The Met S04E06
Category
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CreativityTranscript
00:00Hello, please, social emergency.
00:12I was just basically sexually assaulted coming down my road by a gentleman.
00:18Well, he touched my breast and my bum and he showed me his penis.
00:24Yeah, he has a black cap on, glasses.
00:26Yeah, he's wearing very distinguishable and laced tights.
00:31Tights, yeah, as in on his legs?
00:34Yeah, yeah, with a black tutu.
00:38I had to sort of brush him off and leave him and kind of push him away from me.
00:42Right.
00:43He hugged me and then grabbed my bum even more and then touched my own face.
00:47Right, and you don't know who this person is, you've never seen him before, no?
00:49Mm-hmm.
00:50Okay.
00:51I was just trying my best to kind of get away from him.
00:54Yeah, no, of course.
00:55It's possible.
00:56A serving metropolitan police officer has been charged with kidnap, rape and murder.
01:11A damning report found it to be institutionally racist, misogynistic and homophobic.
01:17The Met Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, has vowed to restore the public's trust and confidence in the police.
01:28Policing needs to be the best and we've clearly failed in this regard.
01:31He's very choking me.
01:44I'm from the modern slavery team.
01:46How's your English?
01:47Give her justice and tell us where that poor girl's body is.
01:53Straight bridge, straight bridge.
01:55Oh my God.
01:56We need it.
01:58We need it.
01:59Stand where you are.
02:03You're under arrest.
02:04On social murder.
02:05You really think that this is an overkill.
02:15There's 10 of you here for one 14-year-old.
02:18OK, so this morning we are looking at Operation Quilting.
02:40It's a linked series of sexual assaults and exposure incidents that have happened mainly around the Camden area.
02:45The first reported one was two years ago and the most recent one was about four days ago.
02:51CID detective Amelia Robinson is leading the hunt to find the person responsible for a number of sexual assaults in North London.
02:59Description is pretty distinct.
03:03He's described as a male, icy one with olive-toned skin and a large belly.
03:08He is often wearing a tutu and fishnet tights or see-through leggings.
03:12He's described as having dark receding hair and often wearing a baseball cap style hat.
03:18He's got a foreign accent.
03:20At the moment we've got the victim statements.
03:22We only have one 999 call and we want to catch him before anything further happens.
03:30Let's go.
03:40Eight offences with striking similarities have been reported over the past two years.
03:48So these are the most recent ones.
03:50The pink ones, yep.
03:52They all follow the same format in that a male approaches a single female, implies that he's gay and wants to walk with them.
04:02He's quite often dressed quite flamboyantly or says he's been to a party.
04:06He's then saying goodbye and hugging them or commenting on what they're wearing and how they look and saying that they've got nice breasts.
04:14And then exposes himself, at which point obviously alarm bells ring and they try to make their excuses to say goodbye and then seems to grope them.
04:26I'm looking for patterns and trends.
04:31I came across an offence where the perpetrator was wearing a skirt and the following week a similar described male was wearing a tutu.
04:40So those two offences were linked together, they happened to have a similar sounding perpetrator.
04:48Detectives do not have any CCTV footage which captures either the crimes in progress or the offender.
05:00I'd say he's quite calculated, he is premeditated, he's coming out of nowhere seemingly to these girls.
05:13There are a couple of offences on main roads, but by and large he is offending on roads that wouldn't have CCTV and keeping out of the way of being caught basically or being seen.
05:30These type of offences, the exposures and the non-penetrative sexual assaults are often a gateway to commit more serious crime.
05:38We want to be able to identify who this male is now before the offences get any worse and people end up getting, you know, more seriously sexually assaulted or even raped.
05:57OK, so, yeah, just to run you through everything we've got.
06:01So the press release that's gone out, it's already been picked up by the Daily Mail and The Sun.
06:05Amelia receives a report from a member of the public about a man matching the description of the offender.
06:12The man's been identified as a result of local inquiries.
06:16Yeah.
06:16It's an incident of exposure which was in the waiting area of the mental health hospital.
06:21He matches the description of the male that's been provided by the victims and he's known to dress in a similar way to how the victims have described him.
06:30The description is quite distinct.
06:33We've got, you know, a male, approximately 30 to 40 years old, wearing tutus and fishnet tights.
06:39The next necessary step is to arrest him in order for ID procedures to happen because that's the only way, without CCTV, that's the only way we're actually going to be able to establish whether it's him that has committed these offences or not.
06:51You know, the need to search the property for clothing, all these things that we're not going to be able to do unless he's arrested.
06:58Yeah.
07:03Officers have traced the man to a block of flats in North London.
07:07With the link series, it's always time critical because if you don't get them, they can change their pattern of offending and then you've lost the opportunity.
