24/05/2008 by admin.

Bravery can be termed in many ways however I would like to make it known that a fellow colleague deserves a medal for holding his nerve and maintaining his professional composure.

Whilst we were engaged on a Local Authority contract gathering evidence against house holders on a notorious estate, where an ASBO family were terrorising local residents and neighbours. My colleague was engaged on surveillance duties in a tactical observation vehicle captured a culprit firebombing a neighbours house.

He without panic dialled 999 and called for the Fire Brigade. Before they were able to arrive a masked man walked in to the small car park (with only eight spaces) where he was parked in the back of his van and witnessed the fire-bomber then hurl two petrol bombs at a mini-bus owned by the householder whose house had also been attacked.

My colleague remained calm and captured the evidence on film which will be used in a later prosecution. He kept his nerve where many would have lost theirs. He did not know if his vehicle was next and if he had compromised himself by panicing and ’showing out’ then he certainly may have been next.

Even after all had gone quiet and the police and fire brigade had gone he kept the video rolling capturing the returning culprit who needed to evidence the matter on his mobile phone for himself.

 We extracted our man just before 6am. Talk about ‘courage under fire’

Well done that man! you know who you are.

Posted in Surveillance | Print | 1 Comment »

20/05/2008 by admin.

Anti-social behaviour is behaviour which causes or is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to one or more people who are not in the same household as the perpetrator. Anti-social behaviour presents a considerable problem for neighbourhoods across the UK. 

Among the many forms it can take are: 

• abusive and intimidating language
• drunken behaviour in the streets, and the mess it creates
• excessive noise, especially late at night
• fouling the street with litter
• graffiti – which can on its own make even immaculate urban spaces look squalid unpleasant
• drug dealing all the problems that follow. 

An ASBO is a civil order, not a criminal penalty – this means it won’t appear on an individual’s criminal record. However, a breach of an ASBO is a criminal offence punishable by a fine or up to five years in prison. 

An ASBO can ban an offender from:

• continuing  the offending behaviour
• spending time with a particular group of people
•  visiting certain areas 

ASBO’s are issued for a minimum of two years. 

Combating anti-social behaviour has proved to be difficult, costly and time consuming for local authorities, housing associations and private individuals across the country.  What is often the case is that many members of troubled communities are unwilling to report anti-social behaviour, or to testify in court because of possible repercussions they can face from the perpetrators. What is needed is a solution that can provide demonstrative evidence of antisocial behaviour which can be then used in court to secure convictions against the perpetrators. But awarding the ASBO is not enough. They need to be enforced too. Some have seen the ASBO as a Badge of Honour amongst their peers simply because it has failed to be enforced with follow up action.

At Trident Investigations we can gather evidence to court standards taking in to consideration the laws under RIPA. This can be presented in photograph and video format taken from our covert cameras and vehicle installations. For further information call us Free on 0800 756 6872.

Posted in Surveillance | Print | No Comments »

12/04/2008 by admin.

People have affairs every day; infidelity is as common as it has ever been. Some might say that variety is the spice of life and that monogamy is some kind of wood!

Many relationships are based on finance and some will forgive for fear of being alone. But increasingly we are getting instructions based on curiosity alone. People who have taken back their partners after a betrayal.

This week has seen two separate insructions from women wanting to see what the other woman looks like. Instructions like this are not uncommon but what purpose do they serve?

Peace of mind?

Is she/he better looking than me? 

Who knows?

Each client is different but it does prove something, forgiveness is just a word, revenge is a dish best served cold and time isn’t a great healer!

Posted in Surveillance | Print | No Comments »

26/03/2008 by admin.

We were recently appointed to undertake surveillance regarding a personal injury claim. The claimant aledges that four years ago that he fell from a ladder and injured himself so badly that he could not work and hadn’t done so since the accident. (for four years!)

This despite the fact that his own doctor and an independant specialist had confirmed that his injuries amounted to light bruising and he should have been back to work inside three months on a worst case scenario.

Despite this the claimant had stuck to his story and built his case for compensation.

His story was full of inconsistancies, for a start the incident was witnessed. the claimant who was employed as a Meter Reader had entered a loft to read the gas meter in a restaurant. He claims he fell 15 feet to the ground.

The maximum height that it was possible to fall is 7 feet. He claims that the ladder collapsed. It didn’t, and is in fact it is still in regular use.

From witness testimony it is confirmed that the guy did fall, but from about the third rung up, but square on to his feet. The claimant put on a show as if something really tragic had happened. Nonetheless and ambulance was called and he was taken to hospital.

The claimant appointed a lawyer and quanified his losses at £218,000. This was made up of lost earnings, lost future earnings, pension contributions and future care costs.

As the surveillance operation was put together a intelligence gathering exercise was called for to see what, if anything this guy does on a regular basis. It quickly became apparent that at 0730 am every day that he drives his son to the station. This despite the fact that he can not drive and needs constant care.

Our motorcycle surveillance operative followed the claimant and plotted his routine and filmed him from a mobile camera kit. This was for intelligence purposes only.

Over the coming days, thanks to the intelligence gathered we were able to site surveillance operatives and photograph him doing what had stated on oath that he could not do.

The crunch came when a surveillance van was parked in his street. It captured our man loading his car with not one, not two but three sizable suitcases. these were first carried out by his wife and daughter as they were so heavy. They were stacked at the rear of his car and left for him to load.

