This episode features world-renowned body language expert Dr Cliff Lansley, director of the Emotional Intelligence Academy. For his online course on human behaviour and how to spot the signs of deception go to www.emotionintell.com/theprofiler

On 31 July 2021, five-year-old Logan Mwangi's body was found in the River Ogmore in South Wales, shortly after his mother, Angharad Williamson, reported him missing. In this episode, forensic psychologist Kerry Daynes examines how Logan was killed by Williamson, her partner John Cole, and Cole's teenage son Craig Mulligan, following a campaign of abuse rooted in Cole's racism towards his mixed-race stepson. Drawing on police bodycam and interview footage, and behavioural analysis from body language expert Dr Cliff Lansley, Kerry unpicks the calculated cover-up that followed Logan's death, and the catalogue of missed warning signs that preceded it.

This episode explores: child abuse and 'Cinderella Syndrome' • coercive control and complicity • deception detection and micro-expressions • racially motivated abuse • blame-shifting and the 'cutthroat defence' under interrogation • institutional failure in child protection

•       Kerry Daynes — Forensic psychologist, presenter, and author of Dark Side of the Mind and What Lies Buried.

•       Dr Cliff Lansley — Body language expert and founder of the Emotional Intelligence Academy.

•       Bronwen Weatherby — Journalist who covered the case for the Press Association.

•       Hamish Auskerry — ITV Wales reporter.

•       Leyla Hayes — ITV News journalist.

•       Paul Barton — Former homicide detective.

•       Why body language expert Dr Cliff Lansley says Angharad Williamson's cries on police bodycam don't match genuine grief

•       How a neighbour's security camera undid the family's story that they were all asleep when Logan disappeared

•       Why detectives believe Logan was targeted by his stepfather John Cole because of his race, and how that hostility spread through the household

•       How Cole, Mulligan and Williamson turned on one another once confronted with forensic evidence, in what detectives call a 'cutthroat defence'

•       Why Logan's bloodstained bedsheets, quietly put through the wash the morning he died, became one of the case's most damning pieces of evidence

•       What the post-mortem revealed about Logan's final hours, and why his injuries needn't have been fatal if his family had called for help

•       Why Logan had been placed on the child protection register, then removed just a month before his death

•       Kerry Daynes — Dark Side of the Mind (Endeavour, 2019)

•       Kerry Daynes — What Lies Buried (Endeavour, 2021)

•       Faking It: Tears of a Crime / Inside the Arrest — streaming on Discovery+

•       Dr Cliff Lansley — Emotional Intelligence Academy

•       Child protection support — NSPCC Helpline (0808 800 5000)

If you're gripped by The Profiler, with Kerry Daynes, follow the show in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. A rating or review takes thirty seconds and genuinely helps new listeners find us.

For further updates and to receive Kerry's weekly newsletter, visit theprofiler.co.uk.

•       Presented by Kerry Daynes

•       Produced by Shearwater Media

•       Executive producers: Jeff Anderson and Steve Anderson

•       Editing and Music: Rob Warner

This episode contains detailed and distressing descriptions of child abuse and murder. Listener discretion is strongly advised. If you're concerned about a child's welfare, contact the NSPCC Helpline on 0808 800 5000, or the police on 999 in an emergency.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On 8 December 2015, 24-year-old Charlotte Brown died in the Thames after a first date with web consultant Jack Shepherd ended in his speedboat capsizing near Westminster. In this episode, forensic psychologist Kerry Daynes examines how Shepherd, driving drunk at nearly three times the speed limit with no life jackets and a disconnected safety kill-cord, tried to blame Charlotte for the crash, then vanished before his trial, living under a changed identity in Tbilisi for months while the case unfolded in his absence. Drawing on police, journalists and Shepherd's own defiant TV interviews, Kerry unpicks the verbal slips and self-serving language of a man who, even when confronted a second time over a violent offence, could only ever really think about himself.

This episode explores: narcissism and self-serving deception • victim-blaming and diffusion of responsibility • recklessness and disregard for safety • flight from justice and identity change • verbal slips and language analysis • alcohol-fuelled violence and impulse control

•       Kerry Daynes — Forensic psychologist, presenter, and author of Dark Side of the Mind and What Lies Buried.

