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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.
00:30Police for the dog. Anyone hiding? Show yourself.
00:33The 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 shotgun 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 out of our comfort zone.
01:25And keep the peace.
01:26You just threatened to kill it.
01:27You said you were going to strangle it.
01:29In some of the most beautiful and wild places in the UK.
01:3325 miles west of mainland Scotland lies one of N Division's most far-flung beats.
01:51Lewis and Harris in the Western Isles.
02:01Growing up in the Western Isles was great.
02:03It's a small, very close-knit community.
02:09I decided to join the police having observed my father working as a police officer in the Western Isles.
02:15I saw how rewarding it was for him.
02:18And with my family all living here, I'm very invested into making our community as safe as possible.
02:27Especially having young children in the community.
02:32Detective Sergeant Daniel Smith is part of the Western Isles CID.
02:37And much of his work involves combating the influx of illegal drugs.
02:42Because although Lewis is more than two and a half hours by ferry from the mainland,
02:47these island communities are increasingly being targeted by dealers from other parts of the UK.
02:54I think drugs have always been present in communities, rural communities such as our own.
02:59However, certainly over the past decade, there has been a rise in drug supply activity.
03:08But also the drugs that are available are of a more serious nature
03:14and appears to be readily available to people across all age groups.
03:21That often involves children in early secondary school.
03:28Today, Daniel and the team are about to execute a warrant on a property in the island's main town, Stornoway.
03:35Specific people have attended the address and purchased drugs.
03:40And these are people that are all well known to us for their addiction issues and what have you.
03:45What we're looking for today is any controlled substances in the property.
03:50In particular, cannabis and anything else that would indicate that anybody at the home address is involved in supply of controlled drugs.
03:59What I'd ask is if you do find anything of significance, let me know.
04:02I can come and photograph it in situ and then we can record it properly.
04:05All right, let's go.
04:06So the female that we are going to visit with this warrant today, myself and other officers have had previous encounters with her.
04:27The address we're going to is just two minutes from the police station.
04:33There's been a lot of activity at the address.
04:38The intelligence indicated that the primary customers of this individual were young teenagers.
04:49It's not what we want for our children.
04:51And I think we have a responsibility to enforce drug laws and to stop people in their tracks if they are carrying out a drug supply operation from their home.
05:06As the police arrive at the address, Daniel spots the women they're after outside the house, alongside a teenage boy.
05:13Hello, are you Amy? Hello, I'm Daniel, I'm from the police and this is my colleague Davey.
05:20We've got our warrant to search the address.
05:23Search the address?
05:24Yeah. Are we able to come inside and I'll explain more?
05:28While the teenager is searched, the woman shows Daniel and the team inside.
05:34She seems keen to help.
05:36I've briefly spoken with Amy, the female occupant.
05:42She's indicated to me that she doesn't want us to stay in her part of the house.
05:45She does have cannabis in the address and she will basically tell us where it is.
05:50You have obviously indicated to me as soon as we come into the kitchen, there's a bag in there that's worth our attention.
05:57We do also have to search the address, OK?
05:58I appreciate you being really quite upfront and honest with us, so that is appreciated and, like I say, we'll try and make things as smooth for you as possible.
06:06People we come across will try and deter us from carrying out a very thorough search by providing us with something as soon as we walk in the door.
06:19That's quite a lot. Right.
06:22Look at it, it is clearly herbal cannabis.
06:28Yeah, I mean, you're talking like decent quantity there.
06:32That's not possession quantities at all.
06:35It's pretty undetectable unless you were to actually see it.
06:39It's right here and I can smell a thing off it.
06:41We'll obviously test that when we go back to the station, but yeah, I think with everything else we know, we're quite confident that that's what this is.
06:49The packages are around a kilogram in weight, and if this is indeed cannabis, they could be worth £5,000.
06:57Substantial evidence to emerge so early into the search.
07:01But Daniel is keen to find out what else might be hidden in the house.
07:05I'll probably get you guys to start upstairs, me and Donnie will do the kitchen and we'll move towards the living room.
07:09The living room.
07:10I'll probably get you guys to make sure this is a Eternal Lead in materials.
07:14I think the family makes sure that that, let you check it out.
07:16Labrador, mate.
07:18My first observation is, there's a big safe here.
07:21So…
07:32Is that it?
07:33It doesn't look like a safe key.
07:34So, is that it? Doesn't look like a safe key.
07:40Continuing to cooperate, the woman gives him the code for the safe.
07:48We'll go safe five.
07:56We've got cash in the safe.
07:58Yes.
07:59There's these things here.
08:00Yes.
08:01That's what you just caught the boy outside.
08:03Yeah.
08:04That's really good.
08:06Inside the safe, there's cash and some pre-rolled cannabis joints.
08:15I've never seen online, I've never experienced before.
08:17This is something I've never seen before.
08:18They come pre-rolled and packaged and sealed.
08:24It'll be interesting to know the strength of them.
08:27One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, twelve, thirteen.
08:32Thirteen hundred and twenty and twenty.
08:35Yeah.
08:36Do we know that somewhere?
08:37Yeah.
08:39This amount of cash, married with the amount of herbal cannabis appears to be downstairs,
08:46and that would certainly be evidence to me or indicate to me that this person is well and truly involved in supplying cannabis.
08:52The suspected drugs and money will be seized, but there's more to such.
08:57Daniel needs to establish how big any drug supply operation is that's being run from this ordinary-looking house.
