The Crooked House: One summer’s night the Crooked House, known as Britain’s wonkiest pub, caught fire. Less than 48 hours later the ruins were knocked to the ground, completely destroying an iconic symbol of the Black Country. The pub gained its name, and worldwide fame, from its crazy angles caused by mining subsidence. But its loss is now being mourned amid calls for it to be rebuilt brick by brick. File on 4 tells the story behind the destruction of the Crooked House. Presenter: Adrian Goldbe...
Sep 08, 2023•37 min
After an inevitable decline during the pandemic, school exclusions are again on the increase. There are concerns that behaviour is worse because, post pandemic, children can’t regulate their behaviour in the classroom. So what happens to those who are kicked out? The Government says it has issued updated guidance on suspensions and permanent exclusions and is clear that initial intervention should be put in place where children are at risk of being permanently excluded and entering alternative p...
Aug 29, 2023•37 min
Set in the belly of rural England, the small village of Winchmore Hill is a far cry from the world of privileged tech bros and slick silicon valley investors, often associated with crypto currencies. Yet in 2021, this community just north of Slough became the recruiting ground for a crypto investment called Koda. Thanks to the gregarious pub landlord, who promoted the coin and ran crypto nights, a big chunk of this community where everyone knows everyone put money into the currency. They investe...
Aug 01, 2023•38 min
With the number of potential modern slavery cases in England and Wales at a record level, File on 4 investigates how vulnerable people are being targeted and exploited by organised crime groups for cheap labour. Police estimate that there are tens of thousands of victims of modern slavery in the United Kingdom, being forced to work and live in inhumane conditions with little hope of escape. Investigators whose job it is to protect workers from exploitation reveal to File on 4 that the care indus...
Jul 25, 2023•37 min
It’s been called a bigger scandal than Thalidomide. The drug sodium valproate is estimated to have harmed 20,000 children in the UK. It’s mainly used to treat epilepsy and other conditions such as bipolar disorder. But taking the drug when pregnant can cause serious harm to unborn babies. Even when it was licenced fifty years ago, it was known to cause harm to foetuses in animals. But it wasn’t until 2005 that the patient information leaflet, which should come with a prescription- gave clear war...
Jul 18, 2023•37 min
The morning rush in a doctor’s surgery usually begins around 8am, before the doors even open, as patients ring up to try and get a precious appointment. But why is it so hard to get to see a GP, and why is primary care under such pressure? File on 4 has spent a week in a GP’s surgery speaking to doctors, staff, and patients to try and understand the challenges facing the front line of health care. The programme has been given access to what goes on behind the scenes at a doctor’s surgery in Gate...
Jul 11, 2023•37 min
File on 4 tells the story of a young street trader from Lagos who revealed a conspiracy that took down one of Nigeria’s most powerful politicians. The young man was tested, trafficked and tricked into a plot to take his kidney, to donate to the politician’s sick daughter in the UK. His conviction - the first of its kind in the UK - has led to police investigating more potential cases. Reporter: Mark Lobel Producer: Kate West Technical Producer: Kelly Young Digital Producer: Melanie Stewart-Smith...
Jun 26, 2023•37 min
Nearly half a million young people in the UK are members of the Scout Association. The organisation employs 143,000 adult volunteers and leads the way in nurturing a love of the outdoors and providing practical skills which will allow members to make a positive contribution to society. But not everyone has been enriched by the experience. File on 4 has learned that in the last ten years the Scout Association has paid out £6m to scouts who were abused. Reporter Hayley Hassall hears from some fema...
Jun 13, 2023•37 min
Earlier this year, the government announced their new plan to stamp out antisocial behaviour across England and Wales. Hot spot policing and what they call ‘immediate justice’ will be trialled in towns and cities in an attempt to curb the problem. What is it like to live in a community that experiences antisocial behaviour year-in, year-out? And what do the people who live there think needs to be done? This is the story of one community marred by antisocial behaviour - and their fight for better...
Jun 06, 2023•37 min
When you go to hospital you expect to be safe. But File on 4 has discovered that many patients and staff who are victims of sex attacks say not enough is done to deal with the perpetrators - and hospital managers ignore complaints. The programme examines startling data on the number of reported cases and asks what's being done to prevent sexual assaults in hospitals. The Department of Health says sexual violence or misconduct of any kind is unacceptable and has no place in the NHS. However, they...
