True Crime Round Up - Monthly Bonus Episode

[0] hello everyone and welcome back to the crime roundup this is the february 2025 edition of this monthly new -ish monthly series with myself stroke blues of british murders and my co -host adam from the uk true crime podcast welcome adam how are you hey shirt good to see you again i hope you all enjoyed last month's episode i got some good feedback actually i don't know about yourself a lot of people seem to enjoy this format did you hear anything similar Yeah, loads of people said really good stuff about my input.

[1] It was less complimentary about you, but, you know, hopefully you'll improve given time.

[2] That's always the case.

[3] I'm the far inexperienced one of the two, as experienced as I am.

[4] Just as a bit of a refresher for anyone who may be listening to this for the first time, this is Adam and I talking about cases in the news, not necessarily murder, but just true crime or crime -ish in general.

[5] We're going to cover some local stories.

[6] So I'm in Leeds.

[7] Adam is up in Scotland.

[8] Some national headlines, some international or unusual crimes.

[9] And then on the end, we will end with some quirky or offbeat is what they call it.

[10] Offbeat news.

[11] Just to end on a high note.

[12] There will be some stuff that's in the news that we won't cover.

[13] We can't cover everything.

[14] But if you think there's something we should cover, please get in touch with either of us and we'll do our best and maybe give you a shout out for your trouble.

[15] So.

[16] We move on to the local stories.

[17] Would you like to start or would you like me to, Adam?

[18] Let me go first today, because this story, as soon as I saw it, I wanted to talk to you about it.

[19] So this sort of crime, it really gets to me. It happened in Karluki, if I've pronounced that correctly.

[20] It's about 10 miles southeast of Glasgow.

[21] And actually, it's the hometown to Professor David Wilson, who you interviewed recently, didn't you?

[22] Oh, yes, I did.

[23] It was the scene in 1973, by the way, of the unsolved murder of Margaret McLaughlin.

[24] She was 23 when she was died.

[25] I tried in my book.

[26] I thought it might have been the responsibility of Angus Sinclair.

[27] But I know that others, including Professor Wilson, who wrote a book on it, has other suspects.

[28] But look, I'm digressing.

[29] The case in Karluki came to court this week.

[30] It really sickened me. Yeah, you're a dad, as am I. So this dad got a call about 8pm at night to say his son was being attacked in the centre there.

[31] And when he turned up, he was set upon two.

[32] He arrived to find like this group of local louts all around his son.

[33] I mean, can you just imagine that if that was your son when you got the call?

[34] So this man asked him what was going on and a fight broke out.

[35] And this older middle -aged man, he was knocked to the ground by these three utter idiots.

[36] I'm going to name them again in case people know them.

[37] 24 -year -old John Galt, 28 -year -old Sean Thorpe.

[38] 28 -year -old Stephen Kelly.

[39] Look, these aren't kids, right?

[40] Knocked him to the floor.

[41] They kicked his head, knocked him unconscious.

[42] And the effect of this attack, it's so bad that the family have had to move from the area.

[43] It's not even the first time for these guys, right?

[44] Galt.

[45] Another time I read about, a woman was phoned by her son shortly after 10pm.

[46] He was in a takeaway.

[47] He was being abused by this idiot, Galt.

[48] And then members of the public finally got him to go away.

[49] He was threatening to attack the son.

[50] But what did he do?

[51] He pulled out a firework, he lit it, and threw it on the street where it exploded.

[52] Just intimidating people, normal people going about their business.

[53] These idiots are all being sentenced next month.

[54] But let's be honest, these people are what stops normal people going out to the high street, spending their money, enjoying themselves on Friday and Saturday nights.

[55] You know my view on prison, right?

[56] I want to avoid it whenever possible.

[57] But this sort of behavior annoys me so much.

[58] Just who do they think they are?

[59] I'll send them all to prison for 20 years.

[60] What's your view on that story, Stuart?

[61] It is one of them reasons why you talk about back in our day, we would go out as kids on our own.

[62] Parents would be quite comfortable with that.

[63] You would go out when the sun comes up and you'd come back when it was dark, right?

[64] That's how it was.

[65] Nowadays, no one lets the kids out at all, regardless of age.

[66] I'm the same.

[67] You might be the same also.

[68] This is happening all the time.

[69] And the fact that it's a gang is so cowardly, three of them.

[70] And like you said, these are grown men, approaching 30, some of them.

[71] They should know better.

[72] What's going on in their lives?

[73] And it doesn't justify anything, but I'm always interested in finding out how the hell do you get to 28 and think that's still appropriate?

[74] How old was his son, out of interest?

[75] I think his son was about 20.

[76] And this guy must have been about 45, 50 or something.

[77] And again, the lack of respect when he turns up trying to help out his son, he's heard he's in trouble.

[78] And yet they beat him up.

[79] I mean, how can you do that?

[80] And also it's all in public.

[81] They almost don't care.

[82] It's almost, you know, I hate to sound like a tabloid headline, but it's almost like lawless Britain, isn't it?

[83] Well, the prisons are full.

[84] What's realistically, what's going to happen to them?

[85] And what are they going to get?

[86] I imagine the ringleader might get a couple of years, do you think?

[87] Out in a year?

[88] Probably suspended, I would have thought.

[89] It won't see jail time.

[90] What annoys me as well is these guys will have younger people coming through who see them as some sort of hero, and the cycle just perpetuates.

[91] I find it deeply depressing.

[92] But look, let's move on for it.

[93] It just upsets me, really.

[94] So tell me about your local case, Stuart.

[95] So this case, it's...

[96] It's a bit more lighthearted than that.

[97] I'm not going to lie.

[98] Good.

[99] And this comes from Leeds Live, which is our online newspaper article for Leeds, right?

[100] And the headline, I just love headlines, how they always come up with some kind of adjective to describe people.

[101] So this headline is Filthy Fraudster, not just fraudster, Filthy Fraudster, pretended to work for Greggs to nick thousands from Leeds City Council.

[102] And this takes us all the way back to May 2020.

[103] Filthy, this guy, according to Leeds Live.

[104] So back in May of 2020, this is the height of the COVID -19 pandemic.

