All language subtitles for Inside the Bomb Squad - 1x02_track3_eng

Up and down the country,

..on ordinary streets..

It's an improvised explosive device.

..people are making deadly
bombs and explosives.

The Army's 11 EOD & Search Regiment,

better known as the bomb squad,

is called out more than
2,000 times a year.

For the first time in the UK,
we're allowed to go with them...

You are always worried.

You never know what you're
going to come across next.

..as they investigate Britain's
hidden bomb factories...

There's no limit to an IED.

It's only down to the
bomb maker's imagination.

..and take deadly explosives
off our streets.

It was almost like the ammunition
that Rambo would take into war.

We'll follow the people
inside the bomb suits.

There is that balance
between adrenaline and fear.

You train to handle it.

Good to go over here.

..and with revolutionary
360-degree cameras...

..get closer to the action
than ever before...

It's exciting. It is quite
addictive, really.

That's why I love it.

.as we find out what it
takes to keep Britain safe.

This time, in Liverpool,

are these devices home-made bombs?

I've had similar shaped
items, like that,

that have been home-made
by criminal gangs.

The battle over the bomb
in the bedroom...

He doesn't want you taking it.
Doesn't want us taking it?

No. Well, I'm gonna take it.

..and in the seaside resort
of Llandudno...

Can I get you back
about another 15 metres?

..there's a deadly discovery.

Violence from organised crime
kills more people than terrorism,

war and natural disasters combined,

making it the UK's biggest
threat to national security.

The bomb squad are often called out
to investigate illegal weaponry

used in gang warfare.

What's actually gone on?

There's been a shooting
believed to be gang related.

The police have raided
the victim's home.

The guy was shot yesterday.

They made entry into
his house today.

They've completed the
search by the sounds of it.

Searched the property.

But they've found
loads of weapons,

knives, and what they think
is two modified fireworks.

Industrial fireworks are used by
criminal gangs for building bombs.

Chester Troop's
Podders must investigate.

The police sent through a photo.

For now, that's all he has to go on.

If they have been
modified in any way,

then obviously it's an
improvised explosive device,

not just a firework, so then we'd
have to, obviously, act accordingly

and deal with them appropriately,

depending on what's going on
and how they've made them.

There is some possibility
with gang crime related stuff

that there's more of an intent.

Sergeant David Podmore,
known as Podders,

has completed two tours of duty
of Afghanistan and one in Iraq,

where his job was to make
improvised explosive devices safe.

In Chester, we do get quite a lot

along the criminal gang
related incidences.

We do quite a lot
of crank work as well.

Basically, someone who's just got
an interest in building bombs,

that they may watch and videos
on YouTube, for example,

and see if they can make
something explosive.

The police have
cordoned off the house.

If the devices are
found to be bombs...

..all the houses within a 100-metre
radius will need to be evacuated.

Public safety is our first priority.

The philosophies that we work
on is preservation of life,

followed by preservation
of property.

Good to go over here.

I'm literally just going
to X-ray them, basically.

Photograph and X-ray.

For now, the residents of the street
have been told to stay indoors.

They remain unaware of the suspected
IED in their neighbour's house,

or how this potentially
dangerous drama is unfolding.

It was in quite a suburban area.

A lot of houses,
really tight street.

The last thing we want
is a very dangerous item

to potentially cause
structural damage.

I'll just go through
and do some X-rays now.

The suspect devices
are in the passageway

that runs down the
side of the house.

If these are industrial fireworks,

Podders has never seen
anything like them before.

Ideally, when we get
photographs from the police,

they will put something in front
of it just to give us some scale.

In this case,
that didn't happen.

So from the photographs, they
looked like two quite small items.

They were considerably larger.

The bigger the bomb,
the bigger the explosion.

In a built-up area like this,
Podders needs to act fast...

..to ensure lives aren't at risk.

The bomb squad has rapid response
units all over the country

on standby 24 hours a day.

Within just ten minutes
of receiving a call,

they'll be on the way to the scene.

