As a train guard fights for his life and several other passengers recover in hospital, Andy and Neil bring you the latest on the story which continues to dominate the news: the mass stabbing on a train in Cambridgeshire on Saturday night. They explain that the man charged with carrying out those attacks has also been charged with an attempted murder on a train in London the night before - and discuss whether more could have been done to prevent this tragedy from happening. Neil also breaks down ...
Nov 03, 2025•38 min
Have you ever wondered how it feels to carry a firearm on the streets of London? Or what it's like to be among the first responders after a terror attack? And why do a small number of police officers in the UK choose to carry a gun, for no extra money, with all the added scrutiny and pressure that comes with the job? In this episode, Andy and Neil sit down for an exclusive interview with Will, a former sergeant in the Met's Firearms Unit, who gives them a rare insight into armed policing in the ...
Oct 29, 2025•49 min•Ep. 19
In this week's Q&A episode, Andy and Neil debate the effectiveness of the IOPC: the Independent Office for Police Conduct. Last year, the watchdog controversially pushed for NX121 - the firearms officer who shot Chris Kaba in 2022 - to be charged with murder, only for a jury to return a "not guilty" verdict in near record time. So how does the IOPC work? And is it fit for purpose? Andy and Neil give their forthright views on the future of the organisation, and discuss the best way for police...
Oct 26, 2025•20 min
Last weekend, a gang of thieves made off with hundreds of millions of Euros' worth of jewellery from the Louvre in Paris - including some of France's Crown Jewels. But how did they plan a job like this? How could the world's most famous museum be such an easy target? And how will the police be trying to track the perpetrators down? In this episode, Andy and Neil examine what we know so far about the biggest heist of the last few years - and explain how some of the thieves' mistakes could end up ...
Oct 22, 2025•36 min•Ep. 18
In this Q&A episode, Andy and Neil debate what happened to TV presenter Jill Dando, who was murdered on her doorstep in 1999. Was she taken out by a professional hitman? Or was the Crimewatch presenter the victim of a random attack by a local criminal? Tune in to hear what Andy and Neil make of one of the nation's most notorious unsolved cases. Later, Andy reveals whether his investigative journalism has ever put his personal safety at risk, and the pair discuss their past experiences with '...
Oct 19, 2025•20 min
When three year-old Madeleine McCann went missing from a Portuguese holiday resort in 2007, it was a story which had the nation gripped for all the wrong reasons. 18 years on, the case remains unsolved - but the story still has the power to create headlines and dominate the news agenda. In this episode, Andy and Neil look at the key mistakes that were made early in the investigation by the local police - and whether there is a realistic chance of this case ever being solved. Neil also reveals ho...
Oct 15, 2025•37 min•Ep. 17
Once upon a time, the police and journalists were friends and allies. But as the phone hacking scandal unfolded, and it became clear that many journalists had broken the law in their pursuit of stories, the close relationship between police and press was shattered. Scotland Yard was forced to investigate and prosecute many members of the media with whom they'd been friendly - and officers were later banned from speaking to journalists at all. Andy explains exactly how the scandal came about, Nei...
Oct 08, 2025•40 min•Ep. 16
Today, Andy from The Crime Agents joined forces with fellow Global podcast The Crisis Room for a special episode to react to yesterday's terror attack at a synagogue in Manchester. If you'd like to hear more from The Crisis Room, find episodes weekly on Global Player or wherever you get your podcasts. What happens in the immediate aftermath of such an incident? Amber Rudd calls on her experience of responding to five terror attacks as Home Secretary in 2017 to explain what happens at COBRA, and ...
Oct 03, 2025•33 min
In this emergency episode, Andy and Neil react to the shocking revelations in last night's Panorama, which exposed widespread racism, misogyny, and gratuitous use of violence within Charing Cross police station. Two years after the Metropolitan Police was branded institutionally racist, sexist, and homophobic, this plunges the country's biggest police force into yet another major crisis. Neil and Andy give their raw, personal responses to the undercover report and where it leaves the Met. They a...
Oct 02, 2025•27 min
It's the debate which won't go away: is stop and search a vital tool for making our streets safer? Or is it a blunt, overused tactic which unfairly targets ethnic minorities? In this episode, Andy and Neil unpack exactly how stop and search is meant to work, why it's so valued by police officers - and why it’s such a cause of tension between police and the black community in particular. They're also joined by campaigner and activist Sayce Holmes-Lewis, who's been stopped by the police dozens of ...
