The Crime Agents

Global

If you want to understand what’s really happening on Britain’s streets, you need to hear this. The Crime Agents, the new podcast from the makers of The News Agents, goes beyond the headlines to uncover the truth behind crime that affects all of us. Why is violence rising? Why is public trust in the police collapsing? And what’s really driving young people to kill each other? Hosted by two insiders who have spent their lives chasing the answers, this is your front-row seat to the realities of crime today. Neil Basu, the former Head of UK Counter-Terrorism Policing, brings unparalleled experience from the front lines of law enforcement. Andy Hughes, LBC’s Crime Correspondent, has spent two decades exposing the criminal underworld as an award-winning investigative journalist. Each week, The Crime Agents dives deep into the stories you think you know - from foiled terror plots and unsolved murders, to gang culture, far-right extremism, and the tactics police use to crack the toughest cases. With over 50 years of combined experience, Neil and Andy don’t just report on crime - they’ve lived it. The Crime Agents is a Global production, available every Monday and Thursday on Global Player, YouTube or wherever you get your shows. Make sure you subscribe so you never miss an episode. For advertising opportunities on this podcast, email: GlobalStudiosSales@global.com

  1. 3 days ago

    Q&A: Harry & Meghan's security row, Middlesbrough crash arrests & the Lindsay Clancy trial

    Prince Harry and Meghan Markle believe their family isn't safe in the UK. So who decides if that's true? And who should pay if the decision is made to give them police protection? Neil ran the Met's Royal Protection unit for several years and in that role was responsible for Harry & Meghan's security before they left Britain for America. Here, Neil reveals how the system really works and details the nature of the threats the Duke & Duchess are likely to face now they're back in Britain. Then the fatal crash in Middlesbrough. What does justice look like in this case? And is this evidence that dangerous driving has become commonplace on our roads? Andy and Neil also tackle the pace of the investigation: 17 arrests within a few days. Neil explains whether police really do pull out all the stops when their colleagues are killed in the line of duty. Plus they look at the Lindsay Clancy trial: do American and British justice systems need to deal with cases potentially involving severe post-partum mental illness more sensitively? Have a question for a future Q&A? Send it via email to thecrimeagents@global.com or follow us on social media: @thecrimeagents The Crime Agents is a Global production, available every Monday and Thursday on Global Player, YouTube or wherever you get your shows. Make sure you subscribe so you never miss an episode.

  2. 6 days ago

    Sarah Everard: the murder that broke trust in the police

    In March 2021, Sarah Everard walked home from a friend's flat in Clapham. She never arrived. Her face went up on lampposts across south London, her name spread across the country, and within a week police had arrested a suspect: a serving Metropolitan Police officer. Neil reveals how he felt in the moment that he learned the suspect was an officer serving under his command. Andy was living locally and watched a local missing person appeal become a national story. Drawing on conversations with detectives who worked the case, they explain how investigators identified Wayne Couzens, and what it was like for officers to build a murder case against one of their own. Together they discuss what it says about police culture that a man nicknamed 'the rapist' by his colleagues had been allowed to stay in uniform, and whether this was the biggest crisis the Met's leadership has ever faced. They examine the Clapham Common vigil and whether the force's handling of it was defensible, why Dame Cressida Dick lost her job, and whether women and girls will ever feel like they can trust the police again. Follow us on social media: @thecrimeagents The Crime Agents is a Global production, available every Monday and Thursday on Global Player, YouTube or wherever you get your shows. Make sure you subscribe so you never miss an episode.

  3. 20 Aug

    Q&A: Farage vs Essex Police, the Mushroom Murderer's appeal & London Falling

    Nigel Farage says Essex Police warned him to stay away from the Clacton by-election count. Essex Police say that never happened. So who's lying? And why are politicians increasingly dragging the police into their political battles? In this week's Q&A, Andy and Neil tackle Farage's claim head-on and ask what it means for public trust when policing becomes a prop in politicians' narratives. They also discuss the Mushroom Murderer's appeal. Erin Patterson was convicted of poisoning her former in-laws with a death cap mushroom lunch, and from the moment she appeared on camera claiming to be "devastated," most people felt she was guilty. But how often do detectives get an instinctive feeling that someone did it? And can that gut instinct help or hinder an investigation? Plus: has CCTV revolutionised crime-solving in the same way DNA once did? And do the benefits of Ring doorbells on every street outweigh 'Big Brother' concerns? Andy and Neil also dig into the unsolved death of Zac Brettler, the case at the heart of Patrick Radden Keefe's London Falling, and whether the Met's investigation was as flawed as the reporting suggests. Have a question for a future Q&A? Send it via email to thecrimeagents@global.com or follow us on social media: @thecrimeagents The Crime Agents is a Global production, available every Monday and Thursday on Global Player, YouTube or wherever you get your shows. Make sure you subscribe so you never miss an episode.

  4. 17 Aug

    Murders, stabbings, terror plots: are Britain's MPs safe?

    Three British politicians have been killed in the space of a decade. Jo Cox. David Amess. And now Ann Widdecombe. How has political violence in Britain reached this point? And why are most of our MPs still unprotected? In this episode, Andy and Neil trace the escalating pattern of attacks on politicians in the UK, explain how police and the Home Office decide who gets protection, and reveal why the number receiving it remains surprisingly low. They explore the growing reliance on private security firms to fill the gaps, and the strain a record nine living former Prime Ministers is placing on already stretched resources. They're also joined by Philip Grindell, a former Met Detective turned private security expert who helped establish The Parliamentary Liaison and Investigation Team after Jo Cox's murder. Philip explains how the threat environment has changed, how he now protects high-profile individuals from targeted violence, and why he believes some MPs embellish the level of threats they receive when speaking publicly. Finally, Andy and Neil confront the difficult question: can we realistically protect more of our politicians, and what would it cost our democracy if we tried? Follow us on social media: @thecrimeagents The Crime Agents is a Global production, available every Monday and Thursday on Global Player, YouTube or wherever you get your shows. Make sure you subscribe so you never miss an episode.

