Black British Files: A True Crime Podcast

On June 7, 1992, 18-year-old Katie Rackliff was brutally attacked after leaving a night out in Camberley.

For four years, detectives were left baffled, hunting for an adult offender while the case went completely cold.

Nobody suspected that the killer was hiding in plain sight, and was only 12 years old at the time of the crime.

It wasn't until a violent attack at a local secondary school two years later that police uncovered graphic diary entries revealing a horrifying truth.

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In the early hours of Sunday, 18 January 1981, a joint birthday party at 439 New Cross Road in South East London ended in an unimaginable tragedy.

A devastating house fire tore through the building, ultimately claiming the lives of 14 young Black British people and injuring dozens more.

But what happened next would spark a massive turning point in modern British history.

Met with official political silence, a hostile police investigation, and biased media coverage, a grieving community refused to be quieted.

Out of the ashes of New Cross arose a historic civil rights movement, culminating in the "Black People's Day of Action", a moment that permanently transformed the landscape of multicultural Britain.

In this episode, we explore the clashing theories of that fateful night, the systemic failures that followed, and the enduring legacy of a tragedy that a generation refused to let the world forget.

Who held the flame? Why did the official verdicts leave a community in limbo? Tune in as we look at the history, the heartbreak, and the fight for justice in the New Cross Massacre.

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On the morning of 3 November 2020, every parent’s worst nightmare unfolded on the streets of South London.

A 13-year-old schoolgirl was walking to her morning lessons in Mitcham when she was ambushed, dragged into a secluded alleyway, and sexually assaulted by 26-year-old Kadian Nelson.

But what Nelson didn’t count on was the extraordinary bravery of the community around him.

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In October 2001, 19-year-old Cassandra McDermott was found dead in her South London home.

While police quickly zeroed in on a prime suspect, the subsequent trial ended in a devastating blow for her family: a jury delivered a swift "not guilty" verdict, and the suspect walked free.

Under the UK’s ancient legal system, an acquittal meant the case was permanently closed—no one could be tried twice for the same crime.

But years later, a shocking turn of events and an act of extraordinary bravery forced the British legal system to do the unthinkable.

In this episode, we explore a heart-breaking case of domestic abuse, an incredible fight for survival, and the historic investigation that tore up an 800-year-old law to bring a killer to justice.

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In February 2000, eight-year-old Victoria Climbié tragically died from severe abuse and systemic neglect, a death that shocked the nation and exposed fatal flaws across the UK’s child protection services.

In this episode, we examine the warning signs that were repeatedly missed by health, police, and social services, the devastating realities behind the cover stories used to hide her injuries, and how the subsequent Lord Laming Public Inquiry fundamentally transformed UK child protection law forever.

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Join me as I speak about the murder of "Sonny", who travelled to Jamaica to bury his mother, but didn't even get the chance due to a horrific tragedy

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Welcome to Black British Files! I'll be digging into black UK true crime, history, and the cases that changed Black British society forever. Expect thorough research, real talk, and a fresh Black British perspective on the stories that shaped our world.

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