Sinister South

Rachel & Hannah
  • 5.0 (3)
  • True Crime
  • Updated Semiweekly

Join Rachel and Hannah on the Sinister South Podcast as they explore the shadowy corners of South London. Each episode digs into the gritty true crime stories that have left their mark on the local streets of South London. They’ll introduce you to the victims and dissect the mysteries while giving you a taste of the places these dramas unfolded. It’s not all doom and gloom; Rach and Han also have plenty of nonsense to chat about! So whether you're a true crime buff or just curious about the darker tales from their neck of the woods, pull up a chair, tune in and join the mischief!Want to get in touch with us, or request an episode? You can email us here: sinistersouthpodcast@gmail.com

  1. 5d ago

    A Doorstep in Brixton: Hilda Lockert and the Angell Town Robbery

    On 30 April 2001, 85-year-old Hilda Lockert was a few steps from her front door on the Angel Town estate in Brixton when two people pulled her to the ground and robbed her. They took her shopping, her keys and a purse with £15 in it. Hilda broke her knee in the fall, and after surgery she developed a blood clot. She died on 15 May 2001, her 86th birthday. The case went cold for years, until a tiny trace of DNA on the handle of her shopping bag was re-examined in 2015. This week Han tells Rach how that evidence led to a conviction at the Old Bailey two decades later, why it was manslaughter rather than murder, and why one of the two attackers has never been identified. We also look at Angell Town itself and Dora Boatemah, the resident who fought for years to rebuild it. Plus a side quest into DNA transfer, and whether your DNA can end up somewhere you've never been. Content note: violent robbery and the death of an elderly woman. Nothing graphic. Support the show Thanks for tuning in! If you loved diving into the dark corners of South London with us, don't forget to hit that subscribe button to never miss an episode of "Sinister South." Also, follow us on Instagram @SinisterSouthPodcast for sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes content, and more cheeky banter, or www.sinistersouthpod.co.uk. Remember, every crime tells a story... and South is the best side of the river...  Produced and hosted by Hannah Williams & Rachel Baines Mixed & edited by Purple Waves Sound (A.K.A Will)

    A Doorstep in Brixton: Hilda Lockert and the Angell Town Robbery

  2. Sep 16

    The Reckoning: Stephen Lawrence (Part 2)

    Part 2 of our first ever two-parter. And before we get into it, Hannah returns from Kilkenny having mugged an old lady 100 feet up a cathedral tower, singing Limp Bizkit to herself in a full-body panic. Meanwhile Rach has learned that some young people apparently do not know who Beyonce or Jay-Z are. Truly a low moment for civilisation. Then it's back to Eltham. Picking up where Part 1 left off in 1997, Rach walks through the Macpherson Inquiry and the moment it declared the Metropolitan Police institutionally racist, the shocking admission from the detective who led the investigation that he didn't know he could arrest anyone on reasonable suspicion, the lost years when the suspects kept racking up convictions for everything except Stephen's murder, and the extraordinary cold case work by DCI Clive Driscoll that finally uncovered the forensic evidence needed to convict Gary Dobson and David Norris at the Old Bailey in January 2012. We then get into the Ellison Review, which uncovered that undercover officers had been spying on the Lawrence family while they were grieving. The 2023 BBC investigation naming Matthew White as the sixth attacker Duwayne Brooks had always insisted was there. The 2025 public parole hearing where David Norris finally admitted his presence at the scene but refused to name the other attackers, and the Parole Board's decision in December to keep him behind bars. And then, because you can't tell this story in 2026 without saying it, a look at how much has genuinely changed in 33 years. The rise of Reform UK, the Tommy Robinson rallies, the 32 percent vote share in the borough right next to where Stephen was murdered, and why the reckoning this story demanded has not finished yet. If you haven't heard Part 1 yet, go back and start there. And do please visit the Stephen Lawrence Day Foundation to learn more about Stephen's legacy and the work being done in his name. Support the show Thanks for tuning in! If you loved diving into the dark corners of South London with us, don't forget to hit that subscribe button to never miss an episode of "Sinister South." Also, follow us on Instagram @SinisterSouthPodcast for sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes content, and more cheeky banter, or www.sinistersouthpod.co.uk. Remember, every crime tells a story... and South is the best side of the river...  Produced and hosted by Hannah Williams & Rachel Baines Mixed & edited by Purple Waves Sound (A.K.A Will)

