Crooked Britain at the Crooked BBC

[davidtharper]

Hi,

Unfortunately, I have first hand experience of the shear hypocrisy and corruption at the BBC.

Please refer to the article in Tribunemagazine and search Tulisa trial triggers accusations against BBC's Crooked Britain.

I would have preferred to use the title ' Crooked Britain at the crooked BBC !

I am currently awaiting a response to a letter which I've sent to the Crown Prosecution Service.

Regards
David Harper

[Teddy Bear]

Welcome David.
Your story is definitely a heavy one. I've pasted the article you refer to here.
Have you tried to tell your story to mainstream journalists here? I'm sure you wouldn't want to prejudice any information that might affect the outcome with the Crown Prosecution Service, but perhaps there will be some that would want to take your plight up.

I have to admit I'm not familiar with this website, nor any of its writers. It's surprising that being founded back in 1937 by a Labour politician, Nye Bevan, that they would want to publicize something that is anti BBC, but I see that Orwell commended this journal.

No doubt your eyes have been opened by many other sordid aspects of BBC reporting as a result of your direct experience with them, and as well as keeping us updated on this, you're welcome to post on any other facets that cause you disgust.

Tulisa Trial triggers accusations against BBC’s Crooked Britain
Written By: Andrew Rosthorn
Published: August 11, 2014 Last modified: August 19, 2014

A man jailed for conspiring to counterfeit currency entirely on the evidence of a BBC film shot by a murderer is to take his case to the Criminal Cases Review Commission after the collapse of the ‘Fake Sheikh’ Sun on Sunday case against X Factor celebrity Tulisa Contostavlos.

David Harper, 46, from Liverpool, was jailed for six and a half years in 2005 after appearing in covert filming shot for the BBC Crooked Britain documentary series.

Harper was arrested in 2003 seven months after the BBC passed a set of digital video discs to police in London. The National Crime Squad said they had been unaware of the activities of the BBC’s ‘covert operatives’ and when Judge Bernard Lever sentenced Harper at Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester for conspiracy to make counterfeit currency and supply American Express security holograms, he said Harper had been convicted thanks to the BBC and ‘entirely on their undercover filming’.

It is often the case that those as high up the criminal chain as you Harper have no admissible evidence against you and it is entirely due to the BBC that you are convicted and sentenced today.

James Raven, the man who rigged up the spy camera for the BBC, had by that time been jailed for the torture and murder of a cannabis grower in July 2003. He claimed in court he had been researching a programme to be called Reefer Madness.

His cousin, Christopher Guest More, described by the BBC as one of their ‘covert operatives’, fled to Spain two days after the murder of Brian Waters, 46, tortured and killed by masked men in front of his son and daughter at his Burnt House cannabis farm in Cheshire. The dead man suffered 123 injuries after being beaten, whipped, burned with acid, attacked with an industrial staple gun, trussed up and suspended head first in a barrel of water.

At his trial, Raven told Lord Alex Carlile QC, defending, that after More bought a horsebox for surveillance he had agreed to watch the cannabis farm two days before the murder: ‘I hesitantly agreed but felt I had a responsibility to put something back in to the business, otherwise I would be excluded from everything.’

More, now 36, helped Raven to set up the BBC covert filming at a printing works in Ashton-under-Lyne. He is now listed Infra-Red by Interpol as one of their ten ‘most wanted’ men after evading British detectives who traced him to Spain.

Interpol are using a picture taken a year earlier of Christopher Guest More when he posed at his father’s £3.5 million farmhouse brandishing a Glock pistol in front of a red Mercedes and his blue Porsche Boxster.

More’s father, also named Christopher Guest More, one of Britain’s most successful commercial detectives, was jailed for 9 months in 2004 after admitting flying to Malaga one week after the murder to take cash and clothes to his son. Chris More senior had played the part of ‘Bob’, a ‘Mr Big’ who appeared in the covert filming set up by Raven.

Raven was serving a life sentence with a 24 year tariff when he gave evidence from a high security prison by video link to a voir dire pre-trial hearing about the admissibility of evidence for Harper’s trial. He stated the filming at the counterfeiting plant and the part played by Chris More senior in the Funny Money programme had been a ‘complete set-up’. But his video link evidence conflicted with an earlier statement he had given to police and was rejected as unreliable.

Consequently, the jury at Harper’s trial heard no evidence from the two ‘covert operatives’ solely responsible for the BBC films on which Harper was convicted. Raven was in prison and Chris More was being hunted by Interpol.

During an unsuccessful appeal against conviction, Harper’s barrister produced previously restricted signed statements from two Cheshire police patrol officers who had stopped Raven and More in a suspicious car in 2003. Police constable Judith Newall said More stated:

that he had a meeting with the head of NCIS [National Criminal Intelligence Service] the following morning and he would be reporting the officers involved at the stop and search for keeping him for longer than was reasonable.

