The eight greatest Crimewatch cases
Happy birthday, Crimewatch UK. The BBC stalwart celebrates its 40th anniversary on Friday, having aired its first ever episode on June 7 1984. The series, which reconstructs unsolved crimes in an attempt to gather information from the public, has assisted police in more than 5,000 cases, including hundreds of high-profile murders.
The crime-fighting show might be consigned to the daytime schedule nowadays, in the guise of Crimewatch Live, but for decades it was the epitome of public service broadcasting. At its primetime peak in the 1980s, it could pull in audiences of 14 million. Huge ratings meant it was able to reach a vast number of potential witnesses.
But as more TV channels flooded the market, it was finally axed in 2017[1] after 33 years as viewing figures diminished. “When it started, it was revolutionary,” former presenter Nick Ross told the Today programme in 2017. “Up to that point, television and radio basically talked at the audience. There was no internet, very few phone-ins – this was a programme where the audience could talk back and could actually influence the end of the programme.”
Over the years, its presenters also included Sue Cook, Fiona Bruce, Jeremy Vine, Kirsty Young and the late Jill Dando[2]. They would call on viewers to help solve major crimes, saying, “If you see anything tonight that jogs your memory, please ring us.” Citizens phoned in their droves with potential intel. Groundbreaking in its interactivity, Crimewatch became a powerful policing tool.
One in three appeals ended in arrest and one in five in convictions. We’ve rifled through the Crimewatch dossiers to reveal the biggest cases it helped crack. As Nick Ross would always sign off: don’t have nightmares, do sleep well.
The first Crimewatch case (1983)
More than two decades after Colette Aram was brutally murdered, Paul Hutchinson was arrested thanks to advances in forensic technologyCredit: PA
The 1983 murder of 16-year-old Colette Aram was the first ever case covered on Crimewatch.
The trainee hairdresser was abducted, sexually assaulted and strangled as she walked to her boyfriend’s house in Nottinghamshire. A reconstruction was broadcast, leading to 400 tip-off calls from the public, but police were unable to catch Colette’s killer. He remained at large until 2008 when Crimewatch did a nationwide review of cold-case murders.
Advances in forensic technology and DNA profiling led to an arrest, 25 years after the crime. Outcome: Paul Hutchinson pleaded guilty in December 2009 and was jailed for a minimum of 25 years. Ten months later, he overdosed and died in his cell at Nottingham Prison.
Murder of James Bulger (1993)
A video still dated Februay 13 1993 of James Bulger, aged two, being led away in the New Strand shopping centre in the Bootle area of LiverpoolCredit: PA
It was one of the most shocking crimes in British legal history – and among Crimewatch’s biggest coups.
In February 1993, two-year-old James was snatched from a Merseyside shopping centre while out with his mother Denise. Low-resolution CCTV footage showed two schoolboys leading the toddler away by the hand. They sickeningly tortured and beat him to death, leaving his body on a railway line.
After enhanced images were shown on Crimewatch, two witnesses identified them as Jon Venables[3] and Robert Thompson, only 10 themselves. Outcome: The pair were found guilty in November 1993, becoming the 20th century’s youngest convicted murderers. They were sentenced to secure youth accommodation with a recommendation that they serve at least eight years.
In June 2001, both were released on lifelong licence with secret new identities. Venables has twice returned to prison for breaching the terms of his licence.
Hammer attack on the Russell family (1996)
Actors playing the parts of Lin Russell and her daughters Megan and Josephine retracing their last walk home before they were murderedCredit: Brian Smith
In July 1996, Lin Russell was walking the family dog down a Kent country lane with her two daughters – nine-year-old Josie and six-year-old Megan – when they were tied up and attacked by a man with a hammer. Lin and Megan were both killed.
Josie was left for dead but managed to survive. In September, Crimewatch aired a reconstruction, including an e-fit of the assailant and moving footage of Josie. In July 1997, the programme made a further appeal, this time targeted at mental health workers in the hope they could provide vital information.
Out of 600 calls, three proved key. A psychiatrist rang to report his suspicions of 37-year-old heroin addict Michael Stone. Two nurses also named Stone.
Outcome: In 1998, Stone was sentenced to three life terms. He maintains his innocence, blaming the crimes on serial killer Levi Bellfield.
