02x04 - Sandeep

Episode transcripts for the TV show, "Criminal: UK". Aired: September 20, 2019 - present.*
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British police procedural anthology series that's a cat-and-mouse game, which focuses on the intense mental conflict between detectives and suspects.
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02x04 - Sandeep

Post by bunniefuu »

I asked if you wanted one and you said no.

- I didn't.
- You did.

- You did a kind of shrug.
- I never heard you ask anything.

Well, I did.

Well, you need to talk louder, Tony.
Project.

Mm!

Cups of tea are nice,

but they're never nicer, are they…

Than when you've got a biscuit
to go with them.

- You'd agree, wouldn't you?
- I've always thought that.

- There you go, Kyle.
- Thanks, Vanessa.

I feel sorry for you, for both of you.

Your mouths must be very dry.

Would you like a biscuit, Tony?

Only if you make us a cup of tea first.

I'll do it for three.

- Three?
- Three, up front.

Or I'm going nowhere.

Two biscuits,
one up front, one on delivery.

- How did you do so well out of this?
- That's the deal, Tony.

Take it or leave it.

They're bringing him up now.

Aren't we meant to wait?

She doesn't want
to give him time to think.

What are you looking at?

He's talking to himself!

Here we go.

The time is 16:10
on Thursday the second of April.

Present, DCI Natalie Hobbs…

DS Jamie Reiss.

And…

Singh, Sandeep.

Zero-six, zero-four, eighty-two.

How was the trip over from…
where is it now, Belmarsh?

You were in Brixton before, yes?

I have no intention of helping you
with your inquiries. None whatsoever.

Whatever they may be.

But you know what they are, Sandeep.

You were told when
you were arrested in your cell.

I heard what they said.
I just don't know anything about it.

Remind me.

Prior to conviction, you were
a successful businessman, weren't you?

Projects in Malaysia,
Singapore, investment opportunities…

When you were first arrested
in 2010

and the custody sergeant
asked for your address,

you said you had "properties dotted
around the south of England,

and different cars
for different days of the week."

That's the kind of character
we were dealing with at the time.

- But the woman you m*rder*d…
- Samantha West.

Whose money you wanted, who said
she would invest in one of your schemes,

but pulled out
on the advice of her brother…

She realized you weren't
the business expert

you claimed you were.

No.

- Which is why you k*lled her?
- No.

No, I k*lled her

because she did not give me
her money on the date

that she said she would,
and that made me very angry.

Not because I was a bad businessman.

Well, at least your business reputation
wasn't damaged.

What would you know about business?

Hmm?

What would you know about business?

About as much as you,
by the sounds of things.

Your only remaining property now
is a studio flat in central London, yes?

No.

Once again, no.
Where did you even get that from?

She's talking about your cell.

This is not improving your chances
of me answering your questions.

You're raking over old ground.
And for no good reason.

- Well, hang on…
- This has nothing to do with me.

Let us be the judge of that.

And even if you think it does,

let me remind you, I have no intention
of answering your inquiries.

None whatsoever.

- Sandeep...
- Whatever they may be.

For a man
who says he won't talk…

The name Annabelle Ashcombe…

Does that mean anything to you?

Annabelle was
a young entrepreneur from Colchester.

She went missing in September 2009.

That's seven months prior to your arrest
for the m*rder of Samantha West.

Not a case you're aware of, no?

Her parents are now divorced.

Mum got the house and still keeps
Annabelle's bedroom just the way it was,

in case Annabelle decides
to walk in through the door

as if the last 11 years never happened.

Part of that means she cleans the room

to stop it turning
into some sort of dusty shrine,

and last week while she was doing this,

she found something
she hadn't noticed before.

A disposable camera.

Do you remember those?

The little wind-on cameras people used
to leave on tables at weddings?

On that camera was an undeveloped photo

of Annabelle Ashcombe
at just such a wedding,

the weekend before she went missing.

Not the last photo ever taken,
but not far off.

Upsetting for a mum to see, but…

Also a nice thing to find.

And that would have been that,

had Annabelle's mum
not spotted someone else in the photo.

A person you might recognize.

A man later convicted
of the m*rder of Samantha West.

And when we saw that
we thought, "That's funny.

A m*rder victim and a m*rder*r
together in the same sh*t like that?

