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Crimewatch Roadshow - Season 23 - Episode 01: Shooter on a Bike
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TVTranscript
00:01To remind you, this was the abduction and rainbow drop campaign and the hammered gun debate.
00:08Hello and welcome to Cry and Watch 12.
00:10You're giving the same, most fantastic business solutions.
00:21Good morning. Thanks for joining us today.
00:24And I have to say, Michelle, it is great to have you back with us.
00:27It's good to be back. I've missed you and the team.
00:28But hey, we've got a busy series, so please do stay with us.
00:32As over the next three weeks, we're asking for your help with urgent appeals from all across 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?
00:46Police want to speak to him in connection 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
00:58after a painful 26-year wait.
01:02He can sit in prison and rot, really.
01:05I'm not spending any more time when it's done.
01:08He's done. He's gone.
01:10I 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.
01:43Start with the word crime, leave a space and then write your message.
01:46Or if you prefer, you can email us.
01:48That is the address.
01:49It's cwl at bbc.co.uk.
01:53Those details will be on your screen throughout the whole programme, just down by the clock.
01:58Now, time for our first appeal this series, and it comes from London.
02:03A 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.
02:30A 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, so 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 a 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.
06:11Close 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.
06:25DCV operators were then able to track that bike to where the shooter got off the bike, abandoned in Colveston
06:30Crescent.
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.
06:52They know what they're doing. They know 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.
07:47We were mindful of the organised crime element.
07:51The working hypothesis straight away that this was likely to be Tottenham Turks shooting up,
07:55packing the bomber chillers, which 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,
08:12I have to think about any further retaliation, any retribution that may take 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,
08:30observing comings and goings from the Yavin restaurant.
08:37Whether he recruited the shooter or not is not clear, but it's clear that these two were working together.
08:44The night of the shooting itself, Javon Riley drives past the Yavin restaurant,
08:48slows down at times almost to a stop.
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 has gone in to the shooter to make his way up from
09:05South London.
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.
09:32But 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...
10:05I can see a hand dare event in front of my eyes every night when I close my eyes.
10:17She was a very active child.
10:20She did gymnastic, fencing, cooking, singing, swimming, so many things.
10:26And this has actually changed her completely.
10:32Her childhood is gone, but I'm not ready to forget my old girl.
10:42I can't.
10:45I can't.
10:47Just in a fraction of a second, they have just crushed, shattered our life.
10:53A child's dream, our dream.
10:55And they are still outside, free.
11:03And 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,
11:12you're confident it's two rival gangs here that were involved in this awful situation.
11:18Yeah, that's right, Rav.
11:19We're confident that it's two rival gangs,
11:21one named the Hackney Bombasillas and one named the Tottenham Turks.
11:25The men who were sat at the front of the restaurant were members of the Hackney Bombasillas
11:28and were the intended targets.
11:30It'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
11:45and the rider rides to Colveston Crescent.
11:49In Colveston Crescent, he abandons the bike and gets into a waiting vehicle
11:54being driven by Javon Riley.
11:56That's a stolen Nissan Juke.
11:58From there, the vehicle heads away from Dalston,
12:02heads 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
12:15into Javon Riley's Range Rover Velar.
12:18At that point, they then drive off in the Velar.
12:21The two of them head towards Barnett Village.
12:24And we believe at some point on that route, the shooter is dropped off,
12:27but we just don't know where.
12:29Answers that you need.
12:31What 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.
12:44We believe he's got connections to the Barset and Tapasfield Estates,
12:48which is an area in the Nunhead in South 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,
12:57the bike emerges from that same vicinity.
13:00We obviously have stills and moving footage whereby we can see the clothing worn by the shooter,
13:06being a two-tone North Face jacket,
13:10what looked like motorbike trousers with a reflective strip down the side,
13:13and what looked like Alpinestars motorbike boots as well.
13:18And a quite clear sort of white helmet at the time of the shooting there, quite distinctive.
13:23And what about the bike itself? What 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 the month of the shooting,
13:36it 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 Bassett Estate
13:51and Tapasfield Estate areas of South London.
13:55And it's a loud bike.
13:56It's a head-turner.
13:58It's a loud exhaust.
13:59When that bike's on the move, people can hear it.
14:03It's distinctive in its colourings.
14:05I think if you've seen that bike on your estate or, you know, nearby to where you live,
14:08there's a good chance that, you know, you would have seen it and you would have heard it.
14:11Yeah, 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? What information do you have?
14:27So 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.
14:40Watching 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 lodging her brain and will have for the rest of her life.
14:56That causes, you know, cognitive difficulties.
14:59She's not the same individual she would have been had this incident not happened.
15:03It'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. Who 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. There 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. Please 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. What more can you tell us about this appeal?