•       Chris Davis — Metropolitan Police detective sergeant who investigated the case.

•       Dan Rivers — ITV News reporter who covered the trial and manhunt.

•       John Simpson — Former crime correspondent for The Times.

•       How Jack Shepherd drove his speedboat at nearly three times the legal night-time limit, with no life jackets on board and a safety kill-cord left unattached

•       Why he told police Charlotte had taken the controls moments before the crash, and why detectives believe responsibility still lay with him as the boat's reckless owner

•       How Shepherd vanished before his own trial, was convicted in his absence, and was later tracked down living under a changed appearance in Tbilisi, Georgia

•       Why Kerry identifies a telling 'verbal slip' in Shepherd's TV interview that reveals how self-focused his thinking really was

•       How Shepherd tried to shift blame onto Charlotte's grieving father, and why police say the claim was baseless

•       Why CCTV of an unrelated, unprovoked bottle attack in a Devon pub reveals a pattern of impulsive, alcohol-fuelled violence

•       What happened when Shepherd was finally extradited, and why he remains behind bars today after breaching the terms of his licence

•       Kerry Daynes — Dark Side of the Mind (Endeavour, 2019)

•       Kerry Daynes — What Lies Buried (Endeavour, 2021)

•       Faking It: Tears of a Crime — streaming on Discovery+

•       BBC News — coverage of the trial and extradition of Jack Shepherd

If you're gripped by The Profiler, with Kerry Daynes, follow the show in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. A rating or review takes thirty seconds and genuinely helps new listeners find us.

For further updates and to receive Kerry's weekly newsletter, visit theprofiler.co.uk.

•       Presented by Kerry Daynes

•       Produced by Shearwater Media

•       Executive producers: Jeff Anderson and Steve Anderson

•       Music & Editing: Rob Warner

•       Edit Assistant: Kay Homan

This episode contains descriptions of a fatal accident, alcohol-fuelled violence, and victim-blaming. Listener discretion is advised.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On 18 December 2022, 32-year-old Natalie McNally was murdered in her home in Lurgan, Northern Ireland, stabbed, beaten and strangled while 15 weeks pregnant with her son. Her boyfriend, Stephen McCullagh, appeared to have the perfect alibi: at the exact time of the attack, he was hosting a six-hour 'live' YouTube broadcast, watched by thousands. In this episode, forensic psychologist Kerry Daynes reveals how McCullagh had actually pre-recorded the stream four nights earlier, slipping in chilling ‘hints’ at the murder he was about to commit, before slipping out to kill Natalie and returning home undetected. Drawing on CCTV, digital forensics and a harrowing 999 call, Kerry examines the mind of a killer capable of an extraordinarily calculated deception.

This episode explores: coercive control, misogyny and femicide • premeditation and staging a false alibi • narcissism and performative grief • digital forensics and deception detection • domestic homicide in Northern Ireland

•       Kerry Daynes — Forensic psychologist, presenter, and author of Dark Side of the Mind and What Lies Buried.

•       Lynda Bryans — Journalist and broadcaster who covered the case.

•       Catherine Kierans — Senior prosecutor, Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland.

•       Why Stephen McCullagh's six-hour 'live' YouTube broadcast, watched by thousands, turned out to be a pre-recording made four nights before Natalie's murder

•       How digital forensic analysis of background computer activity exposed the difference between a genuine livestream and a played-out recording

•       Why the killer titled his broadcast 'Violent Night' and slipped in-game lines like 'I need to kill this bitch' and 'Abso-effing-Natalie' into the footage

•       How CCTV traced McCullagh's disguised journey by bus and taxi to Natalie's home and back, undoing his alibi

•       Why detectives grew suspicious within minutes of his 999 call, despite no signs of forced entry and a guard dog that never barked

•       How McCullagh manipulated Natalie's grieving family, secretly recording their conversations and attending her wake, while refusing to cooperate with police

•       Why Northern Ireland has one of the highest rates of violence against women in the UK, and what Natalie's case reveals about coercive control and femicide

•       Kerry Daynes — Dark Side of the Mind (Endeavour, 2019)

•       Kerry Daynes — What Lies Buried (Endeavour, 2021)

•       BBC News — coverage of the trial and conviction of Stephen McCullagh

•       Domestic abuse support — Women's Aid Northern Ireland (0808 802 1414)

If you're gripped by The Profiler, with Kerry Daynes, follow the show in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. A rating or review takes thirty seconds and genuinely helps new listeners find us.

