The Bill :: Deadly Weapon :: Lee Tarrant

Series 9 Episode 97. 17th August 1993. Screencaps


This episode guide only covers the parts of the episode that Alex appeared in. For the full episode guide, please visit Sierra-Oscar

DS Alistair Grieg is called to a burglary at a local garage for the second time in less than six months. The owner explains that they’d been after the safe containing the MOT certificates – something that could fetch £10,000 on the black market and when they couldn’t get into the safe, they stole the stereos out of all the cars and a few tools that were left out. At Sun Hill, PC Donna Harris, DC Suzi Croft and Alistair discuss the case, realising that almost all the recent garage burglaries have been on Thursday nights and believe that it’s someone who knows what they’re doing who is carrying them out.

PC Tony Stamp and PC Cathy Marshall are sent to a domestic and find Angela Tarrant waiting outside for them. Her son, Lee Tarrant has been smashing up the furniture in a fit of anger and she has no idea why. When Cathy and Tony attempt to get him to open up the garage, they are met with a torrent of abuse. Lee’s mother is keen for them to break the door to get to him, but Lee’s father – who he has punched – is more defensive, annoyed at the police involvement. When Tony manages to get inside, he tries to reason with Lee, but Lee jumps over the bonnet of a car and tries to run away, accidently hitting Tony in the process, getting himself arrested.

When Lee is processed, Sgt Bob Cryer informs him that he’s allowed to inform someone of his arrest and suggests his parents. Lee isn’t interested and Tony tells Bob that Mr and Mrs Tarrant are already in the station making witness statements. Bob asks if Lee would like a brief and he agrees, as long as his parents are kept away. Angela lets on to Cathy that Lee and his father, Jeff have always been at each others throats, especially so that morning when Jeff told Lee to get rid of his pride and joy – his car. Angela is distressed to hear that he will be charged with the assault on Tony and is adamant that she doesn’t want him charged for the furniture.

Tony attempts to talk to Lee to discover what had really happened to set him off, but Lee is cagy and only admits to disliking his father, especially after he told him to get rid of the car from the garage that he doesn’t even use. On learning that he might be charged with assault, Lee is unmoved but adamant he doesn’t want to return home with his parents, despite the fact they’re in the front office waiting to take him home. Cathy tells them that he is moving out to live with one of his friends and Jeff makes another dig about how Lee would cope for money, being told to shut up by his wife. Jeff is pleased and tells his wife to let him go if he wants to, but that he’s not to come running home if he gets into trouble again. When asked what he meant, Jeff is quick to leave and ignores any further questions.

Later, at the front desk, Angela Tarrant pleads with Matt to help her son who she believes is mixed up in criminal activities. When Matt asks what she means, Angela produces a large bundle of stolen MOT certificates and an embosser and hands them over, explaining that it was that that caused the argument that morning and threatening the car is the only way to really get through to Lee.

After checking Benny Prices’ – the man behind the cars with the stolen MOT’s - business premises, Alistair receives a call from Matt telling him about the stolen certificates and they bring an uncooperative Lee in who claims to have found them in the street. On getting no joy from Lee, Alistair leaves Suzi to watch him and goes to see Mrs Tarrant in the front office, learning that one of Lee’s part time jobs is working for Benny Price, cleaning cars and that he has a friend who has a history of stealing cars. When found with the welding torch, Eddie Bell confesses to the burglaries but tells Alistair that it was actually Lee who had set everything up, Eddie had only shown him how to get in and that was why they went out on Thursdays, it was the night that Lee worked late at the supermarket stacking shelves, meaning he had the van as transport to get home safely which enabled him to steal the heavier items.