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00:00Just to remind you, this was the abduction and reno drop campaign and the handgun debate.
00:08Hello and welcome to Cry What 12 People Rang and giving the same offers fantastic businesses.
00:21Good morning, thanks for joining us today and I have to say Michelle, it is great to have you back
00:26with us.
00:26It's good to be back, I've missed you and the team but hey we've got a busy series so please
00:31do stay with us as over the next three weeks we're asking for your help with urgent appeals from all
00:35across the UK.
00:37You could be holding that vital piece of information that could help solve a case.
00:42Coming up this morning, do you recognise the man in this e-fit? Police want to speak to him in
00:47connection to a sexual assault on a schoolgirl in Milton Keynes.
00:51We also have an exclusive interview with a detective who finally secured justice for the murder of Victoria Hall after
00:58a painful 26 year wait.
01:01He can sit in prison and rot really. I'm not spending any more time when it's done. He's done, he's
01:09gone. I haven't thought about him, I won't think about him again.
01:15And we're joined by officers from Durham to see how their drones are leaving criminals literally nowhere to hide.
01:25As ever our phone lines are open and our team and officers are ready to take your calls.
01:30To get in touch you just need to scan the QR code below using your phone's camera and follow the
01:36link.
01:36Or you can call us on 08000 468 999.
01:40You can text us on 633 999. Start with the word crime, leave a space and then write your message.
01:46Or if you prefer you can email us and that is the address. It's cwl at bbc.co.uk.
01:53Those details will be on your screen throughout the whole programme just down by the clock.
01:59Now time for our first appeal this series and it comes from London.
02:02A day out that turned from fun to tragedy in a split second as an innocent family got caught up
02:10in a drive-by shooting.
02:11As you can imagine, this film has some distressing themes.
02:18We don't often see reckless shootings like this where people are firing into a busy restaurant.
02:25All the years I've been doing this job it's the most upsetting thing I've ever had to watch.
02:29A nine-year-old girl, on the floor, unconscious.
02:33The first thing that enters my mind is to catch those who are responsible.
02:43On the 29th of May 2024, a mum and her nine-year-old daughter went for a day trip to
02:50London,
02:51stopping in Dalston, East London, for some dinner.
02:54It was a half-term break, so my daughter was at home.
02:59We decided to go to London.
03:02She wanted to have some dinner.
03:06So we took a bus.
03:08Then we get to this restaurant.
03:13We got a seat which is close to the window.
03:16She was pretty excited and happy.
03:21We were almost finishing our dinner and we heard noises outside.
03:27At first, we didn't realize what it is.
03:29After a fraction of a second, we knew that it's something more serious.
03:35It's a gunshot.
03:39I asked my daughter to get under the couch.
03:43At that time, a lot of chaos people were running.
03:46So many things happened at the time.
03:49I bent down and pulled my daughter from under the couch.
03:57Then only I realized that she has been shot.
04:07A bullet had struck the little girl in the head, leaving her in a critical condition.
04:22Against all odds, the nine-year-old girl survived.
04:40In all the years I've been doing this job, it's the most upsetting thing I've ever had to watch.
04:44You know, seeing her nine-year-old girl on the floor, unconscious.
04:49Words can't describe how upset and emotional her family members were.
04:56We don't often see, in London, reckless shootings like this where people are firing into a busy restaurant where there's
05:02innocent members of the public.
05:10The first thing that enters my mind is to catch those who are responsible.
05:14At 9.20 that night, an off-duty police officer was cycling along Kingsland High Street and captured the entire
05:23incident on the helmet-mounted camera.
05:25A lone individual on a motorbike comes straight past him and is only meters in front of him and fired
05:34six shots into the crowded restaurant.
05:40With no care for anyone that was inside.
05:49The young girl was sat inside and the first bullet that fired hit her.
05:55The bullets also hit three men sitting outside.
06:01Extraordinarily, no one was killed.
06:07The footage gave us a really good image of the bike, close-up.
06:14We were able to get a description of the clothing.
06:18And we were also able to see where the bike went straight afterwards.
06:24Teast of the operators were then able to track that bike to where the shooter got off the bike, abandoned
06:29in Colverston Crescent.
06:33The shooter got into the rear of a Nissan Juke and was then driven away from the location.
06:39CCTV showed the Nissan travel to an area near Edmonton where the shooter and a second man switched cars to
06:46a Range Rover.
06:48Straight away, this tells me that this has got a high level of planning, they know what they're doing, they
06:53know how to try and avoid detection.
06:56All these factors put extra pressure on to try and identify those involved as soon as possible when you get
07:02them arrested.
07:06At some point as they head north, the shooter gets out.
07:11The driver then stops to put something in another car, a Mitsubishi Outlander.
