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"They chopped him." Those three words from the parents of Shawn Seesahai starkly describe their teenage son's death at the hands of two machete-wielding boys aged just 12, during a confrontation in a park in Wolverhampton, England.
So, are murderers getting younger? Broadly speaking, the answer is 'yes'.
Figures from the UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS) show the percentage of homicide convictions going to under-16s compared with other ages doubled over 10 years, from about one in 50 in 2012/13 to one in 25 in 2022/23.
Sky News reports that the 2022/23 figure is the highest since at least 2008/09. But they caveat – since the percentage of under-16s is low overall, the averages can be heavily skewed by relatively few convictions.
In this podcast, former major crime detective Jacques Morrell is joined by broadcaster Karl Cooper. They look at three murders carried out by children and discuss how the law balances retribution and rehabilitation.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to the following news organisations for the illustrative clips used in this podcast:
BBC ArchiveBBC NewsChannel Five NewsChannel Four NewsSky NewsThames TelevisionWest Midlands PoliceThe song, 'Just Know That I Bleached That', was performed by stackban6z.28
(Casper Caponè) on TikTok.
Watch the complete video recording of Mrs Justice Tipples' sentencing remarks in the Shawn Seesahai murder trial.
Learn more about reporting restrictions for children in criminal cases with this plain English guide.
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Join Jacques and Simon in the green room as they chat about future Psycho Killer true crime podcasts. If you'd like to hear more content like this – or there's a case you'd like us to cover – please let us know in the comments. And don't forget to like, share and all those other good things that help us to grow the podcast. Thank you, Psycho Killer fans everywhere!
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Spring, 1945. As Italy collapsed into anarchy and the Allies drove north, the fate of fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini, was in the hands of a partisan militia claiming to represent the country's legitimate government.
The death of Il Duce and his mistress Claretta Petacci marked the end of his rule, but not the end of Italian fascism. As Jacques Morrell discovered, the far right remains influential in present-day Italian politics.
So what exactly happened in those chaotic days in April 1945? Did Mussolini receive justice, or were his executioners just as bad as he was? In an age dominated by posturing tyrants, did lesser psychopaths go unpunished?
Acknowledgements
The Associated Press/British Movietone
The United States Signal Corps/Footagefarm
War Life
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Benito Mussolini was a textbook psycho – arrogant, grandiose and heartless. He established a fascist dictatorship in Italy by brutally repressing his political opponents.
Mussolini invaded Ethiopia and Libya, where his troops committed extensive war crimes, including civilian massacres and the use of chemical weapons. He took Italy into World War Two, a national catastrophe that led to widespread death and suffering.
In the first of two podcasts, journalist Simon Ford and retired detective Jacques Morrell explore the events surrounding Mussolini's fall from power. How can a psycho enthral a nation – and are there lessons for our time in the story of Mussolini: Italy's psychopathic dictator?
Acknowledgements
The Associated Press/British Movietone
The United States Signal Corps/Footagefarm
War Life
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People don't vanish into thin air, but it sometimes seems that way. Australia has a reputation for mysterious disappearances, but folk go missing everywhere, and families all over the world are left fearing the worst.
Sometimes foul play is afoot: a serial killer snatching victims off the street, or a stalker with a score to settle. In those cases, it can be decades before evidence of a crime comes to light.
The fear of sinister figures lurking in the shadows has inspired generations of horror movies. The most chilling, as you're about to hear, are based on real events. These cases are the ultimate true crime mysteries.
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The podcast looks at the police investigation into the murder of Alfred Swinscoe, a coal miner who vanished without a trace in 1967. What do the police do when faced with a 50+ year-old cold case? The Psycho Killer team investigates.
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Jack the Ripper. The unknown serial killer murdered and mutilated at least five women in the East End of London in 1888.
Every time he gave the police the slip. He only made one mistake – dropping a piece of apron ripped from his fourth victim.
Catherine Eddowes was murdered in Mitre Square in the City of London. A copper found the apron piece in Goulston Street, less than half a mile away in Whitechapel.
So, what was the East End like at the time of the killings? And how would a modern homicide team investigate them?
Jacques Morrell and Simon Ford joined Ripperologist, Mick Priestley, on a tour of Jack the Ripper's backyard.
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Jack the Ripper – the serial killer who murdered at least five women in London's East End in 1888 – is the subject of a special Psycho Killer investigation.
M.P. Priestly is the author of 'Jack the Ripper – One Autumn in Whitechapel' and Jack the Ripper tour guide.
Mick kindly agreed to answer some questions from former major crime detective Jacque Morrell about the reliability of the witnesses who came forward.
Were they attention seekers? Were they profiteers? Or were they, perhaps, covering their tracks?
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Warning: graphic content
Mystery surrounds the mass murderer known as Jack the Ripper. He prowled the back streets of London's East End preying on the poor and the vulnerable.
This devil butchered his victims and left their mutilated corpses down dark alleys, on doorsteps, and in doss houses. Then, the killer vanished, seemingly into thin air.
What spurred the Ripper on his rampage? Some believe he was driven by dark forces conjured from hell itself. The evidence, they say, is plain to see––if you know what to look for.
In this podcast we go to Whitechapel – Jack the Ripper's hunting ground – in search of answers.
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Contains very strong language
Some said Mad Billy Hughes was born bad. He was a misogynist who let his fists do the talking.
