- 2 days ago
Crimewatch Live S22E01 (6 October 2025)
Category
🦄
CreativityTranscript
00:00Good morning and thanks for joining us today and I'm delighted to welcome Steph McGovern
00:27to the team. She's going to be with us whilst Michelle is having her first baby and Michelle
00:31whatever you're doing I hope you've got your feet on. Because you won't have them up for long love.
00:36Good luck Michelle. Yeah I am absolutely buzzing to be stepping in and hopefully
00:40your calls will give some much needed justice to the victims and families we'll be hearing about
00:46throughout the series. Today do you know who smashed through the wall of an expensive boutique
00:51to steal thousands of pounds worth of handbags and look at that. It was a meticulously planned
00:57break-in but who was behind it? Also we'll be talking to officers from Devon and Cornwall police
01:05about the tech being used to identify vapes laced with harmful drugs. They want to get them off the
01:11streets. Certainly do and we have an exclusive film with a team of detectives who led the manhunt to
01:17find Constance Martin and Mark Gordon who went on the run with their new baby. Yeah it's an incredible
01:22case. Our phone lines are now open to get in touch. Scan the QR code below using your phone's camera and
01:30follow the link or call us on 08000 468 999. You can text us as well the numbers 63399. Start the message with
01:41the word crime. Leave a space and then write your text. You can email us cwl at bbc.co.uk and all of
01:50these details will be on your screen down by the clock throughout the programme. Now the first appeal
01:57we need your help with this series is a fatal shooting of a much loved and treasured 19 year old
02:03Ellis Cox Ellis was as known as a gentle giant. He was very mature for his age.
02:26When he was about 11, 12 he started to grow his hair and it got longer and longer and longer and
02:34I used to have to blow dry it every morning because his hair had to be perfect.
02:41And then eventually he told us he was going to shop and this is a famous photo that he came back with
02:48this haircut and nobody could recognise him. When he was in the shower you'd hear his boombox come on
02:59and then you knew you were in for a treat because he would go through various songs and he would sing
03:07and even our neighbours say we know when Ellis is in the shower because you can hear his beautiful singing.
03:13Whenever he was coming from work I would tell him about my day.
03:23I don't I don't have that anymore and he was a good boy and he just went on out on his bike.
03:43On Sunday the 23rd of June 2024 Ellis was at home with his mum.
03:52Ellis wanted to go on a bike ride because he was really bored and he said he was going with friends
04:00who he knew from school but we said oh it's a bit late to go now because we had them wrapped in
04:06cotton wool and he said it's only half four it's really sunny and I'm 19 and he he said could he
04:14borrow a bike off his uncle Julie's husband. He went in the shed Julie it's a mess and I was like get him
04:20get in there and get him a bike you know make sure he wants to go with his friends and then off off he went.
04:25Ellis cycled to meet his friends and they took a train to Ormskirk.
04:32I rung him numerous times to see where he was and to see if he'd eaten and then I phoned him
04:41and he was on his way back. He said mum I'm right by yours I'll be five minutes will you warm up my tea
04:49so I said yeah so I thought I can relax because I knew that he was five minutes away.
04:57That was the last time Carolyn spoke to her son.
05:09At approximately 10 50 pm Merseyside police were made aware that a 19 year old man had been shot
05:22whilst at the liver industrial estate in Aintree Sefton. One of the males who were with Ellis he'd
05:29call the ambulance first and they'd notified the police and that's how we became aware of the incident.
05:34Ellis was seriously injured and he was taken to hospital from the scene. Unfortunately he succumbed
05:42to his injuries whilst he was there receiving treatment at the hospital.
05:54Even though he was 19 it's my baby.
06:04He was taken to hospital from the hospital and then people took him from me and I didn't get to
06:11I didn't get to say goodbye. I didn't get to give my love or hold of me. And he was just five minutes away.
06:24He would have needed his mum.
06:34Officers started piecing together Ellis's movements that day.
06:42He was in a group of five lads all around about the same age between 17 and 19, 20.