07:16He then gets back in the Range Rover and drives to a set of flats near Tottenham High Road.
07:23Both the Nissan and Mitsubishi were found burnt out a few days later.
07:29But the black Range Rover gave police a vital clue.
07:34We were able to identify and issue a driver on that vehicle, an individual by the name of Javon Riley.
07:41He was known to the police and he was connected to a gang in Tottenham.
07:46We were mindful of the organised crime element.
07:51The working hypothesis straight away that this was likely to be Tottenham Turks shooting up, packing the bomber chillers,
07:57which is a long, ongoing feud which has been running for years.
08:03Obviously, it must be someone at that location or individuals that he is targeting.
08:08The fact that the intended targets weren't killed, I have to think about any further retaliation, any retribution that may
08:15take place.
08:17They discovered Riley had been staking out the restaurant that was shot up for weeks before the shooting.
08:26Riley had been there earlier in the month, sat in a cafe opposite, observing comings and goings from the Yavin
08:32restaurant.
08:40The night of the shooting itself, Javon Riley drives past the Yavin restaurant, slows down at times almost to a
08:50stop.
08:54And he's doing these loops past the restaurant before finally coming to a stop in Colverston Crescent.
09:00At this point, we believe, is when Nicole's gone in to the shooter to make his way up from South
09:05London.
09:0820 minutes later, the six shots were fired.
09:18Police arrested Javon Riley on the 9th of August, 2024.
09:25He was sentenced to 34 years imprisonment for attempted murder and grievous bodily harm.
09:31But the police are still looking for the shooter.
09:48She is living with a bullet in her head.
09:51Doctors can't retrieve it back or it might cause further damage to her brain.
09:58It's been 18 months now.
10:01But I can...
10:05But I can...
10:06I can see...
10:07And Derry went in front of my eyes every night when I close my eyes.
10:17She was a very active child.
10:20She did gymnastics, fencing, cooking, singing, swimming, so many things.
10:26And this has actually changed her completely.
10:32Her childhood is gone.
10:35But I'm not ready to forget my old girl.
10:42I can't.
10:47Just in a fraction of a second, they have just...
10:50Crushed, shattered our life, a child's dream, our dream.
10:55And they are still outside, free.
11:02And I'm now with DI Ben Dalloway from the Met Police.
11:06You saw from the film there.
11:07It was just awful to watch that, Ben.
11:10And just to recap something you said in the film there, you're confident it's two rival gangs here that were
11:15involved in this awful situation.
11:18Yeah, that's right, Rav.
11:19We're confident that it's two rival gangs, one named the Hackney Bombacillers and one named the Tottenham Turks.
11:25The men who were sat at the front of the restaurant were members of the Hackney Bombacillers and were the
11:29intended targets.
11:29It's just an awful, awful situation to be caught up in that at all in broad daylight.
11:35What do we know about where the shooter went to after it happened?
11:40Yeah, so you see from the clip there, the bike heads away from the scene and the rider rides to
11:47Colverston Crescent.
11:48In Colverston Crescent, he abandons the bike and gets into a waiting vehicle being driven by a Javon Riley.
11:56That's a stolen Nissan Juke.
11:58From there, the vehicle heads away from Dalston, heads east initially and then north around the A406 North Circular,
12:08whereby they have a stop north of Tottenham in the Palmer's Green area.
12:13And at that point, they switch from the Nissan Juke into Javon Riley's Range Rover Velar.
12:18At that point, they then drive off in the Velar, the two of them head towards Barnet Village.
12:24And we believe at some point on that route, the shooter is dropped off, but we just don't know where.
12:29Answers that you need. What do we know about the shooter himself?
12:34The shooter appears to be a proficient motorbike rider.
12:37That was clear from the footage, actually, wasn't it?
12:39Yeah, you can see by the way he handles the bike, does short, quick turns.
12:43He, we believe he's got connections to the Barset and Tapasfield Estates, which is an area in the Nunhead in
12:49South London.
12:50And we know that because we've tracked the bike to there on the 27th of May.
12:54And on the 29th of May, the day of the shooting, the bike emerges from that same vicinity.
13:00We've obviously have stills and moving footage whereby we can see the clothing worn by the shooter being a two
13:07-tone North Face jacket.
13:10What looked like motorbike trousers with a reflective strip down the side and what looked like Alpine Stars motorbike boots
13:17as well.
13:18And a quite clear white helmet at the time of the shooting.
13:23They're quite distinctive.
13:24And what about the bike itself?
13:26What can you tell us about that?
13:27So the bike, as of, it was a stolen bike, stolen in 2022.
13:31As of the 2nd of May, 2024, so month of the shooting, it emerged on stolen plates.
