The Met S04E06
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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.
01:31Policing needs to be the best.
01:32Policing needs to be the best.
01:33Policing needs to be the best.
01:35Policing needs to be the best.
01:36Policing needs to be the best.
01:39There were burglars in the housemate, beating up my wife.
01:43He's very choking me.
01:44I'm from the Modern Slavery team. How's your English?
01:47Give her justice and tell us where that poor girl's body is.
01:59Stay where you are!
02:03You're under arrest on social murder.
02:07Leave him alone!
02:09You 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.
02:24It's a link series of sexual assaults and exposure incidents that have happened mainly around the Camden area.
02:30The first reported one was two years ago and the most recent one was about four days ago.
02:36CID Detective Amelia Robinson is leading the hunt to find the person responsible for a number of sexual assaults in North London.
02:42The first reported one was two years ago and the most recent one was about four days ago.
02:47CID Detective Amelia Robinson is leading the hunt to find the person responsible for a number of sexual assaults in North London.
02:59The description is pretty distinct. He's described as a male.
03:03I see one with olive-toned skin and a large belly.
03:07He is often wearing a tutu and fishnet tights or see-through leggings.
03:11He's described as having dark receding hair and often wearing a baseball cap style hat.
03:17He's got a foreign accent.
03:19At 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.
03:50They all follow the same format in that a male approaches a single female,
03:58implies that he's gay and wants to walk with them.
04:01He's quite often dressed quite flamboyantly or says he's been to a party.
04:05He's then saying goodbye and hugging them or commenting on what they're wearing and how they look
04:11and saying that they've got nice breasts and then exposes himself at which point obviously alarm bells ring
04:17and they try to make their excuses to say goodbye and then seems to grope them.
04:29I'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.
04:44They happened to have a similar sounding perpetrator.
04:54Detectives do not have any CCTV footage which captures either the crimes in progress or the offender.
05:00I'd say he's quite calculated.
05:06He is premeditated.
05:08He's coming out of nowhere seemingly to these girls.
05:12There are a couple of offences on main roads but by and large he is offending on roads that wouldn't have CCTV
05:22and keeping out of the way of being caught basically or being seen.
05:29These type of offences, the exposures and the non-penetrative sexual assaults are often a gateway to commit more serious crime.
05:37We want to be able to identify who this male is now before the offences get any worse
05:42and 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.
06:00So the press release that's gone out, it's already been picked up by the Daily Mail and The Sun.
06:04Amelia 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 enquiries.
06:15Yeah.
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
06:25and he's known to dress in a similar way to how the victims have described him.
06:30Yeah.
06:31The description is quite distinct.
06:33We've got, you know, a male, approximately 30 to 40 years old, wearing tutus and fishnet tights.
06:38The next necessary step is to arrest him in order for ID procedures to happen
06:43because that's the only way, without CCTV, that's the only way we're actually going to be able to establish
06:49whether it's him that has committed these offences or not.
06:51You know, the need to search the property for clothing,
06:53all these things that we're not going to be able to do unless he's arrested.
06:57Yeah.
07:03Officers have traced the man to a block of flats in North London.
07:10With the link series, it's always time critical because if you don't get them,
07:15they 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 part the way along
07:26and then we'll all go around to the front.
07:30As the team approaches the suspect's property,
07:33officers see him leaving through the front gate.
07:38That's him.
07:45OK, so I'm already seeing you on ten 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,
07:54sexual assaults and indecent exposures.
07:56That's why you've been arrested.
07:57We're going to search a flat on the section 32 page.
07:59We believe there may be evidence related to the events inside the address, OK?
08:03The man's here.
08:04All right.
08:05We're going to take you down to the station.
08:06You'll get a seat in the back of there.
08:07All right, and then we'll take you back.
08:09While officers searches home for evidence which could link him to the sexual assaults,
08:22the man is taken into custody for questioning.
08:24We have something that maybe looks like a tutu.
08:33It's rather colour.
08:35We'll take that.
