File on 4 Investigates – Details, episodes & analysis

File on 4 examines some of the most contentious statistical, scientific and medical evidence in the Lucy Letby trial. The programme reveals new concerns involving medical evidence presented in court where Letby was convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others.

Reporter: Stephanie Hegarty Producers: Fay Nurse, Ben Robinson and Hayley Mortimer Technical Producers: Richard Hannaford and Nicky Edwards Production Coordinator: Tim Fernley Editor: Carl Johnston

Mosques and hotels housing asylum seekers came under attack during the riots that swept across the country earlier this month. The courts have been tough on violent disorder, but File on 4 examines how tackling the possible root causes may require an even stronger effort. Tensions over immigration are still simmering, particularly in areas that have long been in economic decline. Paul Kenyon reports.

Producer: Hayley Mortimer Technical Producer: Nicky Edwards Production Coordinator: Tim Fernley Editors: Alys Harte & Carl Johnston

The most senior family court judge in England has described the growing use of Deprivation of Liberty orders for vulnerable children as a 'crisis.' File on 4 hears from young people who were held under the order supposedly for their own safety. But they say they were under constant supervision, denied access to their phones and the internet and kept away from their families. Some say they were subjected to physical restraints and even supervised when they were having a shower. And one teenager who was on a Deprivation of Liberty order tells the programme he preferred being in prison.

Reporter: Ashley John-Baptiste Producer: Phil Marzouk Technical Producer: Craig Boardman Production coordinator: Ellie Dover Editor: Carl Johnston

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 lucrative. We hear from the families of those believed to have been preyed upon and registrars on the frontline, tasked with spotting a predatory marriage, despite no medical training in assessing dementia. And we speak to campaigners who say the law needs to change to better protect victims and their families.

Reporter: Datshiane Navanayagam Producer: Paul Grant Editor: Gail Champion

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 as far apart as London and Aberdeen, Reading and the North East.

Why does the UK remain a go-to destination for some of the world’s most tainted money? And why does it take a leak for the truth to be revealed about who’s really invested in some of the country’s prime property?

The Pandora Papers is an investigation led by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. The documents have been shared with the Guardian, the BBC and other media partners around the world.

Further reporting on other stories arising from the Pandora Papers leak are available online: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-58780561

Reporter: Felicity Hannah Producer: Anna Meisel Additional Production: Kate West Editor: Gail Champion

During the pandemic, it’s been one of the most dangerous occupations in the land, with a death rate similar to that of frontline nurses. Sixty London bus drivers have died of Covid-19, and yet the authorities still have little explanation as to why the disease spread among them in such deadly fashion. Families of the deceased say it was due to poor safety standards and the slow introduction of protective measures. Transport for London say they were just following government guidance. But with bus drivers becoming more vociferous and the death rate too high to ignore, BBC File on 4 tries to uncover the truth behind the shocking statistics. The programme hears from bus drivers across the capital who describe what was really happening on the ground, as well as the families of the deceased, and a TfL insider who alleges systemic problems with health and safety and says a Royal Commission is now needed to get to the bottom of what happened.

Reporter: Paul Kenyon Producer: Annabel Deas Editor: Carl Johnston

Mental health profiteers: The dark world of online anxiety ‘cures’. Jane Deith and Jordan Dunbar investigate the rogue operators exploiting the long wait for mental health services on the NHS. The explosion in unregulated online recovery programmes has led to claims of people paying thousands of pounds for treatment by unqualified practitioners which has made their anxiety worse – not better. File on 4 investigates one company guaranteeing to cure anxiety in children. And we ask – why isn’t the law protecting people who seek help online?

File on 4 reveals the inside story of Ramon Abbas, one of a new breed of prolific global cyber fraudsters. As Abbas awaits sentencing in the US for money-laundering, File on 4 asks if enough is being done to protect us from online criminals operating across international borders.

Snared by the FBI in 2020, Abbas is better known as Instagram influencer Hushpuppi, who flaunted a life of designer clothes, private jets and penthouse apartments to millions of followers. Little did they know that his lavish lifestyle was funded through a complex web of cyber-heists. He even had a hand in an audacious attempt to steal £100 million from a Premier League Football Club. Most cyber-criminals remain nameless, faceless, anonymous and all but untraceable. Now, File on 4 unmasks Ramon Abbas, revealing a complicated, sometimes ruthless character driven by a thirst for wealth and celebrity status.

In addition, we expose the inner workings of a clandestine operation that earned him a reputation as the world’s most high-profile money-launderer.

Reporters: Paul Connolly and Princess Abumere Producer: Helen Clifton Editor: Maggie Latham

When three black England footballers missed penalties in the Euro 2020 football final they were bombarded with online racist abuse. The Football Association condemned the ‘offensive and racist’ messages saying it was ‘appalled’ and would do everything it could to assist Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka. File on 4 examines what many describe as institutional racism within the game and amongst supporters and asks what, if anything, is being done to stop it from happening? With access to new analysis charting the peaks and flows of online abuse, the programme explores who is really behind some of the most egregious comments. Arrests have been made in the wake of the Euro 2020 game but what long-term measures are in place to eradicate this poisonous behaviour which has spread from the terraces to online platforms with little in place to stop it.

Reporter: Athar Ahmad Producer: Mick Tucker Editor: Carl Johnston

The extraordinary story of a UK schools group which took on a cyber ransomware gang.

The Harris Federation seems an unlikely target for ransomware criminals but it found itself at the centre of a cyber attack by anonymous hackers. With its servers down and a ransom demand of nearly £3 million, school leaders had to decide quickly whether to pay or suffer the consequences. File on 4 has unique access to the extraordinary negotiations that took place behind the scenes, involving an Israeli security company and Russian hackers.

More British institutions are being hit by ransomware gangs than ever before, from multi-national corporations to health care trusts and even schools.

The attackers hack into an organisation's computer system, encrypt the data and demand a ransom to get it back. Increasingly, they also threaten to publish sensitive information if no payment is made. It's known as double extortion.

The former head of the National Cyber Security Centre tells File on 4 that the government needs to intervene as a matter of urgency, and make it illegal to pay ransomware gangs.

Presenter: Paul Kenyon Producer: Paul Grant Editor: Nicola Addyman