Original subtitles

THE FOLLOWING IS BASED ON A TRUE STORY.

SOME CHARACTERS AND SCENES HAVE BEEN CREATED AND NAMES CHANGED FOR THE PURPOSES OF DRAMATISATION.

Residents in the village of Narborough

say they are still afraid that the killer may be someone they know

and terrified that he may strike again.

The police say they�re still confident they will find Lynda�s killer.

But the villagers are now getting increasingly worried

and say they won�t be able to rest until an arrest is made.

I�d like to use this opportunity to make an appeal.

If anyone has any information within the Narborough area

and might have seen Dawn on Thursday afternoon

or saw anything suspicious or unusual at that time,

please get in touch with the police.

2 August 1986

Yeah?

They�re here.

Yes, we saw the car.

Would you mind if we come in?

-Of course. - Thank you.

-Hello, Mrs. Ashworth. - Hello.

All right, do you want to have a seat or something?

-Like to have a seat? - Yes.

Well, I�m sorry to tell you we�ve found a body.

A couple of hours ago.

A young girl.

We believe it is Dawn.

I�m sorry, Mrs. Ashworth, Mr. Ashworth.

How could it have taken two days to find her?

Uh, well, I�m very sorry, Mr. Ashworth,

but the body was very well hidden.

I want to see her.

Well, we really wouldn�t advise that, Mrs. Ashworth.

Until the postmortem�s been arranged.

Was it the same as with Lynda?

It�s the same man, isn�t it?

Yes, Mrs. Ashworth. We believe it is, yeah.

All right.

Okay. So, I want to get a few more specialists looking.

Start searching over there.

We think she may have been walking over there.

Do you have everything you need?

And we�ll need 20 more men before it gets dark.

You found her, then?

25 -- Even better.

I knew you were looking in the wrong place.

What did you say, son?

Excuse me, sir.

We�ve got a problem with one of the locals.

Right. Okay.

Bear with me one second.

-Get his reg number now. - Yes, sir.

-Before he goes. -Sir.

Don�t blame yourself, David.

But it appears you were right...

about our man being local.

Well, he knows the paths --

the Black Pad. Ten Pound Lane,

the fields and gates.

In broad bloody daylight.

Well, he�s either getting more desperate or more confident.

Where the hell have you been?

You need to look at this.

Gather �round, everyone. Kholi�s got something.

What is it?

A young man on a motorbike spoke to me at the murder scene today.

That motorbike was registered to a Gavin Hopkirk,

a local lad from Enderby.

Now, a person matching his description

-was sighted -- -Slow down. Slow down.

A person matching his description

was sighted here at 3:00 p.m. and, later, here at 4:30.

Yeah, I�ve got witnesses --

Hey, Taylor. Go on.

A woman I spoke with earlier said she saw him here --

a young man carrying a black crash helmet.

Yeah, and another witness saw a young man on a motorcycle

parked under the bridge near Ten Pound Lane about 4:30.

What did the lad say?

"You were looking in the wrong place."

Was he questioned during the Lynda Mann inquiry?

Well, his father was, as part of the house-to-house.

-The lad was there, I think. -Yeah.

-Did you talk to him? -He was only 14 at the time.

Get this.

A friend of Gavin Hopkirk phoned in this morning.

"Gavin told me that the body

would be found up Ten Pound Lane."

When did he say that?

Late Friday afternoon.

A full 14 hours before Dawn�s body was found.

Hey?

Got a warrant for your son�s arrest.

What�s this about?! What�s going on?!

He ain�t done nothing.

- Gavin Hopkirk. - I ain�t done anything!

- Gavin! -I�m arresting you on suspicion

-of the murder of Dawn Ashworth. - Gavin, it�ll be okay!

You do not have to say anything, but anything you do say

may be used in evidence against you.

- Get him dressed! - I�ve not done nothing!

-I�ve not done nothing! - Calm down!

Calm down! You�re gonna get something.

Hold on. I�ll be there, son.

I�ll be there. Leave him!

-Just leave him! - I promise you --

-Dad, I ain�t done anything! -Look, he�s done nothing!

Leave him! Leave him!

Leave him! He�s a kid!

