The True Crime Enthusiast Podcast

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The 'Werewolf' Of Tibnin Bridge Apr 18, 2026

Show notes

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL, has since its establishment in 1978 assisted Lebanese forces along the country's border with Israel to maintain peace, security, and ensure humanitarian access. In it's near five decades in existence, countless soldiers from nations across the world have lost their lives as part of these peacekeeping forces, and it is the Irish Army that holds the distinction, to date, of having the highest toll of casualties, with almost 50 service personnel having lost their lives as a result of enemy fire, unexploded ordnance and transport related incidents.

Though every soldier knows and accepts these are very real risks, one October evening back in 1982, three of these Irish soldiers, deployed on peacekeeping duties, lost their lives as a result of something that no soldier ever, or should ever, expect.

They lost their lives at the hands of one of their own.

The episode contains details and descriptions of crimes and events, including descriptions of injury detail, and including accounts of anti-Semetic slurs, that some listeners may find disturbing or distressing, so discretion is advised whilst listening in.

Music used in this episode: "The Descent" by Kevin Macleod. All music used is sourced from https://filmmusic.io/ and used under an Attribution Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Family Cat – Tom Verlaine
Happy Mondays – Performance

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References - available upon request.

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Remembering Gary, Peter and Thomas

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The Man Who Touched Muscles Apr 05, 2026

Show notes

He was for many years a folk devil, almost an apparition, whispered about in playgrounds and used as a threat by parents, in the North West of England anyway, to make their chldren behave - 'Purple Aki's gonna get you'. He became an almost Bogeyman, and around the North West of the UK, he has an almost legendary status.

But - he was very, very real, and this time around on the Enthusiast, I bring you the tale of a strange individual who had a fetish that you, when you hear about it, would almost make you smirk.

Until I tell you, that it was a fetish that led to the loss of at least one life.

The episode contains details and descriptions of crimes and events, including descriptions of skin colour, and including accounts of racial slurs, that some listeners may find disturbing or distressing, so discretion is advised whilst listening in.

STONE – Autonomy
Doves – Snowden

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References - available upon request.

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Remembering Gary.

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Introducing - Paranormia Mar 26, 2026

Show notes

I'm thrilled to today be sharing an episode with you from a sister True Crime podcast of the Enthusiast from the Always True Crime Network - Paranormia. Join host Elizabeth McCaffrey as she takes us back to the late 1970, and recounts the tale of one of the most terrifying and disturbing crime cases in American history.

The Vampire Of Sacramento.

New episodes of Paranormia are available each Wednesday, simply search for Paranormia wherever tyou get your podcasts from

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Failings Mar 25, 2026

Show notes

The Justice and Mental Health services in the UK are, as much as they are supposed to for the benefit of the patient concerned, supposed to act dilligently and communicatively in the best interests of the wider public too. One morning in October 2011, 58 year old grandmother of two Sally Hodkin was to find out, in the most tragic of ways, that sometimes, there are failings in these systems...

The episode contains details and descriptions of crimes and events, including descriptions of injury detail, and descriptions of mental health delusions, that some listeners may find disturbing or distressing, so discretion is advised whilst listening in.

Dad's Lost Tape – Static Horizon
Gretel – Fire Blooming Trees

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References - Assorted articles available from the BBC, ITV News, Mental Health Law Online, The Guardian, London Evening Standard, The Times, News Shopper, Kent Online, Newspapers.Com

External Report Into The Case Of Nicola Edgington - (05 October 2016): Associate Caring Solutions UK

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Remembering Marion, and Sally. Failings is dedicated to them, and their families and loved ones.

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Best Laid Plans - Part 4 Mar 11, 2026

Show notes

I bring the Best Laid Plans story to a conclusion this time around on The True Crime Enthusiast, where we hear the outcome of the trial of Arkan Ali, Aram Kurd and Hawkar Hassan over the explosion which killed Mary, Sean and Shane Ragobeer, Leah Reek, and Viktorija Ijevleva, and what has happened in the intervening years concerning the families of those who lost their lives, as well as the legacies that live on.