[105] A man called Aftab Baig, a 47 -year -old man who was actually from Glasgow, he came up with a rather brazen scheme.

[106] He contacted Leeds City Council and he pretended to be a group property manager from Greg's head office.

[107] He informed the council that lockdown restrictions had left him unable to access certain business rates information for Greg's branches across the city.

[108] So the council, believing him to be legitimate, as you would, why the hell not, provided the details as requested, which surely is some kind of breach of, some kind of policy, I would have thought.

[109] And that's when, we'll call him Bague, that's when Bague put his real plan into action.

[110] So he's got this information and he uses that information to apply for rates relief from the small business grant fund.

[111] So this was money, I don't know if you remember this, that was supposed to help struggling businesses stay afloat during the pandemic.

[112] A little bit of a segue, my real world job is in banking.

[113] I've worked in banking for over a decade.

[114] And around the time of COVID, mainly 2020, 2021, there were so many government backed COVID loans handed out.

[115] fraudulently because businesses or people pretending to businesses were applying for these grants and they were just being given out left right and center you can imagine how many applications there were the checks weren't stringent enough and people made an absolute killing off that i did read a stat that over 16 000 businesses who took out loans legitimately have since gone bust which means they're unable to pay it back Goodness gracious.

[116] So you think of the budget and the taxes and stuff going up, the cost of beer, and the government's just handing out loans willy -nilly that they'll never get back.

[117] Anyway, back to Baig.

[118] So he managed to claim £710 ,000, which was deposited into a bank account linked to his catering business.

[119] Now, I don't know how official this catering business is, but it was certainly nothing to do with Greg's, right?

[120] But it didn't take long for the council to catch on.

[121] Give them credit where it's due.

[122] Just months after the claims were made, his account was frozen.

[123] And while some of the stolen funds were recovered, more than £90 ,000 remained outstanding.

[124] His house was raided that July 2020, and they found £16 ,000 in cash, as well as some forged remittance slips.

[125] So this suggested he was planning yet another move to try and retrieve the money, because you can't withdraw all that money at once.

[126] That will raise a red flag and National Crime Agency could get involved if your bank is doing what they're supposed to do.

[127] He was arrested for this.

[128] And finally, on February 12th this year, he was found guilty at Leeds Crown Court on three counts of fraud.

[129] The CPS have made it clear he exploited a crisis to line his own pockets, stealing public funds meant to help small businesses survive during an unprecedented period of struggle.

[130] And now proceedings are in place to recover any assets linked to his fraudulent activities.

[131] My question to you is, I mean, it doesn't actually say what his sentence is.

[132] I'm assuming that will come soon, but I can't speak to how harsh they are or whether they're too lenient.

[133] But how do you think an individual can pull off such a large scale fraud?

[134] Do you think the COVID is the main reason?

[135] I'm terribly cynical now I get older.

[136] I've got no faith in our authorities.

[137] I think you don't have to be a genius to hoodwink them.

[138] But what worries me about this case as well is no doubt they're going to send him to prison.

[139] And going back to the case I just spoke about, those guys are a danger to you or me. They absolutely should be in prison.

[140] This guy, to me, should not be in prison.

[141] He should be, rather than give him five years in prison, let's give him 10 years community service.

[142] Let's get him cleaning the chewing gum off the street, cleaning up the dog poo, six days a week.

[143] Eight to six, let's make him work hard for it.

[144] What's the point in sending him to prison?

[145] I just don't see it.

[146] It's one of them things, isn't it, with fraudsters?

[147] I'm inclined to agree.

[148] Prisons, because it's a secure facility in theory, should be to protect the public from potential harm and risk.

[149] Fraud is, of course, a risk and it's devastating.

[150] It can be embarrassing.

[151] But again, they could give back to the community that they've taken from.

[152] rather than be locked up behind bars.

[153] So I'm totally with you on that one.

[154] Yeah, it's too easy.

[155] Goodness me, I sound like a real old git now, but it's too easy to say, throw them in prison, they're deterrents.

[156] But my general rule is, if they're not a danger to you or I, there's a better way to deal with them.

[157] Give them double the sentence, right?

[158] Let's not let them off.

[159] This isn't letting them off.

[160] It's eight to six, six days a week.

[161] But let's make them work and give back to the community.

[162] Yeah, I like it.

[163] Right, national headlines.

[164] What's yours?

[165] I've got a couple.

[166] I don't know how many you've got.

[167] Yeah, I've got one.

[168] It's quite an interesting one, I think.

[169] Now, I usually steer well clear of any crimes involving children on my podcast, right?

[170] Do you cover them on yours, Stuart?

[171] Infrequently.

[172] They tend to knock me for six when I do cover them.

[173] So if I can, I will avoid them.

[174] Yeah, I'm the same.

[175] And even on my Facebook group, I try not to post anything about children's crimes.

[176] And a lot of this, or crimes involved in children, rather.

[177] And a lot of this is due to one crime, which just made me so upset.

[178] Now, cases, we've discussed this before, they don't normally affect me, make me upset, but this one really did.

[179] It's the murder and sexual assault of Sophie Hook in 1995.

[180] Do you recall this case?

[181] Doesn't ring a bell, unfortunately.

[182] Okay, well, look, the reason I bring it up today is because this guy who murdered her, guy is not a guy, he's a monster.

[183] He's called Howard Hughes.

[184] He's now 59.

[185] It's been in the papers the last few days.

[186] He's hired a new legal team in an effort to prove his innocence again.

[187] Apparently, according to reports, Hughes has never accepted his guilt, and he spends his time in prison telling anyone that will listen, and there's always someone that will listen, right, that he didn't do it.

[188] But the case itself is just the worst.

[189] Let me just give you the very brief details.

[190] Sophie was seven.

[191] She'd been visiting relatives at her uncle Danny's seaside home in Wales.

[192] Blundidnu, I can never pronounce it right.

[193] for her cousin's birthday.

[194] Then this sunny afternoon in July 1995, she was playing with the other children as they do in inflatable pool, but Hughes was watching on from bushes looking over the garden.

[195] Then he heard them talking about a sleepover in a tent in the garden that night.

