Mark Alan Williams-Thomas (born 9 January 1970) is an English investigative journalist, sexual abuse victim advocate, and former police officer. He is a regular reporter on ''

This Morning This Morning may refer to: * ''This Morning'' (TV programme), a British daytime television programme * ''This Morning'' (radio program), a Canadian radio show which aired from 1997 to 2002 * ''CBS This Morning'', an American morning show, succes ...

'' and

Channel 4 News ''Channel 4 News'' is the main news programme on British television broadcaster Channel 4. It is produced by ITN, and has been in operation since Channel 4's launch in November 1982. Current productions ''Channel 4 News'' ''Channel 4 News'' ...

, as well as the ITV series '' Exposure'' and the ITV and

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

crime series '' The Investigator: A British Crime Story''. As a TV presenter, Thomas presented the documentary which exposed

Jimmy Savile Sir James Wilson Vincent Savile (; 31 October 1926 – 29 October 2011) was an English media personality and DJ. He was known for his eccentric image, charitable work, and hosting the BBC shows ''Top of the Pops'' and ''Jim'll Fix It''. A ...

as a

paedophile Pedophilia ( alternatively spelled paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of pube ...

in '' The Other Side of Jimmy Savile'', a television documentary he presented in 2012 as part of the '' Exposure'' series, which received numerous awards and led to the

Operation Yewtree Operation Yewtree was a British police investigation into sexual abuse allegations, predominantly the abuse of children, against the English media personality Jimmy Savile and others. The investigation, led by the Metropolitan Police (Met), st ...

police investigation that resulted in the convictions of

Rolf Harris Rolf Harris (30 March 1930 – 10 May 2023) was an Australian musician, television personality, painter, and actor. He used a variety of instruments in his performances, notably the didgeridoo and the Stylophone, and is credited with the inventi ...

and

Max Clifford Maxwell Frank Clifford (6 April 1943 – 10 December 2017) was an English publicist and convicted sex offender who was particularly associated with promoting " kiss and tell" stories in tabloid newspapers. In December 2012, as part of Operat ...

. He also investigated several other high-profile cases, including the

disappearance of Madeleine McCann Madeleine Beth McCann (born 12 May 2003) is a British missing person, who at the age of 3 disappeared from her bed in a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Lagos, Portugal, Lagos, Portugal, on the evening of 3 May 2007. ''The Daily Telegraph'' ...

and the PPE Medpro scandal surrounding

Michelle Mone Michelle Georgina Mone, Baroness Mone, (''née'' Allan; born 8 October 1971) is a Scottish businesswoman and life peer. She has set up several businesses, including MJM International Ltd in 1996 and the lingerie company Ultimo along with her ...

Education

Williams-Thomas was awarded an MA in criminology from

Birmingham City University Birmingham City University (abbrev. BCU) is a university in Birmingham, England. Initially established as the Birmingham College of Art with roots dating back to 1843, it was designated as a polytechnic (United Kingdom), polytechnic in 1971 an ...

in 2007.

Police career

Williams-Thomas was a policeman, and family liaison officer with

Surrey Police Surrey Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the Counties of England, county of Surrey in South East England. The force is currently led by Chief Constable Tim De Meyer. The force has its headquarters at Mount Brown ...

from 1989 to 2000 becoming a detective constable for only a year before leaving due to unspecified circumstances. In August 1997 Williams-Thomas was part of an investigation into child abuse material found in the possession of school teacher Adrian Stark, the director of music at

St John's School, Leatherhead St John's School in Leatherhead, Surrey is a fully co-educational private school for pupils aged 11 to 18. The school offers day, weekly and flexible boarding for approximately 800 pupils. St John's was founded in 1851 to educate the sons of ...

, Surrey, who committed suicide shortly after his arrest. Williams-Thomas worked on an investigation into child abuse by

Jonathan King Jonathan King (born Kenneth George King; 6 December 1944) is an English singer, songwriter and record producer. He first came to prominence in 1965 when "Everyone's Gone to the Moon", a song that he wrote and sang while still an undergraduate, ...

