Latest / Weird Darkness:True crime & The unexplained / A Case Almost Too Gruesome To Mention - Brian Waters

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A Case Almost Too Gruesome To Mention - Brian Waters · Weird Darkness:True crime & The unexplained

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: This case takes place in the United Kingdom on the
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: 19th of June 2003. Andrew Lamb was known as a
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: successful English businessman, living a life of wealth and luxury
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: in Malta. But in reality, he was keeping a dark secret.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: His name was not Andrew Lamb, it was Christopher Guestmore Jr.,
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: and he was involved in one of the most brutal
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: and cruel cases in British legal history. Christopher grew up
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: privileged and wealthy. As a teenager, Christopher left school to
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: join the family business, but it was no ordinary business.
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: As part of his duties, Christopher would learn about the
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: world of surveillance and gathering intelligence. And like his father
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: before him, he too became a success in the industry,
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: displaying an aptitude for undercover work and investigation. Christopher showcased
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: his talents when he infiltrated organised crime gangs in Wolverhampton
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: and a far-right movement in Nottingham, collaborating with media outlets
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: like Channel 4 and BBC. His future seemed promising, and
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: he was well on the way to building a successful
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: career in the television business. However, fate took a dark
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: turn when he crossed paths with one of Manchester's most
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: notorious gangsters, John Wilson, a man with an incredibly violent reputation.
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  Speaker 1: He drew Christopher into the world of crime, leading him
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  Speaker 1: to commit horrific acts. Also working with Wilson was a
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: man named Brian Waters, a 44-year-old cannabis dealer who was
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: growing plants at Burnt House Farm near Cheshire. He set
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: up the farm at Burnt House with his son and daughter,
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: who were adults, and a man named Solomon Razek. Whilst
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: Brian dealt for Wilson, he kept this operation secret, and
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: the operation made around £ 3, 000 a month. Brian had contacts
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: in the Netherlands, and he would often broker deals between
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: Wilson and his other Dutch associates. In 1999, during a
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: return trip to the UK from Holland, Brian was caught
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  Speaker 1: at a port with £ 20, 000 in cash. This cash belonged
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: to John Wilson. The money was of course from dealing
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: illegal substances, and because Brian couldn't give a reason where
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: this money had come from, it was confiscated. Despite this incident,
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: Brian and Wilson's association continued, and by late 2002, Brian
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: was involved in dealing other substances on behalf of the mobster.
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: But during the Christmas season, Brian was robbed, This resulted
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: in him owing thousands of more pounds to Wilson, plunging
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: him further into debt. Wilson was furious. He demanded Christopher's
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: skills in surveillance to be used on Brian and his family.
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: He was tasked with trailing Brian's son Gavin from their
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  Speaker 1: home and followed him all the way to Burnhouse Farm
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: where they were secretly growing the plants. Christopher waited for
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: Gavin to leave and then entered the farm, coming across
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  Speaker 1: the secret operations. Christopher relayed this information back to Wilson,
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: who was absolutely outraged. He believed that Brian was going
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: behind his back and selling without his consent. So, Wilson
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: gave the orders for his gang to ransack Brian's farm,
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  Speaker 1: steal his plants and equipment. This gang included Christopher, a
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: man named James Raven, otherwise known as the Milkman, due
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: to him being able to deliver when hired to deal
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: with other criminals. He was also somewhat of an intimidating man,
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: with tattoos that read Maniac and Proceed with Caution, and
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: there was a good reason for these tattoos. There was
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: also Otis Matthews, who was Wilson's right-hand man, and someone
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: who was capable of extreme violence. And finally, David Moran.
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: David would play no part in what was about to unfold.
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: He was there to keep watch for the police whilst
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: the other gang members ransacked the farm. But, more on
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  Speaker 1: his part later, Wilson got these four men to do
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  Speaker 1: his dirty work and sent them over to the farm.
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  Speaker 1: When these men arrived, nobody else was there. They began
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  Speaker 1: loading all of the plants and equipment into a van
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  Speaker 1: they had brought with them, stealing everything of value. They
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  Speaker 1: drove the loaded van away to another location and returned
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: to the farm to send a message. Suman Razak arrived
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: at the farm to tend to the plants, completely oblivious
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  Speaker 1: to the horrors that awaited him. Little did he know
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: that his life was about to change forever as he
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: was ambushed by the men sent by Wilson. As he
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: entered the farm, Razak endured a relentless barrage of punches
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  Speaker 1: and kicks to his face. The men started demanding for money,
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  Speaker 1: but Razak had no idea what they were talking about.
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  Speaker 1: The men then tied him up with rope and suspended
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  Speaker 1: him upside down and plunged him headfirst into a barrel
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  Speaker 1: filled with dirty water. They continued to press Razak for
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  Speaker 1: the information about the money, but Razak replied saying that
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: he had no idea what they were talking about. So
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: the men then electrocuted him and poured acid on his body.
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: The brutality only escalated from there. A pillowcase was thrown
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: over Rezek's head and set on fire. The fire burned
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: his shoulders and neck before it was extinguished. He was
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  Speaker 1: then tortured with an industrial staple gun, causing unimaginable pain
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  Speaker 1: and torment. Multiple staples were fired into his head and back.
