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. The FaceTime Killing: The brutal death of Christopher Martin

    6d ago

    The FaceTime Killing: The brutal death of Christopher Martin

    This week starts with the usual...tattoo double-bookings, a very inebriated weekend, Will doing himself a mischief in the pit at The Offspring, and a knife-wielding, mozzarella-eating stand-off with the ghost of Luther. Standard. In the early hours of 28th May 2021, a young woman answered a FaceTime call from her partner, Jack Forde. What she saw on the screen was him attacking his own grandfather, 74-year-old Christopher Martin, in the New Cross home they shared. This week Hannah tells Rach the story behind the headlines, a man who'd just lost his wife of 55 years, a grandson the system already knew was dangerous, and the safety net that was never more than one grieving widower. It's a story about supervision orders, disengagement from mental health services, and what happens when the only thing standing between danger and disaster is love. Content warning: this episode discusses a violent killing, mental illness, addiction, bereavement and the Covid-19 pandemic. If you or someone you know needs support, resources can be found below. Mental health support & crisis Samaritans – 116 123, free, 24/7. For anyone struggling to cope, not just suicidal crisis. SANEline – 0300 304 7000, 4.30pm–10pm daily. Emotional support for anyone affected by mental health problems. Shout – text 85258, free 24/7 confidential text support. NHS 111 – select option 2 for 24/7 urgent mental health support. Rethink Mental Illness – 0300 5000 927 (Mon–Fri, 9.30am–4pm). Support and advice for people living with severe mental illness such as schizophrenia, and their carers. Rethink Carers Hub – online advice for people caring for a loved one with mental illness, including what to do in a crisis.  SAMM (Support after Murder and Manslaughter) – national charity offering peer support to people bereaved through homicide, including a confidential helpline (0121 472 2912) and non-religious retreats. All volunteers have been bereaved this way themselves. 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)

    1h 3m
  2. The Love Potion Lie: Betty Grant and June Malins death by Spanish Fly

    Jun 24

    The Love Potion Lie: Betty Grant and June Malins death by Spanish Fly

    Once we've covered the essentials (Hannah's official unemployment era, a Duran Duran Father's Day card with some truly phoned-in puns, and the ongoing scandal of Rach absolutely not saying the words "Henry Cavill"), we get into the actual case.  In the spring of 1954, a box of sweets went round a London office. By the end of that night, two of the young women who took a piece were dead. This week Rach takes us back to the Arthur Ford case, and to the woman at the heart of it: Betty Grant, a 27-year-old typist from Wimbledon. Betty had told her married boss, more than once, that she wasn't interested. His answer was to lace her sweets with Spanish Fly, an old "love potion" that is really one of the most savage poisons known to man. Betty and her 19-year-old colleague June Malins never stood a chance. We get into what Spanish Fly actually is, and why its giggling aphrodisiac reputation is a two-thousand-year-old lie, taking in ancient Rome, the Marquis de Sade, and a poisoning at the very same Old Bailey where Ford would later stand, more than 200 years before he got there. Then we follow the thread right up to the present, because the myth, and the men who hide behind it, never really went away. It's a story about a rare and horrible poison, yes. But underneath it sits the same story we seem to tell every week. A woman said no, and a man decided her no didn't count. Content warning: this episode includes discussion of drink spiking, sexual violence, and graphic descriptions of poisoning. 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)

    1h 22m
  3. 100 episodes of Sinister South

    Jun 17

    100 episodes of Sinister South

    One hundred episodes. We genuinely can't believe it either. To mark the milestone we've torn up the format. There's no case this week. Instead, Rachel and Hannah are in the hot seat, and for one episode only their long-suffering editor Will steps out from behind the desk to host. Expect Sinister South by the numbers, including the oldest case we've ever covered and exactly how many days of true crime you'd need to binge to catch up. Then a batch of questions sent in by the people who've stuck with us from the start: why we started, the cases that affected us most, who'd play us in the film, and which haunted corner of south east London we'd least like to spend a night in. After that, Will runs a quiz to find out how well we actually remember our own back catalogue. Stay to the end for a reel of our most unhinged outtakes, a fresh batch of gloriously context-free voice notes from Rachel's sister Becky, and a proper thank you to you, the Trevors. Here's to the next hundred. Normal service, and a new case, returns next Wednesday. 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)

