Defenders UK (2018–…): Season 4, Episode 10 - Episode #4.10 - full transcript

All around us...

..in every part of the UK...

..are skilled teams of
eagle-eyed men and women...

..working alongside the police
to keep us safe.

They're the people on the
front line,

tackling the hazards that
place us in danger.

This is not something
we want anyone,

anyone at all, to ever experience.

They're cracking down on those
who threaten our families.

These people prey on
vulnerable people.

They're just the lowest of the low.



They're protecting us on
the streets and in our homes.

With telephone calls now,
I don't answer it.

That's how scared I am.

These men and women make up
the UK's enforcement teams -

our defenders.

Today...

We are going to be seizing
the vehicle. When, today?

Now, right now.

..our defenders get tough with
fly-tippers caught on camera.

Seizing vehicles sends a strong
message out to others -

we will go out and defend
the countryside.

They close in on a charity boss
who stole £250,000.

The fact that it involved
taking money

from disabled people was shocking.



And they crack down
on a cowboy builder

who left his victim without
gas or electric.

I felt that he truly was
concerned about my welfare...

..and I trusted him.

Yateley Industries, in Hampshire,
is a registered charity.

It's been providing jobs
for people with disabilities

for more than 80 years.

We employ just over
80 people, currently.

Set up by a lady
called Jessie Brown,

and started off as a charity
block-printing for disabled girls.

Now we do all different
types of packaging.

You're working Tuesday and Wednesday
this week, are we, Leslie?

Sam Peplow is the charity's
chief executive officer.

Meaningful employment is massive
for the people that we work with.

It isn't just about the salary.

It is about the work ethics,

being able to have that routine,
coming to work.

Our aim is to develop people
so they can progress on

and go on to mainstream employment.

So it makes a huge big difference
to people's lives.

Many of the employees not only
work here, but live here too.

It means the world to them.

Which makes it all the more shocking
that anyone would steal

from a charity like this
and put its future in doubt.

So, it's four bolts and four nuts...

On the factory floor,
team leader Scott Tanner

assigns everyone tasks for the day.

They're all a really good bunch
of people to work with.

I've worked with near enough
everyone here.

You get to know them, as well,
working with them,

knowing what they can and can't do
when it comes to the job

and I enjoy it.

If you need any help, just
let me know. Yeah, I will.

Scott started work here when he
finished college nine years ago.

Since then, he hasn't looked back.

I started off as a factory worker

and then, I built myself up to be
where I am now, as a team leader,

but I'm hoping to build myself up
to be a supervisor one day.

Scott's job here is precious to him.

It actually means a lot because it's
my first job and I never thought

I would get a job with my
disability and everything else.

It's the independence and
the responsibility behind it

that boosts my confidence
to be who I am today.

Ollie, what you doing?
You're waiting for a job?

But back in 2013, the charity
was plunged into crisis.

Its former boss, Patrick McClary,

stole hundreds of thousands of
pounds from the pension fund...

..putting the future of
Yateley Industries

and everyone here in jeopardy.

Now the fight is on to
restore the funds

and give those who rely
on them a secure future.

We will find a way eventually.

The difference it makes to
the people here is astronomical.

We won't stop fighting
until we find a way

to make sure that they have
a secure future,

for those that live here and
those that work here.

The first indication
that anything was wrong

came when The Pensions Regulator
got a tip off.

We received a whistle-blower
report from an adviser

to the pension scheme, who
was concerned about some of

the investments that were being
made by the scheme trustees,

and that's how this whole
case has opened up for us.

Katie Suter is an enforcement
officer for The Pensions Regulator.

Katie is our defender.

When you first receive a report,
we try and keep an open mind.

But then, the more you look into it
and you realise that it does

involve a charity which is there
to help disabled people,

anything associated with that
does sort of stick in the back

of your throat and you feel more
compelled than you otherwise would

to really make sure that you get to
the bottom of what's happening.

Katie was immediately concerned
about where the charity's

pension fund was being invested.

The scheme trustees had been
investing money in properties

that they were linked to themselves.

That to us is a clear
conflict of interest

and so, it's something that
we would want to investigate.

Patrick McClary was, at that time,
the CEO of Yateley Industries.

