That's all from us for today.
Next today, it's Crimewatch Roadshow Live, with Rav Wilding
and Michelle Ackerley.
See you tomorrow.
Thanks, both.
It's Monday, 16th March.
And this is Crimewatch Roadshow Live.
The show where you join the fight against crime. Will you have the
vital information police need to crack a case? Your call could be
what it takes to put a criminal behind bars.And, I'll be travelling
the UK, finding out how police forces are tackling crime where you
live.It's time to catch some crooks.
Hello and welcome to the programme.
Great to have you with us this morning.
We're standing by to take your calls here in the studio and hoping
you can help bring some criminals to justice.
Here's what's coming up today.
An elderly woman cheated out of thousands in a cruel
and sophisticated fraud.
It's absolutely the little details that made it seem
more legitimate for her.
The anti-stalking app that turns your mobile phone
into a personal safety device.
And how these super sniffers train to track down
missing and lost people.
Today, Michelle is out in the countryside, in Stourbridge.
Michelle, what's happening there?
Hi, Rav, yes it's certainly beautiful here in the Staffordshire
countryside.
But, sadly, there are a small minority of people
who seem hell-bent on ruining this for the rest of us.
Join me later to find out how the community
are battling against it.
Thanks, Michelle.
First, though, can you help us to track down the callous fraudsters
who duped an elderly lady in to handing over
thousands of pounds?
PHONE RINGS.
A call from the bank or the police with an urgent warning.
You're told to withdraw a large sum of money.
And hand it over for collection.
It's known as courier fraud.
And it's cost victims an estimated £10.5 million
in the last two years alone.
Lucy Buckley has always been close to her 82-year-old nan, Sylvia.
I see my nan quite often, maybe four or five times a week.
She likes to keep an eye on me, but, yeah,I like to keep an eye
on her as well and just make sure that she's OK.
They've become particularly close
since the death of Lucy's granddad, three years ago.
She's made of tough stuff, my nan.
Losing my granddad was awful.
My granddad was a huge part of the family.
And we were all pretty devastated when he died, especially my nan.
Since then, Sylvia has learnt to cope living on her own.
She does like to go out and do things.
She was slowly starting to get her confidence back.
PHONE RINGS.
Then in November last year, she received a strange phone call.
Hello?
It was from someone claiming to be from the bank,
saying that her card had been used in London.
And they said that she'd need to go down to London to sort it out.
But there was no way she could travel to the capital
from her home in Crewe.
So the callers offered an alternative solution.
The phone call was then transferred to what they said
was the local police station.
There was no suspicion on my nan's part,
she completely believed these people.
OK.
They said they were investigating fraudulent activity
at her branch and that she needed to withdraw a large sum of money
as soon as possible.
She really wanted to help
and she felt like it was something that she had to do.
They told her on the phone that if she told anybody
that she'd had this phone call, that she would jeopardise the entire
investigation and she would then be arrested
and she would be sent to prison.
The fraudsters had even prepared Sylvia for the security questions
she was likely to face at the bank.
They told her that they would ask what the money
was for and they told her to say that it was for a new bathroom
and some cash for family Christmas presents, as well.
She withdrew more than £12,000 in cash before returning home.
And it wasn't long before she received another phone call.
Hello, is this Sylvia, again?
They then called her to say that she needed
to put some gloves on and not touch any of the banknotes
with her own fingerprints.
Sylvia was then asked to painstakingly read out the serial
numbers from the bank notes.
It's absolutely the little details
that made it seem more legitimate for her.
They then told her the cash was fraudulent and that it
needed to be taken away for inspection immediately.
They advised her that they would send a courier
to come and collect the money, so she was told to keep
the gloves on and put all the notes into an envelope.
And they asked her for a password, so that she knew she was giving
the package to a legitimate person as part of the investigation.
KNOCKING ON DOOR.
Just ten minutes later, the courier arrived.
She described the so-called courier as darker skinned,
with dark hair and a dark jacket on.
He gave her the password and he even had a high-vis vest on
to make himself look like a real courier.
The man disappeared with Sylvia's money,
leaving her confident that she was helping
the police investigation.
It wasn't until she spoke to her granddaughter,
who works in a bank, that she realised she'd been duped.
In my experience of witnessing these scams in branches,
and customers that have been through it,
I told her I believed it was a scam straight away.