Oct 01, 2025•39 min•Ep. 15
The UK is the biggest consumer of illegal drugs in Europe. From the British Pablo Escobar in the 1980s, to Albanian gangs taking over in the last decade, and a crack cocaine epidemic in between, Andy and Neil tell the story of how this shocking fact came to be a reality. They're also joined by Tony Saggers - the man who, until recently, was the head of Drugs Threat at the National Crime Agency. Tony reveals the key role that pineapples and bananas play in drug smuggling, how the industry has cha...
Sep 24, 2025•36 min•Ep. 14
In this week's Q&A episode, Andy and Neil answer your questions on why the conviction rate for rape and other violence against women and girls is so low - and give their verdict on whether social media and the 'manosphere' is making it more dangerous than ever to be a woman. Neil also explains why he thinks the way rape is investigated in this country needs to be fundamentally changed. They also answer questions on whether police rewards are ever actually paid out, if it's fair to say that t...
Sep 17, 2025•20 min
Tommy Robinson’s Unite the Kingdom march was supposed to be in the name of free speech. Around 150,000 people attended the protest in central London this weekend. The far right activist said he wanted it to be a family event with no violence or alcohol. Andy and the Crime Agents team went down to find out for themselves. This special report features the voices of the protestors on the march, and the moment violence broke out. Follow us on social media: @thecrimeagents...
Sep 15, 2025•28 min•Ep. 13
In the last year, a child has been arrested almost every week by counter-terrorism police. That's a record - but why is this happening? And who is trying to radicalise these children? In this special episode, Andy speaks exclusively to an undercover intelligence officer to find out more about this shocking rise in minors being held on terror charges. Neil gives his reaction to the revelation that kids as young as 11 have been accused of these crimes - and explains why the severity of the extreme...
Sep 10, 2025•43 min•Ep. 12
If you've ever watched Line of Duty and wondered how realistic AC-12 really is, then this is the episode for you. For the first time, Neil takes us behind the scenes of his four years working in anti-corruption units - and reveals the impact it had on his popularity among his fellow officers. Andy and Neil also examine why there is such a history of corruption within the police, and Neil assesses whether policing is more honest now than when he started his career 35 years ago. Later, they discus...
Sep 02, 2025•31 min•Ep. 11
All summer, Britain's police have been kept busy by a range of protests. From demonstrations outside asylum hotels, to marches in support of Palestine Action, thousands of people have taken to the streets to make their voices heard from across the political spectrum. But have the police handled these protests even-handedly? To answer that, Andy and Neil go back to the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020 and the vigil for Sarah Everard on Clapham Common in 2021, to look at the origins of so-calle...
Aug 27, 2025•42 min•Ep. 10
Notting Hill Carnival is Europe's biggest street festival. It's been a fixture of London's cultural scene for decades and it's attended by millions every August Bank Holiday. But the event also regularly attracts negative headlines, with several murders and many more violent incidents in the last few years. So should Carnival be allowed to continue in its current form? On the eve of this year's event, Andy and Neil take a look at the history of Notting Hill Carnival and why it's so important for...
Aug 20, 2025•42 min•Ep. 9
The Q&A is back! In this week's episode, Andy and Neil answer your questions on one of the major talking points from last week: an announcement of new guidance suggesting police should reveal the ethnicity of suspects in 'high-profile and sensitive' cases. Is greater transparency a step forward? Or could this lead to more racial tensions in the UK? Tune in to hear which way Andy and Neil think it will go. Plus: has social media helped or hindered counter-terror police in their efforts to foi...
Aug 17, 2025•24 min
You've seen The Football Factory and Green Street. You remember the chaotic scenes at Wembley for the Euro 2020 final. And for years you've heard hooliganism described as 'The English Disease'. But what is the reality of football hooliganism in the UK in 2025? This week, Andy tells the story of when he infiltrated one of the country's most notorious football firms, and Neil explains how even experienced police officers were shocked by the volume of Class A drugs being used by so-called fans who ...
Aug 13, 2025•41 min•Ep. 8
In this week's bonus episode, Andy quizzes Neil on some of the most memorable moments from his 30 year policing career. For example, Neil tells the harrowing story behind his most memorable murder case - the 2003 shooting of drug dealer Tony Byfield and his 7 year old daughter, Toni-Ann - and the unlikely way he and his team eventually cracked the case. Neil also explains why being too outspoken cost him the chance to become Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police - aka the country's top cop - a...