For further updates and to receive Kerry's weekly newsletter, visit theprofiler.co.uk.

•       Presented by Kerry Daynes

•       Produced by Shearwater Media

•       Executive producers: Jeff Anderson and Steve Anderson

•       Editing & Music: Rob Warner

This episode contains graphic descriptions of domestic violence and the murder of a pregnant woman. Listener discretion is strongly advised. Support for domestic abuse is available from Women's Aid Northern Ireland (0808 802 1414) and Refuge (0808 2000 247).

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On 26 August 2016, 19-year-old Shana Grice was murdered in her Brighton home by former colleague Michael Lane — a man she had reported to Sussex Police multiple times in the months before her death. In this first episode of the new season, forensic psychologist Kerry Daynes reveals how officers dismissed Shana's complaints, branded her a liar, and even fined her £90 for wasting police time, while Lane, a serial stalker with a hidden history of predatory behaviour, grew increasingly bold. Drawing on interviews with journalists who covered the case, and secret recordings Shana made herself, Kerry traces the eight-stage 'Homicide Timeline' that led inexorably to tragedy, and asks how many warning signs a victim has to raise before anyone listens.

This episode explores: stalking and coercive control • the Homicide Timeline and escalation to lethal violence • victim-blaming and institutional failure • obsession, jealousy and loss of control • blackmail and manipulation in abusive relationships

•       Kerry Daynes — Forensic psychologist, presenter, and author of Dark Side of the Mind and What Lies Buried.

•       Flora Thompson — Press Association journalist who covered the Shana Grice case.

•       Frank Le Duc — Editor of the Brighton and Hove News.

•       How Michael Lane, a colleague eight years older than Shana, pursued her with gifts, then threats, after she ended their relationship

•       Why Sussex Police dismissed Shana's first stalking report as 'insufficient evidence', despite a record showing Lane had previously groomed a 14-year-old girl

•       How officers branded Shana a liar after an assault, and fined her £90 for 'wasting police time'

•       Why a secret tracking device fitted to Shana's car, and a stolen house key, preceded Lane's final, fatal visit to her home

•       What the eight-stage 'Homicide Timeline' reveals about the path from coercive control to murder, and where it could have been stopped

•       Why fourteen Sussex Police officers and staff were referred to the police regulator after Shana's murder, and how her case changed national policy on stalking complaints

•       Kerry Daynes — Dark Side of the Mind (Endeavour, 2019)

•       Kerry Daynes — What Lies Buried (Endeavour, 2021)

•       Faking It: Tears of a Crime — streaming on Discovery+ and HBO Max

•       Suzy Lamplugh Trust — National Stalking Helpline (0808 802 0300)

•       Domestic abuse support — Refuge (0808 2000 247)

If you're gripped by The Profiler, with Kerry Daynes, follow the show in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. A rating or review takes thirty seconds and genuinely helps new listeners find us.

For further updates and to receive Kerry's weekly newsletter, visit theprofiler.co.uk.

•       Presented by Kerry Daynes

•       Produced by Shearwater Media

•       Executive producers: Jeff Anderson and Steve Anderson

•       Editing and Music: Rob Warner

This episode contains descriptions of stalking, coercive control, and a graphic murder. Listener discretion is strongly advised. If you're affected by stalking, contact the Suzy Lamplugh Trust's National Stalking Helpline (0808 802 0300). Support for domestic abuse is available from Refuge (0808 2000 247).

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the final episode of our summer specials, forensic psychologist Kerry Daynes talks to Steve Keogh, a retired Metropolitan Police detective inspector who spent twelve years on Scotland Yard's Murder Investigation Team and helped convict around 100 killers. Steve reveals how murder squads achieve an extraordinary 90% clear-up rate, why smartphones have become a detective's most valuable piece of evidence, and what working the devastating aftermath of the 7/7 London bombings taught him about trauma and resilience. He also shares the theory it took him thirty years to develop: that virtually every murder is driven by one of just three underlying motives. It's a rare look at homicide investigation from the other side of the interview room.