09:04The Northern Highlands is one of the most sparsely populated parts of Europe.
09:25In some areas, there are more sheep than people.
09:38I'm just about to start shearing at the weekend.
09:40That'll be my plan on the weekend off.
09:43Sergeant Ali Mackay is a full-time traffic cop and a part-time sheep farmer.
09:50I definitely enjoy the farming on the side.
09:52I take my lambing holidays every April and a lot of the spring, the weather's just been horrendous,
09:58so we're behind on a few of the foot jobs, you know.
10:01Believe it or not, farming and policing cross a lot quite a lot, so we've always got a resident expert.
10:05I've got a background in agriculture, worked agricultural contracting for a year.
10:11It wasn't going to be a career for me, so one of my aunties suggested the police.
10:15Sure enough, eight months later I joined the police and I was starting my first shift in Portree.
10:20Today, Ali and his colleague, Sergeant Doug Scott, are patrolling the main road between Ullapool and Inverness in an unmarked car.
10:31It's a busy route, notorious for accidents.
10:34A red Vauxhall overtaking them on a stretch of single carriageway catches Ali's attention.
10:46It wasn't a dangerous overtake, and he probably wasn't exceeding the speed limit, to be fair.
10:50But it's always interesting, a car overtaking in a queue of traffic like this, and he's tailgating right close to that car in front there just now.
11:01MLT expired on it as well.
11:0510th of May.
11:08We're going to be getting this vehicle stopped, get a word with the driver.
11:12Because as you can see how close he is to the vehicle in front, and that's actually getting pretty bad.
11:16And they're likely to get him past, and he's still bullying his way past here, because you can see how close he is.
11:23Most significantly reduces any chance he's got of carrying out a safe overtake, because he can't see past the car.
11:29Because their car's unmarked, the driver doesn't realise the cops are just behind.
11:37Both hands off the wheel.
11:40Still both hands off the wheel.
11:41The speed limit is a 20 mile an hour zone here, and he's just sitting above the 30 here, so...
11:50That's what we look at. I saw how close he was to the pedestrian here.
11:56He's talked himself into a careless driving here anyway.
11:59We actually got a fright, he probably saw it.
12:00She definitely did get a fright.
12:02Before anyone gets hurt, it's time to pull the car over.
12:06So, we'll go speak to him, see what he's saying for life.
12:13Hello, how are you?
12:15Alright.
12:16Ah, good. I tell you, the reason we're stopping you...
12:19Well, we first noticed you, you overtook us on the way in, obviously.
12:21Then you were tailgating the car in front, trying to push for an overtake there, far too close.
12:25Next thing I know him, you're taking both hands off the wheel as the vehicle's going, leaning back on the back of your head, which was pretty clear to see.
12:38That's a 20 mile an hour limit. You're accelerating up to 30.
12:41Then you pass the woman to the near side, do you?
12:44Step out on the road.
12:45And what's she likely to do? She didn't step out on the road, she was a payment, but you move away from her.
12:51The woman got a fright there.
12:52MOT for the vehicle.
12:54Uh-huh.
12:55Shona's expired.
12:56Seriously?
12:57Yes, 10th of May.
12:5810th of May?
12:5910th of May.
13:01Oh.
13:03Shona's expired.
13:05I had no idea.
13:06Yeah.
13:07No, you don't get...
13:08In this car.
13:09You don't get reminders for it, so...
13:11New vehicle, new vehicle.
13:13Oh, I had no idea.
13:16She boomed!
13:19We can give him a ticket for careless driving, I'm for driving without an MLT.
13:25We'll just complete roadside procedures with him, so do a drink and drug test.
13:28Make sure he's okay to be driving first.
13:31Keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going, keep...
13:36ideal, perfect.
13:38If you take the tube there, because it's got your DNA on it,
13:41Cheers, zero, ideal, thank you.
13:43The driver passes the breathalyser test.
13:46Have you seen one of these before, sir?
13:47No.
13:48OK, it's a drug wipe test for cannabis and cocaine.
13:53OK, stick your tongue right out for me, please.
13:55Drug driving, obviously, is an emerging trend for us
13:57because we've only been able to look at it since 2019
14:01when we were introduced drug wipes.
14:03Good man, ideal.
14:05And this just takes eight minutes to test for it, OK?
14:08That has grown exponentially since that time.
14:12Right, sir.
14:13It's time to check the result.
14:15If the drug wipe shows two lines,
14:18it means the driver has cannabis in his system.
14:21A second line showing a positive result for cannabis, OK?
14:26Granted, it's a faint line.
14:27It's a fairly simple test at the roadside,
14:30so what we do is we take you into the police office.
14:33With the driver arrested,
14:35the next step is to take him for a blood test
14:38so the amount of cannabis he's taken can be precisely measured.
14:42Unfortunately, given the geography of the area,
14:46the nearest police station we can take him
14:48to get the blood taken from him is 56 miles away.
14:51We've just arrested a male in Ullipull for drug driving.
14:56We're currently just in Ullipull, just about a head through,
15:01so we'll be an hour or whatever it is from here.
15:04Are you taking me to Inverness?
15:09Yeah.
15:10What?
15:11It's blood.
15:12It's come from Inverness.
15:13I don't have the money to get back.
15:14I've got kids in the business at home that are expecting me.
15:16I've got shopping in the car.
15:17OK.
15:21Can we at least stop for the toilet?