I ain�t done anything, though. I ain�t done anything.

- I�ll be there! -I ain�t done anything!

Don�t say nothing, son! Don�t say nothing!

All right, Gavin.

We having music?

It�s a new innovation I�ve decided to use.

Records everything we ask you and everything you say to us.

Why�s that?

To make sure we�re telling the truth.

Gavin, we have witnesses who saw you with your crash helmet

down by the motorway.

You were there. We know you were there.

It was raining.

I parked up.

So you were there.

Only for a bit.

When it stopped raining, I left.

Did you see Dawn?

I don�t even know who she is.

So you parked near the motorway near to Ten Pound Lane.

Yeah. It was raining.

I parked up.

Is that when you saw Dawn?

Did you see Dawn and then follow her?

Did you see Dawn?!

-And then follow her? - Only halfway.

Mind, I never went the whole way.

So you do know her?

I didn�t mean that.

You never went the whole way.

Is that why you killed her? Because she wouldn�t let you?

Who said I killed her?! I never touched her!

-I weren�t even there! - You were there.

You have just told us that you were there.

You told a police officer he was searching in the wrong place.

Just leave me alone!

Okay, okay. We�ll, uh...

We�ll take a break now, Gavin.

Give you time to think what it is you�re telling us.

Can I go home?

No. You�re going to have to stay here a while.

We�ll talk tomorrow.

Police are continuing to question a local teenager

who was arrested two days ago

on suspicion of the rape and murder

of Enderby schoolgirl Dawn Ashworth.

- Is that him? - That�s him.

Think we got our man?

I�ve got a few questions for you.

Sir, will you be releasing a statement?

Has Gavin got any previous convictions?

How are they doing?

They�ve been at it all morning, sir.

Come on, Gavin.

You parked your motorbike. It was raining.

You saw Dawn.

I may have done. I don�t know.

You told us yesterday you saw her.

She didn�t let you go the whole way, did she?

-She�s not that kind of girl. -How do you know that?

Because she�s not.

Is that why you raped her?

Is that why you forced her?

How did you know where the body was hidden?

You told a friend.

I went home.

You don�t have an alibi, Gavin.

You were there. We know you were there.

Boss.

Come on, now, son.

I saw her.

I talked to her.

What did you and Dawn talk about?

Not sex. Dawn�s not like that.

Was this before you went up Ten Pound Lane, or...

I knew you�d blame me for it.

You�re a good lad, Gavin.

I know that.

And I also know that you never meant it.

I got her onto the ground.

I thought she wanted it, but she kept on pushing me away...

telling me to get off her.

So, what did you do?

I grabbed her.

I pulled down her trousers.

And she wouldn�t stop shouting, and -- and so I hit her.

I hit her to shut her up.

And then what did you do?

I-I gave it to her.

I grabbed her.

I pulled down her trousers.

And she wouldn�t stop shouting, and -- and so I hit her.

I hit her to shut her up.

And then what did you do?

I-I gave it to her.

Well done, sir.

Dawn wasn�t wearing trousers.

Well, he�s getting mixed up with Lynda Mann.

Boss, he raped and killed them both. We know that.

Yeah?

-Hopkirk�s blood results, sir. - Ah.

Oh.

It�s an exact match with the killer.

-Sir.

Thank you, Gavin, for telling us about Dawn.

Now we want you to tell us about Lynda.

We know you killed her.

You killed them both.

No, no.

If I�d killed Lynda, I�d have bloody well said.

But I didn�t, and there�s no way you can prove that I did.

Gavin Hopkirk, I�m charging you that on the 31st of July, 1986,

you raped and murdered Dawn Ashworth.

Charge desk.

Alan.

Have you got a sec?

What?

Why is Hopkirk

refusing to have anything to do with Lynda Mann�s murder?

Why is he admitting to one, but not the other?

He�s just playing games with us.

Or maybe he�s telling us the truth.

He killed Dawn, but not Lynda.

-No. That�s just -- -He knows what happened --

it�s in all the papers -- tries to copy it.

But he�s confessed.

You heard him. I heard him. We�ve got him.

There�s a local scientist here

who�s found a way of proving paternity.