[196] Late that day, he tried to abduct a six -year -old girl from a park, but she managed to escape, fortunately.

[197] But the next morning, Sophie's cousin woke in the tent and saw...

[198] And so I stood asleep between him and his sister.

[199] But by 7 .15am, she'd been taken by Hughes.

[200] He's six for eight, this guy.

[201] Imagine how terrified poor Sophie must have been.

[202] And he just assaulted her in the most awful ways before dumping her body in the sea.

[203] Look, I'm not going to go into the detail, but it was said by the pathologist that her injuries were similar to you'd expect for people killed in major car collisions.

[204] And they believe that most of her injuries...

[205] were sustained while she was still alive.

[206] And then he just tossed her in the sea when he's finished with her.

[207] Look, I just hope this man is never released.

[208] Of course he shouldn't be.

[209] But how much do you trust our authorities?

[210] I mean, look at Colin Pitch thought he was let out.

[211] And they almost let out that John Warboys guy, didn't they?

[212] Taxi driver.

[213] I can't think how her family must react reading these reports.

[214] What do you think, Stuart?

[215] It's an interesting debate about...

[216] rehabilitation, isn't it?

[217] Because for me, there's some crimes that are unforgivable.

[218] And I think it's a shock at how infrequently whole life tariffs are handed out.

[219] For cases such as this, it should be instant, automatic.

[220] You're never getting out of prison.

[221] Because how can you rehabilitate a paedophile, paedophilic murderer, who, after all these years, has the arrogance to still claim innocence when they've been convicted.

[222] And he's tried to claim it a few times over the years.

[223] Yeah, but the evidence...

[224] Look, we weren't in the trial.

[225] As I understand, the evidence against him was utterly damning.

[226] It reminds me of something else, just briefly.

[227] I got in a bit of trouble after my episode last week.

[228] Because in my episode last week, the murderer, he then tried to kill himself, and he now needs 24 -7 care.

[229] And I've been very affected by the reports on the South...

[230] court murders, as we all have.

[231] And this guy is, what, 18?

[232] He's going to be in prison for the rest of his life.

[233] And on my podcast episode, I brought up the point that I know people like me who are totally against the death penalty.

[234] I've always been completely against it.

[235] And yet people think, well, maybe this is one of those exceptions.

[236] And this guy as well, Howard Hughes, maybe he's one of those exceptions.

[237] I mean, I don't know the answer, but some people get very offended when it's even debated.

[238] Yeah, I think it's wrong to be offended by that.

[239] Because either way, whichever side of the scale you're on, it's an opinion, right?

[240] So it doesn't make sense to...

[241] And it doesn't just talk about the death penalty.

[242] People get pissed off if you don't like the same band as them.

[243] You know?

[244] This is how entitled and gatekeeping some people are.

[245] But my concern with the death penalty is, and this sounds awful, but we can say this because, touch wood, we haven't been in this situation.

[246] If you're the parents of Sophie, then understandably you might feel differently.

[247] But what would that achieve?

[248] What would that achieve?

[249] Because let's say you do the death sentence, he gets killed.

[250] Then what?

[251] The hurt doesn't go away.

[252] The hole in your heart doesn't go away.

[253] The grief doesn't stop.

[254] What does that achieve?

[255] I don't know.

[256] It's a tough one.

[257] And it's hard to give an accurate opinion when you haven't been in that situation.

[258] Yeah, but I'm the same.

[259] I just think it's never the right thing to do.

[260] But I think it's absolutely right that in some of these cases, we should be talking about it.

[261] Because things change, don't they?

[262] Opinions change over the years.

[263] They do.

[264] I mean, it's one of those ironic things about, you know, you teach your child not to hit, but then you punish them by hitting them.

[265] It doesn't kind of make sense, does it?

[266] You're not allowed to kill someone, but we're allowed to kill you.

[267] Well, how does that work?

[268] Yeah.

[269] Vigilante justice kind of thing, isn't it?

[270] anyone would think our society is based on hypocrisy.

[271] You'd never say shit, would you?

[272] No, absolutely not.

[273] Anyway, let's go on to your case.

[274] What have you got for us?

[275] So I've got a couple.

[276] They're both fairly short, but I'll go through the first one.

[277] Before we get there, what's your opinion on Valentine's Day?

[278] We've just had it a few days ago.

[279] So in the past, I haven't been out for Valentine's Day with my wife probably since the first year we met.

[280] This year, we actually went out for dinner on Valentine's Day, but we did go to a few pubs on the way.

[281] And I don't care if it's Valentine's Day.

[282] I don't care if it's March the 17th.

[283] I'm the same with anniversaries of people that are close to me that have died, for example.

[284] I don't celebrate them.

[285] It's just as important to me on December the 17th as it is the day they died.

[286] So in answer to your question, couldn't care less.

[287] You?

[288] Yeah, I'm dead against it, to be honest.

[289] Are you dead against this?

[290] That's a bit harsh.

[291] But you know what annoys me?

[292] We get each other a card and that's about the limit.

[293] I'm happy with that.

[294] Well, I'll put up with that.

[295] I just think, why do I have to express to you my love for you on one day of the year?

[296] Because people want to profit off cards and gifts.

[297] And on that one particular day, I don't understand it.

[298] And I said to my friend, he went to Morrison's on Valentine's Day because he'd ordered a card online.

[299] It hadn't come yet.

[300] And he was going to...

[301] make his own card or something.

[302] And I goes, do me a favor.

[303] I goes, count how many middle -aged men you see running to the flower aisle, the card aisle and the alcohol aisle.

[304] And as soon as he pulled up in the car park, he sends someone running out with a rose in his hand.

[305] Now you can't tell me that that guy's partner is over them.

[306] Oh, he loves me. It's not unique.

[307] It's cliche.

[308] If anything.

[309] Yeah.

[310] I would happily never celebrate Valentine's day because my love is every day.

[311] Oh, shit.

[312] I think we should move on.

[313] That's disgusting.

[314] I'm going to throw up in a minute.

[315] You're offending our listeners.

[316] I know.

[317] My bad.