Aug 11, 2025•30 min
When a criminal goes on the run, what do police do to try and catch them? In this episode, Andy is given exclusive access to a Met Police firearms unit who are on the tail of an armed drug dealer. Listen to find out exactly what happens when a manhunt starts - and whether the police can get their man. Later, Andy and Neil look back on one of the most famous British manhunts of all: when Raoul Moat when on the run back in 2010. Andy explains how Gazza and Ray Mears ended up with cameo roles in th...
Aug 06, 2025•34 min•Ep. 7
Why are there 5 year backlogs in some of Britain's courts? Why are our prisons so full? And why doesn't any government seem interested in fixing the broken criminal justice system? In this week's episode, Neil and Andy look at who is to blame for breaking the system - and if it's too late for anything to be done to repair it. Andy explains the maddening reality of a day in court - and why Britain's once-revered judiciary has been allowed to become a 'shambles'. And Neil gives his view on whether...
Jul 30, 2025•42 min•Ep. 6
Protesters gathered outside the Bell Hotel in Epping for a 5th time this weekend - and there were also demonstrations outside other migrant hotels in several more towns around the UK. Andy went to Epping to see the protest for himself - and to find out if the far-right is trying to exploit the legitimate concerns local people have about these hotels and illegal immigration. Hear what happened when Andy confronted Callum Barker - a prominent member of the far-right Homeland Party - at Sunday's pr...
Jul 28, 2025•30 min
Can it be right that the two men who needlessly felled the iconic Sycamore Gap tree at Hadrian's Wall were sentenced to four years in prison? After all, that's the same as the minimum sentence for someone convicted of rape. That's one of the questions that Andy and Neil tackle in this week's bonus episode of The Crime Agents - listen to hear whether they think this is an example of a judge bowing to the weight of public opinion, or fitting punishment for a crime that shocked the country. They al...
Jul 25, 2025•24 min
No one ever forgets a terror attack. But what about the dozens which are foiled at the last minute? Or the threats which are stopped in their tracks months before they can become a reality? In this episode, Neil reveals the most memorable attack he ever thwarted in his time as Head of Counter Terrorism Policing, and the details of how police, MI5 and GCHQ work together to stop terrorists from committing mass murder. Meanwhile Andy explains how he too helped to uncover a terrorist cell in Manches...
Jul 23, 2025•49 min•Ep. 5
Neil and Andy address the controversial issue of Shamima Begum, and whether it's right that she was stripped of her British citizenship, in this week's bonus episode. Neil recalls the moment when the then Home Secretary Sajid Javid interrupted his meeting with Prime Minister Theresa May to announce that he'd made that decision - and the pair discuss whether Begum should be allowed back in the UK now. They also answer your questions on stop & search: invaluable tool for fighting knife crime, ...
Jul 17, 2025•25 min
Andy is one of only a very small number of journalists to have successfully gone undercover and infiltrated the far-right. In this episode, he reveals for the first time what happened when the group found out his true identity - and why he needed a visit from the bomb squad and around-the-clock police protection. Andy also explains why people are attracted to join these groups for real - and tells the story of what he was asked to do for his initiation into one of the UK's most dangerous far-rig...
Jul 16, 2025•53 min•Ep. 4
One year ago, Lucy Letby was convicted of murdering seven babies while working as a nurse at the Countess of Chester Hospital. Many believe she was the victim of a miscarriage of justice - and in this week's bonus episode, Neil and Andy answer your questions on the idea that police were briefing against Letby to journalists during her trial. Andy covered that trial - so did that really happen? And can we have confidence in her conviction? Listen to find out what The Crime Agents think about the ...
Jul 10, 2025•25 min
Police officers are increasingly forced to spend their time doing jobs they were never meant to - and that other public services are simply too stretched to respond to. This week, Neil and Andy discuss the intervention by Britain's top cop, Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, who's called for police to be allowed to focus on fighting crime rather than social work. Neil and Andy analyse what difference that would make, and whether the Commissioner has the Home Secretary's support in calling ...
Jul 09, 2025•48 min•Ep. 3
Palestine Action – the extreme activist group that infiltrates and vandalises military sites and defence firms - is to become a banned terrorist organisation. But very little is known about its members or supporters. The Crime Agents host and LBC crime correspondent Andy Hughes went along to meet them as they protested outside Downing Street on the day MPs voted to proscribe Palestine Action. He spoke exclusively to former Labour MP Zarah Sultana, who this week quit to form her own party with Je...
Jul 04, 2025•25 min
