Skip to playerSkip to main content
BRITCOM 4
  • 7 hours ago

Category

📺
TV
Transcript
00:00The Highlands and Islands of Scotland is Britain's biggest beat.
00:07I'm injured. There's a car on fire.
00:10I've got three wounded persons.
00:13It is really easy to underestimate the Highlands.
00:16Patrolling 12,000 square miles of mountains, lochs and islands.
00:22We're going to need a launch to be able to go out and get this boy lifted.
00:27And searching for suspects deep in the wilderness.
00:32The Highland cops must go above and beyond to protect their communities.
00:38We realised it was human remains, so we came back down and phoned the police.
00:42I think in the Highlands, the blue line is very thin.
00:45Tackling traditional rural crimes.
00:47It's absolutely related with Shulker Pellet.
00:50It's clear evidence that these birds are being persecuted.
00:53And crimes that plague the nation.
00:56Oh, good effort.
01:00Bags of a white crystalline powder.
01:02If you're getting one person off the street, then it's like you've done your job.
01:07This series goes inside the UK's most distinctive police force.
01:12We are close. We live in close-knit communities.
01:14Alright, let's go.
01:15We look out for each other.
01:17To find out what it takes to walk the beach.
01:21There's monkeys, there's parrots.
01:22It's all completely a lot of our comfort zone.
01:25And keep the peace.
01:26You're just threatening to kill him.
01:27It seems you were going to strangle him.
01:29In some of the most beautiful and wild places in the UK.
01:33It's really important to maintain the traditional forms of policing and there will never be a replacement for a police officer on the street.
01:51We need the trust and confidence of our communities, which in turn leads to community intelligence.
02:05If we have the trust of communities, they're far more likely to bring those issues to us.
02:19In Inverness, the police have received a tip-off from a member of the public.
02:26It's serious and needs an immediate response.
02:33Intelligence for this job was quite specific in terms of naming the person and the address involved.
02:40And effectively, it was along the lines that they had a number of potentially very dangerous chemicals stored within the address.
02:48Detective Inspector Richie McRae is sending a team of 12 officers from the Operational Support Unit to raid the address.
02:58The chemicals, a lot of them can be used for legitimate reasons.
03:03But there are also a number of reasons that you might want to use them illegally.
03:07And a combination of some of them can make them very illegal and very dangerous.
03:11The UK terrorism threat level is rated substantial.
03:20So any intelligence relating to chemicals must be taken seriously.
03:26It's not a particularly common call.
03:29It was quite unusual when it came in at the time.
03:32On the face of it, it can seem that it might be instantly very dangerous.
03:37The address is an upstairs flat in a residential area of the city.
03:56Back at base, Richie and his colleague Ruben will monitor events by radio.
04:02Yeah, go ahead.
04:04Their first call is how to approach the flat.
04:07We've got the search warrants which give us the power to force entry if necessary.
04:12But we've also got the option to just go to the guy's door and knock on the door and speak to him.
04:17Because at the end of the day, he may not have committed any crime whatsoever.
04:21We want to explore all options rather than just going in hard and fast and dramatically.
04:29You know, we can actually just approach him and have a conversation with him and let him explain what has been going on.
04:37The decision is taken to make a softly, softly approach.
04:41Plain clothes officers will simply knock on the door.
04:44Hello?
04:45Detective Sergeant Brown Long.
04:46Why don't you come in, sir?
04:47I've got a voice.
04:48Yeah, go ahead.
04:49Yes, yes.
04:50Entry affected motion.
04:51Roger.
04:52So, that's them in?
04:53Entry affected motion.
04:54OK.
04:55So, got them secured in presumably and we'll see what the next update is.
05:09The flat is full of chemicals and lab equipment.
05:19But the occupant is happily cooperating with the police.
05:23For what you're saying, how much of chemistry is?
05:26At school, we had a chemistry club.
05:28After school, I was the one that started it.
05:31At the time I was 14, 15, my father separated the garage after me.
05:37Like the whole half was a complete lab.
05:41He is adamant that this is all part of an innocent chemistry hobby.
05:48I've launched a couple of forums on YouTube.
05:52By getting that envy, I felt like, wow, I want that.
05:57It's all really expensive.
05:58You've got top grade lab stuff and, you know, the house is about.
06:01And there's probably, the answer we're learning,
06:03there's probably about two grand's worth, to be honest with you.
06:06It's what I'll work for.
06:09But Rich and his team can't yet be sure what the true purpose of this lab is
06:15or whether the flat is safe.
06:18Potentially, he is still using the chemicals for criminal reasons
06:22and we've still established that.
06:24If he's not got experience in handling these things,
06:26it's still dangerous because he could accidentally cause injury to himself
06:29or his neighbours.
06:37This is now a complex and potentially dangerous scene.
06:42Further detailed investigation of exactly what is going on here is acquired.
06:47You can't necessarily trust that the items in the bottles are as labelled
06:53and that's where the specialist resource comes in.
06:55It's going to take a little bit more time to analyse the potential of these chemicals.
07:00This laboratory may well be entirely innocent, but the police need to examine the scene
07:10to see whether these chemicals pose a danger to the public and whether the owner is breaking the law.
