Detective Chief Inspector Neil John's story

If anyone thinks that they can commit a murder in London and get away with it, they are absolutely deluded.

Episode two centred on the investigation to uncover the truth behind the disappearance of Agnes 'Dora' Akom in Camden in 2021.

At court, His Honour Judge Marks praised the 'outstanding police team', adding: 'This is police work of the highest order and we are proud and have a debt of gratitude to the team'.

Neil and his team worked tirelessly to ensure Agnes Akom's family got the closure and justice they deserved.

We spoke to Detective Chief Inspector Neil John, who was the officer in charge of the investigation.

Can you tell us about what happened when you were first made aware of the case? How you were first informed of the case and what were the first things you had to do?

Agnes was reported missing by her partner after he had not seen her for two days. The local Criminal Investigation Department (CID) then investigated the matter for a further five days, during which time Agnes was elevated to high-risk as a missing person. It was at this point that we were contacted for advice and assistance. One of the first tasks is to read through everything and make sure we understand the issue in front of us. Lines of enquiry created at the start of an investigation, if built upon inaccurate or false information, can lead to a huge waste of time. Where someone’s life maybe in danger, every second counts. We start with proof of life enquiries. For example, we examine social media, contact family and friends, check bank details, to see if there is any sign of life. In this case, there were none. 

At what point of a missing person investigation does it get handed over to the Murder Investigation Team (MIT)? 

I think it is important to put into context the high number of missing persons that are reported to police on an annual basis. This in turn will explain, what is often a very difficult decision to make, when a MIT team considers taking over the primacy of such an investigation. Particularly in a case such as this, where there was no body. 

In 2021 there were almost 40,000 reports of missing persons in the Met, which is across all settings of being low, medium or high risk. In simple maths this is almost 100 people a day. Out of these, four missing people sadly ended up as a homicide investigations. It is not uncommon for a murder investigation team (MIT) to provide advice and assist colleagues when missing persons are graded as high.

There does however come a point when a decision needs to be made as to whether or not a murder investigation team takes primacy. You can see by the huge number of reports that we simply couldn’t absorb every high-risk job, especially when the vast majority of people return safe and well.

There are only 20 murder investigation teams across the whole of London. Selecting missing persons where there may be a homicide is very difficult, particularly like in this case where there was no body and no early evidence or indication of foul play.  

Most challenging part of the investigation?

There were so many twists and turns in this investigation, keeping on track and following each possible hypothesis was a tough ask, especially when everything we seemed to do had the clock ticking in the background, with little or no time to complete. Also being tethered to a microphone and having a camera following me all the time proved challenging to say the least.

CCTV is a big part of your investigation. Was there a significant piece of CCTV that was a breakthrough for your case? What does it show and how did it help?

There was one part in the timeline where we had no reported sightings of the defendant’s car. PC Chris Hough re-checked this and found the car turning into an industrial estate where Paizan discarded Agnes clothing.

This was hugely significant which prompted a change in direction and the eventual location of Agnes body.  

The suspect's car was tracked all across north west London by officers moving from road to road and watching at each junction where the car went. Often, there would be blind spots so it is simply a case of going to the next junction and the one after that and that, until the car or person is picked up.

Imagery can often be grainy or at a distance but the CCTV officers have a particular skill and are able to follow the briefest of glimpses until we arrive at a point where a picture starts to emerge and we have a product we can use at court. 

What would you like the public to take away from the episode?

There are two for me.

In the vast majority of cases where people go missing, they return safe and well.

If anyone thinks that they can commit a murder in London and get away with it, they are absolutely deluded. 

The Met has a very proud and envious detection rate compared to other cities and countries of about 100%. This fluctuates depending on the time of year and is currently at 95%.

Most memorable moment from the investigation?

It's quite a sad one but we were looking for Agnes all hours of the day for a period of 28 days.

Each day, I would drive into work along the North Circular Road and home again the same way thinking about the job and where she could be. As you will be aware, Agnes was eventually found in Neasden Park, her resting place literally less than 100 metres from where I was driving twice a day every day. 

Can you tell us about your team and the different roles they have in investigating a murder?

Each investigation has several core roles which are given to individuals. These are usually rotated to maintain and improve the team’s exposure and experience to the roles. The roles will include family liaison officer, exhibits officer, CCTV coordinator, digital intelligence officer and witness officer, to name but a few. We are all fairly well-rounded in respect of all the roles and often dip in and help each other out depending on what type of investigation we are working on.

Can you tell us about any of your officers who have gone over and above?

That’s an easy one. All of them. All of the time. 

How long was your investigation into the murder of Agnes Akom?

It was 28 days, which included the day we accepted responsibility to the day we found Agnes. The whole process including the court case however, was well over a year which is common and not unusual. 

Are there any cases that have stayed with you and why?

Each and every case we deal with will have something that will stay with me for the rest of my life. 

The team and I currently have an investigation ongoing which I would rather not experience ever again. 

What would you say to someone who is considering a career in your team?

For me as the SIO (senior investigating officer) working on a murder investigation team, particularly the team that I have, is the pinnacle of my career, which as you can see from my length of service has kept me in the organisation.

The role can be extremely challenging yet very rewarding. 

There are long hours but there is a huge amount of job satisfaction. The only goal and end-result is having a positive outcome within the judicial system. There can be no second place, and as such the team need to be at the top of their game all of the time.