File on 4 Investigates

They were born in the same month of the same year: Emily, Nadia, and Christie. The three young women who lived close to each other in the North East of England became friends, their lives intertwined due to severe mental health problems. They shared their innermost fears, their thoughts and laughs. But their tragic deaths came within eight months of each other while under the care of the same mental health trust. An investigation has higlighted multiple failings by the Tees Esk and Wear Valley Mental Health Trust. File on 4 tells their stories in their own words and hears from those closest to them, and asks what could have been done to save them all.

Details of organisations offering information and support with mental health or feelings of despair are available at https://www.bbc.co.uk/actionline

Reporter: Datshiane Navanayagam

A British woman tells File on 4 about her relationship with controversial social media influencer Andrew Tate, claiming that he pressurised her to work for his webcam company and that he was controlling and violent towards her. Tate is currently in detention in Bucharest along with his brother, Tristan, facing allegations of people trafficking and rape, which both men deny. Prosecutors allege that Andrew Tate recruited victims by seducing them and falsely claiming he wanted a relationship or marriage. 'Sophie' tells File on 4 what happened to her and other women who worked in Romania as webcam girls for Tate. The programme also interrogates Tate's claims that he's a self-made 'trillionaire' and asks whether his boasts around his vast wealth are all that they seem.

Image credit: EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Producer: Hayley Mortimer

*Since this episode of File on 4 was originally broadcast, lawyers acting for Andrew Tate have said that he denies all the allegations made against him in the programme.

This episode tells the story of a primary school on the frontline of the cost of living crisis, a school doing more than most to make sure children are fed, warm and have somewhere safe to go home to at night.

File on 4 spent several months recording at Ingol Community Primary in Preston. It’s in one of the most deprived areas in England; more than half of their pupils are on pupil premium - additional state funding aimed at closing the attainment gap between poorer pupils and their peers - but that’s not their only challenge.

This school is going to exceptional lengths to make sure families survive the cost of living crisis this winter, all while battling unprecedented pressure on the school’s own finances. Will they be able to make ends meet and still provide all this extra help for families?

Reporter: Alys Harte

File on 4 investigates events that led to the death of two people at London's Brixton O2 Academy in December. The venue was shut down after the fatal crowd crush ahead of a concert by the Nigerian artist Asake. Security guard Gaby Hutchinson, 23, and Rebecca Ikumelo, 33, died in hospital after the incident at the south London venue on 15 December. Some said ticketless fans tried to force there way into the venue. But File on 4 has heard compelling evidence that suggests there were other reasons the venue became overcrowded.

Producer: Anna Meisel

18 months after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, File on 4 hears from people still stuck in hiding; their names blacklisted because of the work they did for the British.

Following the fall of the country and the frantic evacuation, the UK Government made a series of promises not to leave behind those who'd helped the UK.

The programme investigates the failures of these schemes, which have seen tiny numbers getting to safety in the UK. Thousands more left living in fear, facing torture and kidnap have been left languishing for months without contact or support.

Reporter: Paul Kenyon

The death of a child causes parents’ unimaginable grief, but this is being exacerbated by long delays to post mortem reports due to a shortage of pathologists in the UK.

Reporter: Adrian Goldberg

The cost of living crisis is placing huge pressure on families across the country, many of whom were already living in poverty and struggling to make ends meet.

Reporter: Paul Connolly

Their country is not at war and it's not ruled by an authoritarian regime, yet thousands of young Albanians are making the dangerous journey across the channel to live and work in the UK.

File on 4 travels across Albania to discover the truth behind the biggest migration controversy to hit Britain for years, visiting towns where most young men have already left and the rest are planning to leave as soon as possible.

In Has, a small town in Northern Albania, 80 per cent of families rely on funds being sent back by relatives living in the UK. A red phone box can be found outside a pub called Britain Lounge - a mark of respect to the country providing work to the majority of the town's youth.

While in neighbouring Kukes, men who've made their fortune and returned home, drive around the city in cars with GB number plates.

With wages low and youth unemployment high, File on 4 hears from young people who say there are no prospects for them in their home country.

They're lured to the promised lands of England by slick social media campaigns led by people smugglers and by Albanians who show off their wealth online.

But the exodus of skilled workers and the country's labour force is having a huge impact on the population of Albania, which has still yet to fully recover from its brutalist communist rule.

Reporter: Paul Kenyon

They’re cheap – but they’re also deadly. Illegal pills costing as little as 50p each are contributing to the deaths of hundreds of people each year in Scotland. Now an expert is warning benzodiazepines, or street Valium, could pose a growing threat elsewhere.

Jane Deith talks to those whose lives have been destroyed by benzodiazepines, a category of drugs usually used to treat anxiety that can be prescribed, but which have become a major feature of the illegal drugs market in Scotland and now elsewhere in the UK.

The so called “street benzos” are a class C drug manufactured in huge quantities in illegal factories and sold for as little as 50p each, less than a bar of chocolate.

From the Clyde to Cornwall, File on 4 hears the stories of those dealing with the fallout from the trade in the drugs, including people who have been addicted to them; a mother in North East England who lost her daughter to a fatal overdose; a teenager who bought them on social media, and an expert who believes their influence is spreading, with potentially dangerous consequences.

Reporter: Jane Deith

Before Covid the US gaming platform Roblox was one of many online games children played. Following lockdown and millions of children isolating at home, the company now has a market value of $22bn and is the most popular gaming platform for British children. But is the platform doing all it can to protect them? Concerns have been raised about financial exploitation, grooming, gambling and access to inappropriate content.