07:24Beyond Inverness's city limits, the land quickly empties of towns and villages, replaced with dense forest and vast moors.
07:49And more wildlife than anywhere else in Britain.
08:01It's an enormous patch to cover for the Division's sole wildlife crime officer, PC Dan Sutherland.
08:10My main motivation for investigating wildlife crime is the protection of animals.
08:15They're protected for a good reason.
08:17They're suffering and they're declining, so we have them.
08:19We have to do as best we can to protect them.
08:25As well as wildlife, the Highlands is also home to Scotland's highest number of private shooting estates,
08:32where deer and game birds are hunted for sport.
08:35Today, Dan is investigating an incident on one such estate in the Cairngorms.
08:47We're off to a forest in the northern Cairngorms.
08:49It's on a shooting estate.
08:51We have a goshawk nest within the forest that looks like it's been tampered with.
08:56It's illegal to destroy the nest.
08:58Goshawk are primarily a woodland hunting bird.
09:03They have a protection because their numbers are so low.
09:06Their numbers should be much higher, but they're limited due to persecution.
09:12Goshawks are known to kill other birds, including game birds.
09:18Most of the persecution cases happen on shooting estates or very close by.
09:25The main driver for that is the threat that the bird of prey causes to game birds.
09:31That's a grouse, a pheasant or a parridge.
09:33That's the motive, that's the driver of why birds of prey are persecuted in these areas.
09:40Dan has arranged to meet up with local officer PC David Bertels.
09:45He's here to help Dan locate the damaged nest and hopefully recover it as evidence.
09:52They'll probably laugh at me like, but you know, like, just shove a whole load of sticks in there.
09:58Like, it doesn't have to look pretty, does it?
10:03Dan has also called on three climbing specialists, Fraser and Cat.
10:07Hi there, Fraser.
10:10Yes.
10:11And they just have to hope that Dan's improvised nest transporter is up to the job.
10:16That's all right, actually.
10:17Oh, yeah.
10:22So we're headed up into the forest.
10:24We should be able to see it once we get around this corner.
10:26And hopefully we won't be too far after that.
10:28After a half-hour hike, they find their nest and also something else.
10:39There's a small shotgun.
10:41There's two down there as well.
10:42Yeah.
10:43Several shotgun cartridges are littered around.
10:46A gun has clearly been fired near the base of the tree.
10:49Three all around the tree, it's always a bit.
10:52But then you think if you were coming to commit wildlife crime, you would clean up after yourself?
10:58I think a lot of the time, just think they can get away with it and have got away with it for so long.
11:04Why do they need to clean up?
11:10Fraser will have to climb about 25 feet to inspect the nest for signs of shooting.
11:19So I've got a couple of score marks in the bark of this branch here.
11:27And also there's some marks in here and here.
11:31I'll photograph it, I'll cut some sections out.
11:34That's brilliant.
11:38They could be fully shot or we certainly may be able to sort of show forensically that someone has shot at that nest.
11:46Which would be illegal.
11:50I'll bet you'll find something in there.
11:58This one's got straight linear marks.
12:01Without a shadow of a doubt, that's been a shotgun, eh?
12:03Nothing natural's caused out of there.
12:06No.
12:07That's great evidence.
12:08As Fraser reaches the nest, he finds more evidence it has been attacked.
12:17Guys?
12:18Yeah?
12:19There's a shotgun wad up here at the bottom of the nest.
12:22In Inverness, detectives are still searching the flat where they found a DIY chemistry lab.
12:37They don't yet know what it's been used for, and they're concerned the chemicals could be dangerous.
12:49We've executed an explosives warrant because there was information received that somebody may have been making explosives or certainly had precursors that could be used.
13:00So we've executed the warrant.
13:02The occupiers next door are speaking to my colleagues.
13:05As you can see from the lab setup, it's quite a sophisticated setup.
13:10You've got numerous chemicals, which once again could be used for explosives, it could be used for drug making, it could be used for innocent purposes.
13:18The lab owner is cooperating, and insists the chemicals and equipment are for his organic chemistry hobby.
13:33So see what you're doing.
13:34Is that just purely if you don't entertain the straw?
13:36Absolutely.
13:37There's no financial benefit to any of it.
13:38I'm not.
13:39No.
13:40So for you, it's just the charge.
13:41I think that I can actually make it like they did a hundred years ago.
13:45You know, I can make this.
13:48The same to the girls at work.
13:49I said, I went and got a load of willow, stripped the bark off of it, and then you can convert that into acetylacic acid, which is aspirin.
13:59And then you can convert that early on into paracetamol, of which my yield was 0.6 of a gram.
14:09The man is not under arrest, as it is still not clear if he has broken the law.
14:15It's an act.
14:19Hi Brian.
14:20Not bad.
14:26Say that again?
14:29Organic?
14:32OK, OK and Karl is not seeing anything that has given him cause for concern.
14:41Alright, thanks Brian.
14:42All right, cheers, bye-bye.
14:44So what he's saying is that the guy practices organic chemistry.
14:49He's been doing that since he's been 14 years old.
14:51OK.