15:22Yes.
15:23That's not a problem.
15:24We'll arrange that.
15:25Can you just lie?
15:26Mm-hm.
15:27You're not going to run off, are you?
15:28I don't need...
15:29To where?
15:30Exactly.
15:31Well, to be fair, you'd get further than me, though.
15:32That's a thing.
15:33We get the blood taken off him, and then we have to take him home again,
15:36because there's no bus service for him to get home,
15:39and we do have a duty of care for that gentleman.
15:42It is a hugely time-consuming part of our job.
15:46An hour later, they reach Inverness.
15:49What have you had for you?
15:50Countless.
15:51How much?
15:52A couple of drinks.
15:53A couple of drinks.
15:54A couple of drinks.
15:55A couple of drinks.
15:56A couple of drinks.
15:57A couple of drinks.
15:58A couple of drinks.
15:59A couple of drinks.
16:00A couple of drinks.
16:02Convictions for driving under the influence are on the rise in Scotland.
16:06Do you agree to provide a specimen of blood for analysis,
16:09and, if no, what is your reason for refusing?
16:13If found guilty, this driver could face a 12-month ban.
16:31In Stornoway, DC Daniel Smith and his team are searching the house of a suspected drug dealer.
16:43They've made some startling discoveries.
16:45Large packages, believed to be cannabis, and a considerable amount of cash.
16:51But there's still more of the house to search.
16:54I've found a wee jar of green herbal substance in the cupboard, so I'll wait for Danny to come down.
17:01He can take a wee photograph of that as well.
17:07In the kitchen, there are more clues that a drug operation could be being run from here.
17:17Danny?
17:18Yeah?
17:19Great.
17:20More cannabis as well.
17:25No, it's the way it's sort of been bundled up in elastic bands, stored in packages such as this.
17:35You know, we'd indicate that this isn't somebody's life savings.
17:38This is very much the proceeds from the sale of controlled substances.
17:42Alongside large bags of the raw drug, there's also items that suggest a new wave of cannabis products.
17:50I think these are pastels as well.
17:52Gummies type things?
17:53Yeah.
17:54Right.
17:55Can you take a picture on your phone?
17:56And then we've got different liquids, some sort of high potency vape pen.
18:01And in this bag here, we've got a number of items, which are all gummies, which we're going to take as well.
18:09They'll have to be tested too.
18:10The stash includes drinks, vapes and flavoured sweets, all believed to be infused with cannabis.
18:18It's really worrying when you have packages with bright colours, vapes, cartoony motifs.
18:25All these things are very much geared towards tempting those younger in the community.
18:31Yeah, 100%.
18:33People that are in this house are dealing drugs.
18:35And that's what we're here to do and disrupt them and take it away from them.
18:38I think people often view cannabis as a substance that isn't overly harmful.
18:48The problem is, time and time again, when we engage with young people, they are often in the throes of abusing cannabis.
18:55Fast forward five, six years later, there are other addiction issues, there are other social issues.
19:05Addiction is something many members of our community have experienced.
19:10It feels like our moral duty to do as much as we can to limit drug supply and operations locally.
19:19The suspected cannabis and almost 7,000 pounds in cash is strong evidence of drug dealing.
19:29But the police's attention turns to proving how it might be linked to a bigger operation.
19:33This is a special delivery box that was found in the kitchen next to the bag containing the herbal substance.
19:41People are so brazen that they are using the Royal Mail to deliver drugs to the island.
19:44We've also got the return address here as well, so that can indicate to us who supplied and gives colleagues down the road some further inquiry to do as well.
19:55It's a good lead, but just as the search is coming to a close, there's one final discovery that could prove even more crucial in linking the woman to suppliers from the mainland.
20:05Do you find that in the jacket pocket? Yeah.
20:08Take £15 out of weed money.
20:12So this is an address. What it says on the note is put a return addy. I take that to mean put a return address and take £15 out of weed money.
20:23So what it could mean is that this is somebody who's potentially supplied Amy or is involved in her supply operation in some way.
20:31What?
20:33You got it.
20:35Again, you're not obliged to say anything. Anything you do say will be noted and maybe used in evidence.
20:39OK?
20:41That's a comment.
20:45When Amy has seen this note, she remarked, ah, you got it.
20:50I'll then remind her she's under caution, that she's not obliged to say anything, at which point she said, I don't care.
20:54So it would indicate to us that there's some sort of evidential significance to this, which we can put to her later interview.
21:01Daniel is satisfied there is more than enough evidence here for the suspect to be charged.
21:07I am arresting you under Section 1 of the Criminal Justice Scotland Act 2016 on suspicion of Sections 4.3 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.
21:23And that is namely being concerned in the supply of drugs in accordance with the law. Do you understand?
21:27The scale of things at that address is clearly, ah, larger than we anticipated, I would say.
21:45The first thing you feel is actually quite sad about the whole situation.
21:48You just think, how on earth has this person got themselves into this situation?
21:53You know, don't get me wrong, um, she's clearly profiting massively from it.
21:57But, er, it's just, it's some way to live, some existence.
22:03While the suspect is taken into custody, Daniel can take a closer look at some of the more unusual evidence.
22:10The little bottle here is labelled Family High Range Fanta, 500 milligrams.
22:23Apparently it's pineapple flavoured, um, and infused with D9 distillate.
22:28What we've got here is a number of different, um, edibles, vapes and pre-rolled, er, cannabis joints.