06:51They'd been cycling around Ormskirk and really just done as young lads do possibly played football.
06:58That summer he'd become friendly with a new group of friends. I don't think this new group of
07:03friends were his type of people really. I think they were engaged in some low level criminality.
07:09Ellis probably wouldn't have been aware of any of that.
07:14Ellis and four of the group travelled back to Liverpool by train, getting off at Maghall North,
07:20heading into Liver Industrial Estate to cycle home via the loop line.
07:26Ellis and his friends have entered sort of an alleyway which leads on to the loop line.
07:33And we think there Ellis and his friends have actually had some sort of confrontation with the offenders.
07:44Ellis and the group try to flee.
07:47As they've come back into the industrial estate, we can hear three shots on CCTV.
07:51Now, unfortunately, that's where Ellis is struck and Ellis falls to the floor.
08:01Ellis's four friends escaped, but one was also shot in the foot.
08:07There is obviously sort of confusion and Ellis' friends are frightened.
08:14The assailants then fled the scene on e-bikes. Three of Ellis' friends leave the area,
08:20but one goes back to him and calls for an ambulance.
08:24We're in the industrial estate. This is actually the location where Ellis was murdered.
08:38CCTV footage in the industrial area comes to around about this location.
08:44And then from here on in, there's no CCTV.
08:46During the searches, there were two bullet casings recovered.
08:53Judging by the location of where the casings were recovered,
08:56this is where I believe the gunman would have been standing in and around this location.
09:02Forensic enquiries into the firearm casings confirmed the weapon had been linked to two
09:08previous shootings in Merseyside, though the weapon itself has never been recovered.
09:13We know that the suspects have come to this location from this direction
09:18and come from Walton Hall Lane, Walton Hall Avenue area.
09:22I believe they've gone back that route as well.
09:26So I'd ask anybody who lives close to that location where the loop line meets the Grandison estate,
09:33if they saw anything untoward that night, if they had any information about who was riding
09:37those bikes on that night, please come forward.
09:39Unfortunately, one of the main aspects of the investigation that we've encountered
09:46has been the lack of support and information that we receive from those who were with him on the night.
09:54We're looking for a motive why this happened.
09:57We need to establish that anything happened earlier on in that day that may have led to this.
10:01Have Alyssa's friends being targeted in particular, or is this just a totally random attack?
10:08There will be people in our community who know exactly who's responsible for this,
10:14what they did with the firearm, where they took the bikes,
10:18what they did with the clothing that they were wearing.
10:20This investigation will continue until we find who's responsible and we bring them to justice.
10:37His favourite colour was orange, so everything neon orange.
10:42And from the minute you walk into the cemetery, you can see where Alice is.
10:49You can see it probably from the moon.
10:55We need someone who knows who did this to come forward and give us that justice for Alice.
11:02If it was your baby, could you see this now and that you know who's done this?
11:14My baby's been taken, so help us and do the right thing.
11:24Well, that's it. This has clearly been incredibly hard for all of
11:28Alice's family, his friends and the wider community.
11:33And DCI's Steve McGrath from Merseyside Police is with me now.
11:36Steve, thank you for joining us today.
11:39What you want to make clear is that you don't believe that Alice was actually
11:42the intended target of any of this.
11:44Yeah, no.
11:45Alice had absolutely no links to criminality or he was not involved in criminality in any way.
11:50So he's a totally innocent victim in this.
11:53Our inquiries indicate that the males that he was with were involved in low-level criminality.
11:58Potentially drug dealing around and in and around the loop line area.
12:03So that's formed part of our inquiry.
12:06OK, what can you tell us about his movements that night?
12:10So if you think back to last summer, it was a lovely sunny time of the year,
12:13a lovely sunny day.
12:15Alice and about eight friends that we've established now have actually gone to the Ormskirk area
12:20and were hanging around a university campus up in Ormskirk.
12:25They've then got the train back and they've got off the train at Magul North,
12:29which is a train station in Magul area.
12:33And then they've cycled through Magul.