[318] The reason I bring it up is because my next story occurred on Valentine's Day.

[319] Now, this small, quiet village in Kent became the scene of a shocking crime on that day of love when a woman was fatally shot at the local pub.

[320] So we're bringing it back to seriousness here.

[321] It all happened at the Three Horseshoes.

[322] This is in a place called Knockalt, near Sevenoaks, and it was just after 7pm that night.

[323] The police were called to reports of a disturbance, but when they arrived at the scene, they found a woman who was in her 40s, suffering from gunshot wounds.

[324] Sadly, she was pronounced dead at the scene.

[325] Now, I'm just looking through my notes.

[326] I don't think either the woman or the suspect have been named, because this is a very, very...

[327] recent story the suspect is said to have been a man who knew the victim whether they were partners or not i can't say at this stage but this gets curious because he fled the scene immediately after the shooting as you would expect and this triggered a bit of a manhunt but a short while later police found a vehicle linked to the case at the dartford crossing as well as a firearm The Dartford Crossing is a major road crossing the River Thames, for those listening that aren't in the know or local to the area.

[328] But then came another twist.

[329] Officers receive reports of a man on the wrong side of the barrier at this crossing.

[330] And it's one of these big suspension bridge things by the looks of it.

[331] And now investigators believe that the suspect may have entered the River Thames, i .e. jumped in from the bridge.

[332] And at the time of rioting, the police aren't looking for anyone else.

[333] And they've assured the public that this was a bit of an isolated incident and there's no ongoing threat.

[334] But it's left the locals, understandably, in a state of complete shock.

[335] Parish councillor Ray Picot, forgive me, Ray, described hearing a couple of loud bangs around the time of the incident.

[336] Now, he said this pub is busy, especially on Valentine's Day.

[337] It's well managed.

[338] No history of trouble.

[339] It's a well -run establishment.

[340] And another resident recalled hearing three to four loud bangs, followed by a woman shouting.

[341] So this is an incident that's been heard by the locals.

[342] The pub did release a statement expressing condolences to the victim's family and support for the community.

[343] They did close for a day, but reopened soon after.

[344] And there's just so many unanswered questions with this one.

[345] I mean, most notably, if this person did jump from the bridge.

[346] Did they survive if they entered the water?

[347] But if they didn't jump in the Thames, no one knows where they would have gone.

[348] Do you know what the Dartford crossing is?

[349] I don't know how high it is.

[350] Actually, when I left here to move to Spain, I said one of the reasons was I never have to drive across that blasted crossing again.

[351] It's a nightmare.

[352] People that use it will know going from Essex to Kent, you're over the bridge.

[353] It's huge.

[354] There's always massive queues and there's often an accident.

[355] You come out the other way, it's even worse.

[356] And you go under.

[357] But it's a massive, massive bridge.

[358] And to think of someone jumping off there, no one's going to survive that, okay?

[359] That's the first thing to say.

[360] But I think other people that have jumped in the past, I think sometimes because of the strong tides in the Thames, you're not far away from going out into the North Sea.

[361] So it's one of those cases where the body may never be recovered.

[362] How do you think an instance like this, because it seems like it's open and shut.

[363] This woman was killed by someone who knew her.

[364] The main assumption is going to be it's her partner.

[365] Let's say they've gone out for a meal or for a drink or whatever.

[366] The concerning part is that assuming this weapon was this suspect's weapon, he's taken it with him to this evening out.

[367] Now, guns are pretty much banned in our country, right?

[368] Unless you're at a gun club and you have a license and for farmers or whatever.

[369] It's not like America where you have far less stringent gun rules.

[370] But I think it's bizarre that this guy...

[371] We normally think about knife carrying as a problem, don't we?

[372] But this gun carrying, that really shocked me. Well, there's a couple of things.

[373] Firstly, let's timestamp this year.

[374] It's 10 .45 on Monday the 17th of February, in case everything's changed.

[375] Yes, it may have changed.

[376] And this was 7pm three days ago.

[377] So forgive me if I'm outdated by the time you hear this.

[378] Forgive me. Won't be the first time you've been called outdated, Joe, is it?

[379] Never.

[380] I don't know.

[381] When I see this sort of story...

[382] Okay, so my first thought when I hear it...

[383] I understand there are reasons why the police don't give full information, but I think it's always a mistake.

[384] I think they should be much more open about it all.

[385] I don't understand why they don't give much more information immediately.

[386] Because it just encourages people.

[387] I've seen it on numerous forums, people discussing it.

[388] If they give more information, there's less room for speculation, right?

[389] Do you think they've got to balance that, though, with the family's potential hurt by revealing such information?

[390] I suppose they may be trying to keep it private for that, but also it doesn't help the speculators online, like you say.

[391] You see, I don't quite get it.

[392] I always think more information is better.

[393] But this is one of my issues with police forces over cold cases.

[394] Yeah, there's all these people sitting in their room across the world who are fantastic online.

[395] They're looking at Google Earth and other things.

[396] And yet police forces who are really stretched, right?

[397] They don't have enough people to deal with the day -to -day.

[398] They still won't release this information to help people.

[399] I don't get it.

[400] I think it's outdated.

[401] I think it's going to change.

[402] But who are we to know?

[403] It's amazing how many cases I've come across where people have submitted a freedom of information request.

[404] And I'd say 99 % just get declined.

[405] And it's not even stuff that would prejudice an investigation, really.

[406] It's more, can you tell me if suspect X has had any previous convictions?

[407] And they'll just say, we're not releasing that information.

[408] It's back to what you were saying in your last story.

[409] I just don't think our authorities share enough with us.

[410] I'm about getting political.

[411] Look at the Southport stuff, the furore around that, what was shared and wasn't shared.

[412] That's a massive example of that.

[413] But when people don't share information with us, then why don't they?

[414] They say operational reasons, right, a lot of the time.

[415] But as you've just said, a lot of the stuff is irrelevant.

[416] I think in this social media age, I think things have changed.

[417] Share more information.

[418] Be open.

[419] You know, we govern by consent, right?

[420] And it brings back to your first story about them three idiots.

[421] If they respected the police more and our authority, they probably wouldn't have done that.