22:36What's interesting about these items is that they're all colourfully packaged.
22:43They've got spacemen on them and other sort of little cartoony designs that are really appealing to children.
22:51Um, which, it's a real concern.
22:55Daniel and the team will now put the evidence they have found to the suspect
22:59and attempt to establish how she fits into the wider drug supply chain.
23:03Drugs suppliers are profiting off those who are less fortunate.
23:10Our job is to make their job harder so that other people, including the vulnerable and the young,
23:18have less opportunity to fall into addiction.
23:22Nearly a hundred miles south-east of Stornoway, detectives Chris McLeod and Chris McCauley are responding to an urgent incident.
23:40Will I just pull up beside them?
23:42Let me on, man!
23:44Urgent call back.
23:46On their way back to the station after a stakeout, they've spotted a vehicle driving erratically.
23:52Hi, from November Whiskey 104, it's on the Shore Street roundabout turning right onto Shore Street.
23:57As we were driving our oncoming vehicle, we was driving on three wheels with the fourth wheel scraping off the road and missing the tyre.
24:04We're the vehicle behind it, but it's now going past Nickles and Travis Perkins. It's lost the front near-side wheel. It's pulling off over.
24:14It's going to crash.
24:17It's going to cause a collision. He's going right across the road.
24:20It doesn't matter if you're a police constable up to the chief constable. If you're a police officer on duty, it's your job to deal with the present risk.
24:30And he was presenting a very clear and immediate risk to the public.
24:34But the two Chrisys have a problem.
24:37Their unmarked detective's car doesn't have blue lights or a siren, so it's difficult to signal for the driver to stop.
24:44Moving on to Shore Street roundabout. Shore Street roundabout into the...
24:50Oh, it's crossing all the lanes to be honest. Stand back in the direction.
24:54Where am I going?
24:55He's on Shore Street.
24:56Towards Shore Street roundabout, headed towards...
25:00Town Centre, over.
25:03Whiskey 104, confirm. They don't have blue lights activated.
25:07They're not pursuing the vehicle. They're just following.
25:11Yeah, confirmed. We've got blue lights in our vehicle.
25:15It's taking a right onto Friars Lane and continuing on to Bank Street, over.
25:20Bank Street, isn't it?
25:22We're only safe.
25:24We did what we could with our horn and our hazard lights and our headlights to try and get them to stop.
25:31And when we realised that wasn't working, we realised we were going to have to just try and keep other cars out of its path.
25:40How is he still moving?
25:41I don't know exactly.
25:42Victoria negative, go across the junction.
25:45We're still running.
25:52It's going to crash here.
25:53Yeah, it's a male driver in the front, near side tyre is completely off the vehicle.
26:01It's on the rims.
26:02It's on the rims.
26:03It's just driving over ballers and driving through the road.
26:11Commanders in the control room are concerned about the risks of following the car.
26:17It's not safe to not stop him.
26:21Yeah, if you remember we see one of four, he's very likely to cause a collision.
26:25He's driving in front of oncoming traffic.
26:28I'm not sure how he's not struck something up to this point.
26:32It's not safe to withdraw from his pursuit because he's going to cause a collision.
26:37We've got our hazards on just to highlight oncoming vehicles and vehicles behind us.
26:42He clearly had no control of the car and he kept veering towards oncoming traffic.
26:46At one stage, almost colliding with a bus.
26:48Eventually, the detectives get back up from traffic cops.
27:08Stopping?
27:17Yeah.
27:19Block him in.
27:22Good job, guys.
27:23Copy, you wanna watch. Keep up here.
27:25All right, just keep up here.
27:36Yeah, me under control.
27:37No fancy stopping now?
27:40We didn't notice, you had no tyre.
27:43You almost had a bus.
27:47You're suspect person of the false call.
27:50We're going to have to try and move this, aren't we, a little bit.
27:52Yeah.
27:54I'm sure of a miracle that there's not been a collision with any other vehicle or pedestrian,
27:59but as you can see, that is not a vehicle that is fit to be driven at any point.
28:05Yeah.
28:06You are, keep going.
28:07Towards the events.
28:08Let me stand there.
28:10Suspected intoxicated driver, so eventually he's managed to get him stopped here
28:15and our colleagues in uniform are going to take over the traffic procedures.
28:21Thanks very much.
28:22We need to go back for a brief break.
28:24Yeah, we left it there for our colleagues to deal with.
28:27They're the ones that can deal with the road traffic procedures that we're not able to, given our role within CID.
28:33I can't, I mean, did you see him go over the, I couldn't think, what do you call that?
28:43And then...
28:44What do you call it?
28:45I was almost going to say the road traffic furniture.
28:47That's what I nearly said.
28:48It's been that long since you did your driving for us.
28:50I remember, aye, aye, aye, aye, aye.
28:51It's something about a solid white line.
28:54We see firsthand the damage that lies in the wake of people that drive their vehicles
28:59and ultimately crash them when they're intoxicated.
29:02We shouldn't be seeing it anymore.
29:04On Scotland's west coast, where rugged hills meet white sand beaches,
29:25there's another isolated corner of mainland Britain, the Ardnemurchan Peninsula.
29:34It is part of the Scottish mainland, but you wouldn't believe it.
29:50Erm, it's a bit difficult to get to other than by the ferry.
29:53It seems more like an island when you're there, even though it is connected to the Scottish mainland.
