Constable Thomas Lockley was working the early shift at Streetly station when he received a message from Little Aston cafe. He set off in his patrol car, and as the constable approached the cafe, he noticed a teenage boy on a bike peddling away with urgency. PC Lockley slowed his vehicle and rolled down the window. The boy quickly acknowledged him and, before even taking a breath, words tumbled out of his mouth: “It’s at Brinton Kennels. Somebody had been in and they’ve knocked her about. She is in a mess… I found her in the bathroom. She was stark naked”...
Read moreHistoric Crime / The Trials Of Harold Jones - Part 2
The town of Abertillery in South Wales had been rocked by the brutal murder of an eight-year-old girl. A 15-year-old shop assistant had been arrested and accused of killing Freda Burnell, but a jury found him not guilty. While many in the town felt that justice had prevailed when Harold Jones was acquitted, the declaration of his innocence meant that a child killer was still at large… (Part 2 of 2).
Read moreHistoric Crime / The Trials Of Harold Jones - Part 1
Rumours swirled about a group who were kidnapping children for rewards, but there was no trace of Willie. One year later, a small skeleton was found two and a half miles from the missing boy's home. Willie's father identified the remains when he saw the hobnails he had put in his son’s boots two weeks before he vanished. Willie Pincott was said to have died from exposure on the lonely mountainside. Fifteen years later, the tragedy was still in the minds of locals when another child went missing… (Part 1 of 2).
Read moreBlurred Lines / Scream Copycat Knife Attack [TWAU Plus]
The ground was too uneven for George to attempt to follow the route to the stream that flowed 30 feet below, so he watched as his dog sniffed the ground behind large rocks. The animal was fixated on a black bin liner, and from George’s perspective, two logs sticking out of it. A faint whimpering sound echoed up from the stream. George strained his eyes and realised that the bundle he assumed was rubbish was actually a boy, who was crying for help...
Read moreTortured / The Murder Of Angela Pearce
Easter weekend 1998. An 18-year-old goes missing on the way to see a relative in Leeds. Diagnosed with schizophrenia, she was approximately 14 times more likely to become a victim of violent crime. The race was on to find the vulnerable young woman, but no one could be prepared for what they saw when they found her…
Read moreDrunken Teenage Gang Killing / The Murder Of Garry Newlove
There is a saying that “a man’s home is his castle” — it is supposed to be a sanctuary, a place of safety and security. Unfortunately for many, anti-social behaviour can make them feel uncomfortable and on edge in their own homes. When problems like these arise, it can take weeks for the police to resolve them, and only after the damage has been done. Some try a different approach and directly confront the people responsible, but they could never imagine that it might cost them their life...
Read moreA Knock At The Door / Dr Adam Towler / Chanz Maximen
The doctor managed to get inside, slamming the door behind him and securing the lock. He grabbed his iPhone and attempted to call for help. He tried to use facial recognition to unlock the device, but the blood on his face rendered him unrecognisable. The doctor struggled as blood also covered the phone, making it difficult to use the touch screen…
Read moreCold Case Solved / Rikki Neave
After almost three decades, one of the most heartbreaking and troubling child murders in the history of the UK has been solved. How did the investigators finally catch six-year-old Rikki Neave’s killer?…
Read moreCASE UPDATE - Extremism & The Classics
"Have you read Dickens? Austen? Start with Pride and Prejudice and Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. Think about Hardy. Think about Trollope. On January 4, you will tell me what you have read and I will test you on it. I will test you, and if I think you are lying to me, you will suffer. I will be watching you, Ben John, every step of the way. If you let me down you know what will happen" - Judge Timothy Spencer QC, Leicester Crown Court, August 2021.
