'm absolutely confident
0:09:36 > 0:09:39that the public would expect that whether it is a firefighter or a
0:09:39 > 0:09:43police officer or an ambulance worker who got killed under those
0:09:43 > 0:09:48circumstances that there would be an automatic, reasonable pay element
0:09:48 > 0:09:53for those family members that are left behind.We wrote to every Fire
0:09:53 > 0:09:56Service in the whole of the UK towards them if the firefighters
0:09:56 > 0:10:02wearing short to attend terrorist incidents -- to ask them if the
0:10:02 > 0:10:06firefighters were in short. Of the 49 Fire And Rescue Services across
0:10:06 > 0:10:11the UK, 27 reply to us. 19 refused to answer the question on the
0:10:11 > 0:10:15grounds of national security. One Fire Service, Nottinghamshire, told
0:10:15 > 0:10:19us the ordinary firefighters are not covered to go into a terrorist
0:10:19 > 0:10:23incident. Greater Manchester did not reply, but have now told the BBC
0:10:23 > 0:10:27that its firefighters are covered for terrorist related deployment.
0:10:27 > 0:10:31Those trapped in the foyer that might remain very grateful that so
0:10:31 > 0:10:36many people were willing to put their own lives at risk to help save
0:10:36 > 0:10:41the lives of others. But six months on, they remain concerned that
0:10:41 > 0:10:44emergency medical help was so slow to arrive.They want to minimise the
0:10:44 > 0:10:49risk to as many people as possible, I perfectly understand that. But
0:10:49 > 0:10:52they deployed tens if not hundreds of police officers into that foyer
0:10:52 > 0:10:57and into the arena. And if some of those had been medically trained,
0:10:57 > 0:11:02you can't say for certain, but some people's injuries could have been
0:11:02 > 0:11:06dealt with quicker, and perhaps, just perhaps, some lives could have
0:11:06 > 0:11:11been saved.But one eyewitness believes that, under the
0:11:11 > 0:11:15circumstances, the authorities did the absolute best they could.You'd
0:11:15 > 0:11:20like everybody to get help straightaway, every single medic,
0:11:20 > 0:11:24every doctor that was in Manchester should have been there and they
0:11:24 > 0:11:27would have liked to have been there and everybody would have been in the
0:11:27 > 0:11:31helping everybody and nobody would have died and that would be it, but
0:11:31 > 0:11:36it couldn't happen.The hairs are standing up on the back of myneck,
0:11:36 > 0:11:40because it's embarrassing that we weren't allowed to go. There were
0:11:40 > 0:11:43ambulances from East Midlands and police from North Wales at the
0:11:43 > 0:11:49incident, and we were stood by.Why was it that the Ambulance Service
0:11:49 > 0:11:53were able to commit crews and felt confident enough to commit crews but
0:11:53 > 0:11:57the Fire Service wasn't?The mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham,
0:11:57 > 0:12:01has now set up an independent review and Lord Coe is late learn lessons
0:12:01 > 0:12:07from the events in May. It's due report next year.There was a
0:12:07 > 0:12:11feeling at the time that the wrong call was made in those moments. Now,
0:12:11 > 0:12:16it seems to me that there is some substance to that. And it was one of
0:12:16 > 0:12:20the reasons why the independent review was set up. But it's not
0:12:20 > 0:12:25about feelings, is it? That's the point. It's about, what is the
0:12:25 > 0:12:29evidence?Those in charge of the emergency services that might have a
0:12:29 > 0:12:32truly terrible decision to make. Should they deployed as quickly as
0:12:32 > 0:12:37possible, trying to save lives? But while there was still a threat of a
0:12:37 > 0:12:42second explosion. Or should they wait until the area had been
0:12:42 > 0:12:44declared safe, therefore delaying treatment to victims of the bomb as
0:12:44 > 0:12:49a result's North West Ambulance Service told us they were proud of
0:12:49 > 0:12:54their response to the Manchester Arena attack. They said that within
0:12:54 > 0:12:59an hour, all critical patients had been moved and were being treated by
0:12:59 > 0:13:0350 paramedics. Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue say that they have
0:13:03 > 0:13:08conducted their own internal debrief into the organisation's response to
0:13:08 > 0:13:13the Manchester Arena attack and are fully cooperating with the review.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16Greater Manchester Police told us that they contacted the North West
0:13:16 > 0:13:19Ambulance Service within three minutes of the incident being
0:13:19 > 0:13:24declared they followed the incident plan. None of these organisations
0:13:24 > 0:13:28wanted to appear in this film whilst the review is ongoing. We can tell
0:13:28 > 0:13:35you that the girl that the couple helped did survive.The crying was
0:13:35 > 0:13:39really loud. As the hour went on, it went down and down and there was no
0:13:39 > 0:13:44crying. It was just... I was shouting, we need, I need a
0:13:44 > 0:13:48paramedic. I was just getting very desperate, you know, wanting,
0:13:48 > 0:13:50needing them.