    The Reckoning: Stephen Lawrence (Part 2)

  3. Sep 9

    Everyone Knew Their Names: Stephen Lawrence (Part 1)

    We're back after two weeks off (during which Rachel's head literally exploded, we killed a sacred crow, a barefoot Sasquatch has been moving dead foxes around New Eltham, and Hannah announced she's off to hairdressing college). But then Rach dives into part one of the biggest case South London has ever seen. On the night of 22 April 1993, 18-year-old Stephen Lawrence was waiting at a bus stop in Eltham with his best friend Duwayne Brooks when he was surrounded and stabbed to death by a group of white youths in an unprovoked, racially motivated attack. Within 24 hours, the police had names. Within days, they had detailed tip-offs from at least half a dozen sources, all pointing to the same handful of young men. It would take two weeks for anyone to be arrested, three years for a private prosecution to collapse in the Old Bailey, and nearly two decades for a single conviction. Part one covers Stephen's life and his family, the night of the attack, the botched investigation, the rise of the BNP in Welling and Eltham in the early 1990s, the five prime suspects and the world they came from, the covert surveillance tapes that captured their true nature, the collapse of the private prosecution, and the inquest verdict that finally named the killing for what it was. This is our first ever two-parter. Part two lands next Wednesday, covering the Macpherson Inquiry, the forensic breakthrough, the 2012 convictions, the sixth attacker revealed 30 years later, and where every key figure is now. Sources in the show notes. And a reminder to visit the Stephen Lawrence Day Foundation to learn more about Stephen's legacy. Support the show Thanks for tuning in! If you loved diving into the dark corners of South London with us, don't forget to hit that subscribe button to never miss an episode of "Sinister South." Also, follow us on Instagram @SinisterSouthPodcast for sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes content, and more cheeky banter, or www.sinistersouthpod.co.uk. Remember, every crime tells a story... and South is the best side of the river...  Produced and hosted by Hannah Williams & Rachel Baines Mixed & edited by Purple Waves Sound (A.K.A Will)

    Everyone Knew Their Names: Stephen Lawrence (Part 1)

  4. Aug 19

    Damian Chlywka & The Well at Audley Drive

    In November 2013, gardeners clearing a garden in Warlingham, Surrey, found a body at the bottom of an old well. It had been there for two and a half years. The man was Damian Chlywka, a Polish national who had come to the UK to work and had been reported missing from Thornton Heath in April 2011. Ten men were arrested over the course of the investigation. None were ever charged. In 2015, an inquest recorded a verdict of unlawful killing, without ever establishing how Damian died. This week, Rach tells the story of a man who built a quiet life across south London and Surrey, and of an investigation that ran into dead end after dead end, two suspects who died before they could be questioned, a third who was never reachable, and a case that remains unsolved to this day. Trigger warning: this episode discusses violent assault, human remains, and the exploitation risks faced by migrant workers. Sources include https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/local-news/detectives-renew-appeal-information-warlingham-6670839 https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/warlingham-well-murder-suspect-released-6997364 https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/cause-death-man-found-well-9309639 https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/damian-chlywka-surrey-warlingham-suspicion-murder-well-526385 https://www.heart.co.uk/sussex/news/local/warlingham-body-down-well/ https://www.eastlondonlines.co.uk/2013/12/body-found-in-well-identified-as-croydon-resident/ https://www.itv.com/news/london/update/2013-11-30/family-of-well-murder-victim-distraught/ https://tvn24.pl/swiat/makabryczne-odkrycie-pod-londynem-w-studni-znaleziono-cialo-winni-polacy-ra372367-3449891 https://www.murdermap.co.uk/unsolved-murders/unsolved-homicides-2013/ https://crimeimmemorial.com/2023/08/04/damian-chlywka/ https://thecrimetalk.com/uk-true-crime/damian-chlywka/ http://www.unsolved-murders.co.uk/murder-content.php?key=2406&termRef=Damian+Chlywka https://www.facebook.com/StreetCrimeUK1/posts/hidden-in-a-well-the-unlawful-killing-of-damian-chlywka-and-a-death-still-withou/1208111654793635/ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-24979959 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-24998049 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-24977887 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-24966496 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-24971242 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-25165251 https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/body-of-man-found-in-warlingham-well-had-been-there-for-two-years-8948414.html https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/nov/19/body-found-well-warlingham-two-years-tied-up https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/warlingham-body-well-identified-damian-2867157 Support the show Thanks for tuning in! If you loved diving into the dark corners of South London with us, don't forget to hit that subscribe button to never miss an episode of "Sinister South." Also, follow us on Instagram @SinisterSouthPodcast for sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes content, and more cheeky banter, or www.sinistersouthpod.co.uk. Remember, every crime tells a story... and South is the best side of the river...  Produced and hosted by Hannah Williams & Rachel Baines Mixed & edited by Purple Waves Sound (A.K.A Will)

