File on 4 Investigates

Latest Episodes:

Leicester: Behind the Divide Oct 04, 2022

Show notes

Leicester is one of the most diverse cities in England – often presented as a shining example multi-cultural Britain. But tensions between some factions have been brewing in the city for months and boiled over recently when there were violent clashes which led to dozens of arrests. File on 4 investigates why sections of the Muslim and Hindu communities that once lived together in harmony are now divided.

Reporter: Datshiane Navanayagam Producer: Hayley Mortimer Research: Sajid Iqbal and Ben Robinson Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford Editor: Carl Johnston

Isobel's Story Sep 27, 2022

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There are concerns that British victims of trafficking are less likely than foreign nationals to receive Home Office support to escape exploitation. More and more British victims of organised sexual abuse are being referred to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) – the government’s support pathway for victims of trafficking – following high profile sexual exploitation cases in Rochdale, Rotherham and Telford. But charities are warning that British victims are less likely to be given access to safehouses, legal aid and counselling. File on 4 hears the story of a young woman who has been raped hundreds of times since she was schoolgirl - and is still being abused despite going to the police and the Home Office for help. 'Isobel' says she has been consistently let down by the police and the Home Office who have failed to give her the support she needs to escape her abusers - causing her to be re-trafficked in recent weeks. The Human Trafficking Foundation says victims like Isobel are being failed by the NRM and that it was designed for foreign victims of trafficking seeking asylum and has not adapted to cater for the growing number of British victims.

Producer: Hayley Mortimer Reporter: Annabel Deas Technical Producer: Craig Boardman Editor: Carl Johnston

Justice on Trial Sep 06, 2022

Show notes

It was to be one of the most ambitious just reform programmes in the world – a ‘common platform’ that would share information between the courts, lawyers and police, from arrest to court. But the quarter-of-a-billion pound IT project now stands accused of causing wrongful arrests and unlawful detentions. File on 4 has spoken with whistle-blowers from within the court service who say the system is unsafe, unfinished and beset with bugs, errors and glitches. Sources say early warnings were ignored and worry that the software continues to be rolled out to courts across England and Wales despite serious concerns about the risk it poses.

Producer: Ben Robinson Reporter: Alys Harte Editor: Carl Johnston

Assaulted by my massage therapist Jul 12, 2022

Show notes

The massage industry has bounced back since covid, but File on 4 investigates the darker side of this industry. Hannah Price speaks to women who were sexually assaulted by massage therapists. In some cases, the therapist went on to assault other women even after they’d been arrested.

The programme reveals how the industry is largely unregulated - with no licensing of practitioners. It means anyone, even without qualifications or with a criminal conviction, could practice as a massage therapist.

Sexual assault victims and professional bodies in the sector are calling for more regulation to be introduced to protect both clients and therapists from sexual violence and harm.

Reporter: Hannah Price Producers: Paul Grant and Eleanor Layhe Editor: Carl Johnston

Ukraine War Stories: What Happened Next? Jul 05, 2022

Show notes

In March 2022, File on 4 told the stories of six people whose lives were changed forever by war in Ukraine. They were not soldiers, activists or politicians. They were civilians, not used to war or how to deal with it. They kept audio diaries that told a raw truth about loss, hope and even love. Some packed up and left with their children while others remained in the eye of the storm. Among them, a language teacher from Mariupol who did not know if her parents were still alive – and a model who was caught up in shelling in Chernihiv. But what’s happened to them since? File on 4 tries to trace them, to discover how their lives have changed in four months of war.

Reporter: Paul Kenyon Producer: Hayley Mortimer Editor: Carl Johnston

Children’s Homes: Profits Before Care? Jun 28, 2022

Show notes

Last month an independent children’s social care review concluded that providing care for children in residential homes 'should not be based on profit'. The government response was that they have no any objection to profit being made as long as standards of care are properly regulated.

But is there a difference in the standard of care between ‘for profit’ and ‘not-for-profit’ children’s homes? With exclusive access to new data from the regulator Ofsted, reporter Tom Wall investigates the companies that are making huge profits from the children’s homes to ask whether there is shortfall in care and whether the reforms suggested are necessary.

Tom also talks to care leavers and children who have experienced life in homes where profit is a priority.