07:23If you can just keep an eye on the back door, just sort of park the way along and then we'll all go around to the front.
07:29As the team approaches the suspect's property, officers see him leaving through the front gate.
07:38That's him.
07:45OK, so I'm going to send you on 10 accounts of sexual assault.
07:48I don't know what this is all about.
07:50OK, so you're a suspect in a series of sexual offences, OK, sexual assaults and indecent exposures.
07:56That's why you've been arrested.
07:58We're going to search a flat on the section 32 page.
08:00We believe there may be evidence related to the offence inside the address, OK?
08:04She lands here.
08:04All right, we're going to take you down to the station.
08:06You'll get a seat in the back of there.
08:08All right, and then we'll take you back.
08:09While officers search his home for evidence which could link him to the sexual assaults,
08:22the man is taken into custody for questioning.
08:27You've got a tutu.
08:30We have something that maybe looks like a tutu.
08:34It's right in colour.
08:36We'll take that.
08:39OK, nice.
08:50Is there much else there?
08:52No, there's some dark-coloured baseball cap.
08:56So again, they have a leather cap, but it's not a baseball cap.
09:00OK.
09:01So they are in Swington.
09:03They're just in the cage now, waiting to be booked in.
09:07All right, we're good.
09:09This incident, we're looking at defences that have been going on for almost two years now.
09:18So, next steps, he's going to be interviewed.
09:22At this stage, I'm quite confident that this is the man, this is the suspect.
09:26Hello, police, what's your emergency?
09:49How's the duty?
09:51A neighbour's just phoned me out and she's just been mugged downstairs.
09:55She's nearly 90.
09:56What's happened to her?
09:58She's been pushed over.
09:59They've taken her money, mugged.
10:01Right.
10:02So when did this happen?
10:03Just a minute ago.
10:03About 20 minutes ago, yeah.
10:05Yeah.
10:06Yeah, she's been to the post office and they've followed all the way back home and mugged her.
10:10OK, is she injured at all?
10:12The energy hurt her hand and her hip.
10:16Police are on their way.
10:28In East London, an 87-year-old woman was hospitalised
10:32after being robbed and assaulted while entering her apartment block.
10:37It's just over there.
10:39The case has been handed to CID detectives Richard Davis and Hannah Rodericks.
10:44They're visiting her home to take a statement.
10:49She's on the fourth floor.
11:00Hello, Mrs Millen. Hello, how are you?
11:02I'm a bit out of pus.
11:04How are you feeling today?
11:06Well, my hand is all gone down.
11:10I can move my shoulder a wee bit now, but I couldn't move it at all.
11:16Goodness me.
11:18Sit down. Sit yourself down.
11:20I am 87.
11:21So, tell me, in as much detail as you can, what happened on the 1st of June this year, between about 2.30 and 3.30.
11:34Tuesday, I went out to Mayor Street to pay my rent, which I only pay now once a fortnight, because I can't stand the queues.
11:45As I came, I came in, and this young gentleman, well, I'll say about in his thirties, came in, and it happened so fast.
11:56I didn't know what he was doing. I had my trolley, because I had to walk on my trolley, because I can't walk otherwise.
12:03He grabbed my trolley out of my hands and pushed me, and I went down.
12:08And I banged my head. He took the purse, it was a red one, and he threw the rest on the floor.
12:20Now, once I'm down on the floor, I don't get up, not without help.
12:26I don't know, I can't say how long I sat there, but a gentleman come down the stairs, and he saw me sitting there, and he came in, and he called the police.
12:37And, you know, it's, I mean, I've lived here 50 years, and we'll never hardly have anything like this.
12:52It just shake you up. I mean, I never had the fear of walking out on my own.
12:58Are you okay?
13:01Oof!
13:02You okay?
13:03No.
13:05Do you want some water?
13:06Yeah, I can.
13:07Yeah? Okay.
13:09Just take a minute, okay? Don't worry.
13:11I mean, I used to do so much, and suddenly, I can't do nothing. I will go out, because I don't want him to win.
13:28Mm.
13:29Because if he, if I can't go out, he's won.
13:33Yeah, no, I fully understand that. So, on a scale, where would you place his push? One being a tap, to ten being a hard push.
13:41Well, let's put it this way. When he pushed me, he meant it.
13:50Mm.
13:51I mean, he didn't have to.
13:53Mm.
13:54But, I mean, because he'd already got the bag and purse.
13:57Mm.
13:58Mm.
13:59I mean, he could have walked away, but he didn't, on the floor. And he just looked at me and walked away.
14:05Mm-hm.
14:19Yeah, yeah, yeah. There she is.
14:21Mm-hm.
14:25There she, there she's off.
14:28Detectives have gathered CCTV footage, which shows the route the victim walked, from the post office to her home.