08:37OK, 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 at Islington?
09:02Yes.
09:03They're just in the cage now, waiting to be booked in.
09:06All right, we're good.
09:13In this 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.
09:48Hello, police, what's your emergency?
09:50A neighbour's just phoned me out and she's just been mugged downstairs.
09:54She's nearly 90.
09:56What's happened to her?
09:57She's been pushed over.
09:59They've taken her money, mugged.
10:01Right, so when did this happen?
10:02About 20 minutes ago, yeah.
10:04She's been to the post office and they've followed her all the way back home and mugged her.
10:09OK, is she injured at all?
10:11Yeah, her hand and her hip.
10:15Police are on their way.
10:17It's just over there.
10:18In East London, an 87-year-old woman was hospitalised after being robbed and assaulted while entering her apartment block.
10:36It's just over there.
10:38The case has been handed to CID detectives Richard Davis and Hannah Rodericks.
10:43They're visiting her home to take a statement.
10:46She's on the fourth floor.
10:50Hello, Mrs Millen. Hello, how are you?
11:01I'm a bit out of pus.
11:03How are you feeling today?
11:04Well, my hand is all gone down.
11:09I can move my shoulder a wee bit now, but I can't move it at all.
11:15Goodness me.
11:16This is not her.
11:17Sit down.
11:18Sit yourself down.
11:19I 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 May Street to pay my rent, which I only pay now once a fortnight, because I can't stand the queues.
11:44As I came in, and this young gentleman, well, I'll say about in his thirties, came in, and it happened so fast, I didn't know what he was doing.
11:57I had my trolley, because I had to walk on my trolley, because I can't walk otherwise.
12:02He grabbed my trolley out of my hands and pushed me, and I went down.
12:09And I banged my head, he took the purse, it was a red one, and he threw the rest on the floor.
12:19Now, once I'm down on the floor, I don't get up, not without help.
12:24I 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.
12:36And, er, you know, it's, I mean, I've lived here 50 years, and we'll never hardly have anything like this.
12:51It just shake you up. I mean, I never had the fear of walking out on my own.
12:58Erm, it, are you okay?
13:01Oof!
13:02You okay?
13:03No.
13:04Do you want some water?
13:05Yeah, I have water.
13:06Yeah? Yeah? Okay.
13:08Just 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.
13:32Yeah, 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.
13:58I mean, he could have walked away, but he didn't, on the floor. And he just looked at me and walked away.
14:05Mm-hmm.
14:06Mm-hmm.
14:19There she is.
14:25There she, there she's off.
14:27Detectives have gathered CCTV footage, which shows the route the victim walked, from the post office to her home.
14:36So, there'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...
14:45That could be him.
14:48The man is seen walking behind her, as she walks towards her flat.
14:54There she comes.
14:56There she goes.
14:57And that's him following.
15:00OK.
15:01It'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.
15:08So, how long was he in there?
15:10Not long.
15:18And there, that's him running away from the building.
15:19OK, so we've got him running, so that's fine.
15:21So, it looks like the same person running as the same person as...
15:24Gone in with her, yeah.
15:26There he is.
15:27That's him.
15:34He looks a little bit, sort of, like, erratic.
15:37Black trousers, blue top.
15:42Yeah.
15:43Similar build.
15:45Similar hair.
15:46So, yeah, I'm fairly confident that that's the same person.
15:50In the CCTV, there's him walking into the venue, and it shows him running away and getting onto a bus,
15:54but it's not clear enough for us to be able to identify him as a person.
15:59So, 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.
16:06That's him. He does that in the council CCTV. There he is.
16:25Transport for London has released CCTV footage from the bus the man is seen boarding after the robbery.
16:31So, 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.
16:52Might be that it's a stolen card, and that bottoms out, because we know he's a robber, so...
16:58There's nothing saying that's his card.
17:02So, 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?
17:11Or actually...
17:15Is that him? That'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.
17:36We're trying a public appeal, basically where we tweet out a picture and ask the general public if they've seen this person.