0:13:55 > 0:13:59And if you've got a story you would like to tell us about, you can
0:13:59 > 0:14:04contact us on Facebook or Twitter. Coming up on the programme...
0:14:04 > 0:14:06Investigating the conman who pretended to help families who have
0:14:06 > 0:14:09lost loved ones.
0:14:13 > 0:14:18Now, you might remember a few weeks ago I told you about a disabled
0:14:18 > 0:14:20couple who live here on the south bank of the Humber. They had been
0:14:20 > 0:14:24scandalously let down by the builder, who had left them with a
0:14:24 > 0:14:28half finished extension. Well, we didn't just want to walk away. We
0:14:28 > 0:14:31decided to help them to get the work finished. Here is what happened.
0:14:31 > 0:14:38This is the home of the Harrisons in Northland venture. As wheelchair
0:14:38 > 0:14:45users, they found the space cramped and there was no downstairs toilet,
0:14:45 > 0:14:48they decided to have an extension built.When you take up the third of
0:14:48 > 0:14:53the room with a lift, two fairly large wheelchairs, and you have to
0:14:53 > 0:14:59park them up, then it becomes very, very tight indeed.They employed
0:14:59 > 0:15:03Scunthorpe builder Michael there to do the work. What happened was a
0:15:03 > 0:15:06disaster. Five months into a six-week job, with lots of the work
0:15:06 > 0:15:16still unfinished, Dare walked out on them, having been paid in full. The
0:15:16 > 0:15:20roof was badly constructive, there were no internal walls and no
0:15:20 > 0:15:24electricity. It had cost them their life savings. Then they discovered
0:15:24 > 0:15:28that he hadn't put the foundations in properly, so they had to borrow a
0:15:28 > 0:15:36further £9,000 to put it right. The experience has left them devastated.
0:15:36 > 0:15:46A mess. You're in a wheelchair you can't explain all the problems.
0:15:46 > 0:15:53And a lot of them are very personal. And he's done that. And he's
0:15:53 > 0:16:03humiliated us. And I will never forgive him for that.Luckily, the
0:16:03 > 0:16:08kind neighbour, Wayne, help out with a lot of the work that Michael Dare
0:16:08 > 0:16:12handgun. But Dawn and Cheryl had no money left to finish of the house
0:16:12 > 0:16:17and make it comfortable. So we decided to hit the phones. Hello,
0:16:17 > 0:16:20it's Keeley Donovan... I was wondering if you could do me a
0:16:20 > 0:16:24favour? I've got a lovely couple who need help with a house. And the good
0:16:24 > 0:16:29people of Lincolnshire didn't hesitate to offer their help. Thank
0:16:29 > 0:16:33you, bye-bye. Julie Smith owns a curtain business include Forbes. She
0:16:33 > 0:16:42has offered to make curtains for the Harrisons entire extension.I don't
0:16:42 > 0:16:46think it hurts anybody to offer a helping hand. If I was in that
0:16:46 > 0:16:50situation, I hope somebody would help me out.I feel honoured to be
0:16:50 > 0:16:53doing it, it's a privilege. It's nice to feel that you are helping
0:16:53 > 0:16:57somebody out, especially when somebody else has to down so badly.