13:38So the DP21OXY is a false plate.
13:43That bike could have been moving around on different plates prior to that point.
13:48As I say, we know that bike has connections to the Basset Estate and Tapersfield Estate areas of South London.
13:54And it's a loud bike.
13:56It's a head turner.
13:58If it's a loud exhaust, when that bike's on the move, people can hear it.
14:02It's distinctive in its colourings.
14:04Because I think if you've seen that bike on your estate or, you know, nearby to where you live, there's
14:09a good chance that, you know, you would have seen it and you would have heard it.
14:12Yeah, as you say, it's distinctive and it's got the noisy exhaust on it.
14:15This is a sporty bike, powerful bike.
14:17You may well have seen it in your area and you need to know more about it.
14:22What about the weapon itself?
14:24What do you know about that?
14:25What information do you have?
14:26So the weapon was a 9mm self-loading pistol.
14:30It's never been used before in any crime and it's never been used since in any crime.
14:35We believe that firearm has been discarded off and will probably never be seen again.
14:41Watching the appeal there, it's just heartbreaking hearing the family speak about what's happened to them.
14:47How are they doing now?
14:49You can imagine it's extremely difficult.
14:51Their young daughter has got a bullet lodged in her brain and will have for the rest of her life.
14:56That causes cognitive difficulties.
15:00She's not the same individual she would have been had this incident not happened.
15:04It's been a really, really difficult time and will continue to be so for the family, unfortunately.
15:09So we need to get them answers.
15:11Who are you appealing to today?
15:13I'm really appealing to anyone who has any information in relation to the shooter or the bike.
15:17Even if you've just seen that bike, as I say, circling where you live, if you've seen it parked outside
15:24an address,
15:25if you know the shooter or if you believe you've seen someone in that clothing, then please do call us.
15:31We need to hear from you.
15:33And if anyone needs any further incentive to get in touch, there is a reward that's been put up.
15:38That's correct.
15:39There is a reward of up to £15,000 from the Met Police.
15:42And that's in relation to any identification, arrest and prosecution of not just the shooter, but anyone else involved in
15:49this offence.
15:50Ben, thank you.
15:51Please do pick up the phone if you know anything about this truly awful shooting.
15:56All the ways you can contact us are at the bottom of the screen and we'll be there throughout the
16:00whole programme.
16:02For our next appeal, I'm with PC Dan Simpson from Thames Valley Police, who needs your help to solve a
16:08worrying sexual assault against a schoolgirl.
16:10Thanks so much for coming in this morning, Dan.
16:12What more can you tell us about this appeal?
16:14On the 3rd of November last year, about 3.45 in the afternoon, so middle of the day, broad daylight
16:21in a busy residential area, Milton Keynes, a young teenage schoolgirl was assaulted.
16:28A male would run up behind her, grabbed her under her skirt before running off.
16:33We can actually see the location on a map.
16:35You say it's the Oldbrook area of Milton Keynes.
16:38That's right.
16:39So it's a busy residential estate that borders the city centre.
16:43There's a large college on the estate next to it and, yeah, the offence of the case in the Wood
16:49Place is full of houses.
16:52Yeah.
16:53And as you say, this was a teenage girl.
16:54It must have been incredibly terrifying for her.
16:57How is she doing now?
17:00Yeah, I've touched base with her throughout the course of the investigation and she's okay.
17:04She has a good support network around her, but obviously this type of offence is distressing and cause a lot
17:08of upset.
17:09Absolutely.
17:09What was she able to tell you about the perpetrator, Dan?
17:13She gave a really good description.
17:16As you can see on the screen, it's allowed us to build this ether image.
17:20The clothing was all dark, black clothing, fairly in the script, but he has quite distinctive thin dreadlocks.
17:28And as you say, an incredibly useful ether, actually, because it then allowed you to locate somebody on some CCTV
17:35footage.
17:35We can take a look at that now. Just explain what we're seeing here.
17:40So that's our victim walking. We believe this is our suspect walking with quite a lot of purpose.
17:46It's quite almost predatory in nature when you think about what occurred later.
17:50Yes. And just a reminder, again, of the location, it's Illingworth Place that that was.
17:56So that footage was from Illingworth Place.
17:58So it was a few minutes before the offence, which occurred on Underwood Place, the road parallel.
18:03Incredibly important that you locate this person.
18:06How can people watching today help?
18:09Anybody that recognises the person in the image or may have witnessed anything that happened on the day, we need
18:18to just get in touch.
18:19The nature of the crime, it was quite opportunistic as well.
18:23Yeah, absolutely.
18:25It's opportunistic in the sense that our victim and the suspect passed in the street and she noticed him following
18:32her three or four occasions onwards from there until she met her friend and before the offence took place.