We should call Belmarsh,
invite Sandeep Singh over for a chat…

Or a business meeting,
as he might prefer to call it."

That is you, isn't it?

- Where was this taken?
- That wasn't the question.

- At a wedding?
- At a wedding in Maidenhead.

Never been to Maidenhead.

- Well, with resp...
- Sorry, that's just a fact.

Well, we disagree.

It's almost as if, Sandeep,
we've got a photograph to prove it.

That is you.

And that…

Is Annabelle Ashcombe.

And six days later,
after that was taken, she disappeared.

Don't forget.

Sorry?

To ask your question.

What are you asking me?

I'm asking how you explain that.

I can't.

- But you...
- Next.

- But you knew Annabelle Ashcombe.
- No.

- But you met her.
- No.

- She's in the same photo.
- Yes.

- With you next to her.
- Behind her.

- You're with her.
- She's facing the other way.

- You weren't introduced?
- I don't know if that's her.

- Well, that is her.
- But I don't know that, do I?

I only know that's her
because you keep telling me,

but I genuinely could not
pick her out of a line-up.

I wonder if she would say
the same about you.

- She can't do anything about it now.
- No, she can't, and why is that?

Because you say
that she's been m*rder*d.

Which is terrible.

- You think m*rder's terrible?
- Listen!

I do not sit in my cell feeling proud.

I regret what happened with Samantha West.

I live with the fact
that I took the life of another

every single day.

- Sandeep...
- But I only did that once!

And I do not deserve to be pinned
to every single unsolved crime out there

because I f*cked up on this one occasion!

Yes?

Sit back in your chair for me, Sandeep.

There's a good chap.

Should…
should we get uniform in the room?

Only to stop her attacking him.

It might have been the Ogbonnas.

He's Nigerian. Public school type.

If that was the wedding,
then yeah, I was there. On my own.

That's the one.

I remember that as being in Marlow.

Marlow's not far from Maidenhead.

What day did she go missing?

- The following Friday.
- What date is that?

That would be September fourth.

September fourth, 2008.

Nine.

This was 2009?

A few months before you were arrested
for the m*rder of Samantha West.

We've already said that.

In that case, I can help you.

I can help you with your inquiries.

It was not me.

And how did we suddenly work that one out?

Because…

I took a contract with Intrepid in 2009,

which I've already told you about

in my last interview, 2010.

I took a job as an Excursion Manager
with Intrepid Cruises

for six weeks in the autumn of 2009.

Not because I have an interest in travel,

but because cruise ships are filled
with cash-rich 60-somethings who…

And I will level with you…
are perfect potential investors.

I did the same thing a few years earlier
and the dates were always the same.

Travel out to Miami
on the August bank holiday,

do a two-day induction and…

Off you go.

Miami, Cozumel…

Saint Kitts, Saint Thomas…

- Yeah. Bang on.
- …back to Miami.

Shall I get a number?

Yeah.

They still run that route,
I think.

And like the wedding…

They certainly took photos, too.

Interview suspended at 16:21.

The cruise is confirmed
as leaving Miami on the second,

and by the time
Annabelle goes missing on the fourth,

he's a million miles away,
playing gin rummy, doing the Macarena.

And he was definitely on board?

Yeah, he's even in the big group photo
that they do on deck.

- So he's alibi-ed.
- Yeah.

Were Annabelle Ashcombe's family
told about the arrest?

No.

Ah, well… Nothing lost, eh?

It's not our fault he didn't do it.

Mm.

Do you want me to tell him?

- Mm-hmm.
- Okay.

Right, the van from Belmarsh
is still downstairs.

You need to give them two minutes' notice
so they can bring it round.

Okay?

So that's it? We just stop?

Well, what were you after?
Some kind of conversational warm-down?

But the driver from Belmarsh
isn't collecting me till six.

You've got me for another hour.

Don't need you for another hour.

What you told us checks out.

Conversation's over.

Why? Was there something
you wanted to add?

No, there was something I wanted to ask.

Had I known who was responsible…

And had I been open to telling you…

What then?

What would it have been worth?

- Do you?
- No.

But…

You have, sitting before you…

Someone who has spent
the last ten years

sharing cells and corridors

with some of the most dangerous men
in the country.

And those men talk.