Bully for him.

Excuse me. I�m looking for Dr. Alec Jeffreys.

-You know where I can find him? -Yes.

-He�s just down there. -Oh.

Thank you.

-Dr. Jeffreys? -Yes?

Detective Chief Superintendent David Baker.

Oh, uh, this is not what it looks like.

Uh...

I�m wondering if I can have a word with you

about a case I�m working on.

Uh, of course.

Yes. You�d better come to my office.

The paper said it was as unique

-as a fingerprint. - That�s correct.

And you get it from a blood sample?

Well, every living thing has DNA,

so, in theory, hair, body fluid, skin tissue...

Everything has DNA?

-Everything living. - Oh.

Why do you ask?

I was hoping you could help me.

How?

A young man has confessed to killing Dawn Ashworth.

I want you to prove he also murdered Lynda Mann.

Three years ago in Narborough, similar circumstances.

Yes.

We�ve got a semen sample from the victim.

Which would be almost three years old?

Does that mean that you can�t do it?

Well, to be quite honest,

we don�t know yet how fast DNA takes to degenerate.

But, in theory, it�s possible.

Yes.

Right, so, I�ll send you the blood from Gavin Hopkirk

and the samples from Lynda Mann as soon as possible.

Right.

Uh, how long will the test take?

Well, I�m not really sure.

To be honest, this was never really meant

as a tool for police work,

but, rest assured, we will do what we can.

Well, okay.

Oh.

Right. We�ll be in touch, then.

Okay.

Alec?

Okay.

Hair sample from Lynda Mann.

This is Gavin Hopkirk�s blood.

And a semen sample taken from Lynda Mann.

Uh, what is it?

It�s an item of her clothing.

Right.

What do you think?

I think we should run the test again.

This is the genetic pattern of Lynda Mann.

And this is the genetic pattern of the semen.

As you can see, Lynda�s two distinctive characters.

Sorry. I don�t understand.

Well, the semen sample contains some of Lynda�s genetic code.

Also some of her assailant�s genetic code.

So we know this is Lynda, and this is her assailant.

Now, this is Gavin Hopkirk�s genetic code.

As you can see, it�s completely different from the semen sample.

So are you telling us

that Gavin Hopkirk didn�t kill Lynda Mann?

Yes.

-Look, the bar codes -- -Sod the bar codes.

That lad confessed to the murder of Dawn Ashworth,

-and we know he killed Lynda. -Okay, Dr. Jeffreys --

Look, Dr. Jeffreys is talking through his ass.

Sorry. Right.

Alec, I want you to run the same test

on the samples we�ve got from Dawn Ashworth.

I thought you had a confession.

We do. It�s on tape.

We need to be sure.

- Absolutely.

Thank you.

Dawn Ashworth�s profile.

This is her genetic pattern,

and this is the pattern of her assailant.

And this, as you know, is Gavin Hopkirk�s profile.

I�m sorry.

Are you sure?

Are you 100% sure?

There�s no doubt.

Gavin Hopkirk did not murder Lynda Mann,

nor did he murder Dawn Ashworth.

But what we do know is that it was, indeed, the same man

that raped and murdered both girls.

It just wasn�t Gavin Hopkirk.

Well, this is a complete fucking disaster.

The Forensic Science Service have confirmed the test results.

The Home Office have read them.

So we�re back to square one.

Be that as it may.

We�ll inform the CPS

and Mr. Hopkirk�s solicitor immediately.

He�s to be released without charge.

Yes, sir.

Why did the lad confess, hmm? Did you pressure him?

Everything is on tape, sir.

My team is above suspicion.

When I speak to the press tomorrow,

you�re gonna be sitting right next to me. All right?

Yeah.

Is it me, or have you gone to cloud cuckoo land?

- Oh. Come on. -You�ve got the evidence.

We�ve witnesses who put him at the scene.

He�s admitted he was there, and he�s confessed!

Who in their right mind would confess to a crime --

to a murder that they didn�t commit?!

I don�t know, Alan!

But it wouldn�t be the first time, would it?

Chances are, we�ll never know,

but the DNA proves it beyond doubt.

