Episodes
24 Hours in Police Custody: The Murder of Rikki Neave: Episode 2 (S1EP2 Channel 4 Tues 5 July 2022)
This two-part true crime special features unprecedented access behind the scenes of the largest ever unsolved murder case in the history of Cambridgeshire Police. The killing of a six-year-old child shocked the nation 27 years ago. Only now can the full truth be revealed of how a killer remained unpunished and on the loose for nearly three decades.
Fifteen years after school-boy Rikki Neave’s mother is accused, put on trial, and cleared of his murder following a flawed police investigation in 1996, a team of dedicated officers from the Major Crime Unit of Cambridgeshire police are authorised by the most senior offers to begin a fresh investigation.
It is decided that no one from the original team should be involved. For the small, handpicked team of detectives solving this murder will take years and it will become the case of their careers. Painstaking analysis of the original evidence reveals chilling witness testimony that puts a new suspect James Watson – a ‘troubled’ 13-year-old boy ‘with a propensity for violence’ – together with Rikki on the day of his disappearance. The two boys are seen walking towards the woodland where Rikki’s body would later be recovered. Officers pick their way through hundreds of pieces of evidence, revisit expert evidence discounted in the original case as they seek to determine whether Watson’s alibi is watertight and to pin down the crucial timings of the day.
Cameras follow as a forensic breakthrough is revealed, but once again Watson appears to be two steps ahead of the police presenting them with a conundrum which may make it impossible to prove a case against him. The case is seriously hampered by the loss of evidence, the destruction of exhibits, and the challenges of testing decades-old eye-witness testimony.
The Crown Prosecution Service is reluctant to risk another failed trial. Finally, a suspect who successfully flees the country is followed in detail. We witness an enthralling ‘cat and mouse game’ between the detectives determined to find justice and the suspect determined to evade it. This is a real-life story where the truth is more shocking than crime drama.
Prod/Dir: Danielle Johnson; Series Ed: Tess Mawle; Exec Prods: Simon Ford, Amber Ronowicz; Prod Co: The Garden
Airdate: Tues 5 July 2022 at 21:00 on Channel 4
Season 1 Episode 2
A two-part special exploring the largest ever unsolved murder case in the history of Cambridgeshire Police.