Nothing To Lose

by Steven Suttie

  “There could be some truth in that statement, bearing in mind the stark differences between the fire-bombing in Denton, and the four other attacks which were far-less serious in nature. Indeed, we were criticising the police only days ago, for their apparent lack of interest in investigating these four shop attacks. It does appear to stack up, what this group are saying, doesn’t it?”

  “Well, yes, I’d say that it does have some credibility on the face of it. However, it is also a very strange coincidence, and I’m sure I’m not alone in making that connection.”

  “That’s a good point and it will be interesting to hear what the police have to say as the day goes on. But Rhian, please tell us what you think this group, the Odds on Revenge group have against these bookmakers shops.”

  “That’s a very good question. Over the last few years, we have seen an increased criticism of betting shops and gambling outlets for what many describe as their irresponsible behaviour. Indeed, this criticism comes at a time when gambling has never made so much money, last year sixteen billion pounds was spent in the UK on gambling.”

  “Sixteen billion?”

  “Yes, it’s quite a figure. In fact, it is exactly the same amount of money which was spent in shops and supermarkets on alcohol over the same period.”

  “Good heavens! Is that correct?”

  “Yes, it’s absolutely correct. Gambling has become a very popular pass-time in Great Britain, and, well the fact that its income is now competing with alcohol sales tells you quite how popular it has become.”

  “I find this an extraordinary figure. Sixteen billion pounds. Surely there has been some mistake, Rhian?”

  “Well, I can see why you would say that, but there is no mistake. Alcohol has for many years been the most popular consumer product in Britain, outselling its closest rivals of shelf foods and chilled and fresh foods. What this means is that spending on gambling is now greater than what we spend on our most popular items in the supermarket.”

  “This is quite an eye-watering amount of money we are talking about. And presumably, those kinds of figures are resulting in good returns to the tax man?”

  “Absolutely, gambling companies contributed four billion pounds to the Treasury last year, that’s enough money to build something like six hundred new schools, or around sixty-five thousand council houses. So, to be clear, these are very significant sums that the gambling companies are contributing to the British economy. Looking at the economic benefits of this gambling trend in the UK, there is further good news beyond just the tax revenues. These gambling sector companies provide over one hundred and six thousand jobs, which as you will realise, adds another significant revenue of around two billion pounds which feeds into the economy annually.”

  “One of the Tweets that was sent through the night suggested that the group calling themselves Odds on Revenge are protesting to the government’s legislation on gambling. What do you think they mean by that?”

  “Ultimately, based on the nature of the attacks that they are claiming responsibility for, which involved destroying the gambling machines and causing as much damage to the premises as possible, I would make the assumption that this group are making a protest against the huge profits that these companies are making at the expense of their customers.”

  “But what does that really mean? For instance, Tesco make huge profits from their customers, but nobody seems to want to trash their shops and disrupt them.”

  “Yes, well the nature of gambling is very different from buying groceries. In the past ten years, since the gambling laws were dumbed down in this country, there has been a significant rise in something that professionals refer to as ‘problem-gambling.’ These professionals argue that too many people are gambling because of addiction, rather than fancying a quick flutter on the horses. There have been a number of studies into the rise of problem gambling and there is absolutely no doubt that it is a very serious issue and that it is the reason we see the public health warnings all over gambling adverts, most notably of which is that memorable phrase, ‘when the fun stops, stop.”

  “And is this a major issue?”

  “Oh, undoubtedly, the rise in gambling addiction has become an enormous problem over the past decade, and it is estimated to cost around two billion pounds to the economy each year. There are a number of charities which have been set up to tackle the issue, and these charities suggest that there are as many as half a million people suffering from this acute addiction in Britain today, which leading professionals say is no different to any other kind of addiction, and takes very similar treatment to that of an alcoholic or a crack addict to break the habit. So yes, it’s a very serious issue, albeit a relatively new and emerging problem in this country.”

  “Well, very interesting and informative as always Rhian, thank you. We’ll be following this story throughout the day here on Sky News, but to other news now and police in the West Midlands are appealing for help…”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  DCI Miller looked quite calm and collected as he entered the MCP media centre and sat down on the raised stage area, beneath the gigantic Manchester City Police emblem. Many of the media representatives were intrigued by his bearing, he usually looked stressed and a little anxious before the press briefings. But today he looked remarkably relaxed.

  “Good morning, thanks for coming along so early. I hope you’ve all taken advantage of the free coffee?”

  There was a few minutes of idle chat between the press people and Miller, who was saying hello to the familiar faces before him. Once everybody had settled down and a natural silence fell, Miller began his press conference.

  “I’ve got a couple of cases to discuss with you all this morning. The first case is the Graham Hartley murder enquiry, which as you are all aware, has been at the top of my department’s agenda for the past three weeks. We are all extremely relieved to be able to announce this morning that we have made an arrest, and that the suspect remains in police custody. This arrest was made thanks to the excellent work of one of my detectives, DC Bill Chapman who has done some absolutely sterling work in gathering evidence against the individual who is currently in custody. So I’m sure you will all agree that this is excellent news, and I can almost guarantee you that you will have more information regarding charges within the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours.”