14:36There's no one tailing her there.
14:38Do you know what the suspect's wearing? So, you've got to see.
14:40I know he's got a black backpack on, but...
14:46That could be him.
14:48The man is seen walking behind her as she walks towards her flat.
14:54Nice cheek on.
14:55There she goes.
14:58And that's him following.
15:00Okay.
15:02It's a bit hard to tell, but I'd say that's the same guy.
15:03Is this the closest cover we've got?
15:05Apparently, yeah.
15:06Yeah.
15:09So, how long was he in there?
15:11Not long.
15:18And there, that's him running away from the building.
15:20Okay, so we've got him running, so that's fine.
15:21So, it looks like the same person running as the same person as...
15:24Oh, gone in with her, yeah.
15:26There he is.
15:27That's him.
15:28He looks a little bit, sort of, like, erratic.
15:41Black trousers, blue top.
15:43Yeah.
15:44Similar build.
15:45Similar hair.
15:46So, yeah, I'm fairly confident that that's the same person.
15:51The CCTV shows him walking into the venue, and it shows him running away and getting onto a bus,
15:55but it's not clear enough for us to be able to identify him as a person.
16:00So, we're getting the bus CCTV that's closer up, but also it shows him tapping onto the bus.
16:04So, if he's got a credit card, we can track through that.
16:21That's him.
16:22He does that in the council CCTV.
16:24There he is.
16:26Transport for London has released CCTV footage from the bus the man is seen boarding after the robbery.
16:34So, like I said, the camera quality isn't great, but I've very clearly got him tapping on.
16:48It's not blue.
16:50It's probably not an Oyster card.
16:53Might be that it's a stolen card, and that bottoms out, because we know he's a robber,
16:59so there's nothing saying that's his card.
17:01So, there he is, that's him getting off the bus, that smudge up in the corner,
17:06and he goes up towards the top, so maybe the bus is going to go past him,
17:09and are we able to see him?
17:10Oh, actually.
17:15Is that him?
17:16That's him.
17:17There we go.
17:19He's going into the park.
17:20As well as requesting the man's card details, the team circulates his image on social media.
17:35We're trying a public appeal, basically where we tweet out a picture and ask the general public if they've seen this person,
17:44and actually that can yield pretty good results.
17:47It's quite likely that he's local to the area, so if the neighbourhood's officers have any contacts,
17:51or people within the community that might be able to recognise him, that's where we're going next.
17:58I'm very much hoping he's got a fairly distinctive nose.
18:02It might sound ridiculous, but it is quite distinctive.
18:06We've got no forensics.
18:08The victim, Joyce, she doesn't have a particularly clear description of him.
18:11This is the best line we've got to identify the suspect.
18:36Detectives are still investigating a number of similar sexual assaults in North London.
18:41For 24 hours, officers have been holding a man in custody, who they believed could be the offender.
18:47My first question is, with the person who's been arrested, can I just ask about what he said in an interview?
18:56He's denied all the offences.
18:58He, you know, repeatedly said that it was a mistaken identity, but most significantly, whilst he was in custody with us,
19:06there was another offence with exactly the same MO.
19:10Right.
19:11And the same description, which has obviously meant that we're probably looking for someone else.
19:16Yeah. What's their status at the moment?
19:18They're bailed.
19:19Thank you very much.
19:21The man in custody is ruled out as a suspect and released without charge.
19:26It's definitely been really challenging.
19:29You know, you take one step forward and then you're not back again.
19:31There's no forensic opportunities. There's no CCTV opportunity.
19:36We're just really struggling at the moment with knowing so little about this man.
19:41Over a week later, an 11th woman reports being approached in the same area.
19:47You had said previously to me that this is on the night of the 22nd moving into the morning of the 23rd of September.
20:01Yeah.
20:02What's the first thing that happened in relation to this?
20:05I was trying to cross the road and there was a white car sort of hovering there.
20:10I noticed the car pull into the side of the road.
20:16And was walking along the road when he kind of ran around the side of me and into my line of vision.
20:25And he started talking to me like quite hurriedly and frantically that I shouldn't be afraid of him and that he was a gay man.
20:36And then reference his clothing.
20:38And then he told me about an incident.
20:41So he said this road is really dangerous.
20:43I was walking down here recently and a man was urinating at the side of the road and he turned around and he showed me his penis.
20:51And I carried on walking and he said this is what he showed me.
20:55And as I turned around to look at him he took his penis out.
20:58He like lifted up his skirt and took his penis out.
21:01At which point I realised what was going on and I screamed at him and I told him to fuck off basically.
21:10And I think I shout, I just kept shouting at him to make him run away and that startled him and he did run away at that point.
21:15But I continued shouting at him as I saw him running down the road.
