← The Big Cases

Series 1

59 episodes · 2022

  1. 1The Murder of Sabina Nessa

    09 Apr 2022 · 15 min

    Primary school teacher Sabina Nessa was killed at random by a man with a history of violence.

  2. 2Stabbed in a Sanctuary

    15 Apr 2022 · 16 min

    Sir David Amess MP was murdered by an IS fanatic, at a meeting in a church in Southend-On-Sea in Essex, UK.

  3. 3The Abuser Working for MI5

    21 May 2022 · 11 min

    This is the story of a dangerous MI5 agent, which the government tried to keep secret.

  4. 427 Years to Catch a Killer

    25 Jun 2022 · 25 min

    Rikki Neave left for school but never came home. Decades on his killer has been jailed.

  5. 5Logan Mwangi: A Boy Betrayed

    02 Jul 2022 · 27 min

    Logan Mwangi was five years old when he was murdered by the people he trusted.

  6. 6Deadly Browsing: The Lorry Driver

    29 Jul 2022 · 24 min

    How a lorry driver, looking at dating sites while driving, went on to kill three.

  7. 7My Baby: Taken, Failed, Killed

    07 Aug 2022 · 16 min

    Leiland-James was taken from his mother in hospital and placed in care. He went on to be killed by the woman who wanted to adopt him.

  8. 8The Suitcase Murderer

    05 Nov 2022 · 23 min

    Revealing the killer who decapitated her friend and dumped her body.

  9. 9Catching The Cult Movie Killer

    10 Nov 2022 · 22 min

    Jacqueline Kirk was badly disfigured after being set alight in 1998 by her ex-boyfriend Steven Craig. She then died in 2019 from complications relating to the injuries she suffered.

  10. 10The Doorstep Murder

    26 Nov 2022 · 23 min

    It's one of Scotland's longest unsolved murder cases. Alistair Wilson was shot on his doorstep almost 20 years ago. Are police any closer to finding who killed him and why?

  11. 11Killing My Children's Abuser

    23 Nov 2022 · 24 min

    Sarah Sands stabbed to death a convicted paedophile who was accused of abusing three more young boys. BBC News can reveal, for the first time, that they were all her children. Now all three boys have become adults, they speak, alongside their mum about the killing, and subsequent events.

  12. 12Killed Walking Home

    14 Dec 2022 · 22 min

    Zara Aleena was killed walking back from a night out by a sexual predator, only recently released from prison, labelled a "danger to any woman".

  13. 13Groomed, Radicalised, Gone

    03 Jan 2023 · 14 min

    The schoolgirl charged with terrorism, but found to have been exploited. Rhianan Rudd, 15, was the youngest girl to be charged with terrorism offences in the UK. She took her own life in 2022. Her mum says investigators should have seen her daughter as "a victim rather than a terrorist".

  14. 14Found Under The Floor

    07 Feb 2023 · 23 min

    The story of Bennylyn and Jellica who were murdered after starting a new life in the UK.

  15. 15Twenty Minutes of Terror

    24 Feb 2023 · 20 min

    A gunman kills five people within minutes. Could the shootings have been prevented?

  16. 16Homegrown Terrorist

    11 Mar 2023 · 24 min

    How was Salman Abedi from Manchester radicalised to the point where he could kill, and could the Manchester Arena bombing have been stopped?

  17. 17The Lie That Destroyed a Town

    17 Mar 2023 · 30 min

    The story of false accusations about being the victim of a grooming gang and how it sent shockwaves through a small town in the North of England.

  18. 18Caught In The Crossfire

    03 Apr 2023 · 28 min

    Nine year old Olivia Pratt-Korbel was killed when shots were fired into her family home.

  19. 1930 Years For Justice

    23 May 2023 · 26 min

    Nikki Allan's murder shocked Sunderland. Why did it take so long to catch her killer?

  20. 20Stephen Lawrence: The Sixth Suspect

    26 Jun 2023 · 28 min

    This BBC News investigation by reporter Daniel De Simone identifies a new suspect in the Stephen Lawrence murder. Stephen’s killing in 1993 changed policing and race relations in Britain forever, and its shadow hangs over the Metropolitan Police to this day. For decades, five men have been suspected of the attack, and in 2012 two of them were found guilty. Daniel De Simone has seen secret evidence and spoken to dozens of witnesses to publicly identify a sixth suspect for the first time. Evidence uncovered in this investigation also further implicates other suspects in the attack, and raises serious question of the police handling of the case over many years.

  21. 21Sunshine Scammer

    28 Jun 2023 · 28 min

    Lyne Barlow is a bogus travel agent from County Durham, conning hundreds of holidaymakers and her family in a £2.6 million scam, which also saw her lie about a cancer diagnosis.

