A string of high-profile murder and rape investigations have been helped with the public’s assistance after featuring on Crimewatch...
The BBC has said it is calling time on Crimewatch after 33 years of being a staple on the schedules.
Since it was first broadcast in 1984, the programme has carried hundreds of appeals for information and reconstructed crimes with the aim of catching those responsible.
Here are some of the high-profile crimes which have been solved with the help of the public after being featured on the show:
One of the more shocking crimes shown on the programme was the abduction and murder of two-year-old James Bulger.
Crimewatch broadcast the grainy CCTV footage of two 10-year-old boys with the toddler at a shopping centre in Bootle. After the show, two witnesses rang in and confirmed they had seen Robert Thompson and Jon Venables with James.
A 45-year-old woman, her two daughters and dog were tied up and beaten with a hammer in a savage attack in Chillenden, Kent, in July 1996.
Lin Russell and her six-year-old daughter Megan both died. Nine-year-old Josie miraculously recovered from the ordeal. The Crimewatch reconstruction featured a description of the attacker and they were identified as Michael Stone after a tip-off from a psychiatrist. Stone was sentenced to at least 25 years in prison.
Estate agent Stephanie Slater was kidnapped in January 1992 after meeting a prospective house buyer in Great Barr, Birmingham.
She was tied up and taken to a warehouse where her kidnapper demanded a ransom. She was later released, but the tape was played on Crimewatch and was recognised by a woman who used to be married to the culprit, Michael Sams.
Joel Smith was turned in after a Crimewatch appeal and is serving at least 40 years in prison for the murders of Bertram Byfield and Toni-Ann Byfield.
Smith shot Bertram Byfield three times in his living room and then shot seven-year-old Toni-Ann in the back as she attempted to flee.
Antoni Imiela was identified by a neighbour after an appeal to trace a man who had attacked 10 women in a year.
The attacks were dubbed the M25 rapes as they were committed in areas close to the motorway and Imiela was given a life sentence.
Daytime spin-off Crimewatch Roadshow will continue to be screened, the BBC has said.
A BBC spokesman said: “We believe the successful Crimewatch Roadshow format in daytime is the best fit for the brand going forward and we will increase the number of episodes to make two series a year.
“We are incredibly proud of Crimewatch and the great work it has done over the years and the work Crimewatch Roadshow will continue to do, and this move will also allow us to create room for new innovative programmes in peak time on BBC1.”