21:22You've gone inside your home.
21:24He's run off.
21:25In that moment how are you feeling?
21:28I was in shock, I think I was angry and in shock and I started to cry.
21:33I think I was just very angry that he'd done it.
21:40So aside from the movements of the car, how would you specifically describe the car?
21:50It was like a long estate, I think it was an estate car, relatively new.
21:56So a long newish looking estate style car.
22:00Yeah.
22:01Did you notice anything about what was inside the car?
22:03No.
22:04There we go.
22:21Five days after Libby came to the police, there is a breakthrough.
22:26The new CCTV identifies the perpetrator parking his car in a side street before approaching Libby.
22:35There's the victim just walking around the corner there.
22:40And you can see that she has clocked the car.
22:44For all the other offences, that there's never been anything and he's been very forensically aware about what he's been doing.
22:50I genuinely think it's probably a muck up on the suspect's part.
22:57Gets out of the vehicle and walks in the same direction as the way in which the victim is seen to go on the camera.
23:05The actual offence isn't covered and it is only about two and a half minutes later.
23:10He comes back to the vehicle.
23:14You can't really see whether he's wearing a skirt, but you can see that he's definitely not got anything on his legs.
23:21And you can see that he's wearing like a shiny, what I would describe as a shiny leather look baseball cap.
23:29The CCTV from this offence is literally the only lead that we've had so far in the investigations.
23:36Obviously we know the make, the model and the colour of the car from the CCTV.
23:43So we can do a search of the vehicles that were in the area which will hopefully result in a number plate being identified.
23:53After searching traffic cameras for the white car, officers discover a number plate which is linked to a house in North London.
24:00So this morning we are looking to arrest a male in connection with Operation Quilting.
24:06He has a vehicle, this is the vehicle that was used in the offence.
24:09We are looking for any latex kind of clothing, tutus, fishnet tights, any baseball caps.
24:14We know that that car in that footage is registered to him. So if he wasn't driving it, then who was driving it?
24:27I know it is that one.
24:40Can you guys see anything in the curtains or anything?
24:42There's nothing. Keep knocking. Is that door open?
24:45No.
24:47Is the doorbell work?
24:48Yeah, I tried that.
24:49You can see the guys in the back garden there, but...
24:55I've got the school run.
25:08He might not be in, mate.
25:10I'm still feeling hopeful that we've got the correct suspect.
25:21This is the first offence we've had. It's been covered by CCTB, so this is really the only chance we've ever had to develop that any further.
25:29Obviously, we need to find him.
25:31While officers try to locate the man, the team receives intelligence about another property linked to the white car in the same area.
25:48Outside the building, they discover the same white vehicle from the CCTB.
25:57Open the door, please.
25:58Hello, sir, please.
26:00Hello, sir, please.
26:08It's nothing, sorry, but we're police officers.
26:10Do you mind if we come in and speak to you, please?
26:13For what? I'm not going to speak to you.
26:15We should speak to you.
26:19What's your name? What's your name, sir?
26:24We can't show you who we're looking for. What's your name?
26:26You have to show my...
26:27What?
26:29Here's my...
26:30Here's my warrant.
26:31What?
26:32You have to show my warrant.
26:33Yeah, I have to go.
26:35Yeah, just the rest of your warrant.
26:37The reason for your arrest is for sexual offences between the dates...
26:41Are you listening? Between the dates of the 20th of April to the 27th of September.
26:47The man is taken into custody to be interviewed.
26:51Officers now search his home for any evidence that could link him to the offences.
26:55This is him.
26:56Huh?
26:57This is him.
26:58100%.
26:59These exhibits from inside the house.
27:00Oh, no, these were inside the car.
27:02Shiny black hats in our descriptions.
27:03Striping multicolours in the most recent ones.
27:05Detectives review the list of items taken from his home after the arrest.
27:08You had me at black hat?
27:09Black shiny cap, stripy jumper.
27:10This is him.
27:12Officers have searched the premises.
27:13Several mobile phones were seized from the address.
27:15And then they've searched the vehicle outside.
27:16Inside they found this bag and its contents.
27:17This black leatherette cap, which is quite distinctive.
27:26And it's something that our suspect is described as having worn.
27:36They've seen a black leatherette cap, which is quite distinctive.
27:41It's something that our suspect is described as having worn.
27:47It's a jumper, which is another one that our victims have described,
27:50and a black tutu amongst a selection of other tutus,
27:55actually, a big bag full of them.
27:59The man arrested is identified as Ali Ai,
28:03a 40-year-old engineer.
28:06We have started the interview on 2 October
28:10at 1.53am.
28:13I'm attached to Islington Police Station.
28:15Could the solicitor introduce himself, please?
28:18I'm from it.