  22. 22Killed on Christmas Eve

    07 Jul 2023 · 32 min

    Elle Edwards was shot dead as she celebrated Christmas Eve, in a murder that shocked the UK. We follow her dad Tim as he deals with the devastation of his daughter’s death.

  23. 23The Killing in the Lane

    12 Jul 2023 · 17 min

    Lilia Valutyte died from a single stab wound in her chest. Her killer was found unfit to plead, but a jury determined in a trial of the facts he killed the nine-year-old.

  24. 24Killed on Duty

    27 Jul 2023 · 21 min

    Sgt Matt Ratana was shot and killed on duty by a handcuffed prisoner just three months before he had been due to retire.

  25. 25Unmasking a Fugitive

    02 Aug 2023 · 30 min

    The story of Nicholas Rossi - the US fugitive who came to the UK with a new identity after faking his own death. He claims he is called Arthur Knight and is a victim of mistaken identity, but a sheriff in Scotland is sending him back to Utah to face rape charges. We speak to the people who knew Nicholas Rossi in his previous life in America and chart his story from there to his discovery by police in a hospital bed in Glasgow.

  26. 26Deadly Influence

    01 Sep 2023 · 26 min

    The story of a social media influencer, her mum and a murder plot.

  27. 27The Missing Mum

    26 Sep 2023 · 22 min

    This is the story of Linda Razzell who vanished on her way to work more than 20 years ago. Her husband was found guilty of her murder. Now, in 2023, will he reveal where her body is in order to be released on parole?

  28. 28The Commons Criminal

    11 Oct 2023 · 23 min

    The MP who rose from obscurity to being imprisoned for fraud. The story of Jared O'Mara.

  29. 29Killed By My Boyfriend

    25 Oct 2023 · 22 min

    The story of a young mum killed by her boyfriend of eight weeks. When Christopher McGowan was released on bail from a prison in Scotland, a court ordered he should stay at the home of his new girlfriend, Claire Inglis. He was a known criminal with a string of previous convictions and within weeks Claire was dead.

  30. 30The Doping Ward

    19 Dec 2023 · 26 min

    The hospital unit where patients were drugged to keep them "quiet and compliant".

  31. 31The Student Who Never Came Home

    21 Dec 2023 · 25 min

    Kidnapped and murdered in France while on a university placement. Is it finally time for justice for 20 year old Joanna Parrish?

  32. 32Killed In The Park

    02 Feb 2024 · 26 min

    Brianna Ghey was stabbed to death - two teenagers tried to get away with murder.

  33. 33Held Captive And Left To Die

    01 Mar 2024 · 23 min

    Shakira Spencer was 35 years old when her body was found by the police. She had been tortured and starved by people she considered friends.

  34. 34The Nottingham Attacks

    07 Mar 2024 · 29 min

    Barnaby Webber, Grace O'Malley-Kumar and Ian Coates were killed in a series of stabbings by one man on the streets of Nottingham in the summer of 2023.

  35. 35The Executioner Next Door

    08 Mar 2024 · 25 min

    The quiet Irishman behind the high hedge had a history his neighbours could have never guessed: the man they knew as 'Frank' was really Freddie Scappaticci, a man with many secrets. Not only had he been an Irish Republican Army killer, he was at the same time an agent for the Army – perhaps their most important source inside the IRA, with access to their most sensitive secrets.

  36. 36The Dance Floor Murder

    08 Apr 2024 · 26 min

    The story of footballer Cody Fisher who was stabbed to death in a nightclub in Birmingham.

  37. 37Killer in the Attic

    12 Apr 2024 · 25 min

    When Michael Riddiough-Allen is stabbed to death outside a nightclub in Cornwall, armed police track down his killer to a nearby house where he was found hiding in the attic.

  38. 38The House Party Murder

    03 May 2024 · 28 min

    How a house party turned into a murder scene - the fatal stabbing of Mikey Roynon.

  39. 39Crushed: The Six Year Nightmare

    12 Jun 2024 · 21 min

    Monika had moved to the UK from Poland for a better life. She had work, a new place to stay but then was hit by a drink driver. He served time for injuring her so badly she could never walk or talk again. Six years later, Monika died. It was time for justice, again.

  40. 40The Abuser Headteacher

    01 Jul 2024 · 29 min

    North Wales headteacher Neil Foden abused children over a four-year period, but could he have been stopped?

  41. 41Trying to Kill Holly

    12 Jul 2024 · 15 min

    The case of a plot to kidnap, rape, and murder TV presenter Holly Willoughby.

  42. 42Stabbed After School

    01 Nov 2024 · 28 min

    The shocking story of how a teenage relationship ended in murder. 15-year-old Holly Newton was stalked and murdered by her 'jealous' ex-boyfriend in Hexham in Northumberland. We speak to Holly's family and the police who pieced together what happened, and hear calls for a change to the law.

