Lancashire Police to star in new ITV crime documentary 'The Detectives: The Farmhouse Robbery'

Viewers will get an inside story of how detectives from Lancashire Police investigate serious crimes in a new documentary airing tomorrow night.
Police Sergeant David Barker of Lancashire Post in the documentary (Photos: ITV)Police Sergeant David Barker of Lancashire Post in the documentary (Photos: ITV)
Police Sergeant David Barker of Lancashire Post in the documentary (Photos: ITV)

The ITV documentary, called ‘The Detectives: The Farmhouse Robbery’, will show the process of investigating the likes of armed robbery and domestic assault from the first call to the crime scene, right through to charging the suspects.

In the show detectives are shown investigating a November 2015 armed robbery that took place at an Adlington farmhouse where a 50-year-old man was tied up and £5,000 and a private gun collection was stolen from the property.

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Lancashire Police Detective Superintendent Andy MurphyLancashire Police Detective Superintendent Andy Murphy
Lancashire Police Detective Superintendent Andy Murphy
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Det Supt at Lancashire Police, Eddie Thistlethwaite, said: “This is a serious job. There are significant firearms and ammunition outstanding from this. If they end up in crime hands it’s a big issue for us, so that’s the major priority with this issue.

“The victim isn’t physically massively injured but he’s been through a trauma so we’ve got to look after that victim but yeah the main thing is those firearms and the theft.”

The incident saw David Jolley, then 40, of no fixed abode, jailed in February 2016.

Jolley was sentenced to life imprisonment at Preston Crown Court after he pleaded guilty to robbery and possession of a shotgun.

David JolleyDavid Jolley
David Jolley
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He was ordered to serve a minimum term of six and a half years before he will be eligible for parole.

The documentary shows the process taken by police in identifying Jolley prior to his conviction.

The show is being made by the team behind ITV’s award-winning documentary, ‘The Murder Of Sadie Hartley’.

Sadie Hartley was murdered in 2016 on her doorstep in Helmshore, Lancashire, where she was stabbed 40 times by Sarah Williams, a lady who had become “obsessed” with Ms Hartley’s partner Ian Johnston.

Crime Scene Manager Chris MaddockCrime Scene Manager Chris Maddock
Crime Scene Manager Chris Maddock
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Williams and her accomplice Katrina ‘Kitt’ Walsh were convicted of murder.

The show also shows officers responding to an emergency call in Blackpool where a one-month-old baby was severely injured in suspicious circumstances.

The next morning detectives launch an investigation believing the child's potentially life-threatening injuries may have been caused deliberately.

They are hampered by the fact the child’s mother seems to be giving three different versions of events to officers. Her partner - the father of the child - is also missing.

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Senior investigating officer Det Supt Andrew Murphy, inset, said: “It’s critical to the investigation because without his account we will not fully understand what’s happened.

"There’s also the risk of valuable evidence being lost if we do not have any contact with him for some time.”

The Detectives: The Farmhouse Robbery airs on TV on Thursday (August 16) at 9pm.