Episodes
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Slimming World is the leading diet organisation in the UK. It has 700,000 members and, at a time when obesity is spiralling in the UK, it has helped millions lose weight. It has contracts with the NHS and local government. If you meet the criteria, your doctor can sign you up for free. But could the Slimming World diet be encouraging disordered eating by some members?
File on 4 hears from people who believe that Slimming World has seriously damaged their health and destroyed their relationship with food.
Reporter: Jo CasserlyProducer: Immy RhodesTechnical Producer: Craig BoardmanProduction Coordinator: Tim FernleyEditor: Carl Johnston
Image Credit: Kseniya Ovchinnikova\Getty
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Jodie had everything - a good job, great friends and a busy social life. But her world was turned upside down when she was targeted by an online abuser who posted pornographic deepfakes of her online. Initially turned away by the police, she turned detective herself - but nothing could prepare her for what she eventually discovers. She now struggles to trust anyone. And what happened to Jodie could happen to any of us. Here she tells her story for the very first time.
Reporter: Kate WestProducer: Rhoda BuchananTechnical Producer: Nicky EdwardsDigital Producer: Melanie Stewart-Smith Production Co-ordinator: Tim Fernley Editor: Carl Johnston
If you’ve been a victim of harassment, stalking or revenge porn, details of organisations offering information and support are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.
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As the cost of living crisis continues to increase the strain on families, a record 142,000 children in England are homeless and living in what should be short term temporary accommodation.Children are being consigned to B&Bs and hotels, former office blocks - even shipping containers – some without a bed of their own, living among rats and cockroaches - conditions the children’s commissioner has condemned as Dickensian.With the help of young people and their families, File on 4 investigates how temporary accommodation - meant to be a short term safety net - has become a trap some children can’t escape.
Reporter: Jane DeithProducer: Nicola DowlingTechnical Producer: James BeardProduction Coordinator: Jordan KingEditors: Clare Fordham and Carl Johnston
Image: Imgorthand via Getty Images
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‘Employee Assistance Programmes’ - almost 25 million workers in the UK have access to one through their employer. They’re designed to help people deal with personal problems that might affect their performance at work by offering advice, support or counselling sessions. But are all providers offering a good service? File on 4 investigates.
Reporter: Alys HarteProducers: Vicky Carter and Ella RuleTechnical Producer: Craig BoardmanProduction Coordinators: Jordan King and Tim FernleyEditors: Clare Fordham and Carl Johnston
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"Maria" ended up in A and E after being assaulted by her 11-year-old child. There’s nothing unusual about children being rude or sometimes abusive to their parents, particularly when they’re adolescents. But some parents are attacked and abused by their children on a regular basis. It’s a pattern of behaviour that can begin as young as three years old and become unmanageable by teenage years.
Many parents remain silent out of shame and out of fear of the consequences if they seek help, worried that their child may be taken into care or criminalised. So it’s a hidden problem. The issue is now on the government’s agenda with a consultation that’s aiming to find a common definition for the issue. Jo Glanville talks to parents, practitioners and researchers about what happens in families when a child becomes violent, what should be done to support them and what lies behind this kind of behaviour.
Presented and Produced by Jo GlanvilleExecutive Editor: Bridget HarneyResearch: Maia Miller-LewisStudio Manager: Jon CalverActors: Jayne Ashbourne and Juliet CowanA Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4
Organisations in the programme offering information or support on child to parent violence:
Family LivesParentline family support and bullying helpline | Family Liveshttps://www.familylives.org.uk/how-we-can-help/confidential-helpline
CAPA First ResponseCapa First Response | You are not alone - Capa First Responsehttps://capafirstresponse.org/
Talk Listen ChangeYoung People’s Programmes - TLC: Talk, Listen, Change (talklistenchange.org.uk)https://talklistenchange.org.uk/project/young-peoples-programmes/
Holes in the WallHOLES IN THE WALL | documenting parent abusehttps://holesinthewall.co.uk/
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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 FordeTechnical Producer: Richard HannafordJournalism Assistant: Tim FernleyEditor: Clare Fordham
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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 TalwarProducers: Anna Meisel and Eleanor LayheTechnical Producer: Richard HannafordProduction Coordinator: Tim FernleyEditor: Clare Fordham and Carl Johnston
Image Credit: MartinPrescott\Getty
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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 BarnfieldProducer: Hayley MortimerTechnical Producer: Richard HannafordJournalism Assistant: Tim FernleyEditor: Carl Johnston
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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 HarrisonProducers: Fergus Hewison and Surya ElangoTechnical Producer: Sue StonestreetProduction Coordinator: Tim FernleyEditor: Carl Johnston
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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 LobelProducers: Phil MarzoukJournalism Assistant: Tim FernleyEditor: Carl Johnston
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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.The UK has some of the strictest firearm laws in the world. So as some criminals struggle to obtain genuine guns, they're now getting blank-firing weapons converted into deadly weapons. As reporter Adrian Goldberg discovers how easy it is, gun campaigners call for tighter regulations around the manufacture and sale of blank firing weapons.
