Episodios
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But first, the important business: Rach's new hair (currently being hated on a strict day-two schedule), Will's ongoing obsession with the Sidcup goose tattoo man, and the small matter of a Netflix documentary sending a flood of brand-new Trevors our way. If you're one of them, welcome. We have cookies, chocolate, and pins we will absolutely never send you.
Then Han takes us back to the summer of 1978, and a five-year-old called Andrea Bernard. She suffered catastrophic burns in the bath at her family home in Thornton Heath, held on for nearly six weeks, and died of an infection the doctors couldn't beat. A coroner recorded the obvious conclusion: a heart-breaking accident. That was the story for 47 years.
This week we unpick how it came undone. How Andrea's older brother carried what he'd heard through the bathroom wall since the age of eight, and finally walked into a Croydon police station decades later to say it out loud. And how the woman who'd been in that house, later celebrated as an author and a former drug dealer turned probation worker, came to stand trial for a death everyone had signed off before some of the detectives were even born.
Please note: this episode discusses the abuse and death of a child, including burns. Look after yourselves.
Support the show
Thanks for tuning in! If you loved diving into the dark corners of South London with us, don't forget to hit that subscribe button to never miss an episode of "Sinister South."
Also, follow us on Instagram @SinisterSouthPodcast for sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes content, and more cheeky banter, or www.sinistersouthpod.co.uk. Remember, every crime tells a story... and South is the best side of the river...
Produced and hosted by Hannah Williams & Rachel Baines
Mixed & edited by Purple Waves Sound (A.K.A Will) -
On the morning of 10th October 2011, 58-year-old Sally Hodkin left her house in Bexleyheath for her usual walk to work. She was 500 yards from her own front door when she was attacked and killed by Nicola Edgington, a woman who had murdered her own mother six years earlier and had been released back into the community by the NHS.
In the hours before Sally's death, Edgington had told police she was dangerous, walked out of a psychiatric unit, and begged multiple services to help her. Nobody listened.
This week Rachel takes Hannah through every missed opportunity, every form that wasn't sent and every door that should have been locked. It's a long one, but every minute of it matters.Trigger warnings: fatal stabbing, mental health crisis, drug use, miscarriage & graphic violence.
Sources include:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-46022330
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-40378509
https://www.england.nhs.uk/london/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2017/06/Report-of-the-independent-investigation-into-the-care-and-treatment-of-Ms-A.pdf
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-21321005
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicola_Edgington
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-66842327
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-21652436
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-21195602
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-24868749
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-21653018
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-21260313
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-21374967
https://www.hundredfamilies.org/independent-investigation-hodkin-family-statement/
https://www.itv.com/news/london/2023-09-20/victims-family-warns-she-will-kill-again-as-conviction-could-be-downgraded
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/mar/09/sally-hodkin-nhs-mental-health
https://www.london-now.co.uk/news/25968695.bexleyheath-killer-nicola-edgington-loses-murder-conviction-appeal/
https://www.channel4.com/news/suspect-left-mental-health-unit-before-stabbing
https://murderpedia.org/female.E/e/edgington-nicola.htm
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-46034803
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/nicola-edgington-meat-cleaver-murder-manslaughter-court-of-appeal-b1107644.html
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2874993/police-in-100k-bid-to-cover-up-murder-of-gran-by-mental-health-patient-who-pleaded-to-be-sectioned/
https://www.hundredfamilies.org/sally-hodkin-memorial-match-2017/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-15280814
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/05/17/nhs-pays-psychotic-killers-to-give-health-advice/Support the show
Thanks for tuning in! If you loved diving into the dark corners of South London with us, don't forget to hit that subscribe button to never miss an episode of "Sinister South."
Also, follow us on Instagram @SinisterSouthPodcast for sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes content, and more cheeky banter, or www.sinistersouthpod.co.uk. Remember, every crime tells a story... and South is the best side of the river...
Produced and hosted by Hannah Williams & Rachel Baines
Mixed & edited by Purple Waves Sound (A.K.A Will) -
¿Faltan episodios?
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This week, we go back to 1831 and the Croydon Canal, where two empty boats were found drifting on still water. A week later, the body of a pregnant woman surfaced. Her name, or at least the name history gives us, was Mary Clarke.
Mary had been seen days earlier preparing to meet the father of her unborn child. She was dressed in a fine cotton gown, a black silk cloak and a white straw bonnet, with a small key in her pocket that remains one of the most frustrating details of the case. But despite her injuries, despite the missing companion who vanished from the record, and despite the two unnamed men last seen with her, the inquest returned a verdict of “found drowned”.
Nearly 200 years later, we’re left with a woman no one claimed, a canal that no longer exists, and a question that still hasn’t been answered: who put Mary Clarke in the water?
This episode includes discussion of pregnancy, suicide, violence against women, murder, drowning and historical attitudes towards unmarried pregnant women.
Support the show
Thanks for tuning in! If you loved diving into the dark corners of South London with us, don't forget to hit that subscribe button to never miss an episode of "Sinister South."
Also, follow us on Instagram @SinisterSouthPodcast for sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes content, and more cheeky banter, or www.sinistersouthpod.co.uk. Remember, every crime tells a story... and South is the best side of the river...