This epsiode of File on 4 is a repeat of the programme first broadcast on Tuesday, June 28, 2022

Reporter: Tom Wall Producer: Jim Booth Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley Production Manager: Sarah Payton Editor: Carl Johnston

Dementia: The Final Indignity Jun 21, 2022

Show notes

Around 800,000 people have dementia in the UK. For those suffering from the illness, incontinence can often be seen an inevitable consequence - but that’s not always the case. Deemed as too embarrassing or taboo, it’s a topic that rarely hits the spotlight. Experts say preserving someone’s ability to go to the toilet is crucial to maintaining their dignity and quality of life and should be a priority in care settings. But is that always happening? A new report shown exclusively to File on 4 has looked at how continence care is being managed in hospitals – and how, in some cases, those who are continent are actively encouraged to soil themselves. Datshiane Navanayagam speaks to families who say their loved ones were ignored when it came to their continence needs in hospital and that the consequences have left them with health issues and requiring additional support. Nurses and medical staff say that continence training is often seen as a ‘Cinderella subject’. We also hear from dementia patients themselves about why maintaining your own dignity and independence is so crucial with this disease. With the government set to reveal a new dementia strategy this year, will continence care be placed higher up the agenda?

Reporter: Datshiane Navanayagam Producers: Emma Forde, Annabel Deas and Scott Hesketh Production Manager: Sarah Payton Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley Editor: Carl Johnston

Sibling Sexual Abuse: The Last Taboo? Jun 14, 2022

Show notes

With exclusive access to research – the first of its kind – reporter Livvy Haydock investigates what could be the most common form of sexual abuse that happens within families: sibling sexual abuse.

She speaks to families struggling to get help for this distressing form of abuse and those struggling to come to terms with a child harming another child – and fighting to repair their family.

As she will find out, a lack of official data makes it difficult to know for sure the true scale of the problem but some experts suggest 1.3 million people in the UK may have been affected by it.

And she will ask if a reluctance to accept what’s going on in front of us, could mean that when people look for help, often, it’s not there.

This is a story about sexual abuse at the very heart of the family; a story that may challenge what you think you know about the risk children may face in our homes.

Reporter: Livvy Haydock Producer: Alys Harte Technical Producer: Craig Boardman Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley Production Manager: Sarah Payton Editor: Nicola Addyman

Gambling on Justice Jun 07, 2022

Show notes

Gambling is a multi-billion pound industry which is facing change. For years there has been mounting concern that in the digital era betting companies have expanded far beyond the reach of the law and the Government is set to table major new rules to transform how the industry is governed. But the reforms will not consider whether people who have been drawn into criminality by a gambling addiction are being failed by the criminal justice system. File on 4 uncovers significant failings throughout the criminal justice system when it comes to gambling-related crime. Reporter Paul Connolly speaks to people who have been jailed for gambling-related frauds, who reveal a lack of awareness among police and the judicial system, an absence of treatment and a prison system unable to offer even the most basic help to people with gambling addictions.

Reporter: Paul Connolly Producer: Ben Robinson Technical Producer: Nicky Edwards Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley Production Manager: Sarah Payton Editor: Carl Johnston

Ukraine: The Disinformation War May 31, 2022

Show notes

Russia’s response to accusations of war crimes in Ukraine has been to blame the Ukrainians of bombing their own side. Some people here in the UK have been sharing this version of the war on social media. Driven by a conviction that Western governments are responsible for many of the world’s ills, these academics, journalists and celebrities have shared misinformation in their attempts to raise questions about the official narrative of the war. Their detractors say they are useful to Vladimir Putin. They claim there’s a McCarthyist witch hunt against them. All wars are fought as much in the information space as on the battle field and Chloe Hadjimatheou looks at where the new red lines are being drawn in an age of disinformation.

This programme is subject to clarifications. It referred to Dr Justin Schlosberg's tweets about Bucha questioning why a massacre in the city wasn't mentioned until four days after Russian troops had left. File on 4 said: 'Dr Schlosberg highlighted this in his tweet. How could the Mayor have failed to refer to such an atrocity - surely something's up?' In fact this was the presenter's summary of Dr Schlosberg's sentiments, not a direct quote. We also agree that we should have included Dr Schlosberg's explanation that he tweeted because it wasn't clear what was going on in Bucha, that it was right to apply due caution until the UN had done an authoritative investigation and the idea that he was pushing a particular Kremlin narrative is absurd.

The programme also referenced a parliamentary question from Robert Halfon, MP, and some listeners might have concluded that Dr Schlosberg was one of the academics he specifically named for “spreading misinformation” as he put it. We wish to make it clear that he was not.

More details here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/helpandfeedback/corrections_clarifications/

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