12:35They've gone through Fusackley and ultimately gone into Aintree,
12:39where they've gone on to the Liver Industrial Estate.
12:42That takes you through to the loop line, which eventually will take you back to where Alice lived.
12:45OK, what do we know about the suspects?
12:48So what we believe is that there was three suspects involved in the murder of Alice
12:54using e-bikes or electronic bikes.
12:56We believe that they've entered the loop line potentially around the Walton Hall Avenue area
13:01and they've also escaped that way too.
13:05It's difficult to say because of the lack of CCTV on the loop line,
13:08but we've essentially ruled out other areas that they may well have gone in and out of the loop line from.
13:14And as a result of your inquiries, you believe they may be local?
13:18Yes, we think so.
13:19I mean, that firearm's been used on two previous occasions in the Merseyside area.
13:24So we think that that firearm's been used by a particular organised crime group,
13:29which would make sense when we look at the location around where Alice was murdered.
13:33So it does look like it's a localised issue.
13:35What do you know about the weapon?
13:37It was a Glock-type self-loading pistol.
13:41We believe three shots were fired on the night.
13:44We've had ballistics examination of the cases,
13:46which has led us to believe that that's the type of firearm used.
13:50Who do you need to hear from today?
13:51So what I'm looking for today really is to make an appeal to those who are close to the individuals
13:56who are responsible for Alice's murder.
13:59I believe that we know potentially who's responsible for this now.
14:02We've had a lot of information from the community,
14:04but it's really more specific details that I want to ask for today.
14:09So I want to know who these individuals were associating with at the time,
14:14what locations they were visiting,
14:16just in order to try and recover the evidence that we need to pursue a prosecution in this case.
14:21And you need these answers, and these answers may well be out there with someone watching this right now.
14:26And if they are sat there and they're scared to come forward,
14:29or they just need that extra incentive to come forward, there's a pretty big financial reward here.
14:34Yes, so Crime Stoppers have put forward a £20,000 reward,
14:38and that's for the arrest and prosecution of the offenders in releasing to this.
14:42So that can be accessed through the Crime Stoppers website and also through their telephone contact.
14:46Yeah, we just need to get the answers in for this awful, awful crime. Steve, thank you.
14:51Well, if you can help, please do pick up the phone if you know anything about this awful shooting, just 19 years of age.
15:01All the ways you can contact us are at the bottom of your screen,
15:04and we're just going to leave them there throughout the whole programme.
15:06Now, I'm sure many of you will have followed, in horror, the extraordinary trial this year of socialite Constance Martin and her partner Mark Gordon.
15:18Now, they went on the run together with their newborn baby in the freezing cold of November 2023.
15:25Well, now, we can show you an exclusive film with the detectives who led that case.
15:31It's one that would become a very personal investigation.
15:34And as you can imagine, this film has some disturbing details from the start.
15:42I've never come across anything like this in 23 years in the police.
15:46It was imperative that we found the couple and the baby.
15:54We knew we had to find them fast.
15:57All right, where's your child?
16:07On the 5th of January 2023, at around 20 past six in the evening,
16:12a member of the public calls Greater Manchester Police to report a car fire on the M61 near Bolton.
16:20Detective Sergeant Dominic Beaver is on duty.
16:24At the time, it just seemed quite innocuous.
16:26It was reported that fire service were dealing,
16:28and it didn't really seem like it was much for me until tables turned just over an hour later.
16:34I mean, I'm not a pathologist, but there's loads of newborn baby paraphernalia in the car.
16:39And when the police attended, it's been flagged to me because they were found what they believed
16:45were body parts in the vehicle.
16:48What's on the back seat is probably about the size of a bag of sugar.
16:53Also of concern is the fact that there's a towel or a baby blanket that is blood-stained and is in the...
17:00It was reported back to me a while later that they believed it was indeed a placenta that the
17:05pathologist thought was between one and two days old. The main concern is, has this child been born
17:12outside of a medical setting and need some support and help? That was the big concern.
17:20A witness reports seeing a couple leaving the burning car carrying a newborn baby.