But Mad Billy was worse than a knuckle-headed bully.
He was a psychopath — cunning, resourceful and ruthless.
And when he was cornered, he'd stop at nothing.
Location recording by Karl Cooper, Podcast Partners UK.
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1. Take an unremarkable, working class man, who idolises the soldier father he never knew.
2. Steep in military doctrine until rejected by the army.
3. Set aside while he retreats into a fantasy world and allow resentment to simmer for several years.
4. Then flambé his personal life, garnish with an illegal firearm, and serve to an unsuspecting copper – or three.
Acknowledgements
Featuring the song ‘Barry Prudom’ by Combat 84 (re-released by Splattered! Records, 2019) and extracts from the documentary, ‘Manhunt: Phantom in the Forest’ (ITV, 2002).
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Barry Prudom was a loner. A quiet bloke, obsessed with the army.
But the army wouldn't have him. So he made up his own fantasy world where he pretended he was in the special forces. And instead of a toy gun, Prudom had smuggled in the real thing.
His little friend was a Beretta Jaguar – his pride and joy – and they played happily together until one day, on manoeuvers when Prudom pulled the trigger. In a policeman's face.
Prudom went on the run. He killed again. And again. That summer of 1982 witnessed the biggest armed police operation the UK had ever seen.
For weeks, Prudom gave the cops the slip. But they cornered him in the end and blew his hiding place to pieces. When the gunsmoke cleared they found that the electrician from Leeds had already killed himself.
Ex-detective Jacques Morrell followed Barry Prudom's bloody footsteps to Girton – an isolated village on the banks of the River Trent in Nottinghamshire – where he met fellow Psycho Killer host and true-crime investigator, Simon Ford.
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sex, violence, language
The newspapers called him the Sneinton Strangler after the district of Nottingham where he plied his trade.
Mark Martin operated in the shadows. While others walked by 'Reds', as he was known, always had time for the hungry and homeless.
But he was no Samaritan. He took what little they had – their benefits, their drugs, their remaining shreds of dignity. And when he had sucked them dry, Martin disposed of his victims – or got one of his henchmen to do the job for him.
Mark Martin was a psychopath, a parasite, and a curse on society. It was a blessing the police stopped him when they did.
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Journalists Pip Watts and Simon Ford join retired major crime detective Jacques Morrell to investigate the life and crimes of one of Scotland's most reviled serial killers.
Peter Tobin, who died in October 2022, was exposed as a paedophile, rapist and murderer of at least three young women.
As he rotted in jail, Tobin's name became linked to a spate of sex murders in Glasgow in the 1960s – the so-called Bible John killings.
In this podcast, the team unearths evidence of unspeakable evil and cruelty in their search for answers.
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* This podcast contains topics related to suicide or self-harm.
It started as a family outing to pick juniper berries. It ended with the discovery of a charred body on a wooded mountainside near Bergen in Norway.
The Norwegian police ruled out murder and the coroner recorded a verdict of suicide. But speculation about the grisly discovery refused to go away.
It was 1970, the height of the Cold War. Stories of espionage started circulating. And the more amateur sleuths probed the mystery the more baffling the story became.
So Psycho Killer decided to unravel the case – and lay to rest the so-called Isdal Woman once and for all.
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Watch the video on YouTube https://bit.ly/bess-sheppard-murder
Bessie Sheppard lived a hard life in perilous times. That life was snatched from her after 17 years by a vagrant ex-soldier called Charles Rotherham. The crime horrified the community. So much so that they raised a memorial stone at the spot where Rotherham battered Bessie to death. The year was 1817. And as Simon Ford explains, Bessie's murder is the beginning of a story spanning more than two centuries.
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Legend has it evil stalks the backwoods of West Virginia — a blood-thirsty psychopath dressed in a rabbit suit. Generations of parents in Fairfax County have warned their children: 'Be good, or the Bunnyman'll get you!'
So who was this murderous character who became part of American horror folklore? Was Bunnyman a real serial killer or a figment of someone's imagination? And is he still out there — somewhere?
We went looking for answers. And you'll be surprised by what we found.
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Travel back in time to the London of Jack the Ripper and meet one of his psycho peers – Walter Chadwick. Following in the footsteps of renowned crime writer Jan Bondeson, the Psycho Killer team probes the backstreets and alleys of a city teetering on the edge of lawlessness. We go in search of answers – and what we find will shock you!
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Doctors promise to do no harm. Dr Buck Ruxton did the opposite. The crimes of this Lancashire physician justified the sensational headlines. The case marked a watershed in the acceptance of forensic science as we know it today.
Music credits
'Who's Been Polishing The Sun?' performance by Ambrose and His Orchestra, Decca Records, 1935.
'Lovely To Look At' performed by Eddy Duchin (vocals by Lew Sherwood), Victor Records, 1935.
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Dorothea Waddingham was a wicked woman. She poisoned an elderly widow and her disabled daughter for money. A jury found the Nottingham care-home owner guilty and she was hanged for murder. That was in 1936. But why was this mother sent to the gallows, leaving five young children to fend for themselves? Was the death penalty necessary? Why wasn't her sentence commuted to life imprisonment? And does the backstory cast doubt on the safety of Dorthea Waddingham's conviction? The Psycho Killer experts go in search of answers.
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