Lucky Boy

Lucky Boy

Gareth’s whole life has been defined by a relationship he had 35 years ago when, as a 14-year-old schoolboy, he fell in love with an attractive young teacher at his school. He spent most afternoons in her bedroom and thought he was the luckiest boy in the world. But when she walked out of his life everything started to unravel. Lucky Boy is a four-part series in which Chloe Hadjimatheou asks who gets to be a perpetrator and a victim. Gareth spent years believing he was a lucky boy. He was the 14-year-old who got the attention of the attractive young science teacher. Now, decades later, he wants the truth to come out about the damage it’s caused him. But his story is not straight forward. Thank you for listening to Lucky Boy. You can listen to more of our investigations on Tortoise Investigates. Follow the feed to be the first to hear when we release brand-new investigations. To get all our investigations early and ad-free, subscribe to Observer+ on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. If you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact hello@tortoisemedia.com Reported and produced by: Chloe Hadjimatheou and Gary Marshall Sound design: Hannah Varrall Podcast artwork: Lola Williams Executive producer: Basia Cummings Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episodes

August 1, 2025 2 mins

Gareth’s whole life has been defined by a relationship he had 35 years ago when, as a 14-year-old schoolboy, he fell in love with an attractive young teacher at his school. He spent most afternoons in her bedroom and thought he was the luckiest boy in the world. But when she walked out of his life everything started to unravel. 


Lucky Boy is a four-part series in which Chloe Hadjimatheou asks who gets to be a perpetrator an...

Mark as Played

Gareth spent years believing he was a lucky boy. He was the 14-year-old who got the attention of the attractive young science teacher. Now, decades later, he wants the truth to come out about the damage it’s caused him. But his story is not straight forward. 


Thank you for listening to Lucky Boy.


You can listen to more of our investigations on Tortoise Investigates.

Follow the feed to be the first to hear when we release...

Mark as Played
August 1, 2025 44 mins

Gareth is convinced that his memories are true and that there are plenty of witnesses who can corroborate his story, so why will no one help him? 


Thank you for listening to Lucky Boy.


You can listen to more of our investigations on Tortoise Investigates.

Follow the feed to be the first to hear when we release brand-new investigations.

To get all our investigations early and ad-free, subscribe to Observer+ on Apple Podcas...

Mark as Played
August 1, 2025 41 mins

Chloe hears from a former teacher who seems to support what Gareth believes - that there was a cover-up. And it’s still going on today.


Thank you for listening to Lucky Boy.


You can listen to more of our investigations on Tortoise Investigates.

Follow the feed to be the first to hear when we release brand-new investigations.

To get all our investigations early and ad-free, subscribe to Observer+ on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

If ...

Mark as Played
August 1, 2025 52 mins

Sally Anne Bowen doesn’t want to speak about her relationship with Gareth, but it turns out there is a way of hearing her version of events. And after months of searching, Chloe gets a message from another ‘lucky boy’. 


Thank you for listening to Lucky Boy.


You can listen to more of our investigations on Tortoise Investigates.

Follow the feed to be the first to hear when we release brand-new investigations.

To get all our ...

Mark as Played
August 4, 2025 3 mins

When Lucky Boy launched back in March, there was an important detail that didn't make it into the podcast, for legal reasons: the team had discovered that they weren’t the only people who had been investigating the allegations made by Gareth - the Metropolitan Police had been too. 


Now, reporter Chloe Hadjimatheou has an update.


Thank you for listening to Lucky Boy.


You can listen to more of our i...

Mark as Played

Popular Podcasts

    My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.

    24/7 News: The Latest

    The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.

    Dateline NBC

    Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

    Stuff You Should Know

    If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

    The Bobby Bones Show

    Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.

Advertise With Us
Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.