Case studies
Case studies on the use of investigatory techniques under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) by councils, police and central government departments.
Case study – local authority use of covert techniques
A local authority’s trading standards unit was authorised under RIPA to use directed surveillance and communications in order to gain evidence to prosecute three roofers who had persuaded 11 elderly victims to pay for unnecessary work on their roofs. The victims lost in excess of £150,000 and two lost their entire life savings (£79,000 and £58,500). The three criminals were sentenced to between three and six years imprisonment.
Case study – communications traffic and service use data
During 2006-07 a gang carried out a series of armed robberies in southern England. The gang stole £500,000 by robbing security vans making deliveries to banks. Mobile phone records, including traffic data, were used to show they had been at the scene of a series of raids exactly a week before the crimes. Their phones were then all turned off for the duration of the robberies. Service data showed that they had all been in contact with the individual who had been the gang’s recruiter. Two gang members, Terence Wallance and Adrian Johnson, were given prison sentences of 17 years and five other gang members received sentences ranging from five to 12 years.
Traffic data is a type of communications data. It includes information on where the equipment used in the communication was located at the time (for example the location of the mobile phone from which a text message was sent and the location of the mobile phone which received it).
This type of communications data is the most intrusive. Its use is limited to the public authorities that have shown they require it to fulfill their statutory functions (such as the emergency services, law enforcement, and security and intelligence agencies). Local authorities do not have access to traffic data.
Service use data includes information retained by the service provider about the use a person makes of the service. This could include how the communication occurred (for instance a telephone call, text message or email), when the communication happened (the date and time of a call) and how long it lasted.
This data is very often required by the service provider for billing and appears on itemised invoices. All listed public authorities may request access to specified service use data.
Case study – service use and subscriber data
Birmingham City Council used service use and subscriber data, as well as directed surveillance, to investigate illegal money lending.
A violent loan shark, Kim Cornfield, lent small amounts of cash, but charged extortionate interest rates, including one of 15,000 per cent. He used threats and physical abuse to enforce payment and demanded ‘payment in kind’ from women who were not able to repay cash. While subject to an injunction, he used his mobile phone to text victims threatening them with violence if they gave evidence against him. Service use and subscriber data demonstrated that he had sent the text messages received by the victims. Faced with the evidence against him, he pleaded guilty to blackmail and illegal money lending and was sentenced to two years in prison in February 2006.
Case study – directed surveillance
In 2005, officers from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) investigated an individual who had claimed more than £22,000 in disability benefits over several years. He claimed that he was unable to walk long distances and needed help with feeding and other activities. DWP investigators filmed him warming up for races and running with his local athletics club and were able to establish that he had taken part in several marathons. He admitted failing to notify the DWP of a change in his circumstances and was given a ten-month custodial sentence.
Case study – intrusive surveillance
On 18 February 2008, Parviz Khan, a British national of Pakistani origin, was sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in planning to abduct and murder a British Muslim soldier for extremist propaganda purposes. Much of the evidence used in the case against Khan derived from eavesdropping coverage of his conversations, which was obtained under a property and intrusive surveillance warrant obtained from the Secretary of State by the Security Service.
Case study – covert human intelligence sources
The Food Standards Agency deployed a covert human intelligence source to obtain detailed information on an approved slaughterhouse they suspected of being run by someone subject to a prohibition order under the Food Safety Act 1990. The owner had received the order for supplying illegal meat that had not undergone proper veterinary inspection or marked as fit for human consumption.
The evidence obtained by the source led to the owner being convicted and given a suspended prison sentence and community service order.
