Caroline Hawley Reports

Following the news about the sentencing of Samuel Tree and Joan Tree, here is a round up of the fake detectors story by Caroline Hawley at the BBC. Caroline and Meirion Jones were responsible for the original BBC Newsnight reports back in 2010 and 2011. The report highlights the ongoing use of the fake detectors in some parts of the World, as well as the fact that the U.K. Government supported export sales promotion despite warnings as early as 2001.

Also below you will see an interesting comment that was left by Anonymous after the previous post today reporting sentencing of the Trees:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-29459896

Anonymous comment:


I'm fairly surprised that she didn't get a custodial sentence. After all, Joan knew as much about Sam's little/huge scam as he did. She was "tuning" the "devices" to the required frequency using sterilised scissors etc.
You're right about Sam bringing the idea to Europe although back then, nearly twenty years ago, it probably seemed like nothing more than a bit of a wheeze.
Malcolm had seen the potential to turn a novelty golf ball "finder" into something rather more lucrative and Sam had the luck/misfortune to see Roe waving his magic wand about at some police convention in the US.
Apparently Sam chuckled ruefully at this first encounter with Roe, "The Bounder."
That conversation, probably, went something like this:
Tree: That's interesting! How does it work?
Roe: At this moment, it's tuned to detect mugs.
Tree: Why's it pointing at me, then?
Roe: Only kidding. I've set the frequency to "bank notes."
Tree: Wow. That's amazing. It's pointing straight to my wallet.
Roe: It appears so, yes.
Tree: How does it REALLY work, though?
Roe: Gravity combined with a low coefficient of friction in the pivot.
Tree: Oh. How dull. I didn't really do physics at school.
Roe: That's the beauty of this device. It defies the boring laws of physics that nobody's interested in. You could make a packet.
Tree: OK, what else can it detect?
Roe: *slants wrist* WIGS. That guy over there is wearing a toupée.
Tree: So he is. Wait here, sir. I must make an international call to my imports manager, Joan, and tell her the good news.
Roe: OK. *yawns*

Thus, Keygrove Intl. comes into being.
The Trees legitimate business was flogging forensics equipment to UK police forces. Plenty of contacts there, then.
Quadro® could have been nailed as fraudsters in the US fifteen? years ago but, as we have seen, not all jurys can see through the waving arial effect.
Roe jumped bail, I believe, and slummed it with his new-found friends, The Trees, in Bedfordshire for longer than he was welcome. They helped him, financially, and he went on to other projects before dying [citation needed].


Anonymous