Buckinghamshire, 1400 hours.

From Northolt Troop, Sam Jones,

along with his number two,
Corporal Matt Coogan,

are on their way to a housing
estate in Aylesbury.

While searching the house of someone
they arrested earlier that day,

the police have made
a disturbing discovery.

I've seen a picture, and
it is definitely a mortar.

A potential explosive
hazard inside the house.

And the remaining
occupants are, basically,

hostile towards the police.

I've had a chat with the
police officer on the ground.

Let's just say they're not
necessarily public minded.

They're not concerned, even
though they've been advised that,

"Actually, you've got a
potential live explosive device

"that you've been
living with routinely."

The police have stopped the
search until a bomb squad

have assessed the threat.

Sergeant Sam Jones has been
with Explosives and Ordnance,

the bomb squad, for ten years.

He worked on bomb disposal in
Helmand province, in Afghanistan.

Do you want me to show where it is?
Yeah, I'll have a quick look.

If you go upstairs, and then
it's in the back bedroom

on the left-hand side.

That one? That way. Straight ahead.

This one? Oh, right, yeah.

The device was found under a bed.

Have you handled it yourself?

Yeah, quickly. Just picked
it up this morning.

It was pretty clear that it was
a 81mm illuminating mortar.

Illumination rounds, such as
these, are fired into the sky

to light up the battlefield.

Time fuse. It would go up to a
certain altitude or to burn out.

A small charge would create
pressure inside it or crack it.

There'd be a candle and a parachute.

But Sam's concerned that
the mortar has been modified.

Everything here is wrong.

It's basically been repainted
from what it's supposed to be.

That's just...tape that
someone's put round it.

The new paint job is an indicator
that it contains CS gas.

Specific colours have
specific connotations,

because the colour will
indicate the possible threat

that this item could pose.

The bomb squad will
not remove ordnance

if it's certified to be FFE
- free from explosives.

But as the mortar has
been tampered with,

Sam is not convinced it's safe.

We'll...take this away.

It's almost certain that it would
have had explosive contamination

or explosive residue
of some description.

It was in everyone's interest

that this is removed
from the public domain.

I'll go and let
him know, basically.

I think taking it is the most
sensible way of resolving this.

How would you come about that
coming in your possession?

Buy it on the internet.

Yeah, you can buy anything
online now, can't you?

Sort of antique fairs. It's
militaria, that's probably

what it would come under.

He doesn't want you taking it.
Doesn't want us taking it?

No. Well, I'm gonna take it.

He just wants to know what
power you're taking it under.

What power?

I'm not going to give
him documentation

to say that this is
free from explosives.

This is military ordnance.
How's he got it?

He needs to tell me what that is,

because this is telling
me it contains CS.

Whereas I know that that isn't...
It's been re-roled unofficially.

Yeah. So this is problematic.

Anyone in legal possession
of explosive devices

must be able to supply
the correct paperwork.

How did he get it? He hasn't said.
Literally hasn't said.

He's just said it's been
in the house for years.

It's been out in the garage, mainly.

And then I think they've
been clearing the garage out

in the last few months, and then
they've brought it in the house.

There's other people
who live here as well.

Lots of people come and go as well.

With no certification forthcoming,

the police agree the
best course of action

is for Sam to take
the mortar bomb away.

I'll take him with you.

If the correct paperwork is
provided, it'll be returned.

Otherwise, the mortar
will be safely destroyed.

Chester Troop has the largest
patch of the regiment,

stretching from
Lancashire to the Wirral,

taking in Greater Manchester
and even North Wales.

A piece of ammunition has
been discovered at a garage.

It poses an unknown threat.

From Chester Troop, Swansea
and his number two, Tony,

are on their way back
from another job

when they're diverted to the scene.

On our way to there, it became
apparent that local police

were under a bit of pressure
from the Fire Service to extend

the cordon due to the nature
of where that item was.

It was in close proximity to
a number of gas cylinders,

which would have meant
evacuating a major retail park.

