UK True Crime Podcast

Today I’m joined by Matt Foot, a criminal defence solicitor and Co-Director of APPEAL a legal charity that fights wrongful convictions as we discuss some of the cases that have raised serious questions about our criminal justice system. We begin with Sam Hallam, who was just seventeen when he was convicted of murder. He spent seven years in prison before his conviction was quashed, and Matt represented him in the fight to cle...

In almost ten years of making the UK True Crime Podcast, I’ve only covered male victims of domestic abuse once before. The vast majority of domestic abuse victims are women abused by men, and that reality should never be overlooked. But in this episode I wanted to tell the stories of two men who suffered horrific abuse at the hands of their female partners. Both cases are deeply upsetting, and both men faced enormous difficul...

In this episode from Sunderland, I tell the story of Barry Sewell, a man whose life became caught up in a rumour with devastating consequences. The case raises important questions about the dangers of unsubstantiated allegations, how quickly rumours can spread, and what happens when people decide to take the law into their own hands. When does suspicion turn into vigilantism, and what happens when people decide they can act as judg...

In this episode, I’m joined by one of my real true crime heroes in Tom Wood, a retired senior police officer who spent almost 40 years in policing, working on some of Scotland’s most significant murder investigations.

Tom has worked on some of Scotland’s most infamous murders and was Officer in Overall Command of a national investigation into the murders of five young Scottish women in the 1970s, including the ...

A gang of armed robbers terrorised Bristol for more than a year, targeting banks, building societies and post offices with shotguns and other weapons.

But how did they operate, and how did police finally bring them down? In this episode, I look at the robberies, the victims and the remarkable covert operation that eventually led to the gang's arrest and imprisonment - it is quite a story.

I release brand new episodes of the U...

Very occasionally, I recommend a podcast series to you and this is a show I have found really interesting and I hope you will too. This is episode one of Rough Diamond, the new true crime series from Always True Crime.

NOTE: I haven't been paid to promote this podcast

It starts in the 1960s when London was in the grips of a crime spree…rare diamonds are being stolen. The latest is the Colenso diamond. It’s the w...

Today’s story takes us to Plymouth, where we look at the tragic story of Callum Hill and the events surrounding his death.

At the heart of the story is a personal dispute between two men and the seemingly futile idea that problems can be settled by arranging a fight. What begins as an argument driven by pride, ego and a refusal to back down ultimately has consequences far beyond the people involved in the original grievanc...

A building project that went badly wrong would lead to a lengthy and costly legal dispute between builder Michael Chudley and his customer, Christopher Sear. As the court case dragged on for years, the consequences for Chudley and his partner became increasingly serious, with both of them losing their homes.

As the financial and personal pressures mounted, Chudley began looking for someone to blame for what had happened. But whe...

True Crime Catch Up is back!

I'm delighted to say that True Crime Catch Up is back with a brand-new episode, as I sit down with Stuart Blues, host of the British Murders podcast, for episode one of our new monthly series.

If you haven't listened before, it's a chance for the two of us to get together and chat about different aspects of true crime, from individual cases to our own experiences of researching and presenting them...

Sixteen-year-old Ruth Wilson disappeared after travelling by taxi to Box Hill in Surrey. She had skipped school and, after being dropped off, was last seen standing alone in the rain on a quiet bridleway as darkness was falling.

Ruth had been experiencing difficulties in her personal life, having recently discovered the truth about her biological mother's death, something that reportedly had a significant impact on her. Friends ...

Carol Jarvis was a woman whose life was shaped by her family and, later, by a degenerative illness which left her increasingly dependent on others. As her health deteriorated, her husband took on the role of her carer, looking after her at home as she became less able to care for herself. But behind the closed doors of the family home, things were not quite as they appeared.

Carol’s children began to notice differences in ...

Note: This epiosde was originally released in February 2022.

High Wycombe isn't somewhere you would necessarily associate with violent crime, but in this case an apparently ordinary churchyard became the setting for a brutal and completely unnecessary murder.

Lee Gillespie found himself caught up in a complicated situation involving jealousy, relationships and misplaced loyalty. What began as tension between people who knew e...

A weekend of music, mountain biking and entertainment at the impressive surroundings of Eastnor Castle in Herefordshire.

But for one 18-year-old man with everything to live for, the weekend would end in tragedy. What happened during those final hours, and how did a celebration turn into a devastating event. This is the story of Alex Pilkington.

I release new episodes of the UK True Crime Podcast every Tuesday and Friday, so p...

The story today is from Cheshire, when two childhood friends visit a family property, Boarded Barn, unaware that their lives are about to be caught up in a terrifying chain of events.

This is a case involving mistaken identity, an extraordinary sequence of events and a murder investigation that would eventually uncover the truth. It’s a story that raises some difficult questions about chance, circumstance and how two compl...

In 2005, Jim Phillips co-founded a marketing company with his best friend. The business grew quickly, securing major contracts and working with high-profile international clients. But behind the success, Jim began to notice increasingly strange behaviour from his business partner.

What followed was an extraordinary web of deception involving fake contracts, impersonated bank officials, claims of connections to the Chinese govern...

She spent more than 100 hours with the man she believed she loved - but she never saw his face.

Kye Fortune was, to the woman at the centre of this case, a real person. They had built a relationship online and eventually met in person, but only on the condition that she wore a blindfold. What followed would lead to one of the strangest criminal cases in the UK, involving deception, identity, trust and consent.

In this episode...

Rachel Thacker was just 21, with a new job, a new car and a future that seemed full of possibilities. A caring, outgoing and popular young woman, she had recently graduated with a degree in occupational therapy and was looking forward to beginning her career.

After travelling to Manchester to celebrate a friend's 21st birthday, Rachel spent the evening with friends before deciding it was time to head home. As she searched for a ...

What would it be like to lose your identical twin to murder?

In this episode, I talk to Nick Dawson, whose identical twin, Simon, was murdered in the most dreadful attack in 1998. I found this conversation incredibly moving and, at times, very emotional. Nick takes us back to his brother’s childhood and talks about the man Simon was before his life was so brutally taken away. We also discuss the murder itself and the devas...

Dawn Rhodes was a 38-year-old mum whose attempt to leave an unhappy marriage ended in tragedy.

After her murder, a disturbing version of events emerged in which Dawn was portrayed as a violent woman who had attacked her own child. But behind that story was a lie which would have devastating consequences for those left behind. The episode today explores the murder of Dawn Rhodes, the story created in its aftermath, and the devast...