This episode explores: the three drivers of murder — emotion, power and control, and gain • trauma, resilience and delayed grief in frontline policing • coercive control and domestic homicide • missed warning signs in mental-health-related killings • digital evidence and behavioural profiling

•       Kerry Daynes — Forensic psychologist, presenter, and author of Dark Side of the Mind and What Lies Buried.

•       Steve Keogh — Retired Metropolitan Police detective inspector, Scotland Yard Murder Investigation Team; author and host of Murder Unpacked.

•       Why murder has a 90% clear-up rate in the UK, far higher than crimes like burglary, and how a team of up to 50 detectives makes that possible

•       How cuts to the Met's murder teams, from 29 down to 18, have left detectives permanently playing catch-up

•       Why nearly a third of London's murders are domestic-violence related, and why a woman's greatest homicide risk comes from a partner or ex-partner

•       What it was really like working the Edgware Road bomb scene for two weeks after 7/7, and why the psychological toll didn't hit Steve until years later

•       Why phones, not CCTV or forensics, are the single most valuable piece of evidence in a modern murder inquiry

•       Steve's theory that almost every killing is driven by one of three motives: an emotional trigger, the desire to feel powerful, or material gain

•       Why Steve believes many domestic and mental-health-related homicides were preventable, and the warning signs that kept being missed

•       Kerry Daynes — Dark Side of the Mind (Endeavour, 2019)

•       Kerry Daynes — What Lies Buried (Endeavour, 2021)

•       Steve Keogh — Murder Investigation Team: How Killers Are Really Caught

•       Steve Keogh — Murder Investigation Team: Jack the Ripper

•       Steve Keogh — Murder Unpacked (murderunpacked.com)

If you're gripped by The Profiler, with Kerry Daynes, follow the show in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. A rating or review takes thirty seconds and genuinely helps new listeners find us.

For further updates and to receive Kerry's weekly newsletter, visit theprofiler.co.uk.

•       Presented by Kerry Daynes, with guest Steve Keogh

•       Produced by Shearwater Media

•       Executive producers: Jeff Anderson and Steve Anderson

•       Editing and Music: Rob Warner

This episode discusses murder, domestic violence, and the July 2005 London bombings. Listener discretion is advised. If you have been affected by the issues raised, support is available from Refuge's National Domestic Abuse Helpline (0808 2000 247).

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this special episode, forensic psychologist Kerry Daynes sits down with Dr Cliff Lansley, the body language expert often called the “Human Lie Detector,” to unpack the real science of spotting deception. A former motor mechanic turned behavioural analyst, Cliff spent a decade working alongside the late Dr Paul Ekman, the world's foremost expert on facial expression, before developing SCAnS, the Six Channels Analysis System now used by police, lawyers and intelligence services. Kerry and Cliff pick apart real police interview footage from three of Britain's most notorious killers — Harold Shipman, Ian Huntley and Wayne Couzens — to reveal how a micro head shake, a dropped shoulder or a change in breathing rate can betray a lie the words are trying to hide.

This episode explores: deception detection and body language • micro-expressions and subconscious “leakage” • psychophysiology and the polygraph vs SCAnS • cognitive load and lying • myths about gender and lie detection • forensic use of behavioural analysis in court

•       Kerry Daynes — Forensic psychologist, presenter, and author of Dark Side of the Mind and What Lies Buried.

•       Dr Cliff Lansley — Body language expert, founder of the Emotional Intelligence Academy, and author of Getting to the Truth.

•       Why Cliff prefers the term “truth detector” to “lie detector”, and how the subconscious mind leaks the truth even when the words are lying

•       Why two popular myths about lie detection — that women read liars better than men, and that everyone has a Pinocchio-style “tell” — don't hold up

•       How SCAnS analyses six channels of behaviour, from facial expression to word choice, and why Cliff needs a cluster of at least three indicators before he trusts a signal

•       How Ian Huntley leaked seven separate signs of deception in a three-word denial about his contact with Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman

•       Why Wayne Couzens's relaxed phone call to a vet, compared with his stumbling police interview, exposed the mental strain of fabricating a story on the fly

•       How Cliff tracked Harold Shipman's breathing rate through his shirt collar, even with his back turned, to pinpoint the moment a victim's name became “a problem” for him

•       Why SCAnS is now being used as expert evidence in UK and US courts, and what that could mean for the justice system

•       Kerry Daynes — Dark Side of the Mind (Endeavour, 2019)

•       Kerry Daynes — What Lies Buried (Endeavour, 2021)

•       Dr Cliff Lansley — Getting to the Truth (available on Amazon)

•       Emotional Intelligence Academy  (https://www.emotionintell.com/ )

•       Faking It: Tears of a Crime — streaming on Discovery+ and HBO Max

If you're gripped by The Profiler with Kerry Daynes, follow the show in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. A rating or review takes thirty seconds and genuinely helps new listeners find us.