Thankfully, we were only
five minutes away.

Swansea's been in the
bomb squad for ten years.

He's one of the most experienced
operatives in the regiment.

I've been directed
straight into the garage.

I've had to identify the
item relatively quickly,

which was a two-inch mortar.

The mortar had been brought in
to work by one of the mechanics.

He caught it a few days
earlier when magnet fishing.

Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

What is that?
I've no idea what that is.

Magnet fishing is
a growing obsession

that rivals metal detecting.

People do it not just for the value
of anything they might find...

It's definitely a bullet.

..but because footage of their
discoveries goes viral online.

Check that one out.

It's led to a series of dangerous
discoveries across the UK.

I found it easy.

Magnet fishing is not ideal for us.

That is a magazine for the Uzi.

It's dangerous. There's no
other way of saying it.

They're pulling items out of bodies
of water, wherever it might be,

canals, lakes, whatever it is.

Like a hand grenade.

If you are lifting a grenade,
for example, out of the water

and you pull the pin
out with that magnet,

you know, there's the
potential that, at some point,

this is going to lead
to a fatality, really.

That is my find. I've never
found a gun, there you go.

She's happy with that.

They want to keep it as like some
sort of trophy they've found,

or chuck it in the boot, take it
home, and then somebody else

will point out to them
that you have no idea

whether that's now dangerous or not.

In Llandudno, the location of this
find is causing Swansea concern.

It was surrounded by gas cylinders.

We're talking a very,
very large explosion

if that was to occur
in that building.

Will an X-ray of the
Liverpool explosives

prove that they're home-made bombs?

Up until that point, it could
literally come back with anything.

And on the beach in Llandudno,

Swansea goes it alone

as he attempts to make safe
the bomb from the garage.

up to 300 times a year,

the bomb squad is called
out to deal with IEDs,

or improvised explosive devices.

It's not just terrorist
organisations that are attempting

to make bombs in the UK - we also
have some incidences when there's

criminal gang activity involved.

We also get incidences where someone
with an interest, and they just

enjoy playing around
and making stuff,

and sometimes they
inadvertently make something

a little bit dangerous,

probably, than what they thought
they were going to make.

In Liverpool, the bomb squad has
been called out to investigate

a pair of suspected
home-made bombs.

Podders hopes that by
X-raying the devices in situ,

he'll be able to tell
how dangerous they are.

Right, I'll just
go and develop these

and then I'll come back down to...

Any commercial firework that
you could buy over the counter,

any form of modification to
that is classed as an improvised

explosive device, which
could potentially be lethal.

Podders returns to the van to see
whether the X-rays he's taken

of the devices can help him
determine how dangerous they are.

That one first.

A normal, typical firework, you
would expect to see some sort of

firework composition, whether it be
a low explosive powder, for example.

In this case, it was actually
very dark and shadowed,

marble-sized balls.

So, it kind of took me
by surprise a little bit.

Usually on the X-ray, any form
of, like, gunpowder or firework

composition would normally show
up as a sort of light scale.

Concerned the devices
have been modified,

Podders sends the images back
to base for further analysis.

He had a quick look
at that, called me back

and said that it's perfectly fine.

The reason why the ball
shapes and size appeared dark

was just by the material
that they were made from.

Pretty much a similar compound
to what you would find

inside these industrial fireworks.

Industrial fireworks are
powerful enough to kill.

They're used by criminal gangs
across Britain as explosive devices

targeted at rival gangs.

It's now up to the
police to investigate

possible criminal intent.

There's still dangerous in the fact
that they're quite large fireworks.

However, they've not
been modified in any way

or improvised in any such manner,

and there's no need for
us to take them away.

Protecting the public is the bomb
squad's number one priority.

Places where crowds
of people gather,

like royal weddings
and sporting events,

are particular targets
for terrorist attack.

The bomb squad has a
dedicated search unit

that's specially trained
to find hidden explosives.

