Beyond Reasonable Doubt

Lord Brittan had led a long and distinguished public life, including serving as Home Secretary under Margaret Thatcher - but as he lay desperately ill in hospital with terminal cancer, he was swept up in a witch hunt based on foul and baseless allegations of child abuse from a deluded liar and paedophile, and cheered on by senior politicians including Tom Watson. Award-winning crime writer Stephen Wright talks to his widow, Lady Brittan, on the devastating effect the allegations had in her husband’s final weeks - and the questions it raises on how the police treat famous people falsely accused of the worst crimes imaginable. Producer: Rosie Gillott

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It was billed as the 'Trial of the Decade', with Rosemary West’s husband Fred 'returning from the grave' in sickening police interviews as the mother-of-eight stood trial for the torture and murder of ten defenceless young women and children. Defence solicitor Leo Goatley tells acclaimed Daily Mail crime writer Stephen Wright that disturbing questions remain about his ‘Satanic’ ex-client Rosemary, why he is certain there are more undiscovered victims of the Wests – and how the murderess is happy in prison.

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No matter how vile your crimes, everyone is entitled to a defence - but there are few more evil criminals than Gloucester mother-of-eight Rosemary West, who butchered ten young women and children. Acclaimed Daily Mail crime writer Stephen Wright interviews West’s former solicitor Leo Goatley, who reveals the horrifying secrets he learned in hundreds of hours with the psychopathic sex killer - including her sordid relationship with her husband and partner in crime Fred, how she was a ‘spitting serpent’ with police and her affair in prison with fellow murderess Myra Hindley.

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The 1983 Brink's-Mat robbery saw thieves make off with £26 million in gold bullion and diamonds in the ‘crime of the century’  - and a number of suspects linked to the heist turned to defence solicitor, Henry Milner, later dubbed the ‘Mr Big of Criminal Briefs’. Award-winning Daily Mail crime writer Stephen Wright talks to the man who has defended some of Britain’s most notorious underworld figures over four decades, including police and 'road rage' killer Kenneth Noye (pictured), former Kray Twins enforcer Freddie Foreman (aka ‘Brown Bread Fred’) and ruthless villain John ‘Goldfinger’ Palmer.  

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Peter Sutcliffe was locked up for life in 1981 for the brutal murders of 13 women, but one mystery still remained - who WAS the cruel hoaxer behind the 'Wearside Jack' tape, which derailed the police investigation and led to three more women dying at the Yorkshire Ripper’s hands? Award-winning Daily Mail crime writer Stephen Wright speaks to retired Detective Chief Superintendent Chris Gregg, whose team unearthed a crucial clue more than two decades on.

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By the summer of 1979, Peter Sutcliffe had already killed ten women, but the investigation into his brutal crimes was about to take a fateful wrong turn, as police went public with letters and a tape sent by a man claiming to be the Yorkshire Ripper. Award-winning Daily Mail crime writer Stephen Wright speaks to retired Detective Chief Superintendent Chris Gregg, who joined the Ripper investigation as a young policeman, and who had serious doubts about the credibility of the so-called 'Wearside Jack' tape.

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For five years, Peter Sutcliffe, known as the Yorkshire Ripper, hunted and killed defenceless women, mutilating their bodies with hammers and screwdrivers. But could his murder spree have been stopped earlier? In the wake of the Ripper's death this month, award-winning Daily Mail crime writer Stephen Wright talks to retired Detective Chief Superintendent Chris Gregg, who joined the Ripper investigation as a rookie policeman in the late 1970s - and witnessed the cruel hoaxes and fatal police errors that allowed Sutcliffe to remain at large. In powerful and poignant testimony, the respected ex head of CID at West Yorkshire Police discusses the ‘Life on Mars’ culture in the force at the time of the Ripper murders, and the harrowing stories of Sutcliffe’s victims.
 

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He was a D-Day hero and distinguished ex-head of the Armed Forces, who ended up being treated as a ‘common criminal’ by bungling Metropolitan Police officers. Field Marshal Lord Bramall was 91 and caring for his dying wife when detectives raided his home over ludicrous sex abuse allegations, made by the notorious liar known as 'Nick', real name Carl Beech. On the first anniversary of his death, Lord Bramall’s son Nicolas tells award-winning Daily Mail crime writer Stephen Wright of his father’s outstanding military career, his shocking ordeal at the hands of Scotland Yard and asks why no police have yet been held to account. 

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Legendary BBC Radio presenter and 'Professor of Pop' Paul Gambaccini was shunned by friends and organisations he had supported, including the Labour Party, after he was arrested over false child sex allegations by officers from the Metropolitan Police’s controversial Operation Yewtree. He was even taken off air for a year by the BBC. As he secures a £250,000 payout from the Met for breaching his privacy by allowing him to be identified, he tells award-winning crime writer Stephen Wright about his seven-year battle for justice - and the “catastrophic” effects of the bogus accusations against him.

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With two of Stephen Lawrence's attackers belatedly jailed for life, what is Stephen's legacy? Could there be more convictions? And in the year Black Lives Matter protests swept the globe, has Scotland Yard really dealt with its problem of 'institutional racism' and learned the lessons of the case? Acclaimed Daily Mail crime writer Stephen Wright talks to police, politicians, lawyers and the young French au pair who witnessed Stephen's senseless killing, and whose life was forever changed as a result.

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Producer: Rosie Gillott

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