We tried to have productive
conversations with him

and they just failed every time.

Basically, every trick in the book
he could use to dissuade us

from continuing to
investigate he tried.

He didn't succeed, because
obviously, that for us was a clear

sign that there was something more
going on.

Katie started to look more
closely at the company

that was set up to run
the pension scheme.

McClary was one of only
two directors.

So, effectively,
he gave himself control

of the pension scheme from 2011.

The more Katie looked
into the company, the
more worried she became.

That's really where we started
to get quite a lot of confusing

information that didn't quite add
up and didn't really give us

the comfort that we wanted.

We started to have real concerns
about the investments

that had been made by the scheme.

Money had been invested in
high-risk businesses,

including a helicopter flying school

and an antiques business owned
by McClary's wife.

That raises alarm bells for us.

We consider that to be an
extremely high-risk investment

for a pension scheme and not
one we would typically see.

By now, Katie had serious concerns
about McClary's company.

We took emergency action
to replace them.

Their powers were taken away

and we appointed our
own independent trustee.

Once that happened, more
details of where the money

had been invested started to emerge.

That's when it really kind
of opened up exactly what

had been going on behind the scenes.

Money from the pension fund had
been transferred out of the UK

and into a French bank account
controlled by McClary and his wife.

At that point, we obviously wanted
to follow the money further,

so we required Mr McClary
to provide us with

those bank account statements.

Those statements were the turning
point in Katie's investigation.

The French bank account statements
really opened up the whole case

for us, because up until
that point, we had suspicions

but we didn't have any hard
evidence of where the money

had actually gone once
it had left the UK.

The truth was, McClary was
using the pension scheme

to fund his lavish lifestyle.

This was fraud.

These were the bank account
statements that we got

for the French account that
Mr and Mrs McClary had together.

We could see that they had
bought a property in France.

We could also see them buying
theatre tickets,

wine tasting days, things like that.

It was quite shocking, really,

just to go through exactly what
the money had been spent on.

McClary had used the money to buy
two properties in France

and another in Hampshire.

He'd also paid off a personal loan.

Once we viewed the
French bank statements,

we had very clear evidence
of fraud there.

So, at that point, we referred the
case to our criminal investigations

team for them to take forward.

Alison Farah works closely
with the National Trading
Standards scams team.

I think it's really cruel
when you trust somebody

and it turns out that they
were just conning you.

Fraud by abuse of trust
is one of the worst things.

There are far more good people
in this world than bad.

Unfortunately, when we
hear about the bad guys,

they do so much damage.

McClary had stolen
just over £250,000

from the charity's pension scheme.

He was obviously very,
very unhappy with our team.

He was not at all pleased that
we'd replaced him as a trustee.

But now I can kind of see why -
we'd taken away his funds

that he was using for his lifestyle.

So, yes, he was a very difficult man
to deal with.

In November 2019,
Patrick McClary pleaded guilty

to fraud by abuse of position.

The judge described McClary's
actions as appalling dishonesty.

This is certainly some of the
worst behaviour I've ever seen.

I've worked at the regulator
for nearly ten years.

The fact that it involved taking
money from disabled people,

who had trusted him
to look after their funds

for their retirement,
was shocking.

McClary was jailed for five years,
stripped of his MBE,

and ordered to pay £280,000 back
into the pension scheme.

The charity was so badly
affected by the fraud

that it came within days of closing.

We have a massive pension deficit.

That for us is our biggest challenge
that we need to overcome.

There is a massive deficit
within that scheme

and we need to do whatever
we can to fill that hole

to make sure we have a
sustainable future as a charity.

Sam Peplow is determined
they'll survive.

I believe we can weather the storm

and I believe that we can work
our way through this.

But any support we can get makes
a massive difference to us.

The local community have been
absolutely fantastic.

We continue to fundraise.

We are paying into the pension
scheme every single month

to reduce that deficit.

Sam's aim now is to ensure everyone
here has a safe and secure future.

All I have to do is walk into the
factory, or walk around the estate,

and see the people that we support -

and I know that we can't fail,
for them.

We have to make sure that
this charity continues

and that we build and grow,

and we're then able to offer more
opportunities for more people.