, leading to King's successful conviction. Between 2001 and 2002, Williams-Thomas was the marketing manager and a director of GumFighters, a "national chewing gum removal specialist". The company were hired by various councils to clean their streets. In 2003, Williams-Thomas was charged with blackmailing a funeral home director, after alleging that there were multiple bodies buried in unmarked graves. An article ran in a national Sunday paper describing the mass burials. He was subsequently acquitted. In 2005, Williams-Thomas set up WT Associates, an independent child protection consultancy firm.

Television career

Early television career

From 2003, due to his past in the police force, Williams-Thomas began script advising for various television crime dramas which included BBC series '' Waking The Dead'' (2007–2011), BBC series '' Inspector Lynley Mysteries'' (2007), Channel 5 series '' Murder Prevention'' (2004), ITV series ''

Identity Identity may refer to: * Identity document * Identity (philosophy) * Identity (social science) * Identity (mathematics) Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Identity'' (1987 film), an Iranian film * ''Identity'' (2003 film), an ...

'' and BBC series ''

The Silence Silence is the lack of audible sound. Silence or The Silence may also refer to: Places *Silence, a district of southern Brussels, Belgium People with the name *Silence Dogood, a pen name of Benjamin Franklin * Silence Mabuza (born 1977), South ...

''. On 9 August 2012,

ITV News ITV News is the branding of news programmes on the British news television channel of ITV (TV network), ITV. ITV has a long tradition of television news. ITN, Independent Television News (ITN) was founded to provide news bulletins for the netwo ...

broadcast an exclusive interview Williams-Thomas undertook with Stuart Hazell, who was the last person to see missing 12-year-old schoolgirl

Tia Sharp The murder of Tia Sharp (30 June 2000 – 3 August 2012) was a high-profile case of child murder in the United Kingdom. The victim was a 12-year-old girl, Tia Sharp, who was reported missing from and later found dead at her grandmother's home ...

. Hazell went missing the day after this interview and was arrested later the same day on suspicion of Sharp's murder. He was later charged and on 14 May 2013 was jailed after changing his plea. The judge ordered that he serve a minimum of 38 years.

The Other Side of Jimmy Savile

Williams-Thomas began investigating the

case Case or CASE may refer to: Instances * Instantiation (disambiguation), a realization of a concept, theme, or design * Special case, an instance that differs in a certain way from others of the type Containers * Case (goods), a package of relate ...

in late 2011, after being informed that Savile was investigated by Surrey police amid the 2007 Jersey child abuse investigation. On 3 October 2012, Williams-Thomas presented the ''Exposure'' documentary '' The Other Side of Jimmy Savile'' on ITV, in which five women stated that they had been sexually abused by Savile as teenagers. By late October 2012, the scandal had resulted in inquiries or reviews at the BBC, within the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

, the

Crown Prosecution Service The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is the principal public agency for conducting criminal prosecutions in England and Wales. It is headed by the Director of Public Prosecutions. The main responsibilities of the CPS are to provide legal adv ...

, and the

Department of Health A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their o ...

. The exposure of Savile as a paedophile led to extensive media coverage, including 41 days on the front pages. In June 2014, investigations into Savile's activities at 28 NHS hospitals, including Leeds General Infirmary and Broadmoor

psychiatric hospital A psychiatric hospital, also known as a mental health hospital, a behavioral health hospital, or an asylum is a specialized medical facility that focuses on the treatment of severe Mental disorder, mental disorders. These institutions cater t ...

, concluded that he had sexually assaulted staff and patients aged between 5 and 75 over several decades. In response to the documentary, the Metropolitan police launched the

police investigation, which led to the convictions of high-profile celebrities (including

, and

Gary Glitter Paul Francis Gadd (born 8 May 1944), better known by his stage name Gary Glitter, is an English former singer who achieved fame and success during the 1970s and 1980s. His career ended after he was convicted of downloading child pornography i ...