18:38If anybody has been through an experience familiar to this, or indeed if someone's out and about, they don't feel
18:45that safe, they're being followed, what advice would you give to them?
18:50Call 999 and speak to the police straight away.
18:53Stand on the phone, tell the operator where you are.
18:55It's, and if they feel particularly unsafe, move towards a busy area where there's other people.
19:02Offences like this, violence against women and girls is a national police priority and it's something we will deal with.
19:08Under the highest priority.
19:09Yeah, some good advice there and hopefully people watching at home can help.
19:13Dan, thanks so much again for joining us this morning.
19:16So if you do recognise the man in the e-fit, take a good look.
19:19If you know anything at all that can help with this case, all the ways to contact us are on
19:24the screen below.
19:26Still to come, we'll be hearing from the charity Crimestoppers about how their anonymous hotline has helped solve thousands of
19:34crimes.
19:36Good afternoon, Crimestoppers. How can I come to you?
19:39We're not the police. We treat them completely anonymously.
19:42Because we don't record the calls, we don't trace the calls, no-one will know where that information's come from.
19:51But first, you may have seen in the news how serial killer Steve Wright finally confessed to murdering teenager Victoria
19:58Hall 26 years ago.
20:01Well, we now have an exclusive film with the officers who finally cracked the case and secured much-needed justice
20:08for a grieving family.
20:20She was our firstborn. She was just Victoria, yeah? She was our little girl.
20:27She was what you would call a very typical girly girl.
20:32She was just going into second year and sixth form.
20:36She liked to do a lot of performing arts.
20:38There used to be a theatre group that she used to go to.
20:42Spent many a late night picking her up.
20:46She really had her mind set on going to university.
20:50So, it was all looking forward to things.
21:03On the 18th of September 1999, Victoria Hall was out for the evening with her best friend.
21:11They went to the Bandbox nightclub and they left at one o'clock in the morning.
21:16They walked to the local takeaway shop and then walked the long way home through Felixstowe.
21:24This was a usual activity for them.
21:28They parted company.
21:30Victoria turned off towards her home address and Gemma would carry on straight up the main road towards her address.
21:37We know that two minutes later, Gemma heard what sounded like two high-pitched female screams.
21:44She didn't think anything more of it at the time, just thinking it was somebody messing around.
21:48And it wasn't until the next morning when Victoria's mum phoned Gemma to find that they'd parted company at the
21:55edge of the estate.
21:56And Victoria's mum instantly knew something bad had happened and phoned the police.
22:19Five days later, Victoria's body was discovered 25 miles away.
22:29In the evening of Friday the 24th September 1999, in Creta, St. Peter, a man was walking his dog along
22:37a track next to a field and a ditch.
22:40Unfortunately, he saw Victoria in that ditch.
22:52The day before Victoria went missing, an attempted kidnap was reported in the same area.
23:00Emily Doughty was a 22-year-old woman.
23:03She was living in Felixstowe and she went to the same nightclub as Victoria Hall did.
23:09She was there into the early hours of Saturday, the 18th of September 1999.
23:16She left with her friends just after 2 o'clock in the morning and found herself split up from those
23:22friends.
23:22And she started to walk home alone.
23:25She soon noticed that there was a car parked next to the pavement.
23:30The door was open.
23:31There was a man stood next to it, which immediately frightened her to the point that she took some evasive
23:37action,
23:37and moved away from him to try and hide.
23:41He carried on following her.
23:42She picked up a stick at one point because she was so scared.
23:45And she was knocking on doors, trying to get in to get herself safe.
23:49And eventually a couple let her in.
23:53At the time, the events weren't linked.
23:55But years later, the description Emily gave of that man and his car would prove vital.
24:03He was 6 foot.
24:05He was late 30s.
24:06He had a slight beer belly, a round face, and blonde hair.
24:10She provided a description of clothing, which was a yellow polo shirt.
24:15It was a dark-coloured car.
24:18It had a stripe around the bodywork, an H-registered car, and also there was an E and an H
24:24in the registration.
24:26At the time, they did the search of vehicles in Suffolk that could match that registration.
24:32That came back to 56 vehicles.
24:36One of those we know to be Steve Wright's.
24:40At the time, police had another suspect, and Steve Wright wasn't investigated.
24:46The case remained unsolved for 20 years.
24:50But then in June 2020, he was named as a suspect in Victoria's murder,
24:56based on compelling circumstantial evidence, and that he was a convicted serial killer.
25:02We knew that he'd murdered five women in Ipswich in 2006, and that he'd left them naked in rural locations.
25:10We could see the similarity that held to how Victoria was left.