She didn't believe me at first.
But Lucy insisted it was reported.
When the police actually arrived at her house
and they showed their official badges,
I think that's when it hit home, really.
She felt terrible when she realised what had happened.
She was extremely upset.
She just kept saying, "How could I have been so stupid?"
It hit her really hard and she wasn't well
for quite a few weeks after.
These people don't care who they target, they don't care
about the after effects.
Since it's happened, it's definitely knocked her confidence.
She doesn't want anything to do with money at all any more.
And just think it's so cruel.
It really is a cruel fraud.
Sylvia was played by an actress in our reconstruction to help protect
her identity.
DC Kieran Heathcote is investigating this case.
And Sylvia isn't the only person in your area that has
been affected by this fraud, is she?
No, unfortunately not. We know this is a growing problem nationally and
already we are aware of at least eight cases in Cheshire, victims
have lost almost £100,000. On more than one occasion the fraud state
use the name Inspector Spencer to convince them he was a police
officer.Who do you think is behind these incidences?Organised crime
groups from London originally. They have mentioned Brixton in some of
the phone calls and one of the victim victims was asked to travel
to London. -- one of the victims. The courier tend to be young and
recruited from all over.This is serious, how can people help?We
want people who may have been a victim of this type of crime to be
in touch. Anyone at home who has had a phone call from someone they
thought was suspicious and maybe they were claiming to be from the
bank or the police, if they were asked to withdraw cash or by
valuables such as jewellery, we are keen to speak to these people.
Within the area of Crewe, we are looking for the career who is
described as a black male in his late teens or early 20s -- we are
looking for the courier. If anyone has CCTV footage of that male, we
are keen to see that.This plea for people to come forward is so
important because this is still an unreported crime, isn't it?It is my
concern there will be other victims we haven't yet spoken to. Many of
them say they feel embarrassed or ashamed. The criminals are very sick
Gelling sophisticated and convincing. If this has happened,
don't feel embarrassed off the criminals are very sophisticated.
What advice can you give to help people be vigilant?The main message
I would like to get across is that the police will never ask you to go
to the bank and withdraw cash and will never ask you for your bank
details. To anyone who has experienced this, if they want to
get in touch, they should hang up the phone right away, call 101 and
we will be able to help.
Excellent advice.
Kieran, thank you very much.
If you can help with this case, get in touch using the numbers on your
screen.
Thanks, Michelle.
Police really do need to catch these heartless con artists.
If you can help, the number to ring is 08000 468999
and is free from landlines and mobile phones.
Don't forget, you can also text us on 63399.
Text the word CRIME, leave a space, then write your message.
Texts will be charged at your standard message rate.
Or send us an email.
The address is CWR@bbc.co.uk.
Lots more to come this morning, including...
A frightening encounter for the woman who came face-to-face
with a stranger in her home.
I think now, with this happening, I don't feel safe.
I think anybody would probably feel the same.
And the young woman killed by her stalker.
And how her family is working to keep others safe.
It's hard to believe that someone would think it's acceptable
behaviour to drive out to a country lane like this and dump
a load of bin bags.
But that's what's happened.
Luckily, there are people like this lot - the Tidy Stourbridge Group -
who volunteer to clean up and I'm giving them a hand
to get rid of these bags.
I'm joined by Roger Kendra, thank you, Roger. How long have you and
the grouping together?-- Roger Kendrick. We started in June 2010.
We just felt that it's a terrible situation and we couldn't just leave
this stuff.Absolutely. How often do you come out?Every fortnight. On a
Sunday morning, about 10am. The group get together and by now, with
ten years experience, we know where the rubbish is going to be.You and
your group is so dedicated, what motivates you to carry on doing it?
Some people think we are barmy! LAUGHTER
But we think somebody's got to do something about it. We know the
councils are so overwhelmed with all this, they can't deal with it all.
What some of the worst things you had to deal with?There is a town in
Stourbridge where they suffered a lot from fly-tipping, people come in
the area and drop stuff off. One time, we found 38 tonnes of it.38
tonnes!Yes. We informed the Council and they got a JCB down and took
away six lorry loads.Wow. It's just dreadful.It is.Very commendable
what you are doing and lovely to speak to you, I'll let you crack on.