28:20If you could introduce yourself, please.
28:21Oh, yeah.
28:22Oh, yeah. Thank you very much, Ali.
28:24This is a prepared written statement.
28:27I can confirm that I cross-dress as a female.
28:32I do talk to these females for fun.
28:35Not as a male, but as a female.
28:38I have never shown them my penis,
28:41but sometimes have a fake, flaccid penis
28:44attached to the female pants I wear.
28:48I never felt sexual with these females.
28:50It's not possible to have indecently exposed myself to any female.
28:55When you cross-dressed as a female, you said that you speak to other females on the street?
29:01As a female.
29:02As a female?
29:03As a female persona, totally female.
29:05Generally, what a female would talk with another female on a night out,
29:08or something like that, generally, relationships, fashion, clothes,
29:12what we are wearing.
29:15Boyfriends.
29:16The 9th of September 2021, approximately half past 11 at night.
29:23Okay.
29:24Did you approach a lone female?
29:25Okay.
29:26Did you expose your penis to her?
29:27Okay.
29:28Did you touch her breasts?
29:29Okay.
29:30Continue to touch her once she had asked you to stop.
29:32Okay.
29:33Were you on 11th of the night, 2021, approximately quarter to two in the morning?
29:38Okay.
29:39Were you on Tufnel Park Road, N7?
29:42Okay.
29:43Did you follow and approach a young female?
29:45Okay.
29:46Did you lift up your skirt to show your penis?
29:47Okay.
29:48Try and undo her jeans.
29:51Okay.
29:54And, I'll move on to Stuffound.
29:59We're in Black Holdall in Karbu.
30:01Yep.
30:02This is a black tutu.
30:04It's hard to make out through there.
30:06It is a black tutu.
30:07Yep.
30:08Black tutu.
30:09Black tutu.
30:10Same thing in the statement.
30:11Same thing in the statement.
30:13Do you think it's a coincidence that it's the same person wearing the same black tutu
30:22that's committing these offences?
30:23Take that call.
30:26Final exhibit.
30:28Well, sorry.
30:29Final clothing type exhibit.
30:31Which is one strap on dildo.
30:34Again, found in the black holes in your bag.
30:38It's not a dildo.
30:39It's just a flaccid.
30:40In Science Museum you can see this on display.
30:43Exactly the same thing.
30:44In Science Museum you can see it on display.
30:46It's for flaccid.
30:47It's a flaccid penis.
30:49You can see it's flaccid.
30:50It's soft.
30:51In Science Museum if you go you will see it in the window where the kids are visiting even
30:56on the display.
30:57And it's obvious it's fake.
30:58I mean it's not.
30:59It's plastic.
31:00Okay.
31:01You can wear it.
31:02Make no comment.
31:03It's all in the statement I made.
31:06It says that I put it on sometimes.
31:08Yeah.
31:09It says in there.
31:10This is covering my penis which is so nobody can ever claim to see my penis.
31:14It's impossible.
31:15As you see I'm wearing this on top.
31:16And this is a flaccid penis.
31:17And it's obviously it's a toy.
31:19Do you think that if you were to show someone this at night when it's dark quickly flash
31:26up your skirt.
31:27Do you think that they mistake that for a real penis?
31:29No comment on that.
31:31Okay.
31:32Because I think.
31:33I think that is absolutely capable of being mistaken for a real penis because you can't
31:40quite see it on there but if I'm not mistaken it does kind of look like it's got like
31:45some veins on it.
31:46Like it looks quite like a.
31:47Descript.
31:48Well you can see.
31:49Article.
31:50You can tell even when you hold it it's a dangling soft thing.
31:55I think we feel the same.
31:58Yeah absolutely.
31:59And because of the size of it it's very obvious it's fake.
32:02I mean this is not a normal size.
32:04It goes from there down to there.
32:08It's a curve.
32:09And then the rest is the straps.
32:11And then the rest is like the strap pants.
32:13As you sort of.
32:14Did you say pants?
32:15No it's just normal pants.
32:16It's just glued on it.
32:17But you can say from the size of it that it is not it's very obvious it's fake.
32:21I don't know if you answered my last question so I'll ask it again.
32:25Do you think that if someone were to see that quick flash they'd think that it's real?
32:29No.
32:30I cannot tell.
32:31I don't know.
32:32I don't know.
32:33Okay.
32:34And it is fake.
32:35It's obvious.
32:37Whether what he has exposed is part of his body or whether it is a prosthetic affects
32:45what charges potentially are available to us.
32:48a charge of indecent exposure more tenuous however the intentionality is clearly there
32:58that the suspect has intended for the victims to perceive what's being exposed as a penis
33:03so we try and seek the highest charge available for that behaviour.
33:07Do you get sexual gratification from wearing that?