So, what? His confession is worthless?

The confession of an innocent boy.

A boy who could have ended up behind bars

for God knows how many years.

Come on.

Listen, like it or not, the science has saved us.

Well, of course the police are angry.

But it�s not you, Alec.

It�s the evidence, the science.

What if it�s wrong?

What if I�m wrong?

What if I�ve missed something obvious?

No. Without you, that lad

would have been convicted and jailed for life

for something he didn�t do,

and the real killer would still be out there.

The real killer is still out there.

Are you sure you don�t need me to be there?

I�m sure.

They�re gonna question the science. You know that.

Listen, you proved we got the wrong man.

It�s my job now to make sure we catch the right one.

David.

It�s time.

Yeah, listen, I�ve got to go.

Yes, all right. Bye-bye, David.

-No? -No.

Stick to the press release.

Keep it simple. Let me answer the questions.

Leicestershire police have called a press conference

at their headquarters in Enderby.

All right.

Lead the way.

-Good luck.

Ladies and gentlemen, if I could have your attention, uh...

D.C.S. Baker will make a short statement.

Thank you.

After new tests were carried out

by Dr. Alec Jeffreys of Leicester University,

the charges against Gavin Hopkirk have been dropped.

How can you be letting someone go

after they�ve already confessed?

We�ve used a relatively new process

called genetic fingerprinting.

The tests that were carried out

do not implicate Mr. Hopkirk in the murder of Lynda Mann.

The results of the tests

indicate that a person as yet unknown

is involved in the deaths of the two girls.

So, what are these new tests?

The details are in the press release.

From what I understand, genetic fingerprinting

has not been tested in criminal court.

But it has been proved in immigration and paternity cases.

So you�ve wasted all this time on Hopkirk

when you should have been out there searching

-for the real killer. -

What does this mean for the community

of Narborough and Enderby?

I think we should leave it there, all right?

-All right. -Thank you very much.

Why�d you confess, Gavin?

Huh?

I�ll be seeing you.

Yeah.

Are you gonna be all right?

-See you later. -Bye.

-Morning. - Morning.

How many people were you expecting for today�s lecture?

Uh, the usual -- 20, 25.

Don�t tell me no one�s turned up.

Right.

First question -- What do we know about seals?

We�d rather hear you talk about the release of Gavin Hopkirk.

Well, to catch fish, seals have to dive underwater

for long periods of time.

What has this got to do with Gavin Hopkirk?

Everything.

And if you can�t see that, then we�re all in trouble.

Now, would you please kindly leave my lecture?

Right now!

So, to do this, they have to store oxygen in their muscles

in the form of myoglobin.

We�ve been made to look like right bloody charlies.

The DNA proves it wasn�t Hopkirk, okay?

Gavin Hopkirk confessed!

It doesn�t matter. It wasn�t him.

-It was on the tapes! -Lads! Lads!

That�s enough.

You agree with me, though, don�t you?

Geoff, it doesn�t matter what I think or what you think.

If the boss is happy, then so are we.

I thought I had him.

And I know you all thought the same thing.

We were wrong.

Right, I want no hankering after what might have been.

We start again.

No, actually.

We think of this as a whole new investigation,

which means we go through everything that we�ve got

piece by piece --

every statement, every phone call,

every house-to-house, interview.

Yeah?

We can do this.

And we have to...

because the one thing we know for certain

is that this man will do it again...

and again and again until we find him.

And cut there.

Okay, come to me.

How was that?

She�s walking all wrong.

Dawn would never walk like that. She�s too flat-footed.

Go on.

Thanks for doing this, Mrs. Ashworth.

She was me best friend.

I keep thinking she�s gonna come home from school

and we�ll have our usual little chat.

Then she�ll go off and do her homework.

And what makes it worse -- He�s living in one of the villages.

And I look around, and I think, "It could be him,

or it could be him, or"...

We�ll find him.

I promise you.

Right, we�re on.

The first of this month�s reconstructions

is of a crime that you may have read about.

Indeed, you may have thought that it was solved.

-Alec? -It�s been in the news.

It�s about two girls from the same school in Leicestershire

who were both 15, both sexually assaulted, and both murdered.

