The Burger Bar Boys: 5. Judgement Day

It’s late 2004 and the buzz of police helicopters and sea of armed police around Leicester Crown Court creates a tense, intimidating atmosphere as one of the biggest murder trials of the decade gets underway. West Midlands police have the men they believe responsible for the deaths of Charlene Ellis and Letisha Shakespeare ready to stand trial for their crimes. But this was not going to be an easy conviction. Detectives had identified 75 people they believed could provide key evidence - yet all of them refused to testify. Then a break came from a man in prison who told prison officers he had seen some of the men in the car involved in the shooting. The problem was - he needed to remain anonymous, and this would involve a legal first.

The trial would go on to last the best part of six months - at that point it was the longest trial in British history and there were several times when it threatened to collapse. Meanwhile, the Burgers were doing everything they could to find out the identity of the secret witness, using extreme violence and intimidation to uncover the name of this faceless man trying to put them behind bars. For the families of Letisha and Sophie and West Midlands police - would they get to witness the killers being put behind bars and finally bring the Burger Bar Boys’ reign of terror to an end?

New episodes are released on Fridays. If you’re in the UK, listen to Gangster: The Burger Bar Boys first on BBC Sounds. bbc.in/40W5Chz

Presenter – Livvy Haydock Series Producer – Hayley Mortimer Technical Producer – Nicky Edwards Producer – Patrick Kiteley Researcher – Megan Jones Archive Researcher – Nicola Han Fixer in Jamaica – Nick Davies Journalism Assistant – Tim Fernley Commissioning Executive – Louise Kattenhorn Assistant Commissioners – Lorraine Okuefuna and Natasha Johansson Editor and Executive Producer – Carl Johnston