0:16:57 > 0:17:03What they needed most was flooring to cover the length of the extended
0:17:03 > 0:17:07room and make it easier for them to get around. Chris Trott from
0:17:07 > 0:17:10Birmingham came up trumps.We shouldn't have to do it really.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13People should be doing their own job and doing it right. All we have had
0:17:13 > 0:17:17to do is real of all the flooring, make it parallel to this one. Then
0:17:17 > 0:17:21we are going to put some good quality liner down so that it
0:17:21 > 0:17:27doesn't affect the wheels on the chairs, as such.The guys worked
0:17:27 > 0:17:30their socks off. Within a couple of hours, the floor is down on the work
0:17:30 > 0:17:35is done.Mate, it's looking absolutely... It looks huge!
0:17:35 > 0:17:43Brilliant.Julie Smith is back to put up the curtains she has made for
0:17:43 > 0:17:49the couple.Oh, they are lovely! It's something you would choose
0:17:49 > 0:17:54yourself, Cheryl.Is the last finishing touch, then the room will
0:17:54 > 0:17:57be complete. I've not seen them for a few weeks. I have come back to the
0:17:57 > 0:18:02house to see what will -- is happening. You have lived in this
0:18:02 > 0:18:06mess for nearly two years now, haven't you?It feels like ten!What
0:18:06 > 0:18:10has happened since then wasThere have been people here, people we
0:18:10 > 0:18:15didn't know, just volunteering their help. And it's been absolutely
0:18:15 > 0:18:20awesome.Are you going to show me it?! You lead the way!Come on,
0:18:20 > 0:18:33then!Oh! It looks like a different house! I'm speechless! It is like a
0:18:33 > 0:18:38show home in here! Oh, isn't it?! It looks amazing. The floor is
0:18:38 > 0:18:46fantastic. Absolutely brilliant. And the curtains are just beautiful. So
0:18:46 > 0:18:53beautiful. Vogel it looks like a home.Yes, it does, it really does.
0:18:53 > 0:18:57It must have felt like you were never going to get this stage.It
0:18:57 > 0:19:00took us years to save up and sort out the flooring, never mind
0:19:00 > 0:19:07everything else.It has changed your hasn't it's?
0:19:07 > 0:19:12everything else.It has changed your hasn'tThank you isn't enough.The
0:19:12 > 0:19:16goodness that there is out there... These people just came forward and
0:19:16 > 0:19:24said, can I help?It will make such a difference to us. We live in a
0:19:24 > 0:19:28home now, not a building site.
0:19:33 > 0:19:38When people lose a member of the family abroad, they often speak of
0:19:38 > 0:19:42feeling helpless. Families struggle to get the answers they need. For
0:19:42 > 0:19:51some, Simon Doull of seemed like the saviour, a man with apparent
0:19:51 > 0:19:53military credentials who could investigate the price. But it turned
0:19:53 > 0:20:00out to be a pack of as Simon investigates. -- a pack of lies. The
0:20:00 > 0:20:06Foreign Office in London, a protest by families asking for help over the
0:20:06 > 0:20:14death of the relatives abroad.What we want? Justice!Among them, Simon
0:20:14 > 0:20:18Durlow, who for months masqueraded as an expert investigator, calling
0:20:18 > 0:20:23himself by a different name. He is now imprisoned for a £100,000 con
0:20:23 > 0:20:28committed against some of the most honourable people you could imagine.
0:20:28 > 0:20:32He was appearing at the most committee looked as if he was
0:20:32 > 0:20:37fighting for us.He seemed to be very convincing. I mean, she was.
0:20:37 > 0:20:42Coming away from it, you wonder how on earth you were taken in.In terms
0:20:42 > 0:20:45of the personal impact on the family, it's just the worst kind of
0:20:45 > 0:20:55fraud ever. He was only there for one person, and that's himself.