  The media were indeed delighted to hear this news. Graham Hartley’s murder had been the only story in town for the three weeks leading up to the fatal fire in Denton.

  “As this case has now pretty much been concluded, my team have been relieved of our duties on this case, so any enquiries regarding the Graham Hartley murder investigation should now be forwarded onto Salford CID, who I’m sure will be making their own announcements at some point today.” Miller took a sip of water and waited for the journalist’s whisperings and mutterings amongst themselves to die down.

  “My team will now be concentrating one-hundred-per-cent on the betting shop attacks. Now, I’m aware of the activities on Twitter through the night, and naturally, we will be looking into these Tweets as a matter of urgency. But one thing that I think is absolutely crucial to tell you, is that my own investigations into these attacks have already suggested that the first four instances of vandalism at the betting shops, are unconnected to the fifth incident, which as we all know had a very tragic outcome.”

  This was a hell of an announcement, and the sudden noise from the press highlighted what a major statement it was. Miller allowed the press a few more seconds of whispers before he continued.

  “What we appear to have here is a very unique coincidence, in that the Ozols family lived above a betting shop. Had the shop beneath their flat been any other, then perhaps the link would never have been made. But I can confirm that there are no similarities between the four betting shop attacks, and the arson attack in Denton two nights ago. I’d like to show you this video footage, taken from cameras on the M60 motorway, around half a mile away from the O
zol’s flat.” Miller pressed a key on his laptop and started playing some grainy CCTV footage on the huge screen to his right.

  “Keep your eyes on this car which appears to be slowing down on the hard-shoulder of the motorway. The car is a dark silver or metallic grey Vauxhall Zafira, the registration plate is locally registered in Manchester, MT15 FPG. Now, as you can see, the car pulls up, the driver puts the vehicles hazard lights on, and four people get out of the vehicle. Now keep watching, the four people go to the back of the car and open the hatchback door. Then it closes, and we can see the individuals climb over the barrier and walk up the embankment, up towards Windmill Lane. As you can see, they are all carrying petrol cans, that’s what they were taking out of the back of the car.”

  Miller waited again, as the press staff discussed this extraordinary footage amongst themselves.

  “I’ll forward the tape on twenty-five minutes. And as you can see, the four people return to the car, still carrying their petrol cans. They get in the vehicle, and the car pulls off.” Miller closed the video and started another one playing.

  “Eleven minutes later, here comes the same vehicle, driving up Stockport Road between Woodley and Hyde. The vehicle was found burnt out at the former Jubilee Mill site on the outskirts of Hyde.”

  Miller presented the photos that Saunders had taken.

  “Now, as stated - we are quite convinced that this incident has no connection to any of the four betting shop vandalism attacks in Eccles, Romiley, Farnworth and Middleton. Whilst we are still looking for the individuals responsible for putting those four shops out of business and we are very keen to see them punished for their actions, I must stress that the over-riding priority for my team is to apprehend the four individuals in the Vauxhall Zafira, and I am appealing to you all to help us to publicise this footage and help us in our appeal for information. We want to know who these four people are, as they are all wanted for the murders of Andris, Juris, and Inga Ozols. Any questions?”

  Suddenly, the noise was deafening as every journalist, reporter and news presenter shouted out their questions. Miller took a sip of water from his glass as he waited for the familiar barrage to die down. He never understood why they all did this, it just slowed things down.

  Finally, things quietened down and Miller pointed to Henry Talbot from BBC Radio Manchester.

  “Thank you DCI Miller. Have you any clues at all about the identities of the four people?”

  “No Henry, at this stage, we do not, but that is likely to change over the coming hours. I’m hopeful that your listeners, and the tv viewers and newspaper readers will all share these images all over their social media networks in Greater Manchester. I’m quite convinced that somebody out there will know who these four individuals are from the mannerism of their walk and the way that they stand. It’s a real shame that we don’t have any better footage at this stage, the camera which took these images is almost a quarter of a mile away from the car, so we are extremely lucky to have the images at all. But unfortunately, there is no way of making out their faces.”

  “DCI Miller, Isi Mahmood, Manchester Evening News. As the car was burnt out not too far away from Denton, are you of the opinion that the arsonists are local to the area?”

  “Yes, good question Isi. I’m quite sure that they are local. The car was stolen the previous night from an address in Rochdale. So we think that these people are certainly from the Greater Manchester area.”

  “Helen Jones, Piccadilly Radio. DCI Miller, I understand the reasons why you are treating the attack in Denton separately from the other betting shop attacks. However, I’m a little confused about whether you are still looking for the betting shop attackers?”