Suspicion fell upon a 17-year-old...

It�s on now.

-Right. -He was arrested.

And in a tape-recorded interview, he made a statement

and was charged with Dawn�s murder.

But with nothing to link that suspect with the earlier crime,

police used, for the first time in criminal history,

a complex forensic test

known as DNA or genetic fingerprinting.

You okay? Shall I turn it off?

No. This is history.

It�s all because of you, son.

Or you can ring the incident room at Enderby.

That�s on 0533 482400.

That�s 0533 -- the code for Leicester -- 482400.

It leaves a tremendous gap.

It�s not only a daughter

that we�ve lost, but certainly I�ve lost a very good friend.

Incident room. D.C. Kholi.

-Hello? Yes.

Yes. And what�s your name?

- Yes, sir. That�s right.

- Sharon Smith.

-Okay, Sharon. What did you see? -Incident room.

-D.S. Taylor.

When was this?

-What you got?

The usual crazies.

A couple of mediums.

One of them is convinced the killer is a police officer,

which is why he�s getting away with it.

We�ll investigate every lead we�re sent,

but there�s nothing here that we haven�t been through before.

Needle in a bloody haystack.

Where you going?

This is not all I do.

I�ve had an idea.

-Right. -Come on. I�ll show you.

So, the man we�re looking for is a serial killer.

Our research shows us that serial killers

tend to kill within a 5-mile radius of where they live --

their so-called hunting ground.

Well, the girls� bodies were found here and here.

If I draw a circle roughly within a 5-mile radius

of that center point, our man is in there.

So, how do we flush him out?

We�ve got the genetic fingerprint of the killer.

It�s the only real piece of evidence we�ve got.

In 1948, a young girl was murdered in Blackburn.

The only clue was a fingerprint

on a bottle of medicine by her bedside.

And the D.C.I. at the time decided to fingerprint every man

who was over the age of 16 that night in Blackburn.

And after checking over 40,000 fingerprints -- 40,000...

...they finally got their man.

You think we could do the same here?

Why not?

We�ve now got the genetic fingerprint.

The principles are still the same.

You�d have to test the blood of every male

between the ages of 15 and 34.

Is it possible? That�s what I want to know.

It would be time-consuming, labor-intensive.

It would certainly be expensive,

�cause we couldn�t possibly do it here.

We�d have to set up a whole new facility.

But, um...

...yes, it is possible.

How on earth do you propose getting 5,000 men

to give blood -- press-gangs?

We ask them to volunteer.

And then what? A nice cup of tea and a biscuit?

Come on, David.

And what about civil liberties?

The press are gonna have an absolute field day.

I can see the headlines now --

"Vampire police take young men�s blood."

We�re not going to ask them to do anything

that we don�t want them to do, you know.

Why would anyone volunteer to have their blood taken?

Because they know the killer of these two women

is living amongst them.

I can�t believe you�re part of this.

I realize the scale of what I�m asking,

but a radical, new, proven science,

together with the scientist who first invented it...

What if the killer just avoids giving his blood?

He�ll have seen the headlines.

He�ll know that as soon as he does so --

That�s exactly what we�re anticipating will happen, sir.

Every man who lives in each of the three villages

will get a letter asking him to come to one of our centers,

where their blood will be taken.

If any man fails to turn up, we shall want to know why.

Won�t he just leave the area?

Someone moves, we track him down...

go after him to take part.

And what if he gets someone else to take the test for him?

That�s what I�d do.

Then we will have forced his hand.

He knows the net is closing in.

He�s got a choice -- try and avoid the test,

which will only arouse suspicion;

do it and get caught; or get someone else to do it for him.

And if that happens,

well, his secret�s been compromised, hasn�t it?

Let�s just say I agree to what you�re proposing.

There�s no way the Home Office

will sanction anything like this.

We�re just gonna to have to try and persuade them.

What�s the name of this woman we�re seeing?

Joy Blakefield.

Is she a minister?

No. She�s a civil servant.

I thought we were seeing --

We get Joy Blakefield on side, we�re home and dry.

We can�t do the tests at the university.

We just don�t have the resources.

So the Forensic Science Service...