CHEERING

They were on duty for the marriage
of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

And today they're at Newbury
Racecourse on a training exercise.

They wear civilian clothing to
prevent alarming the public.

A lot of people forget that somebody
has to find the device first.

Some young 19-year-old lad
is actually going to look

for that bomb, to then pass it over
on to the operator to make it safe.

Terrorists can place explosives
or weapons at a potential

target location long before
any event takes place.

Could stick it up there.

Dummy devices and guns are
planted throughout the venue

for the search teams to locate.

So, inside is packed full
of false plastic explosives,

and we just try and put it
somewhere where it doesn't look

too out of place.

The devices are set.

The search team move in.

For this type of mission, the squad
often work with sniffer dogs.

Eight-year-old Kumilk is an
arms and explosives search dog.

Rachel Mather is his handler.

So, he's worked in the UK, he
worked in Germany for a few years.

He's been on excises to Jordan
and he's been on tours to

Afghanistan as well.

He's always excited to work.
He absolutely loves it.

So, let's leave him to it.

Kumilk is able to detect a bomb,

even if it's been buried
beneath the ground.

So, Kumilk works in lines
because we would be working

with the advanced search team,

and we need to be very precise
as to where we're sending the dog.

We need to be slow, steady.
We need to be systematic,

and make sure that we've covered
as much of the ground as possible.

Go, seek. Good boy.

Back inside the building,
two searchers make a discovery.

We've just found a short-barrelled,
weapon with no magazine,

buried underneath the gravel.

We're just taking pictures
now to record the evidence.

Nearby, Springer Spaniel Quest
is sniffing out explosives.

So, with this dog, I let
him have a good free search,

and he runs around by himself...

Get, over. Get, over.

..and then we'll systematically
work around the room.

So, a human might not think
to search somewhere,

but the dog has got the
scent of something there -

and that's what we're looking for.

So, he's highlighting an area to
us now that will be of interest.

So I will note that down

and pass that information
on to the searchers.

Once the dogs have identified
areas of interest...

Good boy. Come on.

..it's time for two human
searchers to go in.

They're known as a rummage pair.

So, they searched with him around
here. He was getting a reading

on the door and he was
getting a reading on the

dipping as well. He checked with
the dipping, all the way around it,

but it's definitely inside
he's getting a reading on.

As a rummage pair, you've just
got to be nosy. So, they're just

checking everything that can be
moved, taken off, pulled apart.

They're doing that now to make sure
there's nothing hidden in there.

Find. What is it?

Cool, what is it?
Looks like a timed device.

They've made the find. What they
need to do now is mark that find up.

They're going to mark
a safe route out of here,

and then they're going to make
sure that the building's evacuated.

Training like this is crucial.

In the past 12 months, the bomb
squad has found and made safe

bombs planted in public places
from Stansted Airport to Aberdeen.

In Llandudno, a magnet
fisherman found a live shell

and brought it into
work at a garage.

It was surrounded by gas cylinders,
which would heavily enhance

the effect of an explosion.

Swansea has safely
recovered the shell.

He now needs to destroy it
in a controlled explosion.

He decides the beach is the
safest place to blow it up.

Generally, it's a large, open area.

We don't have to worry
too much about the cordon.

It's good visibility there,
so you can sort of see if people

are coming towards the area.

There are downsides.

Obviously the area can become wet,
tides coming in and that sort

of thing, you may have to sort
of speed up what you're doing.

Can I get you back
about another 15 metres?

Stand by for firing!

Firing!

Swansea will now
head back to Chester,

still on call...

..keeping the north-west safe.

Next time...

..police raiding a garage find
the ingredients to make a bomb.

A member of the public
has made a threat

that he wanted to blow somebody up.

..the coastguard makes a disturbing
discovery on the Wirral...

Something's washed up on the beach.

Potentially could be a torpedo.

..and the military site
in the Thames Estuary,

where Britain's biggest
bombs are blown up.

What's the danger?

How am I going to get rid of it?

Stand by. Firing now!