For further updates and to receive Kerry's weekly newsletter, visit theprofiler.co.uk.

•       Presented by Kerry Daynes, with guest Dr Cliff Lansley

•       Produced by Shearwater Media

•       Executive producers: Jeff Anderson and Steve Anderson

•       Editing and Music: Rob Warner

This episode references the crimes of convicted killers Harold Shipman, Ian Huntley and Wayne Couzens, and also includes profanity. Listener discretion is advised.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In a special summer episode, Kerry Daynes is joined by journalist and TV documentary maker Jeff Anderson as she revisits one of Britain’s most obscure legal landmarks: the 1964 execution of Gwyn Owen Evans and Peter Allen, the last two men ever hanged in Britain. The pair were convicted of the brutal murder of 53-year-old delivery driver Jack West in Workington, Cumbria, a robbery that spiralled into violence. Kerry and Jeff trace the chaotic trail of evidence that led police straight to the killers within 48 hours, and Kerry offers her psychological assessment of Evans — a compulsive fantasist whose lies extended even to his own identity — and asks whether either man deserved to hang.

This episode explores: pathological lying and fantasist personality disorder • joint enterprise and criminal responsibility • the psychology of criminal incompetence • diminished responsibility as a legal defence • capital punishment and its abolition in Britain

●      Kerry Daynes — Forensic psychologist, presenter, and author of Dark Side of the Mind and What Lies Buried.

●      Jeff Anderson — Journalist, TV documentary maker, and producer of The Profiler.

●      Why the murder of Jack West, and not Ruth Ellis, technically marks the end of capital punishment in Britain, and how a change of government spared hundreds of other killers from the gallows that same year

●      How a raincoat left behind at the crime scene, containing a medallion and a scrap of paper with a name and address, led detectives to their suspect within two days

●      Why Gwyn Owen Evans, a self-invented fantasist born John Robson Walby, was already known to psychiatrists for pathological lying long before the murder

●      How Evans and Peter Allen’s chaotic escape — a stolen car, missed petrol stops, a rescued lamb — exposed them at every turn

●      Why a letter from Peter Allen’s wife, Mary, describing her alleged affair with Evans, became decisive evidence at trial

●      What newly released government papers reveal about Evans’s diagnosed psychopathic personality, and the abandoned defence that might have saved his life

●      Kerry’s own view on whether either man should have faced execution

●      Kerry Daynes — Dark Side of the Mind (Endeavour, 2019)

●      Kerry Daynes — What Lies Buried (Endeavour, 2021)

●      The National Archives — released case papers on the trial and execution of Gwyn Evans and Peter Allen

If you’re gripped by The Profiler, with Kerry Daynes, follow the show in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. A rating or review takes thirty seconds and genuinely helps new listeners find us.

For further updates and to receive Kerry’s weekly email, visit theprofiler.co.uk.

●      Presented by Kerry Daynes, with Jeff Anderson

●      Produced by Shearwater Media

●      Executive producers: Jeff Anderson and Steve Anderson

●      Music & Editing: Rob Warner

This episode discusses murder, capital punishment, and execution. Listener discretion advised.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

While the team spends August preparing fresh cases for the autumn run, hosts this special ‘Ask Me Anything’ episode of The Profiler. The questions, posed by producer Jeff Anderson, come from listeners who signed up to Kerry's weekly email, covering stories already featured on the podcast, live news events, and Kerry's own career and life.

Topics covered:

The UK government's plan to release thousands of prisoners early to ease overcrowding, and why Kerry believes it shouldn't go ahead in its current form — she makes the case for deporting foreign nationals eligible for removal and clearing the remand backlog instead of releasing unassessed offenders.