25:14And also, when we looked in detail around the car description, the description of the male,
25:20and the registration that Emily provided, we got that down to one vehicle, which was Steve Wright's.
25:29Next, they re-examined the CCTV from Victoria Hall's case.
25:34With the help of a facial recognition expert, they positively identified that Steve Wright
25:40had been at a petrol station near the time of the killing.
25:44It was gold dust, really, that CCTV.
25:47Twenty-odd years later, we're able to find an image of Steve Wright in the petrol station
25:53four hours after Victoria was taken, just ten minutes' drive from where her body was located.
26:00They also confirmed he hadn't been in work at the time of her disappearance.
26:06Within a matter of days of Victoria being murdered and left abandoned in a rural location,
26:12Steve Wright actually traded in that dark-coloured car.
26:17He also changed his mobile phone number.
26:19You know, these, I'd say, are all actions of somebody that's trying to cover their tracks.
26:25The time is 9.30.
26:27And I need to tell you that I'm arresting you...
26:28He was arrested for the murder of Victoria Hall.
26:32OK, I'm also arresting you on suspicion of the attempted kidnap of Emily Doherty.
26:36In interview, he denied any knowledge of either case.
26:42Did you try to kidnap Emily Doherty on High Road East
26:46during the early hours of the 18th of September 1999?
26:50No.
26:51What's your knowledge of the abduction of Victoria Hall and her murder?
26:55No knowledge whatsoever.
26:57OK.
26:58Nothing at all?
26:59Nothing.
27:02The team retested the DNA using modern, improved techniques.
27:09We ended up with initial results that provided strong support,
27:14that there was a match to Steve Wright.
27:17The scientist has determined that the YSTR profile results obtained from both samples
27:22provide very strong support for the proposition
27:25that the majority of the male DNA detected in that sample
27:29originated from you, Steve Wright.
27:32There was enough evidence to charge him with the attempted kidnapping
27:36of Emily Doherty and the murder of Victoria Hall.
27:41And in a groundbreaking decision,
27:44the judge ruled that Wright's bad character
27:46could be disclosed to the jury.
27:51From the opening of the case,
27:53the jury would understand that Steve Wright had murdered five women.
27:58But importantly,
27:58it was all the similarities between those deaths
28:02that would really sort of tie everything together.
28:08His trial was due to begin on the 2nd of February, 2026,
28:12at the Old Bailey.
28:13But just as it was about to start,
28:16he changed his plea to guilty.
28:20Wright was sentenced on the 6th of Feb,
28:222026.
28:25Given your obvious dangerousness and your age,
28:29the sentence already imposed for your other dreadful crimes,
28:33it is well nigh certain you will die in prison.
28:36The sentences I impose are
28:38One, for the attempted kidnap of Emily Doherty,
28:42nine years imprisonment concurrent.
28:44Two, for the kidnap of Victoria Hall,
28:4812 years imprisonment concurrent.
28:50Three, for the murder of Victoria Hall,
28:53I pass a sentence of life imprisonment
28:56with a minimum term of 40 years.
29:02Tragically, Victoria's mum Lorinda died shortly before Christmas, 2025.
29:11We'd had these conversations, hadn't we?
29:12And she was pretty dead certain it was him as well.
29:16So she knew, yeah, it's a shame she never got to see the actual justice.
29:27He can sit in prison and rot, really.
29:30I'm not spending any more time when it's done.
29:33He's done.
29:34He's gone.
29:35I haven't thought about him.
29:37I won't think about him again.
29:43Some much-needed closure for Victoria's family there.
29:47We're joined now by an organisation
29:49who keeps cases just like that one
29:51very much alive in the public consciousness,
29:54and that's Crimestoppers.
29:55They're a charity that we often talk about here on Crimewatch,
29:58and I'm pleased to say that I'm joined now by Mark Callas,
30:01who is their chief executive.
30:03Thank you so much for coming in today, Mark.
30:05It'd be lovely to talk a bit more about Crimestoppers.
30:07For anybody that doesn't know that much about the work that you do,
30:11what more can you tell us?
30:12Well, we're an independent charity
30:13that was set up nearly 40 years ago,
30:15nearly as old as Crimewatch,
30:17and with the express aim of providing a mechanism
30:22for the public to pass information safely, securely,
30:25but above all else and critically, anonymously,
30:28to the police so that they can take appropriate action,
30:31whether it's further investigation, help solve a crime
30:35or bring justice to a victim's family.
30:38We take an awful lot of calls and online forms every day.
30:42Just to put things into context,
30:44this year we'll take three-quarters of a million contacts from the public
30:47and we'll send over 250,000 reports to the police
30:51and wider law enforcement.