Our man picks up the cases with ease despite claiming not being able to use the left side of his body for anything strenuous. He wrestles with the bags demonstrating a full range of movement even holding a heavy flight bag in the crook of his left arm whilst he lays flat the rears seats of the car with the other hand.

The incident was filmed and photographed in finite detail and presented to the lawyers. With one saying “it’s not much of a show stopper is it?”

Well in terms of surveillance it was. More often than not in these types of cases it is very difficult to capture anything useful. You might if youre lucky get your target mowing the lawn or washing his car, but a 6 minute film of a supposedly paralised man wrestling with baggage and driving to the airport doen’t happen very often. It was an Oscar winning performance.

The day in court has now passed, did our man win his £218,000?

What do you think?!

Posted in Surveillance, Uncategorized | Print | No Comments »

08/01/2008 by admin.

An increasing amount of clients come to us who have tried and subsequently failed to follow a target or conduct their own surveillance. It works for some; but for the vast majority it fails miserably. This usually happens for the simple fact that it is not easy.

Few can conduct static surveillance because they do not have the right tools for the job and because they are part of the locality that they want to watch. Even fewer are successful at mobile or foot surveillance. Simply because it can seldomly be done by a single person and may need a team.

It all looks so easy in the movies doesn’t it? In the movies the car never turns right out of a ‘T’ junction and across traffic (building on the gap and the amount of cars between the follower and the followed) or makes it through the lights at the junction, leaving the follower on a red light behind an Argos lorry!

We recently had a female client who had even hired a van and a car in a bid to follow her errant husband. The only winner was the hire car company several times over. On the time that she hired the van she managed to follow him not much beyond his work entrance/exit before losing him in rush hour traffic in less than a minute.

And this happens; and I know this because………… Because it happens to the professionals too.

Surveillance is a game of patience. It sometimes will take more than the one time to prove or disprove those suspicions. To find out what happens every Thursday night after work when he is supposed to be at the ‘club’ may take several Thursdays.

And finally when the destination is known, it’s another waiting game, often for hours for what could possibly be a second of opportunity to take a photograph or shoot video. Remember of course you can’t use a ‘flash’ or ask for a second pose like a wedding photographer. It’s a one chance only situation.

There is of course another way; and that is the subject of another post.‹(-¿•)›

Posted in Surveillance | Print | No Comments »

18/12/2007 by admin.

When a surveillance operative is called upon to conduct a lengthy static surveillance there are a few things to consider before turning up at the ‘plot’.

A thorough site survey will need to be conducted beforehand so that on the day of the assignment the operative leaves with the right equipment and vehicle for the duration of the job. It would not be good enough just to turn up and find that there is a parking restriction or the person to be watched lives in a neighbourhood watch area or opposite a school for example.

Now consider that an unknown (to the neighbours) lone operative has to sit in a vehicle for hours on end with a camera poised and ready! and he may need to be there for a number of days. Imagine the interest he would generate at 3pm. It doesn’t bare thinking about.

On some assignments it is necessary to leave a vehicle in place just to reserve the ultimate vantage point, particularly in residential areas where parking can be limited. Another thing to consider is the dreaded Traffic Wardens protecting resident only bays in Controlled Parking Zones or Pay & Display areas. Although every effort is made to avoid Parking Tickets they are a necessary evil but must be paid and will be charged back to the client in all cases.

We always recommend that two operatives be used, but should the client specifically request that only one be used due to budgetary restraints then this could be a false economy.

Site surveys are chargeable and are absolutely required.

Trident Investigations can conduct surveillance in both static and mobileenvironments. and are equipped with the latest photographic equipment to capture the required evidence. We also have access to specially adapted cars, vans and motorcycles with tinted windows, camera mountings and auxiliary power supplies.

For further information CALL 0845 643 1923 or see our main website for further details of our services.

Posted in Surveillance | Print | 1 Comment »

12/12/2007 by admin.

As an Investigator serving Commercial, Legal and Private clients the balance of proof required can be daunting and different.

When a commercial client wants proof against an employee, often all that is required is the ‘balance of probability’. Basically this means is that the person making the decision in a company disciplinary hearing against the employee has to believe that on a 51% for and 49% against scale that the person is guilty of the offence.

When dealing with a criminal matter which will be dealt with by a criminal court, the balance of proof must be 100% and therefore ‘beyond all reasonable doubt’. This is when the person charged with the offence could not possibly be innocent, because the weight of evidence to the contrary is overwhelmingly strong.

However increasingly in private cases and specifically in marital or infidelity investigations  the balance of proof is decided on and by the mind of the client. We had a client enquiry recently who was convinced that their partner was cheating because they were aware that emails were being exchanged!

The so called ‘cyber affair’, This is where a would be cheater can sit in the comfort of their own home with a laptop on their knee (with their partner in the same room) and conduct a relationship with a willing respondent at the other side of the world. No illicit meetings, no tell tale credit card receipts and no bumping in to the nosey neighbour from number 42!

On the other end of the scale we have seen, filmed, photographed and presented evidence which would convince the most liberal of judges that an affair was going on. But sometimes even that is not enough. We always inform clients that we will not be waiting in a wardrobe to get the evidence you require.

During these types of investigations the proof is the ‘time and opportunity’. If person A meets person B at a salubrious location such as a Hotel in Cardiff and they disappear from view for a time. Then they have the ‘time and opportunity’.

Particularly when they told you they were visiting their sick aunt in Colchester!

Posted in Surveillance | Print | 1 Comment »