  “Hi Helen. Yes, of course we are looking for those individuals as well, and I am being supported by all of the CID teams in all of the four divisions where these attacks occurred. But, let’s be brutally honest, my number one goal is to arrest those four men on the motorway. These are very dangerous and ruthless individuals and the sooner we get them locked away, the better for everybody in the city, especially Marija Ozols, who is still in a medically induced coma in hospital as staff try to heal her horrendous burns.”

  “DCI Miller! Kenny Bates, Granada Reports. Is there no other CCTV footage available, other than what you have shown here this morning? Naturally, we will be featuring this as our top story, but I have to say that the images we’ve seen are not very helpful.”

  “Yes, I totally understand your issue there Kenny, but I’m afraid that is all we have for public use at the moment. There is some footage that we have from a business premises close to the scene of this fire which is not being released at present, as the footage does contain some details which will make up a significant part of the evidence in the court case and we wouldn’t want this footage to become public until that time. But that said, we have got all of our teams scrutinising many hundreds of hours of CCTV and we are hopeful that we’ll have something else soon. But for now, this footage has told us a lot, and we are extremely grateful to have it. Okay, thanks everybody, busy day ahead, but I’ll keep you all up to speed as our investigations continue.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  The local news teams in the north-west were having a busy day. Just an hour after Miller’s press conference, most of the reporters had travelled over to Salford police station, waiting to hear from the divisional inspector who had scheduled a short news briefing outside the station’s doors.

  The briefing expanded on the news that Miller had revealed earlier, regarding the murder of Graham Hartley. But, there was more, as the inspector explained that the suspect, Billy Nolan had been charged with murder for the attack on the first of November, but then he revealed the shocking news that Nolan had also murdered his estranged wife, and had left her body to rot in her flat, most probably around the same time he had battered Graham Hartley to death with a golf club.

  Lindsey Nolan was a very popular and well-known young woman in the Swinton area, and the news of her murder hit the local community extremely hard. Within minutes of the announcement of her death, a whole new story began emerging on Facebook, as Lindsey’s best friend, Michelle Christian wrote a status update which was to go viral.

  “OMFG so sad I can’t even describe. Just heard the news that my best friend in the world has been murdered. Lindsey has been my BFF since Grosvenor primary school and I’ve been trying to find out where she is for weeks. I’ve phoned the police loads of times but they wouldn’t do anything. Said I need to get next of kin to ring, but I told them she’s only got me. Can’t believe this, it’s not sunk in. RIP my angel Lindsey, my heart is shattered.”

  By lunch-time, Michelle’s status update had been shared over 15,000 times, as Facebook users shared their disgust at this poor young woman’s heart-break, whilst voicing major criticism at the police for ignoring her pleas for help. Whichever way this devastating story was going to be dressed up by the police powers-that-be, it wasn’t looking good.

  The local and national news gatherers were suddenly facing an explosion of news stories, and it was hard to decide which one of them should take the number one spot. It was excellent news that the man who had instilled a sense of terror over the city for the past month was safely behind bars, and in normal circumstances, that story would be the number one. But the news about Lindsey Nolan, and her friend’s Facebook status confused everything. Most frustratingly for DCI Miller and his team, his story, regarding the four people on the motorway had slipped right down the pile and was hardly getting a look-in.

  Quite unexpectedly, Manchester City Police were now finding themselves at the heart of a major scandal, not dissimilar to the criticism they had been receiving for not investigating the betting shop attacks earlier in the week. But this one was so shocking, and the thought that this poor woman had lay dead in her flat for so long, whilst her best friend had tried her level best to alert the police, well, it was a PR disaster and it didn’t look as though it was going to go away any ti
me soon.

  Miller was watching Sky News’ reaction to Michelle Christian’s Facebook status. He was shocked himself, this was completely unforgivable. He stepped out of his office and called his team over.

  “Everyone, stop what you’re doing. Over here please.” Miller had a very strange look on his face, it was as though he was shocked, annoyed and bemused at the same time. The DCI rarely encouraged any drama, so this sudden request was met with alarm.

  “What’s up?”

  “What’s going on?”

  Miller waved them all through into his office.

  “Watch this. I think we might be getting a new Chief Constable soon.”

  Miller’s team watched the news report in silence. Not one of them could believe what they were hearing. They just stood and listened as the Sky News reporters launched a full-on assault against the Manchester City Police. They had managed to organise a phone interview with Michelle Christian, and it was heart-breaking to listen to as she broke-down all the way through it. The most resounding message that came through the interview was the news that she had phoned the police three times, and three times they had fobbed her off and refused to make a missing persons report. This was bad enough, but the story got even darker as Michelle explained that she had warned the police that Lindsey’s ex-husband was violent and wasn’t happy about her moving out of the marital home.

  Not only was this a deeply upsetting story in itself, hearing the raw heart-ache and grief in Michelle’s voice, it was also a major scandal, one which was attracting an overwhelming reaction from the public. The report made extremely depressing viewing for every member of Miller’s team. As the news segment ended, Miller summed it up.