[422] That's a bit of a jump.

[423] I appreciate that.

[424] But it makes you think that as a nation, the respect for the police is far from what it was when I was growing up.

[425] I just can't see how it gets any better either.

[426] Can you?

[427] I have no idea.

[428] I don't know enough about it to comment.

[429] without looking silly.

[430] So let's move on to the next national headline.

[431] And this is about a convenience store in Hartlepool.

[432] So this is in County Durham, Northeast England.

[433] And a local store called Bellevue Booze.

[434] It's so hard to say.

[435] Bellevue Booze.

[436] So it's a, what would you call it for the type of shop?

[437] You've got to stop drinking in the morning, Stuart.

[438] Sorry about that.

[439] Like bargain booze, that kind of convenience store.

[440] It's facing a license review after being caught selling counterfeit cigarettes and breaching alcohol regulations.

[441] So the shop first came under scrutiny in September 2024, when trading standards received intelligence suggesting it was selling illicit cigarettes.

[442] So officers to investigate this carried out two test purchases in October 2024.

[443] And on both occasions, they were able to buy counterfeit Lambert and Butler silver cigarettes.

[444] means nothing to me, I don't smoke, from the same member of staff.

[445] When they carried out a further inspection, they also found that the shop was selling high -strength lagers and ciders in a way that violated its license conditions.

[446] So again, I'm assuming licenses have levels to them.

[447] You can only sell percentages.

[448] I don't know the ins and outs, but it was said to have been breaching that.

[449] And on top of that, the store wasn't fully complying with its CCTV requirements because there was no camera covering the till area, which must be part of the T's and C's.

[450] The shop's license holder, Hadi Azag, was questioned about the situation.

[451] His response was he claimed he wasn't even in the country when the test purchases were made and admitted he wasn't entirely sure who was working at the time.

[452] It's his shop.

[453] More importantly...

[454] He acknowledged that he had no real control over the premises during that period and didn't recognize the person who'd sold the illegal cigarettes.

[455] He didn't recognize them.

[456] Probably because there's no footage covering the till.

[457] As for the alcohol license breaches, as Ag said, it was simply a misunderstanding of the conditions.

[458] But it's not the first time that the shop has been in trouble.

[459] In 2023, it received a final warning after being caught selling counterfeit cigarettes and breaching its alcohol license in the exact same way.

[460] So they're not learning the lessons here.

[461] Back then, Azag blamed the cigarette sales on a mystery man in a van who convinced him they were duty -free and legal to sell.

[462] And now because they've got repeated offenses on record, the shop is facing a license review, although the date for the hearing has yet to be confirmed.

[463] Why take the risk?

[464] Especially if you've got a local shop and you've already been caught once, why take the risk again?

[465] I just don't understand it.

[466] I suppose there are costs involved either with licensing.

[467] I know nothing about it.

[468] There will be costs involved, but Jesus, surely the hardest part is getting the license, right?

[469] You'd think so, wouldn't you?

[470] I mean, if it's a case of you can only sell alcohol up to 6 % ABV, selling stuff that's 70%, is it that in demand?

[471] I know cigs are expensive, Jesus.

[472] Even in Duty Free, they're expensive.

[473] You look at the prices, you think, Jesus Christ.

[474] I don't understand counterfeit cigarettes.

[475] What does that mean?

[476] I don't get it.

[477] Do you know Chantal?

[478] Do you remember Chantal who did the Lady Justice podcast?

[479] Possibly.

[480] Yeah, she hasn't podcasted for a while.

[481] She's up in Hartlepool.

[482] She works in the licensed trade, shall we say now.

[483] She runs a few pubs, I think.

[484] So let me check out with her and let me report back next month on this one, okay?

[485] Yeah, she's probably heard of the story.

[486] Yeah.

[487] The next section we have is international slash unusual crimes.

[488] Have you got something for this?

[489] Yeah.

[490] So my international one, we've got a bizarre crime last, haven't we, right?

[491] Yeah.

[492] Bizarre, offbeat.

[493] Yeah.

[494] We could put these in wherever.

[495] All right.

[496] Let me tell you my international one first, because again, it's somebody that we both know.

[497] So in Scotland recently, the press has been full of an old case.

[498] But it's one that's been investigated by our friend and someone who's familiar to a lot of the listeners today.

[499] That's retired top investigator, David Swindle.

[500] You know him, don't you, Stuart?

[501] Yeah.

[502] Yeah, he's one of the good guys, right?

[503] Yeah, very good.

[504] Yeah, and through his company, Victims Abroad, he supports those who feel let down by the authorities.

[505] Bit of a pattern today.

[506] When their loved ones have died in another country, fortunately, there are lots.

[507] And this week, a case that he's been involved with has been in the Scottish media all the time.

[508] The murder of 26 -year -old Craig Mallon in the Spanish resort of Lorette del Mar in 2012.

[509] Are you familiar with this case, Stuart?

[510] Not the case, but I have been to Lorette before.

[511] Didn't like it.

[512] Didn't like it.

[513] Why not?

[514] Why didn't you like it?

[515] It was, I mean, I went back in, God, at least a decade ago.

[516] It was just very, it's quite small.

[517] It's more of a party town.

[518] I think people go there to go to the nightclubs and stuff.

[519] And I didn't go for that.

[520] This is before we had a kid.

[521] It was my old partner.

[522] And I don't know.

[523] It was just, it wasn't great.

[524] The hotel wasn't great.

[525] It was really small.

[526] There is a nice pub there called El Pub.

[527] A British pub, which is brilliant.

[528] The people there that run it are wonderful.

[529] So that we've spent most nights in El Pub.

[530] It's funny you say it's quite a party place.

[531] So Craig, he was there and his brother stagged it.

[532] And they'd been out that night.

[533] And by 6am, they were outside Rockefeller's disco bar when it closed just after 6am.

[534] Now, Craig's friends had become involved in dialogue, shall we say, with some Spanish or some French males.

[535] We're not quite sure who.

[536] And it was at this time that Craig was punched on the head.

[537] Don't know who by.

[538] The blow, it caused him to fall to the ground, dead.