17:26The reason we needed to find them was because it was quite a concern that a couple in the weather
17:30that we were having, it was absolutely pouring down the rain that night. And they had a small baby
17:35that we didn't know how old it was, how vulnerable.
17:42A search of the area yields a key piece of evidence.
17:45In that documentation, we found the name of Mark Gordon.
17:55And we put his name in the police computer only to find out that he had warnings.
18:00It was flagged that Mark Gordon was a registered sex offender,
18:03having been convicted to a serious sexual offence in the United States.
18:10And the database reveals something else.
18:12It came flashing on the screen of a wanted marker that went on to elaborate that together
18:19with his partner, Constance Martin, they had a tendency to hide pregnancies.
18:26The couple already have four children, all of them taken into the care of social services.
18:32And then at that point, we think, well, hang on. There's a couple potentially from the warnings
18:37on the computer that have hidden this pregnancy and have tried to flee with this child that's
18:42clearly not had medical care. It was a real concern that we just needed to make sure that baby was safe.
18:52We knew we had to find them and fast.
18:53The following morning, one sighting leads police to a makeshift campsite, where they find Constance
19:02Martin's passport and evidence that the couple had been sleeping outdoors with a baby.
19:07I remember it being quite a cold winter. And we just had real concerns of them not sleeping somewhere
19:14proper. And what may happen is everyone was fearing the worst.
19:21Following an appeal for information, a member of the public reports seeing the couple in Bolton Town Centre.
19:28We dispatch officers straight to that location to start reviewing the CCTV to see if we can pick up the couple
19:34and see where they go afterwards. That uncovered the couple being dropped off in the town centre,
19:42walking through the bus station. We saw Constance and Mark soaking wet through with
19:49what seems to be the baby inside the coat. Mark's hood was up. That may have been because of the rain.
19:57It may have been because he was trying to avoid CCTV cameras. They certainly seemed to be
20:03alive to the tactics that the police might utilise to catch them.
20:07CCTV then shows the couple leaving in another taxi and officers are able to identify the driver
20:14who confirms that the baby is alive and well. Police continue to trace the couple's movements.
20:21First to Liverpool and then more than 250 miles south to Harwich in Essex. 48 hours after the
20:30discovery of the burning car, the story is attracting national headlines. Police searching for a missing
20:36couple and their newborn baby have released a CCTV image that they believe to be of the mother.
20:45When CCTV then picks up the couple arriving in East Ham in London,
20:50Detective Superintendent Lewis Baseford from the Met Police takes over the investigation.
20:55This has got to be the most significant manhunt that I have ever been involved in. As a father,
21:02myself, it certainly makes you think differently around investigations when children are at the heart
21:08of them. The CCTV was really telling. At no point does Constance check on the baby the fact that she's
21:16liable to being smothered whilst within that coat. It's not an appropriate carry device for such a young
21:23baby in the early days of her life. This concern only grew when we saw CCTV images of the way that
21:31they were handling the baby in a local restaurant. In essence, you know, I would refer to it as almost
21:39handling her like a rag doll. Concerns deepen when police find CCTV of the couple buying a lightweight tent.
21:49As soon as we knew that that tent had been bought, it became apparent that they were sleeping rough.
21:56We knew that the weather had turned. We knew that temperatures at night were in minus four, minus five, minus six.
22:04But the hunt for the couple is proving difficult. They avoid using mobile phones or bank cards,
22:10leaving no digital footprint. Everything was paid for in cash. There was no interactions with members of the public.
22:17And when they did enter at times restaurants or cafes to get food for themselves, they did so with masks,
22:25which then concealed their identities. By this stage, police are convinced that the couple are playing
22:32a dangerous game of cat and mouse. The couple was so significant in their anti-surveillance that they would
22:41spend hours circling around the streets of London before moving on.
22:49The spontaneous planning that they were doing was all in an attempt to evade us.
22:57An enormous manhunt is now underway and the search dominates the news.
23:01Police say a couple who disappeared with their newborn baby may be sleeping in a tent.
