HE’S the investigative reporter whose true crime podcast ‘The Teacher’s Pet’ solved the 40-year-old case of missing Australian mum Lynette Dawson. Hedley Thomas’s gripping investigation, which has had more than 70 million downloads worldwide, saw Lynette’s rugby league star husband Chris convicted of her murder in 2022 – four decades after she disappeared.
And his new cold case podcast has uncovered new evidence about the suspected murder of Bronwyn Winfield and forced police to reassess their investigation into the missing mum of two.
Hedley, instrumental in also proving the innocence of one of the men accused of being connected to the Glasgow Airport 2007 terror attack, is coming to Scotland next year. He believes that true crime journalists turned podcasters are crucial in solving missing person cold cases and some here have piqued his interest.
The 57-year-old said: “When I started doing the The Teacher’s Pet in 2018 I had no idea where it would lead. To know it helped bring Lyn’s killer to justice is both remarkable and extremely satisfying. I first heard about the case in 2001 when I was a reporter covering an inquest and was totally taken aback about the appalling failure of the police to do something about what was clearly foul play.
“I was struck by how absurd and unjust Lyn’s story seemed. A young mother from Sydney’s northern beaches who was devoted to her daughters was being written off as a woman who didn’t care about them, who just ran off while her husband was conducting an extraordinary relationship with a schoolgirl half his wife’s age.
“As I dug deeper, my bewilderment only grew. She had left with just a few clothes – no suitcase, no jewellery, not even her contact lenses. And she had no job lined up, no car and little, if any, money. She supposedly didn’t contact anyone again except the husband who had betrayed and humiliated her which was completely ridiculous.
“I immersed myself in the podcast, interviewing Lyn’s friends, family and neighbours, whose accounts had been either been dismissed or not even considered at the time. I spoke to senior police involved in the investigation and the coroner. All that I learned confirmed what I had suspected all along – Lyn hadn’t just up and left but had been killed by her PE teacher husband driven by an infatuation with his teenage babysitter. Within months of the podcast going out Chris Dawson was charged. At his trial he was sentenced to 24 years.”
After the conviction Hedley realised just how powerful audio investigations can be and set about using his platform to give a voice to vulnerable women like Lyn, whose cases were dismissed or badly handled by police.
He said: “Until recently I don’t think anyone realised the reach podcasts can have. They draw witnesses out who might not have been spoken to before, they shine a light on police failings which families of victims didn’t question at the time and they create an interest which puts pressure on prosecutors to reopen cases.
“Podcasts have international appeal as they are relatable. There are similar stories all over the world about women who went missing in the 60s, 70s and 80s and whose disappearances were not investigated properly.”
Hedley, who has worked on newspapers in Australia, London and Hong Kong added: “Now more questions would be asked and CCTV and DNA would shine more of a light but years ago standards were lower and husbands and partners of missing women were often given a free pass.
“If they had a semi-believable story and they didn’t turn up with scratch marks on their face or blood on their hands then there wasn’t much of an effort put into questioning them. Despite there often being no reason for the women to go missing they were not afforded status of probable victim of murder. Their cases were shipped down to missing persons where they’d languish as a low priority.”
“In most missing women cases, including in Scotland, the victim will have been killed at the time of their disappearance and that is why podcasts by investigative journalists are important in all countries. I am sure there are several cases in Scotland that could benefit greatly from a podcast investigation – vulnerable women deserve to be given a voice no matter how much time has passed.
“I have families contacting me all the time who have heard my podcasts and want me to investigate the disappearance of their loved ones. There are people out there desperate for help.”
Another of his podcasts, Shandee’s Story, forced the reopening of another case. Shandee Blackburn, 23, was killed on her walk home from work in Queensland in 2013. Her ex, John Peros, was charged with her murder but acquitted in 2017. Hedley exposed shocking failures at the government-run DNA lab where evidence was sent. This prompted an inquiry and the reopening of the coroner’s inquest into her death.
The dad of two is now busy working on Bronwyn – a podcast about the 1993 disappearance and suspected murder of mum-of-two Bronwyn Winfield by bricklayer husband Jon, who has maintained his innocence. Hedley said: “A key witness in the case called Judy Singh came forward after many years with a bombshell revelation that she saw Jon Winfield driving his car with what appeared to be a body in the back.
“The NSW homicide squad commander has asked me to copy them in on some of my interviews with her which is an encouraging sign. I think there is more than enough circumstantial evidence for the prosecutors to look at the case. In my mind, he should have been prosecuted years ago but it needs to be put before a jury so they can make that call.”
Hedley, whose wife is Scottish, revealed he feels a certain connection with the families of missing women because his own grandmother disappeared 11 years before he was born. The author, sent to cover The Open at Troon as a 22-year-old, said: “I grew up knowing my father’s mother, who lived on the northern beaches of Sydney, suddenly disappeared when she was 35 and was presumed drowned. This was a really traumatic event in a young family’s life and my dad found it difficult to talk about. I’ve no doubt it was a catalyst in my obsession with cases like Lyn and Bronwyn.”
But it’s not just vulnerable women Hedley has helped – he exposed the flaws in the police pursuit of Mohammed Haneef, an innocent doctor accused of being involved in the Glasgow Airport attack. Hedley, who won Australia’s top journalism award for his series of stories on the doctor’s wrongful arrest, said: “I am never one to go along with what the group think and was appalled at the treatment of Haneef by both the Australian police and government.
“They leaked information to try and paint the doctor in the worst possible light just because he was a distant relation of Kafeel Ahmed, one of the terrorists involved in the London and Glasgow bombings. He was completely innocent.”
Hedley knows what it is like to be the victim of a crime. His work 20 years ago incurred the wrath of criminals trying to silence him. He said: “I feel a real empathy for the victims of unsolved crime as it happened to my family. In October 2002 someone fired four shots at the house while we were asleep.
“One bullet went through the bedroom window and hit the wall above our bed. Police have a list of suspects from investigations I was doing at the time but no one has yet been charged.”
Hedley, who is dad to Alexander, 25, and Sarah, 23, has a huge affinity for Scotland and is heading here next year. He said: “My wife’s dad, Dr Iain Mathewson, grew up in Crieff and went to Morrison’s Academy before studying medicine at Aberdeen University. He was a wonderful man who sadly died a few years ago. He loved to play the bagpipes and introduced me to fine single malt whisky.
“He was a doctor in Mackay, Queensland where Shandee Blackburn was from and there is a tribute to him in my Shandee’s Story podcast. “Podcasts open so many doors and give reporters the chance to catch killers, get the guilty convicted and give justice to families.”
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