30:53And we find from a lot of our survey work
30:56that there is a strong minority of the public,
30:58about 20%, 25%,
31:00that just struggle to talk to the police
31:02under almost any circumstances
31:04because of fear of retaliation or retribution.
31:06It's so interesting, isn't it?
31:08Because looking at the figures,
31:09you really are achieving positive results.
31:13What do you think mainly is driving that?
31:15I think there's probably three reasons that we need to consider.
31:19First of all, the fact that there is more crime
31:22of certain types in certain areas.
31:25Secondly, and I think critically,
31:26is that we're running, in conjunction with partners like yourselves,
31:29far more national and local and regional campaigns
31:32that are getting the message of hope out.
31:34And when we do that, we get more information.
31:37And thirdly, the fact that there is a need for our service
31:42because of, since we've had a number of significant cases,
31:47tragic cases, such as the murder of Sarah Everard,
31:50trust and confidence in policing has taken a bit of a hit.
31:53And a lot of people still want to do the right thing,
31:56but they'll come to us to make sure that information
31:58gets to where it needs to get to.
31:59Yeah. You've got a new reporting line, haven't you?
32:02Yes, we've set up something called
32:04the Police Anti-Corruption and Abuse Reporting Service,
32:08something that we set up in conjunction
32:10with police chiefs and police and crime commissioners
32:13so that the public can give information
32:16on the most serious cases of wrongdoing
32:18carried out by police officers and police staff.
32:22Now, we all know that the vast majority of police officers
32:25and police staff are doing a fantastic job
32:27under difficult circumstances,
32:29but there is, unfortunately,
32:31a small minority of officers who aren't,
32:33and they need to be held to account for their wrongdoing.
32:35And I think it's very good that the police
32:37are shining a torchlight in that area
32:39and that the public can report that.
32:41And we've sent over 5,000 reports in the past two years
32:45to the 43 police forces in this country
32:47so they can investigate fully and appropriately.
32:50Now, you are a charity.
32:52Where should people go if they want to find out
32:53a bit more about you?
32:55They should use their search engine of choice,
32:57type in Crimestoppers,
32:58and they will find our website.
33:00On that website,
33:01they'll find lots of information
33:03about the campaigns that we're running,
33:06either ourselves or with partners.
33:07They'll also find information
33:09about how to protect themselves from crime.
33:11And, importantly and critically,
33:13they'll find a way to pass information
33:15on an online form
33:16or call us on 0800 555 111.
33:19And, Mark, you actually invited us
33:21to your headquarters
33:22to get a bit more of an insight
33:23into the work you and the team do.
33:25So, let's take a look.
33:311985, tensions between police
33:33and a local community in North London
33:35had been rising,
33:38resulting in a riot
33:39at the Broadwater Farm Estate in Tottenham.
33:44A small team of police officers
33:46were sent in to protect firefighters.
33:53But they were violently attacked.
33:59PC Keith Blakelock died
34:01as a result of his injuries.
34:04Essentially, PC Keith Blakelock,
34:07he'd been murdered
34:07and people knew what had happened,
34:09but it was a kind of a state
34:10where people didn't talk directly
34:12to the police
34:12for fear of retaliation
34:14or retribution.
34:19As a direct result
34:21of this tragic case,
34:22Crimestoppers were set up,
34:25giving a voice to anyone
34:26who was too afraid to speak out.
34:29We exist so that people
34:31who want to pass information
34:33safely, securely,
34:34but above all else,
34:35anonymously,
34:35can do that to us
34:37and we'll make sure
34:38that it then gets to the police.
34:40At its headquarters,
34:42over 50 trained staff
34:43deal with calls
34:44and information
34:45passed to them online.
34:47We take information
34:49on all crime types
34:50that can be from murder,
34:52rape,
34:53to drink driving,
34:54county lines,
34:55offences.
34:56We also help protect people
34:58from offences
34:59such as domestic abuse
35:01and child sexual exploitation.
35:04Every call is slightly different.
35:07It can be a neighbour
35:08wanting to give information
35:09on someone,
35:11maybe drug dealing
35:12or domestic abuse
35:14that they witness.
35:16We're not the police.
35:17We treat them
35:18completely anonymously.
35:20Because we don't record the calls,
35:22we don't trace calls,
35:23no one will know
35:24where that information's come from.
35:28That anonymity is key
35:30and a vital incentive
35:32for people who may otherwise
35:33slip through the net.
35:35There's a hard core
35:36of about 20% of people
35:38who, for a variety of circumstances,
35:40won't talk to the police directly.
35:43We give them an avenue
35:44to speak up and stay safe.
35:47We've structured the system
35:49so that if anybody phones us,
35:50the phone number is scrambled
35:52or if anybody sends in
35:54an online form,
35:55the IP address is stripped out
35:56before it gets to us.