    1h 8m
  4. It wasn't an accident: Andrea Bernard and the Janice Nix Case

    Jun 10

    It wasn't an accident: Andrea Bernard and the Janice Nix Case

    But first, the important business: Rach's new hair (currently being hated on a strict day-two schedule), Will's ongoing obsession with the Sidcup goose tattoo man, and the small matter of a Netflix documentary sending a flood of brand-new Trevors our way. If you're one of them, welcome. We have cookies, chocolate, and pins we will absolutely never send you. Then Han takes us back to the summer of 1978, and a five-year-old called Andrea Bernard. She suffered catastrophic burns in the bath at her family home in Thornton Heath, held on for nearly six weeks, and died of an infection the doctors couldn't beat. A coroner recorded the obvious conclusion: a heart-breaking accident. That was the story for 47 years. This week we unpick how it came undone. How Andrea's older brother carried what he'd heard through the bathroom wall since the age of eight, and finally walked into a Croydon police station decades later to say it out loud. And how the woman who'd been in that house, later celebrated as an author and a former drug dealer turned probation worker, came to stand trial for a death everyone had signed off before some of the detectives were even born. Please note: this episode discusses the abuse and death of a child, including burns. Look after yourselves. 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)

    1h 31m
  5. Sally Hodkin: 500 Yards From Home | The Nicola Edgington Case

    Jun 3

    Sally Hodkin: 500 Yards From Home | The Nicola Edgington Case

    On the morning of 10th October 2011, 58-year-old Sally Hodkin left her house in Bexleyheath for her usual walk to work. She was 500 yards from her own front door when she was attacked and killed by Nicola Edgington, a woman who had murdered her own mother six years earlier and had been released back into the community by the NHS. In the hours before Sally's death, Edgington had told police she was dangerous, walked out of a psychiatric unit, and begged multiple services to help her. Nobody listened. This week Rachel takes Hannah through every missed opportunity, every form that wasn't sent and every door that should have been locked. It's a long one, but every minute of it matters. Trigger warnings: fatal stabbing, mental health crisis, drug use, miscarriage & graphic violence. Sources include: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-46022330 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-40378509 https://www.england.nhs.uk/london/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2017/06/Report-of-the-independent-investigation-into-the-care-and-treatment-of-Ms-A.pdf https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-21321005 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicola_Edgington https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-66842327 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-21652436 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-21195602 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-24868749 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-21653018 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-21260313 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-21374967 https://www.hundredfamilies.org/independent-investigation-hodkin-family-statement/ https://www.itv.com/news/london/2023-09-20/victims-family-warns-she-will-kill-again-as-conviction-could-be-downgraded https://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/mar/09/sally-hodkin-nhs-mental-health https://www.london-now.co.uk/news/25968695.bexleyheath-killer-nicola-edgington-loses-murder-conviction-appeal/ https://www.channel4.com/news/suspect-left-mental-health-unit-before-stabbing https://murderpedia.org/female.E/e/edgington-nicola.htm https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-46034803 https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/nicola-edgington-meat-cleaver-murder-manslaughter-court-of-appeal-b1107644.html https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2874993/police-in-100k-bid-to-cover-up-murder-of-gran-by-mental-health-patient-who-pleaded-to-be-sectioned/ https://www.hundredfamilies.org/sally-hodkin-memorial-match-2017/ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-15280814 https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/05/17/nhs-pays-psychotic-killers-to-give-health-advice/ 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)

    2h 12m
  6. Five Feet of Water: The Unsolved Death of Mary Clarke

    May 27

    Five Feet of Water: The Unsolved Death of Mary Clarke

    This week, we go back to 1831 and the Croydon Canal, where two empty boats were found drifting on still water. A week later, the body of a pregnant woman surfaced. Her name, or at least the name history gives us, was Mary Clarke. Mary had been seen days earlier preparing to meet the father of her unborn child. She was dressed in a fine cotton gown, a black silk cloak and a white straw bonnet, with a small key in her pocket that remains one of the most frustrating details of the case. But despite her injuries, despite the missing companion who vanished from the record, and despite the two unnamed men last seen with her, the inquest returned a verdict of “found drowned”. Nearly 200 years later, we’re left with a woman no one claimed, a canal that no longer exists, and a question that still hasn’t been answered: who put Mary Clarke in the water? This episode includes discussion of pregnancy, suicide, violence against women, murder, drowning and historical attitudes towards unmarried pregnant women.  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)

