The shocking true story of one of Britain’s most secretive, groundbreaking and successful police covert operations
Bristol, 1979.
A sexual predator roams the streets…
Young women are warned not to go out alone…
Enter the Decoys.
For several years, a prolific predator haunted the city of Bristol, UK. Avon and Somerset Police had tried all their usual tactics to catch the ‘Clifton Rapist’, and public pressure was mounting.
In 1979, a daring new plan was introduced – unlike anything previously attempted by a UK police force. A small group of young female officers – some aged just 18 – volunteered to put their lives on the line, walking the quiet residential roads late at night, acting as bait.
Drawing on in-depth research and first-hand interviews with the women at the heart of the operation, Decoy is a dramatic retelling of one of the most groundbreaking agent provocateur stings in British history.
The gripping true story of how Detective Superintendent Julie Mackay brought Melanie Road’s murderer to justice.
BATH, 1984
Jean Road, a 49-year-old mother of three, awakens to news that her daughter Melanie has been murdered in a nearby street as she walked home from a club in the early hours.
Britain’s biggest manhunt begins. A trail of blood is found leading away from the scene. It’s a rare blood type. But despite a year-long inquiry and 94 arrests, the case is wound down. No one is charged with Melanie’s murder.
AVON & SOMERSET POLICE HQ, 2009
Detective Sergeant Julie Mackay, a 41-year-old single mother of three who has been overlooked for promotion for years, transfers to the Cold Case Unit. She unearths a file from the original inquiry and becomes hooked by the details: the rare blood type, Bath on a summer’s night, the investigative wrong turns … She takes on the case, and with the help of Melanie’s inspirational mother works tirelessly to rebuild it.
This is the true story of how she did it.
