On The Case

When Scarlett West was 13 years old, she was a normal, horse-mad girl doing well at school with dreams of becoming a police officer until an incident that happened on Halloween where she was viciously attacked and set on fire changed everything. This event was the catalyst that saw her gradually drawn into the murky world of grooming gangs and the beginning of a nightmare for both her and her father Marlon. Hosts: James Tozer and Liz Hull Producer: Osk Petursdottir Sound Design: John ScottProduction Manager: Vittoria CecchiniExecutive Producer: Bella Soames Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As Scarlett gets drawn deeper and deeper into her groomers clutches, she begins to go missing for weeks at a time.  Her dad Marlon, in desperation, spends his nights searching for his daughter.  He reports her missing to the police over 50 times in the space of a year but the police do nothing.  And when the police finally do get involved, she’s arrested and strip-searched when she’s only 14 years old. Hosts: James Tozer and Liz Hull Producer: Osk Petursdottir Sound Design: John ScottProduction Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Executive Producer: Bella Soames Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As a single father, the situation becomes too much for Marlon and he asks for Scarlett to be taken into care as he believes this is the only way to keep her safe. During her stay in some of the care homes, Scarlett encounters more predators and when she tries to report them, she isn’t believed. Now aged 19, Scarlett is finally free of her groomers and her father Marlon is calling for a national enquiry into the grooming gangs that are terrorising the UK. Hosts: James Tozer and Liz Hull Producer: Osk Petursdottir Sound Design: John Scott Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Executive Producer: Bella Soames Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For early ad-free access to every episode of On The Case as well as all our other incredible true crime shows, subscribe to The Crime Desk now. Visit thecrimedesk.com to become a member.When Ellie Baxter’s mum and dad wanted help setting up their new business, they called in a young local said to be a whizz with computers.Ten years later they were found dead - and Ellie was accused of her parents’ murder…Now, with the real culprit behind bars, she tells a story with more plot twists than any TV drama…In this episode, Ellie exclusively tells Katie Knight how her parents’ killer Luke D’Witt, who they treated like a son, wove an extraordinary web of lies and deceit so that he could control and ultimately take their lives by secretly overdosing them on the prescription medicine promethazine. Host: Katie Knight Producers: Bella Soames and Òsk Petursdottir Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Studio Manager: Sam ChisholmExecutive Producer: Jamie East  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For early ad-free access to every episode of On The Case as well as all our other incredible true crime shows, subscribe to The Crime Desk now. Visit thecrimedesk.com to become a member.When Ellie Baxter’s mum and dad wanted help setting up their new business, they called in a young local said to be a whizz with computers.Ten years later they were found dead - and Ellie was accused of her parents’ murder…Now, with the real culprit behind bars, she tells a story with more plot twists than any TV drama…In this episode, Ellie exclusively tells Katie Knight about the moment that she discovered her parents’ bodies, at home in Mersea over Easter Weekend in 2023, and about her subsequent arrest on suspicion of their murders. Host: Katie Knight Producers: Bella Soames and Òsk Petursdottir Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Studio Manager: Sam ChisholmExecutive Producer: Jamie East  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For early ad-free access to every episode of On The Case as well as all our other incredible true crime shows, subscribe to The Crime Desk now. Visit thecrimedesk.com to become a member.When Ellie Baxter’s mum and dad wanted help setting up their new business, they called in a young local said to be a whizz with computers.Ten years later they were found dead - and Ellie was accused of her parents’ murder…Now, with the real culprit behind bars, she tells a story with more plot twists than any TV drama…In this episode, Ellie exclusively tells Katie Knight about what it was like to come face to face with Luke D’Witt – her parents’ killer and someone she thought of as a friend – for the first time since his arrest and how she only learned about the exact horrifying circumstances of her parents’ murder in the courtroom, where she was a witness for the prosecution. Host: Katie Knight Producers: Bella Soames and Òsk Petursdottir Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Studio Manager: Sam ChisholmExecutive Producer: Jamie East  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 2003, a man named Urfan Sharif arrived in the UK on a student visa after leaving his home in Jehlum, Pakistan.  Sharif spent the next 20 years terrorising and abusing the women and children in his life.  In this episode, Andy tracks these 20 years by speaking to other journalists that have covered this case.  We also have an exclusive interview with Angelika, the woman who Sharif dated when he was 26 and she was still only a teenager.  She recounts the controlling behaviour that eventually led to her being held captive and violently attacked. Finally we look at the missed opportunities that authorities had to stop Sharif, who would eventually go on to murder his 10-year-old daughter Sara in 2023.

In the early hours of the 10th of August 2023, Surrey police receive a phone call from a man named Urfan Sharif. During the phone call he confesses to killing his own daughter, 10 year-old Sara Sharif.  What the police didn’t realise was that he was 1000s of miles away in Pakistan.  He had gone on the run with his wife, brother and remaining children.  In this episode we follow the extraordinary man-hunt conducted by the Pakistani police to flush out the wanted fugitives.  We also examine the diplomatic minefield the police had to navigate in the absence of an extradition treaty between the UK and Pakistan.