29:58Today, PC Roddy Sandeman is crossing over to the village of Strontian
30:03on an unusual assignment.
30:18We are going over to Strontian today to assist with a warrant for seizing a pine marten.
30:28We've had information from the SSPCA and, I think, members of the public,
30:33that a male in Strontian is keeping a pine marten in his house.
30:41Pine marten is the same family as stoats and weasels and otters.
30:45They are one of Scotland's last larger predators.
30:49Quite an interesting wee animal.
30:51One of several animals that are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act.
30:56Because it's a protected wild animal, it's illegal to keep a pine marten at home without a license.
31:03This guy does not have a license.
31:05Erm, he allegedly rescued the pine marten when it was very young from the side of the road.
31:11It won't have the ability to hunt for itself in the wild, in its natural environment and be free.
31:17And, you know, where pine marten should be, it's going to be living in someone's house.
31:22So that's kind of why it's important.
31:24We're just coming into the village and it's just here.
31:34Roddy's first stop is the Strontian village police station.
31:37The SSPCA here.
31:46I'll pass that. That's the warrant for everyone to need.
31:48Yeah.
31:49Before they head out, local cop PC Angie Campbell briefs Roddy and Wildlife Inspector Yvonne Sloss
31:56from the SSPCA. It turns out the pine marten they are going to rescue has a name.
32:02So this is the picture of the pine marten. He's named Derek.
32:07He's originally orphaned and he's been told numerous times that he's got to hand it over
32:13to be rehabilitated and released. Unfortunately, he's refused to do that
32:16and he's now advertising people to come for pictures.
32:22Roddy's main concern is how to persuade Derek to come willingly.
32:26Have you got like a box and you're just going to...
32:28I need to see how tame it is because I might be able to, if it's really tame,
32:32it'll be easy to scruff, put it into a box.
32:35I do have some jam with it because they go crazy.
32:40They absolutely love jam. Anything sweet.
32:43So that's like my wee secret in my pocket.
32:46I've got big leather gloves.
32:48Yeah. So if you do need a hand, I can help if you need it.
32:52Yeah, if we need to see the corner then. Hopefully not.
32:54It might get his household.
32:56Right, let's go.
32:58We explained to him that I could keep it for a short period to make sure that I was going to,
33:09you know, make it through the next few days. But then it's, he's now kind of more domesticated.
33:14He's quite a shouty man and...
33:18Eccentric.
33:19Eccentric, yeah.
33:21Oh well, I expect the unexpected.
33:27As the two cops approach the house, they don't know what sort of reception they'll get from Derek
33:33or his keeper.
33:35Attention, please. The area is under surveillance.
33:42Attention, please. The area is under surveillance.
33:46With its vast landscapes and tight-knit communities,
34:00the Highlands have long been seen as one of the safest parts of the UK.
34:04But across the region, the last five years has seen an increase in knife crime.
34:17We are finding a lot more people are in possession of knives or other weapons.
34:24It can be quite a scary thought, whatever job that you're going to,
34:27that potentially someone might be in possession of a weapon.
34:30As specialist taser officers, PCs Darren Shield and Jimmy Sutherland
34:35are often the first to be called to incidents involving a knife.
34:40Having a taser, it does give us that extra bit of security
34:45when you are being faced with a knife.
34:50Today, Darren and Jimmy are on a routine patrol
34:54when they are suddenly diverted to an urgent incident.
35:00Yeah, he had a large kitchen knife.
35:02We're back into the property with the knife.
35:06A man's been seen carrying a large knife outside.
35:09Alarmed neighbours have reported him to the police.
35:16Yeah, go ahead.
35:17Multiple officers are rushing to the scene.
35:32Yeah, the male was conversing with us at the window.
35:35At that point, he didn't have anything in either hand
35:38shown as a bleated article.
35:39And we've just gone out of sight.
35:41And standby, we'll give you an update.
35:43Their concern mounts when they discover the identity of the suspect.
35:47Uh, is this the male Alan Craig?
35:53You want Alan Craig, sir?
35:54Yeah.
35:58A crack cocaine addict known for his paranoid outbursts,
36:01Craig has multiple previous convictions.
36:04You just turn, go on to Kenneth Street.
36:08The suspect has now barricaded himself in his home.
36:11In his kitchen, at the other side.
36:13Yeah, I can't see.
36:14I'll just tell them to go round the back.
36:16That's fine.
36:16The kitchen went down.
36:20Having been called to multiple incidents here in the past...
36:24Hello, rascal.
36:25...Jimmy has managed to build up a rapport with Craig,
36:28so he takes the lead.
36:30Alan!
36:32Alan!
36:33Jimmy!
36:34It's Jimmy!
36:35Alan, speak to me, mate.
36:36Right, listen, I know you're right, but you're not listening to me.
36:38Well, speak to me, take it down a notch.
36:39I'm in the garden of my dog, right?
36:40Right.
36:41Okay, I've got a kitchen knife, right?
36:42All right.
36:43Cutting your f***ing marrow out of my dog's bone, can you get it right?
36:46All right, mate, that's fine.
36:47Why are you here?
36:48Right, because...
36:50Right, I'll tell you what it was.
36:52A member of the f***ing, Alan, Alan, come back and speak to me.
37:04Let me speak, Alan.
37:06I need to explain to you why we're here.
37:12Just FYI, he's got the knife in his hand again,
37:14so just if he does come out of there, just be careful.
