Mark Alan Williams-Thomas (born 9 January 1970) is an English

investigative journalist Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years rese ...

, sexual abuse victim advocate, and former police officer. He is a regular reporter on '' This Morning'' 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, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

crime series '' The Investigator: A British Crime Story''. As a child-protection specialist, Williams-Thomas is best known for exposing Jimmy Savile as a

paedophile Pedophilia ( alternatively spelt 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 puberty a ...

in ''

The Other Side of Jimmy Savile It emerged in late 2012 that Jimmy Savile, an English media personality who had died the previous year, sexually abused hundreds of people throughout his life, most of them children but some as old as 75, and most of them female. He had been w ...

'', a television documentary he presented in 2012 as part of the '' Exposure'' series, which received numerous awards and led to the Operation Yewtree police investigation. He has 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 disappeared from her bed in a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on the evening of 3 May 2007, at the age of 3. '' The Daily Telegraph'' described the disappear ...

Background

Williams-Thomas was born in

Billericay Billericay ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Basildon, Essex, England. It lies within the London Basin and constitutes a commuter town east of Central London. The town has three secondary schools and a variety of open spaces. It i ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

. He was educated at Amesbury School and Pierrepoint, and later attended

Birmingham City University , mottoeng = "Do what you are doing; attend to your business" , established = 1992—gained university status1971—City of Birmingham Polytechnic1843—Birmingham College of Art , type = Public , affiliation = ...

. In 1989, he joined

Surrey Police Surrey Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the county of Surrey in South East England. The force is currently led by Chief Constable Gavin Stephens. Previously the force was led by Nick Ephgrave who left the force t ...

. During his time with Surrey Police, he was a specialist in major crime and child abuse. He left the force in 2000. Williams-Thomas completed his MA in criminology from

in 2007. In 2013 Williams-Thomas was awarded a Post Graduate Diploma (Honours) and master's degree (MA) in Criminology at

Police career

Williams-Thomas was a detective and family liaison officer with

from 1989 to 2000. On 27 November 1995, schoolgirl

Ruth Wilson Ruth Wilson (born 13 January 1982) is an English actress. She is known for her performances as the eponymous protagonist in ''Jane Eyre'' (2006), as Alice Morgan in the BBC psychological crime drama ''Luther'' (2010–2013, 2019), as Alison L ...

aged 16 years went missing from her home in from

Betchworth Betchworth is a village and civil parish in the Mole Valley district of Surrey, England. The village centre is on the north bank of the River Mole and south of the A25 road, almost east of Dorking and west of Reigate. London is north of the ...

, near Dorking Surrey, England. Williams-Thomas was the family liaison officer for Wilson's case, stated that extensive searches across Box Hill had yielded no evidence to suggest she was killed or committed suicide. He also stated that he was sure Wilson was not abducted by a stranger. Williams-Thomas also stated; "From the experience I have had, I would suggest one of two things occurred. She either went up there to meet someone and has subsequently gone away, or she went there and died in some way." In August 1997 Williams-Thomas was part of the investigation into child pornography found in the possession of school teacher Adrian Stark, the director of music at St John's School, Leatherhead, Surrey, who committed suicide shortly after his arrest. In 2001, Williams-Thomas launched the investigation into the child abuse of

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 his successful conviction and imprisonment. 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 ''Murder Prevention'' is a six-part British television crime drama series, written and created by Declan Croghan, that first broadcast on Five on 30 October 2004. Inspired by the real-life Homicide Prevention Unit within the Metropolitan Police, t ...

'' (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), ...

'' and BBC series '' The Silence''. In 2011 Williams-Thomas created and presented a new series on ITV called ''On the Run''. The premise of the series was to track down and confront offenders on the run from the police. The series ran over three seasons. Series 1 was broadcast on 24 October 2011. Series 2 was broadcast on 11 December 2012 and Williams-Thomas was joined by co-presenter Nicky Campbell. Series 3 was broadcast on 29 October 2013 and Williams-Thomas was joined by co-presenter Natasha Kaplinsky. In series three Williams-Thomas and his team pursued a convicted child sex offender on the run in Spain. On 9 August 2012, ITV News broadcast an exclusive interview Williams-Thomas undertook with Stuart Hazell, who was the last person to see missing 12-year-old schoolgirl Tia Sharp. 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

Willliams-Thomas began investigating the Jimmy Savile case in late 2011, after being informed that Savile was investigated by Surrey police in the late 2000s. On 3 October 2012, Williams-Thomas presented the ''Exposure'' documentary ''

'' 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 umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

, 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 advi ...

, 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 ow ...

. 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 Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociat ...

, 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 Operation Yewtree police investigation, which led to the arrest of high-profile celebrities (including

Rolf Harris Rolf Harris (born 30 March 1930) is an Australian entertainer whose career has encompassed work as a musician, singer-songwriter, composer, comedian, actor, painter and television personality. He often used unusual instruments in his performan ...

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

, and Gary Glitter). 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 which was broadcast on 3 October 2012. In 2013, Williams-Thomas won two Royal Television Society awards and the London Press Awards Scoop of the Year for the film. The episode and ''Exposure: Banaz: An Honour Killing'' won a 2012

George Foster Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...

. In September 2013, MP

Tim Loughton Timothy Paul Loughton, (born 30 May 1962) is a British politician and former banker who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for East Worthing and Shoreham since the 1997 general election. A member of the Conservative Party, he was Parl ...

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

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

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...

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. In 2014, Williams-Thomas covered the verdict of Oscar Pistorius 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. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print c ...

''. 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 modeled for ''FHM'' magazine and was the first face of Avon cosmetics in South Africa. Steenkamp once worked as the live roaming presen ...

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

. 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 o ...

''. 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, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of '' The X Factor'' and ''Got Talent'' franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on ...

Syco Syco Entertainment is a British media entertainment 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 2005 through So ...

. 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 guilt ...

, 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 the south-west of England, which includes the largely rural area covered by Dorset Council, and the urban conurbation of Bournemouth, Christchurch ...

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 Reuben Ship and first broadcast by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) on May 30 of that year. The play lampooned the actions of the U.S. House Committee on Un-American Activities ...

'' 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. The Rt. Hon. Michael Ellis QC MP 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 the unsolved murder of teenage mum Nicola Payne. Nicola Payne, aged 18, who was from Coventry and had a 6 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 and remains one of the country's biggest unsolved murder investigations. 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'', Willliams-Thomas said the series might be harmful to Savile's victims due to his face being featured throughout: "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."

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)

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 Alumni of Birmingham City University British investigative journalists British police officers English television journalists People acquitted of crimes People from Billericay People from Surrey Sexual abuse victim advocates