PC Robert James Simpson stated More was

drunk and aggressive throughout the incident and stated he was going to complain about all of us. He said he was in the business of making television programmes like MacIntyre Uncovered. He also stated he know people in NCIS.

NCIS was disbanded in 2006, to be replaced by SOCA [Serious Organised Crime Agency] which was itself absorbed into the National Crime Agency in 2013.

Raven worked undercover with Chris More Junior on Funny Money using concealed miniature cameras and recording devices after luring David Harper to take part in the sale of a printing plant to a ‘Mr Big’, a part played by Chris More senior.

The Burnt House Farm murder trial jury heard that Raven had worked on more than 50 television programmes, including MacIntyre Uncovered and Crooked Britain for the BBC and Sleepers for Channel 4. The BBC and Channel 4 knew he had served 14 months in jail for grievous bodily harm in a road rage attack. The cousins were earning £80,000 a year in fees from TV documentary producers.

Fiona-Campbell

Producer Fiona Campbell, now acting head of BBC Three Factual Commissioning and currently responsible for commissioning the BBC 3 series Tracey Dooley Investigates, told Chester Crown Court she had employed Raven and More at both Channel 4 and the BBC to work on investigations about car crime and the illegal meat trade. She said she was aware that Raven had convictions for violence: ‘They were organised and reliable and I regarded them as good employees.’

A BBC spokesman said later:

From time to time, in cases of overriding public interest, the BBC, like other media organisations, works with people who have had criminal convictions in order to expose criminality or serious wrongdoing.

The Funny Money programme is unavailable online. A spokesman for Channel 4 told the Manchester Evening News: ‘As soon as we became aware of Raven’s criminal conviction, we took him off under cover filming work. At the time of this offence, he was not working for Channel 4 in any capacity.’

After the conviction of James Raven, Det Chief Insp Phil jones said the Burnt House murder had highlighted ‘the serious danger of television companies employing convicted criminals as researchers.’

Despite living in a one-bedroom flat in Tuebrook, Liverpool, and not owning a car, Harper was ordered by a judge to repay £38,333 perceived profits under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. For failure to pay he served an additional 15 month sentence. Judge Bernard Lever said Harper had ‘cash sloshing about’ and

looked a million dollars in black pin stripe suit and his silk tie. He exuded opulence. That was the real evidence that I saw. He didn’t look to me like a man who was just trying to buy a bag of chips by doing a couple of nights on the door, until I remanded him in custody.

Last weekend David Harper said

The judge told me the only evidence against me was my appearance on Raven’s covertly-filmed DVDs, handed over to the police by the BBC.
Naturally, no DVDs were handed over showing me being persuaded by Raven to attend his meetings and follow his script. The BBC said that not all our meetings were filmed.

At my appeal, it was noted that the American Express holograms that I was accused of conspiring to sell had been provided by the BBC’s own covert operative, Jimmy Raven. They had not been reported as stolen and Raven had even asked American Express for a reward for finding them.

I became involved purely because I was owed money by one of the targets of Jimmy Raven’s enterprise. Raven came to me and said: ‘There’s a guy worth forty million pounds and he likes to dabble on the dark side. If we can pull it off, if we can persuade him it’s a successful counterfeiting operation there’s seventy grand to be made and more to come from selling him new equipment.’

I was convicted on the evidence of simply having appeared in Mr Raven’s covertly filmed enterprise. He asked me to help him sell the printing machine and gave me a script to follow. I had no idea he was filming me. I was not a career criminal, just an actor in a villainous conspiracy by three dangerous men working for the most respectable television service in the world.

When the case collapsed against Tulisa I noticed the similarities with my own case. I was incandescent with frustration. As a result of the Funny Money programme I cannot find work and I have just lost my flat.

The Sun on Sunday case against Tulisa Contostavlos was stopped last month after Judge Alistair McCreath told the jury of a ‘fundamental principle’ that a court ‘cannot allow itself to be party to improper conduct’.

Occasionally – very rarely – circumstances may arise in which a court has to say that whatever apparent merits a prosecution may have, the court cannot allow the prosecution case to be taken forward to trial.

Where there has been some aspect of the investigation or prosecution of a crime which is tainted in some way by serious misconduct to the point that the integrity of the court would be compromised by allowing the trial to go ahead, in that sense the court would be seen to be sanctioning or colluding in that sort of behaviour, then the court has no alternative but to say, “this case must go no further”.

Judge McCreath found ‘strong grounds to believe’ that the Sun on Sunday reporter Mazher Mahmood had ‘lied’ at a hearing before the trial started. The judge stated:

It should not be forgotten that Mr Mahmood is the sole progenitor of this case; the sole investigator; the sole prosecution witness; a man who has exercised his journalistic privilege to create a situation in which the identities of others involved in the investigation are unknown to the defence (or the prosecution or even to me); someone who appears to have gone to considerable lengths to get Ms Contostavlos to agree to involve herself in criminal conduct, certainly to far greater lengths than would have been regarded as appropriate had he been a police investigator.