17:43And actually that can yield pretty good results.
17:46It's quite likely that he's local to the area, so if the neighbourhood's officers have any contacts or people within the community that might be able to recognise him, that's where we're going next.
17:55I'm very much hoping he's got a fairly distinctive nose.
18:01It might sound ridiculous, but...
18:03It is quite distinctive.
18:05Got no forensics.
18:07The 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.
18:14Detectives are still investigating a number of similar sexual assaults in North London.
18:39For 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 denied all the offences.
18:58He, you know, repeatedly said that it was a mistaken identity.
19:02But most significantly, whilst he was in custody with us, there 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.
19:25It's definitely been really challenging.
19:28You know, you take one step forward and then you're not back again.
19:34There's no forensic opportunities, there's no CCTV opportunities.
19:37We're just really struggling at the moment with knowing so little about this man.
19:42Over a week later, an eleventh 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.
20:00Yeah.
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.
20:09I noticed the car pull into the side of the road.
20:13And was walking along the road when he kind of ran around the side of me and into my line of vision.
20:22And he started talking to me like quite hurriedly and frantically that I shouldn't be afraid of him.
20:33And that he was a gay man and then reference his clothing.
20:37And 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.
20:50And 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 just kept shouting at him to make him run away and that startled him and he did run away at that point.
21:16But I continued shouting at him as I saw him running down the road.
21:19You've gone inside your home. He's run off. In that moment, how are you feeling?
21:26I was in shock. I think I was angry and in shock and I started to cry.
21:31I think I was just very angry that he'd done it.
21:45So 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.
21:55So a long, newish looking estate style car.
21:59Yeah.
22:00Did you notice anything about what was inside the car?
22:03No.
22:04There we go.
22:05Five days after Libby came to the police, there is a breakthrough.
22:14The new CCTV identifies the perpetrator parking his car in a side street before a break.
22:18So that was the victim just walking around the corner there.
22:19And you can see, the little thing I have to don't care for.
22:20No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
22:25And I think you can see a little bit of a problem.
22:26One could be an accident that you might have ended with people that are stuck with them.
22:30That was the victim walking around the corner there.
22:33There's a bit of the victim walking around the corner there.
22:36And you can see that she has clocked the car for all the other offences.
22:46there's never been anything and he's been very forensically aware about what he's been doing.
22:51I genuinely think it's probably a muck up on the suspect's part.
22:57Gets out the vehicle and walks in the same direction as the way in which the victim
23:03is seen to go on the camera. The actual offence isn't covered and it is only about two and a half
23:10minutes later. He comes back to the vehicle. You can't really see whether he's wearing a skirt
23:18but you can see that he's definitely not got anything on his legs and you can see that he's
23:24wearing like a shiny, what I would describe as a shiny leather look baseball cap.
23:30The 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 so we can do a search of
23:44the 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,
23:56officers discover a number plate which is linked to a house in North London.
24:01So this morning we are looking to arrest a male in connection with Operation Quilting.
24:05He has a vehicle, this is the vehicle that was used in the offence.
24:08We are looking for any latex kind of clothing, tutus, fishnet tights, any baseball caps.
24:20We know that that car in that footage is registered to him
24:23so if he wasn't driving it then who was driving it?
24:27Can you guys see anything in the curtains or anything?
24:42There's nothing, keep knocking. Is that door open?
24:44No.
24:45Is the doorbell work?
24:48Yeah, I tried that.
24:52You can see the guys in the back garden there but...
24:55I've got the school run.
24:56You might not be in mate.
25:08I'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
25:25this is really the only chance we've ever had to develop that any further.
25:30Obviously we need to find him.
25:37While officers try to locate the man,
25:39the 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.
25:57Go to the door please.
26:00Hello, it's the police.
26:04Well, did we stand out here?
26:06OK.
26:07Yeah, mate, that's me.
26:08It's nothing, sorry, but we're police officers.
