Full series out now
Three doors down: a murder, a mother and a thirty year investigation
In May 2023 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.
For the premium Tortoise listening experience, curated by our journalists, download the free Tortoise audio app (https://tortoisemedia.onelink.me/Cx9d/c770bd87). For early and ad-free access to Tortoise podcasts, 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 (http://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 (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
This episode introduces the podcast 'The Lab Detective,' which investigates the conviction of Kathleen Folbigg for the deaths of her four children and a scientist's discovery of new evidence.
9 Jul 2024TRANSCRIPT
Introducing...Dangerous Memories
Introducing...Dangerous Memories
When Sarah watched her 23 year old daughter cycle away from her in Chelsea - a well-off corner of London - she had no idea it would be the last time they’d see each other for 6 years. What would make a loving child from a life of privilege sever ties with friends and family, and disappear?
It turns out, Sarah wasn’t alone in losing a daughter. Something strange was happening to other young women, too.
And they all had one thing in common: a kind of therapist figure - a woman they were all seeing and sharing their problems, their secrets, their fears with. But it took years for the truth of what was happening behind closed doors to emerge, and the extraordinary things this woman led them to believe.
Dangerous Memories is the story of young women who wanted to be healed that became, for us, a story about the healer, and what we risk when we let someone else into our mind, and our memory. The first 2 episodes are out now and released weekly. To binge-listen to all 6 episodes ad-free from today, subscribe to Tortoise+ or download the Tortoise app
To find out more about Tortoise:
Download (https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/tortoise/id1441428990) the Tortoise app - for a listening experience curated by our journalists
Subscribe (https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/channel/tortoise/id6442666997) to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content
Become a member (https://www.tortoisemedia.com/join-us/) and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and more
If you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact hello@tortoisemedia.com
Reporter: Grace Hughes-Hallett
Producer: Gary Marshall
Additional reporting and production: Imogen Harper
Sound design and original composition: Tom Kinsella
Theme music: Far Gone (Don’t Leave) by Pictish Trail
Podcast artwork: Lola Williams
Commissioning editor: Basia Cummings
Executive producer: Ceri Thomas
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
15 Nov 2023
Introducing… Legacy
We are partnering with Wondery, so that we can continue to bring our listeners brilliant investigations like Three Doors Down. You can join Tortoise as a member to get early and ad-free access to new series and support our investigations at (https://www.tortoisemedia.com/invite/)www.tortoisemedia.com/invite (http://www.tortoisemedia.com/invite)
From Wondery and Goalhanger Podcasts, this is Legacy. A Corsican boy, an outsider, seizes his chance to make a name for himself when France is turned upside down by a long and bloody revolution. He’s relentless in his pursuit of power, and in the pursuit of one woman.
Listen to the full episode and follow the feed here (https://podfollow.com/1711362652).
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
8 Aug 2023
Episode five - Inquiry
The police say they are not looking for any more victims of David Boyd but we met other women who were confronted by the killer. This episode contains descriptions of child sexual abuse.
This is the final episode of a 5-part series from Tortoise. For the premium Tortoise listening experience, curated by our journalists, download the free Tortoise audio app (https://tortoisemedia.onelink.me/Cx9d/c770bd87).
For early and ad-free access to all our podcasts, 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 (http://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 (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
1 Aug 2023
Episode four - Conviction
Sharon's case should be extraordinary but it isn't. A few miles away from Sharon another mother was left to solve her own daughter's murder after being let down by police.
For the premium Tortoise listening experience, curated by our journalists, download the free Tortoise audio app (https://tortoisemedia.onelink.me/Cx9d/c770bd87).
For early and ad-free access to all our podcasts, 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 (http://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 (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
25 Jul 2023
Episode three - Confession
The number one suspect is interrogated by police until he confesses but it's not until 30 years later that the right man is put on trial.
For the premium Tortoise listening experience, curated by our journalists, download the free Tortoise audio app (https://tortoisemedia.onelink.me/Cx9d/c770bd87).
For early and ad-free access to all our podcasts, 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 (http://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 (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
18 Jul 2023
Episode two - Rumours
Rumours choke the case and a vulnerable suspect is arrested. The first 48 hours after a crime are crucial: what did the police get so wrong in the days after Nikki went missing?
For the premium Tortoise listening experience, curated by our journalists, download the free Tortoise audio app (https://tortoisemedia.onelink.me/Cx9d/c770bd87).
For early and ad-free access to all our podcasts, 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 (http://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 (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
18 Jul 2023
Episode one - Missing
In 1992 on a council estate in Sunderland a seven year old girl is murdered. It took the police 30 years to find the killer, a convicted child sex offender who lived three doors away from where Nikki Allan went missing. What happened on the night of her disappearance?
For the premium Tortoise listening experience, curated by our journalists, download the free Tortoise audio app (https://tortoisemedia.onelink.me/Cx9d/c770bd87).
For early and ad-free access to all our podcasts, 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 (http://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 (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
4 Jul 2023
Introducing: Three doors down
Full series available now
Three doors down: a murder, a mother and a thirty year investigation
In 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.
For the premium Tortoise listening experience, curated by our journalists, download the free Tortoise audio app (https://tortoisemedia.onelink.me/Cx9d/c770bd87).
For early and ad-free access to all our podcasts, 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 (http://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 (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
Inside a recent episode
Introducing...The Lab Detective
Published 22 Jul 2025 · Transcript excerpt
[…] In the same year as Sally Clark's conviction was overturned, the entire human genome was sequenced for the first time. It was the genetic equivalent to mapping the world and open the door to new ways of diagnosing and preventing disease. It made it possible to identify potentially life -threatening conditions that might be able to explain things like sudden infant deaths. But the implications were still unclear and the science was not advanced enough to be used in criminal trials. Instead Meadow and his misleading law had been allowed to dominate the criminal justice system, leading to multiple miscarriages of justice. […]
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