). Williams-Thomas presented the follow-up documentary ''The Jimmy Savile Investigation'' later that year. ''The Other Side of Jimmy Savile'' and ''Exposure: Banaz: An Honour Killing'' won the 2012

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...

which was broadcast on 3 October 2012. In 2013, Williams-Thomas won two

Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

awards and the London Press Awards Scoop of the Year for the film. In September 2013, MP

Tim Loughton Timothy Paul Loughton, ( ; born 30 May 1962) is a British politician and former banker who served as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for East Worthing and Shoreham (UK Parliament constituency), East Worthing an ...

made a statement to Parliament in which he praised Williams-Thomas for his "modest but game-changing ITV documentary that exposed Jimmy Savile".

Later television work

Following the Savile documentary, Williams-Thomas presented two further ''Exposure'' documentaries; ''Exposure: Predators Abroad'' and ''Exposure: Inside the Diplomatic Bag''. His undercover work in

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

led to the arrest in 2013 of a person suspected of offering underage girls for sex and the rescue of two girls, aged 13 and 14. Also that year, Williams-Thomas presented an ITV program called ''On the Run''. Williams-Thomas and his team pursued a convicted child sex offender on the run in Spain. In 2014, Williams-Thomas covered the verdict of

Oscar Pistorius Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius ( , ; born 22 November 1986) is a South African double amputee, former professional sprinter, and convicted murderer. He was the 10th athlete to compete at both the Paralympic Games and Olympic Games. Pistorius r ...

and was the only British journalist to meet with Pistorius during his trial, writing an exclusive report for UK national newspaper ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...

''. On 24 June 2016, ITV broadcast ''Oscar Pistorius: The Interview'' in which the former Paralympian spoke in a world exclusive to Williams-Thomas, in his first television interview about the night he shot and killed his girlfriend,

Reeva Steenkamp Reeva Rebecca Steenkamp ( ; ; 19 August 1983 – 14 February 2013) was a South African model and paralegal. She modelled for '' FHM'' magazine and was the first face of Avon cosmetics in South Africa. Steenkamp once worked as the live roaming p ...

in 2013. It was broadcast in Pistorius's home country of South Africa immediately after the ITV programme finished. On 11 November 2014, ''

'' broadcast an exclusive interview with Jo Westwood, the ex-wife of sex offender Max Clifford. In 2015, Williams-Thomas investigated the unsolved murder of BBC presenter

Jill Dando Jill Wendy Dando (9 November 1961 – 26 April 1999) was an English journalist, television presenter and newsreader. She spent most of her career at the BBC and was the corporation's Personality of the Year in 1997. At the time of her death, he ...

. Writing in the ''Daily Mirror'' he theorized that she was murdered by the London underworld for her work on ''

Crimewatch ''Crimewatch'' (formerly ''Crimewatch UK'') is a British television programme produced by the BBC, that reconstructs major unsolved crimes in order to gain information from the public which may assist in solving the case. The programme was or ...

''. Williams-Thomas was the reporter for ITV's crime series ''The Investigator: A British Crime Story'', produced by

Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality and businessman. He has judged on the British television talent competition shows ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003), ''The X Factor (British TV series), The X Factor UK ...

Syco Syco Entertainment is a British media entertainment and production company, headquartered in London, founded and owned by British entrepreneur and record executive Simon Cowell. The company focuses on TV production. The company was formed in 2 ...

. The series re-examined a 30 year old previously 'closed' murder case, the

murder of Carole Packman Veronica Anne Packman (née Thornton, c. 1945 – June 1985), known as Carole Packman, was a 40-year-old British woman who disappeared from her home in Bournemouth, England in June 1985. Her husband, Russell Causley (né Packman), was found guil ...

, whose body has never been found. The series was broadcast over four consecutive weeks on ITV, from 14 July 2016.

Dorset Police Dorset Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the county of Dorset in South West England, which includes the largely rural area covered by Dorset (unitary authority), Dorset Council, and the urban conurbation of Bournem ...

subsequently confirmed that the case remained open and that they would be examining new evidence presented by Williams-Thomas. Series 2 of Williams-Thomas's crime series ''

The Investigator ''The Investigator'' (1954) was a radio play written by Communist Reuben Ship and first broadcast by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) on 30 May of that year. The play lampooned the actions of the U.S. House Committee on Un-American ...