Produced and hosted by Hannah Williams & Rachel Baines
Mixed & edited by Purple Waves Sound (A.K.A Will) -
This week, after a truly chaotic opening involving a pork pie-related road traffic incident, pocket hummus at the Palladium, Paul McCartney’s Meat Free Mondays, and the questionable social etiquette of bringing a meze board into a theatre, we turn to the heart breaking unsolved murder of 16-year-old Andrea Troupe.
In May 1983, Andrea was found dead in Warwick Gardens, Peckham. She had been stabbed more than 12 times and was later revealed to have been pregnant, something her family had not known. More than 40 years later, nobody has ever been charged with her murder.
Andrea’s case sits against the backdrop of 1980s South London, a time of deep mistrust between Black communities and the police, following the New Cross house fire and the Brixton uprising. It also becomes tangled in the disturbing story of convicted double murderer Michelle Smithyman, whose reported confessions raised even more questions than they answered.
This is a story about a young girl whose life was brutally taken, a family left without answers, and a case that still deserves attention.
Sources include:
https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/brother-pleads-for-help-to-find-killer-of-sister-37-years-ago/
http://www.blackkalendar.nl/c/4016/John%20Michael%20Smithyman
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-34712868
https://www.mylondon.news/news/south-london-news/murderer-confesses-part-fire-killed-22027197
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/double-murderer-confessed-killing-girl-25561274
https://crimeimmemorial.com/2024/09/11/andrea-troupe/
http://www.unsolved-murders.co.uk/murder-content.php?key=8371&termRef=Andrea+Troupe
https://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/13944316.michael-smithyman-who-murdered-the-mother-of-his-child-in-meopham-may-have-killed-13-others-according-to-bbc-report/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/audio_video/programmes/panorama/transcripts/transcript_03_03_97.txt
https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-13324293/Double-murderer-hold-key-solving-1981-New-Cross-fire-Killer-serving-life-told-cops-mystery-teen-started-house-blaze-killed-13-black-partygoers-Britains-notorious-unsolved-mass-murder.html
https://www.meopham-pc.gov.uk/content/meopham-chronology-0
http://www.tmg-uk.org/did-met-police-halt-new-cross-fire-investigation/
https://www.voice-online.co.uk/news/uk-news/2017/03/01/new-cross-fire-victims-cousin-demands-new-enquiry/
https://www.newsdons.com/2021/10/31/double-murderer-confesses-part-in-unsolved-new-cross-fire/
Support the show
Thanks for tuning in! If you loved diving into the dark corners of South London with us, don't forget to hit that subscribe button to never miss an episode of "Sinister South."
Also, follow us on Instagram @SinisterSouthPodcast for sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes content, and more cheeky banter, or www.sinistersouthpod.co.uk. Remember, every crime tells a story... and South is the best side of the river...
Produced and hosted by Hannah Williams & Rachel Baines
Mixed & edited by Purple Waves Sound (A.K.A Will) -
Welcome back, Trevors! It's season four and we are BACK, although you'd be forgiven for thinking otherwise given the chaos of recording this one (third intro, second go at the case, Hannah's suitcase touring Luton solo). Stick with us.
This week, Hannah takes us to a quiet Wednesday night in October 1993, when a 44 year old former maths teacher turned beat bobby cycled onto Cato Road in Clapham. PC Patrick Dunne never made it home. Neither did his neighbour William Danso, a Ghanaian doorman and father of five, gunned down in his own hallway for being good at his job.
The man who pulled the trigger was Gary Lloyd Nelson, a 24 year old gangster nicknamed Tyson, with a fuse so short he'd fired five shots at a van driver for overtaking him. The evidence was staggering. The CPS dropped it anyway. What followed was a 12 year fight by two families who refused to let the system forget.
Settle in.
Sources for this case include:
https://thepolicememorialtrust.org/pc-patrick-dunne/
https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/feb/18/ukguns.rosiecowan
https://www.londonremembers.com/subjects/pc-patrick-dunne
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4717168.stm
https://x.com/metpoliceuk/status/1065279526656241664
https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/52225/pc-patrick-dunne
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1510792/Gangster-who-gunned-down-Pc-is-sent-to-jail-for-35-years.html
https://murderpedia.org/male.N/n/nelson-gary-lloyd.htm#google_vignette
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/roadrage-driver-gets-eight-years-for-gun-attacks-1596553.html
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/gangster-jailed-for-pc-death-may-have-killed-four-others-a3293531.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hijVRJrS9VA
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kQCD9LFV2Qs
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4703356.stm
Support the show
Thanks for tuning in! If you loved diving into the dark corners of South London with us, don't forget to hit that subscribe button to never miss an episode of "Sinister South."
Also, follow us on Instagram @SinisterSouthPodcast for sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes content, and more cheeky banter, or www.sinistersouthpod.co.uk. Remember, every crime tells a story... and South is the best side of the river...
