Crime World

The horrors of Ireland’s last witch trial will be brought to life by former State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy in a new documentary to be screened over Halloween.Dr Cassidy goes back in time to 1711 when eight women living in the close knit community of Islandmagee were accused of witch-craft, tried, jailed and stoned.Nicola talks with Marie about the fascinating story and the modern investigative skills she brought with her to tell it.

Sharon Lynn and Brian Gallagher both had their lives turned upside down in a second when they lost a brother to separate, violent, unprovoked one-punch attacks. Today, Niall talks to Sharon and Brian about their campaign for changes in sentencing and why they believe we can learn from Australia's Coward Punch initiative.

Veteran criminal John Gilligan is facing more than 11 years in prison for drug and gun charges.An indictment presented to a court in the Costa Blanca heard the 74-year-old was arrested in a villa with ketamine, cocaine and marijuana along with a firearm.Nicola speaks with Niall Donald about the pensioner and what trouble he faces in Spain.

Christa Pike has spent 30 years on Tennessee's death row and last month made international headlines when her execution by lethal injection was botched.Her life is a story of childhood abuse, a brutal murder, and how claims of Satanism led to her conviction.Eamon Dillon speaks to documentary maker Steve Payne, who was part of a crew that interviewed her shortly after she was sentenced to death in 1995.

Gregory Fox, who brutally murdered his wife and two sons has been moved to an open prison as he gets one step closer to freedom.Fox, who is originally from Clondalkin in Dublin, killed his wife Debbie, 30, and sons Trevor, nine, and seven-year-old Killian, in July 2001.It is understood the killer was moved to Shelton Abbey in Co Wicklow this summer as part of his sentence management set out by the Parole Board.Crime World's Caoimhe Young talks to Criminal Justice academic Clare Laxton about Fox and his move to Shelton Abbey.

A man once branded Ireland’s most dangerous teenager is finally ready to face justice for the murder of a harmless addict committed 16 years ago.Kurt Ryan pleaded guilty in relation to the murder of Lee Slattery, who was shot twice at close range and buried in a shallow grave in Limerick in 2010.Ryan smirked as a court heard he’d pleaded guilty to lesser charges after originally going on trial for murder.Nicola talks to Niall Donald.

Gangland killer Nicky McConnell has vowed revenge after an innocent female relative was wrongly targeted in a case of drug debt intimidation.McConnell wants to identify who threw a petrol bomb destroying the car of his associate mistakingly believed to owe money.Nicola talks to Niall Donald about McConnell.

The partner of jailed Hennessey brother Jason Hennessey Jnr has been refused an application to have two motorbikes seized by gardaí returned to her.Kayleigh McEntee claimed the bikes had been gifted to her partner by his murdered father and said she now needed to sell them to buy Christmas presents.Hennessey Jnr is serving an eight-and-a-half-year sentence for his role in the kidnap and torture of Barry Moore.