As a result of the Funny Money programme, four people were eventually jailed for a total of 21 years after a joint operation between the National Crime Squad and the US Secret Service and a raid on the printing plant in Ashton-under-Lyne. Det Supt Lewis, from the National Crime Squad, said: ‘This is one of the most sophisticated counterfeit printing operations we’ve uncovered in recent years.’

[davidtharper]

.... just for the record, here is my story :

I grew up believing that the BBC stood proud in this world.

At a young age, I was taught by my father that the BBC was a standard bearer for truth and integrity and was a mascot for this once great country of ours.

In recent years, that mask has somewhat slipped, with revelations of it's facilitation of child rape by the likes of Sir Jimmy Saville and Stuart Hall and Co.

I have been aware for some time that it's pious and self serving management is nothing more than a mouthpiece ; to frighten and scare the citizens'  of this country ; to make any opinion which is different from its' own, appear racist ; sexist or homophobic ; not to be questioned by lesser mortals such as us, the License Fee payers'.

Unfortunately ; in 2002, I found that the BBC was not only all of the above ; but it was endemically corrupt, and this belief was due to my own anecdotal experience.

Does anybody remember the series ' Crooked Britain ' ....?

I do,unfortunately, because I starred in my very own episode. 

If anybody recalls one particular award winning episode - Funny Money - it was filmed by two award winning criminals with long histories of  violence criminality.

In fact ; one of the two undercover journalists - James Raven - is now serving life in prison with a twenty four year tariff !

The other ; Christopher Guest More is wanted for the same murder.

Raven claimed,during his murder trial,that he was researching for the BBC when it happened, for a BBC programme called 'Refer Madness'.

Raven and Guest More had worked with Fiona Campbell ( Executive Producer ) and Phillip Wright ( Producer ) at Channel 4, but Raven and Guest More were sacked due to there unethical practices.

When Fiona Campbell and Phillip Wright moved to the BBC ; yes, you guessed it, she took Raven and More with her ! I kid you not.

An article has been written on this very subject by Andrew Rosthorn for Tribunemagazine, titled Tulisa trial triggers accusations against BBC's Crooked Britain.

I have been denied legal aid to further appeal my conviction. Even James Raven admitted that the whole programme was a set up and pre-scripted by him, with only the tapes that fitted the story being handed to the BBC.

If there are any legal brains out there who may be able to help - I would only be too pleased to hear from you.

Word of WARNING : If you receive a knock on the door from a BBC representative ( Detector van or not ), I strongly advise you not to open it. It could cost you very dear indeed !

[Teddy Bear]

As requested by David, I am posting a copy of his letter to the Crown Prosecution Service.
I believe this is a huge story and will be researching it further over the coming days.
The very fact that Fiona Campbell was aware of the unsavoury background of her co-conspirators, and despite them being outed from Channel 4, was happy to rehire them when she moved to the BBC speaks volumes.

Chief Crown Prosecutor,                                                                                         December 10, 2014.

Dear sir,

On January 31, 2005, I was convicted of conspiracy to make counterfeit currency and
sentenced by His Honour Judge Lever on June 13, 2005, to six and a half years
imprisonment. The judge stated that I had been convicted purely on my appearance in
covert filming carried out by two men, James Raven and Christopher Guest More Junior,
who were both employed by BBC 1 Television.

Before my conviction, the judge said:

The producers knew James Raven had a serious conviction for violence but it is not
challenged that they had a legitimate track record of undercover filming of this type for
other BBC and Channel 4 programmes. What the producers from the BBC did not know
was that they were employing two people who were, for the purposes of my assessment in
this voire dire, a pair of villains. James Raven was convicted earlier this year of an
appalling torture murder and has been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum
sentence to be served of 24 years. Christopher Guest More [junior] is currently on the run
and wanted for that murder.

In ruling that the BBC covert tapes on which I was convicted were neither a circumvention
of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, nor a breach of Articles 6 and 8 of the
European Convention on Human Rights, Judge Lever stated:

James Raven gave evidence before me that he did film some of the Defendants but they
knew he was filming them. They were not counterfeiters but merely acting a role in order to
get the BBC to pay for the film footage. I reject his evidence utterly on this point and
generally….

Christopher Guest More Junior’s whereabouts are not known so he gave no evidence to me.
I also take into account read evidence of their dubious ethical practices, Channel 4
dispensing with Raven’s services upon learning of his conviction and other unflattering
comments about them.

My own defence and subsequent appeal both failed on the apparent lack of any evidence
that the police knew of the covert BBC surveillance. The Judge had ruled before my trial:
Factual Submissions on Circumvention of RIPA:

This, as stated, can happen in two ways. If I conclude the BBC and Police were deliberately
in cahoots to circumvent RIPA this would be a flagrant breach and would inevitably result
in the tapes being excluded.