I'll speak to George Williams, George and his family own a lot of
the land around here. You've had a lot of rubbish dumped on your land,
haven't you?Yes, we get it pretty much weekly, ranging from the odd
beanbag to piles like this.How do you combat it? -- God beanbag.It's
very hard because there are so many places it can be damped. But our
farmers will collect concrete blogs in the way of gateways that when
they want to come along and plough the field, they got to take time out
of their day to move this.Of course, this isn't the worst you've
seen it?No, we've had a lot of big fly dumps, 60 tonnes dumped three
years ago.60 tonnes! They broke into one of our words and dumped
waste. Thanks for speaking to me. It is testament to the community here
coming together to try and help. We will be speaking about this later on
in the programme. We will find out what is going in to tackle this
issue.
Thanks, Michelle.
Next today - a plea from detectives in Scotland, for your help to find
answers in a particularly sad case.
On the 9th of August 2017, a woman's body was found
washed up on a remote beach known as Portencorkie Bay,
near to the Mull of Galloway.
Detectives believe her body was washed ashore and had been
there, or in the water, for quite some time.
Sadly, despite in-depth investigations, the woman's identity
remains a mystery and officers really want to know who she is.
Experts have recreated this image of what she may have looked
like and it's thought she may have been less than five foot tall.
She was wearing jeans almost exactly the same as these.
They were a size ten from Primark and she also had on some fairly
distinctive Harry Potter underwear similar to this image.
Searches of missing persons and DNA databases have proved negative,
so officers really want your help.
Do you recognise this woman or do you think you may know who she is?
If so, you know what to do.
Pick up the phone and call in.
And don't forget you can also contact Crimestoppers -
anonymously - on this or any of our cases.
The details are on your screens now.
Michelle.
Thanks, Rav.
Now a few weeks ago, I spent some time with a group of trainees
who have a keen nose for finding people.
Snowdonia, in North Wales.
These mountains may be beautiful, but, in the wrong conditions,
they can also be deadly.
When people go missing in rugged and rural landscapes like this,
finding them quickly can be a matter of life or death, which is
where these guys come in.
When the call comes in that somebody is missing, we respond.
The National Search and Rescue Dog Association is a UK-wide group,
which trains dogs and their handlers to track down missing
people, even in the most challenging environments.
A dog's scenting ability is worth about the same as 19
or 20 human searchers.
I still get surprised when you see a dog suddenly lifting its nose
and running in the direction to where the person is.
And that can be over a quarter of a mile, I think,
is the longest I've seen a dog pick up scent for someone
buried in the snow.
So it is just amazing.
I've come to meet Harold, from one of their bases
near Dolgellau in North Wales, to find out more
about what's involved.
It can take two to three years for a dog to qualify to make it
onto the call-out list.
Welsh Springer Spaniel Bryn is still in training.
Hello.
How's it going?
Good, good.
This is lovely Bryn.
Yes.
Paul is setting up an exercise to train Bryn
to track down human scent.
Your hat will be ideal.
Bryn needs to try and find me.
Using the scent on my hat, he should be able to pick me out
of a line-up of three people.
Target!
Good boy!
Don't eat it, just sniff it.
Hey, that's my hat!
Find it!
Find it, find it!
Bryn is training to be a trail dog.
This means he's kept on a long lead while tracking a person's scent.
Within seconds, Bryn sits, to indicate to Paul that
he's found my trail.
Well done, Bryn!
You found me!
You found me, Bryn, good boy.
These mountainous regions, coupled with harsh weather conditions,
can present plenty of difficulties for the dogs.
But urban environments can be even tougher.
So I've headed to Cannock in Staffordshire to find out why.
Jamie, hi, nice to meet you.
Hello, Michelle.
How are you doing?
This is Diesel.
Diesel is a fully qualified search and rescue dog
from the organisation's Suffolk division.
He's completed many successful searches, with handler Jamie.
I'd better give you these, then.
So to put him through his paces this afternoon, he's
going to be tracking me down, using the scent from my gloves.
OK, well, I better get on my way.
Good luck, Diesel.
Hopefully, see you later.
The urban setting is the difficult one, because you have
lots of human scent going around.
The smells that are coming out of all of the shops,
the traffic noise.
So there's going to be lots that will distract the dog.