Read moreNo Remorse / The Murder Of Wesley Neailey
The high pitched sound of the home telephone echoed through the Neailey household. Liz Neailey answered. Someone from her son's school was on the other end of the line. It was June 5, 1998. The staff member told Liz her son, Wesley, had not been feeling well and needed to come home…
Read moreExtremism & The Classics
Ben John stood before a jury at Leicester Crown Court. The 21-year-old denied all seven of the charges he faced. John had been arrested around a year and a half earlier after the authorities had raided his flat in January 2020. Counter-Terrorism Policing East Midlands had been monitoring his online activity for some time. Although he was later released, an investigation by a Special Branch of Lincolnshire Police took most of the year with a team of forensic investigators trying to bring to light the dark secrets of Ben John’s digital life…
Read moreViolence Purely For The Sake Of It / Doran Brothers & Simon Evans
“You behaved how you did despite the serious nature of the charge your sons faced and persisted in attempts to give them a false alibi for two months. Not even a mother is entitled to lie with impunity to save her sons who she knows to have been involved in a terrible crime” — Judge Clement Goldstone QC, Liverpool Crown Court, April 2013
Read moreTeenage Torture Killers / The Murder Of Angela Wrightson - Part 3
In early April 2016, the judge began his summary of the case. Approaching its eighth week, during the trial the jury were told of the 100 plus injuries that were inflicted. Weighing six and a half stone, Angela Wrightson was beaten, not only punched and kicked, but assaulted with a table, a printer, a television, and a vase, over the course of several hours… (Part 3 of 3).
Read moreTeenage Torture Killers / The Murder Of Angela Wrightson - Part 2
On the morning of December 9, 2014, Angela Wrightson was found lifeless on the sofa in her living room. She had died from multiple injuries inflicted during a brutal assault committed over the course of several hours. Due to the severity of the attack, a pathologist could not confirm a cause of death. Two teenagers, a 13 and 14-year-old, were charged with Angela’s murder… (Part 2 of 3).
Read moreTeenage Torture Killers / The Murder Of Angela Wrightson - Part 1
The property did not stand out. Closed vertical blinds shielded the windows from prying eyes. The front door and brick facade were painted white. The chipped paint was offset against half a dozen bouquets of flowers all the colours of the rainbow, that had been secured to a drainpipe running parallel against the front door. In County Durham, around two weeks before Christmas 2014, the body of a female was discovered in a property located a short distance from Hartlepool town centre… (Part 1 of 3).
Read moreMy Whole Body Felt Fear / Alex Rodda / Matthew Mason
A forensic team dressed head to toe in white overalls combed the field. In their hunt for clues, they stood several metres apart as they steadily manoeuvred through the muddy grassland which was bordered by trees and dense bushes. A nearby road was closed off, and tracking dogs were deployed around the scene. The discovery was made by refuse collectors near the Cheshire village of Ashley located on the boundary of Greater Manchester…
Read moreExtreme Caution Must Be Used / Cheryl Moss / Stuart Harling
"He murdered because he wanted to, for sexual or other gratification, or perhaps to see what it was like to kill - like so many of his heroes who he had clearly been researching” — Brian Altman QC, The Old Bailey, July 2007
Read moreCASE UPDATE - Death In The Line Of Duty / The Killing Of PC Andrew Harper
PC Andrew Harper was killed while on duty only four weeks after his wedding. The three people involved in his death were tried at the Old Bailey for murder. Following the trial, towards the end of July 2020, Henry Long, Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole were acquitted though they would each be facing time behind bars as they were either found guilty of or admitted to a charge of manslaughter. Long received 16 years with an extended licence period of 3 years. Bowers and Cole received 13 years detention in a Young Offender Institution. However, Bowers and Cole were now going to fight to have their convictions for manslaughter overturned, and all three believed their sentences were “manifestly excessive” and should be reduced. This case update follows what happened next...
Read moreDeath In The Line Of Duty / The Killing Of PC Andrew Harper - Part 2
Throughout the late evening of August 15, 2019, PC Andrew Harper and his colleague PC Andrew Shaw were working overtime. They answered the call of a suspected burglary. A gang of masked assailants with weapons were trying to steal a quad bike. The two uniformed officers travelled to the scene in an unmarked BMW fitted with emergency lights and a police siren. They came head to head with the suspects’ vehicle at 11:28 pm in the dim light of an unlit narrow country lane (Part 2 of 2).
Read moreDeath In The Line Of Duty / The Killing Of PC Andrew Harper - Part 1
On July 1, 2020, accompanied by a judge and several barristers, a jury disembarked a coach in Berkshire after travelling from the Old Bailey in London. A mist of light rain fell, as several police officers, who spoke few words, watched on. The jury were not to be disturbed as they examined the reconstruction of a crime scene. Two vehicles were positioned facing each other on a narrow lane bordered by trees and high hedgerows that exited the village of Stanford Dingley (Part 1 of 2).
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