14:52So he takes plant leaf matter and extracts substances from them
14:56and he distills it down and he's made like 0.6 of a gram of paracetamol.
15:02Seems like a lot of effort to make some paracetamol.
15:05Buy it for 20.3.
15:08Makes a change somebody producing...
15:10Drugs as opposed to control drugs.
15:13We'll still get a look around everything else
15:16and make sure that there isn't anything.
15:21It became clear that we're going to have to seize a lot of these items
15:24and then that's where it sort of moves into slower time.
15:27So a lot of them are going to have to be tested.
15:30It will be for the licensed search officers now
15:33to just go in slow time and get a proper assessment made.
15:36The search has not found anything that would suggest terrorist intent.
15:44But then officers notice something odd.
15:48A door without a handle that seems to be wedged shut.
15:53Oh, yeah, you need to...
15:55I'll tell you what...
15:56Electrically, you need to secure that...
15:58A bag.
15:59A bag.
15:59So you need one bag.
16:01Two bases with a hand on it.
16:03Squeeze up.
16:04Yeah.
16:10Inside, there are multiple electrical components,
16:14including circuit boards and batteries.
16:16There was just a slight change in atmosphere amongst everybody,
16:21including back at the office.
16:25I'm just going to ask you once again,
16:26what is all that equipment for?
16:29I was just saying to your colleagues,
16:30I've had an old TV set
16:31and I'm taking bits and pieces of electrical components
16:34and reclaiming...
16:37There's certain things called gold contacts and things on it
16:41and you can actually reclaim metals and things from it.
16:47It is a real thing.
16:49People do it.
16:50I've been watching it on YouTube.
16:52Yeah.
16:53Yeah?
16:54OK.
17:00I'll send you images of it just now,
17:02but I'm really not having it.
17:05Back at base,
17:06Ruben and Richie are joined by Jamie Durkin.
17:08He has specialist training in firearms and explosives.
17:15You're talking about crude,
17:17homemade chemicals that have low explosives.
17:19Oh.
17:21But yeah, there's certainly more there.
17:23Yeah.
17:24From a search perspective,
17:25we talk about main charge initiators,
17:27switches,
17:28packaging the power source,
17:30an IED.
17:31Those are the things that you need to have a successful IED.
17:34Looking through that,
17:35it's difficult to say that
17:36if he has all of those,
17:39he could have a main charge,
17:40a low explosive that we don't know about,
17:42and amongst all of that,
17:44if he has there,
17:45he must have some form of power source
17:47before he has a multimeter,
17:48which is going to be testing
17:49if he can get charged going through it.
17:51It's difficult to know.
17:52Yeah.
17:52Although they still can't be sure
17:57this equipment is being used for criminal purposes,
18:00the police need to question the suspect further.
18:03OK, we'll go down and get him booked in.
18:05OK.
18:06OK.
18:07OK.
18:08OK.
18:10OK.
18:11OK.
18:12OK.
18:13OK.
18:14OK.
18:15Give me your hands again the same way.
18:17OK.
18:18Just...
18:19And we're resting under Section 1
18:20of the Colonel Justice Scotland Act 2016
18:22for offence this country
18:23to expose it to the 1883.
18:25OK?
18:27Do you understand?
18:29Do you understand?
18:31Do you understand?
18:33Sure.
18:34You're not obliged to say anything,
18:35but anything you do say will be noted
18:36and may be used in evidence.
18:37Do you understand?
18:38Yeah.
18:42Well, during the search,
18:43we found a cupboard,
18:45which was obviously not easily accessible,
18:47and inside there was equipment
18:50that gave us significant concerns,
18:53and then it enhanced us to a reasonable suspicion
18:55that he is actually involved in making exposures
18:58of devices.
19:01So, at the moment, he's arrested
19:02until we carry out further enquiries.
19:23On a shooting estate in the Cairngorms,
19:25Dan and his team have found signs
19:27the goshawk nest has been directly shot at.
19:31Again, it's clear evidence
19:32that these birds are being persecuted.
19:37The shotgun wadding,
19:38part of the shell which is fired from the gun,
19:41will be taken for forensic analysis.
19:44But Dan and his team aren't stopping there.
19:47They're seizing the nest itself.
19:49As long as the bag Dan brought from home is up to the job.
19:54Well, it's my wife's.
19:55Don't think she was too pleased this morning
19:57when I walked out the door of it.
19:58Hopefully you can get all that nest into that bag
20:00and we'll get her down and have a look at it.
20:02See, we've got an active nest.
20:13Clear shot damage in the branches.
20:17Warden in the Bloomin' nest there.
20:19Unbelievable.
20:20Dan now needs to prove the nest contains traces of gunshot
20:26and he has a plan up his sleeve.
20:29Hi Kerry, how are you? It's Dan Sublins.
20:32He calls a contact at the Highland Wildlife Park.
20:36We've just recovered a goshawk nest
20:39and several branches.
20:42I've got a lot of shotgun damage and I want to see if it's possible
20:45to put either a small amount of it or all of it through an x-ray machine
20:50to see if we can see any evidence of a shot.
20:54We can x-ray that for you.
20:55Could you do it now?