The thought of it
not being here scares me

as to what would happen
to our staff.

For Scott - and for so
many others working here -

this charity is a lifeline.

I'd like to still be here
in the future.

If it wasn't for Yateley,
I wouldn't be in a job.

I just love this job so much.

It's an amazing charity to work for

and I'm proud to be part of it.

NEWSREADER: The Met Office says it's
going to be an extremely cold night.

The M25 motorway came to
a complete standstill.

Winter, 2017...

NEWSREADER: Tonight, temperatures
are going to plunge.

Some spots minus 10, minus 11,
minus 12 degrees.

..parts of the UK saw the heaviest
snowfall in more than 20 years.

But that didn't stop this cowboy
builder leaving his victim

with no kitchen, no running water

and no heating.

Bina was brought up to work hard,
save hard and never get into debt.

I was born in Kenya, and I came
here when I was about 13,

left school at 16,
and started working.

I've been working ever since.

The culture and the background
I come from, it was,

you don't spend anything
that you haven't got,

and unless you've got the money
in your pocket, you don't spend it.

Bina had spent most of her
working life in finance

and was looking forward to
a well-earned retirement.

Ever since I started work, I was
saving a little bit at a time.

I'd seen so many people get in debt.

That's something I never
wanted to do.

Bina bought this three-bedroom
semi in Harrow, North London.

It was in need of renovation.

Her aim was to get all the work
done in time for her retirement.

I had a big plan
and I'd saved enough for it.

I was hoping that once it
was all done,

then I can just settle down
and enjoy my life and my retirement.

Bina had extensive plans drawn up
to refurbish throughout

and build an extension
at the back of the house.

The next step was to find a good,
reliable local builder.

Sylvia Rook is a Trading Standards

officer at Warwickshire
County Council

and the lead officer
for fair trading

at the Chartered Trading
Standards Institute.

First thing,
try to get personal recommendation.

Talk to friends, talk to family,

find somebody that
they're happy with.

Next, try to find somebody who is
a member of a trade association

because they may give you
extra protection.

And you can also look at some
of the trusted trader websites,

but always get at least
three quotes,

because that way you can get
a feeling from the different

builders, you get an idea of cost,
and you can also see paperwork,

so you can see who they are and what
they do. But whatever you do,

don't go for somebody who just
knocks on your door.

When I started
looking for a builder,

I was talking to loads of people.

I was basically trying to find
someone that would be

recommended,
where I would have seen their work.

Bina was careful to make sure
she did everything right.

She even went on to a Trading
Standards website.

I was trying to follow advice
given by Trading Standards

and advice given by various
different bodies that are out there,

trying to protect the consumer, so
I thought I'd done all my homework.

A colleague recommended a local
building company run by this

man, Gagandeep Singh.

Bina called Singh and invited him
to quote for the job.

He sounded very friendly, he came
in and handed me his leaflet that

showed me that he
was a member of the Federation

of Master Builders and TrustMark,
and I was quite impressed.

I felt that he truly was
concerned about my welfare.

And I trusted him.

You don't know, when they knock
on your door, whether they're going

to be a good guy or not, so you've
got to always be extremely careful.

You shouldn't just be
looking at the first impression

because anybody can look smart,
anybody can look reputable,

you don't
know what they're really like.

Singh quoted £99,800 for an
extension and complete renovation.

It was a massive amount of money,
but Bina had saved hard

and wanted to create her dream home.

I had got about four or five
different quotes.

He wasn't the cheapest,
but I felt I could trust him.

Bina accepted the quote and
they agreed regular staged payments,

as each phase of the
work was completed.

Singh was in a rush to start,

so in April 2017, Bina paid
a deposit and work got under way.

The back of the house,
the utility area

and conservatory were
all demolished,

and the kitchen was ripped out.

Then, work was delayed.

He restarted
the project in August 2017,

so we were approaching
winter slowly.

The demolition continued

and in September, Bina's gas
supply was disconnected.

I had no heating, I had no water,
access to any clean drinking water.

I had no cooking facilities,
I had no laundry facilities.

For the next 12 months,
Bina would be living in one room.

Everything was piled up high,

even the windows were mostly
blocked with boxes.

I had my kitchen space in there.

