File on 4 Investigates

From pills that resolve chronic pain issues overnight to diet supplements which promise to help shed pounds in days, the internet is awash with adverts making bold claims. Some come with a celebrity endorsement, where household names appear to give their personal stamp of approval to a product. But many of these are scams, with customers tricked into parting with more money than they realise ever intended. File on 4 investigates the growth of online subscription scams, where customers are unwittingly signed up to schemes which hit them with hidden charges, unexpected monthly fees and products which are made deliberately difficult to cancel. We hear from victims with chronic illnesses desperately searching for a solution to their ailments, who are instead left out of pocket and we speak to the celebrities furious their names are being used to endorse such products. The programme goes in search of those running these schemes online and exposes the tools and tricks designed to scam unwitting customers and sheds light on the creation of a global multi-million pound industry. Reporter: Athar Ahmad Producer: Anna Meisel Editor: Carl Johnston

Two years ago File on 4 investigated how a computer system, called Horizon, was behind what has now become one of the biggest miscarriages of justice this country has ever seen. Hundreds of innocent postal workers wrongly accused of stealing money from their branches by the Post Office itself. Many faced financial ruin, some even went to prison.Since that programme, dozens have had their convictions overturned, and the Post Office has pledged to provide ‘full, fair and final’ compensation to those affected, at the cost of hundreds of millions of pounds to the taxpayer. In this episode, Hayley Hassall revisits the victims she spoke to in 2020 who say they are still fighting for justice - and investigates what the Post Office really knew as this scandal unfolded, as it ruthlessly pursued and prosecuted its very own workers. Reporter: Hayley Hassall Producer: Mick Tucker Editor: Maggie Latham

After an alarming rise in complaints of drink spiking last year, and reports of people being injected with syringes, Datshiane Navanayagam speaks to women who say they have been “spiked” and finds out what the police are doing to tackle it.Reporter: Datshiane Navanayagam Producer: Nicola Dowling Editor: Nicola Addyman

Michael Cowan investigates the consequences for victims of crime and those accused of offences when crucial evidence goes missing or is lost by police forces. He speaks to a man who says he is trying to clear his name but vital evidence has been lost.Reporter: Michael Cowan Producer: Jim Booth Editor: Nicola Addyman Additional research: Wil Crisp and Sophie EastaughIf you have been affected by sexual abuse or violence, help and support is available via the BBC Action Line. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/22VVM5LPrf3pjYdKqctmMXn/information-and-support-sexual-abuse-and-violence

Record ambulance delays are leaving patients waiting hours for emergency care to arrive with waiting times increasing every month. Some patients wait hours at home, many wait outside the hospitals for a bed to become available, but for a small number, ambulances are arriving too late and patients are dying while waiting for help to arrive. In this episode of File on 4 we hear how the crisis is impacting both patients and ambulance staff. In a series of six devastating 999 calls over one hour we hear how ambulance delays in Manchester changed the lives of one family forever, while paramedics and 999 call handlers chart the huge strain on the ambulance service through Christmas and New Year via personal audio diaries which reveal their innermost thoughts, concerns and experiences as they battle through the crisis.Reporter: Jane Deith Producer: Annabel Deas Researcher: Scott Hesketh Editor: Carl Johnston

The NHS is sending patients with the most complex mental health needs to spend months or even years in specialist rehabilitation units, with the promise of helping them to recover. Adam Eley speaks to some patients who say they were sent to units sometimes hours from home, where poor care meant their condition got worse. Some experts say there is not enough oversight of the care provided.Credits: Reporter: Adam Eley Producer: Emma Forde Editor: Nicola Addyman