0:20:57 > 0:21:05I've come to Sutton in Ashfield in Nottinghamshire. Ray Martin and his
0:21:05 > 0:21:09wife, Pat, were devastated when their daughter, Claire, died in
0:21:09 > 0:21:13Italy five years ago from stab wound to the throat.We've never believed,
0:21:13 > 0:21:20from day one, that our daughter took her own life.The Martins believe
0:21:20 > 0:21:24that Claire was murdered. But the Italian authorities ruled it was
0:21:24 > 0:21:31suicide. Within months of Claire's death, Simon Durlow had contacted
0:21:31 > 0:21:37the Martins to say that he could help.He said, with his team getting
0:21:37 > 0:21:41into it and asking questions, he could get to the truth. Mentioning
0:21:41 > 0:21:46that he had got contacts within Interpol, different contacts abroad.
0:21:46 > 0:21:52He seemed to know somebody everywhere. That's my father's
0:21:52 > 0:21:57medals. My father was an Amman. Reyes from a proud military family
0:21:57 > 0:22:02-- my father was an air man. Durlow also claimed to be ex-armed
0:22:02 > 0:22:10services.I believed he fought for our country and was injured.He
0:22:10 > 0:22:14invited the Martins down to see him, he was friendly and not pushy. He
0:22:14 > 0:22:18began to say what he could give them and dangled the carrot of what he
0:22:18 > 0:22:22could find out and what his teams could do, and started to introduce,
0:22:22 > 0:22:28but for me to do that, it will cost £16,000, £65,000, whatever figure it
0:22:28 > 0:22:35was that he said that his services would cost.In the end, the Martins
0:22:35 > 0:22:38had a lucky escape. They simply didn't have the cash to pay Durlow's
0:22:38 > 0:22:44fees.If I'd have had the money all we could have remortgaged the house,
0:22:44 > 0:22:49yes, I could have lost quite a bit. To go on Paul Okon on somebody that
0:22:49 > 0:22:55has lost somebody -- to go and pull a con. To give them full scope when
0:22:55 > 0:23:00there is no help at the end of the line, how low can you go? -- to give
0:23:00 > 0:23:07them false hope.Durlow said he had spent 15 years with the REF, that he
0:23:07 > 0:23:11had been a pilot and risen to the rank of Group Captain. But we
0:23:11 > 0:23:15checked with the Ministry of Defence, and it says it doesn't have
0:23:15 > 0:23:21any military credentials whatsoever. And his company was simply a website
0:23:21 > 0:23:27he ran from his home in Gloucester. But it was slick enough to persuade
0:23:27 > 0:23:33some people to hand over the money. We knew that he would give a free
0:23:33 > 0:23:37assessment of the case to see if he could help. And we felt that it was
0:23:37 > 0:23:43worth a try. Because, by then, with three years after Andrew died...
0:23:43 > 0:23:48Julie's son Andrew Watt was 31 when he died in September 20 ten. He was
0:23:48 > 0:23:52found in a country lane near to where he was living in France. With
0:23:52 > 0:23:57injuries on his body. Wrench police initially said he had died from
0:23:57 > 0:24:02natural causes. Months later, they ruled it was too aside.The French
0:24:02 > 0:24:06had said it wasn't suspicious. So, you know, there was nothing to be
0:24:06 > 0:24:10done. And we started the campaign. And just to knock on any door for
0:24:10 > 0:24:17help.They have spoken to the managers and advised them not to
0:24:17 > 0:24:24come out and see the B they are not allowed to.The man they knew as
0:24:24 > 0:24:30Simon di Grassi accompanied them on many of the protests. This one was
0:24:30 > 0:24:34outside the French Embassy in London. They gave him £18,000,
0:24:34 > 0:24:40thinking they were paying for his investigation services through his
0:24:40 > 0:24:44accountant, Paul Durlow, not knowing that was his real middle name and
0:24:44 > 0:24:47surname. It wasn't the only fictitious character he dreams up
0:24:47 > 0:24:49along the way.
