Accused: The Hampstead Paedophile Hoax – 'gripping' filmmaking

Sabine McNeill: unrepentant

(Image credit: Story Films)

published 21 March 2024

In 2015, video clips started to appear online, in which two children made a series of horrific allegations of sexual and physical abuse against parents and teachers at their school in north London, said Daniel Keane in the Evening Standard.

"They claimed the abuse was all part of a Satanic ritual which also involved the killing of babies and drinking of their blood." Police found no evidence of wrongdoing, but the videos "spread like wildfire", fuelling conspiracy theories that refused to die, even when it emerged that the children had been coerced into making false allegations by their abusive stepfather. This "excellent" Channel 4 documentary tells the story of the fallout from the hoax through the eyes of four mothers at the school. They are played by actors, who lip-sync the mothers' voices, which makes it feel a bit "clunky"; but it's still a "compelling story, brilliantly told".