Man Wrongly Accused Of Murder Thinks He 'Came Across Well' In Drama Deceit

A man who was wrongly accused of murder thinks he 'came across well' in new drama Deceit.

The four-part Channel 4 series is based on the 1992 murder of Rachel Nickell, which Colin Stagg was wrongly accused of committing.

Having identified him as a suspect, London's Metropolitan Police force deployed an undercover female officer to form a relationship with him, in order to elicit a confession.

But Stagg was later found not guilty in court and awarded more than £700,000 in compensation.

PA

Now, almost 30 years since the killing which turned his life on its head, Stagg is satisfied with how he has been depicted in Deceit.

Speaking on Good Morning Britain on Thursday (26 August), he said: "I come across in it quite well, there are a few items I could argue against but I'm not bothered about that."

He added: "The way they portrayed me I was roughly like that, a bit awkward and shy.

"I was just responding to what Lizzie [the undercover officer] was telling me. Any man would tell any woman a lie to get what they want. It was no different from that basically."

Despite the media scrutiny and time spent incarcerated as a result of the police 'honeytrap' operation, Stagg said he holds no grudges.

He said: "I don't blame the police at all, all they were doing was their job and they got wrapped up in the false statements people were making at the time.

"I couldn't blame them for being convinced it was me."

He added: "I am over it. I don't see myself as a victim, I never look backwards, backwards is negative, forwards is positive. When people ask me I can't remember anything about it."

Channel 4

You can now watch Deceit in its entirety on All 4.

A synopsis reads: "Examining the complicated and toxic sexual politics of the early '90s and the police's obsession with the wrong man, Deceit enters a dysfunctional world, where a female undercover officer, codename 'Lizzie James', is asked to become sexual bait for a suspected killer.

"Five months on from the crime, the Met Police are still no closer to capturing the man they're convinced is responsible. First identified through a BBC Crimewatch appeal, the evidence points to Colin Stagg (Sion Daniel Young).

"The media feed a national obsession, covering every detail of the case and demanding justice. The police are determined to catch the man who, in their eyes, is guilty before he kills again.

"In desperation, the relatively young Detective Inspector leading the case, Keith Pedder (Harry Treadaway), engages the nation's most famous criminal profiler, Paul Britton (Eddie Marsan) to help devise a bold undercover operation which will see an attractive, young female officer (Niamh Algar) start a relationship with an innocent man, Colin Stagg."

Topics: TV and Film, crime, UK Entertainment

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey