Leading criminal barristers Jeremy Dein QC and Sasha Wass QC reinvestigate a case of matricide dating from the 1920s, in which a renowned fraudster went to the gallows accused of murdering his mother. \n\nKent, 1929. On the evening of 23 October, in the coastal town of Margate, a distraught guest of the Hotel Metropole stormed downstairs into the lobby. That guest was Sydney Fox. He screamed that his mother’s room was on fire, and begged for help. A brave bystander managed to pull the body of Sydney's mother, Rosaline Fox, out of the smoke-filled bedroom, but it was too late. She had already passed away. \n\nIt looked like a tragic accident, but within a few days Sydney Fox tried to claim on his deceased mother’s life insurance policies, which would pay out a substantial amount in the event of accidental death. Rosaline Fox’s body was exhumed and analysed by the famous pathologist Sir Bernard Spilsbury, who concluded that she had, in fact, been strangled – basing his opinion on a bruise that subsequently disappeared. \n\nAfter the investigation, Fox was arrested and charged for the historically rare crime of matricide. The prosecution case against him was that he had strangled his mother and then started the fire deliberately to make it look like an accident, enabling his claim on the life insurance policies. \n\nAt trial, Sydney Fox pleaded his innocence, but forensic findings proved damning, and he was found guilty of murder. On 8 April 1930, at Maidstone Prison, Sydney Fox was hanged. \n\nToday, Sydney Fox’s relative Laura and her friend Simon are keen to have the case re-examined and have enlisted the help of the barristers. Sasha and Jeremy explore the motive and whether the forensic findings of the day, including fire and pathology evidence, stand up to modern-day scrutiny. \n\nWill they be able to uncover new evidence to indicate that Sydney Fox’s conviction was unsafe?
Source: BBC 1
Series 3: Episode 9
Leading criminal barristers Sasha Wass and Jeremy Dein investigate the fatal poisoning of a 49-year-old wealthy lodger at a family mansion.\n\nLondon, 1911. Insurance salesman F ...
08-03-2024
BBC 1
Series 3: Episode 8
Barristers Sasha Wass and Jeremy Dein investigate whether the murder of a gentleman farmer in the late Victorian era was really carried out by a 19-year-old rabbit poacher.\n\nS ...
07-03-2024
BBC 1
Series 3: Episode 3
The barristers explore the case of a poultry farmer who buried the body of his fiancé under a chicken run but claimed to be innocent of her murder.\n\nCrowborough, East S ...
06-03-2024
BBC 1
Series 3: Episode 2
Leading criminal barristers Sasha Wass and Jeremy Dein investigate a toxic love triangle which culminated in the murder of a Yorkshire farm owner, who died in mysterious circums ...
05-03-2024
BBC 1
Series 3: Episode 1
Leading criminal barristers Sasha Wass and Jeremy Dein investigate their oldest case yet, the murder of a female canal boat passenger 180 years ago, for which boatmen were convi ...
04-03-2024
BBC 1
Series 4: 8. Dainton
Leading barristers Jeremy Dein QC and Sasha Wass QC examine the drowning of a wife and mother in Victorian Bath, re-evaluating the chain of evidence that led to the conviction o ...
01-03-2024
BBC 1
Series 4: 9. Brown
Top criminal barristers Sasha Wass QC and Jeremy Dein QC re-examine an infamous case of a housewife accused of murdering her young husband. She became the last woman to be publi ...
29-02-2024
BBC 1
Series 4: 7. Read
Top criminal barristers Jeremy Dein QC and Sasha Wass QC re-examine their oldest case yet - the murder of a military veteran by his estranged wife nearly 200 years ago.\n\nLeice ...
28-02-2024
BBC 1
Series 4: 10. Shaw
Leading criminal barristers Sasha Wass QC and Jeremy Dein QC investigate their first Scottish case, the murder of a reclusive pensioner nearly 70 years ago. Two men stood trial, ...
27-02-2024
BBC 1
Series 4: 6. Staunton
Top criminal barristers Jeremy Dein QC and Sasha Wass QC re-examine the complex case against a Victorian auctioneer accused, alongside his brother and two others, of murdering h ...
26-02-2024
BBC 1
Case Closed? Series 4: 5. Lowson
Leading criminal barristers Sasha Wass QC and Jeremy Dein QC revisit their investigation into the brutal murder of a policeman. Three men were tried for the crime, but only one ...
24-02-2023
BBC 1
Series 4: 4. Lowson
Leading criminal barristers Sasha Wass QC and Jeremy Dein QC re-examine a brutal murder of a policeman. Three men were tried for the crime, but only one was hanged. \n\nButterkn ...
22-02-2024
BBC 1
Series 3: Episode 8
Barristers Sasha Wass and Jeremy Dein investigate whether the murder of a gentleman farmer in the late Victorian era was really carried out by a 19-year-old rabbit poacher.\n\nS ...
07-03-2024
BBC 1
Series 5: 4. Yarham
Top criminal barristers Jeremy Dein QC and Sasha Wass QC reinvestigate a complex case from Victorian Britain that featured four prime suspects, two trials and ultimately just on ...
04-10-2023
BBC 1
Series 1: Episode 2
Top criminal barristers Sasha Wass and Jeremy Dein reinvestigate the notorious case of Devlin and Burns, two thieves sentenced to death for murder.\n\nWhen Beatrice Rimmer was f ...
01-03-2022
BBC 1
Series 2: Episode 4
Top criminal barristers Jeremy Dein and Sasha Wass investigate the 1962 armed robbery of a Co-op depot in South London, which resulted in an employee being shot dead.\n\nMitcham ...
03-05-2022
BBC 1
Case Closed?: Episode 2
Top criminal barristers Sasha Wass and Jeremy Dein look back at their investigation of a murder case from the 1930s and discover that a family torn apart has finally been reunit ...
13-06-2023
BBC 1
Series 5: 10. Poff/barrett
Leading criminal barristers Jeremy Dein QC and Sasha Wass QC investigate the mysterious shooting of a landowning farmer in rural Ireland. After two trials, two men were executed ...
13-10-2023
BBC 1
Series 2: Episode 5
Top criminal barristers Sasha Wass and Jeremy Dein investigate the murder of a young lady found partially naked, lying in an alley known as a local ‘lovers lane’.\n\ ...
04-05-2022
BBC 1
Series 4: 5. Dumbleton
Top criminal barristers Jeremy Dein QC and Sasha Wass QC re-examine the case against a young farm labourer convicted of the brutal murder of a travelling watch repairman in 1880 ...
23-02-2024
BBC 1