So there are crimes…

High-profile crimes…

High-profile, unsolved crimes,
that I do know something about,

I can help you with.

And you have a one-hour window
in which you can talk to me.

So, to go back to my…

Original question…

What is it worth?

Well, why don't you tell us
what the case is

and we'll decide whether it's high profile
and whether we want your help.

Or…

If we are brainstorming here,

you name some of the highest-profile
unsolved crimes you can think of,

and we'll see if it comes up.

How about…

Okay, then.

The guy who fired into the crowd
at the, uh, Newcastle concert.

The man who k*lled the male
sex workers in Birmingham last year?

Sorry.

What would you say, Tone?

I'd say he should hurry up
and tell us himself.

Otherwise, we'll use the whole hour
just doing this bit.

The missing boy.

Alfie.

Alfie…

Alfie Ince. That's it.

Alfie Ince.

Shut up!

That would be of interest, yes?

Considered high profile?

Enough that,
if I told you what happened,

I may be able to negotiate
a reduction in my sentence?

You are joking, aren't you?

This has got to be bullshit.

Well, we'd need to check,
but, um…

…in theory it's not impossible.

Good.

So with, what, 55 minutes left,

let's find a way to do business.

Get DCS Miller on the line.

Tell her we need a prosecutor.

- CPS.
- We're calling them now.

Oh, God.

- What if he's lying?
- But what if he's not?

- Got to be nonsense.
- But what if it's not?

It's one of the biggest unsolved cases
in the country.

No, I know, I know.

Wait.

Paul Ottager.
He worked the Alfie Ince case, didn't he?

- Did he?
- Yes.

We were in the pub,
he was telling us all about it.

- Not the investigation, the case review.
- Guv…

If we can get Paul to sit in,
he can help steer this.

Guv, it wasn't Paul Ottager
that worked the Alfie Ince case.

- The CPS is sending Donna Swift.
- Oh…

Ten minutes away and not happy
about missing a leaving do at Wahaca.

Hey, where are you?

It's a two-stage process.

First, a scoping interview

in which Mr. Singh will give us
whatever information he claims to have,

then a debrief.

That's then written up,

signed by you, signed by us,
signed by the SIO,

to confirm the information
is sufficiently helpful.

Then that's all put before a judge,

who's the only person who can approve
the reduction of the term.

Can we guarantee the reduction
in the sentence in advance?

Not without knowing the quality
of the information.

- No. No, you're right. But…
- It would be foolish.

Sure. But if we made that a condition…

Provided the information is of value…

We can certainly look into it.

Thank you.

Could we look into it now?

We're in a hurry, I can tell.

What is the case that Mr. Singh
is looking to help us with today?

Alfie Ince.

- As in…
- As in, Alfie Ince.

He can help with that?

He says he can, yeah.

The prosecutor's working
to see if she cannot guarantee

a reduction in your sentence.

- How long will that take?
- Five or ten minutes.

That won't leave us much time.
There's a lot I've got to tell you.

But this deadline of yours,
it's not real, is it?

We can talk again tomorrow.

You could. I won't.

So you won't want to discuss
a reduction in your sentence tomorrow?

I'm giving you a one-hour window,
less than that now…

To guarantee me
a reduction in my sentence.

Do that and I will tell you
what happened to Alfie Ince.

Fail, and my offer to help is retracted.

That is the line that I'm taking.

And I'm taking it because
putting you on the spot like this

gives me a better chance
of a bigger reduction.

Now you may or may not choose

to believe that deadline is real.

That's up to you.

That's on your conscience.

You are the ones
who will have to tell Alfie Ince's parents

you decided to not take me seriously.

And in answer to your next question…

I want four years taken off.

From a 14-year bid?

Of which you've already served ten.

Meaning you'd barely go back
to Belmarsh at all.

Only to collect
some of my stuff.

Is four years even doable?

It's right at the top end.

Done his homework, that's for sure.

Gavin? Gavin, can you hear me?

He was always going to bring this up,
wasn't he?

And there I was,
not wanting to give him time to think.

Okay.

But there can be no further requests.

We can't have you
increasing your demands as we go.

Four years.

That is the price.

- That is the deal.
- Nothing else?

Well, maybe a cup of tea.

Oh, and… a biscuit,

if you have one.