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  Speaker 1: This horrific torture lasted for well over an hour, but
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  Speaker 1: he was still alive. And then Brian, totally unaware of
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  Speaker 1: what was happening, arrived at the farm. Brian was immediately attacked.
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: He suffered the same fate as Rezek. He was beaten,
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  Speaker 1: tied up, and lowered headfirst into dirty water. Rezek watched
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: in horror as Brian was subjected to the same torment.
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: But they took it a step further. One of the
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  Speaker 1: men retrieved an iron bar. They inserted this bar into
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: Brian's anus. The bar was pushed into him with such
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: force that it ruptured his insides. Now, as I mentioned earlier,
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: Brian's children were part of the operations on the farm,
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: and Brian had come to meet them at the farm.
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: So they too turned up. Their names are Natalie and Gavin.
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: Natalie was just about to turn 21, and Gavin was 25.
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  Speaker 1: As they approached the farm, the three men apprehended them
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  Speaker 1: and brought them to where their father was held. Gavin
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  Speaker 1: was horrifically beaten as they demanded Brian to hand over
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  Speaker 1: the money. Gavin was then tied up and a noose
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  Speaker 1: was placed around his neck. The rope was thrown over
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: a beam and tightened, which resulted in him being choked.
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  Speaker 1: Natalie was also tied up and placed next to her father.
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  Speaker 1: The gang put a gun in Natalie's mouth and demanded
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  Speaker 1: the money from Brian, but he didn't have it. Natalie
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  Speaker 1: would later say, They turned his chair around to see
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  Speaker 1: me and told him to look at your daughter. Do
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: you really want her to go through this? Then one
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  Speaker 1: of them sliced off her top with a knife and
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: demanded the $ 20, 000 to be handed over. A bin bag
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: was then set on fire over Brian. The hot plastic
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: dripped onto his exposed skin. The industrial stapler was then
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: fired into his back and skull. Gavin and Natalie could
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: do nothing but watch as their father was mercilessly beaten
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  Speaker 1: for hours. After a total of three hours, Brian finally
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: succumbed to his injuries and he passed away. Natalie would
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: later say that she could hear her father breathing heavily,
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: but then... His breathing stopped. She knew that her father
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: was dead. The gang, not yet satisfied with their cruelty,
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: then stole Brian's car and made their way over to
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: his home where his wife was. They theorized that the
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: missing money could be there. So they abducted Brian's wife
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: Julie and she was driven to the farm. As I
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: mentioned earlier, the fourth man, David Moran, was keeping lookout.
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  Speaker 1: Whilst he was doing this, Wilson told David to call
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  Speaker 1: the police and report that he had seen an attack
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: at the farm. Why this happened is unclear. Newport connecting,
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  Speaker 1: payphone 01565 722252. Thank you, hello, please. Hello, hiya. I've
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: just come off the M6 from Manchester Airport, I'm not
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  Speaker 1: sure the junction is 18. Yep. I'm going towards Northwich,
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  Speaker 1: is it the 8556? Yes. I've got there, and the
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  Speaker 1: first farm on the right-hand side... Yep. It was about
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  Speaker 1: 500 yards. It looked like there was three men beating
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: somebody up in the courtyard. Oh, right. It didn't look
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  Speaker 1: right at all. So if you come off of Junction
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  Speaker 1: 18 and take the 556, yeah? Yeah, I think it's 18.
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: It's 19, that one, actually, I think. 19, yeah, 556. Yep.
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  Speaker 1: About 500 yards on the right, going towards northwards, to
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: the farmyard, like, and that's just like these three gentlemen,
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  Speaker 1: or three men, attacking a man. How long ago was that?
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  Speaker 1: About five minutes. Five minutes ago. As the men had
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: got to the farm with Julie, the police arrived on
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  Speaker 1: the scene, responding to the call made by David. The
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: men ran, but James Raven was caught by the police,
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: as Otis and Christopher were able to get away. As
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: the police descended upon the farm, they were met with
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: disturbing scenes of extreme violence and horror. They found Brian dead,
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: but thankfully Natalie, Gavin, and Rosek were all still alive,
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: although they were of course extremely traumatized and in horrific pain.