The National Search and Rescue Dog Association uses
volunteers called "dogsbodies" to lay a scent trail for advanced
dogs to practise tracking, which is what I'm doing now.
And I know just the place to head for.
Well, I've made myself at home in the pub, got myself a drink.
I guess I've got to wait for Diesel to find me now.
This is Michelle's glove.
He's not only going to follow, he'll find the scent on this glove.
We'll give it to him, he'll sniff it and chew it.
Good boy.
Sorted.
We will now ask him to go seek.
We want him to find the scent.
Seek.
He's found it and we'll click on his harness and follow.
There are over 370 different scents identifiable on a human.
They're dropped on small pieces of skin that
people naturally shed...
Good lad, where's she gone?
Follow.
..and it's the bacteria on these minute skin particles that
a dog will be smelling.
Lovely!
Follow!
Follow, follow!
Good boy.
That is amazing.
Who's that?
You've found her!
Good boy.
I love how he just sat down right next to me.
Done.
Job done.
The dogs I've met today are at very different stages
of their search-and-rescue training.
It's clear there's a lot to learn, but also that the rewards
are well worth it - for both the dogs
are well worth it - for both the dogs and their handlers.
It really is great to see how the dogs and handlers come
together as a pair - each bouncing off each
other and really enjoying what they're doing.
Next, a mystery that murder detectives in the West Midlands
really need your help in solving.
Last month, the body of 48-year-old Darren Round was pulled
from a canal in Birmingham.
He'd been badly beaten.
DCI Scott Griffiths is leading the investigation.
It truly is an horrific case.What do you know so far?Darren's body
was recovered from the canal in Kings Norton on 15th February and he
was subjected to a sustained attack and sustained horrific injuries to
his face. We have no motive in relation to why Darren was attacked.
We are asking for members of the public for information to identify
the people responsible.What can you tell us about Darren?He was 48
years old, lived with his mother, he was from Kings Norton. He was a
creature of habit. He had a close friendship circle. He was close to
his family.What do we know about the night he sadly died?On Friday
the 14th of February he was at home and around 7:30pm said he would
leave for a short period and would return. At 7:40pm we have him at a
cash point at the Greening Kings Norton, where he withdraws money and
goes to a shop to buy alcohol. He goes to the canal network close to
Shannon tunnel in Kings Norton and walked along into the city centre
near to the Five Ways.Seeing that now, this is CCTV of that happening.
This was captured on the early hours of the 15th of February, where he is
close to the wharf Road area. Darren has no injuries at that moment and a
short period after, he was found in the canal network.This image is
from a few hours earlier, and the same
from a few hours earlier, and the same clothing as in the CCTV. This
is a map of the area and we urge anyone to take a look at that if
they saw him at the time. It is an appeal for
they saw him at the time. It is an appeal for anyone to get in touch
with information. You said he is a local people might know him and what
happened.And there is a reward. We have a Crimestoppers reward of
£10,000 to anybody who gives information that leads to the arrest
and conviction of the people who caused these injuries.We need to
get some answers for Darren and his family. If you know anything, please
call. It is the right thing to do.
Thanks, Rav.
Flytipping costs the UK
hundreds of millions of pounds a year to clear up.
But it can also pose very real dangers -
especially out here in the country.
And it's something the National Farmers' Union
feel very strongly about.
Deputy president Stuart Roberts is here.
You are also a farmer. Talk me through the impact of fly-tipping
and what it can do to the land and animals?We reckon two thirds of all
farmers suffer with fly-tipping and some is very serious with incidents
of water pollution, soil pollution and animals being injured or even
killed depending on what the fly-tipping is.Talk me through the
different types of fly-tipping.It is a generalisation but basically
three types. Householders who go to the local authority ref use site and
it happens to be closed and they do not want to take rubbish home and
they dump it in a field somewhere. Then there are big operations,
commercial operations, breaking into fields and dumping. And a middle
group who basically do house clearance, say they will take your
rubbish away and put it in a van. Then they dump it in a field
somewhere.Thanks. Not great at all. The good news is councils across the
UK are taking it seriously, including putting up cameras to
catch people. They appeal to the public to name them and we have
clips to show you. This from Manchester shows a man convicted of
fly-tipping on an industrial scale a couple of years ago after being
caught on camera dumping waste in a car park. And we have some more
clips catching fly-tipping in other areas of the country in the hope you
can name people responsible and this is from Hull. A second clip is from
Haringey in north London showing a man with a shopping trolley with
what looks like building offcuts and household rubbish. Just an hour
later he is back with a second load. Fly-tipping is illegal so if you
recognise either men, let us know who they are. And it is not just
illegal to dump rubbish, if you give it to someone who disposes of it
illegally, you are held responsible so if you pay someone to take it
away, make sure you check their licence. And we saw the clips. In
urban areas, but what can farmers and people in the countryside do?