If I find that that the police knew of the undercover taping and cynically allowed the BBC
to do their dirty work with a view to waiting and seizing the BBC’s evidence this would be
a serious breach and would almost certainly but not inevitably lead to the tapes being
excluded. As stated, willfully shutting their eyes would be akin to knowledge.

The Learned Judge heard evidence from two BBC producers, Miss Fiona Campbell and Mr
Phillip Wright, who were represented at my trial by Keir Starmer QC. Judge Lever found the
BBC producers had committed six breaches of the BBC rules on secret recordings.
The missing BBC investigator, Christopher Guest More Junior, remains at large, eleven years
after the murder and nearly ten years after my conviction.

[1]
Because of his absence and because of the incarceration of James Raven, who refused to
give evidence in court, the jury at my trial heard no evidence from the BBC ‘covert operatives’
who had been solely responsible for the BBC film on which I was convicted. The jury reached
their verdict after four days of deliberation and by a majority verdict.

During an unsuccessful appeal against conviction, my barrister produced previously restricted
signed statements from two Cheshire police patrol officers who had stopped Raven and More
in a suspicious car in 2003, just before the murder. Police constable Judith Newall said that
Christopher Guest More Junior stated:

that he had a meeting with the head of NCIS [National Criminal Intelligence Service] the
following morning and he would be reporting the officers involved at the stop and search for
keeping him for longer than was reasonable.

I now find that the Crown Prosecution Service is to review the convictions of 25 people
convicted on evidence provided by the former News of the World reporter Mazher
Mahmood.

I note that this decision follows the remarks made by a trial judge in the Contostavlos case,
who found that Mr Mahmood appeared to have been dishonest, while being the "sole
progenitor" of the prosecution, the only investigator and:
someone who appears to have gone to considerable lengths to get Ms Contostavlos to agree to
involve herself in criminal conduct, certainly to far greater lengths than would have been
regarded as appropriate had he been a police investigator.

I note that the CPS have announced:

We are now considering past cases which resulted in a conviction in criminal courts in England and
Wales based on evidence provided by Mr Mahmood, and have identified 25 cases. As part of this
process, over the coming weeks, CPS Areas will be contacting representatives of the defendants – or
defendants themselves as necessary - convicted in these cases in order to provide them with a
disclosure pack – details of material which they may consider undermines the conviction in a
specific case.

It seems clear that my own conviction was also based on evidence from investigators who
were both criminals, both far more unreliable than Mr Mahmood.
James Raven told the Judge, but not the jury, by video link from prison, that the films had
been scripted for a television documentary and that some were not handed to the BBC
because the films would have betrayed inconvenient evidence. The jury never heard this
evidence. The executive BBC producer told the murder trial that she had mislaid her 2002
diary. The other BBC investigator has, inconveniently for me, never been brought to justice.

I believe that the Crown Prosecution Service might appreciate the advantage of
investigating my case at this time, and not simply because my conviction resembles the
convictions obtained unreliably by the News of the World. The CPS must also be aware
that Christopher Guest More Junior might one day be arrested for murder. I trust you will
agree that the safety of my conviction, the justice of the long sentence I served and my
unsatisfied proceeds of crime order, should not depend on the chance of More’s future
arrest by Interpol or the outcome of a future trial in which his exact relationship with the
BBC and NCS would have to be examined. Since my trial I have learned that NCS police
officers appeared on one of the disks recorded by Raven and More Junior. I do not have
access to those DVDs, or the resources to obtain them, but I believe that a simple forensic
examination of the DVDs would demonstrate that my conviction was unsafe.

[Teddy Bear]

Here's the link and article on the relevant BBC archive for Crooked Britain concerned

Crooked Britain Monday, 13 January, 2003, 13:24 GMT
Fake cash
Crooked Britain looks at the rise in counterfeit crime
Counterfeit crime is thriving
Crooked Britain: Fake Cash was broadcast on BBC Two on Tuesday, 21 January 2003.

For the first time on television a criminal gang involved in the counterfeiting of currency is exposed.

Using covert camera techniques to infiltrate the gang, the criminals every move is taped to reveal their sophisticated and highly successful counterfeiting techniques.

Counterfeiting of currency is a major concern with £100m of fake notes estimated to be in circulation.

Fake Cash is the result of an eight-month investigation by the BBC.

The result is a detailed portrait of a counterfeiting gang, one of a growing number around the world which regularly beat bank security measures and flood world markets with everything from fake pounds to euros and dollars.

Reporter: Mike Radford
Producer: Phil Wright
Assistant producer: Darius Bazargan
Series Producer: Fiona Campbell
Executive Producer: Stewart Lansley

[Teddy Bear]

Here's how the Guardian ran the story of Raven's conviction in August 2004.

Undercover TV reporter guilty of gang murder
Former prisoner Raven beat, whipped, burned and stapled victim to death in front of family

Mark Oliver

Thursday 19 August 2004 07.15 BST

An undercover reporter with a history of violence who worked for the BBC and Channel 4 was yesterday found guilty of torturing a man to death in front of the victim's family.