Disappearance of Sarah Payne (2000)
Sarah Payne’s body was found after a 16-day search.
Both times Crimewatch broadcast an appeal, Roy Whiting was named as a suspectCredit: PA
Eight-year-old Sarah was walking home from her grandparents’ house through a West Sussex cornfield when she went missing. After a frantic 16-day search, her body was found. Crimewatch broadcast two appeals and, both times, Roy Whiting was named as a suspect.
After the first appeal in November 2000, several callers named Whiting, a local man who had served time for abducting a girl. A second appeal in January 2001 showed a distinctive patterned curtain, fibres from which were found on Sarah’s shoe. A viewer recognised it because she’d left it in a van which her boyfriend sold to Whiting.
Outcome: In December 2001, Whiting was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. A campaign led to “Sarah’s Law[4]“, changing child protection legislation to enable parents to find out if somebody with regular access to their children has a record of sexual offences.
The M25 rapist (2002)
A string of sexual attacks on women and girls were carried out around the M25 between 2001 and 2002. The motorway became the focus of a manhunt and an e-fit picture of the prime suspect was shown on Crimewatch.
A viewer recognised the face and directed police to their neighbour, Antoni Imiela. He was also known as the “Trophy Rapist” because he kept items of his victims’ clothing as souvenirs. Outcome: After DNA linked him to the crimes, Imiela was convicted of nine rapes, plus the indecent assault and attempted rape of a 10-year-old girl.
He was jailed for a minimum of 99 years but died of heart failure in Wakefield Prison in 2018, aged 63.
Kenneth Noye’s road-rage killing (1996)
Motorist Stephen Cameron was stabbed to death with a nine-inch blade on an M25 slip roadCredit: PA
While on licence for tax evasion and handling stolen gold from the Brink’s-Mat heist, career criminal Kenneth Noye got into an altercation with 21-year-old motorist Stephen Cameron on a slip road of the M25 in Kent. Cameron was stabbed to death with a nine-inch blade. Within 24 hours, Noye had escaped to Spain with a briefcase full of cash.
After seeing an appeal on Crimewatch, car valet Carl Simcox came forward to testify that Noye habitually carried knives in his vehicles. Outcome: Extradition from Spain was granted in 1999. In a high-security trial, Noye was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum 16-year tariff.
He was released in 2019, aged 72.
Capture of Stephanie Slater’s attacker (1992)
Estate agent Stephanie Slater was locked in a makeshift coffin for eight daysCredit: AP
While showing a man around a Nottinghamshire house in January 1992, estate agent Stephanie Slater was attacked, blindfolded and locked in a makeshift coffin for eight days. Her employers paid a GBP175,000 ransom for her release but after hearing Slater describe her captor, police believed he may have also murdered teenager Julie Dart the previous year in Leeds. When Crimewatch broadcast a recording of the suspect’s voice, Michael Sams’s ex-wife, Susan Oake, came forward and said she recognised him.
Outcome: Sams received a life sentence for kidnapping Stephanie and murdering Julie. After attacking a female probation officer with a metal spike, he received an additional eight years. Last year, he was deemed too dangerous to be released, despite being 82.
He has sued HMP Wakefield for losing his prosthetic leg and his bed being too hard.
Shooting of Rhys Jones (2007)
Crimewatch reconstructed the murder of 11-year-old Rhys Jones, which led to more than 40 callsCredit: PA
On his way home from football practice in Liverpool, 11-year-old Rhys was shot in the back by a hooded teenager on a mountain bike as he crossed a pub car park. A month later, Crimewatch recreated his murder and Rhys’s mother Melanie made a direct appeal to his killer’s mother to turn him in. It led to more than 40 calls, 12 of which named the same suspect.
Outcome: In December 2008, after a nine-week trial, Sean Mercer – a member of the Croxteth Crew gang – was found guilty of murder. He’d been aiming at rival gang members but hit Rhys instead. Mercer was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 22 years.
The case led to a local campaign, backed by the Jones family, “In Rhys’s Name Get Guns Off Our Streets”.
References
- ^ finally axed in 2017 (www.telegraph.co.uk)
- ^ Jill Dando (www.telegraph.co.uk)
- ^ Jon Venables (www.telegraph.co.uk)
- ^ Sarah’s Law (www.telegraph.co.uk)