23:07Detectives fear Constance Martin and Mark Gordon may be sleeping rough in freezing temperatures.
23:14We knew that without the media and without the public, we would not find the baby.
23:20Police are appealing to a mother from London to keep her beautiful newborn safe.
23:26One tip-off leads police to New Haven on the south coast. Detectives suspect that even without passports,
23:33the couple may be trying to flee the country. But instead of heading to the port, CCTV captures them
23:40walking through a residential area. We realise they're just about to enter the South Downs.
23:47And the last images we have of them is walking past the residential premises towards a footpath,
23:53which goes into the expanse of that South Downs for hundreds of miles of open land.
23:59With temperatures at minus four, minus five, with a tent designed for a festival,
24:07you know that the baby's health and wellbeing is at significant risk now.
24:16Such a shocking story. Well, later on, we'll see how they were finally caught.
24:22Now, though, I'm with DS Laura Fox and DI David Jarvis from Cheshire Constabulary.
24:28They need help with an appeal involving the theft of over £260,000 worth of designer handbags.
24:35And we've got an example of one of the handbags here, which we'll come to in a minute.
24:39But Laura, just tell us a bit about this appeal.
24:41Yeah, so on Sunday the 8th of June 2025, at around 11.38pm, three offenders have broken into a Cheshire
24:48boutique store, which sells luxury designer handbags. And they've stolen around £260,000 worth of items
24:55in what was a targeted, sophisticated and well-organised burglary.
24:59And we're just seeing pictures of the shop. Tell us a bit more about it,
25:02because it's in quite a posh area of Cheshire, isn't it?
25:04Yeah, so the shop is called Dress Cheshire. It's situated in the heart of Presbury Village.
25:08It's often widely referred to as the Golden Triangle, with its neighbours, Wimsle and Aldley Edge.
25:14The store itself is situated next to an unoccupied building, and the offenders have
25:19there tunnelled their way through a brick fireplace into the store on the night.
25:23Yeah, it's some effort that was put into this. And David, there is CCTV footage, isn't there,
25:28from inside. And you can see these three suspects breaking in essentially through this wall they've
25:35put in from the pub next door. Yeah, that's correct. So today we've been on
25:38able to identify the offenders. As you can see from CCTV, at 11.38 hours on the 8th of June,
25:45the offenders break into the store. They're all wearing face coverings and they're wearing
25:50clothing covering their necks, arms and legs. So we're unable to identify any
25:55distinguishing features such as marks, scars or tattoos. So we've been unable to identify them.
26:00Yeah, they're really clambering about, aren't they grabbing those bags?
26:04You've got CCTV footage of the car that they travelled in as well, haven't you?
26:08That's correct, yes. So through our enquiries, we know that the offenders attend at the address
26:12next to the shop on the 3rd and 7th of June. They use the same vehicle on those dates as they do
26:18during the burglary on the 8th of June. And we've been unable to identify the make or model of that
26:23vehicle. Yeah, which is partly why you're doing this appeal today. And Laura, let's talk about this
26:27haul, because I mean, 260 grand's a lot of money. But actually, that's not as many handbags as you might think,
26:32because these are really expensive handbags we're talking about.
26:35Yeah, so in total, there was 45 handbags that were stolen. A wide range of designer brands,
26:40including Hermes, Gucci, Chanel, Prada, Louis Vuitton. The most expensive item that went on
26:45the night of the burglary was an Hermes Birkin handbag. So it was a black crocodile that retailed
26:50around £45,000. Wow, gosh, that's an incredible amount of money. And even this one we've got here,
26:56this is kind of, it's very similar to one of the ones, a couple of them that got stolen.
27:01Yeah, so the one that's on display here today, so that's an Hermes Birkin handbag.
27:05It's identical to three that were stolen on the night of the burglary, albeit in different colours
27:08to this. And that retails around £20,000. Yeah, wow. A lot of money, obviously,
27:14owner desperate to get this stuff back. And interestingly, they want to put in air tags
27:18into the bags, didn't they? So you were able to track them for a bit.