26:10Do you mind, could we come in and speak to you, please?
26:12For what?
26:13For what?
26:13Can you just speak to you?
26:14We should speak to you.
26:15OK, do you have the rest of them?
26:16Just...
26:16Who's going to?
26:17No, you cannot come on to me.
26:19I can come on to you.
26:20What's your name?
26:21What's your name, sir?
26:24We can't show you who we're looking for.
26:25What's your name?
26:30Here's my warrant.
26:31You have to show me a warrant, sir.
26:32Yeah, I have to go.
26:33Sir, is it coming?
26:34Yeah, just arrest him.
26:35Yeah, just arrest him.
26:36No, I'm sorry.
26:37The reason for your arrest is for sexual offences between the dates...
26:40Are you listening?
26:41Between 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.
26:56This is him.
27:04Huh?
27:05This is him, 100%.
27:06These exhibits from inside the house.
27:08Oh, no, these were inside the car.
27:10Shiny black hats in our descriptions, striping multicolours in the most recent ones.
27:15Detectives review the list of items taken from his home after the arrest.
27:19You had me at black hat.
27:21Black shiny cap, stripy jumper.
27:22This is him.
27:23Officers have searched the premises.
27:27Several mobile phones were seized from the address.
27:30And then they've searched the vehicle outside.
27:32Inside, they found this bag and its contents.
27:38This black leatherette cap, which is quite distinctive.
27:41It's something that our suspect is described as having worn.
27:47This 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, a 40-year-old engineer.
28:04We have started the interview on the 2nd of October at 1.53 a.m.
28:13I'm attached to Islington Police Station.
28:15Could the solicitor introduce himself, please?
28:17I'm from it.
28:18If you could introduce yourself, please.
28:21Oh, yeah.
28:21Oh, yeah.
28:22Thank 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, not as a male, but as a female.
28:38I have never shown them my pennies, but sometimes have a fake, flaccid
28:43pennies attached 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.
28:56When 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 person, no, totally female.
29:05Generally, what a female would talk with another female on a night out or something like that?
29:08Generally, relationships, fashion, clothes, what we are wearing, boyfriend.
29:199th of September, 2021, approximately half past 11 at night.
29:24Did you approach a lone female?
29:26Did you expose your penis to her?
29:27Did you touch her breasts?
29:29Didn't you touch her once she'd asked you to stop?
29:32Where were you on 11th of the night?
29:352021.
29:35Approximately quarter to two in the morning.
29:39Were you on Tufnel Park Road, N7?
29:42Did you follow and approach a young female?
29:45You lift up your skirt to show your penis?
29:48Try and undo her jeans.
29:50And I'll move on to stuffhounds within Black Holdall and Karbu.
30:02This is a Black Tutu.
30:04It's hard to make out through there.
30:06It is a Black Tutu.
30:07Black Tutu.
30:08Black Tutu.
30:10Same thing, it's in the statement.
30:11Same thing in the statement.
30:12Do you think it's a coincidence that it's the same person wearing the same Black Tutu that's committing these offences?
30:22It's not cool.
30:26Final exhibit.
30:28Well, sorry, final clothing type exhibit.
30:31Which is one strap on dildo.
30:34Again, found in the black holes in your bag.
30:37It's not a dildo.
30:39It's just a flaccid.
30:41In Science Museum, you can see this on display.
30:43Exactly the same thing.
30:44On Science Museum, you can see it on display.
30:46It's for flaccid.
30:48It'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 on the display.
30:57And it's obvious it's fake.
30:58I mean, it's not.
30:58It's plastic.
30:59You can see it.
31:00Do you wear it?
31:01I don't make no comment.
31:03It's all in the statement I made.
31:06It says that I put it on sometimes, yeah.
31:08It says in there.
31:09This is covering my penis, which is so nobody can ever claim to see my penis.
31:13It's impossible.
31:14As you see, I'm wearing this on top and this is a flaccid penis and it's obviously a toy.