Whether Rachel McLean's killer, John Tanner, could ever be rehabilitated, given he committed a chillingly similar assault on a later partner almost three decades after murdering Rachel in 1991.

The extraordinary manipulation of bus driver and child killer Darren Vickers, who moved in with the family of his victim, ten-year-old Jamie Labes, posing as a concerned neighbour throughout the search for him.

The murder of fifteen-year-old Kayleigh Haywood, and whether the internet is driving a genuine rise in sexual offences — including Kerry's view on the proposed ban on under-16s using social media.

The transfer of Southport killer Axel Rudakubana to Broadmoor secure hospital, and whether he is "gaming the system" by appearing to have mental health problems.

The calculated cruelty of Luke D’Wit, who engineered events so his victims' daughter would discover their bodies — and why Kerry stops short of calling him a clinical psychopath, despite the callousness of what he did.

New developments in the forty-year-old Suzy Lamplugh case: Kerry reveals she has offered her services, and those of colleagues, to help review the CPS file on prime suspect John Cannan.

A run of personal questions: how Kerry got into forensic psychology and what the training involves, the case that has affected her more than any other — the 2013 murder of five-year-old April Jones — and living with profound deafness caused by Ménière's disease, including how she lip-reads and why context matters so much in conversation.

Plus, the story behind the show's closing music, courtesy of editor and composer Rob Warner.

Kerry and Jeff thank everyone who sent in questions, with apologies that not all could be answered on air.

Normal service resumes in September with new cases from Britain's most notorious crimes and criminals.

If you enjoyed this episode, please follow or subscribe to The Profiler wherever you get your podcasts, and leave a five-star rating or review. For regular updates, and to subscribe to Kerry’s weekly email go to www.theprofiler.co.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On 14 May 2018, pharmacist Mitesh Patel called 999 from his home in Middlesbrough, telling the operator his wife Jessica had been attacked during a burglary. But as forensic psychologist Kerry Daynes reveals in this Season One finale of The Profiler, the true story was one of coercive control, a secret gay double life, and a chillingly calculated murder plot. Drawing on 999 recordings, CCTV footage, and interviews with detectives and journalists, Kerry unpicks how a ‘loving husband’s’ carefully staged crime scene unravelled — exposing a hidden relationship, a plan to start a new life in Australia, and a motive rooted in greed and betrayal.

This episode explores: coercive control and domestic abuse as a predictor of lethal violence • staged crime scenes and offender behaviour • the psychology of a ‘double life’ • victimology and how investigators build a motive • so-called ‘honour killings’ • warning signs missed by professionals

●      Kerry Daynes — Forensic psychologist, presenter, and author of Dark Side of the Mind and What Lies Buried.

●      Tom Wilkinson — Press Association journalist who covered the Mitesh Patel trial.

●      Gary Cunningham — Former homicide detective.

●      Tracy Alexander — Forensics lecturer and crime scene management expert.

What you’ll learn in this episode

●      What Mitesh Patel told the 999 operator when he ‘discovered’ his wife Jessica bound, gagged and dying at their Middlesbrough home — and why detectives suspected him from the start

●      Why the lack of forced entry immediately pointed detectives towards someone Jessica knew

●      The pattern of coercive and controlling behaviour Jessica’s family described to police, and why it should have been treated as more than a ‘red flag’

●      How CCTV footage, a health-tracking app, and a hidden roll of duct tape unravelled Mitesh Patel’s carefully constructed alibi

●      The secret life detectives uncovered on his laptop — including a relationship with a GP living in Australia — and the plan police believe lay behind Jessica’s murder

●      Why a Homicide Review, published two years after Patel’s conviction, concluded that critical warning signs were present

●      Kerry Daynes — Dark Side of the Mind (Endeavour, 2019)

●      Kerry Daynes — What Lies Buried (Endeavour, 2021)

●      BBC News: Mitesh Patel jailed for murdering wife Jessica — bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-53389877

●      Domestic Homicide Review into the murder of Jessica Patel — homicide-review.homeoffice.gov.uk

●      The Halo Project: Jessica Patel’s story — haloproject.org.uk

●      Domestic abuse support — Refuge (0808 2000 247) • National Domestic Abuse Helpline • Men’s Advice Line

If you’re gripped by The Profiler, with Kerry Daynes, follow the show in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. A rating or review takes a matter of seconds and genuinely helps new listeners find us.

