ELEMENTARY, MY DEAR PODSON

Returning podcast series Was Justice Served? invites listeners to re-examine some of the country's most infamous crimes by sifting through Victorian-era documents. Former Crimewatch presenter and Met detective Rav Wilding, who kicks off episode one, reveals some of the strange cases... including the verdict that outraged Sherlock Holmes

- By Karen Rockett

FORMER Crimewatch UK presenter Rav Wilding is no stranger to playing detective. After all, the former Metropolitan Police officer has spent much of his professional life looking at cold cases. Which is why he is the first guest on a true crime podcast that examines potential miscarriages of justice from over a hundred years ago.

Rav isn’t the only one who likes to hone his detecting skills. According to new research, super-sleuth Brits have gone from playing armchair detectives watching TV murder mysteries to digital detectives, with more than half of UK adults admitting they “investigate” high-profile crimes online.

From the identity of Jack the Ripper to the disappearance of Lord Lucan, the murder of Jill Dando and trying to work out what happened to missing Suzy Lamplugh and Claudia Lawrence, we are morbidly fascinated by these unsolved cases.

Now, a second series of the hugely popular podcast, Was Justice Served?, from UK genealogy website Findmypast has just launched for digital detectives keen to do some real sleuthing with old documents.

The series reexamines six historical cases discovered in old press cuttings, including the Daily Express, from over a hundred years ago. It offers a refreshing twist on the true crime format loved by so many.

By giving free access to case files — a set of historical records detailing events as they happened — for each crime, listeners can become jurors and decide for themselves whether justice was served. Hosted by top criminologist Professor David Wilson, alongside genealogist Jen Baldwin, Rav joins them to re-examine the notorious murder of Mary Emsley — the so-called “Wealthy Widow of Stepney” in episode one.

Mary lived alone and frugally, despite owning over 1,000 properties across the East End slums that she had inherited from her husband. On October 22, 1860, the unpopular landlady was found murdered in her home in Stepney.