33:10I don't want to make any comments on that.
33:12Okay.
33:13It's midnight and response officers Laura and Omar are on a night shift in Newham,
33:37East London.
33:38Control can you just confirm the address for the last?
33:42They've been dispatched to a priority call from a member of the public who has reported
33:47a woman screaming for help outside a block of flats.
33:50So all we know is that her girlfriend's basically stated that she's been beaten up by her boyfriend.
33:55She's currently waiting outside the address and he's still inside the flat.
34:04Hi.
34:05Hi.
34:06Who's called us?
34:07She is.
34:08She might come out again.
34:10Hello.
34:11Hi guys.
34:12You all right?
34:13Police.
34:14Is it just you two in the flat?
34:15Yeah.
34:16Yeah.
34:17Can I...
34:18If you can speak to my colleague then I'll speak to you.
34:19Can you come with me?
34:20Sit down.
34:21What's...what's happened?
34:22What's there?
34:23We had an argument, man.
34:24Was...was it just an argument or was there anything else that happened?
34:29Uh, there was like some food being thrown.
34:33Okay.
34:34So you've run outside and you've stopped a car and you've said that your boyfriend was assaulting you.
34:41Yeah.
34:42Because he used to be like, he used to do that.
34:45But it wasn't wrong.
34:46Did he do that tonight?
34:47No.
34:48So he's not hit you tonight?
34:50Are you sure?
34:51Who was throwing the food?
34:54Him.
34:55Was he throwing it at you to try and hit you?
34:57Yeah, he was.
35:06You want to just sort of demonstrate on me how he's pushed you, yeah?
35:15Okay.
35:16That is an assault.
35:18What he's done there is really controlling.
35:20He's assaulted you and then he's thrown a vital...a vital piece of your...your property
35:26over a fence where you can't get to it.
35:29Yeah.
35:30Okay?
35:31That's not good, is it?
35:32No.
35:33That's heightening our risk.
35:34We can't just walk away from here and go, yeah, he's pushed her but it's okay.
35:37Because that's not okay.
35:38He needs to come in and we need to talk to him.
35:41I don't want a commotion.
35:44No, no, no, but it's not a commotion.
35:47You know, you've been assaulted, mate.
35:51Alright, so you're under arrest for common assault, alright?
35:54Please, stop this.
35:56They're arresting me.
35:58I love you, babe.
36:00Please, you're stuck with me.
36:01I'll take care for money drinks.
36:04If you need us, give us a call back, alright?
36:06Okay.
36:09The man can be held in custody for 24 hours.
36:12And unless he is charged, he'll be released.
36:16Without the victim's support for prosecution, so without the victim providing us with a statement,
36:21we can't stop the suspect from coming back.
36:24No matter how small or big the domestic or how serious, we always have to treat it as if it could turn into the worst case scenario.
36:44We want to make sure we're not missing anything.
36:47Because people's lives are on the line.
36:49So much, there's so much risk attached.
36:51Yeah.
37:11Detectives are still investigating an attack on an elderly woman at the entrance to her flat.
37:18Yeah, we'll do, yeah.
37:20After circulating a man's image on social media, a member of the public has called the police.
37:26He was identified by the ward manager of a mental health facility, who says it's one of her patients.
37:34She's seen the appeal, believes it's a patient who matches the description.
37:38She's then given us the name.
37:39The man is believed to be a patient at a mental health facility, where he's been serving an indefinite sentence for previous offences.
37:45It's a secure facility, that's part of his sentence is being there.
37:52But, so far he hasn't been deemed well enough to be allowed out, completely.
37:58As it turns out, he was allowed unescorted leave, that does happen sometimes, quite frequently.
38:05People are allowed unescorted leave from the facilities if they're showing signs of improvement.
38:10So the report that I've got says the ward manager has now revoked that.
38:15Richard now runs intelligence checks on the man, to find out about his past crimes.
38:29We've got seven offences over six days in 2011 that he was charged and convicted of.
38:36All concerning the same aged females, all concerning the same offence,
38:41and all concerning the same modus operandi.
38:45He's been known to police since 19...
38:4968.
38:5068.
38:52So, yeah, his first conviction was in 68, when he was a ten-year-old.
38:56It's a burglary and theft of a dwelling.
38:58And he was fined 10p.
39:00And then a theft, for which he was fined 5p.
39:03So, yeah, 13 was when he was sent to a boar stall.
39:06In 2001, he robbed an old woman and accidentally killed her.
39:12And got manslaughter. Convicted in manslaughter.
39:16So, yeah, I've found basically what it looks like.
39:21Like 92 robbery offences that he's been arrested for.
39:24So, every time he's got a sentence, as soon as that sentence is completed, or he's released on licence, he's committing offending straight away afterwards.