20:57Yes, we can do it now.
20:59Ideal.
21:03If it turns out there's a shower of shotgun pellet up in the nest,
21:07what it sure does is clear evidence that a crime has occurred.
21:13The Highland Wildlife Park is run by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland
21:19and on hand to x-ray the nest is one of the vets, Dr Alice Bacon.
21:25Hi Alice, how are you doing? Nice to see you.
21:28This is an unusual request.
21:30It is. This is the goshawk nest and the tree branches that we were talking about.
21:33OK.
21:34So it's just to get in for an x-ray and...
21:36We'll give it a go.
21:38First to be x-rayed are the branches cut just below the nest.
21:41They appear to have shotgun damage.
21:44If the x-ray reveals lead shot embedded inside the wood,
21:49that will prove the tree has been targeted.
21:51OK, if I can ask you guys to just all stand outside please
21:54and shut that outer door.
21:56Right.
21:57Now we wait.
21:58Right.
21:59Hey, so I think this is what you were looking for, Dan.
22:13Oh, wow.
22:15Oh, bloody hell.
22:17So yeah, that's your two branches and it's just peppered with really, really radio dense material
22:22which is almost certainly metal and almost certainly lead shot.
22:25That is amazing.
22:27It's a lot more than I thought.
22:29Thank you very much.
22:30Exactly what we suspected.
22:31It's absolutely littered with shotgun pellet.
22:33Next, it's the turn of the nest itself.
22:36Where's your entry, do you think?
22:38Entry is here.
22:39OK, so let's put it on the plate with that side down.
22:42Yeah.
22:43And I'll try it up here and then we might just try it on the floor as well
22:46because I have no idea what that's going to do.
22:48It's probably all right.
22:52And once again, shotgun pellets show up on the x-ray, suggesting someone has fired directly at the nest.
22:59It's not great, but I mean, it's still got shot in it.
23:01Oh, yeah.
23:02Ah, never thought we'd get that.
23:04Brilliant.
23:05Happy days.
23:06Thank you very much.
23:07Good.
23:08Yeah.
23:09Yeah, you're welcome.
23:10Yeah, it's really good.
23:11I'm happy to be able to help.
23:13Just damning.
23:14Absolutely damning, the evidence.
23:15It's really disappointing that it's continuing that these birds of prey are still being targeted.
23:20We'll get back, get this all logged.
23:22And from there, we'll have to start making some inquiry in relation to the land ownership
23:28and the estate and asking questions.
23:31That's all we can do at the moment.
23:45In Inverness, the suspect in the chemical investigation is being taken into custody.
23:54Three things need to read over to you, okay?
23:57There's anything you don't understand.
23:58Just ask and I'll explain it, okay?
23:59Okay.
24:00You have been kept in custody as under the Exposive Substances Act 1983.
24:04You're the site at a Hawaiian farm.
24:06You're being held by police at this police station to be gracious in relation to an offence.
24:10Do you understand?
24:11Yes.
24:12Definitely.
24:13Definitely.
24:14Across town, the street where the police found the chemical lab is being evacuated.
24:33I think you're probably aware of there's an incident going on upstairs.
24:37I don't know what...
24:38Yes, so essentially we need to ask you to leave in Hall 3A for public safety.
24:44The area needs to be sealed off and the neighbours moved out.
24:50The job of searching the flat has been taken on by the fire service, which specialises in dealing with toxic materials.
25:01We've had a look around and identified what chemicals there are there.
25:04We've also identified a number of unidentified chemicals.
25:11We will be particularly focusing on the unidentified chemicals which are on the property.
25:16Our goal really here is to contain and control those chemicals so that they can be further analysed in proper laboratory facilities so they can be used as part of the investigation.
25:30With the search by the fire service complete, the scene is handed over to the Army's bomb squad, who have travelled from the base in Edinburgh, 130 miles away.
25:41So the plan going forward tonight is the bomb disposal boy will go in and complete his initial investigations, remove any items which are of interest to him.
25:51Other teams will go in and do their work throughout the night.
25:54Evacuing people and putting large cordons in place is kind of a last resort.
26:05We don't want to see people's daily lives disrupted or work routines disrupted, but clearly where there's chemicals involved and the potential for them mixing and causing people harm then ultimately becomes quite an easy decision.
26:16The suspect maintains this is all just an innocent hobby.
26:27He will be charged with possession of explosives and terrorism offences.
26:32It will now be up to a jury to decide his fate.
26:48With evidence that a goshawk nest was illegally shot, wildlife cop Dan and PC Gavin Ross are on their way to speak to some locals who are registered to own shotguns.
27:00So given the fact that we have a goshawk nest that clearly has been shot out with a shotgun, it's right for us to undertake some house-to-house inquiry.
27:15We'll start with the individuals that have access with firearms onto that land.
27:21They have a right to be on that land with a gun, so it's right that we speak to them and rule them out and at the same time see if they can assist us with any further inquiry.
27:38First on Dan's list is a local gamekeeper who lives on the estate.
27:44Oh, hiya. Whereabouts is he? Is he available at the moment or is he out and about with him?
27:56They're all the way across today.