The high stakes cat and mouse game between police and darknet drug dealers Police say they are finally turning the tide on drug dealers selling on the darknet – a secretive part of the internet which has been described as like “online shopping for drugs.” The UK’s National Crime Agency says recent international takedowns of so called dark markets and arrests in multiple countries are a result of new techniques in cyber policing that is giving them the upper hand. However, BBC research suggests that police around the world have an uphill struggle on their hands as many dealers - known as vendors - have survived multiple market place collapses by operating across many different darknet sites. The BBC’s cyber reporter Joe Tidy and BBC data journalist Alison Benjamin journey into this hidden world to speak to vendors and buyers and uncover secrets of the trade The programme reveals the major role played by UK dealers in the global business which is estimated to be worth more than a billion dollars a year. Reporter: Joe Tidy Producer: Paul Grant Editor: Maggie Latham

How do you know if you’ve been recruited by a cult? Rachel Stonehouse investigates claims there are up to 2,000 cults currently operating in the UK. We talk to young people who say they were recruited on campus and a father who went to court to free his daughter from the influence of a harmful cult.Reporter: Rachel Stonehouse Producer: Michael Cowan Editor: Maggie Latham Researcher: Natasha Fernandes

With the murder of Sarah Everard shining a light on police vetting procedures, File on 4 reveals that thousands of officers have still not been re-vetted to standards brought in in 2006. As a public inquiry tries to establish what’s going wrong with our policing, Melanie Abbott talks to the women who say they’ve been betrayed by police officers who should have kept them safe and to officers who say sexism and harassment are part of the job. Reporter: Melanie Abbott Producer: Mick Tucker Editor: Nicola Addyman

An estimated £66 billion was spent by the government during the pandemic on paying towards the wages of people who couldn’t work, or whose employers could no longer afford to pay them. That’s around one fifth of the money the government spent on the response to Covid. It says 11.6 million jobs were supported by the furlough scheme. But the scheme also exposed the government to fraud and is expected to result in billions of pounds of additional losses to the tax payer. In September of last year, only after 6 months of the scheme running, HMRC was already estimating up to £3.5 billion of fraud and error in furlough payments. Now the scheme has closed, Paul Kenyon investigates businesses that claimed furlough money even thought their employees carried on working. Reporter: Paul Kenyon Producer: Anna Meisel Editor: Carl Johnston

Livvy Haydock investigates whether women are being unfairly treated by the criminal justice system when coercive and controlling behaviour by a partner is behind their offences. Six years ago, the UK led the world in making coercive and controlling behaviour a crime. In a 2019 landmark judgement, Sally Challen’s murder conviction was quashed when the Court of Appeal ruled that years of abuse had contributed to her murdering her husband. But has the criminal justice system really evolved enough to recognise the complex relationship between prolonged abuse and violent crime by women?Reporter: Livvy Haydock Producer: Jim Booth Editor: Nicola Addyman

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-58780561Reporter: 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

Allegations of bullying and sexual harassment against the actor and film maker Noel Clarke have led to an industry-wide examination of the culture within the film and television business. Industry insiders describe an environment where those in power can be bullying and demanding, where sexual harassment is commonplace and where victims are afraid to speak up because they fear losing work. File on 4 has heard from hundreds of people who work in the industry who paint a disturbing picture of the culture where intimidation, bullying and sexual misconduct is often overlooked. The programme asks if the industry is equipped to tackle this bad behaviour, whether new regulation is needed and whether it is serious about cleaning up its act.Reporter: Livvy Haydock Producer: Helen Clifton Editor: Carl Johnston

A death sentence? The inmates dying after poor prison healthcare. More prisoners are dying in jail – even after you account for the growing - and ageing -prison population. Many of those found to be so-called ‘natural cause deaths’ are relatively young: more than a third are aged between 35 and 54. Those who’ve been behind bars a short time are at greatest risk…with health records often not consulted and vital medication delayed, sometimes for months. File on 4 investigates cases where failings in the prison healthcare system contributed to the deaths of inmates – all aged under 50. Their deaths followed basic, shocking, errors: unopened medical records, hospital appointments missed, prisoners not given vital medication - or given the wrong medication that made their condition worse. Prisoners who became gravely ill accused of ‘faking it’. The programme hears from the family of prisoners, a prison health worker who’s concerned about a lack of resources and the impact of measures to contain Covid. And from experts who say recommendations made time and time again following avoidable deaths simply aren’t being implemented – putting more prisoners at risk in the future.Reporter: Jane Deith Producer: Ben Robinson Editor: Nicola Addyman