39:35And I think he committed half of his offences by the time he was an adult.
39:38There was about 30 offences there, weren't there, by the time he was 18.
39:42It's because the reason for that is he didn't get a custodial sentence until...
39:46He was 16. Until he was 16, and so that was the only reason he stopped offending, was when he was inside.
39:52I'd say, in my years in the job, that's probably the longest list of convictions I've seen.
39:57Yes, he will offend again. There's no doubt about that.
40:00The detectives travel to the mental health ward to interview the suspect.
40:13As soon as you introduce mental health into a criminal offence, it just creates this grey area where it's not as clear-cut as someone who's very much intended to go and commit a crime.
40:25and cause someone grief, or upset, or hurt them, or steal something, whatever.
40:31As soon as the person who exhibits that behaviour is a person with mental ill health, it's very difficult to make that distinction.
40:46Hello? Good morning, we're from the Met Police. We've come to do an interview this morning.
40:51OK. Thanks.
40:52The door is open.
40:55As the officers prepare to interview the man, he becomes too distressed to proceed.
41:02I think he became quite upset at the nature of the allegations that were levelled against him.
41:08Became very agitated and just refused to take part in the interview.
41:11So, yeah, I do feel a little disappointed.
41:16But then, obviously, this is relating to his mental health and why he's there in the first place.
41:22Next steps are to go over the case file and make sure it's all ship-shape, and send that to CPS and wait for a charging decision.
41:35That is the main reason why I came today.
41:49That is the main reason why I came today.
41:52He's been CPS, the prosecution services, they've agreed to charge him.
41:58We're going to go to court with it.
42:00OK? That's good news. That's very good news.
42:03Yeah.
42:04You're happy with that?
42:05Yeah.
42:06But...
42:10See, thinking about him sets me off.
42:18I can appreciate that, that it does set you off, and I'm sorry to bring it all up again.
42:23But he's still safely locked away, he's not allowed out.
42:28He's not roaming about.
42:30Yeah.
42:31So he's still not allowed out, and CPS have agreed to go to court and try and convict him of what he's done.
42:41I mean, I'm happy thinking he's not out, roaming about.
42:46I mean, it's not only me, he can do anybody, can't he?
42:49OK.
42:50OK.
42:51OK.
42:57What the defence is saying, what his solicitors were saying, what CPS are saying,
43:02that's going to be one of the main turning points of the case, is his mental health.
43:07It's going to be a discussion about what his mental state was at the time.
43:11They're going to be talking about things like capacity and culpability.
43:13Going into difficult questions about where the source of the criminality comes from, because he didn't need to do it, so why did he do it?
43:23And the motive will be very important.
43:25Did he do it because he can't help himself?
43:28And if he can't help himself, what is the best answer?
43:30The fact that we've got to this point means that we're able to do an awful lot more in order to make sure that he's safe and everyone else is safe as a result of that.
43:40Emergency response officers Laura and Omar are continuing a night shift in Newham, East London.
43:58emergency response officers laura and omar are continuing a night shift in newham east london
44:11they have received a call from a woman who says she's been assaulted by her husband at home
44:17a female has called us saying that her husband has is called up her doctor behind her back and
44:24tried to arrange a termination of their baby um wife has also alleged that he she's been hit by her
44:31husband left left here is this the guy is the guy standing outside he looks quite calm he does hello
44:44right what's happened they had an argument um and i think whilst we were having an argument that she
44:51was sort of like confronted she was angry with me and because i was angry i sort of like i didn't
44:58punch or anything the two three times i just sort of used my hand lightly just to push her didn't
45:03punch her okay i'm just going to stop you there okay i don't want you implicating yourself any further
45:08okay so just give me a minute and we'll figure out what we're going to do laura takes a statement
45:14from the woman who is inside with a friend every time we're pushing me then i i i i'm just avoid it's
45:22okay it's okay it's okay it's okay every time we're pushing me after that he message me sorry sorry sorry
45:29first of the meeting me and then after he's texting me sorry was this yesterday
45:35oh god did you go to hospital no no it's still really visible
45:50yeah i see it yeah is it does it hurt no it's hurting he's always arguing with me every you know
45:57one month yeah and when did the assault start after three four months today my GP called me
46:12you are abortioning appointment i don't know why why that's why i don't know why that's why i talk to
46:22and you never agreed to an abortion no no no we're going to arrest him
46:28okay he needs to be questioned about what's happened if you provide police a statement then
46:33you're supporting us prosecuting him
46:40if she doesn't want to give us a statement it's her decision okay but we will still be arresting him
46:46because we believe that there is too much of a risk we don't want this situation now escalating
46:53okay it's your choice this is your your decision okay you have the power here
47:04i don't want the rest you don't want him arrested
47:06when we go to domestic incidents people often don't want to get someone that they love in
47:19trouble because they're thinking of the long-term picture and we're thinking of today we're thinking