27:57They're all the way over. Is there a shoot that put me in a day, is there?
28:00Yeah.
28:01Yeah.
28:02There is, aye.
28:03But let him know I've been in touch to stand somewhere under Dingle Police Station.
28:08He's got me, his boss will have me contact details.
28:10All right, nice one. Thanks very much. Much appreciated.
28:13That'll be their one shoot day of the whole bloody year.
28:27As Dan and Gavin head to the address of the next shotgun owner on the list, Dan receives a call.
28:33That was quick.
28:34Can you pull my speaker?
28:36Aye.
28:40Hi, how are we getting on?
28:41It's a lawyer hired by the owner of the estate.
28:45They're licensed firearms holders for the ground that we're looking at.
28:49I need to rule them out. You know how house to house witness statements work.
28:53The lawyer says that he has instructed the landowner and estate workers not to speak to the police without a lawyer present.
29:00Having a solicitor phone you up and tell you that his clients or the people I want to speak to won't speak to you.
29:08There'll be no comment unless they're present. It's very frustrating.
29:12Unfortunately, it's almost the nature of the beast when it comes to investigating wildlife crime or particularly raptor persecution.
29:18If it's not with you, that's fine. They're willing to speak. Great. And if it's with you and the firm that they want to have your presence, then we'll organise that. We've done it before.
29:28The lawyer's call means Dan has to pause his house to house inquiries.
29:35He has his job to do and I have mine. I think that was a record actually. That must have been less than ten minutes.
29:42Yeah.
29:43From knocking on the first keeper's door to getting a call from the estate's solicitor.
29:49He obviously wants to protect his clients. And we obviously want to try and get as much information out of people as possible. So it's a fine balance of how we manage that.
30:02But Dan is used to dealing with landowners' lawyers. So despite the setback, his goshawk investigation will continue.
30:11Certainly, I hope that when we're investigating these crimes at our estates, that they see the work that we're doing. It makes them think twice.
30:20We have to let them know that we'll try everything we can to try and find a suspect and bring them to justice.
30:4160 miles southwest of the Cairngorms lies Glencoe, one of Scotland's most famous tourist destinations.
30:59I think people mainly come here for that, the view in front of you, all the hills, the scenery. It's just stunning on a day like today. There's no better place to be, I don't think.
31:08On shift today is PC Stephen Cooper, a second generation cop, born and bred in this corner of the Highlands.
31:19It's rural. You're far away from a lot of services, so it's challenging.
31:25But equally, you're rewarded with the beauty of the scenery, the ability to go for a walk and not see anyone, the ability to just switch off from life and just be free. It's great.
31:42Glencoe attracts over 150,000 walkers each year.
31:49But while the Glen may be beautiful, its narrow ridges and steep drops can be perilous.
31:56Mountain rescue is a big part of our job. The most common mistake people make with the mountains in this area are just to underestimate them.
32:07A lot of people think they've done hill walking in other areas, and it's been fine.
32:12But here, there's a different type of hill. As soon as you've left the car park, you're going straight up.
32:16The terrain's quite unforgiving, and it's quite easy to make the wrong descent.
32:28An urgent call has just come in.
32:30Well, we've got two high-risk missing persons at the moment. It's a father and son. The son is 12 years old, and they've been missing since potentially yesterday.
32:45And haven't returned since, and they've been reported as missing today.
32:50Father and son haven't been heard from in over 24 hours.
32:54So at the moment, we have a helicopter deployed to try and do some searching from the sky.
33:04We've also got Glencoe mountain rescue team, and I think another mountain rescue team deployed as well at the moment, to try and get boots on the ground searching as well.
33:12Stephen urgently needs to get to the base of the mountain they were climbing, so we can coordinate the different parties involved in the search.
33:20For this rescue, we relied heavily on our volunteer mountain rescue teams from Glencoe mainly.
33:37They ran the rescue that's their area, and we called in assistance from Loch Abar.
33:42We request the assistance of the mountain rescue teams to go out there and do the searching for us, and we worked together on that.
33:49There's as much our colleagues as our other police officers. They help us out a massive amount.
33:55They go above and beyond, in my opinion, to do the job that they do for no wages. It's all voluntary.
34:01As the 40-strong rescue team sets out, they receive more information on the missing pair.
34:14The 12-year-old boy and his dad left the previous morning to tackle Stobkoran and Lochan, one of the famous Three Sisters Peaks.
34:24This is the third team from the mountain rescue heading up. These guys have got a drone, so having a helicopter can cover a large area.
34:42If the team see anything in an difficult-to-get-to area, the helicopter can get there and have a better look at it first.
34:49Also with the drone as well, they can charge vast areas. It's just invaluable.
34:54The father and son may have already spent one night without shelter.
35:03By dispatching so many resources on and above the mountain, Stephen and the team hope they can find them fast before another night falls.
35:12The dramatic highland landscape doesn't just pose risks for hill walkers.
35:33That 6,700-kilometre network of roads can be extremely challenging for drivers, especially in wild highland weather.
35:46You go from dual carriageway sections to single carriageways to more rural sections.
35:53We cover every road in between. These roads can be particularly dangerous, especially the amount of tourists we have up here.
