Crime Junkie
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True Crime
The Cruelty
by BBC Radio Scotland
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About the show
In 2021, Davie Donaldson sought to solve the long-standing mystery of the Unknown Bairn, a young boy whose body washed up on a Scottish beach and was never claimed. Since that time, a number of Scottish Travellers have contacted him with stories of children being forcibly removed from their families. This becomes the catalyst for Davie's investigation into why this happened and whether it was sanctioned by the church and state. Along the way, the mystery that began it all re-enters Davies' life, taking him to a truth that's been hidden in the shadows for too long.
Latest episodes
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8. Truth in the Shadows
July 18, 2025 · 33 minDavie returns to the Unknown Bairn’s grave to address unfinished business with the family who found the boy’s body. And does a leaked report commissioned by the Scottish Government, offer hope of some form of restitution for the failures…
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7. Strathmartine
July 11, 2025 · 35 minDavie visits Strathmartine Hospital, a now derelict facility, where removed Traveller and non -Traveller children were sent and often never left. Davie needs to find out: what went on behind those walls?
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6. Alexander and Sandy
July 4, 2025 · 42 minDavie receives a text message that changes so much of what he thought he knew about the Unknown Bairn and the boy he believed him to be. As a new investigation gets underway, a different story emerges.
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5. Cutting the Roots
June 27, 2025 · 29 minBella is a young Scottish Traveller. Through the generations, her family has been broken apart by social services. She explains to Davie how she’s fought to keep her daughter from being taken into care and, in the process, been forced to…
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4. Paper Children
June 20, 2025 · 25 minRosanne McPhee’s dad joked about volunteering to be measured by a Nazi racial scientist because he knew each time his head was measured he would receive a shilling. Davie discovers this was just a part of a wider Nazi Eugenic Policy, which…
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3. Finland
June 13, 2025 · 30 minIn Helsinki, Davie meets former members of a Roma children’s home once visited by William Webb. He discovers the forced assimilation of Roma and Travellers in Finland mirrors much of what happened to Scottish Travellers. Then, in the…
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2. Fear and Sacrifice
June 6, 2025 · 37 minSuspicion falls on William Webb, a Chaplain from The Church of Scotland. His “Cruelty Van” would arrive at Scottish Traveller camps and take children from their families. Then, Davie’s trip to Leeds turns up clear evidence of the actors…
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1. Truth and Half Truths
May 30, 2025 · 37 minThe Unknown Bairn’s siblings tell Davie frightening stories that motivate him to look into the disappearance - and forced removal - of Traveller children. And as yet more Travellers come forward, Davie starts to question the scale of the…