'' returned to ITV in April 2018 in a three-part series. Series 2 of ''The Investigator'' featured the case of murdered student Jessie Earl, who disappeared from Eastbourne in 1980, her remains being found in 1989. In November 2020, in response to a campaign led by Williams-Thomas into Earl's murder, the Solicitor-General, in a highly unusual move, gave permission to appeal the verdict for a fresh inquest. MP Michael Ellis said: "I have concluded the initial investigation was insufficient and further lines of inquiry should have been pursued. It is in the interest of justice the application for a new inquest be heard by the High Court." In 2019 Williams-Thomas started investigating for a new crime series on the unsolved murder of teenage mum Nicola Payne. Payne, aged 18, who was from Coventry and had a six-month-old son at the time, went missing on 14 December 1991. She was on her way to her parents' home. Her body has never been found. In September 2020 following the arrest of Charles and Doris Clark on suspicion of the murder of their 23 years old son Steven, who disappeared in December 1992, Williams-Thomas was given exclusive access to follow the family for a TV documentary while they were under police investigation. In April 2022, in an interview discussing the Netflix documentary '' Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story'', Williams-Thomas revealed concern about it, saying that the series might be harmful to Savile's victims due to his face being featured throughout, stating that, "I do worry as far as victims go, it's one of the things that strongly gets criticised now when the story's talked about, seeing his face - his picture on the front page. For those victims to see his face consistently over and over again, that is very traumatic for them." Williams-Thomas made similar remarks in October 2023 about the crime drama series ''The Reckoning'', which recounted Savile's crimes, in particular in the portrayal of an incident based on Claire McAlpine, who committed suicide aged 15 and left behind a note making allegations against several disc jockeys. Williams-Thomas criticised the casting of the character's race from white to Asian. Williams-Thomas was criticised for his comments about the character's race. In December 2023, Williams-Thomas released a

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

documentary, ''The Interview: Baroness Mone and the PPE Scandal'', purportedly to investigate the government's controversial "VIP Lane" at the start of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The documentary was funded by PPE Medpro, and featured a series of interviews with

and

Douglas Barrowman Douglas Alan Barrowman (born March 1965) is a Scottish businessman. He founded the Knox Group of Companies and has invested in Ve Interactive, Aston Ventures, and Equi Capital. He is married to Michelle Mone. In 2022, in a series of investiga ...

, both of whom faced allegations of fraud and bribery and received significant public backlash for their association with PPE Medpro. Two experts who appeared in the documentary said they were "duped" by Williams-Thomas into appearing in the documentary. Williams-Thomas defended the documentary, stating that, "we have been totally upfront about who funded the programme." A strapline stating that PPE Medpro fully funded the documentary is inserted into the documentary, around 1 hour and 11 minutes in.

Filmography

* ''To Catch a Paedophile'' (series) (2009; ITV) * ''Tonight: Bullies online'' (2010; ITV) * ''On The Run'' (series) (2011–13; ITV) * ''Exposure: The Other Side of Jimmy Savile'' (2012; ITV) * ''Exposure: The Jimmy Savile Investigation'' (2012; ITV) * ''Missing Without Trace'' (2012; ITV) * ''Bamber: The New Evidence'' (2012; ITV) * ''Living With a Killer'' (2013; ITV) * ''Exposure: Predators Abroad'' (2013; ITV) * ''Exposure: Inside the Diplomatic Bag'' (2014; ITV) * ''Oscar Pistorius: The Interview'' (2016; ITV) * ''The Investigator: A British Crime Story'' (Series 1 2016; ITV) *''The Investigator: A British Crime Story'' (Series 2 2018; ITV) *''The Interview: Baroness Mone and the PPE Scandal'' (2023; YouTube)

Publications

* ''Hunting Killers: Britain's top crime investigator reveals how he solves the unsolvable.'' Bantam Press, 2019,

References

External links

Official website

WT Associates
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams-Thomas, Mark 1970 births Living people People educated at Pierrepont School, Frensham Alumni of Birmingham City University British investigative journalists Officers in English police forces English television journalists People acquitted of crimes People from Billericay People from Surrey Sexual abuse victim advocates