    Damian Chlywka & The Well at Audley Drive

  5. Aug 12

    The Takeaway Rembrandt

    Today #Trevors, we head to Dulwich, an affluent part of south London where the crime also tends to have a bit of a "posh" edge to it! Hannah walks us through the story of the takeaway Rembrandt, a small painting by an old master that has been stolen more times than any other!  So today's episode is more Oceans Eleven, than Seven but no less interesting! Think heists, capers and a dodgy man in the backroom of a Barclays bank! Plus the usual nonsense including unidentified bangs in the night and the start of a war over "Aunty Hannah".  Support the show Thanks for tuning in! If you loved diving into the dark corners of South London with us, don't forget to hit that subscribe button to never miss an episode of "Sinister South." Also, follow us on Instagram @SinisterSouthPodcast for sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes content, and more cheeky banter, or www.sinistersouthpod.co.uk. Remember, every crime tells a story... and South is the best side of the river...  Produced and hosted by Hannah Williams & Rachel Baines Mixed & edited by Purple Waves Sound (A.K.A Will)

    The Takeaway Rembrandt

  6. Aug 5

    Bones, Blood and a Bishop: Alfege and the Vikings of Greenwich

    "Today, we're going back to the year 1012." / "Oh, for f***'s sake. Here we go." 😂 In April 1012, the Archbishop of Canterbury was killed at a Viking camp in Greenwich, pelted with bones and finished off with the back of an axe. He had been held captive for seven months. He could have gone free at any point. He refused every time. This week we go back a thousand years to tell the story of Alfege, a man who spent his life trying to disappear and kept getting promoted instead, and who became the one person in two decades of national crisis to refuse to let his own people pay for his freedom. Content warning: this episode contains descriptions of violent death, captivity and mob violence. Support the show Thanks for tuning in! If you loved diving into the dark corners of South London with us, don't forget to hit that subscribe button to never miss an episode of "Sinister South." Also, follow us on Instagram @SinisterSouthPodcast for sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes content, and more cheeky banter, or www.sinistersouthpod.co.uk. Remember, every crime tells a story... and South is the best side of the river...  Produced and hosted by Hannah Williams & Rachel Baines Mixed & edited by Purple Waves Sound (A.K.A Will)

