The Hunters
Category: News Release
7 September 2015
The Chief: Brett Lovegrove was Head of Counter Terrorism for the City of London police from 2003 – 2008, hunting terrorists at a time of spiralling threats. Before that he spent 25 years in the Met, becoming Detective Chief Inspector running its specialist paedophile hunting unit. Brett was also part of the Gold Command team for the 7th July 2005 suicide bombings and the foiled attacks two weeks later. He’s now Chief Executive of the City Security and Resilience Network (CSARN), Managing Director of Valentis Bridge Ltd and Chairman of GeoReach Defend - private companies that specialise in counter terrorism, risk analysis and surveillance.
2nd in Command: Peter ‘Bleks’ Bleksley is a South London bad boy who realised he’d have more fun catching crooks than becoming one himself. After joining the Met Police he went on to become one of the force’s most innovative and successful undercover cops; he took on international drugs gangs, the IRA and the Mafia and put hundreds of criminals behind bars. Bleks had to go into witness protection when a contract was put on his head and he found “telling lie upon lie” the toughest challenge of all. Bleks says he has caught every murderer he ever chased and believes the key to hunting down fugitives is to get inside their heads: “we used to have a saying in the cops that a body always floats – they always come up for air.”
2nd in Command: Ben Owen is an intelligence expert used to running operations rooms under pressure: he thrives on making split second decisions based on large quantities of data and complex analysis. His day job is a far cry from the days when he left school aged 16 with just one GCSE in PE. After leaving school Ben joined the RAF as a Gunner, going on to serve in the second Gulf War as part of the main invasion into Southern Iraq around Basra. After leaving the RAF Ben joined the MOD as an operational officer specialising in intelligence. He became an expert in both surveillance out in the field and leading operations back at HQ. Ben played a pivotal role in ‘Operation Overt’ 2006’s surveillance operation to catch East London bomb makers planning to blow up plans with bottled liquids. By just 29 Ben was a Group Leader, heading up multiple operations across the UK.
Lead Analyst: Cindy Storer is the former CIA analyst who wrote the first White House briefing document that correctly identified the Al-Qaeda network. When asked how she worked out what they were called she quips: “Well I thought they were probably called Al-Qaeda, because that’s what they put on their letterhead!” Cindy became part of the ‘sisterhood’ of female agents and analysts that played a crucial role in the response to 9/11 and the build-up of intelligence used in the hunt for Bin Laden. “Most of the people who are really good at this are women. Women’s brains are more all over the place and men are more linear. I’m always thinking ten things at the same time.”
Head of Cyber: Paul Vlissidis is technical director of NCC GROUP, an online security company that prides itself in staying one step ahead of the “cyber arms race and technology revolution”. His team includes some of the brightest and most innovative computing talents in the country and has been fully certified to discover loopholes in security in Government departments, police forces and many FTSE 100 companies.
Open Source Specialist: Julie Clegg is President of Toddington International Inc - a world leader in Open Source Intelligence. A recognized expert in dark web and covert investigations, Julie says “with well over 80% of material being used by the Intelligence Community coming from Open Sources… most people are completely unaware of the digital trail they leave behind them and how that can be exploited.” Before becoming a master in digital tracking, Julie policed the streets of Bradford, as a detective and undercover operator. Open Source Specialist: David Toddington is the Founder and CEO of Toddington International Inc. His firm trains government agencies and Fortune 500 companies in the latest Open Source Intelligence collection and analysis techniques. He’s been working in the emerging world of internet intelligence for more than fifteen years is one of the world’s leading experts in finding information online. A seasoned intelligence and investigative professional, David is also a passionate campaigner for online privacy.
Out in the field:
Marc Cananur is an experienced serving Detective Sergeant specialising in Intelligence and Covert operations. He played an integral part in intelligence operations during the Olympics. His expertise includes handling covert human intelligence, targeting organised crime groups and surveillance. He says: “People make mistakes all the time when they’re on the run. Silly mistakes which we exploit, that’s our job.”
Nicola Thorn and Danni Brooke met working together on undercover operations for the Met. They were rarities in the force: two five foot women who looked like anything but cops and were naturals at blending in in pubs, clubs, and even music festivals, where they had a great time busting unsuspecting drugs rings. When not undercover, Nicola was a high flying detective working serious crime such as manhunts in South London. While Danni also specialised in working on her own as a ‘honey trap’ – dressing as school girls to catch paedophiles, prostitutes to catch kerb crawlers and crack addicts to catch dealers
Captain David Blakeley was a commander in the secretive British military unit The Pathfinders, also known as ‘The Ghost Platoon.’ They work in small elite teams parachuting behind enemy lines, where they carry out extremely high-risk recce, sabotage, kill or capture missions. At 21 years of age David was promoted to be the youngest Captain in the British Army since Sir Ranulph Fiennes; going on to hunt down war criminals in the Balkans, rebel leaders in Sierra Leone and war lords in Afghanistan. “Spending even 24 hours in the woods or on a mountain is a very long time. It’s going to start playing mental games with you and a lot of people will crack.”