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  Speaker 1: An autopsy was conducted on Brian's body. They found that
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  Speaker 1: he had over 100 separate injuries in what was one
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: of the worst torture cases Britain has ever seen. His
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: insides were ruptured by the iron bar, he had broken ribs,
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  Speaker 1: bleeding on the brain, fractures to his face, a collapsed lung,
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: and the list just goes on. At the crime scene,
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: the killer's left behind a trail of damning clues that
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: seemed almost too absurd to be true. Due to the
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: police arriving unexpectedly, the criminals had failed to clean up
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  Speaker 1: after themselves, leaving behind a treasure trove of incriminating items
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  Speaker 1: scattered all around the crime scene. Wrappings of food and
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: bottles of drink were found all around. It seemed that
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: the attackers had indulged in a bizarre feast whilst committing
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: these horrific acts. The police also stumbled upon something incredibly strange,
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: a plastic bag filled with human feces. As the bag
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: of feces underwent examination, it revealed a critical link to
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  Speaker 1: one of the perpetrators, Christopher Guestmore Jr., The presence of
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: his DNA was found in the bag, but that was
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: not all. As the investigators continued their search, they discovered
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  Speaker 1: more damning evidence. Samples taken from a bottle of Sprite
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: and Marlboro light ends matched Christopher's identity, as did a
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  Speaker 1: glove found near the main gate of the farm. The
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: police then found that Christopher had connections with Wilson. Using
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: mobile phone data as evidence, they managed to find who
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  Speaker 1: else was responsible for this shocking crime. Otis and Wilson
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  Speaker 1: were arrested, along with David Moran, the man who called
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  Speaker 1: the police. He told the police that he would be
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  Speaker 1: a witness in the trial in exchange for a lesser sentence,
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  Speaker 1: and he turned on the rest of the gang. The
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: police then went to arrest Christopher, only to find that
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: he had escaped the country. They found CCTV footage of
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: him in Liverpool John Lennon Airport on his way to Malaga,
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  Speaker 1: where he embarked on his life as a fugitive. Christopher's
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  Speaker 1: father and mother helped him in the escape. They would
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  Speaker 1: later receive nine months for helping him evade justice. Christopher
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  Speaker 1: vanished into the shadows, spending the next several years evading justice.
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  Speaker 1: His movements during this period from 2003 to 2007 remained
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  Speaker 1: shrouded in mystery as he cleverly covered his tracks and
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  Speaker 1: evaded capture. John Wilson, James Raven and Otis Matthews were
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: all convicted. These convictions were the result of trials held
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: between 2004 and 2007. All three pleaded not guilty, but
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: there was overwhelming evidence linking all of them to the crime.
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  Speaker 1: DNA evidence, witness testimony, and phone records. All three were
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  Speaker 1: sentenced to life in prison. Wilson and Raven were given
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: a minimum term of 24 years, and Otis a minimum
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: term of 22 years. David Moran was sentenced to 21
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: months for his part in the killing of Brian. David
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: was given a lesser sentence as he helped the police
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: with the case. Because of this, he will remain in
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: witness protection for the rest of his life. Meanwhile, Christopher
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: moved from country to country. He found refuge in the
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: Mediterranean haven of Malta, where he assumed a new identity,
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  Speaker 1: Andrew Lamb. In this exotic paradise, he lived a life
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: of luxury. He lived in a grand villa, drove a Porsche,
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: and worked as a luxury yacht captain. To those who
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: knew him in Malta, he was a seemingly successful British businessman,
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  Speaker 1: with connections that reached as far as the Moroccan royal
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: family and the Egyptian military. As Christopher settled into his
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: new life of luxury, he believed he had successfully escaped justice.
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: He immersed himself in a world of wealth and prestige,
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: relishing in the illusion of safety and freedom. However, the
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: police were gradually closing in on him. For 16 long years,
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: Christopher Guestmore Jr. managed to elude justice, but in May
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: of 2019, Christopher's name appeared on Europe's Most Wanted list.
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: Just four weeks after this listing, Christopher was identified and caught.
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: Throughout the painstaking extradition proceedings that followed, he clung to
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: his new identity of Andrew Lamb, which further complicated the process,
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: but his true identity was soon exposed, and he was
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: brought back to the United Kingdom. March of 2021 marked
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: a pivotal moment as the trial of Christopher commenced at
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: Chester Crown Court. He was charged with murder, but... he
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: denied any wrongdoing and proclaimed his innocence. During the trial,
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: Christopher's demeanour seemed composed and polished when he was questioned
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: by his own barrister, but as the prosecution cross-examined him,
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: his facade began to crack. The once brash and arrogant
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: man now appeared to be unsettled, with evident gaps in
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: his account and evasive answers. In a rather dramatic twist,
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: Christopher received unexpected support from his godfather, Stephen Hayes. Stephen
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: claimed that he was with Christopher on the night of
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: the murder, and that they went to a wine bar together.
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: This testimony suggested that Christopher could not have been at
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: the scene of the crime, leading the jury to deadlock,
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: resulting in a retrial in November. However, this time, the
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: jurors were not swayed by the new account, as overwhelming
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: evidence was presented over the course of a month. Despite
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: Christopher's protests of innocence, it became very clear that he
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: had been an eager participant in the heinous violence inflicted
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: on behalf of Wilson. After 18 years, Christopher was found guilty,
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: and he was sentenced to life in prison with a
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: minimum term of 24 years. It then came out that
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: Christopher and James Raven were undercover TV researchers who investigated
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: the criminal underworld on behalf of the BBC. They were
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: paid £ 52, 000 by the BBC for just one job, despite
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: them knowing full well that they were part of the
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: criminal underworld. The case of Brian Waters is one of
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: the most horrific in British legal history, and has left
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: a lasting, unimaginable pain on his family. Razek, Julie, Gavin
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: and Natalie continue to bear the heavy burden of that
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: fateful day, grappling with emotional scars and regular flashbacks.