37:16Just in the last, I did briefly converse with him.
37:18I've usually got quite a good relationship with him.
37:22He did say that he was out in his garden and he was cutting the bone marrow
37:25for his dog's bones in his garden the whole time, and then he's got angry,
37:31and now he's sort of going back between windows.
37:34The man's prior convictions, his anger and his refusal to hand over the knife
37:40make this a potentially volatile situation, requiring a broad emergency response.
37:48And there's a further escalation.
37:51Something's pro for burning in there.
37:53Is that coming from his house?
37:54Yeah.
37:54Yeah.
37:55There's a fire alarm going off from within his address.
37:58We can smell burning coming from the house,
38:01so we're not quite sure what's going on in there.
38:04Going through my head was, was there a fire now within that house?
38:08Yeah, control two zero delta.
38:10But we are just going to take precaution and get the upstairs neighbour out for the time being.
38:14He was on a ground floor flat, so there was someone that was up above him.
38:18It was trying to then make sure that the surrounding properties
38:21and people were evacuated as soon as we possibly could.
38:26Yeah, I believe in this block there's just one other property.
38:30We're just knocking the door just now to get him evacuated just now.
38:33He's burning something within his house which is causing a whole lot of smoke.
38:38So we've got fire service and ambulance also in attendance for any sort of fire or any injury risk.
38:44And it's just a case of just containing the situation for the time being.
38:47We're worried about you.
38:49No, no, no, no.
38:50You're f***ing.
38:51Alan, you've got a reasonable excuse to have that night.
38:55You've given us it.
38:56Yeah, I know.
38:57No, no, no.
38:58Right, do you know what my concern now is?
39:01What?
39:02Because your house might go on fire.
39:1770 miles away on the west coast.
39:22Attention, please.
39:24The area is under silence.
39:25PC's Roddy Sanderman and Angie Campbell are trying to rescue a pine marten called Derek.
39:31Sorry to bother you.
39:32Attention, please.
39:33Are you OK?
39:33Do I have a word?
39:35Can we come in and have a word?
39:36Yeah, yeah, yeah.
39:37I thought you didn't come in.
39:401-2, Whisky, that's entry into the house.
39:431-2, Alfred, can you just hold back just now?
39:47Do you want to take a seat just now?
39:52Yeah.
39:53The pine marten?
39:54Yeah.
39:54Now, we were contacted by the SSPCA saying that you were...
39:58Yeah, they contacted me.
39:59Yeah, that you weren't willing to hand it over to them.
40:02No.
40:02No.
40:02So I've got a warrant actually to seize the pine marten.
40:06So it's going to be taken away...
40:08When?
40:08Today.
40:11OK?
40:14I've got the paperwork, as you know.
40:16No, you haven't, because I've spoken to Nature Scotland and I've spoken to the SSPCA.
40:20You haven't got a licence for it.
40:22No, I asked them for one.
40:24Asking isn't having.
40:25They're not willing to give you one as well.
40:28They are not happy to give you a licence to hang on to it.
40:31So it is a criminal offence to possess it.
40:34So that's the reason we've got a warrant and that's the reason we need to take it.
40:37OK, there's the warrant there.
40:38If you're just a standard shift cop, you can feel a bit like,
40:42I didn't even know this was a crime because it's not like you deal with it every day.
40:45It's been issued by a sheriff as well.
40:48Yeah.
40:52OK.
40:52One, two, Alpha. Can you come up, please?
40:54Sorry, I know it's a bit of a shock for you.
41:04I felt sorry for him. He's clearly attached to it.
41:07But it's the welfare of the Pine Martin at the end of the day is what is the most important thing.
41:14SSPCA officer Yvonne Sloss arrives to take Derek away.
41:18He's reacted in a more upset way than angry way, so that's good.
41:26That's OK.
41:27And he's obviously understanding what's happening.
41:31Not happy about it, but he's not going to be an issue, I don't think.
41:34And it's still, we still bought it.
41:36Yeah, it's just in the back room. I've not seen it, but he's...
41:40I think he's going to want to help you, but I do want him to avoid doing that if possible.
41:45All right.
41:46Yvonne and Roddy attempt to persuade Derek into a cage.
41:51I don't want to grab it because he'll lose his trust, I suppose.
41:56There he is.
42:00Good. Nice one. I can see why he's attached to it.
42:04He was no problem. Yeah, he's in the cage.
42:07He quickly said goodbye to him.
42:09Once they have him in the cage, it becomes clear that Derek is a young pine martin, known as a kit.
42:16It went really well, actually. The pine martin's very, very tame.
42:20We managed to catch it, no problems, and to make sure that it wasn't too stressed.
42:25So you can see it's quite tame, and it's quite quiet, and it's quite comfortable.
42:30We'll get him in our centre, which there is other kits there.
42:33Merge him in with the other kits, and then hopefully his natural instinct and his wild instincts will kick in.
42:38He'll be able to get into a wild state again, and then hopefully October time they can all be released successfully.
42:43So that's, that's ultimate goal anyway, so.
42:47Job complete.
42:48Angie and Roddy can also leave.
42:51Plus one pine martin.
42:52He is very passionate about pine martins, and he's obviously become really attached to little Derek.
43:05So he's been charged with possessing a schedule five animal.
43:09I think they can be pretty, obviously that one's really tame, but they can be pretty vicious.
43:13They can be, and they can, they can carry disease as well.
43:19Leave them in the wild.