Produced and hosted by Hannah Williams & Rachel Baines
Mixed & edited by Purple Waves Sound (A.K.A Will) -
In February 2003, nineteen-year-old Marsha McDonnell stepped off a bus yards from her front door in Hampton and never made it home. Eighteen months later, twenty-two-year-old Amélie Delagrange was found dying on Twickenham Green after missing her stop on a late-night bus. Two women. Two streets we know. One man responsible for both — and for so much more besides.
This week Rachel tells the story of Levi Bellfield: the wheel-clamper and nightclub bouncer who stalked bus stops across south-west London for years before anyone caught him, and whose crimes would eventually bring down one of the most powerful newspapers in the world. We hear from the women who survived him, the ex-partner whose courage finally got him arrested, and the daughters who had to rebuild their lives in his shadow.
A content warning before you listen: this episode contains descriptions of violence, sexual abuse, and coercive control.
Sources include:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/feb/08/vikramdodd
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2736407.stm
https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/the-man-who-killed-amelie-and-marsha-6615651.html
https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/marsha-killing-new-clue-7223992.html
https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/mar/13/ukcrime
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/8122841/marsha-mcdonnell-levi-bellfield-murder/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-46787240
https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/oct/17/ukcrime.france
https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/reports/a25746134/milly-dowler-killer-caught-manhunt-amelie-delagrange/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levi_Bellfield
https://news.sky.com/story/manhunt-detective-who-caught-milly-dowler-murderer-levi-bellfield-reveals-tricks-police-used-in-battle-with-serial-killer-12354796
https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/nov/22/ukcrime
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-37926858
https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/marsha-mcdonnell-died-yards-from-her-home/a/119479412.html
www.bbc.com/news/uk-13455748
https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/jun/27/levi-bellfield-defence-milly-dowler
https://www.richmondandtwickenhamtimes.co.uk/news/271777.marshas-murder-link-to-strawberry-hill-attack/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-41652456
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_npFjpBJjw
Support the show
Thanks for tuning in! If you loved diving into the dark corners of South London with us, don't forget to hit that subscribe button to never miss an episode of "Sinister South."
Also, follow us on Instagram @SinisterSouthPodcast for sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes content, and more cheeky banter, or www.sinistersouthpod.co.uk. Remember, every crime tells a story... and South is the best side of the river...
Produced and hosted by Hannah Williams & Rachel Baines
Mixed & edited by Purple Waves Sound (A.K.A Will) -
This week’s episode comes with a very serious warning.
We’re covering the case of Ellie Butler, a six-year-old girl whose death shocked the country and exposed devastating failures within the child protection system.
Before we get into the case, we talk honestly about how difficult this one has been for us to research and record, and why we felt it was important to flag that upfront. This is not an easy listen.
Ellie was known as a bright, creative little girl, raised by her grandparents from just weeks old. But after a controversial court decision, she was returned to her parents, despite years of warnings, evidence, and concern from professionals.
What follows is not just the story of one man’s violence, but a sequence of decisions that left a child unprotected.
We cover:
The early signs that something was wrong The legal battle that led to Ellie being returned home The systemic failures that followed And the events of the day Ellie diedThis episode contains discussions of child abuse, domestic abuse, and the death of a child.
Please take care while listening. If this isn’t one you can face right now, that’s completely okay.
Support the show
Thanks for tuning in! If you loved diving into the dark corners of South London with us, don't forget to hit that subscribe button to never miss an episode of "Sinister South."
Also, follow us on Instagram @SinisterSouthPodcast for sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes content, and more cheeky banter, or www.sinistersouthpod.co.uk. Remember, every crime tells a story... and South is the best side of the river...
Produced and hosted by Hannah Williams & Rachel Baines
Mixed & edited by Purple Waves Sound (A.K.A Will) -
This week, we start where we always do… somewhere between a rant about marketing “safe spaces” and a full-blown identity crisis over snake trousers 😅
But very quickly, things take a turn.
We’re telling the story of 23-year-old Natalie Jarvis, a young woman from Swanley who went out for what she thought was a casual late-night drive… and never came home.
Natalie was loud, funny, warm, and deeply loved by her family. She was rebuilding her life after heartbreak, spending time with friends, and starting something new with a man she thought she could trust.
But behind the scenes, that man was saying something very different.
In this episode, we unpack a case built on weeks of text messages, tweets, and group chats that should have set alarm bells ringing… but didn’t. A story where warning signs were laughed off, threats were treated as banter, and no one stepped in.
We walk through the timeline of what happened that night in October 2012, the brutal reality of Natalie’s murder, and the devastating impact on a family still living with that loss every single day.
This episode contains discussions of graphic violence and murder. Please listen with care.
Support the show
Thanks for tuning in! If you loved diving into the dark corners of South London with us, don't forget to hit that subscribe button to never miss an episode of "Sinister South."
Also, follow us on Instagram @SinisterSouthPodcast for sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes content, and more cheeky banter, or www.sinistersouthpod.co.uk. Remember, every crime tells a story... and South is the best side of the river...
Produced and hosted by Hannah Williams & Rachel Baines
Mixed & edited by Purple Waves Sound (A.K.A Will) -
After a bit of chat about pub quizzes, questionable general knowledge, and why some people should never be trusted with a quiz answer sheet, we turn to a story that is anything but light.