What we are seeing is ditch is built. Barricades are being built.
Cameras go up in rural areas to catch people but it is important the
public look out for this. If they see something they report it and
ultimately it is our responsibility to make sure our waste is ultimately
disposed of legally.Thank you.
Now it's time for a look at Today's Wanted Faces.
First, this is 50-year-old Adam Dixon.
He was due to stand trial, charged with GBH, after two men
were stabbed in Darlington in December last year.
But Dixon didn't turn up and is now wanted.
He has a tattoo of the letter A on his right bicep
and a large scar on his back.
He has links to Darlington, County Durham and also Amsterdam.
Next is this man Abdi Ali or you may know him as Mohammed Ismail.
Detectives in Cleethorpes want to question him in connection
with the murder of a man at a house in the town in July 2018.
Police have asked us to also show you this image of him.
Originally from Somalia, the 29-year-old now has links
to Sheffield, Wembley, Birmingham, Milton Keynes,
Grimsby and Blackpool.
He has numerous tattoos including the word 'man' on his left hand
and is missing a tooth, which he sometimes
replaces with a gold one.
If you see him do not approach him just dial 999.
Have you seen Scott Grace?
Or he also uses the surname Gray.
He was jailed for six years for drug dealing and later
released on licence, but he's now breached his conditions
and is wanted back in jail.
He has tattoos on both arms and has links across south Liverpool,
Cheshire and Wigan.
Police say he shouldn't be approached so if you know
where he is, just dial 999.
Finally, do you know Ashraf Ahmed?
Detectives believe he may have vital information about large quantities
of class A drugs being brought into South Wales.
The 26-year-old has a Cardiff accent and has links
across the city as well as London.
If you know where any of these faces are make sure you get in touch
using the numbers on screen.
Michelle.
Next, detectives from Staffordshire are asking for your help once again
to identify a thief who stole a precious engagement ring.
Kim Greenhough loves her garden.
It's always been something that we really like to do.
Whether it's actually keeping it nice and tidy,
or whether it's enjoying it on the sunny days and
relaxing out there.
She's lived in Featherstone in Staffordshire with her husband,
Kevin, for most of her adult life.
And the pair have been very happy there.
We purchased the house from new.
It's always been a nice area to live.
Kim's other passion is antique jewellery.
I've got quite a wide collection, from precious metals to costume
of all types and sorts.
If I want anything - if it's Christmas, or a birthday,
or a birthday, or anniversary - I will often ask for jewellery.
I love my jewellery.
One Saturday last July, Kim and Kevin were doing some
jobs in their garden.
My husband went out earlier and he'd starting cutting the hedge.
He'd gone round the far side of the hedge.
So I decided I go and cut our laurel, by my front door.
They had left the garage door open, as they were in and out fetching
the tools they needed.
I was right by the door, anyway.
I hadn't got any fears.
I was right there, so I left it open.
But Kim had no idea she was being watched.
Her neighbours' security footage shows a man standing
on the other side of the road.
He moved closer along the pavement.
With Kim engrossed in what she was doing,
the man walked straight on to her driveway.
He bent down as if he was tying his shoelaces,
just yards away from her.
Then, he turned around and walked back up the street.
But, just three minutes later, the man came back.
This time, he knew where he was going.
Without any hesitation, he walked through the garage
then into the house.
Kim was completely unaware that the man was rifling
through her possessions and helping himself to her precious belongings.
I'd finished cutting the laurel.
I'd actually brushed it up, and I came back
into the house via the garage and through into the hall.
I started to shout, because I didn't know whether my husband had
come back into the house.
Kevin?
There was no answer, but I did hear the tiniest of noises.
I shouted again.
There was no response.
Kevin, is that you?
I heard more creaking, so, at that point, I knew that
somebody was in the house.
So he obviously saw me and I just couldn't believe it.