0:24:53 > 0:25:00He told us he had a compact in France who will is almost his
0:25:00 > 0:25:04counterpart, called Louis, based in Paris, who would help him with the
0:25:04 > 0:25:11language and the law and everything. We were drawn in.Julie now lives
0:25:11 > 0:25:16near Penrith in Cumbria. For her money, all she got was an interim
0:25:16 > 0:25:21report full of fabricated claims about her son's death. Beginning to
0:25:21 > 0:25:25suspect all was not as it seemed to be, Julie and her husband Les
0:25:25 > 0:25:30insisted they accompanied by Michael on his next trip to France.He said
0:25:30 > 0:25:36it would be dangerous. And he said that if there was a problem, then we
0:25:36 > 0:25:44may have to escape through Germany. We were still determined to go, and
0:25:44 > 0:25:49we did, we very quickly unravel. Louis was meant to meet us in Paris,
0:25:49 > 0:25:53and he didn't turn up. But he was shouting down the phone at Louis,
0:25:53 > 0:25:57swearing at Louis. And Les and I does looked at each other and we
0:25:57 > 0:26:05both knew that we'd been conned.-- just looked at each other. The
0:26:05 > 0:26:09Shepherds went to Durham Police for help.It became clear that he had
0:26:09 > 0:26:13been in touch with the number of families across the UK, and these
0:26:13 > 0:26:18families that he had been contacting were clearly very desperate.Last
0:26:18 > 0:26:21interview with the French authorities...He didn't have
0:26:21 > 0:26:25operatives across the country or the old boy's network that he claimed to
0:26:25 > 0:26:29have. He was going under a different name and he had a previous
0:26:29 > 0:26:34conviction for fraud and had been to prison for fraud.More than a decade
0:26:34 > 0:26:38ago, Durlow posed as an insurance broker in Lincolnshire. But he spent
0:26:38 > 0:26:42most of the tens of thousands of pounds he had taken for policies on
0:26:42 > 0:26:52expensive cars. Simon Durlow had set up a companyspecialising in
0:26:52 > 0:26:56specialist insurance cover for the construction industry. Looking into
0:26:56 > 0:26:59that, we quickly found that the whole thing was a sham, really. On
0:26:59 > 0:27:04the internet, his website, it reported blue-chip company,
0:27:04 > 0:27:09expensive offices in Singapore and New York. The reality was it was a
0:27:09 > 0:27:13two-bedroom flat above a hairdressers in Boston.As Durham
0:27:13 > 0:27:17Police built up the case against Durlow for his latest fraud, he went
0:27:17 > 0:27:23on the run. He had left Gloucester, but they traced him to Jersey in the
0:27:23 > 0:27:31Channel Islands. He was found by officers at the motorhome stopovers
0:27:31 > 0:27:35-- stopover site, appropriately called The Hideaway. Unfortunately
0:27:35 > 0:27:40for him, it wasn't a very good hiding place. He was arrested and
0:27:40 > 0:27:45held on remand in Durham. In August, he pleaded guilty to ten fraud
0:27:45 > 0:27:50charges, related to the Shepherds, the Martins, and a third family.I
0:27:50 > 0:27:57want to look him in the eye, for him to know what he has done.Ten days
0:27:57 > 0:28:02ago, Simon Durlow had to face his victims again at Durham Crown Court,
0:28:02 > 0:28:06as he was given a ten year sentence for Acorn the judge said could be
0:28:06 > 0:28:16summed up in one word as my cruel. What did you make of that?Not
0:28:16 > 0:28:19enough, but, yeah, happy, at least he's not out there trying to dupe
0:28:19 > 0:28:27anybody else.Well, the families now have justice against Simon Durlow.
0:28:27 > 0:28:31But they say they will continue to fight for justice for their loved
0:28:31 > 0:28:34ones who died abroad.
0:28:38 > 0:28:42That's all from here at the Humber bridge, and for this series of
0:28:42 > 0:28:48Inside Out. We'll be back in January. By the now. -- goodbye for
0:28:48 > 0:28:50now.