36:00It introduces a lot of people that aren't familiar with the roads.
36:04Every one of these roads is a different way of travelling on it and how to do it safely.
36:10Speeding is always going to be a factor.
36:13Speeding, dangerous driving, careless driving.
36:16Drink driving and drug driving, that's one of the major ones we look at.
36:21It's going to get really bumpy.
36:26And this is as good as the road gets.
36:30In their unmarked car, Ali Mackay and Doug Scott from the road's policing team can often cover hundreds of miles in a single shift.
36:39It does mean they've gotten to know the best lunch stops.
36:43What are you having?
36:44I'm going to have a no-recommended chicken haggis and pepper corn.
36:50A wee apple pie, a wee rude not to.
36:53Can I have the savoury lamb mince pie, please?
36:57And a cappuccino, please.
36:59It's like a hot thing.
37:00Yeah, hot, please.
37:02Oh, just cracking pies. Cannae beat it.
37:03Oh, perfect. Thank you.
37:04Thanks. Cheers. See you later.
37:06Have you both gone for the haggis one?
37:21It's a full meal.
37:22It's a full meal.
37:24But lunch on the road is often cut short.
37:32Yeah.
37:34Drink driver.
37:35Uh-huh.
37:37We've got intelligence that there's someone who started work today that's a possible drink driver.
37:43And they've headed north this way, so we're, um, a way to see if we can get the vehicle stopped.
37:50One thing that might help the cops spot the vehicle is the fact that the driver works for the fire service.
37:59Is that actually a full livery of the fire van?
38:02No, it's just a white van with fire written on the side of it.
38:05A local resident phoned the police, concerned about how much the driver had to drink in the pub the previous evening,
38:12before starting his shift this morning as watch commander.
38:22It's obviously a very narrow winding road, so you need to have all your wits about you at the best of times,
38:27so any, um, effect on your driving ability is going to, uh, significantly increase your risk of having an accident.
38:35So it could be disastrous.
38:44After a few hours searching roads this driver might have taken, there's no sign of him.
38:52Roger.
38:53Well, keep an eye. All we can do is keep an eye out for the vehicle on the road back to Dingwall just now.
38:58No worries. I appreciate you giving that.
39:01Yes, Roger. No, no worries, man. We'll have a look.
39:10What's this?
39:12There it is.
39:14Just as they're heading back to base, they spot the van driving past them.
39:18Can you hear it?
39:27Yes.
39:34There you are, bro.
39:36Hi there, how are you?
39:53Good, thanks.
39:54Good, good.
39:55Nothing to worry about.
39:56I thought you were just signaling to me or something.
40:00Oh, right, okay.
40:01No worries.
40:02Here, I'll tell you the reason we're stopping you.
40:03Guys, we've had some information that the driver of this vehicle
40:06might be impaired today.
40:07Oh, right, okay.
40:08Yes, so we're just carrying up a stop,
40:10see what the crack is and speak to yourself.
40:13Here, I'll be honest with you already.
40:15I'm smelling alcohol off you.
40:17I mean, I was out last night.
40:18You were last night.
40:19Just from the breathing, I can smell alcohol.
40:21Have you had anything today or is it just last night?
40:22No, no, no, nothing to bear fault now.
40:24Okay.
40:26Okay, so what I'm going to do is I'm going to inquire
40:29under section 6 of the road traffic activity.
40:30Specimen of breath for a breath test
40:32and specimen of saliva for a drug wipe, okay?
40:34I was in the football last night, but it's all out of the system.
40:38No worries, money.
40:39Just when you're in.
40:41Keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going.
40:45That's you. Good job.
40:46Perfect.
40:47Okay, I can come back with a reading of 22.
40:50Basically, the legal limit is 22,
40:52but we'll finish the other procedure first,
40:53then we'll explain what's happening, okay?
40:54The police also take a swab to test for recreational drugs,
41:00a standard procedure in a stop like this.
41:03Okay, when you're ready, just stick your tongue right out.
41:08Perfect.
41:11The drug tests prove negative,
41:14but the alcohol result is right on the legal limit.
41:18So further proof of intoxication will be required.
41:23Right, I'll explain what's going to happen, okay?
41:25I'm just going to arrest you just now using the words I arrest you, okay?
41:28I'll caution you, I'm not obliged to say anything.
41:30Anything you do say can't be down, can't be using evidence, okay?
41:33Right, what's going to happen is,
41:34we're going to go to a police station
41:36and get you to blow on the evidential machine, okay?
41:39The device we've got at the roadside,
41:41it's not evidential.
41:42It's not 100% accurate.
41:44The one at the station is that.
41:45Until then,
41:50the watch commander won't be driving the fire service vehicle any further.
42:14In Glencoe,
42:15search teams are spreading out
42:17across the Three Sisters mountain range.
42:20While at the base,
42:22Stephen has new information
42:24about the missing dad's mobile phone.
42:27So, the last time that the phone was on the network,
42:30it was in this red area somewhere.
42:33Oh, nice, yeah.
42:34Yeah, feel free to assume.
42:35So that's the mast when they connected at 1222,
42:38if we're there.
