Judge Rinder's Crime Stories

Judge Rinder examines the case of Laura Davies who was murdered by her 22-year-old boyfriend Jordan Taylor and the case of Andreas Christopheros who was attacked at his own home when a beaker of sulphuric acid was thrown into his face, while his wife Pia and their 18-month-old son slept in the next room.

Victor Nealon In August 1996, a woman from Redditch was a victim of sexual assault after leaving a nightclub. Victor Nealon, who was at home with friends at the time of the attack, matched the description of the man the police were looking for and in January 1997 Nealon was found guilty of attempted rape and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of seven years. Victor claimed he didn’t commit the crime and spent the next 17 years trying to clear his name. Cash Robberies For 18 months an organised gang of criminals went on a nationwide crime spree targeting banks, bus depots and high street shops stealing money from the cash machines within. The programme examines the combined efforts of several police forces that were able to track down the gang and declare them guilty.

Joanna Yeates On Christmas morning 2010, 25 year old Joanna Yeates was found strangled to death and partially covered in snow down a country lane. The discovery of Joanna ended an eight day police search but sparked the hunt to catch her killer. The police and media focused on Joanna’s eccentric landlord and neighbour, Christopher Jefferies, but the real killer was still on the loose.

£320K Con Artist Debbie Davey had it all, a successful career, a loving family, and a healthy bank balance, because of this Debbie became the envy of her friend Caryn Bates. Caryn set up an elaborate con to scam Debbie out of hundreds of thousands of pounds, but by the time Debbie discovered what was going on it was already too late. Zoe Dronfield When mother of two Zoe Dronfield met Jason Smith she thought she’d met the man of her dreams, but it wasn’t long before Jason’s dark side began to surface. After 12 months Zoe had had enough of Jason’s violent and controlling behaviour and she ended the relationship. In February 2014 Jason talked his way back into Zoe’s home and inflicted a brutal attack that lasted over eight hours. Jason was arrested and while on trial Zoe pieced together what had happened with the help of a hypnotherapist, to ensure Jason was brought to justice.

Adam Vincent Adam Vincent was a loveable rogue who was well known and loved in his hometown of Grimsby. Within Grimsby lived a menacing family, known by police for causing trouble and dealing in drugs. The Griffiths family set their sights on Adam, who had battled addiction in the past, and he became an easy target for the family to use and control. Adam’s dad, Keith and stepmum Purdey did everything they could to get Adam back on the right track, but it was too late. Sophie Lancaster In August 2007, Sophie Lancaster and boyfriend Robert Maltby were brutally attacked in a park in Bacup, Lancashire. They were minding their own business when they were set upon by a gang of thugs all because they were ‘goths’ and looked different. Sophie died from her horrendous injuries and Robert suffered brain damage.

Hollie Gazzard 19 year old, hair stylist, Hollie Gazzard met Asher Maslin and fell madly in love. However, Asher began to control Hollie and threatened that if she ever left him, there would be hell to pay. Hollie secretly planned to leave Asher and fearing for her life she ran back to her family. Almost a year to the day after they met, in February 2014 Hollie was working at a busy salon in Gloucester, when Asher entered and murdered her in front of a group of witnesses and fled. Bigamy In December 2000, Mary Turner Thompson met William Jordan online. After months of suspicious behaviour William finally told Mary that he was a secret agent for the CIA. It was only after Mary and William were married and had two children that she discovered that not only was he lying about his job, but he was also a bigamist. William had managed to swindle £198,000 from Mary.

Cash In Transit In January 2013 while making a cash delivery, security guard James Smith was confronted by a masked man with a gun. The ex-serviceman put up a fight but was beaten to the ground and the masked man made off with £45,000. When the police were able to hunt the gunman down, they made a shocking discovery about his partner in crime. Tye Hawkins In September 2015, 11 year old Tye Hawkins was knocked down by a man on a motorbike in a hit and run, while on his way to school with his mum Clair. Tye was rushed to hospital as doctors battled to save his life. It was then down to South Wales police to find the man responsible and bring him to justice.

Stephen Downing In September 1974, 17 year old Stephen Downing discovered the naked body of Wendy Sewell in Bakewell Cemetery. She had been badly beaten but was still alive. Stephen was taken in for questioning but when Wendy died Stephen was charged with murder. Journalist, Don Hale campaigned for Stephen’s release and Downing was released on appeal in 2001 after 27 years in prison, making his case the longest miscarriage of justice in Britain.

Liz Spiers When Liz Spiers and her husband Jonathan were approached by a good friend and neighbour, Keith Cameron, to invest in a telecoms business. However the offer seemed too good to be true - Keith Cameron was a conman who was hell bent on syphoning as much money out of the Spiers as possible. Even when Jonathan was diagnosed with terminal cancer and after he died, Cameron continued his scam. Billy Dove Billy Dove was a popular 21 year old trainee motor mechanic. On Fireworks night in 2011, while Billy and a group of friends were out celebrating they were confronted by a gang, led by Darren Mcgrath. Outside a nightclub and caught on CCTV a fight breaks out, as Billy tries to protect his friends, Darren McGrath pulls a knife and stabs Billy in the chest.

Surrogacy Scam Joe and Keith Barnett were a couple struggling to conceive, 12 years together and unsuccessful, Joe decided to look into surrogacy. After scouring the web and joining surrogacy pages on Facebook, Joe finally met someone who wanted to become their carrier, Louise Pollard. Louise stopped at nothing to win the couple over to ensure they would become her next set of victims. The couple were scammed out of £10,000 by Louise. Chris Welsh Chris Welsh was a scouse drug lord who modelled himself on Colombian cocaine baron Pablo Escobar and orchestrated a £200m cross-border cartel. His partner in crime was his own father, Chris Welsh Snr, and it would take the full force of TITAN (North West Regional Organised Crime Unit) to bring the Welsh’s to justice.