    1h 3m
  7. Andrea Troupe: The Girl in Warwick Gardens

    May 20

    Andrea Troupe: The Girl in Warwick Gardens

    This week, after a truly chaotic opening involving a pork pie-related road traffic incident, pocket hummus at the Palladium, Paul McCartney’s Meat Free Mondays, and the questionable social etiquette of bringing a meze board into a theatre, we turn to the heart breaking unsolved murder of 16-year-old Andrea Troupe. In May 1983, Andrea was found dead in Warwick Gardens, Peckham. She had been stabbed more than 12 times and was later revealed to have been pregnant, something her family had not known. More than 40 years later, nobody has ever been charged with her murder. Andrea’s case sits against the backdrop of 1980s South London, a time of deep mistrust between Black communities and the police, following the New Cross house fire and the Brixton uprising. It also becomes tangled in the disturbing story of convicted double murderer Michelle Smithyman, whose reported confessions raised even more questions than they answered. This is a story about a young girl whose life was brutally taken, a family left without answers, and a case that still deserves attention. Sources include:  https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/brother-pleads-for-help-to-find-killer-of-sister-37-years-ago/ http://www.blackkalendar.nl/c/4016/John%20Michael%20Smithyman https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-34712868 https://www.mylondon.news/news/south-london-news/murderer-confesses-part-fire-killed-22027197 https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/double-murderer-confessed-killing-girl-25561274 https://crimeimmemorial.com/2024/09/11/andrea-troupe/ http://www.unsolved-murders.co.uk/murder-content.php?key=8371&termRef=Andrea+Troupe https://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/13944316.michael-smithyman-who-murdered-the-mother-of-his-child-in-meopham-may-have-killed-13-others-according-to-bbc-report/ http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/audio_video/programmes/panorama/transcripts/transcript_03_03_97.txt https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-13324293/Double-murderer-hold-key-solving-1981-New-Cross-fire-Killer-serving-life-told-cops-mystery-teen-started-house-blaze-killed-13-black-partygoers-Britains-notorious-unsolved-mass-murder.html https://www.meopham-pc.gov.uk/content/meopham-chronology-0 http://www.tmg-uk.org/did-met-police-halt-new-cross-fire-investigation/ https://www.voice-online.co.uk/news/uk-news/2017/03/01/new-cross-fire-victims-cousin-demands-new-enquiry/ https://www.newsdons.com/2021/10/31/double-murderer-confesses-part-in-unsolved-new-cross-fire/ 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)

    1h 24m
  8. The Cycling Cop and the Clapham Execution: PC Patrick Dunne & William Danso

    May 13

    The Cycling Cop and the Clapham Execution: PC Patrick Dunne & William Danso

    Welcome back, Trevors! It's season four and we are BACK, although you'd be forgiven for thinking otherwise given the chaos of recording this one (third intro, second go at the case, Hannah's suitcase touring Luton solo). Stick with us. This week, Hannah takes us to a quiet Wednesday night in October 1993, when a 44 year old former maths teacher turned beat bobby cycled onto Cato Road in Clapham. PC Patrick Dunne never made it home. Neither did his neighbour William Danso, a Ghanaian doorman and father of five, gunned down in his own hallway for being good at his job. The man who pulled the trigger was Gary Lloyd Nelson, a 24 year old gangster nicknamed Tyson, with a fuse so short he'd fired five shots at a van driver for overtaking him. The evidence was staggering. The CPS dropped it anyway. What followed was a 12 year fight by two families who refused to let the system forget. Settle in. Sources for this case include: https://thepolicememorialtrust.org/pc-patrick-dunne/ https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/feb/18/ukguns.rosiecowan https://www.londonremembers.com/subjects/pc-patrick-dunne http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4717168.stm https://x.com/metpoliceuk/status/1065279526656241664 https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/52225/pc-patrick-dunne https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1510792/Gangster-who-gunned-down-Pc-is-sent-to-jail-for-35-years.html https://murderpedia.org/male.N/n/nelson-gary-lloyd.htm#google_vignette https://www.independent.co.uk/news/roadrage-driver-gets-eight-years-for-gun-attacks-1596553.html https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/gangster-jailed-for-pc-death-may-have-killed-four-others-a3293531.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hijVRJrS9VA https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kQCD9LFV2Qs http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4703356.stm 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)

    1h 22m
See All (101)

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
    101
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Sinister South
  • Show Website
    Sinister South

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