  5. 13 Aug

    Q&A: Kinahan in court & how police let Simon Levy kill

    Daniel Kinahan - allegedly one of the world's most powerful gangsters - arrived at a Dublin court this week under near-unprecedented security. Was that level of protection justified, or was it theatre from the Irish state? And how was he finally extradited from Dubai, where he spent a decade hiding in plain sight? Andy and Neil explain why the Kinahan story has moved so fast, and ask whether his upcoming trial could become the biggest Ireland has ever seen. They also dissect the police failings that allowed Simon Levy, a known sexual predator, to kill two women and attack several others. Does this prove, once and for all, that the police are institutionally misogynistic? Andy and Neil break down what went wrong, and how much damage this case does to the police's efforts to rebuild trust with women and girls. Plus, the latest on PC Andrew Harper's killers, how police operations are named, and, last but not least: who has dubbed Neil 'Manly' Tucci?! Have a question for a future Q&A? Send it via email to thecrimeagents@global.com or follow us on social media: @thecrimeagents The Crime Agents is a Global production, available every Monday and Thursday on Global Player, YouTube or wherever you get your shows. Make sure you subscribe so you never miss an episode.

  6. 10 Aug

    How police infiltrated Europe’s biggest drug cartels

    Imagine a phone network built exclusively for criminals. Encrypted. Untraceable. Designed to destroy evidence at the touch of a button. For years, EncroChat gave drug cartels, hitmen and money launderers the confidence to plan serious crime openly, believing they were untouchable. They were wrong. Andy & Neil tell the full story: why EncroChat was created, how it became organised crime's communication platform of choice, and how police ultimately infiltrated it in one of the biggest cross-border operations in law enforcement history. With Tony Saggers - former Head of Drugs Threat & Intelligence at the NCA - they explain what happened when police gained access to the messages of tens of thousands of criminals, leading to lengthy sentences for crime bosses and hundreds of millions in illicit funds seized. Follow us on social media: @thecrimeagents The Crime Agents is a Global production, available every Monday and Thursday on Global Player, YouTube or wherever you get your shows. Make sure you subscribe so you never miss an episode.

  7. 6 Aug

    Q&A: PC Andrew Harper's killers, funeral director horror & why cops don't report their own

    Two of PC Andrew Harper's killers will soon be eligible for early release. They were convicted of manslaughter after dragging a police officer to his death - and under the government's early release scheme, they could soon walk free at the halfway point of their sentences. Andy and Neil ask what this means for justice, for public trust, and for every officer putting themselves in danger on duty. Plus: after funeral director Robert Bush was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his crimes, they discuss how he got away with it, and whether this is the tip of the iceberg in an industry built on trust. And why does it so often take undercover journalists to expose police misconduct, rather than the officers working alongside it? After the Charing Cross scandal, Andy and Neil dig into why the culture of silence endures and what it would actually take to break it. Have a question for a future Q&A? Send it via email to thecrimeagents@global.com or follow us on social media: @thecrimeagents The Crime Agents is a Global production, available every Monday and Thursday on Global Player, YouTube or wherever you get your shows. Make sure you subscribe so you never miss an episode.

  8. 3 Aug

    Mark Duggan: the shooting that sparked nationwide riots

    When a specialist firearms officer fired the shot that killed Mark Duggan in August 2011, no one could have predicted what would follow. Within days, a community protest in Tottenham had erupted into disorder across London - and then into the worst rioting Britain had seen in a generation. Was Duggan lawfully killed, or the victim of police brutality? How did the police lose control of the streets? And was it always inevitable that this shooting would escalate into something far bigger? Andy unpacks the long history of tension between police and Duggan's North London community, while Neil takes us inside the Met at the moment London descended into chaos. 15 years on, are we still living with the consequences? Follow us on social media: @thecrimeagents The Crime Agents is a Global production, available every Monday and Thursday on Global Player, YouTube or wherever you get your shows. Make sure you subscribe so you never miss an episode.

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About

If you want to understand what’s really happening on Britain’s streets, you need to hear this. The Crime Agents, the new podcast from the makers of The News Agents, goes beyond the headlines to uncover the truth behind crime that affects all of us. Why is violence rising? Why is public trust in the police collapsing? And what’s really driving young people to kill each other? Hosted by two insiders who have spent their lives chasing the answers, this is your front-row seat to the realities of crime today. Neil Basu, the former Head of UK Counter-Terrorism Policing, brings unparalleled experience from the front lines of law enforcement. Andy Hughes, LBC’s Crime Correspondent, has spent two decades exposing the criminal underworld as an award-winning investigative journalist. Each week, The Crime Agents dives deep into the stories you think you know - from foiled terror plots and unsolved murders, to gang culture, far-right extremism, and the tactics police use to crack the toughest cases. With over 50 years of combined experience, Neil and Andy don’t just report on crime - they’ve lived it. The Crime Agents is a Global production, available every Monday and Thursday on Global Player, YouTube or wherever you get your shows. Make sure you subscribe so you never miss an episode. For advertising opportunities on this podcast, email: GlobalStudiosSales@global.com

Information

  • Creator
    Global
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    111
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 Global
  • Show Website
    The Crime Agents

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