The Crime Agents

Today, convicted rapist Russell Brand was sentenced to 10 years and six months in prison. Andy & Neil explain how the judge reached his decision, discuss whether it can be described as an 'exemplary' sentence and reveal how Brand is likely to be treated behind bars. They look at the conduct of Brand's barrister, Ian Winter KC, who reportedly confronted a journalist outside the courtroom, and g...

Russell Brand is facing years in prison after being found guilty of raping a woman and sexually assaulting three others. He was acquitted of two counts of rape, and one count of attempted indecent assault, with allegations dating from 1999 to 2009. Andy is joined by LBC reporter Helen Hoddinott, who’s been covering the trial and Southwark Crown Court. Warning: this episode contains graphic allegat...

In July 2010, Raoul Moat went on the run after murdering one man, shooting his former partner and blinding a police officer. For six days, one of the biggest manhunts in British history gripped the country. But could it have been prevented? In this episode, Andy Hughes and Neil Basu revisit the case, examining the missed warnings, the police response and the dramatic final stand-off in Rothbury. T...

Russell Brand has been on trial for nearly 3 weeks on multiple charges of rape and sexual assault. Brand denies all the charges against him, and this week he gave evidence in his own defence for the first time. Andy & Neil hear an extensive update from LBC reporter Helen Hoddinott, who has been covering the case at Southwark Crown Court, on the evidence the jury has heard so far. Helen also ex...

Introducing The Crime Agents Plus: the new subscription offering from The Crime Agents. For £4.99 a month, you can listen to every episode of the podcast ad-free, plus you'll have access to exclusive monthly bonus episodes and a fortnightly newsletter. Once a month, in the bonus episode of The Crime Agents Plus, Andy & Neil will take a deeper dive into a major crime story. They'll speak to spe...

Tupac's killer first admitted his part in the crime years ago. So why did it take so long for him to be convicted? The 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur became the most speculated-about killing in music history: a case surrounded by rumours and a conspiracy industry that has never gone away. But the man who investigated it says the answer was there long before a jury ever heard it. In this episode, Andy...

Protests across France have turned into riots in many parts of the country in recent weeks. Thousands of people have been arrested and more unrest is expected this weekend. So are organised criminal gangs behind this outbreak in looting, arson and attacks on police? Andy & Neil discuss how likely it is that they are involved - and whether Putin's Russia could also be to blame for fanning the f...

Easter, 2015. A group of pensioners and grandfathers - which included some of Britain's most notorious and hardened criminals - attempt an audacious heist on the world's most famous jewellery quarter: London's Hatton Garden. They made off with millions in gold, diamonds and other jewels, thinking they had pulled off the perfect crime. But gradually, the police investigation turned from 'Keystone C...

How do police investigate a sexual assault reported years - sometimes decades - after it happened? In light of the sexual assault trial involving Russell Brand in which he denies the allegations, Neil explains how detectives test a victim's credibility, why reporting it to anyone straight away can become powerful evidence in court and what can be done to encourage victims to seek justice. Andy and...

He was one of the most wanted men in Europe, with a $5 million US bounty on his head, living openly in Dubai for the last decade. Now Daniel Kinahan is in prison, facing a charge of directing a criminal organisation in the Irish courts. In this special episode, Andy travels to Dublin to discover the rise of the Kinahan cartel, from its roots in Dublin and the violent Hutch-Kinahan feud to the empi...

The ‘Putney Pusher’ case has resurfaced in recent months after an inquest into a suspect's death was opened… but after 9 years, we are still no closer to an ID on the suspect. So what are the processes of the police in identification and could there be new clues uncovered after all this time? Andy and Neil answer your questions Then: what it really takes to make a film like Andy's recent ‘London g...

In September 2022, a Met firearms officer shot and killed Chris Kaba. What followed divided the country: protests and grief on one side, a mass walkout of armed officers on the other, and in the middle, a murder trial almost unprecedented in British policing. In this episode, Andy and Neil go back through what happened that night and what happened in court. Should the officer ever have been put on...