[539] He died instantly.

[540] It's one of those shocking cases.

[541] But nobody's been convicted.

[542] And the investigation sounds really between the lines, an utter farce.

[543] Now, some cynics would suggest that the Spanish authorities didn't want to publicise it too much, as it could affect tourism.

[544] But look, if we fast forward to today, Craig's mum, she died in 2018, heartbroken, and still not knowing who killed her son.

[545] Now, let me quote briefly to you Craig's dad, Ian, in the press this week.

[546] I find it quite shocking.

[547] He said, The last time I heard anything from the Scottish government was 2012, not long after Craig was killed.

[548] Craig was murdered abroad, but 15 years later, no one has ever been arrested or convicted in connection with his death.

[549] The Scottish government says these matters are handled by the UK government.

[550] Westminster does nothing.

[551] And as a result, victims are failed.

[552] Families who had loved ones murdered abroad are left with no answers, no closure and no justice.

[553] It's fortunate in a way that we've got people like David Swindle.

[554] Now, his team have done some amazing investigative work and they've produced a dossier detailing 13 new witnesses.

[555] But what's going to happen with this?

[556] I'm just concerned that Craig's friends and family, they've been totally let down, haven't they?

[557] And with the drift of time now, I feel we're never going to see justice.

[558] And it's not just Craig.

[559] There are plenty of other people that David Swindle's team and others are working on.

[560] Cases of people murdered abroad.

[561] It's very interesting you bring this up, and I'm not trying to hijack Craig's story, but I went to Malia.

[562] Might have been Zante, actually.

[563] Again, Greece.

[564] I think it was 2010, or it might be 2000.

[565] The year's irrelevant, but it's around that time.

[566] And there was a bar there called Cocktails and Dreams.

[567] Anyone listening that's been there, again, this was a thing you'd go to when you're 18, 19 in the summer.

[568] You know, Malia, Magaluf, all these places.

[569] We went to Zante.

[570] And we're in this bar, and...

[571] Me and one of my mates went early because it was a bit crappy then.

[572] One of my other mates was getting a bit leery.

[573] So we went back and the next day we got woken up by him and he had two black eyes.

[574] He looked like a panda.

[575] And he reckoned that he'd been jumped by the staff there for trying to protect this female reveler.

[576] Now that's his version of events, right?

[577] He reckoned the 10 people jumped him.

[578] Every time you speak him, he's added two more people jumping him as if he's Neo in the Matrix.

[579] The interesting thing is there were some steep stairs going down that from the entrance.

[580] And a week after we got home, someone was pushed down those stairs by a bouncer and ended up dying.

[581] A reveller abroad, just like that.

[582] So just like Craig's, it happens far more often than you think.

[583] And it's really worrying as a parent, thinking when your child goes out and just gets pissed for a week.

[584] The locals out there, they don't give a shit because it could all get covered up in theory.

[585] Yeah, and the tourism is a big thing, isn't it?

[586] For that place, that resort, tourism is a big thing.

[587] They don't want to be saying, have posters saying murder everywhere.

[588] We want witnesses when they're trying to get people into the bars.

[589] But thank goodness you've got teams like David Swindles who are doing some amazing work.

[590] There's lots of people who used to be in law enforcement who I frankly wish would just shut up a lot of the time.

[591] There's some good ones, but there's some awful ones.

[592] But someone like David has got the utter respect of the community, as we know.

[593] You know, when he speaks, people listen.

[594] And he's doing some genuinely good work helping families.

[595] So it's got to be a good thing.

[596] But my concern is that, you know, Craig's mum has now died.

[597] I just hope that there's some justice before, you know, while the dad's still alive.

[598] Yeah.

[599] Fingers crossed.

[600] Yeah.

[601] What have you got first, Joe?

[602] So we're travelling to South Africa for my international story.

[603] Ooh.

[604] Well, fuck, and it's a bit of a running joke that my pronunciation is shocking.

[605] As hard as I try, I get some things wrong.

[606] So apologies in advance.

[607] This is focusing on a female police officer from Botlokwa Police Station in Limpopo.

[608] So this is Limpopo is the country's northernmost province.

[609] She was arrested in the late evening of February 13th.

[610] So last Thursday, on the date of recording.

[611] After shooting and killing her 25 -year -old son, who was called Sathege Kutsu Remembrance, apologies, and his 16 -year -old girlfriend, who is unnamed, I'm assuming because of her age.

[612] So one of the sergeants at the South African Police Service, SAPS, she was a sergeant, beg your pardon, reported to her station at approximately 10 to 10 in the evening, saying she'd shot her son with her police -issued firearm.

[613] So officers subsequently arrived at the scene alongside paramedics to find her son unresponsive with gunshot wounds.

[614] and he was reportedly holding a sharp object in his hand.

[615] That's worth remembering.

[616] The teenage girl, who I said wasn't named, sustained severe injuries.

[617] She was rushed to a local hospital for urgent medical attention, but she sadly succumbed to her injuries on Valentine's Day, Friday, just gone.

[618] In response to this, the police opened two murder cases.

[619] This led to the immediate arrest of the officer who'd shot her son and his girlfriend.

[620] A Limpopo...

[621] police spokesperson said that further investigations would be conducted to establish the full circumstances surrounding the shooting.

[622] It's been handed over to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate, it's a mouthful, for further handling, and the suspect is expected to appear before the Morbeng Magistrates Court today, February 17th.

[623] What's interesting about this is the online commentators, and we know how reliable they are, right?

[624] The online commentators make notes regarding the suspect claiming to have killed the two victims in self -defense, with some people suspecting that the blade I mentioned in her son's hand may have been planted there by his mum to back up this claim of self -defense.

[625] It's all very conspiracy theory at this point.

[626] But what goes directly against that is that both her son and his girlfriend were, according to reports, killed.

[627] with headshots, which doesn't really coincide with a heat of the moment attack on the back of a disagreement, which is what's said to have happened here.

[628] Do you think the suspect being a police officer, I don't know what the stuff's like in South Africa, obviously.

[629] Do you think that could hinder the outcome of a trial potentially?