In March 2025, 16-year-old Lethanial Burrell was shot dead on his own street in Stockwell, in the middle of a Tuesday afternoon. What followed was the unravelling of a calculated attack involving a stolen moped, a modified firearm, and a network far bigger than it first appeared.
This episode looks at who Lethanial was, what happened on Paradise Road, and the wider questions his death leaves behind about exploitation, violence, and the systems that failed to stop it.
Sources in this episode include:
https://news.met.police.uk/news/two-found-guilty-of-murder-following-stockwell-shooting-505941
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8e70g57d2xo
https://www.cps.gov.uk/london-north/news/two-convicted-murder-16-year-old-shot-south-london
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cr5752jpz5po
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/mar/05/teenager-shot-dead-in-south-london-named-as-lathaniel-burrell
https://www.itv.com/news/london/2025-03-06/this-cant-happen-to-anyone-else-says-aunt-of-boy-shot-dead-in-south-london
https://hounslowherald.com/yearold-charged-with-murder-of-lathaniel-burrell-in-stockwell-p27553-249.htm
https://news.sky.com/story/second-person-charged-with-murder-after-shooting-of-teenage-boy-in-south-london-13326917
https://southwarknews.co.uk/area/peckham/teenager-from-peckham-arrested-over-shooting-of-16-year-old-in-stockwell/
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/two-guilty-murder-stockwell-shooting-b1269986.html
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/stockwell-shooting-london-latest-victim-police-update-murder-121341630.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAGEZC2Yl4PFFaM_0HkI3z6C7xWu5TWTMGgO0bS1XUTknm0DhxMjN0dJOEQTlMh5XtvTudJ46xpzJirwZ2_h6hZIGaK6M4or6xZja26LFroWAxPVQr1b7ucd0zRkUzwTw7XtQoKvFYpV3VanHPCzuZQYUY9juEwqEX67YKBEdzcDB
https://www.wandsworthguardian.co.uk/news/25039283.lathaniel-burrell-stockwell-shooting-two-arrests/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c871el85x02o
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/iUeaVe5NOwc
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/stockwell-shooting-lathaniel-burrell-murder-arrest-b1215371.htmlSupport the show
Thanks for tuning in! If you loved diving into the dark corners of South London with us, don't forget to hit that subscribe button to never miss an episode of "Sinister South."
Also, follow us on Instagram @SinisterSouthPodcast for sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes content, and more cheeky banter, or www.sinistersouthpod.co.uk. Remember, every crime tells a story... and South is the best side of the river...
Produced and hosted by Hannah Williams & Rachel Baines
Mixed & edited by Purple Waves Sound (A.K.A Will) -
We start this week as we usually do, a bit of chaos, questionable life updates, and an Oreo milkshake that frankly had no business being that big… before we move into one of the most difficult cases we’ve ever covered.
Shirley Oaks was meant to be a safe place. A village of cottages in Croydon, designed to give children in care a sense of normal life. Instead, it became the centre of one of the most disturbing child abuse scandals in British history. Over decades, hundreds of children were subjected to sexual, physical and racial abuse by those trusted to protect them (staff, volunteers, carers) within a system that repeatedly failed to act
In this episode, we look at what was really happening inside Shirley Oaks, how multiple perpetrators were able to operate unchecked, and how survivors eventually forced the truth into the open.
Trigger warning: This episode contains discussion of child sexual abuse (including very young children), grooming, rape, physical abuse, racial abuse, institutional failure, suicide, self-harm, and substance misuse.
If you need support, you can contact:
NSPCC Helpline: 0808 800 5000
Rape Crisis England & Wales: 0808 802 9999
Samaritans (24/7): 116 123
Please take care while listening.Sources for this episode include:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-53258596
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/616d627fd3bf7f5604d83c8c/Lambeth-care-IICSA-investigation.pdf
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/jun/25/over-46m-paid-to-survivors-of-abuse-at-lambeth-childrens-homes
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/jun/25/survivors-tell-of-abuse-shirley-oaks-childrens-home
https://www.shirleyoakssurvivorsassociation.co.uk
https://news.sky.com/story/shirley-oaks-man-who-was-repeatedly-sexually-abused-at-childrens-home-reveals-why-he-kept-dark-secret-for-nearly-six-decades-12364798
https://www.iicsa.org.uk/reports-recommendations/publications/investigation/lambeth-council/part-b-reality-life-care-lambeth/b2-case-study-shirley-oaks.html
https://www.leighday.co.uk/news/press-releases/2020-news/survivor-of-abuse-at-shirley-oaks-childrens-home-awarded-125-000-by-the-lambeth-redress-scheme/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-53314290
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKp4LLRNh8o
https://www.itv.com/news/london/2022-10-20/lambeth-childrens-home-survivor-it-was-abuse-on-an-industrial-scale
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/oct/21/we-have-to-deliver-justice-the-man-who-fought-for-the-survivors-of-shirley-oaks
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/child-abuse-inquiry-london-care-homes-shirley-oaks-croydon-lambeth-council-compensation-millions-pounds-victims-a7478016.htmlSupport the show
Thanks for tuning in! If you loved diving into the dark corners of South London with us, don't forget to hit that subscribe button to never miss an episode of "Sinister South."