All my personal belongings
were in that one room.

So it was effectively a bedsit,
with a little kitchen.

Singh was demanding more
and more money.

Bina, worried that work would
come to a standstill again,

continued to make regular
staged payments.

Most of the work that he'd done was
to basically destroy the house,

rather than rebuild or complete.

There was not one single
part of the house that was complete,

where I could say,
"OK, I can live in this space."

They want to get the work
started really quickly

because once they're in your house,
if they can start doing work,

then you're effectively
held to ransom

because you then have holes in your
walls, you may have a roof down,

and you obviously want your house
to be fixed again.

Make sure you've got paperwork,
make sure you know what's going

to be done, make sure you know
the timescales,

and just be very careful.

And if you're not happy, you can
tell somebody to stop

and you can ask them
to leave your home.

I still kept paying him because
if I didn't, they stopped work.

They wouldn't come in for three,
four days, until I made the payment.

He'd chase again and again,
"Have you made that payment?"

By now, Bina had handed over
tens of thousands of pounds

and had very little to show for it.
To begin with,

he used to have, like, a team of
maybe seven or eight used to come,

when they were knocking things down,
but afterwards, one,

maybe two people maximum
used to come.

Bina endured the whole winter
with no kitchen, no running water

and no heating.

I was left in a cold house,
with nothing.

One time, I was
kind of snowed in for about five

days in the house, with no heating
and the temperatures at that time...

At one time,
it was minus five in the house.

Bina had paid Singh's company
a total of £97,000.

From what I could see,
he'd only done about 30% of the work

and he wanted 100% of the money.

Singh kept demanding more money.

When Bina refused,
he stopped work altogether.

I was in tears.
I just couldn't stop crying.

I didn't know where to turn.
I didn't know what to do.

I didn't know how to put it right.

Later, our defenders are determined
to get justice for Bina.

My initial thought was
one of disgust.

The place itself was absolutely
unbelievable.

Our cities,

our towns...

..and our countryside
are under attack.

Fly-tippers illegally dump thousands
of tonnes of rubbish every year,

leaving local councils
with a clean-up bill
that runs into millions.

Waste crime is such a huge
issue across the entirety of the UK.

So it's very important to
ensure that we capture as many

offenders as we can.

Jamie Duffy is
the Waste Crime Manager

at Maidstone Borough Council.

Whenever we come across waste in any
location, it's shocking to see

how disregarding people are when it
comes to disposal of their waste.

Jamie is our defender.

Whenever someone commits
a fly-tipping offence,

we always investigate to try
and capture the offenders.

This lay-by on the A249 near
Maidstone is a fly-tipping hot spot.

You can see that somebody
has decided to

dispose of their unwanted
sofa at the location.

It's a regular spot
for people to come and fly-tip.

Black bags full of domestic

and commercial
waste are frequently dumped here.

We get a multitude of rubbish
that's fly-tipped in this area.

Anything from the black sacks
to bulky items, such as this.

It's disgusting

and it's harmful to the
environment at the end of the day.

Jamie was determined to stop
rubbish being dumped here

and to catch those responsible.

The best way to stop people
that are committing

the offence of fly-tipping is
to catch them in the act.

Emma Viner is at the forefront
of the Environment Agency's

fight against waste crime.

Emma knows all too well the
importance of the work being

done by local authorities.

It's important to catch these sorts
of offenders, to punish them for the

offending that they've done and also
to act as a deterrent for others and

to show that waste crime doesn't pay
and that there will be consequences.

Jamie decided to hide covert
cameras in the hedgerow,

in an attempt to catch
the culprits red-handed.

One was placed in the
location over there

and one was placed in this location,
to cover both angles,

to capture the offence
that's taking place

and any vehicle registration
that is involved within

the offence of fly-tipping.

Once Jamie had the vehicle's
registration,

he'd be able to track down
whoever was responsible.

CCTV is a great tool when it comes
to our fight against waste crime.

It helps gather evidence

and pinpoints the exact location
of where a fly-tip's taken place.

You can't argue when it's
put in front of you on camera.

With two hidden cameras in place,
all Jamie could do was wait.

He didn't need to wait long.

