In 1994, six-year-old Rikki Neave was found dead in woodland near the Peterborough estate where he lived. He’d been strangled and left naked in the open. Police enlisted the help of soil expert Professor Tony Brown, who analysed the mud found on the victim’s shoes and provided the investigation with a crucial time for when the murder took place. \n \nDetectives focused their attentions on the boy’s abusive mother, and although the expert witness’s evidence suggested the suspect could not have committed the crime, she went on trial for his murder. Having been found not guilty, 20 years later the boy’s mother called for a reinvestigation, and this time the soil science was paramount in helping police identify the killer. With interviews from lead officer Paul Fullwood and emotional testimony from Rikki’s sister Rochelle, who vividly recalls the day her brother disappeared and the terrible aftermath of his murder. \n\nIn the second case in this episode, we explore the world of illegal ivory trading. In December 2019, UK Border Force intercepted packages which had been sold online, sent from London containing suspicious animal products. Dr Lucy Webster specialises in animal DNA analysis and established that the products were made of ivory from a specific living species and were therefore illegal, unlike mammoth ivory. The trader was caught and convicted.
Source: BBC 1
Series 4: 7. The Boy In The Woods - The Murder Of Rikki Neave
In 1994, six-year-old Rikki Neave was found dead in woodland near the Peterborough estate where he lived. He’d been strangled and left naked in the open. Police enlisted t ...
06-11-2024
BBC 1
Series 4: 6. Murderers, Messages And The Breakfast Killer
In this episode, we take a look at how phone data can unlock a case and provide a solid link between the suspects and a horrific murder. \n\nIn early 2023, emergency call handle ...
05-11-2024
BBC 1
Series 4: 5. Catching A Cold Case Killer
Now more than ever, forensic science is opening up the possibility of catching criminals for crimes that have remained unsolved for years. In this episode, a case that had lain ...
04-11-2024
BBC 1
Series 4: 4. Cracking The Killer's Code
Our first case concerns a young man, Dolton Powell, fatally stabbed by an armed gang after a party. A group of suspects are arrested and questioned, but they remain tight-lipped ...
31-10-2024
BBC 1
Series 4: 3. The Wheelie Bin Killer
In our first case, father of four, Pat McCormick, goes missing in Comber, Northern Ireland, leaving his family desperate for answers. Police suspected he’d come to harm bu ...
30-10-2024
BBC 1
Series 4: 2. The Body In The Suitcase
An expert witness uses scanning technology developed for the manufacturing industry to find vital evidence that convicts a killer. \n\nIn a Birmingham canal, a truly shocking di ...
29-10-2024
BBC 1
Series 4: 1. The Murder Of Sarah Payne: Fields Of Evidence
True crime documentary series that reveals how expert witnesses helped solve some of the UK's most complex major crime cases. \n\nThis programme travels to Sussex to investiga ...
28-10-2024
BBC 1
Series 3: 5. Written In Blood And The End Of The Line
When two men are wrongly convicted of murder, a forensic blood spatter analyst helps to prove their innocence. And an expert witness uses mobile phone analysis to help police br ...
26-07-2024
BBC 1
Series 3: 4. Corrosive Truth And A Field Of Evidence
When a woman is the victim of an acid attack in Brighton, an expert pieces together hours of CCTV footage to identify the suspect. And through pollen analysis, an expert witness ...
25-07-2024
BBC 1
Series 3: 3. Body Of Evidence And Shallow Grave
When a 21-year-old student is murdered and dumped in the Humber Estuary, a forensic biologist helps police bring her killer to justice. And an expert witness analyses soil at a ...
24-07-2024
BBC 1
Series 3: 2. A Watery Grave And The Dangerous Date
When the body of a farmer is found in a lake, a bioarchaeologist helps police reveal how he got there. Meanwhile, when a man is accused of intentionally spreading the HIV virus, ...
23-07-2024
BBC 1
Series 1: 3. Forensic Imaging And Msn Chat
This episode uncovers the forensic imaging expertise behind the eventual capture of Michael Hardacre, the 'Rochdale ripper'.\n\nIn the summer of 2000, a series of attacks in Roc ...
26-07-2022
BBC 1
Series 1: 6. Dna, Fibres And Bones
In this episode, we reveal how the tenacity of a team of forensic scientists helped finally catch the killer of two children in Brighton. Also, when bones were discovered on moo ...
03-08-2022
BBC 1
Series 1 (extended Versions): 9. Paint, Blood And Fingerprints
A forensic art expert proves paintings by a well-known artist are fake, blood spatter patterns in a hotel help catch the killer of a father of three, and there's a fingerprintin ...
15-12-2022
BBC 1
Series 1: 12. Pollen, Chalk And Dna
How expert analysis of nettles and soil helped catch the killer of the Soham schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, and how advances in DNA techniques finally solved the m ...
09-11-2021
BBC 1
Series 1: 10. Pollen, Bones And Dna
Some cases are open and shut. Others present as a complete mystery, and it takes an Expert Witness to uncover the first clues. That’s what happened when human remains were ...
12-08-2022
BBC 1
Series 1 (extended Versions): 5. Dna, Fibres And Crime Scene Management
In this episode, we delve into an old murder mystery in the village of Beenham in Berkshire. Modern forensic science covers a huge area of expertise- blood, DNA, soil, pollen, d ...
09-12-2022
BBC 1
Series 1: 4. Fibre Trails And Diamonds
With so many forensic techniques available, detectives and expert witnesses can sometimes disagree on how best to search for evidence. In 2006, a team investigating three notori ...
26-07-2022
BBC 1
Series 2: 8. Late Night Murder And Exhuming Evidence
When a young nurse disappears, a soil analyst helps find her body and solve the crime. A digital imaging expert proves that what was thought to be an accidental death was murder.
29-05-2024
BBC 1
Series 2: 11. Sole Of A Killer And Stolen Treasure
Police turn to a footprint analyst and a pollen expert to help solve a murder in Manchester, and a soil expert unearths the evidence needed to arrest a gang of treasure thieves.
03-06-2024
BBC 1