Use BBC.com or the new BBC App to listen to BBC podcasts, Radio 4 and the World Service outside the UK.

Find out how to listen to other BBC stations

Episode details

Radio 4,03 Aug 2026,42 mins

Available for over a year

Pieter grew up in Gloucestershire and began attending music festivals as a teenager. Surrounded by drug use, the move into drug dealing was easy for Pieter. Becoming a student, the opportunities opened themselves up to him and his criminal enterprise quickly escalated. In this remarkable interview, Pieter takes us through the story, explaining his mindset and revealing why he made the choices he did – choices that led him to spend several years in a violent, lawless prison in Ecuador. Dr Sally Tilt and Dr Kerensa Hocken are forensic psychologists who work in prisons. Their job is to help people who have committed crimes to understand the harm they’ve caused, identify why it happened and work out how to make changes to prevent further harm after they’ve been released. In Behind the Crime, they take the time to understand the life of someone whose crimes have led to harm and prison. Through this extended interview, we get to the heart of Pieter’s motivations. For details of organisations that can provide help and support, visit bbc.co.uk/actionline Producer: Andrew Wilkie Assistant Producer: Sam Taylor Editor: Clare Fordham Behind the Crime is a co-production between BBC Long Form Audio and the Prison Radio Association.

Programme Website
More episodes