I'm a cop turned vigilante who hunted down a one-man crime wave as police turn a blind eye…his mum's reaction shocked me
Now, with crime at an all-time high and shop theft rife, former police detective turned vigilante Rebecca Mason, is on a mission to fight back.
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This week a poll for the Lawless Britain season on Channel 5 found just one in five of us feel safe in our own community and only 14 per cent of people have confidence in the police.
'Our shopkeepers are on the front line as retail crime reaches record levels,' says Rebecca. 'Violent attacks against shop workers have risen 50 per cent, leaving police with tough choices about what to investigate and putting our shops under pressure.'
With police seriously overstretched, there are some areas of the UK where 100 per cent of petty crimes go unsolved. Now, with Rebecca's aid, communities are taking matters into their own hands.
In Vigilante & Proud: Catching the Street Thieves, showing tonight on Channel 5 at 8pm, she tracks down a man who has been single-handedly terrorising East Ham high street in Newham, East London.
Linked to bicycle theft, shoplifting and vehicle theft, the brazen yob has become a one-man crime wave with many shopkeepers and locals knowing who he is but feeling powerless to tackle him, as well as giving up on the police.
But former Hunted star Rebecca had put her years of experience to use to identify the perpetrator.
CCTV footage has captured the thief in the act of stealing an E-scooter outside a shop. It belongs to one of the workers there. Rebecca shows the owner of the shop an image of the suspect and he is able to confirm it is the same man.
When one brave shopkeeper confronted him, over stolen luggage, he admitted to the theft but made a sinister threat by forming his hand into a gun and pointing it at him, before swaggering off.
But Rebecca traces his home address and prepares to confront him head on.
'First I wanted to see if I could provoke a reaction from him so we decided to write a letter, post it through his door and see if he would answer the allegations that had been made against him and whether he had any comment to make.
Heroic moment vigilante diner hurls her chair at fleeing cyclist phone thief sending him hurtling to the ground
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"I was surprised that within 10 minutes of delivering the letter I got a phone call from him.
'I explained that I was giving him an opportunity to answer allegations that he is a criminal and he brazenly said that none of the allegations were true and hung up.'
Undeterred, Rebecca decided to pay him a visit.
'A stab vest is a necessary precaution because you just don't know what you are going to confront on the other side of the door. In the event it wasn't what I was expecting," she reveals.
'His mum answered and told me that he is no longer living there and that he knows I am looking for him.
"She said it's really hard because she has always had to kind of disown him and you could see in her face just how heartbroken she was at almost having to reject her own son because of the amount of trouble he is bringing to her front door.
'Anonymity is a thief's best friend but I know our visit will get back to him and the community will spread the word.
"He knows exactly what people are saying about him on that high street. It is a tight-knit community so he will know that people know who he is.'
'Gobsmacked'
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When shopkeeper Paul Carter's family-run cash & carry business was raided, and windows smashed, he was shocked by the police response.
'They said they didn't send police officers out to commercial break-ins. I was gobsmacked,' he says.
But Paul was determined to find out who the thieves were and traced CCTV footage from along the street which showed three young people walking along and pointing to his premises at 4am on the morning of the robbery.
Sharing the footage online he soon got results.
'We got names very quickly. Some of them the local police already knew and they went after them. One admitted to burglary and the other two admitted to handling stolen goods.'
All three were referred to the youth offending team.
'It felt so positive,' says Paul 'It took us from a really low point to a real high.'
Crime on the rise
By Kevin Adjei-Darko
According to the ONS, some crimes have seen an increase in the year ending December 2024 in England and Wales.
These include theft, which has surged by 13% - around 2.9million incidents - and fraud, which has seen a 33% increase.
Around 4.2% of people aged 16 years and over said they had experienced domestic abuse in the last year.
Around 1million people (2.1%) said they had experienced sexual assault.
Crimes involving knives or sharp instruments saw a 2% surge to 53,413 offences.
Shoplifting offences also rose to the highest figure since current police recording practices began in 2003 - up by 20% to 516,971 incidents.
'As a former cop, I know how difficult it is for people when police say they are unable to send anyone out,' says Rebecca, who is dating former cop turned presenter Rav Wilding.
'The explanation that its lack of funds seems like a fob off, an excuse, but it's true. Risk to life unfortunately takes precedence on call outs but I don't think any crime should be overlooked. And it's hard that we've got to a stage in society where that is happening, to be honest.
'But I've heard from people all across Britain and many are coming together to bring criminals to justice with great results.'
Car chase
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In Southampton, Rebecca knocks on the door of a suspected prolific motorbike thief, after meeting a bikers' group who have been working together to film thefts and share information on social media in an attempt to recover their bikes.
One victim, Dave, had identified a perpetrator, giving the police his name and address but was disappointed that no action was taken.
'The officers said that the thief was well known to the police but nothing came of it,' he says.
Once more Rebecca dons a stab vest and pays the suspect a visit – and finds herself in a potentially life-threatening situation.
'He was a heavy set man who was carrying an angle grinder because he had been cutting up tyres in his garden with it,' she says.
'I asked him about Dave's bike and why his Snapchat account appeared to have put it up for sale.
"I caught him off-guard and, to my surprise, he engaged with me and was quite willing to talk but said he was surprised by the allegations and dismissed them, saying he didn't know what I was talking about.
'But when we were leaving his mum arrived in a car and started following us as we drove away. When we got to traffic lights another couple of cars joined the convoy.
"I stayed calm and headed towards the police station before they finally disappeared after 20 minutes.
'It was a bit of an eye opener because as a police officer, if we were followed in a police car, the reds would go on and we'd stop and get out and say, 'Excuse me, sir, would you like to discuss anything?'
"We've got that bit of protection. But now, as a member of the public, it made me think twice and have a lot more respect for these groups that are forming together to stand up for people. It can be a terrifying situation to be in.'
So how far should we go in fighting back?
'I think people should absolutely get involved and certainly the element of reporting crime," says Rebecca. "A lot of people nowadays don't even report it to police.
A stab vest is a necessary precaution because you just don't know what you are going to confront on the other side of the door. In the event it wasn't what I was expecting
Rebecca Mason
"But they should be working together with the police and the community, sharing that information and the intelligence that's gathered from things like ring doorbell footage, CCTV, mobile phones.
"There's a phrase of being an active bystander, which means that you're actively watching. You can be the best witness to something without actually having to put yourself in harm's way.
'We don't want people acting on behalf of the police and putting themselves in dangerous situations.
"Sometimes the best thing for people to do is watch, observe and try and gather evidence if they can and, if it's safe to do so, record it.
'I hope this programme will help to give people a voice and show them that they're not alone.'
Vigilante & Proud: Catching the Street Thieves, Tuesday May 6, 8pm, Part of the Lawless Britain Week, 5
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