When the charred remains of a young British woman were found in the Maasai Mara Game Reserve in 1988, the Kenyan authorities tried to convince her father – and the public – that she had been killed by wild animals. It soon became clear that 28-year-old Julie Ward had been murdered. But no one was ever convicted. This is the story of how the crime was covered up by the Kenyan authorities, and of the Ward family’s belief that the Metropolitan Police did the same. Plus, of newly emerged evidence wh...
May 09, 2025•58 min•Season 5Ep. 1
A “sophisticated” UK-based spy ring passed secrets to Russia for nearly three years before they were prosecuted. It was revealed that the ring leader, a man named Orlin Roussev, had exchanged messages with a mysterious man code named ‘Rupert Ticz’. The prosecutors revealed that the man was in fact Jan Marsalek, the fugitive ex-Wirecard chief operating officer, who is wanted in connection with a €1.9bn (£1.57bn) banking fraud. For almost three years, he had gathered information on tar...
Mar 09, 2025•44 min•Season 4Ep. 3
Former tech boss turned fugitive Jan Marsalek was living a double life as a Russian spy, having met his handler during a meeting on a yacht in Nice back in 2014. Throughout his time at the company, he is accused of running operations on behalf of the Kremlin, from assembling a Libyan militia and running surveillance on enemies of the state to an alleged audacious plot to hijack the Austrian spy service. In the second instalment of The Daily T Investigates: The Tech Boss who was Russia...
Mar 07, 2025•34 min•Season 4Ep. 2
A UK-based spy ring of Bulgarian nationals has been found guilty of espionage at the Old Bailey after a three-month trial. For almost three years, they’d been spying for Russia. But the man believed to be behind it all is still on the run. Jan Marsalek was an Austrian tech boss, Chief Operating Officer of a successful payments processing company called Wirecard. Until it collapsed in 2020 amid a massive fraud scandal Marsalek is alleged to have been the mastermind behind. Just days l...
Mar 07, 2025•41 min•Season 4Ep. 1
In this final episode of our mini-series on the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine, Investigations Editor Claire Newell explores whether the MHRA, the regulatory agency for drugs, has protected patients. She hears from families about the long-term consequences of a rare adverse reaction to the jab, and whether they have received enough support from the Government. Written by: Claire Newell Producer: Jack Boswell Executive Producer: Adélie Pojzman-Pontay Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more inf...
Mar 06, 2025•28 min•Season 3Ep. 3
When patients were admitted to hospital with unusual symptoms in 2021, their families started to ask questions. Dr Stephen Wright’s family were initially told he had died after having a stroke. But when his parents saw an article linking rare blood clots to the AstraZeneca Covid jab, they knew they had found the answer. In this second instalment of The Daily T Investigates: The AstraZeneca vaccine, we hear from one of the doctors who discovered the new condition, and Stephen’s family, who uneart...
Mar 06, 2025•24 min•Season 3Ep. 2
Did AstraZeneca's jab kill a healthy 32-year-old? We hear from the family of Dr Stephen Wright, a young clinical psychologist who lost his life in January 2021 soon after receiving his vaccination. For the past four years, his family has been searching for answers. Could there be a link between the two? As the vaccine module of the Covid Inquiry gets underway, The Telegraph’s Investigations team explores the link between the AstraZeneca jab and a potentially deadly reaction. In a new three-part ...
Mar 06, 2025•17 min•Season 3Ep. 1
When billionaire British entrepreneur Mike Lynch drowned during the sinking of the superyacht Bayesian in August, it sent shockwaves around the world. Having just successfully fought off the US Justice Department on fourteen counts of fraud and conspiracy, he was celebrating his newfound freedom when he was tragically killed during a freak storm. After months of work by our senior reporter, Henry Bodkin, the Daily T investigates what might have caused a boat that was previously described as unsi...
Mar 06, 2025•42 min•Season 2Ep. 3
It was one of the UK’s worst modern disasters - and yet seven years on, no one has been held accountable for the Grenfell fire. With the official inquiry’s final report set to be released, people are expecting answers. How did the London tower block catch fire so quickly in June 2017? Why did 72 people die? And who is to blame? A police investigation is still ongoing, meaning the bereaved and survivors of Grenfell Tower will have to wait until at least 2027 before anyone can face charg...
Mar 06, 2025•43 min•Season 2Ep. 2
From Jimmy Savile to Huw Edwards, the BBC has in recent years been associated with a number of high-profile cases of paedophilia. But there have also been other cases of child abuse linked to the BBC, and now the organisation is facing fresh questions about whether it has done enough to protect children by properly vetting people coming into its offices or working on its behalf. In this special episode of The Daily T hosted by head of investigations Claire Newell, we reveal a previously untold s...
Mar 06, 2025•49 min•Season 2Ep. 1
In January 2021, the first Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccines made their way into people’s arms. By mid-march, 11 million people had received the jab. After successive lockdowns, it felt like a way out. But now, more than two years on, storm clouds are gathering. Today, 80 of them are preparing to sue Astrazeneca. They say that until now, no one has wanted to hear their stories. So we’re telling them. Find out more: ‘We were told the vaccine was safe - but what happened has been life-changing’ Ar...
Nov 08, 2023•42 min•Season 1Ep. 6
In the face of major disasters, it is perhaps inevitable that there will be missteps. And when the dust settles, people are asked to account for their actions. How is history going to judge the government’s response to COVID? In this last episode of the Lockdown Files podcast, the investigations team at the Telegraph investigates potential mistakes at the heart of the pandemic response. Shutting schools, a lack of oversight with financial support and questions over whether lockdown would e...
Jul 14, 2023•38 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Is it ever ok to scare the public? In this episode, the reporters dig into leaked messages which show a discussion between Matt Hancock and one of his team. They say “We frighten the pants off everyone with the new strain” and “When do we deploy the new variant”. The exchanges speak to a so-called “Project Fear”, which prompts the team to ask government ministers about whether decisions made were the right ones… We also speak to the adviser behind some of the government's messaging…&...
Jul 07, 2023•35 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Tens of thousands of care home residents died during the pandemic. Many people see it as the government’s biggest failure. Matt Hancock’s Whatsapp messages lifted the lid on conversations behind key decisions. But it wasn’t just the messages which were revealing… The team behind the Lockdown Files unearths new documents suggesting an unnerving offer made to care homes in Durham and Birmingham. Archive used in this episode from: BBC, Sky News, ITV, The Telegraph. Read more about the Lockdow...
Jun 29, 2023•31 min•Season 1Ep. 3
The Investigations team looks back on the early days of the pandemic. How prepared was the government? Was lockdown inevitable? But they hit a stumbling block - they may have 100,000 messages, but there’s a gap in March. So the team decide that if they can’t read where those key decisions were made, they’d do the next best thing: speak to people who were in the room where it happened Archive used in this episode from: France Info, Sky News, BBC. Read more about the Lockdown Files here:&nbs...
Jun 22, 2023•25 min•Season 1Ep. 2
In January 2023, reporters at the Telegraph are called into a meeting. The newspaper has got something big. Matt Hancock’s Whatsapps from when he was the Health Secretary, during the pandemic: 100,000 messages. The reporters start digging. Archive used in this episode from: The Sun, BBC, Channel 4, Sky News, Good Morning Britain, The Telegraph. Read more about the Lockdown Files here: www.telegraph.co.uk/news/lockdown-files | For 30 days’ free access to The Telegraph: www.teleg...
Jun 15, 2023•19 min•Season 1Ep. 1