42:39So that would kind of track with them coming up there
42:41and being up there, wouldn't it?
42:42So the beauty we've got with the hills and Glencoe
42:45is that the summits are quite exposed.
42:48There's quite a lot of different phone masts
42:50that cover the summits
42:51and we can track progress
42:53via which masts they're connecting to
42:55and at which time.
42:56And that helps us sort of narrow down
43:00the route that they've taken.
43:021222, it's on the Calert mast
43:04and it's on the Culhenna mast.
43:06And the only overlap of those two
43:10is over this end of the Three Sisters.
43:15So that would seem to tie into that
43:17being where they are.
43:25The rescue teams in the air and on the ground
43:29refocus their search on the area
43:31the phone mast data has identified.
43:36Because one of them is so young
43:38you have that drive to then
43:40to do as much as you possibly can
43:42to try and find them.
43:45After an hour and a half of searching
43:48radio communication between
43:50two of the mountain teams
43:51reveals something has been spotted in the rocks.
43:55Yeah, I understood that you've got
43:57an object of interest on the scree
43:59near your drop-off point, over.
44:01Yeah, that's correct.
44:07We think it's broad golly.
44:09We're going to make our way across.
44:10We're probably 500 metres away
44:12on rough ground.
44:14It's probably going to take us 20 minutes.
44:22Understood.
44:23Approximate guess for object of interest.
44:25Manko, Grace, did you copy all that?
44:27Oh, man.
44:29Cairn, base, yeah, that's all copied.
44:34Look, our rescue team have spotted
44:36an object of interest on a scree slope
44:38on stopcoring and locking.
44:40They're just trying to make their way
44:42to there just now just to see
44:43if it's anything of relevance to our search.
44:45It's only 20 minutes to get to the area
44:47where it is, so it could be a person,
44:48it could be a rucksack,
44:49it could be a rock,
44:50it could be a knife with clothing.
44:52It's just something that doesn't
44:53match the hillside effectively.
44:54It's probably so far away
44:55that they can't tell what it is.
44:56We just don't know at this point.
45:12The road cops have brought
45:13the driver of the fire van
45:15to Ullapool Police Station
45:17for further breath testing.
45:18I feel perfect.
45:39So, right, there's two samples
45:40that it's recorded here,
45:4121 and 22.
45:43The legal limit being 22,
45:44OK, we take the lowest sample, which is 21,
45:47so you are below the legal limit, OK?
45:51This time the driver has tested just below the legal limit,
45:54so there's no grounds for a rest.
45:58But the driver's shift started at 9am, so questions remain.
46:06There's a couple of things we just need to go over
46:08before we let you go, OK, basically.
46:11When would have been your last drink?
46:13I guess it was just after midnight.
46:15What will end up happening is I send this away
46:17and they do a back count and look at
46:19when I can evidence you're driving from earlier on.
46:23A back count is where we send out all our results,
46:26the breath test and our evidence of when they were driving
46:29and what they were likely to have been eating that day.
46:32We send all that off to our forensic science team.
46:36We'll get you away now.
46:38Cool.
46:43If there is evidence of him driving earlier in the day,
46:47then the forensic team may be able to estimate
46:50what his alcohol levels would have been at that specific time.
46:55One way Ali could find this evidence is from CCTV.
46:59So this is the 835.
47:02This is the only roll from the south into Aleppo.
47:05So if the vehicle was going south, he would have had to pass here.
47:08So I'm just playing my way through here just to see if we can find him.
47:13That looks like the fire van coming in just now.
47:17Pretty clear for all to see that this is the fire vehicle passing here.
47:20And there he is.
47:22It's very clear as you can see.
47:24That looks like the driver to me there.
47:26So 9.05.16 was when he's passed there travelling south.
47:32Ali now has evidence the man was driving around 9am,
47:39five and a half hours before the evidential breathalyser test.
47:47He now hopes that the forensic team can estimate how much alcohol
47:51was in the driver's system when he was caught driving on CCTV.
47:55This is a morning after incident and you've still got to be wary the next day as well.
48:02You still could be over the limit depending on how much you've had to drink there.
48:06So it's being aware of how much you've had to drink and don't take the risk.
48:25Yeah, understood that you've got an object of interest.
48:39In Glencoe, PC Stephen Cooper is coordinating a complex search
48:44for a missing father and son who were on a hill walking trip.
48:50Over 40 Coast Guard and Mountain Rescue personnel are now on the mountain.
48:55and one team is going to investigate something they spotted on the ski slope.
49:03It's an area that is covered by the last phone reception data that we've got
49:08so there's every chance it could be something of relevance.
49:14Glencoe, Snivishchem, go ahead.
49:19Hello, on the phone.
49:20We are currently with an adult male at our last given location.
49:24Yeah, I'm afraid he's on the rescue just now.
49:26Ian is just assessing.
49:27Over.
49:28Okay, Glencoe B squared.
49:29Hello, Carver.
49:32Ian is with a male casualty and is assessing at the moment.
49:38No other information.
49:39Over.
49:41Roger, can you stand by?
49:43We're just getting a bit closer to you.
49:45Over.
49:46Oh.