James Raven, 44, worked on more than 50 television programmes including the BBC's MacIntyre Uncovered and Crooked Britain and Channel 4's Sleepers.

When they employed Raven, television bosses knew he had served 14 months in jail for a road rage attack. Producers thought he was a changed man whose background had made him ideal for investigating crime gangs.

But Raven, who has an array of tattoos including "approach with extreme caution" and "psychopath", was not a reformed character.

Chester crown court heard how he subjected Brian Waters to "systematic and barbaric torture" at a farm in Tabley, Cheshire, in June last year.

The farm's cowshed was "turned into a torture chamber" during the killing which was linked to a dispute over drugs.

With his adult son and daughter tied up and forced to watch, Waters was beaten, whipped, burned and attacked with an industrial staple gun by a gang believed to have been led by Raven.

Waters was hung upside down and his attackers tried to sexually assault him with an iron bar, causing fatal internal injuries. The savage attack left him with 123 different injuries including 24 individual rib fractures.

The court heard that the man was killed in a revenge attack ordered by Raven's co-defendant, John Wilson, 55, allegedly after falling out about a large debt with Waters, who had convictions for drug dealing, and had a cannabis farm.

As well as Waters being killed, 21-year-old Suleman Razak, a stepson of one of Waters' business partners, was also assaulted.
Advertisement

Raven had denied murder, saying he had gone along with a scheme to steal equipment from the cannabis farm while working for an undercover TV programme. He said it was called Reefer Madness, which was looking into drug dealing and the reclassification of cannabis.

He said he witnessed the attacks but had nothing to do with them. "I was horrified," said Raven. "I tried to get them to stop but they ignored me."

But after 16 hours of deliberation a jury found Raven, of Bolton, Greater Manchester, and Wilson, of Glossop, Derbyshire, both guilty of murder and two counts of conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm.

"Raven was plainly the ringleader," Patrick Harrington QC, prosecuting, told the court. "Brian Waters was the victim of systematic and barbaric torture. The injuries and the manner of their infliction is, to say the least, chilling."

Ashley Guishard, 30, of Sale, Greater Manchester, was cleared of all charges.

The jury was sent home for the night after failing to reach a verdict on Otis Matthews, 27, of Manchester, who is charged with the same offences.

During the eight-week trial it emerged that Raven and his cousin Christopher More, 26, who is still wanted by police in connection with Waters' death, earned up to £500 a day working on undercover assignments for the BBC and Channel 4.

Raven ran a bed linen company before he found greater rewards working in television.

The court heard that a surveillance company run by Raven and Mr More earned £80,000 a year. Raven drove an expensive soft-top Mercedes with personalised plates; Mr More had a Porsche and would boast of his undercover work to impress women, the court heard.

In a statement last night, the BBC said: "From time to time in cases of overriding public interest, the BBC, like other media organisations, works with people who have had criminal convictions in order to expose criminality or serious wrongdoing. At the time of these offences James Raven was no longer working for the BBC."

The court heard how the killers had broken into the farmhouse and destroyed the cannabis farm.

They attacked Mr Razak and hung him from his ankles with his face and head submerged in a barrel of water. He was burned with chemicals, and a pillowcase covering his head was set on fire.

Waters arrived later at the farm and was also suspended upside down and used as a "human punchbag", the court heard. A bin bag was set alight and the molten plastic was allowed to drip on to him.

When Waters' son and daughter arrived at the farm they were abducted at gunpoint and tied up. Waters' wife, Julie, was also abducted from the family home in nearby Nantwich, Cheshire, and taken prisoner.

She was driven in the family car to the scene of the attack and found her murdered husband.

During the trial, several television executives for BBC and Channel 4 went into the witness box to admit they had employed Raven.

Gregor Stewart, a radio and television producer for the BBC and companies supplying Channel 4, said he met Raven in autumn 2002 when he was researching a film about cannabis.

"James Raven fitted in very well with other criminals. He was described to me as looking particularly aggressive, but I find his appearance to be deceptive. I knew that he had a conviction in the past but I understood him to be a reformed man."

Fiona Campbell, commissioning editor for Channel 4 and a former BBC series producer, employed the pair to work on investigations about car crime and the illegal meat trade.

"I was aware that [Raven] had convictions for violence," she told the court, adding that he was "organised ... reliable" and a good employee.

Freelance producer and director Tom Anstis, who has worked for the BBC and Channel 4, told the court that there was a lengthy process before he was hired.

He said: "I knew that he had previous convictions. I had no idea that there was so many ... I have not seen him use or offer violence to anyone."

[Teddy Bear]

Here's David's story as sent to me. I will be adding numerous links and other related pieces of information in due course. It shows clearly the depths the BBC will go, regardless of outcome, to make themselves appear ethical and moral when they are anything but.