The COVID-19 pandemic led to an urgent need for a range of new government contracts which resulted in billions of pounds of public money being spent under emergency powers which suspended usual procurement rules around competition. This new regime created an unprecedented situation where commercial firms were able to secure large contracts quickly. But did this mean that money was spent without due diligence, regard for transparency - and potentially value for the taxpayer? In a joint investigation with The Guardian and the non-profit investigative organisation Source Material, File on 4 investigates whether some firms were given preferential treatment when lucrative contracts were being awarded.Reporter: Paul Connolly Producer: Anna Meisel Editor: Gail Champion

Since reporting on a story about police abuses earlier this year reporter Anna Adams has been inundated with calls and messages from women all telling her the same thing; they were a victim at the hands of a police officer. For File on 4 Anna investigates the failures of police forces to properly manage and investigate accused officers within their own ranks. Many of the women she speaks to are police officers themselvesReporter: Anna Adams Producer: Kate West & Mick Tucker Editor: Gail Champion

File on 4 investigates the new challenges of providing home care during the Covid-19 pandemic - with some recipients seeing their care costs increased while their hours are reduced.Exploring reports of financial assessments being neglected, and allegations that people's basic needs are not being met, we ask if some of society’s most vulnerable are being made to shoulder the cost of local council funding gaps.Producer: Michael Cowan Reporter: Claire Bolderson Editor: Maggie Latham

The government recently introduced new laws to protect leaseholders from large ground rent increases. But campaigners say more widespread changes are needed to properly protect the millions of leaseholders in England and Wales.The cladding scandal has highlighted just how few rights leaseholders have when it comes to what happens to the buildings they live in. Felicity Hannah discovers there are many other issues they face.A change in planning law means freeholders can now build extra apartments on top of blocks of flats without having to get planning permission. While such developments could bring in millions of pounds for landlords, the leaseholders can't object and in some cases could see the value of their homes plummet. Felicity speaks to residents who say one such development has turned their lives into a nightmareOther leaseholders have been left reeling after their council landlord landed them with estimated bills of over £100,000 for improvements to their homes. Under the rules, the homeowners can't challenge the costs and some fear they could have to sell up.Many people are now asking: is the current leasehold system fit for purpose?Reporter: Felicity Hannah Producer: Paul Grant Editor: Gail Champion

In 2016 the House of Common’s Women and Equalities Committee published a report into sexual harassment and abuse between pupils in British schools. In concluded that the scale and impact was such that urgent action was needed by the government. Five years on, more than 16,000 young people - mostly women - have posted harrowing accounts of their experiences on the Everyone’s Invited website. It's prompted the government to instruct Ofcom to carry out a review of peer on peer sexual abuse in our schools and colleges. They've also funded the launch of a new NSPCCC hotline so that those affected can report what's happened to them. In this investigation Hayley Hassall assesses how common this abuse is, whether schools are brushing the problem under the carpet, to what extent the availability of online porn plays a role and whether teachers are getting enough training.Details of organisations offering information and support with sexual abuse are available at:https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/22VVM5LPrf3pjYdKqctmMXn/information-and-support-sexual-abuse-and-violence Reporter: Hayley Hassall Producer: Jim Booth Editor: Carl Johnston

Latest figures show more than a million people in Britain are suffering from long Covid. For many the condition is completely debilitating. The extreme fatigue, breathing difficulties, brain-fog is forcing hundreds of thousands of previously fit, working people on to long term sick. File on 4 hears from the hero frontline workers who kept Britain going through the pandemic but now feel abandoned. Others reveal how they’ve felt pressurised to return to work even though they’re very ill. So who’s looking after them – and who, if anyone, is going to support them when their sick pay runs out? Reporter: Paul Kenyon Producer: Mick Tucker Editor: Carl Johnston

