It was a typical room for a teenage boy in the 1980s; football programmes on his desk with his homework, a well used Amstrad HI-FI system with a tape cassette and radio, used to record the top chart hits on a Sunday, hitting the pause button before the DJ fades back in. Posters of his favourite musical acts covered the walls; Mel and Kim, T'Pau, Madonna, Samantha Fox — standard fare in 1988. His single bed, pushed against the wall of his cosy room, with his black pyjama bottoms tucked neatly under his pillow to wear the next night, but there would not be a next night…

Throughout spring 1993, five men were murdered in London at the hands of the same killer. He had met them all in The Coleherne, a bar in Earl's Court. The murderer went back to the victims’ homes and strangled them while they were tied up. The killings were not initially linked by Scotland Yard, however, after the man responsible had called the police explaining that he wanted to be a serial killer, the metropolitan police went public with the information. A single fingerprint and a poorly recorded phone conversation were the only pieces of evidence detectives had until CCTV captured one of the victims making his final journey home in the company of a man that was likely the last person to see him alive. Following an appeal, surprisingly, that man came forward, but confidently denied he was the murderer. He was, however, unaware the police had found his fingerprint at one of the scenes, and the man was subsequently charged with multiple counts of murder. Following a court hearing, he eventually confessed to the string of killings.

So why had Colin Ireland made it his new year's resolution to be a serial killer?… (Part 2 of 2)

A dead body was found in Harrow, Greater London at the end of May 1993. The officers at the scene quickly came to the conclusion that it was death by misadventure. The man, 37-year-old Christopher Dunn, was a librarian who worked at Harlesden Library in Brent, 7 miles from his home located on Byron Way in Wealdstone. He was discovered in bed. The death was later ruled undetermined, but detectives thought it looked more like a tragic accident. Forensic analysis was kept to a bare minimum, and with little scrutiny, the police seemed to believe this was how the events unfolded. ‘After all’, the officers pondered, Christopher was dressed in a studded leather harness and a belt. It was assumed that Christopher died during an act of sadomasochistic bondage… (Part 1 of 2).

A text alert bleeped on the mobile phone; another strange and uncharacteristic message from her best friend flashed up on the screen. Over the last couple of days, a number of messages had left the phone and found their way into the inboxes of friends and colleagues much to their confusion. In just a few texts, she mentioned hot tubs, liposuction, cosmetic surgery, and more concerningly, a mystery man, she was going to meet…

"He obviously overreacted and assaulted her. He has no recollection of doing what he did next. This was a frenzied night terror” — Peter Rouch QC, Swansea Crown Court, June 2020

When Sheila Stroud fled the scene with her two accomplices, she thought her problems were over. She could pay off her mortgage, keep her horses that she loved so dearly, and not have to worry about her troublesome ex-partner ever again. She thought that the blaze burning in a Cotswolds beauty spot would bring to end the continuous arguments of an acrimonious separation and allow her to bask in the light of a prosperous future. In reality, her troubles had only just begun...

Halloween is supposed to be the creepiest time of the year; the nights draw in early, and scary stories are told. When it’s a true story, and the murder is unsolved, it's even more unsettling. The killer could be someone you know, a person in your family or a kindly neighbour. On October 31, 1963, the night sky was illuminated by a full moon. Two children noticed a woman peering out of a window in her home. They didn't know it would be the last time she was seen alive…

On October 7, 1987, in Bristol city centre, a young woman was sat in her car at Canon’s Marsh car park. She had left a party at a nearby public house. Before she started the engine, she noticed a man, who she did not know, slowly walking towards the car. He pried open the door and put a gun into his intended victim’s face. The dark-haired man told the woman that providing she did what he said, she would not get hurt. He motioned that she get into the passenger seat…

In a photograph of the couple on their wedding day, widely circulated in the press, Roselane can be seen looking into the camera with a broad natural smile on her face. The groom is staring to the side, teeth together with a strained smile. Sokol Drenova was hiding something…

Gordon and Derek finally managed to get into the house. They knew something strange was going on. The lights were off, and the curtains were drawn. Gordon’s fiancé wasn't the sort of person to just disappear nor was her father Matthew. In the darkness, searching for the light switch, Gordon and Derek noticed something strange on Matthew’s favourite armchair. It was a deep red stain. When they drew the curtains, and light flooded the room, it was then they began to question whether Matthew and Alison were still alive...

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).

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).

He was alarmed by the long trail of blood in the aisle. It reached at least twelve feet long. In the artificial light of the carriage, it almost looked black. As the train pulled away, with no emergency stop signal or no way of contacting the driver, it was twenty minutes before it ground to a halt at the next station. A second passenger boarded the carriage. In a state of shock, the two strangers conversed, deciding what to do at the next stop. Whoever had lost such a great deal of blood was severely injured or possibly dead, but there was no sign of them on the train.

When you choose a partner in life, you take on their family too. Ideally, you get on, and you live in harmony. Some people invite their in-laws into their homes with open arms, unaware that their new family member has left behind a murderous past.

Ian Simms was in the dock at Liverpool Crown Court. He was accused of murdering Helen McCourt who vanished in February 1988. Her body was still missing. Despite the overwhelming forensic evidence, Simms insisted he was innocent (Part 2 of 2).

A woman in her early twenties goes missing on a journey home from work. A few days pass, and some of her belongings are found, discarded just under 20 miles away. Police suspect foul play and a murder charge is laid. But why was she killed and where was her body? (Part 1 of 2).

"We have seen cases where young people have been groomed online, but it is rare for it to culminate in such a dreadful and violent murder. The degree of planning and manipulation by Daynes is shocking, and when you consider the young ages of perpetrator and victim, it stands out as one of the most cruel, violent and unusual cases we have dealt with"

— Chief Crown Prosecutor Jenny Hopkins, outside Chelmsford Crown Court, January 2015

The disappearance of Madeleine McCann, a three-year-old that went missing from a Portuguese holiday resort in 2007, has been widely covered by the media. Back in 1985, another three-year-old went missing while at a holiday park. This is the case of Leoni Keating.

Paul Bint is known under many aliases. He would convince his unsuspecting victims that he was a doctor, a lawyer, an aristocrat, or even a millionaire. Through his twenties and thirties, Bint had spent a total of 10 years in and out of prisons or mental health facilities. However, this did little curb his desire to convince his victims that the fantasy world he inhabited existed (Part 2 of 2).

"People have this picture of me which is completely inaccurate, and I don't see how I am ever going to get around this problem. I don't think I would describe myself as a conman, or King Con Man or King of the Swindlers, as the newspapers call me. I'm someone who lied about myself and my status. It made me forget what the reality was, and for me, it was a way of escaping. It always has been" — Paul Bint, Southwark Crown Court, 2009 (Part 1 of 2).