Crimes That Shook Britain

On the morning of March the 13th 1996, the city of Dunblane in Scotland was changed forever when Thomas Hamilton stormed into a local primary school and opened fire. In an unprovoked attack a class of five and six year olds were targeted with horrific consequences. Sixteen children and their teacher were brutally shot and murdered at Dunblane primary school, before the perpetrator, Thomas Hamilton, turned the gun on himself. A senseless crime so devastating it sent shockwaves across the world as people reeled with the loss and called for urgent changes in gun laws. The story is told through the eyes of parents Martyn Dunn & Mick North who both sadly lost their 5-year-old daughters, Charlotte and Sophie, at the hands of the killer on that fateful day. Martyn Dunn & Mick North both give an insight into the pain and devastation caused by Thomas Hamilton and the lasting effects this unimaginable crime left on the small town of Dunblane.

Rhys Jones, an eleven-year-old boy from Croxteth in Liverpool was gunned down in broad daylight yards from his home in August 2007. A bullet fired by a gang member intended for a rival, hit Rhys as he walked home from football practice across the Fir Tree Pub car park. As the thugs fled, Rhys lay dying from his injuries. The devastating news of this boy's murder made national headlines as the country faced the serious issue of escalating gun crime and gang violence. The hunt for Rhys' killer was to become one of the biggest investigations Merseyside Police had ever conducted. In this personal account of that tragic day, Rhys' mother and father, Mel and Steve Jones relive the horrific moments when they lost their youngest son. Family friends and football coaches Steve Geoghegan and Tony Edge also recount their memories of the crime through a timeline of events.

The nation's capital was brought to a standstill in April 1999. David Copeland, a 23 year old political extremist caused terror throughout London with a bombing campaign targeting the black, Asian and gay communities. His homemade explosives killed three people and injured hundreds. After 13 days and three explosions, the Met police hunted Copeland down. He was sentenced to six life sentences. David Copeland was a young British engineer's assistant on the London Underground network. In two successive weeks in April 1999 bombs packed with nails up to 15cm long were detonated in a crowded market on Brixton High Street and in Brick Lane, centres of London's black and Bangladeshi communities. More than 100 people sustained horrific injuries and one victim a baby boy was found with a nail lodged in his skull. The MET Police released an image of the most wanted man in Britain. A lone figure they believed was responsible for the two terrifying explosions. Having attacked communities in Brixton and Brick Lane over two weekends, officers were in a race against time to catch the culprit. Despite a nationwide appeal, the terrorist struck a third time. The device tore through Soho causing the biggest devastation so far, killing three people including a pregnant woman and maiming many others. This story is told through the eyes of the victims, family members, police officers and witnesses of David Copeland's horrific crimes.

Jill Dando was one of Britain's most high profile television presenters at the pinnacle of her career, when she was mercilessly gunned down outside her house. Her killer left the scene without a trace. Her cold-blooded murder sent shockwaves through the country leaving a nation grieving for the golden girl of TV. On the 26th April 1999, the BBC Television presenter was shot by a single bullet to her head on the doorstep of her home in South West London. The hunt for her murderer and the motive proved to be one of the largest, most difficult and expensive inquiries ever conducted by the Metropolitan Police. Two years later, during a controversial court case, local resident Barry George was found guilty for the killing. But after a dramatic retrial in 2008, he was cleared of Jill Dando's murder. So who shot one of Britain's best loved television personalities? This is the story of the brutal slaying of Jill Dando, told from the inside through the eye witness accounts from those closest to the story.

The brutal slaying of Jeremy Bamber's family in their farmhouse in Essex has rocked the nation for over 25 years. Convicted of killing his parents, sister and her twin boys in 1985, Bamber has continually protested his innocence ever since. Now for the first time, we investigate vital evidence brought to light by his legal team, which could cast doubt on Bamber's original conviction. Is the right person behind bars? In the dead of night on the 7th August 1985, five members of the same family were brutally shot and murdered in the sleepy village of Tolleshunt D'Arcy. Police originally concluded that the sister, Sheila Caffell, had killed her family before turning the gun on herself. But a sensational turn of events shifted the focus to the only surviving immediate relative, Jeremy Bamber. After a short investigation, Essex Police arrested the young farmer and charged him with the five murders. In 1986 he was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 25 years behind bars. In this exclusive programme this dramatic case is told through the account of an officer investigating the murders along with a journalist, photographic expert, solicitor and MP.

A stunned nation was gripped by the horrific road-rage murder of 21 year old, Stephen Cameron, as it made headline news in 1996. On the 19th May, an apparent road rage confrontation on a busy road just off the M25 motorway resulted in Stephen Cameron being stabbed to death by Kenneth Noye. This senseless killing of a young man in broad daylight was witnessed by many passersby, but only Stephen's fiance helped bring the killer to justice in one of the biggest investigations Kent Police have ever faced. This is the tragic story of the murder of Stephen Cameron told from the inside through the accounts of his mother and father, Toni and Ken Cameron, and the Detective Superintendent tasked with tracking down the murderer.