In Portishead, a dusty box of forgotten files led Jo Smith and her team to a criminal who had escaped justice for more than half a century. This was the longest-running cold case to be solved in the UK, and possibly the world

Spanning 58 years, this is believed to be the longest-running cold case solved in the UK, and possibly the world. In November, Smith and her colleagues won Investigations Team of the Year at the National Conference for Senior Investigating Officers. The whole thing still feels extraordinary to her. “It just doesn’t feel real,” she says. “It’s forever giving me goose bumps.”