The Crime Agents – Details, episodes & analysis

Meet Neil Basu and Andy Hughes - aka The Crime Agents. Neil is a former top police officer and Andy is an investigative journalist who's been covering crime for two decades. In this podcast, from the makers of The News Agents, they'll go behind the headlines to uncover the truth about the crime that affects all of our lives.

In this trailer, Neil and Andy give you an insight into the frontline experience they've had of catching criminals and going undercover with them.

Starting next Wednesday, every week The Crime Agents will dive deep into the stories you think you know - from foiled terror plots and unsolved murders, to gang culture, far-right extremism, and the tactics police use to crack the toughest cases.

With over 50 years of combined experience, Neil and Andy don’t just report on crime - they’ve lived it.

In the very first episode of The Crime Agents, investigative journalist Andy Hughes reveals exclusively how hundreds of convicted terrorists have been released from UK jails over the past two decades, and are now living among us, many of whom continue to refuse deradicalisation treatment.

His co-host on the Crime Agents is the former Head of Counter Terrorism for the Metropolitan Police, Neil Basu. In this episode Neil explains how law enforcement go about catching terrorists, how terror plots are thwarted, and why there are now so many convicted terrorists no longer in jail.

In this week’s episode of The Crime Agents, investigative journalist Andy Hughes reveals the inner workings of Britain’s most violent street gangs.

He’s joined by his co-host Neil Basu, ex Assistant Commissioner at the Metropolitan Police. He describes how it felt to come face to face with the criminal underworld.

Andy and Neil explore why the children being recruited by gangs are getting younger, and why kids as young as nine are willing to kill.

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 Jeremy Corbyn.

Andy and co-host Neil Basu, ex-head of UK Counter Terror Policing, debate whether members of Palestine Action deserve to be classed as terrorists.

Andy and Neil also take your questions in this bonus Q&A episode.

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 for wholesale police reform. The pair also reveal the mental health impact for officers who are forced to deal with situations they haven't been trained in.

Plus, as the country marks twenty years since the 7/7 bombings, Neil reflects on the impact British foreign policy had on radicalising the bombers, and explains the lessons which still need to be learned from the tragedy two decades on.

Follow us on social media: @thecrimeagents on all major platforms

Get in touch via email: thecrimeagents@global.com

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 story that shocked the nation.

Neil and Andy also respond to your questions about gangs: how much is social media used to recruit youngsters? Do teachers have a role to play in stopping kids from being exploited by gangs? And how common is it for women to play important roles in gang crime?

Plus Neil explains why it's right that MI5 and the government aren't forced to reveal all their intelligence when banning groups such as Palestine Action. And finally - Neil and Andy both reflect on some of the most memorable cases and stories they've worked on in their long careers fighting and covering crime.

Send in your questions for Neil and Andy via email: thecrimeagents@global.com

Follow us on social media: @thecrimeagents on all major platforms

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-right gangs.

Plus Neil explains the history of the far-right in Britain, from Sir Oswald Mosley to the recently proscribed Maniacs Murder Cult and Russian Imperial Movement. He also talks about why the decision to ban the group National Action was so controversial when he was in charge of counter-terrorism policing in 2016.

Follow us on social media: @thecrimeagents on all major platforms

Get in touch via email: thecrimeagents@global.com

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, or a tactic which damages community relations beyond repair? And what exactly does 'county lines' mean? Andy explains and Neil reveals why it poses such a major problem for British police forces.

Got a question? Send it to thecrimeagents@global.com or follow us on social media: @thecrimeagents

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 Manchester - and reminds Neil of the vital role the media can play in tackling terror threats.

Plus, the pair react to Nigel Farage saying he wants police to look bigger and more intimidating. Would this help to make our streets safer? Should the public and criminals alike fear the police? Neil and Andy give their verdicts.

Follow us on social media: @thecrimeagents

Send Andy and Neil a question to thecrimeagents@global.com

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 also take your questions on whether it's right that sacked police officers can be reinstated against a Chief Constable's wishes, the legal rights of journalists and police officers when they go undercover - and if there's any case for the return of the death penalty in the UK.