Tens of thousands of men and women in some of the poorest parts of the Philippines are being recruited to be directors of companies based in the UK. Companies which have no offices or full time staff, they don’t buy or sell anything, in fact they only exist on paper. But as Angus Crawford has discovered they form part of a complex web which may be costing Britain tens of millions of pounds in lost tax. A web designed by experts in order to shield firms from the full costs of employing their workers. His investigation reveals a trail which leads from a single mother in the Home Counties, via the backstreets of Manila, to workers at Covid testing stations across the UK. Reporter: Angus Crawford Producer: Anna Meisel Editor: Gail Champion

The multi-billion pound AASC contract is the Government's ten-year blueprint for how those seeking asylum in the UK are treated while they await a yes or no for their refugee status. After a year under the pressures of Covid , the contract has become mired in controversy. Former army barracks which have been repurposed as temporary holding centres for those applying for asylum have experienced fires, Covid-19 outbreaks and resident protests, and in other parts of the country, private landlords are threatening to pull out of the contracts. Are those living in such accommodation being treated fairly and humanely? Paul Connolly investigates. Producer: Rob Cave

Prior to the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement and the Covid-19 pandemic, China’s presence on international social media was largely to promote a positive image of its country – trying to ‘change the climate’ rather than seeking to sow confusion and division. But this is changing. In this investigation by File on 4 and BBC Monitoring, Paul Kenyon and Krassimira Twigg examine China’s new strategy of aggressively pushing disinformation on social media platforms through the use of ‘wolf warrior’ diplomats, internet bots, ‘the 50-cent army’ of loyal Chinese netizens and a longer term goal of inventing a new type of internet where authoritarian governments can control users. Editor: Lucy Proctor Producer: Jim Booth

The shipping industry is worth millions to the British economy and we depend on it for most of our goods. File on 4 lifts the lid on the dangerous and polluting world of shipbreaking and investigates why ships once owned by UK companies end their lives on beaches in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.Editor, Maggie Latham Producer, Jim Booth Reporter, Kate West

Millions of us each year pick up our phone and swipe right in the hope of finding ‘the one’, and with the pandemic limiting even the most basic of social interactions, statistics suggest more of us are using apps than ever before. For the majority of us these apps are a useful tool to connect in a busy world, but to criminals they serve as a playground to hunt for the vulnerable. From romance fraud to sexual predators, Livvy Haydock investigates the dangers these app’s pose, if big tech does enough to protect its users, and what we as individuals should do to keep ourselves safer. Details of organisations that can provide help and support with fraud, sexual abuse and bereavement are available from the following organisations:Action Fraud provide a central point of contact for information about fraud and financially motivated internet crime. Phone: 0300 123 2040 www.actionfraud.police.ukUK Safer Internet Centre provides e-safety tips, advice and resources to help children and young people stay safe on the internet. www.saferinternet.org.ukGet Safe Online offers unbiased, factual and easy-to-understand information on online safety, including advice for parents about safeguarding children online. www.getsafeonline.orgSexual abuse: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/22VVM5LPrf3pjYdKqctmMXn/information-and-support-sexual-abuse-and-violenceBereavement: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4MmhHDSbdDmTpVJhBs2v4Py/information-and-support-bereavement

Sarah (not her real name) first deliberately hurt herself at the age of 11 and continued for more than six years, twice ending up in hospital. Now 18 and on the road to recovery, she says her experience shows the shortcomings in how teachers, parents, and the health system respond to self-harm.File on 4 analysis of hospital admissions for self-harm reveals a system under growing pressure as more and more pre-teens are hurting themselves so badly they need a hospital bed. In telling Sarah’s story, we look at what works and what doesn’t when it comes to supporting children who self-harm. Why are ever-younger children ending up in hospital after injuring themselves? What has been the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic self-harm? And what was it that finally helped Sarah turn a corner?Reporter: Dan Whitworth Producer: Simon Maybin Editor: Maggie Latham