[630] Well, I've got no idea.

[631] I don't follow South Africa at all.

[632] Do you?

[633] You don't.

[634] No, I don't.

[635] I don't follow Crimester Africa at all.

[636] There have been some horrible ones there over the years.

[637] I don't know the answer.

[638] What do you think?

[639] I hope not.

[640] The only reason I bring that question up is that my dad was once on a jury for this kid who'd been...

[641] He was in a supermarket.

[642] Long story short, the cop, a woman cop, had cut herself on one of the stands, a display stand, and she claimed in court that it was this kid that had done it to her.

[643] Now, when the defense prosecution, whichever side it was, showed the videotape from CCTV, they only showed the part where her hand was cut, whereas it was subsequently requested to show the whole footage, not the edited version, and it showed that she'd done it to herself.

[644] Was that shown because she was a cop?

[645] I don't know.

[646] But that's the only reason why I bring it up.

[647] I hope it doesn't affect the trial.

[648] One thing I want to mention is, I mean, to kill anyone is horrendous.

[649] To kill your own child is unfathomable.

[650] Even an adult child.

[651] Come on, it's your kid, man. But I checked the homicide report from March 2024 to get a bit of insight into this.

[652] It says, now this doesn't really apply because this is about victims of homicide under the age of 16.

[653] It's a bit more of an anomaly to kill an adult child, so the data's not available.

[654] But there were 44 victims of homicide in the year ending March 2024.

[655] This is in England and Wales, the official homicide report.

[656] That's 26 boys, 18 girls.

[657] And the most common suspect in 19 of those cases, 43%, was a parent or step -parent.

[658] Well, we've had that high -profile case recently, haven't we, in the UK?

[659] I've forgotten his name, but...

[660] when he said he was messing about with his daughter in the kitchen.

[661] Yes, another one, yeah.

[662] Yeah, unbelievable.

[663] It's strange.

[664] To be fair, if you're ever in a hospital with your child, I have been, unfortunately, when she was very young, she had an injury.

[665] And they do it in a way which is very clever.

[666] They'll say they're going to weigh your child, and then they will basically take all their clothes off.

[667] It's to check for bruises and stuff, right?

[668] Rightly.

[669] But you think if it's a genuine accident, you feel terrible because you think, what are people going to think?

[670] But in cases like that, how do you even defend doing something like that?

[671] It just baffles the mind.

[672] Do you know what?

[673] I've covered quite a few cases on my podcast where the child has killed the parent.

[674] That happens as well, yeah.

[675] Yeah.

[676] Interesting, isn't it?

[677] Interesting dynamics.

[678] That's the problem, isn't it?

[679] Some would argue that when you live together in a family, all close, all these dynamics.

[680] Tensions rise.

[681] Alcohol can sometimes be involved.

[682] I suppose maybe we shouldn't be surprised.

[683] It was like the massive spark in domestic abuse cases during lockdown.

[684] Yeah.

[685] Being locked up together, unable to do anything.

[686] And it led to such a spike in domestic abuse.

[687] Truly shocking.

[688] And the fact that we had, what, three lockdowns, I think, in the UK in the same year?

[689] I forgot.

[690] And we see domestic abuse spark, don't we, whenever the England football team plays.

[691] You think in 2025 that it's just, it's just, it's just absolutely, there's nothing we can say.

[692] It's just utterly, utterly shocking.

[693] It is.

[694] Yeah.

[695] So we now end with our offbeat, quirky, more lighthearted, weird stories here.

[696] I've got an absolute belter, but I will let you go first.

[697] We'll end on mine because it's unbelievable.

[698] Assuming you've not got the same frigging story.

[699] I say, if you do say so yourself, Stephen, Stephen is Stephen Stewart.

[700] Good God.

[701] I'll keep that in.

[702] Yeah, keep that one in.

[703] Yeah.

[704] All right.

[705] So we're talking about Valentine's.

[706] So when I was out for dinner on Friday, my wife was on these people.

[707] I'm not so chatty to her.

[708] She started chatting to this other couple.

[709] You know, it is sometimes she's the previous board of my company, right?

[710] This woman told us that they were Polish.

[711] They told us about this Polish guy, a guy called Christian Bala or Bala.

[712] Do you know this story?

[713] Nope.

[714] Okay, so I'm no expert here, so go easy on the questioning.

[715] But essentially, this Christian guy, he murdered a small business owner, Darius Januszewski, I think you pronounce it.

[716] It was in 2000, and this person's dead body was discovered floating in a lake.

[717] Now, for three years, the local police couldn't solve the murder.

[718] And so the detective found some physical clues linking this murder to our friend Bala.

[719] And this guy, Bala, he actually wrote a novel in 2003 called A Mock, which gave away clues to the murder.

[720] He actually used information that only the murderer could have known.

[721] And as is often in the case, the motive was jealousy, as his wife may have been seeing the man he killed.

[722] I mean, seriously, never spy on someone that you suspect of doing something and never listen to people talking about you.

[723] It never ends well, but that's an aside.

[724] But this guy, Barlow, was sent to prison for 25 years for murder.

[725] And get this, he's apparently writing a second book.

[726] And police in Poland have found evidence that he planned to kill somebody else to tie in the second novel.

[727] Jeez.

[728] It's a genre, I guess, isn't it?

[729] True life to take true crime a step further?

[730] I mean, that is just, that's ridiculous.

[731] Crazy, isn't it?

[732] That's left me a bit speechless, sir.

[733] Apparently in Poland, it's quite a well -known story.

[734] So do check it out.

[735] Look at the details.

[736] Jesus.

[737] Yeah.

[738] There we go.

[739] I'll wait for you to beat that.

[740] We're ending this monthly crime roundup with a story from Chile or Chile, however you want to say it.

[741] If anyone listening to this has thalassophobia, that's a fear of large or deep water, this story might be one for you to skip.

[742] So thanks for listening.

[743] Cheerio, all that jazz.

[744] For those of you who want to keep listening, 24 -year -old Adrian Simancas was recently kayaking off the coast of Chile in the Strait of Magellan.

[745] I think it's Magellan.

[746] Anyway, this Strait with his dad, an area of water.