35:58So there is genuinely no way
36:00of us knowing,
36:01let alone the police knowing,
36:02who have contacted us.
36:06Calls come in from across the UK
36:08and need sensitive handling.
36:11When they make that call,
36:13it's always about
36:14trying to build a rapport,
36:15trying to find out
36:16what they want out
36:17of making that call.
36:19It can take a bit
36:20of reassurance sometimes
36:21because this can be
36:22the toughest call
36:23for some people.
36:25There are times
36:26that calls are quite tough.
36:28So for me personally,
36:30I'm a mum of teenagers.
36:32So I find child abuse
36:34and domestic abuse
36:34quite hard.
36:35Crime stoppers,
36:36how can I help you?
36:39Although rewards
36:40are sometimes offered,
36:42most people want
36:43to do the right thing,
36:44resulting in some
36:45significant leads
36:46for the police.
36:47We've had on one occasion
36:49a paedophile
36:50who'd been on the run
36:50for a long time
36:51and then as a result
36:52of the campaign
36:53that we'd launched,
36:54he was arrested
36:54literally within 24 hours.
36:57For the call agents,
36:58knowing they could be
36:59stopping a crime
37:00or protecting
37:01an individual
37:02is a great reward
37:03for a tough job.
37:06I always tell myself
37:07we wouldn't be here
37:08if we didn't
37:09make a difference.
37:16That was just
37:17such a fascinating
37:18insight, wasn't it?
37:19To see the work
37:20they do and think
37:21of the fact.
37:21Really valuable.
37:22Yeah, thousands of cases
37:23over the years.
37:24Yeah, great to see.
37:25Now to a popular gadget
37:27that is used
37:28as a professional tool
37:29employed daily
37:30by law enforcement.
37:31I'm talking about
37:32these things.
37:32Drones, of course.
37:34Yeah, we've seen
37:34countless examples
37:35on the programme
37:36of how they're being
37:37used by police
37:38to help find missing people,
37:40provide bird's eye views
37:41of events
37:42and locating suspects.
37:43And we're now
37:44with Sergeant Matthew Fussey
37:45who's one of the five
37:46senior drone pilots
37:47with Durham Constabulary.
37:49He's had great success
37:50tackling antisocial behaviour
37:52with his team.
37:53Really good to have you
37:54with us for you
37:55to tell us a bit more
37:56about these drones.
37:57What are some
37:57of the key benefits?
37:59So as you've alluded to
38:00the technology
38:00in these drones
38:01have vastly increased
38:02in recent years
38:04and a lot of industries
38:05including the police
38:05have taken them on board
38:06as a really good tool.
38:08And the same with ourselves
38:09in Durham.
38:10We have currently
38:11enforced 63 qualified pilots
38:13including five senior pilots
38:15which I am one of
38:16and a feather eight
38:18that are in a cohort
38:19of training now
38:20as we speak
38:21receiving the training
38:22to go out
38:22and fly these drones.
38:24They've got
38:25infrared capabilities.
38:27I mean the tech
38:28that's involved
38:28in these little pieces
38:30of kit
38:30is quite incredible.
38:32Absolutely.
38:33We can deploy
38:35because we have them
38:36in the vehicle
38:36with us at all times.
38:37We can deploy spontaneously
38:39to incidents
38:39from being called
38:41to the scene.
38:41We can be up
38:42within one or two minutes
38:43and really for use
38:45at night
38:45whereas those
38:46previous limitations
38:47we can now
38:48give that
38:50bird's eye view
38:50at night
38:51giving a full
38:53bit of a night
38:53look from the sky
38:56at night.
38:56So what we're seeing
38:57there Matt
38:57that is one of these drones.
39:00It is.
39:00It doesn't even look
39:00like a drone
39:01does it?
39:01It looks like a helicopter
39:02or something.
39:03Or a spaceship.
39:04Yeah.
39:04It's amazing.
39:05But look at the amount
39:06of light
39:06that it's illuminating.
39:07That is something
39:09similar to what we've got
39:10here in the studio.
39:11The same drone.
39:12Yeah, the same drone
39:13with the speaker system
39:14and light system
39:15on the top.
39:16We can light
39:18a significant amount
39:19of dark space
39:20at night
39:20quite effectively.
39:22So what are the type
39:23of incidents then
39:24that you and your team
39:24could see themselves
39:25deploying kit like this
39:27to deal with?
39:28The best way to look
39:29at it is
39:30what incidents
39:30don't we attend
39:31because this type
39:32of equipment
39:33we can deploy
39:34at many incidents
39:35and many serious
39:36investigations
39:37have resulted
39:38in good positive results
39:39as a result
39:39of the drone.