After the Covid-19 pandemic hit, reserves of personal protective equipment quickly dried up. Stories about frontline staff lacking the kit they needed made headlines night after night and photos of nurses wearing bin bags for protection began circulating on social media. In response, the government began hunting down new supplies just as global demand surged. It started using emergency powers to award PPE contracts worth tens of millions of pounds without opening them to competition, leading to claims that some companies were favoured because of their political connections. Phil Kemp investigates what the government got for the £12.5 billion it spent on PPE and uncovers concerns about the quality of some of the kit that was bought. The Department of Health and Social Care said it had been working tirelessly to deliver PPE to protect health and social staff throughout the pandemic with nearly eight billion items delivered so far.Producer: Anna Meisel Editor: Gail Champion

When Prime Minister Boris Johnson said three households would be allowed to mix for 5 days over Christmas, experts and NHS bosses warned the health service would be overwhelmed by cases of Covid 19. Editors of the Health Service Journal and the British medical Journal BMJ said they believed the relaxation of the rules would cost many lives. Three days before Christmas the government was forced to scrap the plans for London and much of South East England when scientists revealed a new coronavirus variant was spreading more rapidly. In other regions the 5 day plan was reduced to Christmas Day – but only for those in the same bubble. In this episode of File on 4, frontline medics chart the rapid rise in Covid cases and deaths post-Christmas, via personal audio diaries which reveal their innermost thoughts, concerns and experiences as they battle the pandemic. The NHS has never been in a more precarious position, with 75 per cent more patients than there were at the April 2020 peak.

A year ago this week, the first reported case of Covid-19 was recorded in the UK. Within weeks frontline medics faced their toughest ever test. Doctors and nurses in intensive care units recorded diaries for a powerful and insightful episode of File on 4 which illustrated the true scale of the challenge they faced. So one year on, how do they think they coped? What have they learned about themselves and the National Health Service which many warn could be overwhelmed by the current second wave of Covid 19 which continues to claim tens of thousands of lives. Reporter Jane Deith revisits some of those doctors and nurses to find out how they themselves survived the biggest challenge of their careers. And she asks whether when they recorded their original diaries, did they envisage they’d be where they are now in battle against the pandemic?

Women are seen as the caring, nurturing sex, safe to be left in charge of children.But stigma and stereotyping around female perpetrated abuse means it can be seen as a lesser crime, with many victims deeply reluctant to report their ordeal to the authorities. Experts tell File on 4 that current case numbers are the ‘tip of the iceberg’, while the early indicators of abuse, like online grooming and social media befriending, can be brushed aside when the abuser is a woman. File on 4 hears from adult survivors who describe decades of trauma and shame caused by their female abusers, as well as the difficulties they faced in reporting the crime.Psychologists and campaigners say the criminal justice system urgently needs to better support victims to give evidence.They describe how abusers are still able to take advantage of laws that leave children in informal settings, such as sports clubs and choirs, open to abuse, settings where female abusers can thrive.And although societal perceptions of female child sexual abuse are changing, many deeply traumatised victims risk being left behind.Reporter: Melanie Abbott Producer: Helen Clifton Editor: Gail Champion

In the age of social media and the selfie, the perfect look is everything. That's what influencers tell their followers. Some are also happy to provide a 'how-to guide' to obtaining the perfect body. What they don't mention though, is that they are cashing in, being paid by clinics to promote procedures, some of which are risky and dangerous. It’s a story that begins on social media. Young women posting online about their experiences of plastic surgery. The online videos, posted to their followers, show their surgeon smile and wave for the camera.But a big part of their stories is missing. They’re not normal patients. Because these influencers have access to a market of thousands of other young women, they get their surgery for free in exchange for the promotions. Offline the situation is less than picture perfect. File on 4 hears from the women whose lives were changed by the pursuit of the perfect body.Producer: Kate West Reporter: Joice Etutu Editor: Gail Champion