31:18Do you think that if you were to show someone this at night when it's dark,
31:25quickly flash up your skirt, do you think that they mistake that for a real penis?
31:29I don't comment on it.
31:30Okay, because I think, I think that is absolutely capable of being mistaken for a real penis,
31:38because you can't quite see it on there, but if I'm not mistaken, it does kind of look like
31:45it's got like veins on it, like it looks quite like a descript article.
31:50Well, you can see, you can tell, even when you hold it, it's a dangling soft thing.
31:55I think we feel the same thing.
31:59Yeah, absolutely.
32:00And because of the size of it, it's very obvious it's fake.
32:02I mean, this is not a normal size.
32:05It goes from there down to there, sort of curve.
32:10And then the rest is the straps.
32:12And then the rest is like the strap pants, as you sort of, did you say pants?
32:15No, it's just normal pants, it's just glitter 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?
32:29I cannot tell. I don't comment on that.
32:33OK.
32:34And it is fake. It's obvious.
32:38Whether what he has exposed is part of his body or whether it is a prosthetic
32:43affects what charges potentially are available to us.
32:48It makes a charge of indecent exposure more tenuous.
32:54However, the intentionality is clearly there that the suspect has intended for the victims
33:01to perceive what's being exposed as a penis.
33:04So 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.
33:12OK.
33:32It's midnight, and response officers Laura and Omar are on a night shift in Newham, East London.
33:38Control, can you just confirm the address for the last?
33:43They've been dispatched to a priority call from a member of the public,
33:46who has reported a woman screaming for help outside a block of flats.
33:51So all we know is that her girlfriend basically stated that she's been beaten up by her boyfriend.
33:56She's currently waiting outside the address, and he's still inside the flat.
34:00I don't know, I don't know, she might come out again.
34:15Hello.
34:16Hi guys, you all right?
34:16Hi, Elise.
34:18Is it just you two in the flat?
34:19Yeah.
34:19Yeah, can I...
34:20If you can speak to my colleague, then I'll speak to you.
34:22Can you come with me?
34:22Sit down.
34:23What's happened?
34:27Was it just an argument, or was there anything else that happened?
34:34OK.
34:35So you've run outside, and you've stopped a car, and you've said that your boyfriend was assaulting you?
34:47Did he do that tonight?
34:48No.
34:49So he's not hit you tonight?
34:51Are you sure?
34:52Who was throwing the food?
34:55Him.
34:56Was he throwing it at you to try and hit you?
34:58Yeah, he was.
35:07You want to just sort of demonstrate on me how he's pushed you, yeah?
35:16OK, that is an assault.
35:18What he's done there is really controlling.
35:21He's assaulted you, and then he's thrown a vital, a vital piece of your, your property.
35:27Over a fence where you can't get to it.
35:29No.
35:30OK, that's not good, is it?
35:32No.
35:32That's heightening our risk.
35:34We can't just walk away from here and go,
35:36yeah, he's pushed her, but it's OK.
35:37Because that's not OK.
35:39He needs to come in, and we need to talk to him.
35:42I don't want a commotion about commotion.
35:45No, no, no, no, but it's not a commotion.
35:48You know, you've been assaulted, mate.
35:52All right, so be under arrest for common assault, all right?
35:55Please, stop this.
35:57They're arresting me.
35:59I love you, babe.
36:01Thank you, sir.
36:02I'm going to take care of the money drinks.
36:04If you need us, give us a call back, all right?
36:10The man can be held in custody for 24 hours.
36:13And unless he is charged, he'll be released.
36:17Without 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.
36:35No matter how small or big the domestic or how serious,
36:40we always have to treat it as if it could turn into the worst-case scenario.
36:46We want to make sure we're not missing anything.
36:48Because people's lives are on the line.
36:50So much, there's so much risk attached.
36:52Yeah.
36:53We want to make sure we're not missing anything.
37:11Detectives are still investigating an attack on an elderly woman at the entrance to her flat.
37:16Yeah, we'll do, yeah.