49:49Casualty located.
49:51P-L-E at 1925, Alice.
49:54Stand by for attribute reference.
49:57Ken, base, yes, that's copied.
49:59Can they confirm number of casualties and approximate age and description
50:03of casualty, please?
50:04Ken, I copied last from base.
50:05Casualty is adult male.
50:06The body is identified as the missing father.
50:20You spoke to UK rescue.
50:21I'm from 32 Western.
50:22Just confirming.
50:23Mountain rescue have located male casualties.
50:24We'll see if I get another aircraft.
50:25On the hills in the search area at the moment.
50:26We're just trying to get more details for it.
50:27Channel one.
50:28Now, I'm pretty confident there's a 12-year-old boy out there on his own.
50:33There's a young boy missing at that point and could still be alive.
50:49So you've got to re-target everyone.
50:52We've now got an area where the father is, so the son's potentially not far away.
50:58We've got to re-target everyone to that area.
51:00Bring as much resource in as we possibly can to try and find him now.
51:09That's understood.
51:10Appreciate that.
51:11Thank you very much.
51:13Yeah, that's understood.
51:18Given the hours of daylight left and obviously it's a 12-year-old child
51:23wandering around potentially on their own, can we consider police helicopter for searching?
51:29Yes, yes.
51:30Weather conditions are fine without high winds, so dry, low wind.
51:34Cloud is above the summits at the moment, so fine for searching.
51:38Excellent. Thanks again.
51:40That was what we were working on, the assumption of that he was still alive and in need of some kind of assistance.
51:59So, yeah, you've got that fear in the back of your head all the time.
52:03You'd be lying if you said you didn't.
52:08But then there's radio contact from another of the search teams on the mountain.
52:12Yeah, I kept keeping myself and Elliot up spotting something just a wee bit down from us over there.
52:22Go ahead, Facebook.
52:23Yeah, just as an update, there's possible sightings of something else on the hill at the moment, but we'll get back to you.
52:29It's the right location.
52:30Jamie, can you say again, please?
52:48Jamie, do you have a description, please?
52:55Jamie, do you have a description, please?
52:58Jamie, do you have a description, please?
53:05Okay, in the morning, we're in a blue top.
53:07I think when we got the news, it's just so tragic.
53:32It's probably one of the worst mountain rescue incidents I've dealt with for that level of tragedy.
53:39All units from November Romeo 3-2 Whiskey.
53:43We have now got a second casualty located deceased young boy over.
53:48But that's what we're here for.
53:51That's our job.
53:52And, yeah, all we can reassure ourselves is that we've done the absolute best we can to get an outcome for them.
54:01Unfortunately, it's the worst outcome possible.
54:03But we've got an outcome for them, at least.
54:18The job's not over at that point.
54:19You've got the logistical challenges, getting them back down off the hill, getting notifications to family.
54:25I'm just going to move from here to a more appropriate location to try and get team members there a bit quicker and coordinate things a bit better.
54:34It's so intense, that first part of the search.
54:51And getting as much information as we can, it's just, you don't stop.
54:56Your brain's always working.
54:57And the energy levels just get sapped out of you.
55:00The recovery operation will be challenging.
55:06Stephen and the volunteer teams still have several hours of work ahead of them.
55:13There was no question that they were getting recovered that night and we were all there for the long haul to get them down in the most dignified way and get them secured and safe and looked after properly.
55:23So we've had confirmation now that the next of kin is aware of the death of both people.
55:47She's being supported by police and they're with her at the moment and just do whatever they can to help her and was probably the worst time of her life.
55:56Certainly the youngest casualty I've ever experienced on a mountain rescue job and that makes it quite difficult to handle.
56:18And it sticks with me now even. I'd say I still think about it sometimes and I think I'd be lying if I said I didn't.
56:27So yeah, it has been, it's quite hard to deal with, but again, it's part of the job.
56:33There's support there to deal with it and we just crack on and get it done.
56:38It's part of the job.
56:59There we go.
57:55Next time, as Stornoway freezes over, police hunt for a missing teenager.
58:17If he's out here, then he's really, really cold. It's time critical.
58:22Respond to a major road accident in Glencoe.
58:26Do you want lifted for obstruction? Move now.
58:29How far is it going to go?
58:30I said behind the van. It's not difficult, is it?
58:32And make a tricky arrest in Shetland.
58:35I'm not messing about with you here, mate. I've been very decent with you so far.
58:38I'm not messing about with you here, mate. I'm not messing about with you here, mate. I'm not messing about with you here, mate. I'm not messing about with you here, mate. I'm not messing about with you here. I'm not messing about with you here. I'm not messing about with you here. I'm not messing about with you here. I'm not messing about with you here. I'm not messing about with you here. I'm not messing about with you here. I'm not messing about with you here. I'm not messing about with you here. I'm not messing about with you here. I'm not messing about with you here. I'm not messing about with you here. I'm not messing about with you here. I'm not messing about with you here. I'm not messing about with you here. I'm not messing about with you here. I'm not messing about with you here. I'm not messing about with you here. I'm not messing about with you here. I'm not messing about with you here
Be the first to comment
Add your comment