43:20Exactly.
43:22In Inverness, a man reported for carrying a kitchen knife in his garden,
43:34is now locked in a standoff with police.
43:40I burnt an egg here, man. I'm sorry, right?
43:42Aye.
43:43We don't need to fabricate, you know, this is the fabricage of time, man.
43:46This would be putting fires in shit.
43:48If you had just came to the door, I could have seen that for myself.
43:50We believe it to be a frying pan that was on the hob, which he has now removed.
43:56Although the risk of a serious fire seems to have subsided for now, police can't leave
44:01until the suspect comes to the door.
44:04PC Siobhan Cooper also knows him well and tries to help negotiate.
44:09I think if I was a year or two in and someone threatened to kill me and they had a knife and
44:24they were in a house and I was standing in their back garden, I'd be terrified.
44:28It's almost like I'm used to it now, but I always take it as a sort of,
44:35okay, you're going to kill me. So it just becomes like normal.
44:37Alan, you see that threats you're making just now, mate?
44:40No.
44:40That's why you were here.
44:42Come on, come on.
44:43That's why you were going to get lifted.
44:44Come on, Jenny.
44:45She was running a conflict.
44:47But you've just threatened to, you've just threatened to kill her.
44:51Said you were going to strangle her.
44:54But as well as considering the threats to their own officers,
44:57the police are concerned that Craig's volatile behaviour could endanger him.
45:01In the past, there was a, he was cutting about here with a firearm.
45:08Well, it wasn't a firearm, it was like an imitation firearm.
45:12And it was a firearms job.
45:13He nearly got shot because he wouldn't put it down.
45:17But it was a lot of things like this.
45:23If someone's got some mental health concerns that maybe at that particular time
45:27or moment they actually don't know what's happening,
45:30so they seem to escalate the situation themselves because of that.
45:34I'm trying to get you to come to the door so we can...
45:36Come on the door.
45:37Why not?
45:38Why not?
45:39Because you're going to arrest me, right?
45:40Do you understand where I'm coming from?
45:42I do, aye.
45:43And the situation escalates quite quickly,
45:47then our policy is to contain and negotiate.
45:51And we don't want that situation to get any bigger than what it is.
45:55Right, Alan, there's a possibility now you may be arrested because of your behaviour.
45:59And I'm not lying to you, that's a possibility.
46:02So why don't you make it easier for yourself and just come and...
46:04Because of my behaviour.
46:05No wonder I go mental, Jimmy.
46:07No wonder I go mental.
46:08Alan.
46:09No wonder I go mental, Jimmy.
46:11There's only so much that we can do to protect ourselves
46:13and protect other members of the public.
46:14Right, Alan, can you go down?
46:16Can I...
46:17Because I don't know what you're going to do.
46:18What?
46:19You're going to hurt yourself.
46:23Alan.
46:23I'm not going to go away, Alan.
46:33If it was required, then we would have to force entry into that address.
46:37With all communication having broken down, the police must now consider a change in the tactics.
46:48He seems to be boarding up the windows.
46:50So our inspectors and sergeants are discussing whether it'll go in, have to go in the door.
46:56His behaviour just seemed to escalate and now he's just completely shut down and not speaking to us at all.
47:02The End
47:16Having rescued the Pine Martin,
47:31PC's Roddy Sanderman and Angie Campbell
47:34are now responding to another call
47:36at the other end of the remote Ardnemachan Peninsula.
47:46You know, you might get two calls
47:50in your eight-hour day or your nine-hour day,
47:53but they will be completely the opposite end of the beat.
47:57It takes you a fair while to get from A to B.
48:01The only section of two-lane
48:03is the bit from the ferry to Strontian.
48:07Everywhere else, a single track.
48:10It can be quite hairy sometimes, shall I say,
48:13driving on the roads.
48:16Their destination is an isolated stretch of coast
48:19which has recently hit the news.
48:22A boat belonging to a local fish farm has sunk,
48:26spilling diesel into the sea
48:27and drawing attention from environmental activists.
48:32A trap turned up a couple of weeks ago
48:35with a view to filming the vessel getting lifted.
48:39He is an activist and he's got his own YouTube channel
48:42and he's looking to film it and make it public, basically,
48:46and raise awareness about fish farms
48:49and what he believes they're doing wrong.
48:52He used to actually work on a fish farm
48:54before he decided that he was anti-fish farm.
48:58With tensions rising, the fish farm have reported the activists to the police
49:03for filming them with a drone.
49:05I think this guy's just obviously wanting to keep tabs on them
49:08and they obviously don't want to be bothered by what he's doing.
49:13The purpose of today is more just to let both sides know
49:16that we are aware that they've both got issues
49:18and just so they both keep themselves in check.
49:21Fish farming is a divisive topic
49:23and the cops have to tread carefully.
49:26There's a lot of fish farms in the area,
49:28a massive employer.
49:31It does have another side
49:33in that a lot of people look at them
49:35as environmental problems or polluters.
49:40Definitely a conflict in the area
49:43which we have to kind of weave a narrow line between
49:46just to make sure that people aren't committing offences.
49:48There he is.
49:55Hi Jamie, how are you getting on?
49:58We had another call from the fish farm about,
50:01I think it was yesterday,
50:02were you filming some more over the site yesterday?
50:05Yeah.
50:05Yeah.
50:06How close were you, do you know?
50:0820, 30 metres.
50:10Right, OK.
