Steve and Razor are on patrol in Tiverton at midnight, and are called to an attempted burglary near to their position. On the way, however, Steve spots a familiar face and pulls over to catch up with a local 'character' well known to the police and a very likely suspect. Leaving the individual with some local officers, Steve continues on to the address so that Razor can hunt out a track which might – possibly – lead them back to where they've just come from. Razor's quickly on the hunt, and finds a track almost at once, pulling Steve along in his wake and, indeed, finds his way back to the spot where they stopped the familiar bloke. Furthermore, Razor then finds a dumped handbag almost right next to the spot where the man had been. It's not from the house they've just been at – so he's been a busy chap elsewhere tonight as well. Good dog!
Chris and Mike, lurking alongside the M5 near Tiverton, have just watched a car slamming past them. Having needed to get up to over a ton to catch up, Chris isn't entirely sure that the bloke will stay put when he's pulled, particularly as the driver's charged past two marked cop cars without showing any sign of slowing down. This proves to be unfounded as the bloke is already getting out as they pull up behind him. The driver refuses to sit in the car because they're on the hard shoulder and it's 'dangerous' to do so. He's surprisingly matter of fact about having been stopped several times before, and has eight points on his license, but he's also a bit twitchy, which makes Chris twitchy – particularly on the discovery of a rather large amount of money in his pockets. A quick search reveals nothing, though Mike is able to reveal that the guy only has five points – as three have clearly expired. Trouble is, he's just gone and got them back again. What he hasn't got, however, is his car keys as everyone appears to have forgotten they're still in Chris's pocket.
Back with Steve and Razor, now in Exeter outside a B&B to deal with a gentleman banging on the front door trying to get in despite being barred from the place. He's rather on the sozzled side, and the manager's sons are taking very real exception to his presence. Razor isn't needed here, so it's up to Steve to try to keep the peace as the drunk chap is not only very drunk, but has also conveniently forgotten that he's got an agreement with the Management not to go back to the place. He's also Polish, which further raises the language barrier. Given that the guy is seriously antagonising his audience, Steve needs to get him away from the area as soon as possible, and calls in a van to give the guy a ride to his new bed for the night: Heavitree Nick. Matters do not improve in the Custody Suite, as the man refuses to hand over his identity card. Even with the help of an interpreter on a speaker phone, it's clear he's not interested in co-operating, so they have no choice but to take him to a cell and remove his personal items themselves.
Roger and Giles are out and about near Tiverton and fall in behind a red Vauxhall nova which has been 'customised' – allegedly – with a noisy exhaust that all but trumpets the refrain 'STOP ME NOW'. It pulls over without problems, and Giles does the honours with the driver. The bloke is rather vague in his behaviour and, as he opens the passenger door to speak to his passengers, he sends out a waft of sweet weediness in Giles's direction. The back seat passenger looks like the culprit and responds to being questioned with a refusal to answer any. A quick search in the fading light reveals a set of digital scales which are – Roger's told – for weighing gold, but weed is present in smell only. The car itself, however, is more of a concern as the handbrake is duff, and the footbrake isn't much better. The driver is allowed to take himself home in it, with Roger and Giles in tow to make absolutely sure that's what he does, but from that point on, it's off the road until it can actually stop it safely.
Back with Giles, back in Tiverton, but with someone new – Roy Hutter, on attachment to the Unit. They've just checked a passing car which has come up as having no insurance, and, despite being not a red nova, the driver is very familiar as it's the same guy that Giles stopped only four days previously - right down to the pong of weed in the interior. A search ensues, which reveals a nice big bag of the stuff up his sleeve, estimated to be sufficient to earn a three figure sum. Apart from that, there's nothing more than a TV in the boot which is too old to pick up freeview, so he won't be seeing himself on the programme any time soon.
Taff and Mark are lurking on a bridge over the M5 waiting for a car which has neither MOT nor tax. They're in one of the STs tonight, so the driver won't be aware of them until they strike. A quick ANPR check reveals that it has insurance – just nothing else. Unsurprisingly, the MOT is "booked for tomorrow", after which the Tax will be purchased. With no license to hand, the driver opts to hand over an old penalty ticket as it's got his driver number on it. Mark deals with the driving offences, while Taff indulges his twitching nose and searches the car for the cannabis he's sure he can smell. The driver explains that he's got a lot of grow-lights and stuff for his hobby of growing 'bonsai trees'. As he searches through the equipment, Taff identifies the lot as being a cannabis growing kit, and happily lectures the viewers all about how the things he's looking at (including a remarkable substance called 'voodoo juice'!) couldn't possibly be used for bonsai, and he sounds quite an expert on the subject. He also finds a nasty looking knife, which he confiscates. Finally, he explaines to the driver why he knows that the equipment in the boot can't possibly be for growing Bonsai. He should know – he is quite an expert on the subject: he grows them himself!