-----------------------------------

Having been a successful businessman with a good life ; a found myself with an unknown condition, then known as " Yuppie Flu " - now a recognised condition known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Struggling to come to terms with the condition - the main symptom being extreme tiredness - I struggled to map out my future and dreamed of being the successful person that I had once been.

My condition eventually improved and, two years later In 2002, I was offered an oppurtunity to become involved in a Company which provided Gold Mastercards to those with a poor credit.

It seemed like a perfect opportunity to reintegrate myself back into the business world and I jumped at the chance, and, after all, I had a strong background in the Financial Services Industry.

I invested heavily in the concept and funded it's launch.

My partner in the company - Anastasis Arnaouti - promised to repay half the amount which I had invested within three months.

I was aware that he had a printing business which had run into difficulties because of the age and condition of the printing equipment but he did however have a buyer in the pipeline, and so, I knew that my investment was safe.

He came to Liverpool regularly and fitted in well. He soon became part of the social scene of Bars and nightlife of this big village that was, and remains, my home.

I did note, however, after some months, that the credit card company was failing to produce the benefits that were promised and that the planned sale of his printing company had stalled.

Being a hands on type of person, I wanted to know what the problem was and what could be done to advance the sale of his print works.

To my great annoyance, the problem was that the printing press was broken, beyond repair as I was later to discover.

I wanted to recover my investment and set about pitching the sale to all and sundry.

I had a friend that offered an ideal solution. He had come across a man - James Raven- who had a contact worth £40,000,000 and liked to " dabble on the dark side ".

If he could be convinced that the company was able to manufacture counterfeit currency, he was prepared to snap it up for £100,000.

Despite my initial opposition and after repeated telephone calls from Raven, I met with him, who, coincidentally, happened to be in the Metro Bar, were I was due to meet my friend.

After several drinks, Raven explained that his freind Chris, was the right hand man of Mr Big - Bob - and if I could persuade him that the print shop was capable of counterfeiting currency, Bob would buy the equipment without so much as a blink of an eye.

I told him that I would consult my business partner as the print shop was not mine, however, he did owe me a large amount of money. Arnaouti, to my surprise, informed me that his Master Printer Phil, had been involved in counterfeiting previously and could arrange for the necessary props to be obtained.

Raven had also offered to supply Holograms in the effort to convince Chris and Bob.

Repeated phone calls followed from Raven on a daily basis.

After a period of some weeks, I received another call from Raven who told me that he just happened to be in the area where I lived, and so, I agreed to meet.

Raven had described to me, in detail, the words which I would I need to use, to convince Chris that this was an opportunity to good to miss, and that Chris was coming to meet me later.

I met both Jimmy and Chris in their brand new Mercedes jeep and all went to plan. Chris lapped it up and I was impressed with their trappings of wealth.

He told me that he would speak to Mr Big, but that he was sure to buy the equipment and transport it to London without delay.

Jimmy telephoned me afterwards to congratulate me. Chris had already spoken to Mr Big, and he was keen as mustard.

And so it continued. Despite my initial reservations, I could recover my investment - and some - and so what was the problem ? It was small change to Mr Big and I knew that nothing could come of their conspiracy, as the press was unfit for the task and not financially viable for repair.

Further meetings were arranged, and, naturally, the time came when they wanted to view the print works.

However, there was a problem. The press was incapable of such a task. Arnaouti said not to worry as something could be arranged.

Upon their visit to the print works - disaster struck ! The press could not produce even a single sheet.

Arnaouti made his excuses and another meeting was arranged for a couple of days later.

Raven telephoned me as per usual, and said not to worry, Mr Big was impressed, and in any event, he would buy new machinery.

The next meeting was slightly more successful and on this occasion, Arnaouti had more success. Far from being the completed article, the output was far less sophisticated than a desk top printer was capable of, but still, later on, Jimmy telephoned once more to tell me that we had managed to convince them, and that Bob ( Mr Big ), was to arrange the cash payment immediately. He sounded like he had won the Lottery !

Days went by, and Jimmy phoned to tell me that there was a delay. Bob's wife had cancer and had needed to have her arm amputated.

In the meantime, by way of a goodwill gesture, Bob had wanted to send us on an all expenses trip to Marbella with Chris and Jimmy, after which, the money would be paid forthwith.

Despite my dislike of Chris and Jimmy, with their stories of violence; cannabis farms and contempt for women, I agreed to go.

And so it continued. They hired a top of the range Mercedes upon arrivaland a fine hotel awaited us.

Jimmy continued to prompt my script to Chris and, as usual, everything went to plan.

Upon our return, however, there were more problems. Bob now wanted us to travel to Thailand to ensure that there was a constant supply of holograms, and would not go further without such proof. The fact that Jimmy had provided the holograms from a criminal contact made me suspicious as Raven knew that I had no such contacts. By now, Raven had become overbearing in his attempts to take me to Thailand with Chris.