27:21Yeah, that's correct. So Christine places air tags into the handbags in order,
27:25as an added security measure in order to trace and locate them if they're stolen.
27:28So an Apple air tag emits a signal to Apple devices, which then will send the location
27:35to the owner, in this case, Christine. So on the night of the burglary, Christine received
27:38a notification on her phone to say the handbags were moving. When she's attended at the shop in
27:44company with the police, she's able to trace the pings, as you can see on the screen now,
27:48to a location within Shaw, South Manchester. When officers have attended the location,
27:53they found the air tags, but not the handbags. So that makes us believe that the offenders knew
27:58of this added security measure. Yeah, yeah. So you could see where they went,
28:01and then they sussed it and ditched the air tags. So what is it you want from this appeal then?
28:06So ultimately, we want to bring the offenders to justice and get some closure for Christine.
28:10And in order to do that, we need the public's help. So we need information in relation to the
28:14offenders. So I've got no doubt whatsoever that the offenders will be boasting about this crime in
28:18their local community. So we're really keen to hear from anybody who's able to provide a name
28:24for the people responsible. Also in relation to the vehicle, if anybody can remember seeing a suspicious
28:30vehicle on the 3rd, 7th or 8th of June in around the Presby or within Shaw area, we'll be keen to
28:35hear from them. And then finally, 45 high value rare handbags have been stolen. And the only reason to do
28:42that is because of the monetary value. So we'd be really keen to hear from anybody who's been offered
28:46to buy one of these handbags at a significantly reduced price or in suspicious circumstances.
28:51Yeah, that's a really good point. Anyone offering you one of those on the cheap, it's probably dodgy.
28:56Yeah. Great. Well, thank you so much for coming in. And we will keep those images on our website
29:02so you can have a closer look as well. And if you know anything, please do get in touch. The ways to do
29:07that are at the bottom of the screen. Now back to our exclusive look at the search for Constance Martin
29:15and Mark Gordon. Police believe the couple are going to sleep in the wild and they are worried
29:20about the baby. As temperatures dip below freezing, they're spotted heading out into the South Downs
29:28with only a flimsy tent for shelter. This was the biggest search operation
29:33that I've ever been involved in and think I ever will. And it was imperative that we found the couple
29:38and the baby. Police focus the search on the area where the couple entered the South Downs.
29:46They deploy drones and urge farmers to keep vigilant for the fugitives, but they find nothing.
29:55As the search continues, police begin to get a clearer picture of the couple's very different
30:00backgrounds. She is an aristocrat. Her father served as a page boy to the queen. She studied Arabic at
30:07university and went to drama school. Personal photos suggest she was glamorous, well-travelled and a free-spirited
30:16young woman. Constance Martin does come from a background in which she has an abundance of financial means.
30:26We knew that following the sale of land from the family estate that the trust was set up. Constance was
30:38receiving around £5,000 a month from that fund. By contrast, Mark Gordon grew up in Birmingham, the fifth
30:47child of a nurse. In the 1980s, his family moved to Florida, where he was convicted of raping a neighbour,
30:54a 30-year-old mother of two, at knife point. Mark was, at the age of 14, convicted to 40 years
31:02for that home invasion and rape. And we also know that actually he was committed to an adult prison.
31:11He served 20 years before being deported. By now, a registered sex offender, he meets Constance Martin
31:20in a shop in London, and their turbulent relationship begins.
31:25From that moment on, she had very little to do with her family. They went and lived in a very isolated
31:34position, really just relying on themselves to get through day by day.
31:38As the manhunt for the couple continues, CCTV picks up Constance in New Haven, walking with a bag,
31:56and just minutes later, buying food and petrol. Mark Gordon is also spotted, but the couple remain
32:03one step ahead of the police. And at that point, you start to question your decisions leading the
32:10investigation, leading the inquiry as to, have we done the right thing? Is there anything that we are
32:16missing? Five weeks pass until, on February the 20th, CCTV shows the couple trying to break into some
32:24outbuildings, presumably to find shelter. The bag is still with them.