But if I can stick
a piece of paper in front of him,

something in principle,
I've got a feeling that might…

Yes, I know.

Yes, I realize,
but Gavin, this is Alfie Ince.

Is that for me?

Hugo worked
the Alfie Ince case review back in 2015.

He knows it better than any of us.

And you remember it?

Yes, ma'am.

Then I want you straight in.

Yes, ma'am.

Twenty-nine minutes to go.

- Says who?
- Says him.

And we've decided
to take him seriously.

The recording is yet to start?

Tony wanted to wait for you.

You know, I was thinking
about this on my way over.

I should use all this to my advantage.

Tell you I'm not setting foot in that room
unless you let me back in here.

Reinstate me.

You were never going to try that, Hugo.
You're too good a man.

And a rubbish negotiator.

From the CPS.

For your colleague.

That should get him talking.

Okay, let's go.

Interview starts at 17:42.

Present in the room,
Detective Inspector Tony Myerscough.

Hugo Duffy. And?

Singh, Sandeep, 06-04-82.

The Crown Prosecution Service's way
of saying

they'll recommend
a four-year reduction to your sentence.

Provided what I tell you is any good, yes?

What happened, where he is…

- Whether he's dead or alive.
- No, he's not alive.

He was dead within hours
of being thrown into the van.

But we're getting ahead of ourselves.

We begin at the beginning.

He was right.

The chap before you.

I was in Brixton before Belmarsh,

2010, somewhere around there.

First time being locked in a cell.

Nothing more terrifying.

Nothing, I promise you.

When they lock that door…

And the lights go out…

And all you're left with

are the memories of the actions

that brought you there
in the first place…

It's haunting.

And the only guy…

More terrified than me

was the guy…

A few cells down.

Turns out he's a high-end car thief.

The kind of cars that go missing
on Bond Street one day,

and end up in Bulgaria the next.

I start thinking,

it might be worth
getting closer to this guy

for business reasons,
because, you know, Bulgaria…

Macedonia…

All those countries around there
are full of potential investors.

And, if he can introduce me,

I could make it worth his while,
blah, blah, blah.

Anyway, we're slowly making plans.

And once I have his trust…

He starts telling me

that this route to Bulgaria

is used for more than just cars.

- Alcohol?
- Alcohol.

- People?
- Yes.

- Girls, boys…
- Yes, that's it.

Alfie Ince.

- That's what I'm coming to.
- So he did do it?

That's what I'm telling you.

That he trafficked Alfie out of the UK?

For 25 grand.

That's what I thought.

We need a name.

But on the ferry over,
he said that Alfie tried to get out.

That Alfie climbed
into the front of the van

and tried to kick through the windscreen
and had to be subdued.

That's how it happened.

Screaming and shouting.

He'd have given the whole thing away,

the whole system, supply line,
had he not been subdued.

That's how he ended up k*lling him.

And his name?

Burying him in some national park, uh…

Near, what did he say? Uh, Arnhem.

All these details,
they're nothing without a name.

John Brian Buchanan.

He lives at The Ridge,
Emlin Lane, near Loughton.

Which means Epping Forest is his patch.

And what? You just happen
to know his full address off by heart?

I do.

It was the address we were to use
to set up a business.

It was to be our base.

A company doing what?

No comment.

Something illegal, then.

Physical laundering.

The company was going
to make money by moving money.

All right? That was the idea.

Illegal if it had started,
but we didn't, so you're fine.

We stopped once I found out that, uh…

Buchanan had branched
into something that was…

Unacceptable to me, personally.

He's right, CPS records have
Buchanan charged for smuggling,

sexual offenses…

All manner of stuff.

I'm no angel,

but it doesn't make
what he did any less abhorrent.

That's why I'm telling you all of this.

Is that right?

I'm giving you
all the information you need for Alfie.

Really?

And it feels like you're attacking me
for it. Is that your role here?

I don't have a role here, Sandeep.
Not anymore.

I'm just here because I promised
his family I'd do everything I could.

So when I heard you were here
talking about this,

I became a bit like the guys
in Brixton…

Keen to pay you a visit.

Did he live alone?

Who?

Buchanan.

He was in prison.

But the house in Emlin Lane
where you were going to base this…

Business.

Did he live there alone?

So why not do it somewhere more private?

- There was nowhere more private.
- No?

