On the night of September, the 4th 1992, Esther and Jessica McCann went to sleep and never woke up. The 36-year-old mother and her 18-month-old-toddler died when a fire swept through the house. It was a tragic loss of life. The young mother had been trying to adopt the little girl she had fostered since her birth. They were inseparable. And it followed a series of events in the home that baffled Esther, her husband, and her family. Was there something more sinister at play here? In this episode of Lines of Enquiry, John Sweetman takes us through the events leading up to that tragic house fire and how a dark secret from the past lurked in the corner.

Ask this episode

“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.