Also, follow us on Instagram @SinisterSouthPodcast for sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes content, and more cheeky banter, or www.sinistersouthpod.co.uk. Remember, every crime tells a story... and South is the best side of the river...
Produced and hosted by Hannah Williams & Rachel Baines
Mixed & edited by Purple Waves Sound (A.K.A Will) -
HanFan Trevors... have we got good news for you! We're back... slightly frazzled, mildly sleep deprived and very much doing our best.
Tune in for chat about chaotic coach journeys, questionable life admin, Mother's Day highs and lows, and a near full-scale household meltdown involving a missing cat (don't worry, she's fine...)
In January 1992, on a quiet residential street in Wallington, South London, Nimal Samarasinha stepped outside to warm up his car before taking his daughter to school. Minutes later, he was dead. Stabbed once through the heart, in broad daylight, on his own driveway. No witnesses, no robbery, no obvious motive.
What followed uncovered a life built on layers of secrecy. A respected council official hiding a gambling addiction, mounting debts, forged documents and a double life that was on the brink of exposure. But even with a conviction, one question has never been answered. Who actually carried out the murder?
Sources used in this case include:
Support the show
Thanks for tuning in! If you loved diving into the dark corners of South London with us, don't forget to hit that subscribe button to never miss an episode of "Sinister South."
Also, follow us on Instagram @SinisterSouthPodcast for sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes content, and more cheeky banter, or www.sinistersouthpod.co.uk. Remember, every crime tells a story... and South is the best side of the river...
Produced and hosted by Hannah Williams & Rachel Baines
Mixed & edited by Purple Waves Sound (A.K.A Will) -
#Trevors, journey back with us to 1573 and Shooters Hill in the Tudor period, where Rach walks us through one of the oldest cases we've covered on Sinister South, the murder of George Saunders by another George, and two Annes...
We take you through what happened on the highway to Kent and the coast and all that lay beyond, when a man who decided he wanted someone else's wife for himself got a bit happy with a dagger.
Expect lots of mispronunciations of Olde English, questionable "facts" and a dive into a world of lust, love and murder, tudor style!
Also we celebrate the launch of Hannah's new YouTube channel "Hike with Hannah" and question Rachel's thinking about whether using dead criminals as signposting landmarks is actually the way forward...
Big love
Sources used in this case include:
https://www.folger.edu/blogs/collation/george-saunders-in-happier-times/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V7Ax-QyStY
https://thehistorypress.co.uk/publication/strange-inhuman-deaths-2/
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tudor-Murder-Files-James-Moore/dp/1473857031
http://www.oxford-shakespeare.com/Probate/PROB_11-63_f_271.pdf
https://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/14795257.gruesome-south-london-murders-from-tudor-times-chronicled-in-james-moores-new-book-the-tudor-murder-files/
https://cupboardworld.blogspot.com/2012/08/killing-your-husband-in-tudor-england.html
Support the show
Thanks for tuning in! If you loved diving into the dark corners of South London with us, don't forget to hit that subscribe button to never miss an episode of "Sinister South."
Also, follow us on Instagram @SinisterSouthPodcast for sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes content, and more cheeky banter, or www.sinistersouthpod.co.uk. Remember, every crime tells a story... and South is the best side of the river...
Produced and hosted by Hannah Williams & Rachel Baines
Mixed & edited by Purple Waves Sound (A.K.A Will) -
We kick this one off the only way we know how.
A bit tired. A bit dramatic about adulthood. Slightly over-analysing targeted ads that know we’re stressed. There’s chat about mini retirements, South London buses, and whether four ciders was really necessary on a school night.
And then we talk about Wayne.
On 19 February 1990, 11-year-old Wayne Taylor left his home in Kennington with a pound in his pocket to get the bus to Brixton to see his dad. It was half term. It was a normal journey. He knew the area. He was expected home that evening.
He never came back. Two days later, Wayne was found inside a disused community centre on the Somerleyton Estate. He had been sexually assaulted and murdered. The investigation would eventually link his death to an earlier attack on another young boy, and early DNA evidence would identify the man responsible.
The case was solved. The killer was convicted. But Wayne’s name never became one the country seemed to hold onto.
In this episode, we talk about who Wayne was, what happened in those final hours, and why his story feels like one that slipped quietly past the national conversation.Sources include
https://chatgpt.com/g/g-p-6762b841d4108191b4c89939ef1dbbeb-sinister-south/c/6988bcfa-5448-8392-a197-6a3ee3fd339d
https://www.blackkalendar.nl/c/13323/Michael%20Wyatt
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gu8H9jPxHLA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0nSFGtCbzs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2Ehlv70y8s
https://imsvintagephotos.com/products/1991-paedophile-killer-michael-wyatt-was-jailed-for-life-today-old-bailey-vintage-photograph-2206263?srsltid=AfmBOorfxjs59CkAzUF1Ywcf_AOqNmEDzSmuS5dcX7xnXTOPxFO5fOSGSupport the show
Thanks for tuning in! If you loved diving into the dark corners of South London with us, don't forget to hit that subscribe button to never miss an episode of "Sinister South."
