The dream of owning property in The Caribbean plus gaining a large financial gain on your investment. For many of us it is the dream. And Essex businessman David Ames played on this as he lured investors with the promise of a Caribbean dream, but, the reality was a fraud he perpetrated which left thousands with the nightmare of losing life-savings and pensions.

Through glossy brochures, slick marketing events and the pulling power of so-called celebrities, he persuaded people to invest in off-plan holiday cabanas and apartments across the Caribbean and in Brazil. They lost everything whilst he and his family lived a life of luxury.

This week, I look at the scandal of Harlequin Properties.

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Life was pretty good for Paul Brady. He had just got engaged to Emma and the big day was set for the following spring.

Paul was a foreman responsible for security at a number of local site and one sunny Saturday morning he met up with a joiner, David Collier, and headed to a local property to make some repairs after the house suffered some vandalism the evening before. By 2.10pm, all was done and the two men were driving away when the peace of the day was shattered and their path was blocked when a people carrier blocked their way along the road and another vehicle came up behind their cars – a classic pincer movement. Both men knew straight away it was an ambush and they were in trouble. These assailants weren’t amateurs – they were armed with metal bars and baseball bats and one had a shotgun. All were wearing black, tight-fitting ski masks and identical black hooded tops and black trousers. They weren’t messing about.

David managed to escape by jumping in a nearby river but Paul wasn't so lucky and suffered a dreadful beating. He was then taken away by the gang. Just who had kidnapped Paul Brady? And why?

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Sources

https://www.uktruecrime.com/2024/10/14/the-ambush/

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Vikki Thompson lived in a village near Oxford with her husband Jonathan, two young children and the family dog, Daisy. At about 4pm one Saturday afternoon, Vikki took Daisy for her usual afternoon walk in the pretty countryside close to where she lived. Half an hour later, Daisy returned home with no sign of Vikki which was most unusual. Jonathan knew something was wrong and headed out to look for his wife where he was joined by others in the village. At just before 7.15pm Vikki was finally found by the railway embankment, but she had been attacked, suffering terrible injuries and despite an air ambulance taking her to hospital in Oxford, just six days later Vikki had died of her injuries.

In this episode of the UK true Crime podcast I ask just who killed Vicki - and why?

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Sources

https://www.uktruecrime.com/2024/10/07/there-is-no-justice-in-death/

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In just one week three people had been murdered in the West Midlands and others had been attacked by the prime suspect, Anthony Russell. The local community were scared by what had happened and naturally concerned for their own safety. Detectives knew they needed to find Russell quickly and launched a major manhunt - before he could kill again.

In this episode of the UK True Crime Podcast I look at this week of terror in the West Midlands.

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Ninety one year old Bill Reilly was a retired builder and a popular resident on the Tower Gardens Estate in Tottenham having lived there with his family there since 1977, although he was not originally a Londoner. In fact, Bill was born in Balla in County Mayo as part of a large family. A builder by trade, he had a strong work ethic and despite the manual nature of his job, he continued working right up until the age of 78. SO just who would have wanted to kill Bill? And why?

Writing Credit: Chris Wood

You can buy Chris's second book, 'Death in the Theatre' here: https://www.amazon.com/Death-Theatre-Chris-Wood/dp/1399009117

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Sources

https://www.uktruecrime.com/2024/09/24/the-murder-of-bill-reilly

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I know, I know you don't use a travel agent any longer. But the service offered by Lyne Barlow, an independent travel agent in County Durham was incredible - way cheaper than everyone else and when you asked her why she would say that the bigger players ripped you off. And all your family and friends were using her and getting great deals on dream holidays. Why not get yourself a deal?

But unfortunately, that old adage about if something seems too good to be true it usually is, held true with the agency operated by Lyne Barlow. But her scale of deception was staggering....

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Sources

https://www.uktruecrime.com/2024/09/17/the-travel-agent/

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Julie Hill was a nurse working in the endoscopy unit of the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield. Also working there at this time was Doctor Colin Shawcross and the obvious attraction between the couple led to a sexual relationship developing. There was a slight issue as both were married and living with their partners. However, the relationship continued to deepen and by the summer both realised that they wanted to be with each other. This meant they both had the dreadful task of telling their partners that they were leaving them. In this case these conversations resulted in the most shocking of outcomes...

See me live in Kings Cross, London on Saturday 14 September

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Sources

https://www.uktruecrime.com/2024/09/10/the-murder-of-dr-colin-shawcross/

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It was a man with an Irish accent who made the warning call with a recognised code word to British Rail at Waterloo at about 8.50pm, saying that a bomb would go off at The London Stock Exchange in 20 minutes. But there was no bomb at the Stock Exchange. At 9.23om, a huge bomb exploded at The Baltic Exchange, half a mile from where the caller had said the attack would take place.

The result was terror, chaos, loss of life and multiple serious injuries. In this episode of the UK True Crime podcast, I tell the story of the horror that was The Baltic Exchange Bombing.

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