PODCAST

File on 4 Investigates

BBC Radio 4

News-making original journalism documentary series, investigating stories at home and abroad.

society & culture documentary

All Episodes

36:37

Ukraine: The Disinformation War

File on 4 Investigates ·

2022/05/31

Russia’s response to accusations of war crimes in Ukraine has been to blame the Ukrainians of bombing their own side. Some people here in the UK have been sharing this version of the war on social media. Driven by a conviction that Western governments are responsible for many of the world’s ills, these academics, journalists and celebrities have shared misinformation in their attempts to raise questions about the official narrative of the war. Their detractors say they are useful to Vladimir Putin

37:03

Searching Questions

File on 4 Investigates ·

2022/05/25

Why are a disproportionate number of black children being strip searched? File on 4 hears from teenagers taken in for a ‘strippy’ so often, it’s become part of life. The strip search of ‘Child Q’, a fifteen year old black girl in a London school, was headline news, sparking outrage and official inquiries. Her teachers claimed she smelled of cannabis, but no drugs were ever found. A safeguarding report said racism a likely influencing factor in Child Q’s ordeal. The Metropolitan police admitted the

36:39

Ukraine: Taking in the Trauma

File on 4 Investigates ·

2022/05/17

More than 150 thousand people have signed up to the UK’s ‘Homes for Ukraine’ scheme - hoping to open their doors to those desperately fleeing the war. But it’s a process that has been dogged with delays, and is raising serious safeguarding concerns as vulnerable women and children try to match up with potential hosts through unregulated sites online. By following those escaping the conflict, and the host families trying to help them, File on 4 investigates the difficulties this new scheme is facing,

36:30

Locking Up the Sick

File on 4 Investigates ·

2022/05/10

Almost half of all the seriously mentally ill people in prison assessed as needing hospital treatment are being refused the help they need. In this episode of File on 4, Shell and "Ian" tell us the reality of living with mental illness whilst in prison, why so many people fail to get the crucial treatment they need whilst inside and what impact that has on them. And prison officer "Mike" describes how a shortage of staff and a lack of training contribute to he and his colleagues struggling to help

36:54

Ukraine: War Stories

File on 4 Investigates ·

2022/03/15

Day by day, hour by hour, people all over Ukraine tell the story of the Russian invasion. We hear from people packing up and leaving with their children and those who remain in the eye of the storm, some fighting for survival amidst food shortages and shelling and others taking up arms to defend their country. Since the war began, many of those affected have been recording their daily struggles for File on 4 - keeping audio diaries, sharing their innermost thoughts at their most vulnerable.Among

36:59

Controlling My Birth Control

File on 4 Investigates ·

2022/03/08

Reproductive coercion: a form of abuse you've probably never heard of.From deliberately sabotaging contraceptives to forcing someone to have an abortion, it is used to gain power and control - and can have devastating consequences.But with links to domestic violence and even homicide, is enough being done to spot the signs?Rachel Stonehouse investigates.Producer: Alys Harte Editor: Maggie LathamDetails of organisations that can provide help and support are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline

36:39

The Paedophile Preacher

File on 4 Investigates ·

2022/03/01

File on 4 tells the story of a charismatic preacher on the run from British police for child sex offences. Three years ago, File on 4 tracked him down to an impoverished Roma community in Bulgaria where he was sexually abusing boys as young as 10. Daniel Erickson-Hull was arrested and charged by the Bulgarian authorities after he was confronted by File on 4 but has since been released and continues to offend. Yet despite overwhelming evidence, the self-styled preacher from London has been left

36:56

Subscription Scams

File on 4 Investigates ·

2022/02/22

From pills that resolve chronic pain issues overnight to diet supplements which promise to help shed pounds in days, the internet is awash with adverts making bold claims. Some come with a celebrity endorsement, where household names appear to give their personal stamp of approval to a product. But many of these are scams, with customers tricked into parting with more money than they realise ever intended. File on 4 investigates the growth of online subscription scams, where customers are

36:27

A First Class Scandal

File on 4 Investigates ·

2022/02/16

Two years ago File on 4 investigated how a computer system, called Horizon, was behind what has now become one of the biggest miscarriages of justice this country has ever seen. Hundreds of innocent postal workers wrongly accused of stealing money from their branches by the Post Office itself. Many faced financial ruin, some even went to prison.Since that programme, dozens have had their convictions overturned, and the Post Office has pledged to provide ‘full, fair and final’ compensation to those

36:27

Drink spiking

File on 4 Investigates ·

2022/02/08

After an alarming rise in complaints of drink spiking last year, and reports of people being injected with syringes, Datshiane Navanayagam speaks to women who say they have been “spiked” and finds out what the police are doing to tackle it.Reporter: Datshiane Navanayagam Producer: Nicola Dowling Editor: Nicola Addyman

36:46

Missing Evidence

File on 4 Investigates ·

2022/02/01

Michael Cowan investigates the consequences for victims of crime and those accused of offences when crucial evidence goes missing or is lost by police forces. He speaks to a man who says he is trying to clear his name but vital evidence has been lost.Reporter: Michael Cowan Producer: Jim Booth Editor: Nicola Addyman Additional research: Wil Crisp and Sophie EastaughIf you have been affected by sexual abuse or violence, help and support is available via the BBC Action Line.