Also, follow us on Instagram @SinisterSouthPodcast for sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes content, and more cheeky banter, or www.sinistersouthpod.co.uk. Remember, every crime tells a story... and South is the best side of the river...
Produced and hosted by Hannah Williams & Rachel Baines
Mixed & edited by Purple Waves Sound (A.K.A Will) -
We start this week exactly how you’d expect.
A bit of chat. A bit of South London waffle. Probably a side quest before we’ve even technically started. We mention Electric Avenue. Yes, the song. Yes, we sing it. No, we’re not sorry.And then we get serious.
Because on Saturday 17 April 1999, Brixton was doing what Brixton does. Market traders packing up. Families out shopping. Iceland just being Iceland. Completely normal. Completely ordinary.
Until a blue sports bag was left behind.
In this episode we tell the story of the Brixton nail bombing — the first in a two-week campaign of hate that would shake London. We focus on what happened on Electric Avenue that afternoon, how the device was moved and misunderstood, how nobody quite believed it could be real… and what happened when it detonated.
We talk about the chaos. The injuries. The people who stepped in to help. The investigation that followed. And we examine who David Copeland was, how he became radicalised, and how extremist ideology turned into real-world violence on a South London high street.But as always, this is about more than the man who planted the bomb.
It’s about Brixton. Its history. Its community. And the legacy of a day that was meant to divide people, but didn’t.
A community under attack will not be divided.
Together, we are strong.
Support the show
Thanks for tuning in! If you loved diving into the dark corners of South London with us, don't forget to hit that subscribe button to never miss an episode of "Sinister South."
Also, follow us on Instagram @SinisterSouthPodcast for sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes content, and more cheeky banter, or www.sinistersouthpod.co.uk. Remember, every crime tells a story... and South is the best side of the river...
Produced and hosted by Hannah Williams & Rachel Baines
Mixed & edited by Purple Waves Sound (A.K.A Will) -
This week, we’re back together after a short break and doing what we do best. Catching up, oversharing, laughing at ourselves, and gently easing into the darkness.
Then we turn to Croydon.
In 2008, 26 year old builder Mark Corcoran was found stabbed in the heart. Despite a violent Valentines Day attack, potential witnesses, and years of investigation, no one has ever been charged. His case remains unsolved.
We talk through who Mark was, what is known about the night he was killed, and the lines of enquiry police explored at the time. We look at where the investigation stalled, what questions still remain, and how cases like Mark’s slowly fade from public view despite never being resolved.
This is a story about a life cut short, a family left without answers, and a murder that still sits quietly in South London history, unresolved.
As always, we approach this with care and respect. Mark was a real person, not just a headline.
Listener discretion advised. Anyone with information regarding Mark's death is asked to call the police on 101. To remain anonymous call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Support the show
Thanks for tuning in! If you loved diving into the dark corners of South London with us, don't forget to hit that subscribe button to never miss an episode of "Sinister South."
Also, follow us on Instagram @SinisterSouthPodcast for sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes content, and more cheeky banter, or www.sinistersouthpod.co.uk. Remember, every crime tells a story... and South is the best side of the river...
Produced and hosted by Hannah Williams & Rachel Baines
Mixed & edited by Purple Waves Sound (A.K.A Will) -
In this week's episode, Rachel takes us back to the chilling atmosphere of 1952 Croydon to unravel the tragic and highly controversial case that gripped Britain: the fate of Derek Bentley. What started as a routine callout to a warehouse roof quickly descended into chaos and tragedy, leaving one police officer dead, one injured, and two teenagers under arrest for murder, setting the stage for a judicial disaster.
We delve into the lives of the young men caught in the crosshairs of the law: 19-year-old Derek Bentley, a vulnerable young man easily led and struggling with significant learning disabilities, and 16-year-old Christopher Craig, the charismatic, but dangerous, leader who fired the fatal shot.
The entire case hinged on four disputed, ambiguous words: "Let him have it." We expose the brutal and unforgiving realities of the British justice system in an era of mandatory capital punishment, dissecting the trial that sent a vulnerable defendant to the gallows. Join us as we trace the devastating impact of an adult court on a young man with a developmental delay, and follow the decades-long, passionate campaign for justice that sought to correct a massive miscarriage of justice.
Trigger Warnings: Murder, capital punishment/execution and pure, unadulterated rage.
Sources include:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derek_Bentley
https://www.casebook.org/forum1998/messages/3608/39192b66.html?1025427879
https://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/news/9835248.book-retells-controversial-death-of-croydon-copper/
https://insidecroydon.com/2023/03/26/let-him-have-it-murder-the-abdication-and-new-year-revels/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/28/newsid_3393000/3393807.stm
https://murderpedia.org/male.C/c/craig-christopher.htm
https://ccrc.gov.uk/decision/bentley-derek/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95wj4Ij1cCk
https://www.chalfonts.org/_site/data/files/users/CC4DC19FD20818CCC2C6EABB5E1ACB51.pdf
Support the show
Thanks for tuning in! If you loved diving into the dark corners of South London with us, don't forget to hit that subscribe button to never miss an episode of "Sinister South."