37:20After circulating a man's image on social media, a member of the public has called the police.
37:27He 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.
37:40The man is believed to be a patient at a mental health facility,
37:45where he's been serving an indefinite sentence for previous offences.
37:50It's a secure facility. That's part of his sentence, is being there.
37:55But so far, he hasn't been deemed well enough to be allowed out completely.
38:02As it turns out, he was allowed unescorted leave. That does happen sometimes, quite frequently.
38:06People are allowed unescorted leave from the facilities if they're showing signs of improvement.
38:11So the report that I've got says the ward manager has now revoked that.
38:25Richard now runs intelligence checks on the man to find out about his past crimes.
38:30We've got seven offences over six days in 2011 that he was charged and convicted of,
38:37all concerning the same aged females, all concerning the same offence,
38:42and all concerning the same modus operandi.
38:46He's been known to police since 1968.
38:50So, yeah, his first conviction was in 68, when he was a 10-year-old.
38:57And it's a burglary and theft of a dwelling.
38:59And he was fined 10p, and then a theft, for which he was fined 5p.
39:04So, yeah, 13 was when he was sent to a borstal.
39:07In 2001, he robbed an old woman and accidentally killed her.
39:13And got manslaughter. Convicted in manslaughter.
39:15So, yeah, I've found basically what it looks like.
39:22Like, 92 robbery offences that he's been arrested for.
39:28So, every time he's got a sentence, as soon as that sentence is completed,
39:33or he's released on licence, he's committing offending straight away afterwards.
39:37And I think he committed half of his offences by the time he's an adult.
39:40There was about 30 offences there, weren't there, by the time he was 18?
39:43The reason for that is he didn't get a custodial sentence until...
39:46He was 16.
39:47..until he was 16, and so that was the only reason he stopped defending,
39:50was when he was inside.
39:53I'd say, in my years in the job,
39:55that's probably the longest list of convictions I've seen.
39:58Yes, he will offend again. There's no doubt about that.
40:01The detectives travel to the mental health ward to interview the suspect.
40:15As soon as you introduce mental health into a criminal offence,
40:18it just creates this grey area where it's not as clear-cut as someone who's very much intended
40:25to go and commit a crime and cause someone grief or upset or hurt them or steal something,
40:31whatever, as soon as the person who exhibits that behaviour is a person with mental ill health,
40:38it's just very difficult to make that distinction.
40:46Hello? Good morning. We're from the Met Police.
40:49We've come to do an interview this morning.
40:51OK. Thanks.
40:56As the officers prepare to interview the man, he becomes too distressed to proceed.
41:03I think he became quite upset at the nature of the allegations that were levelled against him,
41:09and became very agitated and just refused to take part in the interview.
41:14So, 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.
41:28Next steps are to go over the case file and make sure it's all...
41:33ship-shape, and send that to CPS and wait for a charging decision.
41:37That is the main reason why I came today.
41:53He'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 great. That's very good news.
42:03Yeah. Are you happy with that?
42:05Yeah. But...
42:11See, thinking about him sets me off.
42:19I can appreciate that, that it does set you off, and I'm sorry to bring it all up again.
42:26But he's still safely locked away. He's not allowed out.
42:28He's not... He's not roaming about.
42:30Yeah. So, he's still not allowed out.
42:34And 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, not roaming about.
42:47I mean, it's not only me. He can do anybody, can't he?
42:50What the defence is saying, what his solicitors were saying, what CPS are saying, that's going
43:03to be one of the main turning points of the case, is his mental health. It's going to be a discussion
43:08about what his mental state was at the time. They're going to be talking about things like
43:12capacity and culpability. Going into difficult questions about where the source of the criminality
43:20comes from, because he didn't need to do it, so why did he do it? And the motive will be very important.
43:26Did he do it because he can't help himself? And if he can't help himself, what is the best answer?
43:33The fact that we've got to this point means that we're able to do an awful lot more in order to make
43:38sure that he's safe and everyone else is safe as a result of that.