What's he doing in my house?
What's he doing there? Why?
What's going on?
He sort of went like this.
But he came really quickly down the stairs.
He went past me, tried the front door, but that door was locked,
so then he did push to get past me.
Get out of my house!
I knew there was no point sort of screaming for help
from anybody in the house, but as soon as I got out
through the garage door, I started to shout my husband's name.
He did see this person running off our drive
and crossing over the road, but, because I was screaming,
he didn't know what had happened to me, or if I was really injured.
Kevin tried to catch him, but it was too late - he'd gone.
I don't know if I felt glad that he was leaving, or just
relieved that he was leaving.
I was angry, because I was shouting at him.
I was obviously angry that he'd been in my house.
Kim was devastated to discover that he had stolen her most
treasured pieces of jewellery.
He had taken my engagement ring that Kevin gave to me 40-odd
years ago and that's irreplaceable, that's gone.
After 33 years in her home, Kim was left traumatised
by what happened, and has even considered leaving the area.
I think, now, with this happening, I don't feel safe.
I think anybody would probably feel the same.
If he can be caught, at least it's one person that
won't be doing this.
He shouldn't have done it.
Really frightening.
I'm joined now by PC Andrew Podolaka from Staffordshire Police.
First of all, Andrew, remind us where and when this happened.A
burglary occurred last year on the 20th of July at approximately 1pm in
Featherstone, a small village in the south of Staffordshire. The burglar
entered the property via the garage, went up the stairs, and he stole
Kim's antique jewellery collection. Kim disturbed him and he pushed past
her and made his escape.We had from Kim in the film. It must have been
frightening for her, was she hurt? Thankfully she didn't sustain any
serious injuries. She had a bit of bruising from her arm when he pushed
past her but the mental emotional shock of discovering this man in the
act will stick with her for quite some time.Definitely. Remind us
what the man got away with. Unfortunately, we don't have
photographs of the items stolen but an engagement ring which is 40 years
old, a signet ring, antique from the 1930s and a Mickey Mouse watch.
Sentimental value.Sentimental value, that is not upsetting for
Kim.You have some clear images of the man you want to speak to. --
that was upsetting.There was a good CCTV camera from enable, which has
enabled us to see a glimpse of the suspect involved. We can see he
appears to be a well-built Asian male wearing a distinctive red, grey
and black hooded top with a black bag across his chest. He has a grey
streak in his hair, petite distinctive. We hope somebody will
be able to identify him. Get in touch with us and we can finally
track him down.Andrew, thanks very much. Any information, please get in
touch using the details on your screen. Back to you.
Such a horrible experience for Kim.
Take another look that CCTV image.
If you can name him, please do pick up the phone.
Now, in 2014, 20-year-old Hollie Guard was tragically murdered
by her ex-boyfriend, who had been stalking her since
she ended their relationship.
Hollie's father Nick joins me now.
Nick, tell us about Hollie.
Hollie was a fun loving individual, very vivacious and loved life and
had a massive circle of friends and she was a joy to have as a daughter.
I know her death would have been totally devastating for you. You
have somehow found the strength to use it as motivation to do something
really positive, tell us about that. We set up a charity following
Hollie's death and we wanted to help prevent things happening to other
young people that happened to Hollie. We have created a number of
things that we deliver through the trust.One of those is an app, which
you will talk us through now. It has been really successful. It is to
help people who feel vulnerable and how to contact the Next of kin.
Absolutely. It is called Hollie Guard App and can be downloaded to
any smartphone and it helps people keep safe and feel safe. They choose
what happens. It is something we hope everyone...If you are out and
about and on a night out, how would you let me know you are safe and
well?Firstly, I would download Hollie Guard App and activate Hollie
Guard and it will track me via GPS in the background. If I get into a
problem, I just need to double tap the screen and that will send you,
as my emergency contact...I have a phone and you have just sent me a
message. If I just put that phone on, the message has come through
straightaway and it says emergency, Nick is in trouble. It tells me that
and gives me a link and if I click on the link, that has taken me
straight through to a picture of a map, which if I show you where that
is, that is the BBC studios. I know where you are.It starts to record
voice and video and as you click into the link, you can see what's
happening and you can make the decision as to what to do.
Potentially I could see what's happening if you are in trouble?