16:15On 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.
16:24A victim, a young teenage schoolgirl, was assaulted. A male would run up behind her, grabbed her under her skirt
16:31before running off.
16:33We can actually see the location on a map. You say it's the old Brook area of Milton Keynes.
16:38That's right. So 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. And as you say, this was a teenage girl. It must have been incredibly terrifying for her. How's she
16:58doing 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.
17:08Absolutely. What was she able to tell you about the perpetrator, Dan?
17:13She gave a really good description. As you can see on the screen, it's allowed us to build this IFA
17:19image.
17:21The clothing was sort of all dark, black clothing, fairly in the script, but he has quite distinctive sort of
17:27thin dreadlocks.
17:28And as you say, an incredibly useful IFA 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 almost predatory in nature when you think about what occurred later.
17:50Yes. And just to remind us again of the location, it's Illingworth Place that that was.
17:56So that footage was from Illingworth Place. So it was a few minutes before the offence, which occurred on Underwood
18:01Place, the road parallel.
18:03Incredibly important that you locate this person. How 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. It's opportunistic in the sense that our victim and the suspect passed in the street and she noticed
18:31him following her three or four occasions onwards from there until she met her friend and before the offence took
18:37place.
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 that they're being followed.
18:47What advice would you would you give to them?
18:50Call 999 and speak to the police straight away. Stand the phone, tell the operator where you are.
18:56If 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 would deal with
19:07under 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 handle you?
19:38We'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.
20:13What's your favourite pop group?
20:15At the moment, at this moment in time, this is Spice Girls.
20:20She was our first born. She was just Victoria, yeah? She was our little girl.
20:27She was what you would call a very typical girly girl.
20:33She was just going into second year of sixth form. She liked to do a lot of performing arts. There
20:39used to be a theatre group that she used to go to, spent many a late night picking her up.
20:46She really had her mind set on going to university, so 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 Band Box 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.
21:29They parted company. Victoria turned off towards her home address and Gemma would carry on straight up the main road
21:36towards 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.
22:02We had a week of waiting. Good, sir.
22:20Five days later, Victoria's body was discovered 25 miles away.
22:29In the evening of Friday the 24th September 1999, in Crete in St. Peter, a man was walking his dog
22:37along a track next to a field in 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. She was living in Felixstowe.
23:05And 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.
23:23And 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 and there was a man stood next to it,
23:33which immediately frightened her to the point that she took some evasive action,
23:37moved 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.
23:52At 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 six foot. He was late 30s.
24:06He had a slight beard, barely 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.
24:22And also there was an E and an H in the registration.
24:26At the time, they did the search of vehicles in Suffolk
24:31that 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
25:07and 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,
25:19the description of the male and the registration that Emily provided,
25:23we 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,
25:37they positively identified that Steve Wright had been at a petrol station
25:42near the time of the killing.
25:44It was gold dust, really, that CCTV.
25:4720-odd years later, we're able to find an image of Steve Wright
25:52in the petrol station four hours after Victoria was taken,
25:56just 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
26:10and 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
26:22that's trying to cover their tracks.
26:24The time is 9.30.
26:27I 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.
26:37In 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 mother?
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
27:21from both samples provide 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, the judge ruled that Wright's bad character
27:46could be disclosed to the jury.
27:51From the opening of the case, the jury would understand that Steve Wright
27:56had murdered five women, but importantly, it was all the similarities
28:00between those deaths that 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, he changed his plea to guilty.
28:20Wright was sentenced on the 6th of Feb, 2026.
28:25Given your obvious dangerousness and your age,
28:29the sentence already imposed for your other dreadful crimes,
28:32it 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 with 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. He's gone.
29:35I haven't thought about him. I won't think about him again.
29:43So much-needed closure for Victoria's family there.
29:47We're joined now by an organisation who 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.
30:03Thanks so much for coming in today, Mark.
30:05It would be lovely to talk a bit more about Crimestoppers.
30:07For anybody that doesn't know that much about the work that you do,
30:10what more can you tell us?
30:12Well, we're an independent charity that was set up nearly 40 years ago,
30:15nearly as old as Crimewatch,
30:17and with the express aim of providing a mechanism for the public
30:23to pass information safely, securely, but above all else
30:27and critically, anonymously, to the police
30:29so 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
30:47from the public, and we'll send over 250,000 reports
30:50to the police and wider law enforcement.
30:53And we find from a lot of our survey work
30:56that there is a strong minority of the public, about 20-25%,
31:00that just struggle to talk to the police under almost any circumstances
31:04because of fear of retaliation or retribution.
31:07It's so interesting, isn't it? Because looking at the figures,
31:09you really are achieving positive results.
