Vera

All good.

Turn your engine off please.

Security.

Jared!

Ma'am!

Sorry to drag you out on a Sunday, 24/7, this place.

Aye, so am I, pet.

Now hit and run, they said.

Container lorry was pulled over by a customs,

who failed to stop, ran over the foreman, Gary Mallon,

drove straight through the barrier.

Any news on his condition?

Paramedics scooped him up about an hour ago.

Severe head injury, I've got Jac at the hospital now.

- Well, plenty of witnesses. - Yeah, dockers, hauliers,

security, we're working through the statements.

So what was it, robbery?

Well, the pick up seemed legit, Beadnell Haulage,

driver's name on the docket, Michael Brindle.

One of the regulars by all accounts.

Well, go down to their head office.

There'll be a tracker in that lorry,

they might be able to tell us where it is now.

Now I'd better liaise with customs.

Nicola Dobbs, she's the one in charge.

Right.

DCI Stanhope, love,

was it you who apprehended the vehicle in question?

The container was already loaded and locked.

I picked up an anomaly on one of the seals,

numbers on the PIN barrel, didn't match.

Right, so what was in the consignment?

Laptops, hard drives, widescreen TVs.

And who was the shipper?

Carr's Electrical Imports, wholesale suppliers,

came in from Lahore.

Now have there been any other incidents recently

we should know about?

A few containers broken into,

while they were sitting in the yard.

Small-time theft, they're written off by Port Authorities.

What, you mean they're hushed up?

Haulage is a big business,

clients like to know their goods are secure.

Now the driver, Michael Brindle,

can you give us a description?

There might be something on CCTV.

Ian, can you bring up the footage of the incident?

So he's pulled over for a random check,

drives off hell for leather,

doesn't want that container opened.

Most of the hauliers have no idea what they're moving.

Well, clearly this fella was onto something.

What do you need to get out of the lorry?

Locks are fully automated, faster, safer, more efficient.

So you've no footage we can work with?

Ian, can you bring up platform containers surveillance?

Yep, that's on the top screen now.

Around 20 minutes earlier.

Can you go in any tighter?

He doesn't fancy being on camera, does he?

What's this number here?

Every container has a designated consignment PIN.

And would anyone else have access to that PIN?

The owner of the freight and the shipping agent.

Mark.

Ma'am, I thought you'd want to know,

the real Michael Brindle just rolled up.

Thank you, nine a.m. on the dot,

travelled up from the depot in Stockton.

He always stops for a full English at Killingrove Services,

you can set your clock by him apparently.

So our missing vehicle was wearing false plates.

Innocent victim, someone stole his ID.

Yeah, I'll take him down the station,

get a statement to rule him out.

No, no, nevermind that,

we need to focus on the missing rig, lockups, warehouses,

anywhere you might want to hide a lorry.

Yes, ma'am.

Follow me, sir.

Jared, isn't it?

I hear you had a lucky escape.

If the foreman hadn't stepped up,

it would've been me in the ambulance.

Now what we're after is a description of the driver.

I barely got a look at him.

But you signed him in at the gate,

one of your regulars.

I only started in the job few weeks ago,

still putting names to faces.

They pay us money to keep those lorries moving.

You need to be checked out by a doctor, hm?

I'm okay.

You might have concussion

and make sure somebody else drives you there.

I thought I'd lost you.

I've just spoken to young Jared.

So what are you thinking?

Someone forges that driver's ID,

pitches up with a PIN number and steals the consignment

and no one at the port here

seems to have got a proper look at him.

Why that container?

TVs and laptops, flog them on eBay.

All that trouble for a few tellies, not worth the risk.

Jac.

Is he awake?

Doctors found the bleed on his brain.

They're keeping him sedated, but he's gonna need surgery.

So we won't be talking to anyone soon.

Who's that with him?

That's his mum, Sandra Mallon.

She hasn't moved since they brought him in.

Here, love.

Thank you.

They said it was a robbery.

Well, one of his team members was in the path of the lorry

and your son pushed him clear,

took the brunt of it himself.

He wasn't even supposed to be working this morning.

Are you sure about that?

Promised to drive me into town, save me a bus, he said,

rang last night and cancelled, short-staffed.

Always a soft touch, my Gary,

look where it's landed him.

Now is there anyone else you'd like us to call?

He's been on his own a while now.

His mam will be here soon as he wakes up.

Yeah, course you will.

I've got an address for Carr's Electrical Import Limited,

they've got a distribution plant in Wingrove,

their owner is Julian Carr.

We've been trading for 30 odd years now,

independent suppliers, high street shops,

although most of our business is online these days.

Electrical appliances?

Aye, and this will seriously affect our supply chain.

And it's all imported through Peyton, is it?

Aye, well, the duty's always cheaper

in the smaller ports, less red tape to contend with.

Now this customs declaration

and your description of the stolen goods,

you say it all tallies?

Well, everything seems to be in order.

Right, now Beadnell Haulage,

any issues we should know about?

We outsource shipping and transport,

a third party forward us.

They've always been reliable enough.

Now the question I've been asking myself, Mr. Carr

is why would they target your container?

Maybe they just got lucky, hm.

Hm.

I heard one of the employees was injured.

Yeah, a foreman down at the port,

he's still in a critical condition.

Our thoughts are with his family.

Oh, aye, thanks, Mr. Carr.

Anything?

All seems above board.

Well, imports and exports must be a lucrative business,

judging by the cut of his suit.

Do you think he might be in on it?

There was nothing random about that robbery.

It's got to have been an inside job.

Mark.

I'm over in Peyton, ma'am, the industrial park,

we've found the lorry.

We've just had confirmation from forensics,

it's definitely the vehicle that was used for the robbery,

a damage to a side light from the collision with the gate.

Perps abandoned half the gear.

Well, they hadn't banked on running over Gary Mallon,

- had they? - Well, yeah,

most of what was left has been nicked by local scallies.

They must've thought it was Christmas.

Right, check out the roads in and out of here, Mark,

- see if anyone saw anything. - Ma'am.

Malcolm.

- Yes. - What have you got for us?

Well, cab's been sprayed with disinfectant,

so whoever was driving it has cleaned up all the evidence.

Oh, great.

But as for the container, that's another story.

I can manage, thank you.

And none of this has been wiped clean?

It doesn't look like it.

Bear in mind we haven't processed this yet,

so I'd appreciate it, if you didn't touch anything.

Looks like a bit of a free for all.

I wouldn't be surprised if we pick up

dozens of prints in here.

Well, I'm just after the one set of prints, Malcolm.

You know, people live in these things?

They like to call them starter homes.

Well, I've seen worse windows.

Couple of windows,

I'd have one down that end

and another down this end.