Absolutely.Extraordinary. Then again, if you felt threatened, you
can even use it as an alarm?You can. If I say I am safe, I will
cancel the alert and it will send you another message to say the alert
has been cancelled.Another message has come through, Lamb cancelled,
sorry for your trouble. But if you needed to raise the alarm, you can
shake it?This sound is what you will hear.The light is flashing at
the alarm is going and that is so easy. It told me you were in
trouble. And you have cancelled it to say you are not in danger. It is
a fascinating piece of technology and 100,000 people have downloaded
it and you had a lot of support from police and many more people should
be doing that. Thanks for sharing that, truly valuable tool. Let's go
back to Michelle.
Now, a really worrying case that police need your help with.
At the end of October, 2018, 31-year-old Steven Durand went
missing from Preston and has not been seen since.
DC Jonathan Quinn has been overseeing the investigation.
You are obviously really concerned about Stevenit would be concerning
in any case but even more so considering the various health
issues he suffers from.It effects his physical and mental health. He
requires medication. To describe Steven
requires medication. To describe Steven, a mixed race male in his 30s
and with short cropped hair. He is medium to stocky build and has
cerebral palsy. He carries himself in a distinctive way. He walks with
a recognisable link.You have some footage of him, haven't you?
Correct. We know that he travelled from Chorley to Manchester on the
afternoon of the 19th of October. On the 20th, at 7am, he visited Bargain
Booze on Bolton Road in Salford which is the footage we have to
show. Later, 11am he visited Premier Store in Swinton and this is the
last confirmed sighting on age Croft Road.The circumstances are unusual
around his disappearance?Yes. His bank card was used at 2p a on the
19th of October despite little to no money left in the account and he
stayed at his sisters address on the evening before the day he went to
Manchester.What are you asking people to help with?We have
conducted wider searches of the area that he was last seen using teams of
specialist officers. We have also conducted inquiries in Chorley and
Preston but we are asking if somebody knows why Stephen was in
Manchester and perhaps they saw him with his recognisable limp --
Steven. His family are extremely concerned and any information
provided to us would be greatly appreciated.Absolutely, a
distressing time for the Steven's family. Thank you for joining us.
If you can help, the numbers to use are on your screen now.
Back to you now, Rav, for some updates.
Time now for a look at what's been coming
in on the calls, texts and emails.
One of the wanted face as we featured last week has been
arrested.
Great stuff.
And earlier we asked for your help after the murder
of Darren Round in Birmingham.
DCI Scott, just remind us of the details.
Darren's body was found on the morning of the 15th of February this
year and prior to Darren going into the water, he had sustained
significant injuries to his face. Horrific injuries. There is no
motive at all in relation to why Darren was attacked and we are
asking for support in members from the public to see who was
responsible for the attack.He is from that locality, a good chance
someone will know him from that area and hopefully know what happened
that night. If they needed further incentive, there is a reward, remind
us on that briefly.£10,000 Crimestoppers reward for information
that leads to the arrest and conviction for somebody responsible
for Darren's murder.Hopefully the answers will come in. Thank you for
joining us. Michelle, what is the latest with you in Stourbridge?
Promising calls from our offices. Kevin Heathcote is wanting people to
come forward if they have been victims of courier fraud. Several
people reporting they have been victims of a similar fraud, sad to
hear that important. You can't stress that enough, can you, that
people really need to be getting in touch?It really is vital people get
in touch if they have experienced this. Anyone are people watching
could have information that will help us to catch people responsible.
And as we said earlier, it is an underreported crime, isn't it?As I
mentioned earlier, the fraudsters are very competent and convincing. A
lot of people just don't contact us about it.Hence why we need people
to be getting in touch. Kieran thank you very much.
Thanks, Keiran.
And that's it from us here in Stourbridge.
Tomorrow, we'll be with Staffordshire Police,
finding out how they're using an eye in the sky
to catch up with dangerous offroad bikers.
And I'll be live from a car pound finding out what happens to vehicles
when they get seized by police.
Should be another busy morning.
And interesting. I will see you then.
Thanks, Michelle.
For more details about the crimes on today's programme,
go to our website.
Before we go, here's another look at this morning's wanted faces.
If any of them look familiar, pick up the phone and tell
us where they are.
We'll be back tomorrow morning at 9:15am.
Until then, take care.