Suspects

Police have been called this morning to the scene

of a one-man protest in East London.

Ken Baxter is demanding answers from the army

following the disappearance of his son, Pete.

Pete, a serving lance corporal, went missing a week ago

amidst allegations he was bullied by fellow soldiers.

- His name is Ken Baxter? - Yeah.

His son has just returned from a second tour in Afghanistan.

He made some serious allegations about bullying from his regiment

and he disappeared about a week ago.

Ken? My name's Martha, a Detective Inspector.

I don't want the police and

I need to speak to the army.

Ken, what do you think Pete would think of you up there?

That's not the bloody point! Where is Pete?!

I tell you what, I think he'd be worried about you, don't you?

Look at me. I'm exactly who you should be talking to.

Everyone's heard what you're saying on the way to work,

but now it's done.

Let's go and find Pete, shall we, together?

We're gonna talk this through.

We're gonna find your boy, all right?

You promise me?

Do you know what, Ken? You've got my word.

Martha Bellamy making you a promise.

Good man.

Charlie, you got anything on the Pete Baxter case yet?

I rang his regiment, The Royal Cambrian Fusiliers.

Apparently, he's just come back from a tour in Afghanistan

about three weeks ago.

Before he came back he witnessed a child

being blown up in a Taliban attack.

When he got back, he was referred to their welfare

and diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

- Oh, smells of high-risk. - That's why it should be military.

We shouldn't be wasting our time.

Look, he's gone missing on our ground so it's a civilian matter.

But sorry...

Internet referral from Crime Stoppers.

They just had an anonymous foreman saying the missing soldier is dead.

Pete Baxter missing soldier?

No, it just says the missing soldier's dead.

I want to know you're gonna keep your promise.

I want to ask you about Pete.

I am gonna keep my promise, that's why I'm here, all right?

When did you last see him?

A week ago.

He erm...

He was going out to the pub to meet some of his mates from his unit.

Sounds pretty normal.

Yeah, quite, pretty normal.

I wasn't bothered either that he'd not come home that night

and I wasn't bothered I hadn't heard from him the next day either.

I assumed he'd got lucky and found a girlfriend or something.

I thought that would do him the power of good.

Is it normal for him to disappear for this amount of time?

Not without saying where he is or what he's up to a bit.

And, with his mother's funeral looming,

it was very out of character.

- Did he miss his mum's funeral then? - Yeah.

- My condolences. - I'm sorry to hear that.

Two days ago erm...

...Juliet was buried.

And, for him not to be at his mother's funeral,

is completely out of character.

When he came back from Afghanistan how was his mood? How was he?

Well, I'd say he was quite withdrawn.

Quite... agitated.

And, one incident in particular

seemed to have lodged in his mind.

Is this the bullying?

Well, he said he'd been got at in a letter that we received.

I assumed he'd been got at

by the situations they were finding themselves in.

It's very stressful obviously, but I'm beginning to wonder now

whether he meant he'd been got at by other people in the regiment.

This is the CCTV from the pub

where Pete went drinking with his army mates.

This is the last known sighting of Pete.

OK, this is our man, Pete Baxter, missing for over seven days.

A lance corporal in the army.

Two tours of Helmand province in Afghanistan.

These are the three people we know of according to Ken Baxter

who saw Pete last in the pub.

Sophie West, lance corporal.

Caitlin Neames, sergeant and Eddie Mulville, staff sergeant.

We need to get these guys in.

Interview them, talk to them, find out what they know.

OK, er, Charlie. How did you get on with the regiment?

Get any files on the bullying allegation?

Actually, I've rung the welfare office.

I rung the main office but I don't think they want to speak to a DC.

I'm being shunted between them.

I think it might be easier if you called, boss.

Let's have a chat out here, Caitlin.

They can't be many woman sergeants knocking about?

Yeah, well I've worked my arse off.

Not everyone's army.

Do you mean like Pete?

Pete is a really good squaddie,

but he's so messed up since we came back off our last tour.

We thought him coming home he'd settle back but...