Also, follow us on Instagram @SinisterSouthPodcast for sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes content, and more cheeky banter, or www.sinistersouthpod.co.uk. Remember, every crime tells a story... and South is the best side of the river...
Produced and hosted by Hannah Williams & Rachel Baines
Mixed & edited by Purple Waves Sound (A.K.A Will) -
A first date. A December night. A man who looked confident, capable, and in control.
In this episode, we tell the story of Charlotte Brown, a thoughtful, ambitious young woman who went out for dinner in London and never came home. What followed was years of delay, denial, and a justice system playing catch-up, as her family fought to prove that what happened on the Thames was not a tragic accident, but the result of sustained negligence and arrogance. We unpack the culture of confidence without consequence, the dangerous gap between appearance and reality, and how risk can be dressed up as charm until someone else pays the price.
Along the way, we also get distracted by decluttering woes, charity shop politics, teenagers with no chargers, anxiety-fuelled travel prep, book recommendations, and why neither of us should ever be trusted near a speedboat.
Sources used in this episode include:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq5j3xe8p99o
https://www.itv.com/news/london/2025-09-18/speedboat-killer-jack-shepard-back-in-prison-after-breaching-licence-conditions
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-68083296
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/36767851/speedboat-killer-jack-shepherd-jail-assaulting-new-girlfriend/
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/speedboat-killer-jack-shepherd-could-36161482
https://news.sky.com/story/speedboat-killer-jack-shepherd-released-from-prison-13055144
https://news.sky.com/story/charlotte-brown-father-urges-daughters-killer-jack-shepherd-to-reveal-truth-about-speedboat-death-ahead-of-prison-release-13038792
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/speedboat-killer-jack-shepherds-twisted-31948232
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-44924244
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tG--eUOWk1o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XV2dSvxe6Wg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-C1Uuyxdls
Support the show
Thanks for tuning in! If you loved diving into the dark corners of South London with us, don't forget to hit that subscribe button to never miss an episode of "Sinister South."
Also, follow us on Instagram @SinisterSouthPodcast for sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes content, and more cheeky banter, or www.sinistersouthpod.co.uk. Remember, every crime tells a story... and South is the best side of the river...
Produced and hosted by Hannah Williams & Rachel Baines
Mixed & edited by Purple Waves Sound (A.K.A Will) -
This week on Sinister South, we do what we do best. There’s midweek chaos, including Rach questioning her own judgement after agreeing to a gig with the kids in tow, celebrating her slow and inevitable demise (also known as her birthday) on release day, and of course the continuing saga of #JenAneatenbyleopards. The truth will come out. Probably. Eventually.
Then we get into the case of Tom “Tommy” Cressman and Jane Andrews. In September 2000, in a flat in Fulham, Tommy rang 999 and said words that still haunt this case: “I’m afraid we might hurt each other… if we don’t have somebody here soon, somebody is going to get hurt.” No one came.
Within days, Tommy was dead. Beaten with a cricket bat and stabbed in his own bed. His partner, Jane Andrews, a former dresser to Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, would later claim she acted in self-defence.
In this episode, we step back and look at who these two people really were. Tommy, a wealthy, well-liked South West London bachelor with a settled life and no desire to marry. Jane, a woman who’d clawed her way out of a difficult childhood into royal circles, only to see that identity collapse years before she met him.
We talk about the relationship, the warning signs, the arguments, the 999 call that went nowhere, and the systems that failed to step in before things turned fatal. We also look carefully at Jane’s psychology without excusing what she did, and why this case still provokes such strong reactions more than twenty years on.
If you or someone you know needs help in a domestic violence/coercive control situation there are many places that can help including:
National Domestic Abuse Helpline - 0808 2000 247
National Centre for Domestic Abuse
and many more in the UK. If you're outside the UK, check local services.
Sources in this episode include:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Andrewshttp://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/23/newsid_4444000/4444991.stmhttps://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3kz304https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2003/aug/30/weekend7.weekend1https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/my-brother-murdered-royal-aide-28135479https://www.murdermiletours.com/blog/murder-mile-uk-true-crime-podcast-148-the-abuse-of-jane-andrews-part-1-janes-storyhttps://murderpedia.org/female.A/a/andrews-jane.htmhttps://www.thedarksideoflove.com/post/episode-72-season-4-jane-andrews-and-tom-cressman-i-m-gonna-make-you-love-mehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uF25VVb_AFkhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHEnU26OFugSupport the show
Thanks for tuning in! If you loved diving into the dark corners of South London with us, don't forget to hit that subscribe button to never miss an episode of "Sinister South."
Also, follow us on Instagram @SinisterSouthPodcast for sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes content, and more cheeky banter, or www.sinistersouthpod.co.uk. Remember, every crime tells a story... and South is the best side of the river...
Produced and hosted by Hannah Williams & Rachel Baines
Mixed & edited by Purple Waves Sound (A.K.A Will) -
In this episode, we head back to Victorian Brixton and into one of the most disturbing cases we’ve ever covered on Sinister South.
