File on 4 Investigates

It’s a scandal that went uncovered for 30 years. Body parts and organs from former workers in the nuclear industry were systematically removed for research. But the families of those former workers were never told. The truth only came to light following a three year inquiry published in 2010. But was this practice contained to one industry, or was this happening on behalf of others too?

News reports around the time of the Sellafield scandal claimed that organs of coal miners were also being routinely removed during post-mortems at the request of the then National Coal Board.

So, was the coal industry involved in a similar scandal - and to what extent? And could the need to advance research and science ever be seen to outweigh the need for permission?

Reporter and producer: Emma Forde

The case of Carla Foster made headlines last year after the mother-of-three was initially sentenced to two years in prison for taking abortion pills after the legal cut-off. Since then, several other women have appeared in English courts accused of having illegal abortions, with increasing numbers of women under police investigation.

Reporter Divya Talwar hears from women who have been investigated on suspicion of procuring illegal abortions, meets one woman who was prosecuted and sentenced, and hears from a journalist who believes the law is proportionate. File on 4 reveals that in some cases, women who have experienced pregnancy loss and premature deliveries are also being investigated on suspicion of having illegal abortions.

There have been growing calls from campaigners and MPs to scrap the Victorian law that criminalises abortion in England and Wales and replace with medical regulation instead - as is the case in Northern Ireland. While some say the law doesn’t need to be changed, others believe urgent reform is required so women involved are treated with compassion instead of being punished.

Reporter: Divya Talwar

Image Credit: MartinPrescott\Getty

File on 4 tells the story behind the brutal killing of schoolgirl Brianna Ghey. She was attacked in a park near Warrington in Cheshire on a Saturday afternoon in February 2023. Two teenagers - Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe - who were obsessed with murder and torture, have been convicted of her murder. In the build-up to the killing, they exchanged text messages outlining details of their plan. The girl even wrote a detailed plan of how they would go about the murder which was found by police in her bedroom. File on 4 has discovered how she had been part of a 'managed move' to Brianna's school after she poisoned a younger girl with a cannabis-infused 'gummy' and didn't tell her what was in it. The 13-year-old became very poorly and the police were alerted. The victim's family decided against further action and the matter was referred back to the school. Scarlett Jenkinson was suspended for five days and later transferred to Brianna's school where the two girls became friends. However, before accepting Jenkinson on their register, the school was not given all the details of the incident involving the cannabis sweet. Warrington Borough Council says a child safeguarding review is underway and it will examine all of the issues - including the circumstances surrounding the managed transfer.

Reporter: Katie Barnfield

When three young children and their carer were stabbed outside a school in Dublin, protests against immigration began, fuelled by rumours on social media. A night of rioting then followed, with shops looted, vehicles set alight, and police attacked. The rioting has placed immigration centre stage of Irish politics, with one of the country’s most famous sports stars, mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor, claiming Ireland is “at war” and saying he wants to be president. File on 4 investigates what caused the riots, and asks is Ireland at a turning point in its history?

Reporter: Shane Harrison

Councils in England and Wales are owed half a billion pounds - mainly in uncollected taxes and fines; money that's needed for essential services. Now, more and more, many are turning to bailiffs to recover the money. File on 4 hears from those on the receiving end - and industry insiders who say their colleagues are incentivised to behave badly. Mark Lobel also speaks to those at the forefront of industry reform who believe say the industry still needs to clean up its act.

Reporter: Mark Lobel

Handguns which fire blanks are being converted into deadly weapons by criminals. File on 4 has discovered they're now being used more often than real handguns. Adrian Goldberg meets victims of gun crime and explores the UK's trade in illegal firearms. He discovers how easy it is to buy a blank firing pistol which can be illegally converted into a lethal weapon in 20 minutes, and hears from a former gangster who warns the law has too many loopholes.

Reporter: Adrian Goldberg

A group of women turned to a private specialist eating disorder clinic in Bath hoping they would receive life-changing treatment.

They say their mental and physical health deteriorated while the psychologist in charge subjected them to psychological abuse. The clinic has since closed its doors, but the former patients say they have been left with life-long scars

Reporter: Divya Talwar

The story of the Post Office IT scandal has gained new momentum in the wake of an ITV dramatisation about how dozens of subpostmasters were falsely accused of theft and fraud and hauled through the courts. After 20 years, campaigners won a legal battle to have their cases reconsidered and in 2019 the Post Office lost a High Court battle and agreed to pay nearly £60 million to more than 550 of its staff. Some ended up in prison, others bankrupt - many more have been left with their health and reputations in ruins. A public inquiry is ongoing, but many victims are still fighting to have their convictions overturned or to secure full compensation.

In this episode of File on 4 - updated since its first broadcast in February 2020 - Hayley Hassall meets some of those whose lives were destroyed. She returns to the Post Office in the East Riding seaside town of Bridlington with former subpostmaster Lee Castleton. There are still buckets and spades in the otherwise empty shop - a business he'd taken on after deciding to give up his job as a stockbroker for a better quality of life. She hears from Tracy Felstead who was convicted of fraud and sent to Holloway Prison when she was just 19 years old.

One whistleblower reveals how he warned the Post Office the Horizon system was unsafe and, in his first ever interview, forensic accountant Ron Warmington reveals how he struggled to get straight answers from Post Office management after he was brought in to carry out an investigation.

Reporter: Hayley Hassall

For more than twenty years, Zholia Alemi worked as a psychiatrist for the NHS. She practiced the length and breadth of the country, treating vulnerable patients with dementia, learning disabilities and mental illness. And then she was caught in a lie.

File on 4 tells the story behind the brutal killing of 16-year-old transgender schoolgirl Brianna Ghey. She was attacked in a park near Warrington in Cheshire on a Saturday afternoon in February 2023. Two teenagers, who were obsessed with murder and torture, have been convicted of her murder. In the build-up to the killing, they'd exchanged text messages outlining a details of their plan. Reporter Katie Barnfield speaks to Brianna’s mother and the detective involved in bringing her killers to justice.

Reporter: Katie Barnfield