TRAIL OF TERROR
Martin Clunes is back as tenacious DCI Colin Sutton, who is hunting serial rapist the Night Stalker
It may seem so grim it must be a work of fiction, but this grisly tale about a seemingly loving family man who burgled and raped pensioners in their south London homes over a 17-year period is based on a real-life investigation. Operation Minstead was the largest and most complex rape case the Metropolitan Police have ever undertaken – and it is now the subject of ITV’S second Manhunt series.
Martin Clunes returns as the bespectacled, intense and brilliant DCI Colin Sutton, whose memoir was used to create the first Manhunt series, detailing the hunt for schoolgirl Milly Dowler’s killer, Levi Bellfield. Sutton is drafted into Operation Minstead late in the day but manages to solve it in weeks by tracking down Delroy Grant – who was dubbed the Night Stalker.
Police had already made several blunders, discounting Grant from the investigation twice and leaving him free to commit his awful crimes for a further 10 years.
You’d think the officers struggling to find the Night Stalker would be pleased to have someone with Sutton’s record on the case, but it was the opposite. He had become something of a celebrity in the force and the exhausted Operation Minstead team didn’t take kindly to his scrutiny. To prepare for the role, Clunes met Colin and spent time with Hampshire Police’s Serious Crime Squad.
This Manhunt sequel is as much about politics within the force as it is about cracking the case.