Arnaouti had also changed his mind.

He was fed up with the seemingly endless excuses and Ravens repeated requests. Arnaouti decided that Bob had become suspicious of the inability of the press to print the notes, and were simply trying to obtain the necessary knowledge and contacts to further their own plans, particularly as the best results were obtained on the office printer.

In any event, Arnaouti had already taken a deposit from a printer in Liverpool to buy the equipment.

The last contact with Jimmy and Chris was in November - some six months after Raven had first made contact with me.

---------------------------------------

In December 2002, Arnaouti was arrested and charged with Conspiracy to Manufacture Counterfeit Currency.

I was dumbfounded.

Had Chris and Jimmy been undercover Police I wondered ? Had Arnaouti been counterfeiting after all ? Had I become embroiled in criminality as a result of my own desire to recover my investment ?

Arnaouti, by then on Police bail, assured me that the, Phil, had been involved in counterfeiting, as mentioned previously, and that as the press was broken, there was nothing for him to worry about.
------------------------------------

In August 2003, my world fell apart.

I was arrested, and later, charged by the National Crime Squad for Conspiracy to Manufacture Counterfeit Currency and American Express Traveller's Cheques ; the very Cheques that Raven had supplied to convince Mr Big of the legitimacy of the operation, despite there being no cheques manufactured.

The only evidence that was produced against me was nine hours of DVD's, provided by Raven who had been working as an undercover journalist for, of all people - the BBC !

Over the coming months, I became aware that Raven had also claimed a £250,000 reward from American Express for the holograms, genuine, but unreported as stolen from American Express -and the very holograms that Raven had supplied.

It all started to make sense. Raven and Guest More had made £50,000 from the BBC and had tried to to claim £250,000 from American Express. No wonder that they had gone to such lengths to set me up.

I further discovered that Raven had been charged and later convicted of a barbaric torture murder in Manchester, for which Guest More is still wanted.

Mr Big was in fact Guest More's father who was later imprisoned for helping his son escape justice.

I also discovered that he had served a previous prison sentence for violence ; a sentence for fraud and had previously worked for Channel 4.

He was part of a team at Channel 4 but had been sacked because of their discovery of his previous convictions and his unethical journalistic methods, which included proactively storing a bank of filming which had not been requested by Channel 4, thus allowing him to maintain complete editorial control.

His Producers at Channel 4 - Fiona Campbell and Phillip Wright - then moved to the BBC and re employed them in their previous roles.

Despite this, Fiona Campbell still maintained that they were honest and reliable.

Fiona Campbell is now Head of Current Affairs at the BBC, with control over Panorama and Newsnight.

After a trial lasting five months, I was convicted by majority verdict and four days of deliberation, despite Raven admitting in Court that the documentary was a complete set up.

Not only that, the BBC was critisised for several failures, including,not having the required permission to carry out the covert filming.

He also confirmed that there was many films which he did not hand in to the BBC, because they did not fit in with the televised documentary as shown on BBC 1.

Raven and Guest More had never given evidence for the Prosecution in any other case that they had been involved with.

Arnaouti had even confirmed on film that he had only set the props up for him, as it was normally just a working printshop.

I was sentenced to six and a half years imprisonment, plus fifteen months to run consecutively, for an unsatisfied Procceds of Crime Order.

I remain, to this day, perplexed as to how I could be convicted of such an offence, despite the only evidence provided being the filming by Raven for the BBC.

The recent Tulisa Contostavlos case gives me hope that I may receive finally receive justice.

The Judge in her case found that the court could not rely on evidence provided by Mazher Mahmmod - The Fake Sheikh - because he was deemed to have told a lie in a pre trial hearing.

He went further. He confirmed that as Mr Mahmood was the main progenitor of the films, it was a fundamental principle of British Justice that the Court could not be seen to rely on evidence provided by a person who was deemed to be unreliable by the Court.

All cases pending, which sought to rely on Mr Mahmood's evidence, have been discontinued.

A previous twenty five cases which resulted in convictions, where Mr Mahmood gave evidence, are now under review.

Despite Mr Raven being found to be totally incapable of belief, as found by my trial Judge, the Crown Prosecution refuse to reinvestigate my conviction.

I have further been barred from receiving Legal Aid to further an Appeal.

[Teddy Bear]

What I want to do here is highlight the corruption displayed by the BBC, and their complicity in this story as far as I can tell. Since I never saw this programme I can't report on it first hand but am relying on various subsequent reports.

The first thing we have is that the 2 criminals, James Raven and Christopher More Jr., had been working on undercover documentaries for Channel 4 with Fiona Campbell and Andrew Wright heading production. Once their previous criminal history came to light, Channel 4 terminated their employment.
After this Campbell and Wright came to work for the BBC and had no compunctions rehiring these thugs to do similar undercover work for them.
Whatever 'inside' filming was done for the BBC on this particular documentary was done by these criminals, who had sole control of what was filmed and when, and what might have been edited prior to handing over to the BBC producers. Thus we have no independent verification for what the reality might have been for the circumstances surrounding the scenes shown.