Arrests at an RAF base on suspicion of terrorist offences, then bail. For many people - including President Trump - this didn't add up. Andy and Neil start this Q&A by explaining what police bail actually is and why the five suspects weren't held on remand for longer. Plus, they examine the likelihood of a hostile state - such as Iran - being involved in whatever happened in Gloucestershire in...

Thousands of people hand Tommy Robinson their money. But very few of them know where it ends up. In this episode, Andy is joined by investigative journalist Matt Shea, who has spent months following the money around Stephen Yaxley-Lennon - the man better known as Tommy Robinson. Matt explains why he focused on the finances rather than the politics: the donation buckets, the fundraising appeals, th...

Why has the 'Putney Pusher' proved so difficult to identify? And is this another investigation that will be remembered for police failings? Andy and Neil are asked why, 9 years on, the suspect has still never been officially identified. Neil explains what a case like this really looks like from inside the incident room, and why some suspects stay out of reach even when police have CCTV and eyewitn...

The recent fatal shooting of an innocent bus driver in Clapham has put London's biggest gang war onto the front pages. In this special report, Andy is given exclusive access to an undercover Met Police unit working to tackle the tensions behind this South London turf war. He learns about the shocking social media 'scoreboard' system gangs are using, effectively turning violence into a game. Andy a...

If the Suffragettes were campaigning today, would the law treat them as terrorists? It's a question that goes to the heart of how Britain defines political violence, and Neil - the former head of UK Counter-Terrorism Policing - takes on the uncomfortable comparison: where exactly is the line between direct action, criminality and terrorism? Andy and Neil also tackle the judge's controversial decis...

A crime scene with nothing in it. A community that wouldn't talk. A suspect who turned out to be the wrong man. And a seven-year-old girl lying dead beside her father. The murders of Tony Byfield and his daughter Toni-Ann were Neil's first case as a Senior Investigating Officer. More than two decades on, he still describes it as the most famous of his career. In this episode, he takes Andy through...

Why did a few hundred masked men appear to be treated more leniently than protesters from groups such as Palestine Action and Just Stop Oil? Were the police scared of the mobs in Dover & Portsmouth? Or was their 'light touch' approach justifiable given the lack of notice for law enforcement? Andy & Neil debate whether this was a case of 'two-tier' policing. They also explain why arrests at...

Within hours of 97 Liverpool fans being crushed to death at an FA Cup semi-final at Hillsborough, a story was already circulating: that the fans had done it to themselves. Four days later, The Sun printed an infamous front page - "The Truth" - and a lie that would last 27 years was set in stone. So where did that story come from, and how did it survive decade after decade of official scrutiny? And...

When MPs talk about the death threats they face online, are they making a genuine plea for protection or building the case for something bigger? Andy and Neil take on the question of whether the abuse politicians face is being used to push the digital ID agenda, and where that leaves free speech. Would digital ID actually stop the threats? And what does Neil - a former head of UK Counter-Terrorism...

PC David Carrick was one of the most prolific sex offenders in British history and for nearly two decades, he abused women while carrying a warrant card and a gun. Complaints were made about him before he joined the police, and again and again during his career, but he was only stopped after he had assaulted dozens of victims. So how did a man like this pass vetting and then stay on the police pay...

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle believe their family isn't safe in the UK. So who decides if that's true? And who should pay if the decision is made to give them police protection? Neil ran the Met's Royal Protection unit for several years and in that role was responsible for Harry & Meghan's security before they left Britain for America. Here, Neil reveals how the system really works and detai...

In March 2021, Sarah Everard walked home from a friend's flat in Clapham. She never arrived. Her face went up on lampposts across south London, her name spread across the country, and within a week police had arrested a suspect: a serving Metropolitan Police officer. Neil reveals how he felt in the moment that he learned the suspect was an officer serving under his command. Andy was living locally...

Nigel Farage says Essex Police warned him to stay away from the Clacton by-election count. Essex Police say that never happened. So who's lying? And why are politicians increasingly dragging the police into their political battles? In this week's Q&A, Andy and Neil tackle Farage's claim head-on and ask what it means for public trust when policing becomes a prop in politicians' narratives. They...