31:13What do you think mainly is driving that?
31:16I think there's probably three reasons that we need to consider.
31:19First of all, the fact that there is more crime of certain types
31:23in certain areas.
31:25Secondly, and I think critically, is that we're running,
31:27in 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 the
32:05Police Anti-Corruption and Abuse Reporting Service,
32:08something that we set up in conjunction with police chiefs
32:11and 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,
32:28but there is, unfortunately, a 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 are 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 a bit more about you?
32:55They should use their search engine of choice,
32:57type in Crimestoppers, and they will find our website.
33:01On that website, they'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 about how to protect themselves from crime.
33:11And, importantly and critically, they'll find a way to pass information
33:15on an online form or call us on 0800 555 111.
33:19And Mark, you actually invited us to your headquarters
33:22to get a bit more of an insight into the work you and the team do.
33:25So, let's take a look.
33:301985.
33:32Tensions between police and a local community in North London had been rising.
33:38Resulting in a riot at the Broadwater Farm Estate in Tottenham.
33:44A small team of police officers were sent in to protect firefighters.
33:53But they were violently attacked.
33:59P.C. Keith Blakelock died as a result of his injuries.
34:04Essentially, P.C. Keith Blakelock, he'd been murdered
34:07and people knew what had happened.
34:09But it was a kind of a state where people didn't talk directly to the police
34:12for fear of retaliation or retribution.
34:16Good afternoon. Crimestoppers, how can I help you?
34:19As a direct result of this tragic case, Crimestoppers were set up.
34:25Giving a voice to anyone who was too afraid to speak out.
34:29We exist so that people who want to pass information safely, securely,
34:34but above all else, anonymously, can do that to us
34:37and we'll make sure that it then gets to the police.
34:40At its headquarters, over 50 trained staff deal with calls and information passed to them online.
34:47We take information on all crime types that can be from murder, rape, to drink driving, county lines, offences.
34:55We also help protect people from offences such as domestic abuse and child sexual exploitation.
35:04Every call is slightly different.
35:06It can be a neighbour wanting to give information on someone, maybe drug dealing or domestic abuse that they witness.
35:16We're not the police. We treat them completely anonymously.
35:20Because we don't record the calls, we don't trace calls, no-one will know where that information's come from.
35:28That anonymity is key and a vital incentive for people who may otherwise slip through the net.
35:35There's a hard core of about 20% of people who, for a variety of circumstances, won't talk to the
35:41police directly.
35:43We give them an avenue to speak up and stay safe.
35:47We've structured the system so that if anybody phones us, the phone number is scrambled.
35:52Or if anybody sends in an online form, the IP address is stripped out before it gets to us.
35:58So there is genuinely no way of us knowing, let alone the police knowing, who have contacted us.
36:06Calls come in from across the UK and need sensitive handling.
36:11When they make that call, it's always about trying to build a rapport.
36:15Trying to find out what they want out of making that call.
36:19It can take a bit of reassurance sometimes because this can be the toughest call for some people.
36:25There are times that calls are quite tough.
36:28So for me personally, I'm a mum of teenagers.
36:32So I find child abuse and domestic abuse quite hard.
36:35Crime Stoppers, how can I help you?
36:39Although rewards are sometimes offered, most people want to do the right thing.
36:44Resulting in some significant leads for the police.
36:48We've had, on one occasion, a paedophile who'd been on the run for a long time.
36:51And then as a result of the campaign that we'd launched, he was arrested literally within 24 hours.
36:57For the call agents, knowing they could be stopping a crime or protecting an individual is a great reward for
37:04a tough job.
37:06I always tell myself we wouldn't be here if we didn't make a difference.
37:16That was just such a fascinating insight, wasn't it, to see the work they do.
37:21Yeah, really valuable.
37:22Yeah, thousands of cases over the years.
37:24Yeah, great to see.
37:24Now to a popular gadget that is used as a professional tool employed daily by law enforcement.
37:31I'm talking about these things. Drones, of course.
37:34Yeah, we've seen countless examples on the programme of how they're being used by police to help find missing people,
37:40provide bird's eye views of events and locating suspects.
37:43And we're now with Sergeant Matthew Fussey, who's one of the five senior drone pilots with Durham Constabulary.
37:49He's had great success tackling antisocial behaviour with his team.
37:53Really good to have you with us for you to tell us a bit more about these drones.
37:57What are some of the key benefits?
37:59So as you've alluded to, the technology in these drones have vastly increased in recent years.
38:04And a lot of industries, including the police, have taken them on board as a really good tool.
38:08And the same with ourselves in Durham.
38:10We have currently in force 63 qualified pilots, including five senior pilots, what I am one of.