After we installed
the cameras in the area,

we captured a number of offences
from different vehicles,

different members of public,
and different sizes of fly-tip.

First, a white van pulls up.

The driver opens up the back

and starts dumping building
waste on the side of the road.

The same van comes back a second
time, this time dumping black sacks.

They unloaded items from
the rear of the vehicle,

from household waste
to commercial waste.

Then came another white van.

The contents was roofing tiles,
roofing materials.

Those items of waste had to be
disposed of as hazardous waste,

as there could have been elements
of asbestos included in the waste.

The next vehicle to be caught
on camera took Jamie by surprise.

It wasn't a builder's van,
but a BMW 320,

complete with electronic
boot opening.

The driver dumped a black bag
full of household waste

and then later,
came back to dump more bags.

One occasion was just
the one black sack

and then they came
back on a separate day

and a separate time to dispose
of a further two black sacks.

It's likely that they were
operating on a regular basis,

disposing of their waste
at that location.

Two of the three vehicles were
caught on camera twice,

each time fly-tipping.

Whenever we capture offences on CCTV
and we review the footage, it's

always a great feeling to know
that we are capturing them

committing the offence.

There's six vehicles on the list
that we're interested in,

five of which are for fly-tipping,
one suspected illegal waste carrier.

Today, in a joint operation
with Kent Police, Jamie's hoping

to track down several
fly-tipping suspects,

including the three caught dumping
rubbish in the lay-by.

The white Ford Transit, we've got

it fly-tipping
on the A249 in Maidstone.

Obviously, the usual hot spots.

And the black BMW 320,
the estate, again,

fly-tip in the same location on two
different occasions.

If they can find
the fly-tipping vehicles,

Jamie's plan is to seize them
and take them off the road.

We're looking to seize
all of those.

Let's go and do it, then.
Ready? Let's go.

They'll be using automatic
numberplate recognition

cameras to help track
down the vehicles.

RADIO: To let you know, SL has just
gone past Newnham Court.

If you can get it... Yeah, OK,
we'll go there for that one, then.

One of the white Transit vans
is quickly located.

Jamie and the team close in on it.

One of the vehicles has just
hit the ANPR cameras,

which links to the police computers.

They've just gone off to
try and catch up with it.

We'll make the same sort of
direction to see if we can catch up.

Eventually, they find the van
parked in a compound.

So, did you want to go up with Tom
and see if they're in the office,

cos I think it'll be in relation
to that vehicle there?

Anyone caught on camera
fly-tipping is likely to

have their vehicle
taken off the road.

We've found one of the vehicles
that we're after.

As long as there's enough evidence
relating to the fly-tipping

offence, then we can go ahead
and seize the vehicle.

To get it back, the driver
will need to prove ownership.

They may also have to pay a fixed
penalty notice or face prosecution.

So the vehicle is just here,
can't find any owners at the minute,

but as the vehicle's committed
an offence, we can still seize

the vehicle with
the owner present or not.

Eventually, Jamie gets
through to someone.

Hi there, my name's Jamie.

I'm calling from
Maidstone Borough Council.

It's just in relation to a vehicle
that you've got on your site.

It's going to be seized
for the offence of fly-tipping.

That's right. Yeah.

Because we've got evidence
linking it to a fly-tip,

we're going to seize the vehicle.

You can make a valid claim
for the vehicle, and then we can

obviously make the further
investigations from there.

While they're waiting
for the tow truck,

Jamie gets an urgent call.

They've found another of
the vehicles on their hit list.

We've just left my officer, Jack,
and one of the police officers, Tom,

to wait for the recovery truck to
turn up to take away that vehicle,

and we're on our way
to the next vehicle.

It's the black BMW 320.

The Rural Task Force has seen it
driving along and it's hit

the automatic number plate
recognition.

It's been caught fly-tipping
black sacks on our CCTV cameras

on two separate occasions.

In cases like this,

it's hard to deny the evidence.

It's a clear open-and-shut case
if caught on CCTV.

Jamie finds the BMW
in a McDonald's car park.

Is it your vehicle, is it, sir?
Yeah, it's mine, mate.

He's about to break the bad news.

Because the vehicle's been connected
to fly-tipping offences... Yeah.

..we are going to be seizing
the vehicle. When, today?