Based at Hunter HQ:
The Chief: Brett Lovegrove was Head of Counter Terrorism for the City of London police from 2003 – 2008, hunting terrorists at a time of spiralling threats. Before that he spent 25 years in the Met, becoming Detective Chief Inspector running its specialist paedophile hunting unit. Brett was also part of the Gold Command team for the 7th July 2005 suicide bombings and the foiled attacks two weeks later. He’s now Chief Executive of the City Security and Resilience Network (CSARN), Managing Director of Valentis Bridge Ltd and Chairman of GeoReach Defend - private companies that specialise in counter terrorism, risk analysis and surveillance.
2nd in Command: Peter ‘Bleks’ Bleksley is a South London bad boy who realised he’d have more fun catching crooks than becoming one himself. After joining the Met Police he went on to become one of the force’s most innovative and successful undercover cops; he took on international drugs gangs, the IRA and the Mafia and put hundreds of criminals behind bars. Bleks had to go into witness protection when a contract was put on his head and he found “telling lie upon lie” the toughest challenge of all. Bleks says he has caught every murderer he ever chased and believes the key to hunting down fugitives is to get inside their heads: “we used to have a saying in the cops that a body always floats – they always come up for air.”
2nd in Command: Ben Owen is an intelligence expert used to running operations rooms under pressure: he thrives on making split second decisions based on large quantities of data and complex analysis. His day job is a far cry from the days when he left school aged 16 with just one GCSE in PE. After leaving school Ben joined the RAF as a Gunner, going on to serve in the second Gulf War as part of the main invasion into Southern Iraq around Basra. After leaving the RAF Ben joined the MOD as an operational officer specialising in intelligence. He became an expert in both surveillance out in the field and leading operations back at HQ. Ben played a pivotal role in ‘Operation Overt’ 2006’s surveillance operation to catch East London bomb makers planning to blow up plans with bottled liquids. By just 29 Ben was a Group Leader, heading up multiple operations across the UK.
Lead Analyst: Cindy Storer is the former CIA analyst who wrote the first White House briefing document that correctly identified the Al-Qaeda network. When asked how she worked out what they were called she quips: “Well I thought they were probably called Al-Qaeda, because that’s what they put on their letterhead!” Cindy became part of the ‘sisterhood’ of female agents and analysts that played a crucial role in the response to 9/11 and the build-up of intelligence used in the hunt for Bin Laden. “Most of the people who are really good at this are women. Women’s brains are more all over the place and men are more linear. I’m always thinking ten things at the same time.”
Head of Cyber: Paul Vlissidis is technical director of NCC GROUP, an online security company that prides itself in staying one step ahead of the “cyber arms race and technology revolution”. His team includes some of the brightest and most innovative computing talents in the country and has been fully certified to discover loopholes in security in Government departments, police forces and many FTSE 100 companies.
Open Source Specialist: Julie Clegg is President of Toddington International Inc - a world leader in Open Source Intelligence. A recognized expert in dark web and covert investigations, Julie says “with well over 80% of material being used by the Intelligence Community coming from Open Sources… most people are completely unaware of the digital trail they leave behind them and how that can be exploited.” Before becoming a master in digital tracking, Julie policed the streets of Bradford, as a detective and undercover operator. Open Source Specialist: David Toddington is the Founder and CEO of Toddington International Inc. His firm trains government agencies and Fortune 500 companies in the latest Open Source Intelligence collection and analysis techniques. He’s been working in the emerging world of internet intelligence for more than fifteen years is one of the world’s leading experts in finding information online. A seasoned intelligence and investigative professional, David is also a passionate campaigner for online privacy.
Out in the field:
Marc Cananur is an experienced serving Detective Sergeant specialising in Intelligence and Covert operations. He played an integral part in intelligence operations during the Olympics. His expertise includes handling covert human intelligence, targeting organised crime groups and surveillance. He says: “People make mistakes all the time when they’re on the run. Silly mistakes which we exploit, that’s our job.”
Nicola Thorn and Danni Brooke met working together on undercover operations for the Met. They were rarities in the force: two five foot women who looked like anything but cops and were naturals at blending in in pubs, clubs, and even music festivals, where they had a great time busting unsuspecting drugs rings. When not undercover, Nicola was a high flying detective working serious crime such as manhunts in South London. While Danni also specialised in working on her own as a ‘honey trap’ – dressing as school girls to catch paedophiles, prostitutes to catch kerb crawlers and crack addicts to catch dealers
Captain David Blakeley was a commander in the secretive British military unit The Pathfinders, also known as ‘The Ghost Platoon.’ They work in small elite teams parachuting behind enemy lines, where they carry out extremely high-risk recce, sabotage, kill or capture missions. At 21 years of age David was promoted to be the youngest Captain in the British Army since Sir Ranulph Fiennes; going on to hunt down war criminals in the Balkans, rebel leaders in Sierra Leone and war lords in Afghanistan. “Spending even 24 hours in the woods or on a mountain is a very long time. It’s going to start playing mental games with you and a lot of people will crack.”
Nathan Rose is a surveillance specialist with a proven track record. His expertise is in covert operations.
The Covert Team is led by an undercover intelligence specialist with frontline experience in both the UK and the Middle East. No information is available about his identity. He both advised production and undertook information gathering missions.
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