[747] This was on Saturday, February 8th, 2025.

[748] So the Strait of Magellan, sorry, is a major tourist attraction in Patagonia.

[749] about 1 ,600 miles, 3 ,000 kilometers from the capital, Santiago.

[750] It's a navigable sea route in southern Chile, which separates mainland South America to the north and the Tierra del Fuego, Archipelago, that's a mouthful and all, to the south.

[751] It's a well -populated area from a wildlife perspective.

[752] You've got colonies of...

[753] Magellanic penguins, unique to the area, schools of commisons and Peel's dolphins, southern elephant seals, South American sea lions, southern fur seals, and pods of humpback whales.

[754] Now, the latter are especially prevalent in Francisco...

[755] I could have picked an easier frigging story than this.

[756] Francisco Colowan coastal and marine protected areas.

[757] There's also plenty for the bird lovers listening to enjoy.

[758] You've got...

[759] black -browed albatross, Antarctic giant petrels, and Andean condors.

[760] But it's the humpback whales we're truly focusing on for this story.

[761] Now, you, Adam, and anyone listening can go out there and watch this, right?

[762] This is an unbelievable video.

[763] It's only a few seconds long.

[764] It's on Sky News.

[765] It's on all the news websites, right?

[766] And it wouldn't be out of place as a deleted scene in Jaws.

[767] Adrian can be seen in this video, which his dad filmed from a nearby kayak.

[768] So Adrian's in his kayak.

[769] He gets swallowed whole by a humpback whale.

[770] You see it come up.

[771] It was probably, you know how they open the gobs and just take a load of krill in.

[772] It comes to the surface, closes its mouth around Adrian and his kayak.

[773] But then a few seconds later, he pops up out of the water about 20 feet away.

[774] So it spits him out.

[775] The whales don't eat.

[776] They don't have the esophagus size for it.

[777] He just got caught up in the whale going for krill is the official theory.

[778] But yeah, this footage was caught by his dad.

[779] Again, it's on Sky News and a bunch of CNN if you're abroad.

[780] And he thankfully lived to tell that.

[781] Honestly, it's an unbelievable video.

[782] His dad repeatedly was telling him to keep calm.

[783] Wise words from daddy there.

[784] and adrian was more concerned about perishing in the freezing waters so yeah the average temperature is 9 .7 celsius about 49 fahrenheit in the water there for reference adrian later said when i came up and started floating i was scared that something might happen to my father too what a good son bless him that we wouldn't reach the shore in time or that i would get hypothermia both men managed to get to shore safely but I can't, can you imagine being swallowed up by a whale?

[785] And then three seconds later, you're out, you'd think, did that just happen?

[786] It's like biblical, isn't it?

[787] Now, funny you mentioned that area.

[788] So my bucket list is very, very short, but one of them is to go to that part of the world, in particular to Tierra del Fiego, that's Cape Horn, and there's a chapel on Cape Horn.

[789] And I've seen a couple of programs about it.

[790] I want to go to that chapel on Cape Horn.

[791] and look out over Cape Horn and the Southern Ocean and see some of the amazing wildlife, like you say, like humpback whales.

[792] But when I go one day, do you know what I won't be doing?

[793] I won't be kayaking.

[794] It made me wonder if you have any scary ocean stories, because I've got one or two.

[795] I avoid the sea at all times, by the way.

[796] I don't have thalassophobia, but I just don't enjoy swimming or the sea or anything like that.

[797] Don't you?

[798] Got any scary ocean stories?

[799] Well, I'm a keen sailor, as you know, and I've got myself into some scrapes that have been a little bit worrying from time to time, but nothing particularly scary.

[800] How about you?

[801] What's yours?

[802] So we were in, me, my mum and my dad were in Florida in probably, I don't know, 2001.

[803] So I'll have been about 12 or something.

[804] And we spent two weeks out there.

[805] The first week we were at Orlando, theme parks, Disney and all that.

[806] The second week we had a recovery week in a more rural part of Orlando.

[807] So we were literally on a hotel that had, it was on the beach.

[808] So you walk past the pool, you're on the beach, there's a sea.

[809] So me and my dad were playing shuffleboard or something.

[810] My mum was out in the sea and she comes back about 20 minutes later saying that she nearly drowned apparently because she went under and the waves kept coming in and she was struggling to get up for breath.

[811] It's a story we always laugh at because we didn't see it.

[812] And every time she tells it, she makes it more dramatic.

[813] But the funny part was, it is either later that evening or the day after, while she was getting ready to go out, we all go out for a meal on the night.

[814] She leant over and all this water just came out of her nose, like a bucket load of water just suddenly, Christ knows where it was, where it had been stored.

[815] But yeah, that's always a funny story of close to death for my mother.

[816] Oh yeah, I bet your mum loves that over Christmas lunch shirt.

[817] Let's bring this up again, shall we?

[818] She's bringing it up and we're howling at her.

[819] Obviously, it's not a funny story and people do drown at sea and in rivers and stuff.

[820] It's not a funny situation, but how she tells it.

[821] It's like my friend who, every time he speaks about the attack in Zante, he adds two more attackers to the story.

[822] It's one of those.

[823] It gets more extreme every time you hear from it, but that was a funny one.

[824] Great story.

[825] Well, it's been a fun episode, hasn't it?

[826] It has.

[827] It's been good.

[828] I hope you all enjoyed that.

[829] This has been the February 2025 edition of the Crime Roundup.

[830] Join us next month for March because that's what comes after February, believe it or not.

[831] Thank you for tuning in.

[832] If you want to listen to Adam's brilliant podcast, it's UK True Crime.

[833] You can find it everywhere.

[834] We both have Patreons.

[835] I'm Stuart Blues of British Murders.

[836] And if you have news you want us to cover, if you want to bring something up for us to talk about, you can email either of us or you can reach out on social media.

[837] Thanks for listening, basically.

[838] Any final words, Adam?

[839] Yeah, thanks, Stephen.

[840] I've enjoyed it.

[841] Oh, let's leave it there.

[842] Cheerio, everyone.

[843] Cheerio.

[844] Bye -bye.