The stuff with his mum and then his dad leaning on him.

I think he finds his dad a bit suffocating.

- When was the last time you saw Pete? - When we left the pub.

OK, cos I've had a look at some of the CCTV from inside the pub

and it looks like the four of you,

not had a fight, but words were exchanged.

It all looks pretty heated.

Pete was just in a bad mood that night,

and so I said something, he took offence.

He had a pop at me. Eddie stepped in.

It was just really stupid.

Is he like that normally, quite sort of tetchy

or is that just since he's come back with all this PTSD stuff?

No, he's fine. He's just a bit messed up, that's all.

I don't understand why everyone wants to put a label on it.

He's all right.

We've spoken to Pete's dad, Ken, and he told us about

the bullying allegations Pete had made against your regiment.

It's not bullying. Some people would take it in certain ways.

Pete's a very sensitive guy. We call it beasting.

- It's a bit of fun. - What's beasting?

It's just a bit of fun. It's just to toughen him up a bit.

One night we put on some balaclavas,

took him outside and tied him to a pole.

Look, I know that seems... It's like a stag night!

Think how many stags have been left on a pole!

- Sounds like torture to me. - It wasn't torture.

He was set free, he was fine.

He wasn't touched. He wasn't hurt or harmed.

They looking after you?

We've established Pete's phone has been used since he disappeared.

Has he been in touch with you?

I don't know, I'll check. Thank God for that.

To your landline?

- Answering machine at home? - Yeah.

The first thing you do when you get home, check that.

Give me a call, you have my number, and we'll go from there.

Only come in if you've got something useful to say.

I do, erm, Charlie is tracking down Sophie West as we speak.

Her husband, Ricky, is a kitchen fitter.

- Three years ago- - That'd be handy for you.

You've only got a microwave and kettle.

He did nine months for a drunk and disorderly

and ABH on a police officer.

Shall we...?

Sorry, you in the middle of something?

I've got Pete's call data.

He made a ton of calls since he went missing, a couple to a taxi firm.

More interestingly, local calls to Sophie West.

You've got loads to go on. Crack on, then.

I left a voicemail asking her to come in, but no answer.

I'll try to track her down.

Sophie?

Hi, DC Steele.

Would you mind coming down to the station for a little chat?

Yeah, can I make a phone call first?

- Sure, I'm just over there. - Cool.

Sophie!

Failed to stop. A collision.

I need police. I need ambulance.

No, no, no. She's breathing but she's unconscious.

Sophie, if you can hear me, please squeeze my hand.

Traffic have confirmed

that the van deliberately mounted the kerb

which means we're dealing with a targeted attack.

This is a hit-and-run, an attempted murder in essence.

Victim, Sophie West. What are her injuries, Charlie?

She's got a couple of fractured ribs and a shattered collarbone

and loads of cuts and bruises to her face, arms, legs.

Uniform are locating next of kin so...

Are we gonna state the obvious?

The fact Sophie was one of the last people to see Pete in the pub.

The fact just as she's about to talk to police she gets hit by a car.

Yes, we are gonna discuss that all in good time.

This is a hit-and-run. You need the person who's run.

Therefore we need the van, all right? Priority is finding the van.

All right, number plates, please.

So, Intelligence Unit have got a partial index.

Running for potential matches.

Looking at stolen vehicles, just, you know, distilling it down.

I got Pete's laptop in. I got a copy of his hard drive.

I've been going through his emails.

Most of the emails since he's come back have been to Sophie West,

and, I'm gonna be honest, they're pretty aggressive.

He's giving out she didn't back him up

when he made his bullying allegations.

It's pretty threatening stuff.

We're saying Pete might be crazy enough

to hop in a van and mow Sophie down?

But, there's still that email to Crime Stoppers

saying the missing soldier's dead.

But, that could be Pete himself trying to cover his tracks.

We've got a witness, Sophie, who's now fit for interview.

Here.

- Hi, Sophie West? - Yeah.

Yes, I'm Martha Bellamy, Detective Inspector.

- Ouch! - Yeah.

Ohh...