WATCH: Peterborough moped robbery investigation to feature on BBC's Crimewatch Live

An investigation into a series of violent moped robberies in Peterborough is due to appear on national television on Thursday morning (4 October).

The work of detectives from the force’s northern Acquisitive Crime Team (ACT) to catch a gang responsible for a spate of horrific attacks on delivery drivers in Peterborough will be highlighted on this week’s Crimewatch Live programme at 10am on BBC One.

In January last year, Tyler Eastabrook, 19, Harvey Carr, 18, and Weston Haylock, 18, armed with knives, stole motorcycles from delivery drivers, as well as stabbing one driver.

The lead detective in the case features on the show explaining how the premediated, planned attacks appeared like a bit of “fun” – with the trio “flaunting their crimes on social media and showing no remorse”.

The spree began on the evening of 8 January when they surrounded a Domino’s delivery driver.

The victim was about to leave the Bridge Street store to make a delivery when Eastabrook and Haylock, both wearing balaclavas, blocked his path and pulled a knife to his chest before forcing him off the moped and getting on themselves.

They rode a short distance to pick Carr up and made off around town for a couple of hours before eventually abandoning the bike in West Town Park and setting it on fire.

The following evening the trio targeted four delivery drivers in the space of an hour-and-a-half, stabbing one of their victims in the leg with a large kitchen knife.

Aware of the multiple incidents which had happened in a short space of time, a police helicopter, road policing and firearms units were deployed to hunt the trio down.

Knowing police were tracking them, the three went off-road, riding on footpaths between houses before trying to hide under a railway bridge near Thorpe Road.

The trio split up, with Haylock on foot and Carr and Eastabrook still riding the stolen mopeds and being pursued by police.

Carr abandoned the stolen bike he was riding near to his house in Angus Court, before running home and changing his clothes before police arrived to arrest him.

A short while later, Haylock walked up to the front of Carr’s home, unaware police were inside, and was also arrested.

Eastabrook continued to ride dangerously, before dumping the moped in the River Nene and evaded arrest that night, but was found in Carr’s loft in Angus Court the following morning.

Using police footage and dramatic reconstruction, Crimewatch Live will re-tell the story of how the detective’s determination to catch those responsible paid off.

Interviews with the officers and the brazen audacity of the criminals will all be revealed.

Eastabrook, of no fixed address, was jailed for six-and-a-half years, while Carr, of Angus Court, West Town, was jailed for three years and two months, and Haylock, of High Street, Fletton, jailed for two years and ten months.

Crimewatch Live is broadcast on BBC One at 10am every weekday from 2 to 20 October. It is also available on BBC iPlayer for seven days.