47:23we're thinking of protecting the victim
47:34i just want you to be safe
47:40okay you deserve better than this okay you don't deserve to be treated like this
47:49officers provide the woman with emergency overnight accommodation
47:53while her husband will be questioned in custody in the morning
47:58okay right so what's going to happen is at nine o'clock in the morning you're going to be required
48:04to attend the police station you have to be there
48:06if you do not turn up you will be arrested do you understand obviously the allegation has been
48:12made against you yeah of course that you have assorted your wife which you've obviously said
48:18that you've admitted now you're under caution obviously now everything you say is evidential
48:22did you punch your wife uh on safety yes okay all right okay okay i'm just going to ask you to sign
48:27to statement just corroborating the fact that you said it you don't have to sign it if you don't want
48:30okay all right thank you we want to help these victims but sometimes they're too scared to prosecute
48:42we we haven't got any other witnesses to the offense we haven't got any cctv
48:46so it becomes very difficult for us to actually prove what's happened in that situation
49:00it's been 24 hours since detectives arrested ali i who is suspected of multiple sexual assaults
49:22and indecent exposures the team does not have enough evidence to meet the cps threshold to charge
49:29so he is released on bail we were unable to complete all the lines of inquiries
49:36whilst you've been in custody he's accepted that he approaches females on on the street and that he
49:43engages in sexualized conversations thank you very much however the admissions that he has made
49:52still are not admissions to the offense he hasn't specified which females he's referring to and whether
49:58those are our victims or not so we need to directly link our suspect to all of our victims
50:14put the case up to the cps we're going to do some id procedures we've seized his phone so we'll also do an
50:21analysis on his phone to kind of see the locations he might have been going to it's really important
50:29that we kind of get everything we can review everything we can and put forward the strongest case possible
50:36right okay first of all thanks for coming in okay uh right my name is roy kitchen i'm the identification
50:44officer here um so what we're going to do shortly is take you into that room where we'll show you a film
50:51of nine people five victims from the most recent incidents attend an id parade to see if they will
50:58identify ali i as the man who approached them each person will be on the screen for about eight or nine
51:04seconds and these are all head and shoulders shots so we're looking purely for facial recognition
51:10and we're looking for a person who exposed himself to you on thursday the 23rd of september
51:17hi libby how are you did you pick someone out i picked five i'm fighting
51:30okay okay okay your witness looking for a person who uh you saw on tuesday the 11th of september
51:40did he expose himself was it a sexual assault okay okay
51:47and we're looking for the person who assaulted you on thursday the 9th september okay so that's
51:53the person we're looking for and we're looking for the person who uh sexually assaulted you on tuesday
51:5927th of july okay
52:08she wasn't able to pick out the suspect thank you
52:10two of the victims positively identify ali i some of these interactions have been quite quick
52:21they've been late at night when it's been dark um and the suspect's been in all manner of dress
52:28so yeah we've just got to deal with what we've got um and and yeah and just progress the investigation
52:36on the information that we already have i think it's quite good where it's kind of like covers
52:46you know it's hitting multiple cells isn't it within within the location to meet the threshold to charge
52:53the suspect the team needs more evidence they study his movements to see if the times and locations match
53:00where the assaults took place it does look like at least for the the majority of the most recent
53:06offenses that you know his phone is pinging the cell mask in the locality of those offenses
53:14you can see it like hitting mass um that was in june
53:22again in in an offense in july
53:24it's interesting he's remaining in the vicinity afterwards yeah for a period of time so i think
53:30this will really help us to corroborate that he was there um when he was then put the questions
53:36about the specific days dates um and the allegations he obviously said no comments so
53:42i hope that it means that we've got enough evidence to get the charges authorized by the crown
53:47prosecution service
54:07i is rearrested and the new cell site data is put to him in interview
54:12would anybody else have your phone does anyone else have access to your phone
54:20is there any explanation as to why a telephone seized from your property would be in the vicinity of
54:25these offenses
54:47the cps charges ali i with nine sexual assaults and ten indecent exposures
54:52so it's definitely the most complex investigation i've had of the detective
54:58it's been a very long process from when i first started the investigation um it's taken two years
55:06to a identify the suspects in the first place and then you know get the charges authorized by the crown
55:12prosecution service
55:16i think it i think it's really difficult for for the victims because if they had to wait so long to get
55:21to this point to this point hopefully they feel like you know there's been a positive result and
55:26some some level of justice has been done
55:34and then you know there's been a bit more than you know there's been the government for building
55:38so
55:40but
55:42that's
55:43well
55:45or
57:16Thanks to the Open University.