Share
The Profiler with Kerry Daynes
The Murder of Jamie Lavis (Part 2)
By the summer of 1997, eight-year-old Jamie Lavis had been missing for nearly a month — and the Manchester bus driver who killed him, Darren Vickers, had vanished too. Tracked down to a North Wales fairground, where he was strapping children in and out of rides, Vickers was arrested, then released for lack of evidence, and welcomed back to the Lavis family home with a celebration party. In Part 2, forensic psychologist Kerry Daynes follows the police hunt for Jamie’s body in Reddish Vale Park, the trial that exposed Vickers as a grooming predator and child sexual abuser, and the chilling jailhouse confession he made only after the verdict was in. This is the story of how detectives finally broke through one of Britain’s most brazen killers. Listen now to The Profiler, with Kerry Daynes.
Key psychological themes
This episode explores: brazen manipulation • performative empathy and staged grief • the predator who returns to the scene • grooming and child sexual abuse • blame-shifting and false allegations • the psychology of a post-conviction confession
Contributors featured in this episode
Kerry Daynes — Forensic psychologist, presenter, and author of Dark Side of the Mind and What Lies Buried.
Roy Rainford — Retired Senior Investigating Officer, Greater Manchester Police; led the Jamie Lavis murder investigation.
Asif Husein — Former Greater Manchester Police Family Liaison Officer to the Lavis family; arrested Vickers in North Wales.
David Ward — Former Northern Correspondent for The Guardian; covered the case and the trial.
Jeff Anderson — Former Head of News, ITV Granada, Manchester.
What you'll learn in this episode
How Darren Vickers tried to evade arrest by fleeing to a North Wales fairground job that put him in daily contact with children
Why Vickers kept returning to Reddish Vale Park — and what Kerry Daynes says that compulsion reveals about him
How a single jaw bone, identified through dental records, finally gave detectives enough to charge him
What QC Brian Leveson’s courtroom address exposed about the grooming and sexual abuse of Jamie Lavis
Why Vickers confessed to senior detective Roy Rainford only AFTER the jury’s guilty verdict
How Karen Lavis went from defending her son’s killer to telling the press, on the courthouse steps, that justice had been done
Relevant links and further reading
Kerry Daynes — Dark Side of the Mind (Endeavour, 2019)
Kerry Daynes — What Lies Buried (Endeavour, 2021)
Faking It: Tears of a Crime (Warner Bros. Discovery) — some interviews in this episode were originally featured in the series. Watch on https://www.discoveryplus.com
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/326657.stm — BBC News archive: contemporary coverage of the Jamie Lavis case
https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/disturbing-picture-shows-how-evil-15392826 — Manchester Evening News: how an evil child killer wormed his way into his victim’s family
Support for families of missing or murdered children — Missing People (UK) • Victim Support • NSPCC
Subscribe & follow
If you’re gripped by The Profiler, with Kerry Daynes, follow the show in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. A rating or review takes thirty seconds and genuinely helps new listeners find us.
Visit theprofiler.co.uk
For an exclusive filmed interview with Kerry Daynes on the cases behind the series — including untold detail on the Jamie Lavis investigation — visit theprofiler.co.uk. Subscribe to the newsletter for case updates, parole-hearing alerts, and early access to new episodes.
Credits
Presented by Kerry Daynes
Produced by Shearwater Media
Executive producers: Jeff Anderson and Steve Anderson
Edited by Rob Warner
Content note
This episode contains descriptions of the abduction, sexual abuse and murder of a child, and references to the discovery of human remains. Listener discretion is strongly advised. If you have been affected by the issues raised, support is available from the NSPCC (0808 800 5000) and Victim Support (0808 168 9111)
More episodes
View all episodes
1. The Murder of Jamie Lavis (Part 1)
34:53||Season 1, Ep. 1In June 1997, eight-year-old Jamie Lavis vanished on his way home in Manchester. As his family launched a desperate search, a local bus driver — Darren Vickers — led appeals, comforted Jamie's mother, and walked the same streets where, days earlier, he had killed the boy. Forensic psychologist Kerry Daynes profiles a manipulative predator who weaponises trust and proximity to deflect suspicion: a killer who didn't run, but moved closer. This is the story of how the search for Jamie was, quietly, being steered by the man who already knew where he was. Listen now to The Profiler, with Kerry Daynes.Key psychological themesThis episode explores: manipulative predators • hiding in plain sight • staged grief and performative empathy • the psychology of proximity to an investigation • how communities mis-read familiarity as safetyContributors featured in this episode• Kerry Daynes — Forensic psychologist, presenter, and author of Dark Side of the Mind and What Lies Buried.• Roy Rainford — former detective who led the investigation into Jamie’s disappearance.• Asif Hussain – former police family liaison officer who first raised suspicions about Vickers.• Jeff Anderson, former Head of News, ITV Granada• David Ward — former Guardian journalist who interviewed Vickers before he became the prime suspect.What you'll learn in this episode• Why some predators move toward an investigation rather than away from it — and what that behaviour reveals about their psychology• How Vickerss used everyday roles — bus driver, neighbour, helper — to gain access to the Lavis family• What Kerry Daynes calls "performative empathy": the way manipulative offenders mimic grief to disarm suspicion• Why the small town familiarity that should have protected Jamie became the cover that allowed his killer to operate• How the case changed the way Greater Manchester Police thought about volunteers in missing-child investigationsRelevant links and further reading• Kerry Daynes — Dark Side of the Mind (Endeavour, 2019)• Kerry Daynes — What Lies Buried (Endeavour, 2021)• http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/326657.stm — BBC News archive: contemporary coverage of the Jamie Lavis case• https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/disturbing-picture-shows-how-evil-15392826 — Manchester Evening News: "The Disturbing Picture Which Shoes How An Evil Child Killer Wormed His way Into His Victim’s Family”• Support for families of missing or murdered children — Missing People (UK) • Victim SupportSubscribe & followIf you're gripped by The Profiler, with Kerry Daynes, follow the show in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. A rating or review takes thirty seconds and genuinely helps new listeners find us.Visit theprofiler.co.ukFor an exclusive filmed interview with Kerry Daynes on the cases behind the series — including untold detail on the Jamie Lavis investigation — visit theprofiler.co.uk. Subscribe to the newsletter for case updates, parole-hearing alerts, and early access to new episodes.Credits• Presented by Kerry Daynes• Produced by Shearwater Media• Executive producers: Jeff Anderson and Steve Anderson• Edited by Rob WarnerContent noteThis episode contains descriptions of the abduction and murder of a child. Listener discretion is strongly advised. If you have been affected by the issues raised, support is available from the NSPCC (0808 800 5000) and Victim Support (0808 168 9111).
The Profiler with Kerry Daynes
01:30||Ep. 0Behind every murder is a motive. From revenge to jealousy, from greed to control, identifying what drives people to kill is essential in bringing them to justice.For thirty years, Consultant Forensic Psychologist Kerry Daynes has unravelled the minds behind the darkest crimes. Now, in The Profiler, she takes you inside some of Britain’s most disturbing murder cases, presenting the full stories with the clarity of a seasoned documentary maker, but also stepping outside the narratives to do what she does best: getting inside the mind of each perpetrator to reveal what made them act the way they did.More than just true crime, these are journeys into the darkest extremes of human behaviour — with someone who has actually sat across the table from killers and studied them up close.New episodes every week. Cases drawn from the last three decades of British criminal history.Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, or visit theprofiler.co.uk.