Back in 2018, File on 4 revealed the story of Bethany – an autistic teenager who had been locked in a hospital room alone for two years, her only contact with the outside world through a hatch. What happened to her and others with learning disabilities who have been promised care in therapeutic community settings? Following what NHS England called the ‘appalling scandal’ at Winterbourne View, the Government promised to close up to half of all inpatient beds for people with a learning disability or autism by March 2019, under a programme called Transforming Care.Yet this target has been missed. And almost one in 5 patients with learning disabilities still in hospital has now been there for over ten years.A series of damning reports – most recently from the CQC – have called for urgent reform. So what has gone wrong with Transforming Care?Reporter: Melanie Abbott Producers: Helen Clifton & Paul Grant Editor: Gail Champion

In January, Reynhard Sinaga was convicted of 159 sexual offences against 48 different men over the course of four trials. But according to police, there’s evidence he abused more than 200 men whilst living as a student in Manchester. He preyed on vulnerable young men, drugged them until they were unconscious and raped them while recording most of his abuse on his phone. Most of his victims woke up with no memory of what had been done to them - oblivious until the police turned up at their doors to explain the horrific truth. As police renew their efforts to identify more of Sinaga's victims, File on 4 has been given exclusive access to those at the centre of the police investigation and hears from many of those who knew him and who have never spoken before. The programme hears how how the softly spoken and highly intelligent student played Good Samaritan to lure victims to his flat in central Manchester - then plied them with drinks laced with the date rape drug GHB. How one man fought off Sinaga and called police, triggering the biggest rape inquiry in British history. The programme also hears about the moment the police realised they were dealing with a monster when they accessed his phone and discovered a catalogue of videos he'd made of himself abusing his unconscious victims. Police then painstakingly trawled through hours and hours of video and numerous trophies found in Sinaga's flat to help identify his victims. Having never shown any remorse for his crimes, the Court of Appeal is now reviewing Sinaga's sentence. So will he become the UK’s first non-homicide criminal to die behind bars?If you have information about this case you believe may be of interest to police you can contact them here: https://mipp.police.uk/operation/06GMP19V24-PO2If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this programme you can access support via the following organisations: St Mary’s Rape Crisis Centre in Manchester provides a range of support and services 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to people of all ages who have been sexually abused, assaulted or raped, whether this happened in the past or more recently. https://www.stmaryscentre.org Safeline provides support and counselling for survivors of sexual abuse or rape. Phone: 0808 8005005 (Male support) www.safeline.org.uk Survivors UK run the National Male Survivors Online Helpline and Webchat Service for men who have experienced sexual abuse either as a child or an adult. www.survivorsuk.org The Survivors Trust provides support and signposting for women, men and children who are survivors of rape, sexual violence or childhood sexual abuse. Phone: 0808 801 0818 www.thesurvivorstrust.org Samaritans is available for anyone struggling to cope and provide a safe place to talk 24 hours a day. Phone: 116 123 Email: [email protected] www.samaritans.org BBC Action Line: Sexual abuse and violence: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/22VVM5LPrf3pjYdKqctmMXn/information-and-support-sexual-abuse-and-violence

Are court backlogs creating miscarriages of justice? When the UK locked down, so did its court system, adding to a backlog that’s left defendants, witnesses and victims facing long waits for trials. Helen Grady speaks to people inside the justice system to find out how it’s coped with the pandemic - from delays in making courts covid-secure to a lack of PPE and overcrowding in prisons. We hear stories from prisons under lockdown and talk to lawyers who fear delays are leading to abuses of the criminal justice system. Producer: Rob Cave

For decades there was a boom in tax avoidance where people were paid using loans – and lowered their tax bills in the process. The boom went bust when the government clamped down, leaving some users with vast tax bills. Many of those people now owe life-changing amounts to HMRC yet campaigners say there has been insufficient action against the companies that promoted the schemes. But while some individuals face ruin, File On 4 has discovered that the businesses behind some of those loan schemes are still active. But now they’ve been targeting front-line COVID workers.Reporter: Felicity Hannah Producer: Anna Meisel Editor: Gail Champion