It was the only place we had.

No, no. You're forgetting,
Sandeep, you're a man of property.

Houses dotted around the south of England.

Now, I don't remember addresses
off by heart, not in the way you do.

In a way, that, to me, seems a little…

Over-prepared.

But looking back
at the old Hugo Filing System,

I did come across…

Ash Lane.

Two, Ash Lane.

It's a little cottage of yours.

I said to my guv at the time,
when we were doing the review,

"Let's go down to Belmarsh,
see what Sandeep Singh has got to say.

After all, we've got a convicted m*rder*r
living in Ash Lane in Thornwood.

That's only 200 yards
from where Alfie Ince was at the time."

- That's not true.
- What's not true?

Alfie Ince is from Loughton.
Not Thornwood. That is well documented.

It is, but Sandeep,
this was the summer holidays

and he was with his nan that day.

Who lives in Thornwood.

Near you.

That was the link here, you see?

That's why I came running down here
like my career depended on it.

And that's what had me interested
back then, but my guv at the time…

He said not to bother with you.

Because you, in his words…

"…were the wrong kind of psycho."

Not a nonce.

Just a narcissist.

So we never went looking
for Alfie at your place.

Not then, anyway.

But now,

we are checking.

Are you?

No.

We have sent
scene-of-crime officers up there.

Number Two, Ash Lane, Thornwood.

See, I remembered it that time.

They're gonna have a look around,

have a dig about,

make sure Alfie isn't there after all.

You're a businessman, yeah?

So while you think on that,
let us make you an offer.

So, how about this?

If they find a body,

instead of a reduction in your sentence,
you'll be getting another 14.

That makes sense, yeah?

Whether you did this alone
or with Buchanan,

you'll now be serving two life sentences.

Don't need a spreadsheet
to work that one out.

However, if you cooperate,

if you are contrite,
and you genuinely try to help,

a judge may well look favorably on that.

It's what's known in your world
as cutting your losses.

So save us all time,

and tell us where to dig, Sandeep.

Tell us what they'll find, and whereabouts
in your back garden they will find it.

I'm going to have to hurry you, mate.
This offer only stands till 6:00 p.m.

Yeah? Why six?

- Because the SOCO team's on its way.
- And because that's the line we're taking.

Tell us what they'll find,
Sandeep, when they get there.

With all that scanning equipment
and all that.

Your garden, your patio,
under your floorboards…

When they start looking.

Forget the big mirror.

The microphones,
and anybody else who might be watching.

Just tell us the truth.

What will they find?

What will they find, Sandeep?

Who will they find?

Make it better for the family.

Tell us now, Sandeep.

They'll find Annabelle Ashcombe.

She told me, at the wedding,

she could invest half a million.

Half a million.

That meant I decided
to not take the job on the cruise.

She comes to see me
a few days after,

at the cottage.

Says she's changed her mind.

Meaning I've lost both the investment…

And the job.

And that's when I lost it.

I asked her if she'd like
to see the garden.

I don't know why.

I do know why.

And while she's standing there…

Just like in the photo…

Facing the other way…

I hit her with a pole.

Once.

That's all it needed.

And that is when
the football landed in the garden.

Sorry?

He comes in a few seconds later
to fetch it.

Alfie?

I say she's poorly.

Had had a fall.

I ask him to help me.

To check, see if she's still breathing.

And as he's leaning over,
back comes the pole.

I went out to Florida…

But only got on the boat
in time for the photo at the end.

But I made sure I was in it…
I made sure I was in it…

I made sure I was in it!

They'll see a cross in the grass, your…

Scene-of-crime people.

Where the bird table used to be.

Tell them to dig around there.

Right. I'll notify the SIO.

I'll call Belmarsh,
say we're hanging onto him for now.

On it, Guv.

So the prosecutor's gone,
and it's drinks at the Rose.

- Right. That's where we're off to, is it?
- That's the rumor.

Except Jamie's not coming,
because of all the paperwork,

and Vanessa's giving Kyle a lift home.

Oh, so it's just you, me and Hugo.

- Well, Hugo can't.
- He can have a soft drink.

He needs an early night.
Starting a new job in the morning.

So, still worth it, then?

What do you mean?

How many clues do you need?

Interview terminated at 18:13.

Yes!
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