38:17And a feather eight that are in a cohort of training now as we speak, receiving the training to go
38:22out and fly these drones.
38:24They've got infrared capabilities.
38:27I mean, the tech that's involved in these little pieces of kit is quite incredible.
38:32Absolutely.
38:33We can deploy because we have them in the vehicle with us at all times.
38:37We can deploy spontaneously to incidents from being called to the scene.
38:41We can be up within one or two minutes.
38:43And really for use at night, whereas those previous limitations, we can now give that bird's eye view at night,
38:51giving a full bit of a night, you know, a look from the sky at night.
38:56So what we're seeing there, Matt, that's actually, that is one of these drones.
39:00It is.
39:00It looks like a helicopter or something.
39:03Or a spaceship.
39:04Yeah.
39:04It's amazing.
39:05But look at the amount of light that is illuminating.
39:07That is something similar to what we've got here in the studio, the same sort of site.
39:12The same drone.
39:12Yeah, yeah.
39:13The same drone with the speaker system and light system on the top.
39:16We can light a significant amount of dark space at night quite effectively.
39:21So what are the type of incidents then that you and your team could see themselves deploying kit like this
39:27to deal with?
39:28The best way to look at it is what incidents do we attend?
39:31Because this type of equipment we can deploy at many incidents, many serious investigations have resulted in good positive results
39:39as a result of the drone.
39:40We can assist our colleagues in collision investigation, serious and fatal ITCs.
39:45We can provide that view, that bird's eye view that historically they've never had that footage for.
39:50We've also been impacted assisting with pre-planned events, public events.
39:56We recently had the King visit the city of Durham.
39:58We were able to provide a live stream of the footage to our command room so our commanders could see
40:04a bird's eye view of what was going on at certain points of his visit to the county.
40:09And we mentioned antisocial behaviour just in passing before.
40:12I mean, being able to pursue potential suspects is incredibly useful, isn't it?
40:18Yeah, without a shadow of a doubt, there's some footage we're showing here.
40:21We have a problem within the county with persistent news and riders and those that cause antisocial behaviour for our
40:26communities.
40:27And this technology is at the forefront of trying to target and identify them.
40:31Whether that is we get the drone up and give commentary to cops on the ground to actively detain them
40:37and locate them, as well as using that evidence and intelligence picture around gathering evidence to go to court and
40:44prosecute them.
40:45This old footage, given how good quality the footage is, is really good.
40:49Yeah, definitely.
40:50You mentioned earlier the idea is now for the officers to actually have the drones in the vehicle so they
40:55can respond to an incident.
40:57We're going to play a clip now.
40:59This is one of your officers that was pursuing this vehicle here, driving incredibly dangerously.
41:05But this officer actually used the drone as well.
41:08Tell us what's happening, Matt.
41:09Yeah, absolutely.
41:10This is one of our senior pilots as well.
41:12He's part of the Roads Policing Unit within force.
41:15He is also a qualified drone pilot.
41:18He was able to pursue the individual from the ground with the police vehicle and then effectively deploy instantaneously with
41:27the drone.
41:28And as you can see there, the individual...
41:31He's going nowhere.
41:32What's the point?
41:33Yeah, hands up, he's caught.
41:35And it's all on camera, of course, evidentially as well, which is crucial.
41:38And just finally, the stats, I mean, they speak for themselves, don't they?
41:41Are you having real success?
41:43Without a shadow of a doubt, within the last 18 months, we've had significant input financially through the Durham Police
41:50Crime Commissioner,
41:51as well as support through the local county council and town councils.
41:54And all of that funding is able to get the stats that we have.
41:57In 2025, we made 1,400 missions with the drone across all of the pilots within force, of which over
42:03500 of them were successful deployments.
42:06And when I refer to successful deployments, I'm saying about suspects that we've apprehended with the use of the drone,
42:10people who are missing that we've been able to locate fit and well with the use of the drone,
42:16or vehicles that have been stolen or abandoned, we've located over 50 of them.
42:20It's fantastic work, Matt, honestly, thank you for telling us more.
42:23Thanks for having me.
42:24Thanks for having me.
42:25And I'm afraid that brings us to the end of today's programme.
42:27Remember, you can catch us on iPlayer for the next 30 days, and you can check out and share all
42:32our appeals on Facebook and also on our website.
42:35Tomorrow, we've got the extraordinary case of the real gangster granny,
42:38who recruited pretty much her entire family to courier a ton of cocaine around the country.
42:44She has not protected her family at all.
42:51She has brought them into a life of criminality.
42:55Well, that was until the law court, of course.
42:57Yeah, exactly. See you tomorrow, same time, 10.45.
43:00I don't know.
43:03Thanks for having me.
43:06And I'll see you tomorrow.
43:06Bye.
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