Now, right now.
No, you can't do that.

We are going to seize the vehicle

for the fly-tipping offences
that's taken place.

To get his BMW back,

the driver will need
to pay a release fee

of between £100 and £150.

I don't understand.

I don't understand how someone could
just stop me and seize my vehicle.

Because the vehicle has been
involved in fly-tipping offences,

we have the authority
to seize the vehicle.

The news is finally
starting to sink in.

You mean to tell me you're just
going to take the vehicle?

You've stopped me out the blue
and you're taking my vehicle?

Taking someone's vehicle is
never going to be something

that someone's going to
be happy with.

We get a number of different
responses from people.

Obviously, this being one of them

where they're not happy about what's
happening and get a bit agitated,

is probably the best way
to describe it.

The BMW driver heads off on foot.

And shortly afterwards,
the recovery truck arrives.

They're going to make sure
that everything is in order

and then put it on the back
of the truck, and away they go.

Over a 12-month period,
Maidstone Borough Council has spent

£1.6 million protecting
the countryside,

clearing fly-tips

and keeping the streets clean.

Seizing vehicles sends
a strong message out to others

that you can't fly-tip in
Maidstone.

We will go out and capture offenders
and defend the countryside.

Earlier, Bina paid cowboy builder
Gagandeep Singh £97,000

to create her
dream retirement home,

but he left the job
less than half finished.

I didn't know where to turn.

I didn't know what to do.

I didn't know how to put it right.

In desperation, Bina contacted
Brent and Harrow Trading Standards,

and Samuel Abdullahi
took on the case.

We get complaints
about rogue builders

at least once or twice a week.

Samuel knows all too well
how builders like Singh

get away with it.

This is their work.
This is what they do.

They know exactly
what they're doing.

They're convincing and they tell

people exactly
what they want to hear.

In Bina's case,
Singh had done just that.

But once work got under way,

he kept demanding
more and more money.

You should never pay
all your money upfront

because then you have
no protection at all.

And with instalment payments,
you need to be very careful

that you keep a good record of them.

Ideally, if you can pay some
of it by credit card or a card,

then that gives you
extra protection.

But always make sure you get
receipts so you can see

what you've paid for, and don't
just get sucked into paying

more and more and more.

Keep very careful account
of what you've been quoted for

and what they've done.

Bina had kept a record
of every payment she'd made.

By the end, she'd handed over
virtually her entire life savings.

She had paid £97,000 for the work,

so I expected the work
to be nearly complete.

Samuel wanted to see for himself
the state of the property.

He was in for a shock.

My initial thought
was one of disgust.

The place itself
was absolutely unbelievable.

Bina was living on
a virtual building site.

The extension hadn't been completed,

electrical wiring was exposed,

and the water and gas supplies
were disconnected.

After paying £97,000,

I would expect my house
to be nearly complete,

not to be left with
no running water, no heating,

electrical wiring all over
the place just hanging out,

incomplete kitchen.

It was just horrible, actually.
I really felt for her.

As Trading Standards, we needed
to try and do something.

She had paid £97,000 and still the
work was nowhere near complete.

Samuel took photographs
to document the evidence.

The next step was to take
a witness statement from Bina

and look at the contract.

Here we have a copy
of Bina's contract,

and everything seemed
to be in order,

outlining exactly
what he wants to do.

You can see the roof works
and the type of work

he was going to do -

"drain inside,
the electric works, radiator."

Also, even going to the last page,

he has a breakdown
of all the payments.

So there is a payment plan,
which is good.

So at this stage, looking at it,
everything Bina did,

she did right.

The paperwork included
a breakdown of both

the work to be carried out
and the payment plan.

Gathering all the evidence
for the court case

was fairly straightforward.

All credit to Bina,
cos she maintained and she kept

a good record of everything
that had happened.

Samuel arranged for a building
surveyor to inspect the work

that had been carried out.

A gas engineer and electrician
also carried out inspections.

Each and every single one
of those experts that visited

the property found that the work
had not been carried out

to the standard that it should
have been done.

The property was
in an unsafe condition,

with trailing wires
and loose floorboards.

The total value of the work
carried out was estimated

to be around £47,000.