May 23, 2023•37 min
For 40 years, affirmative action policies were created in the United States to address a lack of women and people of colour in the workplace and at university. They have been questioned before, and are now under scrutiny once again in the Supreme Court. Two cases are being brought by a group called Students for Fair Admissions challenging the way race is considered in the admissions process at Harvard and North Carolina Universities. The case against Harvard specifically alleges discrimination a...
May 16, 2023•37 min
File on 4 investigates claims that children are being taught graphic and age-inappropriate material as part of their Relationship and Sex Education. The government has brought forward a review into how sex education is taught in schools in England following concerns that children across the country are being taught lessons on oral sex, how to choke your partner safely and 72 genders as part of their RSE. We speak to teachers, parents, children and sex education providers to try and discover what...
May 09, 2023•37 min
File on 4 investigates the secretive world of oil shipping, dark fleets and camouflaged cargos. Sanctions were supposed to hit President Putin in the pocket, weakening his military capabilities. But have they simply created new markets and new millionaires? And why can a company in Essex enable Russian oil to move around the world without attracting the attention of the authorities? Reporter: Paul Kenyon Producer: Jo Casserly Editor: Carl Johnston
May 02, 2023•37 min
Britain’s biggest police force says there are hundreds of rogue officers amongst its ranks. It’s now The Met’s job to root them out, with dozens of staff diverted away from organised crime and counter-terrorism units to work in its professional standards department. But can the police be trusted to investigate themselves? File on 4 can reveal how an officer working for a force outside of London, who had multiple rape allegations against him, was given a job in the professional standards departme...
Apr 11, 2023•37 min
The Probation Service is meant to protect the public by monitoring released prisoners and offenders on community sentences - helping them to stay out of trouble and rebuild their lives. But a series of catastrophic failures have led to the murders of two women who were killed by men who should have been monitored more closely. File on 4 analyses the case of Damien Bendall who killed his pregnant partner Terri Harris and three children in 2021 while on probation. The Chief Inspector of Probation ...
Apr 04, 2023•37 min
Social housing providers say they are under more financial pressure than ever before. The sector has warned long-term Government funding cuts and the cost of improving homes to meet new fire safety laws, have now been compounded by high inflation, to create a perfect storm of pressure. But is it vulnerable tenants who are paying the price? File on 4 investigates record complaints about social housing providers and hears allegations of "degrading" treatment by some social housing providers. Repor...
Mar 21, 2023•37 min
Suicide or attempted suicide is not a criminal offence. But, as Adrian Goldberg discovers, mentally ill people are still being punished for attempts to take their own lives. They can be charged with 'intentionally or recklessly causing a public nuisance,' 'railway trespass' or 'obstruction of highways.' File on 4 hears from people who believe they should have been given care and compassion rather than face criminalisation. The programme also investigates concerns over a scheme called Serenity In...
Mar 15, 2023•37 min
200 children have gone missing from hotels used by the Home Office to temporarily house lone asylum seekers. File on 4 investigates what’s being done to find them and why so many have disappeared. Reporter: Livvy Haydock Producer: Kate West Researcher: Nathan Standley Editor: Carl Johnston Image credit: Ben Stansall\Getty
Mar 07, 2023•37 min
Levi Davis - a 24-year-old rugby player and X-Factor star went missing in Barcelona at the end of October last year. He’s not been seen or heard from since. Four months on, File on 4 pieces together his last known movements - speaking to his family and friends to try and understand more about what happens when someone goes missing overseas without a trace. Reporter: Rachel Stonehouse Producer: Alys Harte Editor: Carl Johnston Technical Producer: Nicky Edwards Production Manager: Sarah Payton Pro...
Feb 28, 2023•37 min
A damning report into the culture of London Fire Brigade found a toxic mix of racism, sexism, misogyny and bullying. Launched after a young firefighter of colour took his own life, the review included terrible anonymous accounts from those serving in the capital, women groped during exercises, a black man who had a noose left on his locker. Now File on 4 has discovered shocking new evidence of problems within the fire service elsewhere across the UK. We hear from those subjected to sexual assaul...