32:33The couple seem increasingly desperate, and one week later, they slip up, when Constance Martin's
32:40bank card is used at a cash machine outside a shop in Brighton.
32:45A man who had been in that convenience store where the ATM was, had spotted them, and he rang 999.
32:52Officers were dispatched, and seven minutes later, have the couple in their sights.
33:03Just stop for a second. Stop for a second. Well, I need to speak to you.
33:09Well, because potentially I think you may have been in national news.
33:11Put the stick down. Drop it now.
33:20After 53 days on the run, the fugitives are arrested.
33:24All right, where's your child?
33:26The first question that I ask is, is the baby with them? And I get told no. And at that point,
33:34my heart just goes. Where is your child? The couple were belligerent. They were obstructive.
33:44Where's your child? In a minute, where's your child?
33:50Constance just arguing what she had been arrested for, rather than answering the questions which were,
33:56where is your baby? The couple are brought into custody and the desperate search for their baby
34:09goes on. The first thing that we did was deploy hundreds of officers so that that night we were
34:17searching every part of the land close to where they were arrested to try and find her safe and well.
34:24So the officers searching the local area had seen a shed on sort of an allotment when inside had seen
34:41the blue tent as well as bags and particularly the bag for life and that you can see them carrying
34:47throughout the investigation. And the officer puts his hand into the bag. He
34:54finds firstly discarded nappies, bottles and rubbish
35:03before he touches a baby's body.
35:06And in essence left in a state that was so degrading that you know it's one of the things that will
35:15you know will live with me for a long time.
35:17This afternoon senior officers laid their own tributes in memory of the child who they say may have died
35:25some time ago.
35:27We are truly devastated by the outcome and we know this emotion is being felt here in Brighton and across
35:33the country today. Now in custody, Constance Martin is interviewed by detectives.
35:39We've had found a baby. Constance, I can tell you the baby's not alive.
35:48I do.
35:57Is it your baby?
35:58Yes, it is.
35:59OK.
36:01The evidence suggests the baby probably died of hypothermia.
36:05Victoria. She was named Victoria.
36:08Victoria. Tell me about that, Constance.
36:14Take the time, Constance.
36:24On July 14th, 2025, Constance Martin and Mark Gordon are found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter,
36:41perverting the course of justice and child cruelty. In September, they are jailed for 14 years.
36:54Getting the guilty verdict was all about giving justice to baby Victoria. But it was closure,
37:03certainly for me, I think, and the investigation team, that actually there was sole responsibility
37:09for her death lays with Constance Martin and Mark Gordon.
37:15I just find it extremely, terribly sad. All we were ever concerned about and all we ever
37:21wanted to do was find Constance and Mark with the baby in the hope that they'd be safe and well,
37:27they could get them the care that they needed and that the baby would be fine,
37:30but it was just so disappointing and sad.
37:34We'll always be asking questions. We'll never really, truly know why they did what they did.
37:40They were also sentenced for concealing the birth of a child. It's such a tragic story. But also one
37:51that shows the dedication of everyone involved in tracking the couple down. And if you've been
37:57affected by any of the issues in that film, then head to the BBC Action Line for advice and support
38:02on who to speak to. Now, vapes have been steeped in controversy, be it the environmental damage of
38:09disposables or being marketed at underage shoppers. But there is also a new worrying and dangerous
38:16trend, and that is vapes that contain substances like THC or even spice. Yeah, and they have been
38:24making their way into the hands of children as young as 13. But with us to tell us more about it,
38:30our PC Nick Burnett from Devon and Cornwall Police and Professor Christopher Pudney from the
38:35University of Bath. Thanks for coming into it. You've got a machine here you're going to tell
38:39us all about that's been helping with testing. But first of all, Chris, this is a growing problem,
38:44isn't it? Yeah, so we've now tested vapes and liquids pulled out of schools across the country.