An investigation into a network of companies involved in VAT fraud within Leicester's garment manufacturing industry. After questions were raised in the summer about slave wages and unsafe working practices, File on 4 has now found a network of companies involved in a cash laundering scheme. Insiders say VAT fraud is endemic among garment suppliers within the city and there are concerns that millions in tax revenue are being lost each year.So how does it operate and why isn't more being done to prevent fraud within the fast-fashion supply chain?Reporters: Paul Kenyon and Ashni Lakhani Producer: Oliver Newlan Editor: Gail Champion

During the pandemic, more and more of our lives have been lived online. But that has also led to a sharp rise in the number of people being targeted by internet trolls. According to one survey, nearly half of women and non binary people reported experiencing online abuse since the beginning of COVID-19 and a third said it had got worse since the pandemic. So who are the people behind these often anonymous attacks? Journalist Sali Hughes has been a target of trolls herself. She sets out to find what motivates them and how they justify their actions. She speaks to other women who have been targeted and hears about the devastating impact it can have on people’s lives. With a proposed online harms bill not now due until next year, she investigates what social media and other platforms are doing to tackle the issue and what individuals can do to try to stop the abuse

MPs and supporters are calling for an overhaul of the way English football is governed after a series of clubs were hit by financial problems. Bolton wanderers, Wigan Athletic and Charlton have all flirted with financial disaster while Bury FC were expelled from the Football League altogether after problems with creditors. File on 4 hears claims that the root of the problem is the Owners' and Directors' Test used to assess those who want to take control of football clubsReporter: Adrian Goldberg Producer: Kate West Editor: Carl Johnston

Six months since Britain was instructed to ‘stay at home’, File on 4 examines the decisions that affect new mothers and their babies and asks if the potential for long term damage outweighs the risk of spreading the virus. For pregnant women, many of the hospital restrictions implemented at the height of the pandemic remain. Many women must attend antenatal scans or go through early labour on their own, while their birth partners wait outside. Others have had to receive the worst possible news about their pregnancy alone. Once the baby arrives, the landscape remains uncertain. Health visitors are seen by many as a frontline defence against child health problems; a lifeline for new mums and their babies who are trained to spot early signs of illness, harm or neglect. Yet, the decision to redeploy many health visitors to the frontline during lockdown left countless families without the support they needed – a decision seen by some as ‘unnecessary’ and ‘dangerous’, one that could lead to a ‘second pandemic’ of child protection issues.Now, professionals are reporting ‘an explosion’ in mental health problems amongst new mothers and their partners, while those suffering are struggling to get help. Reporter: Alys Harte Producer: Mick Tucker Editor: Gail Champion

Last month Alex Sartain took a homemade gun and shot his neighbour James Nash dead in his front garden. The 34 year old then fled on his motorbike before he lost control and fatally crashed on a winding tree-lined road. His family had made repeated requests to mental health services for help as they saw his condition deteriorate. But they say no help was forthcoming and days later he killed 42-year-old James, a popular artist and children’s author. Alex Sartain's family say the mechanic suffered paranoid schizophrenia and had become acutely unwell in the run-up to the killing. File on 4 investigates whether mental health support is always available when people need it most. And reporter Paul Connolly hears concerns that mental health professionals are not always quick enough to act on evidence a person suffering severe mental illness may be intending to harm others - with tragic consequences. Reporter Paul Connolly Producer Ben Robinson Editor Carl Johnston

