Somali seaman Mahmood Mattan was hanged for a crime he didn't commit. On March 6th, 1952, Lily Volpert was murdered in the shop she ran in Cardiff's Tiger Bay. What followed was a flawed police investigation and prejudiced trial that ultimately led to Mahmood being hanged for a crime he was not responsible for. After 46 years, his innocence was finally proved in a court of law. But the impact of Lily's murder and Mahmood's execution are still being felt by two families today. For the first time, we hear from the family of murder victim Lily. Ruth was just yards away when her aunty was murdered, and she still doesn't know who killed her. And the surviving family members of Mahmood's family open up about the trauma they felt - and continue to feel to this day - 70 years after Mahmood was hanged.
Episode 1 – “We carry the name”. Available from September 9th
Somali seaman Mahmood Mattan was hanged for a crime he didn't commit. On March 6th, 1952, Lily Volpert was murdered in the shop she ran in Cardiff's Tiger Bay. What followed was a flawed police investigation and prejudiced trial that ultimately led to Mahmood being hanged for a crime he was not responsible for. After 46 years, his innocence was finally proved in a court of law. But the impact of Lily's murder and Mahmood's execution are still being felt by two families today. For the first time, we hear from the family of murder victim Lily. Ruth was just yards away when her aunty was murdered, and she still doesn't know who killed her. And the surviving family members of Mahmood's family open up about the trauma they felt - and continue to feel to this day - 70 years after Mahmood was hanged.
Episode 1 – “We carry the name”. Available from September 9th
Aged just 10, Ruth was just yards away when her aunty was brutally murdered. For the first time, Ruth tells publicly the story of how Lily Volpert was killed in the shop she owned, and they lived in as a family. The police in Cardiff were struggling to make any progress as they hunted for "the silent killer". Then a reward brought forward key witnesses. Despite inconsistencies in testimony, the police made their move and arrested a Somali seaman, Mahmood Mattan.
Presenter and Producer: Danielle Fahiya Sound Design: Cathy Robinson Original Music: Rhodri Llewellyn John Executive Producers: Karen Voisey and Andy Maguire Story Consultant: John Norton Production Manager: Andrea Deere
History consultant: Chris Phillips Archive: BBC Black Britain; ITV Wales.
Police officer and journalist - Richard Elfyn Mahmood Mattan - Ali Goolyad Doris, Margaret Bush & Mary Tolley - Zoe Davies Police officer, Echo vendor and TE Rhys-Roberts - Rhys Downing Harold Cover - Anthony Corria Journalist - Ian Dunnett Jnr