In December 2017, Birmingham was hit by a storm that left up to 12 inches of snow on the ground, forcing schools to shut and public transport to grind to a halt. Temperatures had been dropping rapidly, and people across the West Midlands braced themselves for a brutally cold winter. Two weeks earlier, amidst a cold snap in the city, the discovery of a vulnerable child’s body outside of a house in Nechells raised questions about the efficiency of the UK’s child protective services…

Six months after the murder of 54-year-old widow Beatrice Alice Rimmer in the hallway of her Liverpool home, two young men from Manchester were facing the possibility of being executed. The prosecution's case was based on the evidence of informants who claimed to have seen Edward Devlin and Alfred Burns in the area at the time the crime was committed, and some alleged to have heard them plan a break-in at the victim’s home. After a week of legal proceedings, the accused were given the chance to plead their case and try to prove their innocence... (Part 2 of 2).

The brutal murder of a reclusive widow sparked one of the largest murder inquiries Liverpool had seen in years. After following numerous dead-end leads, the investigators turned their attention to a pair of petty thieves on the word of criminal informants. The case against them was purely circumstantial… (Part 1 of 2).

A quiet nun in a central Aberdeen Cathedral was dealing with some paperwork when she had a visitor. She neither knew the person nor did she have any way of knowing she wouldn’t leave her office alive...

The weather was still warm at 2:30 am, and unusually, a married local couple decided it was a good time to go for a scenic stroll past the mansion and gardens in Valentines Park. They walked down Cranbrook Road until the pair reached the junction opposite Cranbrook Rise — that’s where they saw something that didn’t seem right amongst the large white houses that lined the street. The couple noticed someone lying awkwardly on a grey brick driveway. The woman was covered in blood and struggling to breathe…

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... 

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…

Emergency responders arrived within minutes and approached the two-bedroom cottage. Joanne was waiting for them at the door, before leading them upstairs to her grandmother's bedroom. The paramedics pulled back the quilt and found the frail pensioner lying on bloody sheets. Blood spatter covered the walls near the bed. Due to the highly suspicious nature of Annie’s death, the police were immediately contacted… 

The summer flowers were in full bloom when Edith Ford and her teenage daughter Doreen strolled to the bottom of the long and narrow communal garden to pick a bouquet of wildflowers. Their eyes were drawn away from the plants and foliage, towards the ground. Two tiny bare legs protruded from the other side of a hedge near a public works yard. Was this the child so many people had spent the night looking for? Just two doors down from Edith Ford’s home, neighbours heard screaming. Edith was wailing, “I can't have seen it. I can't have seen it”...

Women in southwest London lived in terror after a string of sex attacks on lone commuters travelling from Waterloo to Kingston. The police were desperately trying to locate a man believed to be responsible for half a dozen rapes over a three-month period in late 1988. Just days before Christmas, it seemed the rapist had crossed another line: he was now a murderer…

A man in his early twenties stood at the side of the road waving at the passing cars to get attention — eventually, a vehicle with two men inside parked up beside the desperate motorist. The would-be rescuers jumped out of their car and approached the man who stopped them. He opened his mouth to speak, something that he would come to regret. The smell of alcohol from his breath hit their nostrils. They knew he had been drinking, and the two police officers were going to do something about it… 

One of the most horrific murders in Birmingham’s history occurred two days before Christmas in 1959. During the seven weeks that followed, hundreds of officers interviewed thousands of men in what was then the most extensive murder inquiry the city had ever seen. The investigators utilised a number of unprecedented techniques to try and track down the killer, but it seemed as though a routine house call was all that was needed to break the case… (Part 2 of 2).

On the evening of December 23, 1959, a young woman named Margaret Katibeh was getting ready to leave her hostel lodgings to see her family for the festive period. As she was packing her suitcase, she heard a scream… (Part 1 of 2)

The Railway Tap on Bishops Bridge Road in West London was often the scene of drunken fights in the late 1970s and early 80s. Despite its reputation, it was one of the most popular pubs in the Bayswater area. When a barman failed to turn up to work, the pub landlord had an inkling that something didn’t seem right… 

The latter years of a person’s life unfortunately involve making arrangements for when they die. These arrangements typically include organising their finances, writing a will, and planning a funeral. Thankfully, services exist that can assist in these situations, but as is often the case during this time, a vulnerable person can be susceptible to being exploited. Some people are willing to prey on the elderly in order to better their own situation, and some will go even further than taking money… 

In February 1974, a two-and-a-half-year-old went missing. For four hours, dozens of police officers and relatives of the toddler searched the area. His older brother had been looking after him while they were out playing but came home not knowing where his sibling was. The youngster was eventually found, peacefully asleep in the long grass a short distance from his home. It was an incredible relief for his worried family. Unfortunately, this happy ending wouldn’t be granted in the case of another boy who went missing around 40 miles away, a day earlier… 

Dan Brockley was driving along Woodside Road, close to Woodsome Hall Golf Club in Huddersfield, when a woman stumbled out of the tree line and into the road. It was dark and quiet when the female suddenly appeared, shortly before midnight on Saturday, May 28, 2011. Dan instinctively slammed his foot against the brakes, bringing the car to a screeching halt. The woman scrambled to the passenger side door and pleaded with him to let her in. She was visibly distressed and dishevelled. When Dan took a chance and opened the door, the woman said her name was Michelina, and someone had just tried to kill her… 

Michael Gilbert had been living with the Watt family on and off since 2001. At first, he believed he had found a haven, away from life on the streets, but Michael soon realised that his sanctuary was, in fact, a nightmare… (Part 2 of 2).

Arlesey has stood the test of time. It is mentioned briefly in the Domesday Book of 1086 and has been through many reinventions over the centuries. It has witnessed the births and deaths of thousands of fleeting occupants, but nothing in Arlesey’s varied history could compare to the horror of one man's murder in 2009… (Part 1 of 2).

There was no evidence that the stranger was alive — no slow rise and fall of the stomach or chest, not even a hint of cold morning air visible from his mouth. While one of the pair called for an ambulance, another rang a neighbour to tell them what they had found. That neighbour wasted no time in getting to the alleyway. She looked at the deceased man and immediately recognised him as a local, who lived on the estate...