Who Trolled Amber? - Introducing: Three doors down

Episode Date: October 2, 2023

Introducing Three doors down: a murder, a mother and a thirty year investigationIn May in a packed room at Newcastle Crown Court, David Boyd, was found guilty of the brutal murder in 1992 of seven year-old Nikki Allan. Sharon Henderson, Nikki’s mother, called for a public inquiry into why it had taken the police so long to find and convict her daughter’s murderer. When Nikki was murdered, Sharon was a single mother of four living in Wear Garth, a rundown housing estate in Sunderland. David Boyd lived a few floors above Sharon in the same block. He was known to the police. He was the kind of offender who should have been caught. Three doors down tells the astonishing story of Sharon Henderson’s thirty year campaign to get justice for her daughter’s killing. It shines a light on police behaviour and their treatment of working class women. It’s a personal tale of trauma and resilience in the face of systemic police failure, that couldn’t be more timely. Listen to the full series today. For the premium Tortoise listening experience, curated by our journalists, download the free Tortoise audio app. For early and ad-free access to all our investigative series and daily and weekly shows, subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts.If you’d like to further support slow journalism and help us build a different kind of newsroom, do consider donating to Tortoise at tortoisemedia.com/support-us. Your contributions allow us to investigate, campaign and explore, and to build a newsroom that is responsible and sustainable. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This story begins with what feels like the end. David Boyd, stand up. For the murder of Nicky Allen on 7 October 1992, the sentence of the court is one of life imprisonment. You will serve a term of 29 years... David Boyd was sentenced in May this year for the brutal killing of a seven-year-old girl. He was a convicted child sex offender

who lived three doors down from the place where she went missing. As an investigative team, we have worked tirelessly, tirelessly on what has been a complex and challenging investigation. Our commitment has always been to establish who was responsible and to bring them to justice. It looks like a victory for Lisa Theker, the chief investigating officer, and for policing in general. But how did it take three decades to find the killer?

I needed to do it myself because nobody's gone to come out there, Sharon, now and get justice for your band. You have to go out there yourself and do it. George Heron was, he looked weak, he looked feeble, he looked pale, greasy hair, big glasses. He was kind of your stereotypical child murderer, if you like. Do you think that police might make a judgement on someone based on their appearance or on their background? No, no. No, I don't think so. This is a story of class prejudice, police corruption

and a shocking miscarriage of justice. It wasn't your fault. None of it was your fault. I didn't give a shit about rumours, but I believe more people would have come forward if the police had worked properly on the case instead of fucking it up. And a mother who never stopped looking for the man the police missed.

I'm Julie Bindle, and this is Three Doors Down. A murder, a mother, and a 30-year investigation.