The Crime Agents

Q&A: Rochdale grooming gang leader & should sex offenders ever get early release?

The leader of the Rochdale grooming gang has been freed after just 14 years - and the government says it can't deport him. Andy and Neil dissect how Shabir Ahmed ended up back on British streets, discuss why the case has provoked such fury, and give their view on what should happen to him now.They also ask whether justice has finally been served after two teenage boys who raped young girls in Hampshire were given custodial sentences on appeal. Plus, Andy explains why rapists are often given such short prison sentences, and Neil gives his view on whether sex offenders should ever be eligible for the government's early release scheme.Later, Andy reveals whether his undercover reporting has ever put him in enough danger to need close protection.Have a question for a future Q&A? Send it via email to thecrimeagents@global.com or follow us on social media: @thecrimeagentsThe Crime Agents is a Global production, available every Monday and Thursday on Global Player, YouTube or wherever you get your shows. Make sure you subscribe so you never miss an episode.

Lee Rigby’s murder: The terror attack that launched a far-right movement

On 22 May 2013, Fusilier Lee Rigby was murdered in broad daylight on a London street. His killers didn't flee, they waited, bloodied weapons in hand, and spoke to camera. It remains one of the most shocking terrorist attacks on British soil.Neil was a Met police commander in southeast London that day. He reveals what happened inside the Met's leadership team in the minutes after the attack, why it took 15 minutes for armed officers to arrive, and what the footage of those officers' response tells us about the reality of policing.Together, Andy and Neil examine the uncomfortable questions this case still raises: How were both attackers already known to MI5? Why was hate preacher Anjem Choudary allowed to radicalise young men for decades before being stopped? Should the media have broadcast a terrorist's self-made martyrdom video? And how did the murder of one soldier become the launchpad for a national far-right movement?Andy was in the newsroom when the infamous footage first surfaced, and at the EDL rally in Newcastle three days later when Tommy Robinson exploited Lee Rigby's death to galvanise thousands. This is the story of how one act of terror fractured British society in ways we're still living with today.Follow us on social media: @thecrimeagentsThe Crime Agents is a Global production, available every Monday and Thursday on Global Player, YouTube or wherever you get your shows. Make sure you subscribe so you never miss an episode.

Q&A: The Palantir block, tipping off MI5 & 24 Hours in Police Custody

Should a police commissioner publicly criticise the mayor who holds him to account? Sir Mark Rowley did exactly that after Sadiq Khan blocked the Met from working with Palantir, the AI company built on CIA technology. Neil explains the unwritten rules of police leadership, and why he understands the intervention, even if it breaks their relationship.Andy also responds to a listener who asks: why didn't he go straight to MI5 when he uncovered intelligence connected to the Manchester Arena bombing? He explains where the line sits between investigative journalism and national security, and what he'd do differently now.Plus, how shows like 24 Hours in Police Custody actually get made, why most police forces say no to cameras, and what Neil learned when a documentary crew followed his murder squad around for ten months. And finally, if Andy had to join the police, would he pick up a detective's notebook or join the armed response unit?Follow us on social media: @thecrimeagentsThe Crime Agents is a Global production, available every Monday and Thursday on Global Player, YouTube or wherever you get your shows. Make sure you subscribe so you never miss an episode.

Nottingham Attacks: the failures that let a killer roam free

Valdo Calocane was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. He'd been arrested and sectioned for violent offences multiple times. He was known to carry knives. And yet on a June morning in 2023, he was free to roam the streets of Nottingham, where he killed three innocent people.In this episode, Emma Webber - mother of 19-year-old victim Barnaby - tells Andy and Neil about her fight for answers. She reveals how the families discovered the deaths were preventable, the litany of failures by police and mental health services that left Calocane free to kill, and her fury that not a single person has been held accountable for the errors that cost Barnaby, Grace O'Malley-Kumar and Ian Coates their lives.Follow us on social media: @thecrimeagentsThe Crime Agents is a Global production, available every Monday and Thursday on Global Player, YouTube or wherever you get your shows. Make sure you subscribe so you never miss an episode.

Q&A: Andy Burnham’s police protection, Edinburgh machete attack & Peter Murrell's sentence

Andy Burnham looks to be on the cusp of becoming the next Prime Minister. In this Q&A episode, Andy and Neil reveal how police work out which politicians need close protection, and whether Burnham will automatically be getting extra security now he's back in Parliament.Plus, a knife attack in Edinburgh reportedly targeted Muslims and left five people injured, so why didn't it get more news coverage? Andy explains how newsrooms decide which stories lead the agenda, while Neil asks the uncomfortable question: would this have received more attention if the alleged attacker was Muslim and the victims were white?They also give their verdict on Peter Murrell's five-year sentence for embezzling SNP funds, and debate whether fraudsters like him deserve space in our overcrowded prisons.And in the shocking case of a child allegedly thrown into a crocodile enclosure at a Cambridgeshire zoo, Andy and Neil explain why a suspect arrested on suspicion of attempted murder might still be granted bail.Follow us on social media: @thecrimeagentsThe Crime Agents is a Global production, available every Monday and Thursday on Global Player, YouTube or wherever you get your shows. Make sure you subscribe so you never miss an episode.