Is quoting over �100 for each blood test.

Yes. That includes the cost of the doctors

who have to take the blood, the premises.

Not all the blood samples

will have to go through to the full genetic test.

If they�re not the right blood type...

Is this the best use of our limited resources?

5,000 blood samples times �100 --

That�s a budget of �500,000

for what is, essentially, an experiment.

With all due respect, I don�t think you quite understand --

With all due respect, Detective Chief Superintendent,

I think I do.

No, David, she�s right. This is an experiment.

Nobody knows what the outcome�s going to be

because nothing like this has ever been tried before.

Believe me, I share your caution.

We�re all taking very real risks here --

reputations, careers, money.

But what are we doing here?

What�s the risk of not carrying out this experiment?

Another teenage girl being raped and murdered.

More than that,

I think this new test might be able

to find the man who committed these murders

and prevent him from committing any more.

I believe ICI now own the patent for your invention.

That�s correct.

My understanding is that the Home Office

feel they should have Crown privilege

over Dr. Jeffreys� invention.

It would certainly make things a lot easier.

Well, ICI have already invested a great deal of money

into developing these new techniques.

I understand that, and good for them.

This government�s all for rewarding free enterprise.

-But the fact remains... -This is all about money.

I would love to support this idea,

but I also live in the real world.

Where does the �500,000 come from?

Nurses? Teachers? Bobbies on the beat?

Yet you found it for the miners� strike.

Sorry.

Well, let�s just see what happens.

- Here we are, sir. -

Oh. Thank you.

- Hello, Alec. - David.

Have a sit-down.

So, Denis Thatcher was at ICI last week.

Yeah? And they told him about the Home Office�s reluctance

to pay for the privilege of using your invention.

So Mr. Thatcher has a word with his missus,

who let it be known that if the Home Office doesn�t cough up,

she would want to know why.

You�re working for Thatcher now.

Well, whoever it is, we got what we wanted.

Blood testing�s on.

How is the Forensic Science Service doing?

Well, I spoke to Peter Gill. And we�re ready to go, I think.

All we need to do now is persuade the locals.

Now, this is our best chance to convince the community.

All right.

Carry on.

So don�t fuck it up.

Firstly, can I say that we are only interested

in men between the ages of 18 and 34?

But Dr. Jeffreys here can talk to you

about blood samples and the process,

but from the police point of view,

we�re not interested in speeding fines or TV license evasion

or whatever the media like to speculate about.

What we want to do is to catch the killer.

What we need is more police on the beat.

And more street lighting.

Our children are coming home in the dark from school.

I understand your concerns,

and we are liaising with the local council.

But tonight�s meeting is --

What I don�t like is, you�re treating us all as guilty.

Yeah, till the professor there manages to prove otherwise.

Sir, our aim is simply to exclude people

from the investigation.

Once we get the results, we�ll send letters to every man

telling him that his name has been cleared.

What are you going to do after with all these blood samples?

Once we find the killer, we will destroy all the samples.

Who�s to say that, in a few years� time,

DNA fingerprinting won�t be rubbished?

- -�Cause -- Well, Dr. Jeffreys --

-Alec, will you... -Yes.

Uh

We are all different from each other...

Unique. And this uniqueness can be seen

in the form of our genetic makeup.

Now, we get this from our mothers and fathers,

who get their genetic makeup from their parents, and so on.

What if someone don�t want to do it?

- Yeah. - Yeah.

Excuse me. Can I say something, please?

I lost my -- our daughter to this fiend.

We all want to catch him.

And if that means every man of the right age

having to give a tiny bit of blood in order to do so,

then, for God�s sake, let�s get on with it.

- Yeah!

A sample of blood -- That�s all it takes.

It�s then carefully sealed into one of these

and carefully labeled and sent to the laboratory,

where it undergoes a series of processes

that, in the end, produces a bar code,

just like you see in the supermarket.

This is what my genetic fingerprint looks like.

What if there�s a mistake?

Yeah.

Let me be absolutely clear about this.

There is no mistake.

All of us have one of these,

and all of them are different, unique.

This is me. This is my unique code.

And this...

...is the code of the killer.