37:06

Deadly Delays: The Ambulance Crisis

File on 4 Investigates ·

2022/01/25

Record ambulance delays are leaving patients waiting hours for emergency care to arrive with waiting times increasing every month. Some patients wait hours at home, many wait outside the hospitals for a bed to become available, but for a small number, ambulances are arriving too late and patients are dying while waiting for help to arrive. In this episode of File on 4 we hear how the crisis is impacting both patients and ambulance staff. In a series of six devastating 999 calls over one hour we hear

36:49

Mental health rehab - the forgotten patients

File on 4 Investigates ·

2022/01/18

The NHS is sending patients with the most complex mental health needs to spend months or even years in specialist rehabilitation units, with the promise of helping them to recover. Adam Eley speaks to some patients who say they were sent to units sometimes hours from home, where poor care meant their condition got worse. Some experts say there is not enough oversight of the care provided.Credits: Reporter: Adam Eley Producer: Emma Forde Editor: Nicola Addyman

36:46

Hunting the Darknet Dealers

File on 4 Investigates ·

2022/01/11

The high stakes cat and mouse game between police and darknet drug dealers Police say they are finally turning the tide on drug dealers selling on the darknet – a secretive part of the internet which has been described as like “online shopping for drugs.” The UK’s National Crime Agency says recent international takedowns of so called dark markets and arrests in multiple countries are a result of new techniques in cyber policing that is giving them the upper hand. However, BBC research suggests that

37:09

Am I in a Cult?

File on 4 Investigates ·

2021/11/23

How do you know if you’ve been recruited by a cult? Rachel Stonehouse investigates claims there are up to 2,000 cults currently operating in the UK. We talk to young people who say they were recruited on campus and a father who went to court to free his daughter from the influence of a harmful cult.Reporter: Rachel Stonehouse Producer: Michael Cowan Editor: Maggie Latham Researcher: Natasha Fernandes

37:12

Who is policing the police?

File on 4 Investigates ·

2021/11/16

With the murder of Sarah Everard shining a light on police vetting procedures, File on 4 reveals that thousands of officers have still not been re-vetted to standards brought in in 2006. As a public inquiry tries to establish what’s going wrong with our policing, Melanie Abbott talks to the women who say they’ve been betrayed by police officers who should have kept them safe and to officers who say sexism and harassment are part of the job. Reporter: Melanie Abbott Producer: Mick Tucker Editor:

37:03

Furlough Fraud

File on 4 Investigates ·

2021/11/09

An estimated £66 billion was spent by the government during the pandemic on paying towards the wages of people who couldn’t work, or whose employers could no longer afford to pay them. That’s around one fifth of the money the government spent on the response to Covid. It says 11.6 million jobs were supported by the furlough scheme. But the scheme also exposed the government to fraud and is expected to result in billions of pounds of additional losses to the tax payer. In September of last year, only

36:47

Controlled, Abused and Criminalised

File on 4 Investigates ·

2021/11/02

Livvy Haydock investigates whether women are being unfairly treated by the criminal justice system when coercive and controlling behaviour by a partner is behind their offences. Six years ago, the UK led the world in making coercive and controlling behaviour a crime. In a 2019 landmark judgement, Sally Challen’s murder conviction was quashed when the Court of Appeal ruled that years of abuse had contributed to her murdering her husband. But has the criminal justice system really evolved enough to

36:43

For Richer, For Poorer

File on 4 Investigates ·

2021/10/26

With an ageing population, it’s estimated that over one million people in the UK will be living with dementia by 2025. But what happens when someone with the condition is deliberately targeted and led into marriage for the financial gain of the partner? Unlike in Scotland, marriage in England and Wales revokes any previous will that may have been made. For those who target someone with dementia and secretly wed them without the knowledge of their family, matrimony can prove to be extremely

36:54

Pandora Papers: From Bribery to the British High Street

File on 4 Investigates ·

2021/10/05

Amongst the millions of documents released in the ‘Pandora Papers’ leak of offshore financial information are a number of documents that one family business would rather have remained hidden. Together with The Guardian newspaper, File on 4 follows the trail of millions of pounds tainted by bribery and corruption. Piecing together key documents from the leak reveals how earnings from Unaoil – a company involved in the ‘world’s biggest bribery scandal’ - were invested into UK property on high streets

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