The documentary Crooked Britain: Fake Cash was broadcast on BBC Two on Tuesday, 21 January 2003. 7 months later, in August 2003 after the BBC had turned over the video tapes they had to the National Crime Squad, who said they had been unaware of the activities of the BBC’s ‘covert operatives’ David Harper was arrested. Found guilty and sentenced in June 2005, the Judge Bernard Lever sentenced Harper at Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester for conspiracy to make counterfeit currency and supply American Express security holograms, he said Harper had been convicted thanks to the BBC and ‘entirely on their undercover filming’.

It is often the case that those as high up the criminal chain as you Harper have no admissible evidence against you and it is entirely due to the BBC that you are convicted and sentenced today.

So keep in mind that the arrest and subsequent prison sentence of 6 and a half years imposed on Harper was based solely on the filming done by the 2 criminals Raven and More, which the BBC were happy to present as all above board.

Except by July 2003, the same year this filming was done and even before Harper was arrested, the same 2 men who had filmed these video tapes for the BBC had been found guilty of a heinous murder.
Without going into the dubious decision by the police and courts to pursue Harper's case based on this 'evidence', could it be that the BBC pulled strings to still show their original documentary as valid?

Well judge for yourself, as in June 2005, just as Harper was beginning his jail sentence, the BBC decided to applaud themselves by showing another documentary that would highlight their success called Funny Money. Here's how they ran it as a Press Release on their website:

BBC undercover filming helps convict two counterfeiters in National Crime Squad's 'Operation Gait'

Category: News
Date: 13.06.2005

A BBC documentary, Funny Money, to be shown on BBC ONE at 7.00 pm on Wednesday (15 June 2005) will show how BBC undercover filming helped to bring two members of an international counterfeit gang to justice.

Two years ago a BBC current affairs undercover team infiltrated a counterfeiting gang running a printing press in Manchester capable of producing a million pounds a day in phoney British and American currency - and involved in a crime that was said by the National Crime Squad to be so sophisticated that it could have seriously damaged entire national economies.

When the forgers were arrested they were in the final stages of perfecting a high quality £20 note which they believed would fool even the banks.

No-one knows just how much of the counterfeit cash is currently in circulation.

This special investigation includes secretly shot footage of the forgers at work and interviews with law enforcement officers, both here and in America, to reveal for the first time the extraordinary inside story of Britain's most audacious funny money operation and how those behind it were finally brought to justice.

Seven people involved in this large-scale counterfeit operation were due to be sentenced today (Monday 13 June) at Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester. In total, at the end of today, five people were sentenced to a total of 21 years.

During the course of his sentencing remarks, the Judge said: "I find that at all time the senior management and employed journalists of the BBC acted in good faith and in the public interest in the making of the programme Licence to Print.

"Of course they had mixed motives, bringing serious criminals to justice and making compelling television, but you Harper and Whittacker were convicted entirely on their undercover filming and you Arnaouti substantially upon the BBC material.

"It is often the case that those as high up the criminal chain as you Harper (and Whittacker) have no admissible evidence against you and it is entirely due to the BBC that you are convicted and sentenced today."

Now if our national broadcaster, sworn to be fair, impartial and independent were really trying to be that, then why wouldn't they also make clear that the ones who had filmed and made possible this JUSTICE BRINGING BBC DOCUMENTARY had been found guilty of an atrocious murder after they had completed filming? Why also don't they release the taped evidence that convicted Harper and Arnaouti to public scrutiny?

This omission alone shows clearly what the BBC were trying to do and no doubt would and had gone to any lengths to ensure they looked good to the 'simple licence fee payers'.

Spot the difference:

Producer Fiona Campbell, now acting head of BBC Three Factual Commissioning and currently responsible for commissioning the BBC 3 series Tracey Dooley Investigates, told Chester Crown Court she had employed Raven and More at both Channel 4 and the BBC to work on investigations about car crime and the illegal meat trade. She said she was aware that Raven had convictions for violence: ‘They were organised and reliable and I regarded them as good employees.’

A BBC spokesman said later:

From time to time, in cases of overriding public interest, the BBC, like other media organisations, works with people who have had criminal convictions in order to expose criminality or serious wrongdoing.

The Funny Money programme is unavailable online. A spokesman for Channel 4 told the Manchester Evening News: ‘As soon as we became aware of Raven’s criminal conviction, we took him off under cover filming work. At the time of this offence, he was not working for Channel 4 in any capacity.’

David Harper has identified many other sources of dubious goings on in his story.
While we can't be sure what the motive by any particular individual or organisation is to have convicted David Harper the way they did, and what pressure is being applied to make sure things have gone as they have. there are certainly inconsistencies when we compare this to others like the Tulisa Trial.

The BBC's motive however seems perfectly clear.