39:40We can assist
39:42our colleagues
39:42in collision investigation
39:43serious and fertile
39:45ITCs.
39:45we can provide
39:46that view
39:46that bird's eye view
39:48that historically
39:49they've never had
39:49that footage for.
39:50We've also been
39:52in part of it
39:52assisting with
39:53pre-planned events
39:54public events.
39:56We recently had
39:56the King visit
39:57the city of Durham
39:58and we were able
39:59to provide
40:00a live stream
40:01of the footage
40:01to our command room
40:03so our commanders
40:04could see a bird's eye view
40:05of what was going on
40:06at certain points
40:06of his visit
40:07to the county.
40:09And we mentioned
40:09anti-social behaviour
40:11just in passing
40:12before.
40:12I mean being able
40:13to pursue potential suspects
40:15is incredibly useful
40:17isn't it?
40:18Yeah, without a shadow
40:19of a doubt
40:19as some footage
40:20we're showing here
40:20we have a problem
40:21within the county
40:22with persistent
40:23news and riders
40:24those that cause
40:25anti-social behaviour
40:26for our communities
40:27and this technology
40:29is at the forefront
40:29of trying to target
40:31and identify them
40:31whether that is
40:32we get the drone up
40:33and give commentary
40:34to cops on the ground
40:36to actively detain them
40:37and locate them
40:39as well as using
40:40that evidence
40:40and intelligence picture
40:41around gathering evidence
40:43to go to court
40:43and prosecute them
40:44and this whole footage
40:46given how good quality
40:47the footage is
40:48is really good.
40:49Yeah, definitely.
40:50You mentioned earlier
40:51the idea is now
40:52for the officers
40:52to actually have
40:53the drones
40:54in the vehicle
40:55so they can respond
40:56to an incident.
40:57We're going to play
40:57a clip now.
40:59This is one of your officers
41:01that was pursuing
41:02this vehicle here
41:03driving incredibly dangerously
41:05but this officer
41:06actually used the drone
41:07as well.
41:08Tell us what's happening Matt.
41:09Yeah, absolutely.
41:10This is one of our senior pilots
41:11as well.
41:12He's part of the
41:13Roads Policing Unit
41:14within force
41:15and he is also
41:16a qualified drone pilot.
41:18He was able to
41:19pursue the individual
41:21from the ground
41:22with the police vehicle
41:23and then effectively
41:24deploy instantaneously
41:27with the drone
41:27and as you can see there
41:29the individual
41:30He's going nowhere.
41:32What's the point?
41:33Yeah, hands up.
41:34He's caught.
41:35And it's all on camera
41:36of course evidentially as well
41:37which is crucial.
41:38And just finally
41:39the stats
41:39I mean they speak
41:40for themselves
41:41don't they?
41:41You're having real success.
41:43Without a shadow of a doubt
41:44within the last 18 months
41:45we've had significant
41:47input financially
41:48through the Durham
41:49Police Crime Commissioner
41:50as well as support
41:51through the local
41:52county council
41:53and town councils
41:54and all that funding
41:55is able to get
41:56the stats that we have.
41:57In 2025
41:58we made 1,400 missions
42:00with the drone
42:00across all of the pilots
42:02within force
42:03of which over 500
42:04of them were successful
42:05deployments
42:05and when I refer
42:06to successful deployments
42:07I'm saying about
42:08suspects that we've
42:09apprehended with the
42:10use of the drone
42:10people who are missing
42:12that we've been able
42:12to locate
42:14fit and well
42:14with the use of the drone
42:15or vehicles that have
42:17been stolen or abandoned
42:18we've located over
42:1850 of them.
42:20It's fantastic work
42:21Matt.
42:21Great being here.
42:22Thank you for telling us more.
42:23Thanks for having me.
42:25And I'm afraid that brings us
42:26to the end of today's programme.
42:27Remember you can catch us
42:29on iPlayer for the next
42:2930 days
42:30and you can check out
42:31and share all our appeals
42:32on Facebook
42:33and also on our website.
42:34Tomorrow we've got
42:35the extraordinary case
42:37of the real gangster granny
42:38who recruited pretty much
42:40her entire family
42:41to courier a tonne
42:42of cocaine
42:42around the country.
42:44She has not protected
42:46her family at all.
42:49Police!
42:50Police!
42:50Police!
42:51Show me hands!
42:52She has brought them
42:53into a life of criminality.
42:55Well that was
42:56until the law court
42:57of course.
42:57Exactly.
42:58See you tomorrow
42:59same time 10.45.
43:00I don't know.
43:07I don't know.
43:07I don't know.
43:28But I think
43:28it wouldn't lie.
43:29Obviously,
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