The UK has a witness protection
scheme, run by the National Crime Agency, but little has been revealed
about it to date. Newsnight's James Clayton has been given an exclusive
insight into the programme and the people who've been through it.
For
many people entering the scheme, the threat to their lives is so great
that they must say goodbye to friends and family - sometimes forever.
"It's been likened to a bereavement," says one of the programme's top case managers.
Carla
(not her real name) went on to the scheme six years ago. Her story is
harrowing. She was raped by someone she knew. After going to the police
she endured a period of sustained intimidation from friends of the
attacker. Her flat was trashed, her children were even targeted.
She described the moment she was told the police couldn't keep her safe without taking her into the scheme.
"I
had a phone call [from the police] the night before. They said, 'We're
picking you up we're taking you to a hotel and you've got to meet these
people.'
Media caption"Carla", who was raped, speaks about life in the witness protection programme
"I
was sat in this room and I was told: 'This is what's going happen. If
you want to see your kids, if you want to stay safe you've got to come
with us.'"
Carla didn't have custody of her children at the time
of the rape, which makes her story even more complex. Her kids weren't
allowed to come with her. Initially she couldn't make contact with any
of her family.
"I
couldn't give anyone my phone number. I had to be careful. I couldn't
phone my mum and say 'Oh mum, they've moved me'. I wasn't allowed to do
that. From being around the corner from your kids to being hundreds of
miles away from them. It's not nice. How to explain that to your kids?"
The programme may sound harsh, but often the only way to keep people safe is to make difficult decisions.
"We
have to be very careful about who knows where they are and from the
start, until we know they're safe and secure, we would discourage them
telling people where they are at any stage. But we can facilitate ways
to maintain contact over periods of time," says Deputy Chief Constable
Andy Cooke, national policing lead for protected persons.
"We
relocate both within the UK and internationally on occasions, depending
on the level of threat on the individual circumstance of a case and
whether it's necessary. That doesn't mean we're going to relocate them
to the Copacabana, but they do get a say."
Where protected people
are giving evidence, however, it is crucial that the police are not seen
to be bribing the witness to give testimony. That means the UK
Protected Persons Service will try to replicate a person's current
lifestyle - not adorn it.
"It's not glamorous. You don't get put
in a nice big house somewhere and get loads of money in your bank," says
Carla. "That's what a lot of people think that happens when you go into
something like this, but you just don't. Your life is no better or no
worse."
Jason was part of a gang. When he tried to leave he was
kidnapped and threatened with brutal violence: "They said they were
gonna chop me up," he says. Jason escaped and gave evidence against the
gang.
"I didn't think the police would help me because I was a
criminal basically. The copper spoke to me on a level. There was
swearing involved and he kind of said, 'Look, cut the crap', this is how
it is and I'm telling you now you either do as you're told or that
little kid will no longer be living with you. They are going to kill
you."
Jason is the most common type of protected person. He was
formerly involved in organised crime, but wanted out. This presents
police with a difficulty. Often people entering the scheme are well
known to the police - and sometimes they've committed very serious
crimes.
But as soon as they go onto the scheme the police have to
help them. "It doesn't suit every police officer… but a police
officer's duty is to protect life and we will do that without fear or
favour, without consideration of anyone's background," says Cooke.
Everyone
on the protected person scheme has access to a psychologist. It's not
uncommon to experience mental health problems, particularly in the
initial period of flux.
"There's no getting away from the fact
that this is a life-changing decision when people come onto a scheme"
says Cooke. "It's a massive change. It affects people."
Many only know of witness protection through US films but the UK's programme is now well established
Initially Carla reacted badly
on entering the scheme. "I was a nervous wreck. I was scratching my arms
all the time. I had red welts. I wouldn't go out, I wouldn't do
nothing. I trusted no-one. If someone wanted to come in the day to fix
something, like a gas man… I was paranoid that he was going do something
to me. Really paranoid."
There is always a worry that one day a
person on the programme will be found. Cooke says that no-one has ever
been seriously injured or killed on the programme, but people have been
found - usually when they compromise themselves, by going back to their
original location for example.
"Don't get me wrong. I'm still
paranoid now," says Jason. "There is an element that one day they will
find me and one day they will probably kill me, or try to kill me, but I
am happy to be out of the way. I am happy to have a different name. I'm
happy to have a fresh start."
People's lives are often turned
upside down when they go on to the scheme. But it's important to
remember the alternative. Carla's experience, particularly at the
beginning, was difficult but she was able to be kept safe.
Jason
had come to resent gang life, and for him protection introduced a level
of normality in his life that he'd never had before.
"The scheme
has been able to give me that opportunity, where people don't know my
past, [to] bring my kids up, take them to school - a normal school -
where they're not associated with drug dealers or criminals."
But, for Carla, there is still bitterness about the circumstances under which she entered the scheme.
"My
sentence, my punishment that I've had to live with for the last few
years, is worse than what he [the perpetrator of the rape] had to do,"
she says.
"In jail you get to see your family. You get to have
family visits every week. I didn't see my parents for ages… I only got
to see my kids for a few hours."
But Cooke says, for the most part, people's lives are "more normal" and "less chaotic" as a result of the scheme.
"A
lot of clients who come onto this have a better standard of living at
the end of the day - not because we've given them more money, but
because we've given them the opportunity to start again. " You can watch the full film on Newsnight on Friday 14 August at 22.30 on BBC Two, or afterwards on iPlayer
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