Less than half the amount
Bina had paid.

Gagandeep Singh
admitted he'd engaged

in unfair commercial practices

and had failed to complete the work
to the required standard.

I did invite him in
for an interview,

but that never did transpire.

Most of my dealings with him
was actually via email

and through his solicitor.

In July 2019, Singh was given
a nine-month jail sentence,

suspended for a year.

His company was fined and Singh
was ordered to pay Bina

compensation of £5,000.

I would have loved to see him

pay Bina back all the money
that he owed her.

That would have been
the ultimate justice.

I can't express my gratitude
to the team at Trading Standards,

because that's when everything
turned around.

Samuel was like a tower of strength.

He supported me
all the way through the case.

Bina put off her retirement plans
and has been forced to go into debt.

But now - finally - the work
has been completed.

I'm here in this beautiful space

and I try and live
in the present moment

as much as I can,
and enjoy my beautiful home.

I love having my family round.

That's the best part of it -
when you can have a space

where you can all get together
and be together and be happy.

For Samuel, seeing Bina put
the whole experience behind her,

despite the financial loss,

is what makes his job
so worthwhile.

I've been through the journeys
with Bina, from when we first

visited her, right through
to the end,

and I could see
the difference in her.

She was extremely happy.

And when you get that kind of
result, you think to yourself,

"Yeah, actually, I'm glad about,
you know, with what I do."

Back in Maidstone, Jamie Duffy
has already seized two vehicles

caught fly-tipping.

It doesn't matter what time of day
it is or what the weather's like,

we're out there in all weathers,
any time of the day or the night,

to catch the people
that are doing things
which they shouldn't be doing.

Fly-tipping doesn't necessarily
happen nine till five.

PHONE RINGS

Hello, Jamie speaking.

Police have just traced
the third vehicle -

another white Transit van.

I'll see you in a second.

Cheers, mate, bye.

That was the police
just informing us

that another ANPR activation
has taken place.

So they're just in pursuit, to see
if they can catch up with it.

It doesn't take them long.

This is one of the three vehicles
caught by covert cameras at a

fly-tipping hot spot -

but there's no sign of the driver.

We're just going to see if we can
locate the registered keeper.

If not, then we'll take the vehicle
without the owner being here.

Eventually, he does turn up,

but he's not willing
to hand over the keys.

By the sounds of it,
he's admitting to the offence,

but currently, he doesn't want
to give us the keys.

We can still take the vehicle,
that's absolutely fine.

But it's just easier with the keys.

The recovery truck's arrived

and it looks like they've got
to do it the hard way...

..without the keys.

Ultimately, it doesn't matter.

We've still got it on the
back of a recovery truck

and it will be going away
to the compound.

The owner will need to claim
it back

and will also receive a fixed
penalty notice for fly-tipping.

The gentleman isn't very happy
about the situation,

but ultimately, the fly-tipping
offence was committed

from the vehicle. It's down to him.

Fly-tipping has many effects
on many different people.

Just disposing of your waste
wherever you like

isn't the right thing to do.

Clean-up costs fall
on local authorities.

The costs of clearance is millions.

We work really closely
with a number of different partners

and the local authorities
are one of those.

The local authorities themselves
dish out tens of thousands of fines

for fly-tipping offences each year

and that, overall, helps in
the fight against waste crime.

In each of these cases -

the two white vans...

..and the black BMW...

..the drivers were given
£400 fixed penalties.

It's always a great feeling to know

that we've captured them
on the CCTV.

With regards to
the three individuals,

they were blatant in the offences
that they committed.

They just thought of an easy,
quick way to dispose of their waste.

Thanks to the success
of this operation,

there's been a fall in the amount
of fly-tipping in the area.

Really good result.

Those offenders that have committed
the offence in that location

haven't committed the offence again
and they've been brought to justice.

Scenes like this send
a strong deterrent message

to anyone thinking
of doing the same.

Across the UK, our defenders
are out there -

protecting our environment

and keeping us safe from those
who exploit our trust.

I've seen people
who have lost their homes,

I've seen people who have
lost their life savings,

and that breaks my heart,
to see the impact on them.

The people in my team and
my colleagues across the country

defend the public every day
in the work that they do.