The episode contains details and descriptions of crimes and events, including descriptions of injury detail, that some listeners may find disturbing or distressing, so discretion is advised whilst listening in.

The Scrath – Pullin Teeth
Adult DVD – Real Tree Lane

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References -

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Remembering Mary, Sean, Shane, Leah and Viktorija. Best Laid Plans is dedicated to them, and their families and loved ones.

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Best Laid Plans - Part 3 Mar 07, 2026

Show notes

It is unamaginable losing a family member in an explosion - let alone three family members - nut in November 2018, that is exactly what Leicester Crown Court heard had happened back in February of that year - as the result of deliberate actions, and three men - Aram Kurd, Hawekar Hassan, and Arkan Ali - faced charges for this. The Crown painted a very clear cut, strong case against the three - but what did they have to say for themselves in the witness box?

I tell you this time around on The True Crime Enthusiast Podcast, in the penultimate part of Best Laid Plans

The Scrath – Pullin Teeth
Adult DVD – Real Tree Lane

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References - Available upon request.

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Remembering Mary, Sean, Shane, Leah and Viktorija.

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Best Laid Plans - Part 2 Mar 04, 2026

Show notes

The horrific explosion in Leicester, on 25th February 2018, which claimed the lives of five people, would have been terrible enough were it a tragic accident - but, what made it much worse, more inhumane, is that by just three days after the blast, police were convinced that it had been a deliberate act, and soon afterwards, charges were raised against three men for this - Arkan Ali, Hawkar Hassan, and Aram Kurd - the store's propreitor.

This time around, in the second part of Best Laid Plans, i bring you the first part of the account of their resulting trial.

Stone – Autonomy
The Slow Country – Firing Line

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References - Available upon request.

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Remembering Mary, Sean, Shane, Leah and Viktorija.

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Best Laid Plans - Part 1 Feb 25, 2026

Show notes

The quiet evening of Sunday 25th February 2018 in the Hinckley Road area of the city of Leicester was an unremarkable one - it was a cold night, and families were at home, glad to be in in the warmth.

That quiet was to be disrupted, and the lives of so many people forever changed irreprably, when at 7:01pm, an explosion ripped through the night sky, a blast which claimed the lives of five people. A tragic accident, like so many before it?

Or was it something else....?

The Rifles – Talking
Anna Calvi and Iggy Pop – God's Lonely Man

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Remembering Mary, Sean, Shane, Leah and Viktorija.

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Death Is In The Air Feb 15, 2026

Show notes

Love is supposed to be in the air on Valentine’s Day — roses, proposals, appreciation and hearts everywhere you look. It’s supposed to be the most romantic day of the year – but for some people, in the accounts I bring this time around on The True Crime Enthusiast Podcast, February 14th didn’t end with chocolates and kisses, for love wasn’t in the air that day at all for them.

Instead, murder was.

The episode contains details and descriptions of crimes and events, including descriptions of injury detail, and one account involving a child, that some listeners may find disturbing or distressing, so discretion is advised whilst listening in.

The Second World War – Dead Floor Space
Lip Critic – Legs In A Snare

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Remembering Pauline, Jamie, Louisa, Adeeba, and Alan.

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The Luck Of The Irish: Jan 24, 2026

Show notes

Up to the mid 1960’s, capital punishment was in force in the UK for the crime of murder, and many a soul watched in fear as the presiding judge placed the black cap onto his or her head, and pronounced sentence of death upon them. There are countless tales of these to recount, but the tale I bring this time around on the Enthusiast is one of an individual who cheated the hangman for such a capital crime, not once, not twice – but three times, over a period of 13 years.

Someone who really did seem to have 'the luck of the Irish', so the old saying goes, on his side.

Stereolab – French Disco
POLICA – Dark Star

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Remembering Tom, Rose, and Florrie.

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