After Coronavirus, the survivors left with life-changing and long term conditions. The physical and psychological aftermath of Covid 19 and the pressure on rehabilitation services. Nearly 3 million people in the UK have had symptomatic coronavirus. More than one hundred thousand so severely, they needed hospital treatment. This is a new disease, so doctors are guessing when it comes to the symptoms people will have long term. But it’s clear this virus has a sting in its tail. The sickest patients have damage to their lungs and kidney which could be permanent. Some research shows the risk of heart attack or stroke is high. File on 4 talks to people living with the after effects of Covid 19 who say surviving was just the beginning. There are a multiotide of physical after effects - and many more have suffered post-traumatic stress disorder. People describe flashbacks to the ITU, seeing people die, overhearing their last goodbyes with loved ones on phone or the internet. Patients who were hospitalised get follow-ups, and referrals for rehabilitation and possibly, counselling. But what of the hundreds of thousands of other people who fell ill and who, if it weren’t a pandemic, might have gone to hospital, but were told to stay at home? Researchers say there are at least 300,000 people who have had symptoms of Coronavirus for more than a month – so called Long Haul Covid. Many are young and previously fit. They say they had a mild case of the virus. But they have been floored by the symptoms that followed – breathlessness, racing heart, weakness. And they're struggling to get care and support.Reporter: Jane Deith Producer: Helen Clifton Editor: Carl Johnston

How does an abused teenager get a criminal record while her abusers walk free? This is untold story of the Rochdale grooming scandal - how one young woman has been denied justice and how her attackers are still at large. For the very first time, 'Daisy' tells her harrowing story to File on 4. How, from the age of 12, she was groomed, raped and abused by a gang of men. The abuse led her to be involved in some criminal behaviour - but when the police investigated and she told them what was happening, she says she was ignored. She was sent to prison, where, for the first time since the abuse started, she says she felt safe. But when she was released, it started again. The police have admitted some failures but, a decade after they launched their investigation into systematic and organised abuse, Daisy and two other young women, who were also abused, are now taking civil action against Greater Manchester Police and the Crown Prosecution Service. Producer: Sally Chesworth Reporter: Alys Harte Editor: Carl Johnston

Lockdown is easing now as worries about physical ill-health recede. But could the stress and anxiety of the last few months lead to a second wave of the epidemic - one centred on the nation's mental health? File on 4 investigates the impact coronavirus has had on those already diagnosed with serious mental illness, and others for whom depression and anxiety are entirely new experiences. The programme looks at provision of mental health services during the crisis, hearing stories of early release from mental health wards and of sudden shifts in how help is provided. Reporter Claire Bolderson examines this quiet revolution in mental health provision prompted by Covid-19 and asks whether the changes are here to stay - and whether services, which many say are already stretched to breaking point, will be able to cope. Reporter: Claire Bolderson Producer: Imogen Walford Editor: Carl Johnston

With the words ‘I can’t breathe’ reverberating around the world, the Black Lives Matter movement in the UK has put the issue of racial justice at the top of the political agenda. Twenty-one years after the Macpherson inquiry into the murder of Stephen Lawrence labelled the Metropolitan Police ‘institutionally racist’, File on 4 explores concerns black, Asian and ethnic minority officers still face discrimination in the service. Police forces in England and Wales are in the middle of an unprecedented recruitment drive, to add 20,000 new officers by March 2023, providing an opportunity to improve diversity. There is work to do, as Home Office figures for 2019, seen for the first time by File on 4, reveal many specialist positions continue to be dominated by white officers. There were only two ethnic minority officers among 184 in the mounted police; 15 out of 734 dog handlers; and 11 among 426 detectives in special investigations teams. File on 4 asks whether the way black and Asian officers are currently treated is likely to be a barrier to attracting suitable candidates and if the changes will affect representation at senior ranks, where there are very few ethnic minority officers. The programme reveals data, collected by the National Black Police Association, that ethnic minority officers represent 14% of all officers under misconduct investigation and over 20% of inquiries that had progressed to a misconduct meeting or gross misconduct hearing, despite representing less than 7% of all officers. File on 4 hears from ex police inspector Mark Dias who was put under surveillance illegally by Cleveland Police and found to be the victim of racial discrimination.Reporter: Danny Shaw Producer: Oliver Newlan Development Producer: Jane Andrews Editor: Carl Johnston