For updates on the podcast, an exclusive filmed interview with Kerry, and to join her mailing list visit theprofiler.co.uk.

●      Presented by Kerry Daynes

●      Produced by Shearwater Media

●      Executive Producers: Jeff Anderson and Steve Anderson

●      Editing and Music by Rob Warner

●      Assistant Editor: Kay Homan

This episode contains descriptions of domestic abuse, coercive control, and murder. Listener discretion is advised. If you have been affected by the issues raised, support is available from Refuge (0808 2000 247), the National Domestic Abuse Helpline, and the Samaritans (116 123).

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

By April 1989, John Cannan had been convicted of kidnapping and murdering Bristol newlywed Shirley Banks, raping another woman, and attempting to abduct a third at gunpoint — crimes that led one psychiatrist to conclude he could “dispose of a human life with as much emotion as you and I throw away a toffee wrapper.” But was Cannan also responsible for the 1986 disappearance of estate agent Suzy Lamplugh, missing three years before his trial? In Part 2, forensic psychologist Kerry Daynes examines the number plate that almost gave Cannan away, revisits a 2000 police re-interview in which his meticulous alibi collapses hour by hour, and asks why — despite compelling circumstantial evidence — he was never charged before his death in prison in November 2024.

Key psychological themes

This episode explores: performative charm masking predatory violence • narcissistic slips of the tongue • fabricated alibis unravelling under interrogation • third-person distancing as a psychological defence • the limits of circumstantial evidence • grief, campaigning and unfinished justice

Contributors featured in this episode

Kerry Daynes — Forensic psychologist, presenter, and author of Dark Side of the Mind and What Lies Buried.

Rod Chaytor — Veteran crime correspondent (Daily Mirror) who covered the Cannan trial and the Lamplugh case.

Michael Barley — Former Detective Sergeant, Metropolitan Police; interviewed Cannan after his arrest and again during the 2000 review.

Jim Dickie — Former Detective Superintendent, Metropolitan Police; led the 2000 review into Suzy Lamplugh’s disappearance.

What you'll learn in this episode

How John Cannan’s 1989 trial for the murder of Shirley Banks and other offences ended in three life sentences, and what the judge’s sentencing remarks revealed about his psychology

Why the number plate on Shirley Banks’s car, found in Cannan’s garage — SLP 386 S — became one of the case’s most chilling details

What happened when Detective Sergeant Mike Barley asked Cannan, ‘Is that man you, John?’ — and why the answer still divides investigators

How Cannan’s detailed alibi for the weekend Suzy disappeared — the Euston train, a cinema date, lunch with his mother — fell apart inside a recorded 2000 police interview

Why the CPS found insufficient evidence to charge Cannan, and what happened when he died in prison in November 2024

Relevant links and further reading

Kerry Daynes — Dark Side of the Mind (Endeavour, 2019)

Kerry Daynes — What Lies Buried (Endeavour, 2021)

Faking It: Tears of a Crime (Warner Bros. Discovery) — some interviews in this episode were originally featured in the series. Watch on discoveryplus.com

suzylamplugh.org — The Suzy Lamplugh Trust: Suzy’s story and the Trust’s safety campaigning

Support for families of missing or murdered people — Missing People (UK) • Victim Support

Subscribe & follow

If you’re gripped by The Profiler, with Kerry Daynes, follow the show in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. A rating or review takes thirty seconds and genuinely helps new listeners find us.

Visit theprofiler.co.uk

For an exclusive filmed interview with Kerry Daynes on the cases behind the series — and to join Kerry’s weekly email list - visit theprofiler.co.uk. 

Credits

Presented by Kerry Daynes

Produced by Shearwater Media

Executive producers: Jeff Anderson and Steve Anderson

Editor: Jeanette Smedley

Music: Rob Warner

Content note

This episode contains descriptions of kidnap, rape and murder, and discussion of a presumed murder victim whose body has never been found. Listener discretion is advised. If you have been affected by the issues raised, support is available from Victim Support (0808 168 9111) and the Suzy Lamplugh Trust (020 7091 0014).

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.