Panoramic view of fields, finishing with Wittenham Clumps; atmospheric shot with racing clouds and shadows
VOICEOVER
Many people were concerned about the location of the new estate in the midst of unspoiled countryside, and within a few hundred yards of a site of special historical significance, known as the Wittenham Clumps.
Shot of hollow on Castle Hill
VOICEOVER
The hills command views of the Oxfordshire countryside for miles around and are rich in folklore. Castle Hill once boasted an Iron Age fort, and near the summit there’s a hollow, known for centuries as the Money Pit.
Cut to shot of raven with night sky and moon
VOICEOVER
A hoard of treasure is said to be buried there, guarded by a ghostly raven.
Close-up: cuckoo in tree
VOICEOVER
And not far away there’s a grove of trees called the Cuckoo Pen. Legend has it that if a cuckoo can be trapped in this grove, summer will never end.
[cuckoo call]
Aerial shot of excavation
VOICEOVER
In the spring of 2015 a new archaeological excavation had started on Castle Hill, and in early June, Hannah herself was the first to break the news of a gruesome find.
BBC Oxford footage taken at Wittenham Clumps
HANNAH GARDINER
I’m told that the skeletons of three women have been found in a shallow grave, a few yards behind me, beyond those trees. They were found face down with their skulls broken, and from the position of the bones, had probably had their hands tied. The bodies are thought to date from the late Iron Age, or around 50 AD. The archaeologists here are refusing to speculate about what this highly unusual burial position might signify, but some with a knowledge of pagan rituals are suggesting that it may relate to the so-called ‘Triple Goddess’, who is often depicted in the form of three sisters. The discovery of animal bones, including several birds, may also be significant. This is Hannah Gardiner, for BBC Oxford news.
Shot of skeletons in pit
VOICEOVER
Within days of the find, lurid stories had started to circulate that the women had in fact been the victims of human sacrifice, and this only added to the strange and highly charged atmosphere that prevailed in the days leading up to that Midsummer Day.
Reconstruction: Shot of calendar, with kitchen scene in background. Calendar has date of Wednesday June 24 circled
VOICEOVER
For the Gardiner family, June 24 2015 started like any other day. Rob got up early to travel to a meeting in Reading, and Hannah also made an early start.
Reconstruction: ‘Hannah’ getting into orange Mini Clubman car, and strapping small boy in car seat. She has a dark brown ponytail and a navy quilted anorak.
VOICEOVER
She’d been conducting interviews at the protest camp the previous week, and she’d managed to persuade Malcolm Jervis to meet her at the site and film an interview. Her usual childminder was unwell, so Hannah had to take Toby with her. She left the house at around 7.30 a.m. to drive to Wittenham, and Rob had already departed fifteen minutes before, heading into Oxford to catch a train to the nearby town of Reading.
Reconstruction: ‘Rob’ on phone looking anxious, pacing up and down
VOICEOVER
At 11.15 Rob tried to call Hannah during a break in his meeting, but got no answer. So it wasn’t till he got home mid-afternoon that he realised something was wrong. There was a message on the answerphone from the cameraman Hannah was due to meet at the site, wanting to know why she never turned up. Rob tried Hannah’s mobile again, and when there was still no reply he called the police. Little did he know then, but his son Toby had already been found. Alone.
Reconstruction: buggy and toy in undergrowth
VOICEOVER
A walker had noticed the empty buggy in the Money Pit as early as 9.30, but it was another hour before Toby was found, hiding in the undergrowth, terrified, clutching his toy bird.
BBC footage: Mini car at Clumps, with police presence and crime-scene tape
VOICEOVER
A huge search is mounted, but no trace of Hannah can be found. The police have no leads.
Interview: Backdrop – interior
DETECTIVE SUPERINTENDENT ALASTAIR OSBOURNE,
THAMES VALLEY POLICE
There was no forensic evidence in the car or on the buggy that shed any light on what had happened to Hannah. We made exhaustive enquiries in the Wittenham area, and although several people came forward to say they’d seen Hannah and Toby that morning, we were no nearer finding out what had befallen her.
Reconstruction: Close-up of computer screens and files
VOICEOVER
Rob Gardiner was quickly eliminated as a potential suspect, and the police then turned their attention to anyone who might have had a motive to harm Hannah.
After examining her laptop they found evidence that she was about to expose questionable financial dealings on the part of MDJ Property Developments. The police interviewed Malcolm Jervis, but he had a watertight alibi. He had been delayed that morning, and only arrived at Wittenham at 9.45.
Reconstruction: Twitter feed
VOICEOVER
Meanwhile, speculation was mounting on social media that Hannah had been murdered in some sort of Satanic ritual connected with the Clumps. The police issued several statements denying there was anything to suggest an occult motive but that didn’t stop the rumours.
BBC footage of protest camp, yurts, people chained to trees, dogs among the rubbish, small children running about naked
VOICEOVER
In this fevered atmosphere, attention inevitably started to focus on the protest camp at the site, which had been swelled by numbers of New Age travellers who’d come to celebrate Midsummer’s Eve.
And as it turned out, there was a link with the camp, just not the one the bloggers and Twitter activists had been suggesting.
Interview: Backdrop – interior
DETECTIVE SUPERINTENDENT ALASTAIR OSBOURNE,
THAMES VALLEY POLICE
Three months after Hannah’s disappearance, a man named Reginald Shore was arrested for an attempted sexual assault on a young woman in Warwick. A police search of his house turned up a bracelet identical to one Hannah Gardiner owned.
DNA analysis subsequently proved that it was indeed hers, and under cross-examination Shore admitted that he had been at the Wittenham camp in the summer. In subsequent interviews, other witnesses were able to corroborate that he had spoken to Hannah when she visited the camp in late May.
Shot of bracelet
VOICEOVER
Shore claimed he found the bracelet at the camp, and didn’t know who it belonged to. The UK’s Crown Prosecution Service considered the evidence, but concluded that the case against him was not strong enough to put before a jury, especially in the absence of a body.
Mugshot of Reginald Shore
VOICEOVER
Shore was subsequently convicted of the attempted assault on the second young woman, and jailed for three years. His family contended that the sentence passed by the judge was heavier than it should have been, because of the publicity surrounding the Hannah Gardiner case.