44:04Emergency response officers Laura and Omar
44:07are 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 called up her doctor behind her back and tried
44:24to arrange a termination of their baby. Wife has also alleged that she's been hit by her husband.
44:32That's a good one. Left, left, left.
44:35Is this the guy? Is the guy standing outside?
44:39No, he looks quite calm.
44:40He does.
44:41Hello.
44:42Hello? Right. What's happened?
45:04OK, I'm just going to stop you there, OK?
45:06I don't want you implicating yourself any further.
45:08OK. OK, so just give me a minute.
45:10We'll figure out what we're going to do.
45:13Yeah.
45:14Laura takes a statement from the woman,
45:16who was inside with a friend.
45:34Was this yesterday?
45:36Oh, I see. Ooh.
45:39Two, four, five times.
45:41Oh, God.
45:43Did you go to hospital?
45:44No.
45:45No?
45:48It's still really visible.
45:50The food?
45:51Yeah, I see it.
45:52Does it hurt?
45:53No, it's hurting.
45:54He's always arguing with me every...
45:56You know, one month, three days,
45:58he's arguing with me every time,
45:59and he's pushing me.
46:01Yeah.
46:03And when did the assault start?
46:05After three, four months.
46:08Today, my sister called me.
46:11You are abortioning appointment.
46:14I don't know.
46:15Why, why is it?
46:16That's why I talked to her.
46:18Abortion appointment?
46:19Yeah.
46:20Yeah, yeah.
46:21And you never agreed to an abortion?
46:23No, no, no.
46:25We're going to arrest him.
46:27OK, he needs to be questioned about what's happened.
46:30If you provide police a statement,
46:32then you're supporting us prosecuting him.
46:39If she doesn't want to give us a statement,
46:41it's her decision.
46:43OK.
46:44But we will still be arresting him.
46:46Because we believe that there is too much of a risk.
46:50We don't want this situation now escalating.
46:56It's your choice.
46:57This is your decision.
46:59OK.
47:00You have the power here.
47:03I don't want to arrest him.
47:05You don't want him arrested?
47:06OK.
47:07I don't want...
47:08OK.
47:09No, no, no, no.
47:10I don't want this man.
47:11OK.
47:13When we go to domestic incidents,
47:14people often don't want to get someone that they love in trouble.
47:19Because they're thinking of the long-term picture
47:21and we're thinking of today,
47:22we're thinking of protecting the victim.
47:25I know.
47:26I just want you to be safe.
47:39OK?
47:40You deserve better than this, OK?
47:43You 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.
47:56OK, right.
47:57So what's going to happen is at 9 o'clock in the morning,
48:02you're going to be required to attend the police station.
48:05You have to be there.
48:06No, I definitely will.
48:07If you do not turn up, you will be arrested.
48:09OK, OK.
48:10Do you understand why?
48:11Yeah, you do.
48:12Obviously, the allegation has been made against you.
48:13Yeah, of course.
48:14That you have assorted your wife.
48:16Yep.
48:17Which you've obviously said that you've admitted to 12.
48:19Now you're under caution.
48:20Yep.
48:21Now everything you say is evidential.
48:22Did you punch your wife?
48:23On safety, yes.
48:25OK, all right, OK.
48:26OK, I'm just going to ask you to sign a statement
48:28just corroborating the fact that you said it.
48:29You don't have to sign it if you don't want to.
48:30No, I wouldn't mind.
48:31Yeah, yeah.
48:32OK, all right, thank you.
48:33We want to help these victims, but sometimes they're too scared to prosecute.
48:42We haven't got any other witnesses to the offence.
48:44We haven't got any CCTV.
48:46So it becomes very difficult for us to actually prove what's happened in that situation.
49:03It's been 24 hours since detectives arrested Ali Ai, who is suspected of multiple sexual assaults
49:23and indecent exposures.
49:25The team does not have enough evidence to meet the CPS threshold to charge, so he is released
49:31in bail.
