After last week’s hugely divisive opener in which a homeowner tackled would-be burglars but found it was he who would be standing in the dock – an injustice that put radio phone-in switchboards into meltdown, we get another fly-on-the-wall account of the challenging work our police force does.
Tonight, Bedfordshire Police race to rescue a 15-year-old girl after receiving intelligence that a 20-year old man is holding her captive at his flat in Luton. After smashing through the front door, they find the girl has disappeared and the suspected offender has also fled the scene.
Detective Joanne Tyrell and PC Heather Hutchinson, who specialise in tackling serious sexual assault, are put in charge of the investigation. As the hunt for the suspect intensifies, cameras follow every twist and turn of the investigation. When the girl comes into the police station to reveal the harrowing details of the multiple rapes she has suffered in the flat, the detectives’ worst fears are confirmed. And she is not his only victim. The suspect has targeted a large number of other underage girls, some of whom are in denial over the danger he presents.
This episode explores some frightening truths about some young people and their relationships. It demonstrates how a manipulative abuser grooms vulnerable underage children and how the popular perception of paedophiles can be very wide of the mark. Some sexual predators of children are not much older than their victims.
24 Hours in Police Custody
Monday at 9.00pm on Channel 4.
More pick of the day content for Friday.