50:11The police need to check Jamie is flying his drone legally.
50:15Have you got an ID on it?
50:17Or an operator's ID?
50:19You need to have an operator's ID for any drone now.
50:22Really?
50:22Just purely for, if the drone was to crash into something
50:26they would be able to trace it back to who it was that was flying.
50:28We shouldn't be exploiting animals either.
50:31That's the thing.
50:31And we're not here to say you're wrong, you're right.
50:36We're here to enforce the law.
50:38The law allows this animal exploitation to happen.
50:41The law's corrupt.
50:42OK.
50:43This won't be the law.
50:44In the future this will be illegal.
50:46Just the fact that the law's not cut up with basic ethics yet is a worry.
50:51Yeah.
50:51We have to go with what the law is at the moment.
50:54Yeah.
50:55We can't go with what the law is going to be in the future.
51:00Do you think animal exploitation is OK ethically, yourself, morally?
51:04What I think doesn't matter.
51:05No.
51:05I'm not paid to have a moral opinion.
51:10I'm paid to enforce the law.
51:11To do what you're told.
51:12Enforce the law effectively, yeah.
51:14And you can see that as me being a, doing what I'm told.
51:17No, that's what it is.
51:18OK.
51:19Wow.
51:19I was just there to give him some advice and remind him of his obligations while flying a drone.
51:24I wasn't telling him he couldn't be there or anything like that.
51:27So, but I think for, in this instance, he already had his mind made up about the reason for our attendance.
51:34This is the way this multinational's got to use work.
51:37And they've got the police to come out here because I've got a drone that's not registered.
51:42That's a toy drone.
51:43This is pathetic.
51:46I can't even believe this is happening.
51:48If someone makes an allegation that someone's not doing something within the law, then it's we are duty-bound to investigate it.
51:53But it's not against the law.
51:55Well, it is for the operator ID.
51:58It can be difficult to not be seen as taken aside.
52:03I think in this instance, he had an opinion that we were on the fish farm side, which is certainly not the case.
52:12I'm not trying to be difficult.
52:13I'm just trying to make sure everyone is pathetic.
52:15OK, well, you can think that.
52:16It's totally pathetic.
52:17OK.
52:18I think you must feel that a wee bit yourselves too, surely.
52:21Not really.
52:21Talking about a toy drone here.
52:23OK.
52:23That's what you just do.
52:24Again, I could make it difficult, but I'm trying to help you and offer you the advice now so things don't...
52:31Yeah.
52:32OK.
52:33Having told the man to display an operator's ID on his drone, there's no need for further action.
52:40So Roddy and Angie start the long drive home.
52:43I normally try and make a good effort of trying to win them over and be like, look, I'm not against you, which I was trying to do with him, but he wasn't having it.
52:53I don't think there was any convincing him that we're not corrupt in the pocket of multinationals, is what he said, wasn't it?
53:00I think a lot of the time they just see the uniform and they just automatically think that you don't share the same views or that you don't have an opinion and you're just kind of, we're just robots and told what to do and where to go.
53:18And he said, oh, you know, yeah, like, you're not paid, you just do what you're told, but that kind of is what it is, because if we start taking sides, then where's that going to lead?
53:29Like, we can't be taking either side, because if we took his side, then we get complaints from the fish farm.
53:34So, you just, you don't take a side, you just, you know.
54:04In Inverness, negotiations with the knife suspect have now completely broken down.
54:12The street's been closed and neighbours evacuated.
54:17If he does come out of that door, then you need to be standing this side.
54:22We'll get you, we'll get you, getting hands on him and getting cuffs on him.
54:25Concerned that the suspect might hurt himself as well as others, the police are now preparing to break into his home if necessary.
54:33Our main aim is to get someone out of that property without causing them any harm.
54:38So, ultimately, if that means have to stand there and talk to someone for a number of hours, then that's what we'll do, up to a certain point where they become a risk to themselves.
54:46And if they do become a risk to themselves, then another risk assessment will be made, and the chances are that they'll end up going through the door for that reason.
54:57Yeah, he's now got a golf club in the kitchen, and he just seems to be swinging it about.
55:03But with the suspect apparently preparing to meet them with violence, breaking in would be fraught with risk.
55:10He's got a small gas canister, like a camping stove style, on the window.
55:16Yeah, he's now got a candle.
55:19It's right beside where the gas canister is.
55:25He has also poured boiling water into something, and there's also poured bleach into the boiling water.
55:33I can't see what it actually is.
55:34After assessing the risks to the officers and the public, commanders in the control room decide to bring in a firearms team, who are equipped to break in if necessary.
55:52I thought I was getting somewhere, I thought I was going to get him to come out, but then he just turned and he basically just started talking about the nonsense.
56:08Jimmy hands over to specialist police negotiators.
56:11Five hours after police were first called by a concerned neighbour, with the fire service and ambulance crews on standby, and the whole area cordoned off, there's still no sign of an end to the standoff.
56:35We're just being relieved by other units who are going to come over and take over from us.
56:41Negotiators haven't been able to get anywhere with them as yet.
56:45You have heard of these sieges taking 24 hours, you know, so it could go on and on.
56:51We just don't know, it's impossible to say at this stage.
56:54MUSIC PLAYS
57:11MUSIC CONTINUES
57:13MUSIC CONTINUES
57:18MUSIC CONTINUES
57:23guitar solo
57:53guitar solo
58:23guitar solo
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