Before we get there though, we do what we do best and chat absolute nonsense. There’s an unexpected fifth cat, a house that smells like a crime scene for all the wrong reasons, the slow realisation that our bodies are ageing at an alarming rate, and a surprisingly serious discussion about V pillows, podcasts, and why no one should ever attempt a Scottish accent out loud.
Then we bring things sharply back down to earth.
This episode focuses on Margaret Waters, a woman who ran a baby farming operation in 19th century South London. What began as paid childcare arrangements became something far darker. Infants taken for lump sums, drugged into silence, starved, and left to die once they were no longer profitable.
We look at how Waters was able to operate for years in plain sight, why Brixton’s rapid expansion made the perfect cover, and how poverty, anonymity and a complete lack of regulation allowed unimaginable cruelty to flourish. This is not a story of desperation gone wrong. It is a story about someone who learned exactly how much suffering she could get away with.
Listener discretion is strongly advised. This episode contains discussion of infant death, deliberate neglect and infanticide.
Sources include:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Waters
https://www.londonmuseum.org.uk/collections/v/object-718109/confession-execution-of-m-waters-the-baby-farmer-at-horsemonger-lane-gaol-on-tuesday-october-11th/
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/63114230
https://kar.kent.ac.uk/62866/27/Baby%20Farmers.pdf
https://www.brixtonbuzz.com/2013/06/the-tale-of-margaret-waters-brixtons-notorious-1870-baby-farmer-as-retold-through-the-spectators-archives/
https://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/1st-october-1870/11/the-trade-of-murder
https://vocal.media/fyi/london-s-vile-victorian-baby-farmers
https://livingwithdying.leeds.ac.uk/2022/11/01/unloved-and-undisciplined-nineteenth-century-baby-farming-and-the-demonisation-of-working-class-mothers-across-the-ages/
https://southshieldslocalhistorygroup.co.uk/index.php/history/19th-century/a-19th-century-epidemic-of-infanticide/
https://www.nytimes.com/1870/10/15/archives/the-trade-of-murder-review-of-the-case-of-margaret-waters-the.html
https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetary-policy/inflation/inflation-calculator
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godfrey%27s_CordialSupport the show
Thanks for tuning in! If you loved diving into the dark corners of South London with us, don't forget to hit that subscribe button to never miss an episode of "Sinister South."
Also, follow us on Instagram @SinisterSouthPodcast for sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes content, and more cheeky banter, or www.sinistersouthpod.co.uk. Remember, every crime tells a story... and South is the best side of the river...
Produced and hosted by Hannah Williams & Rachel Baines
Mixed & edited by Purple Waves Sound (A.K.A Will) -
It's 2026!! Happy Bloody New Year Trevors! This week, after a bit of our usual rambling about poorly dogs (get well soon Ted), questionable New Year resolutions and why Rachel should probably never do another English Literature degree, we turn to one of the most shocking cases to come out of South London in recent years.
In August 2012, 12-year-old Tia Sharp went missing from her grandmother’s home in New Addington. What began as a desperate search, supported by her family, the local community and a nation watching on, would end in the most devastating way imaginable.
In this episode, we tell Tia’s story from the beginning. Who she was, the family who loved her, and the home she trusted. We follow the investigation as it unfolded, the media frenzy that surrounded it, and how suspicion slowly closed in on the man who had been hiding in plain sight all along.
We also examine the police search that failed her, the digital evidence that ultimately exposed the truth, and the trial that forced her family to hear the unthinkable. This is a case about trust, betrayal and the devastating consequences when the people meant to protect a child become the greatest danger.
As always, listener discretion is advised. This episode contains discussion of child harm, sexual violence and murder.Sources include
https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/JCO/Documents/Judgments/r-v-stuart-hazell-sentencing.pdf
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-23322132
https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/aug/13/tia-sharp-body-found-bedsheet-loft
https://www.swlondoner.co.uk/news/16072013-agencies-cleared-of-any-blame-over-murder-of-croydon-schoolgirl-tia-sharp
https://www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk/crime-files/the-murder-of-tia-sharp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uOe7podWZY
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-22513711
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Tia_Sharp
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-19128653
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-19214964
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/tia-sharp-murder-grandmother-christine-1270036
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-19223080
https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/aug/07/london-missing-tia-sharp-stepfather-speaks?newsfeed=true
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-19590027
https://metro.co.uk/2016/03/22/murdered-tia-sharps-mum-accused-of-racist-assault-on-woman-in-lidl-car-park-5768936/
https://metro.co.uk/2016/03/23/tia-sharps-mum-and-gran-found-guilty-of-racism-5771335/
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/10209375/Tia-Sharp-neighbour-told-police-he-saw-her-leaving-house-when-she-was-already-dead.htmlSupport the show
Thanks for tuning in! If you loved diving into the dark corners of South London with us, don't forget to hit that subscribe button to never miss an episode of "Sinister South."
Also, follow us on Instagram @SinisterSouthPodcast for sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes content, and more cheeky banter, or www.sinistersouthpod.co.uk. Remember, every crime tells a story... and South is the best side of the river...
Produced and hosted by Hannah Williams & Rachel Baines
Mixed & edited by Purple Waves Sound (A.K.A Will) - Mostrar más