Reporter: Adrian Goldberg Producer: Paul GrantJournalism Assistant: Tim FernleyEditor: Carl Johnston
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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 TalwarProducer: Ellie Layhe
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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 HassallProducers: Mick Tucker and Nick WallisEditor: Carl Johnston
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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. Alemi was found guilty of forging a dementia patient’s will. But this deception was only the beginning. From Crowd Network, Doctor of Deception investigates how one woman’s web of lies reveals historic flaws in the system designed to keep patients safe. If you were treated by Zholia Alemi, or have concerns about her practice, there is a support page available on the General Medical Council’s website: https://www.gmc-uk.org/news/news-archive/zholia-alemi---information-for-patients
Presenter: Saleyha AhsanProducer: Louisa AdamsTechnical Producer: Phill BrownExecutive Producer: Samantha Psyk
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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 BarnfieldProducer: Hayley MortimerTechnical Producer: Richard HannafordJournalism Assistant: Tim FernleyEditor: Carl Johnston
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Felicity Hannah explores how climate change is leaving communities 'uninsurable' because of the rising risk of them being hit by extreme weather events.
She speaks to one businessman living in 'Hurricane Alley' in Louisiana, who has seen his premiums rise by $200,000 in just three years, and learns how many residents are now having to run the risk of living without insurance, because the cost is just too high.
In Australia, she speaks to residents resigned to the fact that their hometown is considered too much of a risk for the insurance industry. Instead, the government has bought their homes and they have been forced to leave.
In the UK too, Felicity meets business owners already deemed 'uninsurable' because of the frequency of flooding they have faced. Meanwhile British homeowners relying on a temporary fix that has helped reduce their premiums must hope flood defences are built before time runs out.
Could rising premiums be the canary in the coalmine for taking more decisive action on climate change?
Presenter: Felicity HannahProducer: Nick HollandProduction Coordinator: Gemma AshmanEditor Richard Fenton-SmithSound Design: Graham Puddifoot
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File on 4 reveals how hundreds of vulnerable women and children are being trafficked to the UK by organised crime gangs to work as shoplifters. The victims are forced to live in squalor in overcrowded houses in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Investigators have discovered there are 154 known members of one gang which is making millions for the gangmasters from Eastern Europe. High street stores have reported a 25 per cent increase in the number of shoplifting incidents over the last year.
Reporter: Datshiane Navanayagam Producers: Holly Clemens and Kate West Editor: Carl Johnston
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Lucy Letby was allowed to continue working with new-born babies despite her colleagues raising concerns about her for months. Her conviction highlighted how NHS executives put the reputation of the Countess of Chester NHS Trust ahead of patient safety. But what happened in Cheshire was far from a one-off. File on 4 hears from doctors with unblemished medical careers who were sacked after raising patient safety concerns. The programme follows one medic through an Employment Tribunal as he attempts to save his career, and hears the emotional, brutal toll the process takes on him. For the first time, a top doctor who won record damages talks about the extraordinary steps her managers took to undermine her. Their tactics included relocating her to an empty office with a broken chair and telling colleagues that she agreed with their assessment she was incompetent. And a former NHS executive tells the programme that trusts are more interested in “flying LGBT flags” than tackling concerns about patient safety. With widespread calls for NHS managers to be regulated, File on 4 asks who should take on the role, given the willingness of the NHS to redeploy managers found to have ignored patient safety concerns, or even punished those who dared to raise them.
Reporter: Michael BuchananProducer: Katie LangtonEditor: Carl Johnston
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Artificial intelligence, or AI, makes it possible for machines to learn - and in the future it will perform many tasks now done by humans. But are criminals and bad actors ahead of the curve? AI is already being used to commit fraud and other crimes by generating fake videos and audio; fast emerging threats that form just part of a potential new crime wave. File on 4 investigates.
Reporter: Paul ConnollyProducer: Fergus HewisonEditor: Carl Johnston
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When people who don't speak English, including refugees arriving in the UK after fleeing war, they are entitled to receive the support of interpreters when dealing with public sector organisations. The service provides a lifeline for some of society's most vulnerable people to help them navigate places like hospitals, social services and courts. But reporter Matthew Hill hears allegations the service is seriously failing those who need it most - with tragic consequences. Data obtained exclusively by File on 4 has revealed over the past five years at least 80 babies have died or suffered serious brain injuries in NHS maternity units in England, where interpreting and communication problems due to language difficulties, were a contributing factor. The programme also hears from an alleged victim of serious sexual abuse who says she was unable to give police an accurate account of her ordeal because the interpreter was so poor. Campaigners claim huge disparities in the levels of qualifications required in public service organisations and poor rates of pay have caused an exodus of qualified interpreters, which they claim is putting some of society's most vulnerable people at risk of harm.
Reporter: Matthew HillProducers: Ben Robinson and Surya ElangoTechnical Producer: Richard HannafordProduction Coordinators: Tim Fernley and Jordan KingEditor: Carl Johnston
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