49:33We were unable to complete all the lines of inquiries whilst you've been in custody.
49:38He's accepted that he approaches females on the street and that he engages in sexualised
49:45conversations.
49:46That's copy.
49:47Thank you very much.
49:48However, the admissions that he has made still are not admissions to the offence.
49:55He hasn't specified which females he's referring to and whether those are our victims or not.
50:00So we need to directly link our suspect to all of our victims.
50:13To put the case up to the CPS, we're going to do some ID procedures.
50:18We've seized his phone, so we'll also do an analysis on his phone to kind of see the locations
50:25he might have been going to.
50:28It's really important that we kind of get everything we can, review everything we can
50:33and put forward the strongest case possible.
50:37Right.
50:38OK.
50:39First of all, thanks for coming in.
50:41OK.
50:42Right.
50:43My name's Roy Kitchener.
50:44I'm the identification officer here.
50:46So what we're going to do shortly is take you into that room where we'll show you a film
50:51of nine people.
50:53Five victims from the most recent incidents attend an ID parade to see if they will identify
50:59Ali Ai as the man who approached them.
51:02Each person will be on the screen for about eight or nine seconds.
51:05And these are all head and shoulders shots.
51:07So 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.
51:18How are you?
51:19Did you pick someone out?
51:20I picked five.
51:21Five.
51:22OK.
51:23OK.
51:24Your witness.
51:25Looking for a person who you saw on Tuesday the 11th of September.
51:40Did he expose himself?
51:42Hmm.
51:43Or is it a sexual assault?
51:44No.
51:45We're looking for the person who assaulted you on Thursday the 9th of September.
51:52OK.
51:53So that's the person we're looking for.
51:54And we're looking for the person who sexually assaulted you on Tuesday 27th of July.
52:00OK.
52:08She wasn't able to pick out the suspect.
52:15Two of the victims positively identify Ali Ai.
52:18Some of these interactions have been quite quick.
52:21They've been late at night when it's been dark.
52:23Um.
52:24And the suspect's been in all manner of duress.
52:28So.
52:29Yep.
52:30We've just got to deal with what we've got.
52:32Um.
52:33And, and yeah.
52:34And just progress the investigation on the information that we already have.
52:38I think it's quite good where it's kind of like covers, you know, it's hitting multiple cells, isn't it, within, within the location.
52:51To meet the threshold to charge the suspect, the team needs more evidence.
52:56They study his movements to see if the times and locations match where the assaults took place.
53:01It does look like, at least for the, the majority of the most recent offences, that, you know, his phone is pinging the cell mass in the locality of those offences.
53:13You can see it like hitting mass.
53:16Yep.
53:17Um.
53:18That was in June.
53:22Again, in, in an offence in July.
53:25It's interesting that he's remaining in the vicinity afterwards.
53:28Yeah, for a period of time.
53:29So I think this will really help us to corroborate that he was there.
53:33Um.
53:34Yeah.
53:35When he was then put the questions about the specific days, dates, um, and the allegations, he obviously said no comments.
53:41So I hope that it means that we've got enough evidence to get the charges authorised by the Crown Prosecution Service.
53:47I is re-arrested and the new cell site data is put to him in interview.
54:12Would anybody else have your phone?
54:15No comment.
54:16Does anyone else have access to your phone?
54:18No comment.
54:19Is there any explanation as to why a telephone seized from your property would be in the vicinity of these offences?
54:25Yes.
54:26No comment.
54:27No comment.
54:28No comment.
54:29Please.
54:30The CPS charges Ali Ai with nine sexual assaults and ten indecent exposures.
54:39the cps charges ali i with nine sexual assaults and ten indecent exposures
54:54so it's definitely the most complex investigation i've had as a 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
55:11authorized by the crown prosecution service i think it i think it's really difficult for
55:18for the victims because if they had to wait so long to get to this point
55:23hopefully they feel like you know there's been a positive result and some some level of justice
55:28has been done
55:58so
56:19so