Feb 21, 2023•37 min
They were born in the same month of the same year: Emily, Nadia, and Christie. The three young women who lived close to each other in the North East of England became friends, their lives intertwined due to severe mental health problems. They shared their innermost fears, their thoughts and laughs. But their tragic deaths came within eight months of each other while under the care of the same mental health trust. An investigation has higlighted multiple failings by the Tees Esk and Wear Valley M...
Feb 14, 2023•37 min
A British woman tells File on 4 about her relationship with controversial social media influencer Andrew Tate, claiming that he pressurised her to work for his webcam company and that he was controlling and violent towards her. Tate is currently in detention in Bucharest along with his brother, Tristan, facing allegations of people trafficking and rape, which both men deny. Prosecutors allege that Andrew Tate recruited victims by seducing them and falsely claiming he wanted a relationship or mar...
Feb 07, 2023•37 min
This episode tells the story of a primary school on the frontline of the cost of living crisis, a school doing more than most to make sure children are fed, warm and have somewhere safe to go home to at night. File on 4 spent several months recording at Ingol Community Primary in Preston. It’s in one of the most deprived areas in England; more than half of their pupils are on pupil premium - additional state funding aimed at closing the attainment gap between poorer pupils and their peers - but ...
Jan 24, 2023•37 min
File on 4 investigates events that led to the death of two people at London's Brixton O2 Academy in December. The venue was shut down after the fatal crowd crush ahead of a concert by the Nigerian artist Asake. Security guard Gaby Hutchinson, 23, and Rebecca Ikumelo, 33, died in hospital after the incident at the south London venue on 15 December. Some said ticketless fans tried to force there way into the venue. But File on 4 has heard compelling evidence that suggests there were other reasons ...
Jan 17, 2023•36 min
18 months after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, File on 4 hears from people still stuck in hiding; their names blacklisted because of the work they did for the British. Following the fall of the country and the frantic evacuation, the UK Government made a series of promises not to leave behind those who'd helped the UK. The programme investigates the failures of these schemes, which have seen tiny numbers getting to safety in the UK. Thousands more left living in fear, facing torture and ki...
Jan 10, 2023•37 min
The death of a child causes parents’ unimaginable grief, but this is being exacerbated by long delays to post mortem reports due to a shortage of pathologists in the UK. The number of paediatric pathologists means that children and babies are having to be moved around to other parts of the country in order for post mortems to be undertaken, causing even further distress for families. When a child dies suddenly, sometimes post-mortems may need the input of specialist pathologists. But these even ...
Jan 03, 2023•37 min
The cost of living crisis is placing huge pressure on families across the country, many of whom were already living in poverty and struggling to make ends meet. Now social services say the pressure on parents is causing a significant increase in family breakdowns and the number of children being taken into care. Reporter Paul Connolly speaks to parents who fear the cost of living crisis could see them lose their children and investigates whether enough is being done to prevent families breaking ...
Dec 20, 2022•37 min
Their country is not at war and it's not ruled by an authoritarian regime, yet thousands of young Albanians are making the dangerous journey across the channel to live and work in the UK. File on 4 travels across Albania to discover the truth behind the biggest migration controversy to hit Britain for years, visiting towns where most young men have already left and the rest are planning to leave as soon as possible. In Has, a small town in Northern Albania, 80 per cent of families rely on funds ...
Nov 08, 2022•37 min
They’re cheap – but they’re also deadly. Illegal pills costing as little as 50p each are contributing to the deaths of hundreds of people each year in Scotland. Now an expert is warning benzodiazepines, or street Valium, could pose a growing threat elsewhere. Jane Deith talks to those whose lives have been destroyed by benzodiazepines, a category of drugs usually used to treat anxiety that can be prescribed, but which have become a major feature of the illegal drugs market in Scotland and now el...
Nov 01, 2022•37 min
Before Covid the US gaming platform Roblox was one of many online games children played. Following lockdown and millions of children isolating at home, the company now has a market value of $22bn and is the most popular gaming platform for British children. But is the platform doing all it can to protect them? Concerns have been raised about financial exploitation, grooming, gambling and access to inappropriate content. Reporter: Hayley Hassall Producer: Jim Booth Editor: Carl Johnston
Oct 25, 2022•37 min
