Clarice Reyes groggily checked the time—it was just after 5 am. She lived on the seventh floor of the Leabank building in Marsh Farm, an area of Luton in Bedfordshire. It was the heavy thudding coming from the flat above that roused Clarice from sleep. The noise, like the sound of a scuffle, came from the eighth floor. Exasperated, she dragged herself out of bed and followed the commotion upstairs, stopping outside flat number 82…

Wilfred Owen’s infamously chilling poem, written about a gas attack in WW1, is still a stark reminder of the brutality of war over 100 years later. A small segment of Dulce et Decorum est reads, 

“Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots,

But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind,

Drunk with fatigue, deaf even to the hoots,

Of gas-shells dropping softly behind”…

Was the physical and mental trauma of such horrors enough to drive a young man to kill when he returned home from war?…

Louisa and Alfred Merrifield were jointly accused of murdering their landlady and employer, Sarah Ann Ricketts. Yet, as the trial unfolded—and Alfred took the stand after his wife—it became clear that they were not being treated equally. In this third and final instalment, we delve into the stark divide in how their stories ended: one concluded in the courtroom, while the other’s life was hanging in the balance… (Part 3 of 3).

Amid the strange circumstances surrounding the death of a frail elderly woman, suspicion falls on her housekeeper. As Sarah Ann Ricketts’ final days are dissected in court, questions still linger. Did she pass away naturally in her sleep, or was she callously murdered with rat poison?... (Part 2 of 3).

With the peak of the summer season a few months away, boarding house manager Jessie Brewer was spending her downtime reading the morning paper when she saw an article about the death of an elderly woman who lived in the district. Her eyes widened at the part of the article where it listed April 14th, 1953, as the date of the woman’s death. Jessie was familiar with the deceased named Sarah Ann Ricketts, but she was surprised, as Jessie had been told that Sarah had passed away days before that… (Part 1 of 3).

In the darkness, he could only make out a silhouette. It was nearly impossible to see their features clearly through the shattered glass of the conservatory. Perhaps it was his son, who was on leave from the army. Only a few moments earlier, Graeme had been fast asleep, and now he was downstairs, and the floor of his home was soaking wet, reeking of petrol…

The witness described a man in his 20s, just shy of six feet tall, with a gaunt face and light-coloured hair. Though uneasy, the passerby—out for a quiet walk along the River Aire—was quickly reassured. The man, standing over a pale woman crumpled in the grass, said she had simply fallen. The man offered his name and explained that he knew where the woman lived. Perhaps out of politeness and a desire not to pry, the witness continued on her journey. Unable to shake the feeling that something was not right, she raised the alarm. However, by then it was too late…

Joseph McCann carried out two sprees of horrific sexual and violent crimes in Hertfordshire, London, Cheshire, and Greater Manchester. It was a matter of urgency to get him off the streets for the public's safety. No one in England was safe until he was behind bars. McCann had victimised both male and female, child and pensioners; there was no telling where or who he would target next. Eventually, he was apprehended and a date was set for his trial… (Part 3 of 3).

A large-scale manhunt was launched after a man abducted and sexually assaulted three women over the course of four days. Joseph McCann was publicly identified as the only suspect in the case. He had stayed under the radar for over a week. When he emerged, it was for the worst possible reason. McCann was going to carry out a 12-hour crime spree… (Part 2 of 3).

The purpose of the criminal justice system is to uphold the law and protect the innocent. Public bodies, including the Crown Prosecution Service, the police, and the prison and probation system, should work together to ensure justice for all while being fair to those accused and convicted. There are occasions when things go wrong and result in devastating consequences… (Part 1 of 3).

The full moon painted the sea in silver; its light rippling gently across the water. From his perch on West Cliff, a local photographer heard sudden screams from the shoreline below. The darkness concealed whatever was unfolding. He was puzzled but not alarmed. The screams stopped almost as quickly as they had started. Not overly concerned, he packed up his equipment and began heading home. As he turned, a figure peeled away from the shadows near the top of the steps leading down to the beach. The young man passed beneath a streetlight, and something about his facial expression struck fear into the photographer… 

As daylight faded and the moorland sky burned a deep orange, the quiet stretch of the A640 near Huddersfield appeared serene. A local resident, David Sykes, was out jogging along a remote country road between the Nont Sarahs pub and the B6114 junction. The route, typically bypassed in favour of the faster M62 motorway, was nearly deserted. On the verge of the road lay a grim discovery; evidence that someone had chosen this isolated spot not just for its peaceful scenery, but they thought it would be the ideal place to dispose of a body… 

Following reports that a man had been seen streaking in a park in Maidstone, Kent, police officers were sent to the home of a notorious self-described naturist. The man had a reputation in the area for wearing see-through clothing, if any at all. When confronted by the police in the past, he had done nothing more than laugh, so the attending officers felt the situation would be resolved quickly. It wasn't the case this time. The confrontation took a darker turn…

Members of Dorset Constabulary’s armed response team stood outside the conservatory of a large estate in Higher Langham near Gillingham. There had been reports of a violent altercation inside. Armed officers had been dispatched as there was a gun registered at the address… 

Robert Morphet hadn’t seen his elderly neighbour in several days. He was concerned that 88-year-old Jack could have fallen or hurt himself, so Robert decided to call in to make sure Jack was okay. When a knock at the door went unanswered, Robert walked around to his neighbour's garden and checked the shed. It was locked, but something in the back of Robert’s mind told him to look inside…

Officers from the Cheshire Constabulary stood guard at the rear of a property on Hylton Court in Ellesmere Port. An ominous white tent had been erected covering a section of the garden at the bottom of a terraced house. Specialists congregated in the confined space of a brick outbuilding and methodically began chipping away at layers of cement covering a large object that seemed out of place. After hours of painstaking work, a tightly wrapped sheet of tarpaulin was revealed. Thick elastic circled the plastic, and the ends of the bungee cords hooked together, securing whatever or whoever was inside...

Police Constable John Robert Chapman was on duty when he spotted an elderly farmer waving frantically. Henry Dobson was out of breath and barely able to stand as he finally blurted out to the approaching officer, “My wife! She’s dead. She’s murdered in the field”…

A quiet man in his 50s, leading a simple life of gardening and visits to the pub, is brutally murdered in his own home. DNA, a shoe print from a rare type of trainer and CCTV footage are all left behind. Who would target this unassuming man? What sinister motive lurks behind this calculated act of extreme violence? And how could someone leave behind such a clear trail of evidence yet somehow elude justice?…

Held at gunpoint by an intruder, his family had been prisoners in their own home since the previous evening. For nearly twelve hours, they had listened as their captor spoke of the lives he had taken. When he finally slipped away in the morning, he left the captives to wrestle with his parting words: "I am going to die, but I will not be the only one..." 

The car parked on Lurgan Avenue matched the description circulated to the police in London. PC William Waters reported the discovery from a nearby police box and waited for detectives to arrive. Soon after, a man emerged from a house on Lurgan Avenue and approached the vehicle. PC Waters swiftly intercepted the suspect, asking if he owned the car. The man remained silent. When he was searched, officers discovered a pistol and ammunition concealed in the man’s pockets...