Darren Burchett

2 months ago | thetimes.com | Oliver Wright |Dan Atherton |Anthony Cappaert |Darren Burchett

2 months ago | thetimes.com | Ben Spencer |Darren Burchett

Apr 25, 2024 | thetimes.com | Tom Ball |Yasmin Butt |Stephanie Bosset |Darren Burchett

In a community centre in Stockport a group of children stand holding hands in a circle with their eyes tightly shut. On the floor in front of them is a collection of crystal pyramids. “It might get a bit warm,” says their teacher, a self-styled shaman called Phil, who tells his students that the rocks can transmit energy into their bodies. “If you’ve got any injuries they might soon go away. These might start healing you.” It is 2.30pm on a Tuesday in January and these children should be in school.

Apr 6, 2024 | thetimes.com | Gabriel Pogrund |Emanuele Midolo |Venetia Menzies |Darren Burchett

The device — a nondescript black metal box no larger than a laptop — was deliberately designed to stop criminals noticing it. Inside was a state-of-the-art GPS tracker, which was hidden in a red Mercedes rental car whose driver would soon become a murder suspect. Today, the data it contained sheds light on the events surrounding the death of Zac Brettler, 19, who leapt from a fifth-floor balcony overlooking the Thames opposite MI6 headquarters at 2.24am on November 29, 2019.