38:49And we find that 13% of all the material we've had has actually got a synthetic drug called
38:56spicing. And that's a drug we find endemic in the UK prison system where it's associated with nearly
39:00half of the non-natural deaths of men. And it has withdrawal symptoms like heroin withdrawal.
39:05Yeah, because what is spice? Yeah, it's a purely synthetic drug that was originally designed to
39:10mimic cannabis, but actually never made it to market because it's just so dangerous.
39:14Wow, that's a massive amount that you found 13% there. So, Nick, as a police officer, tell us,
39:19how does a drug like this end up in these vapes and these vapes that kids can actually get hold of
39:25and are getting hold of? Yeah, so they're getting hold of in schools. Quite commonly,
39:29you see QR codes on street furniture, lamp post bus stops in city centres around the schools. And the
39:36kids literally scan the QR code and it takes you straight through to their menu of choice.
39:40Put your order in and it comes through in the post.
39:42It's quite easy for them to actually put the spice within a normal vape that the kid can then buy.
39:47Absolutely. It comes in a normally, commonly a clear liquid, but also in brightly coloured to
39:52attract the children. And you literally just refill your vape up and away you go.
39:57Kind of scary how readily available it is, isn't it? Chris, can I just ask as well about the
40:01distinguishing of vapes? Because obviously you've got the kind of legitimate high street ones
40:06and then these ones laced with spice. You've developed Kit to be able to tell the difference
40:11between them. Yeah, exactly right. And Nick will show it here. We've developed this with Devon and
40:15Cornwall and with Nick. And what this device does lets us tell the difference between normal vape
40:20liquid or even in a smokeable vape here or in a liquid or an edible. And it lets us distinguish
40:27a bunch of different drugs. So right now it's going to test for THC and spice and even synthetic opioids.
40:33And the colour that comes up on the LED panel there gives you a sense of what drug that you've got.
40:37So when this finishes running, we'll see what we've got here. And, you know, we can see it's come up
40:43there with a colour. So now we've got a drug in there that we're going to worry about. And then
40:46Nick's going to go away and test that further. So we can just see there. So it has come up and
40:51it's, yeah, it's quite clear. You've got the four different colours there that it could potentially
40:55come up with the answer there. And we can see there that it has given an indication that was
41:00just seconds, wasn't it? It was seconds that you've done that. So Nick, if someone is watching this
41:04and they're worried that someone may be using spice, especially if it's a child, but it could be anyone,
41:10couldn't it? What would you say to them? Should they be worried? Yeah, but have the confidence
41:14to come forward. With all of the data we've collected, it's not about criminalising the
41:19children. It's about education that we can reduce the demand and we obviously can take it out of the
41:25market. But it's identifying the factors. So anxiety, children having palpitations, and it can lead to
41:33heart failure and kidney failure. But the kids are videoing and coercing that a high achieving student
41:39into doing things they wouldn't ordinarily do. That is captured on a video and then coerced
41:45by the threat of showing that video, whether it be to teachers or to parents, or just onto social
41:50media platforms. Gosh, it's so many elements to this, aren't there? And in terms of how it's going
41:56with this bit of kit, you kind of get sent the confiscated items, don't you, from the schools?
42:01And then what result have you had from it so far? That's right. So we've run two operations,
42:04one in October last year, one in March this year. The results from October last year
42:10was 15% of all vapes contain spice. This year it's down to 6%. So we're hoping the education that
42:18we've been able to put out through ourselves and education and our partners has been able
42:23to reduce that figure down. Brilliant. Great result. Thank you.
42:26Good luck with the rest of it. Thank you. I'm afraid that is all we've got time for today. Thank you
42:32for watching. You can catch us on iPlayer remember for the next 30 days. Yeah. Tomorrow,
42:36a shop worker shows his steely resolve as he fights off an armed robber. Within seconds,
42:44brandishes the six-inch kitchen knife. One of the other members of staff, he's come out
42:49and clearly could have been hurt himself. Do you know the man wielding the knife who is?
42:57We're going to see you tomorrow, same time, 10.45. Bye for now. Bye-bye.
43:19Bye-bye.
43:45Bye-bye.
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