  43. 43Tortured Behind Closed Doors

    17 Dec 2024 · 35 min

    The tragic story of Sara Sharif, who was just 10 years old when she was burned and beaten by her father and stepmother. Her body was found with dozens of injuries at the family home in Surrey.

  44. 44My Husband the Monster

    19 Dec 2024 · 29 min

    The story of Gisele Pelicot has shocked the world. She's a wife and a mother who was drugged and then raped by strangers. All were invited to do so by her husband at their home in Avignon, France. The trial of Dominique Pelicot and fifty other men has led to a huge outpouring of support across France and beyond as Gisele refused to hide away as her life unfolded in court and in public.

  45. 45Killed By Kids: The Machete Murder

    19 Dec 2024 · 26 min

    What happens when kids become killers? The shocking story of two 12 year old school boys who brutally murdered Shawn Seesahai with a machete.

  46. 46The Mistaken Identity Murders

    19 Dec 2024 · 30 min

    A shocking story of two teenage boys from Bristol, Max and Mason, who went out for pizza and never came home. They were killed in a case of mistaken identity. We hear from the families who have faced unimaginable loss and see the consequences of children carrying weapons on the street.

  47. 47Neighbour, Friend, Killer

    20 Dec 2024 · 21 min

    Wendy Buckney knew about her neighbour Brian Whitelock's past and wanted to give him a second chance. But were opportunities missed to protect the public from this triple-killer?

  48. 48The Bus Stop Murder

    13 Mar 2025 · 27 min

    The shocking story of Elianne Andam, a 15-year-old schoolgirl who was stabbed to death at a bus stop outside a shopping centre in Croydon, south London, in a row about a teddy bear.

  49. 49The Predator Who Fled to Paradise

    30 Apr 2025 · 25 min

    The shocking tale of a predator who went on the run for almost three decades. He lived a life in paradise while his victims wondered if they would ever get justice.

  50. 50The Aristocrat, the Convict and the Missing Baby

    14 Jul 2025 · 29 min

    When an aristocrat and her convict partner vanish with their newborn baby, a nationwide manhunt begins. Fears for the baby’s welfare grow - until the case finally ends in tragedy. Through interviews with family, friends and witnesses, and exclusive research, we uncover the hidden backgrounds of this couple on the run.

  51. 51The Sycamore Gap - From Roots to Ruin

    15 Jul 2025 · 26 min

    A single sycamore tree, growing in a natural dip in the countryside along Hadrian's Wall, came to symbolise a community. When the people of Northumberland wake to discover it has been chopped down overnight, it leads to a news story that makes headlines around the world. Who destroyed the tree at Sycamore Gap and why?

  52. 52Murdered by his Grandparents

    03 Oct 2025 · 29 min

    A police investigation unravelled a horrific story of brutal abuse by those who should have cared for and nurtured him.

  53. 53The Bodies in the Suitcases

    24 Oct 2025 · 29 min

    When two suitcases are abandoned by a man behaving strangely on a bridge in Bristol, the shocking contents lead police to a brutal double murder scene.

  54. 54The Killer They Called Family

    06 Nov 2025 · 27 min

    A young couple, killed on an ordinary morning by a man they welcomed into their home. This is the story of young parents Chloe and Josh Bashford. How did a family friendship go so wrong?

  55. 55Bribes, Lies and the British Politician

    21 Nov 2025 · 30 min

    A politician close to Nigel Farage takes bribes to make statements in support of Russia. His texts reveal pro-Russian interference reaching right to the heart of Europe’s democracy.

  56. 56Liverpool Parade: Seven Minutes of Chaos

    16 Nov 2025 · 24 min

    More than 130 people were injured when Paul Doyle drove his car through crowds celebrating Liverpool Football Club's Premier League win. This is how seven minutes of 'calculated violence' changed the lives of everyone that was there.

  57. 57Undercover: Exposing a Terror Plot

    28 Feb 2026

    Walid Saadaoui and Amar Hussein planned to shoot Jewish people in what police say could have been the deadliest terror attack on UK soil. But they didn't know their friend was an undercover operative.

  58. 58The Man with the Money

    23 Jul 2026 · 29 min

    Peter Murrell, the husband of former Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, embezzles £400,000 from the party he runs as SNP CEO, using a trail of lies to cover up a spending spree on luxury goods.

  59. 59Funeral Home Horror

    31 Jul 2026 · 29 min

    The chilling story of Hull’s funeral home horror. How an undertaker drowning in debt betrayed hundreds of grieving families. Robert Bush hoarded bodies, sold fake funeral plans and presented families with the ashes of strangers. His shocking crimes went undetected for years. The discovery led to one of the most complex investigations in Humberside Police’s history, with help from the National Crime Agency. At the heart of this are grieving families. In their darkest days, they fought for laws to regulate the funeral industry so that others never suffer their pain - or guilt - again.