    Bones, Blood and a Bishop: Alfege and the Vikings of Greenwich

  7. Jul 29

    Solid Citizen: The Quiet Life and Brutal Death of Christopher Brown

    In August 2024, 72-year-old solicitor Christopher Brown was killed in the Catford house he'd inherited from his parents and later put into joint names with Habiba Naveed, a younger woman he lived with. His cat, Snow, was killed too. The tabloids seized on Naveed's delusions — that she was Princess Diana's secret daughter, that she was Jesus sent to destroy evil — and Christopher nearly vanished from his own story. This episode puts him back at its centre: the quiet, patient family lawyer who spent his whole career at one Holloway Road firm and more than fifty years at Lewisham Chess Club, remembered as a genuinely kind and "too trusting" man. We trace the joint ownership of the house, Naveed's documented history of paranoid schizophrenia, repeated hospital admissions and relapse, and the final days when her family raised the alarm and the warning signs never quite connected. We work carefully through diminished responsibility, fitness to plead, and why the judge imposed an indefinite hospital order under Sections 37/41 rather than a prison sentence — and we're honest throughout about what the public record can and can't tell us. Content warning: serious mental illness, a fatal assault, and the killing of an animal. Sources include but are not limited to:  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gdg4nlr91o https://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/24531951.woman-accused-murdering-catford-landlord-stabbing-cat/ https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/cat-stabbed-murder-catford-landlord-london-pensioner-old-bailey-b1177417.html https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy0nwzw1x3go https://uk.news.yahoo.com/woman-said-she-jesus-sent-160813917.html https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/08/20/woman-accused-of-murdering-landlord-and-stabbing-cat/ https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Naveed-sentence.pdf https://news.met.police.uk/news/woman-jailed-for-manslaughter-after-death-of-landlord-499579 https://www.legalfutures.co.uk/latest-news/solicitors-tenant-jailed-after-being-convicted-of-his-murder https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn02gyw7542o https://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/news/24888171.lewisham-woman-admits-killing-christopher-brown/ https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/who-habiba-naveed-woman-who-claims-princess-dianas-daughter-accused-attacking-landlord-1739412 https://uknip.co.uk/news/uk/uk-news/woman-detained-indefinitely-after-killing-landlord-and-pet-cat-in-south-london/ https://www.landlordzone.co.uk/news/tenant-remanded-in-custody-following-landlord-death Support the show Thanks for tuning in! If you loved diving into the dark corners of South London with us, don't forget to hit that subscribe button to never miss an episode of "Sinister South." Also, follow us on Instagram @SinisterSouthPodcast for sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes content, and more cheeky banter, or www.sinistersouthpod.co.uk. Remember, every crime tells a story... and South is the best side of the river...  Produced and hosted by Hannah Williams & Rachel Baines Mixed & edited by Purple Waves Sound (A.K.A Will)

    Solid Citizen: The Quiet Life and Brutal Death of Christopher Brown

  8. Jul 22

    A taste of Patreon - Sinister Stories

    Small change of plan this week. A technical issue took out the episode that was meant to be landing today, and rather than leave you with nothing, we're opening up one of our Patreon-only Sinister Stories instead. So this one is a deviation from the usual. No case file, no victim, no court reports. Sinister Stories is our bonus strand for £10 and up patrons, where the only rule is that the story is strange, sinister or otherwise just bloomin interesting. It doesn't have to be true crime and it doesn't have to be South London, though on this occasion Rach has managed to keep it the right side of the river. The subject is the Thames foot tunnels at Woolwich and Greenwich. How they were built, who fought for them and what they meant for workers south of the river, followed by the stranger stuff: the Woolwich time slip claims that surfaced during the 2010 refurbishment, the Victorian couple said to walk the Greenwich tunnel, and the infrasound and psychology that might explain a fair bit of it. Plus a detour through the Blackwall hitchhiker, Liverpool's Bold Street, the Edinburgh vaults and a lost street under Soho. Normal service resumes next week. Support the show Thanks for tuning in! If you loved diving into the dark corners of South London with us, don't forget to hit that subscribe button to never miss an episode of "Sinister South." Also, follow us on Instagram @SinisterSouthPodcast for sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes content, and more cheeky banter, or www.sinistersouthpod.co.uk. Remember, every crime tells a story... and South is the best side of the river...  Produced and hosted by Hannah Williams & Rachel Baines Mixed & edited by Purple Waves Sound (A.K.A Will)

    A taste of Patreon - Sinister Stories
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

Join Rachel and Hannah on the Sinister South Podcast as they explore the shadowy corners of South London. Each episode digs into the gritty true crime stories that have left their mark on the local streets of South London. They’ll introduce you to the victims and dissect the mysteries while giving you a taste of the places these dramas unfolded. It’s not all doom and gloom; Rach and Han also have plenty of nonsense to chat about! So whether you're a true crime buff or just curious about the darker tales from their neck of the woods, pull up a chair, tune in and join the mischief!Want to get in touch with us, or request an episode? You can email us here: sinistersouthpodcast@gmail.com

Information

  • Creator
    Rachel & Hannah
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    111
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Sinister South
  • Show Website
    Sinister South