As mid-life crises go, millionaire Peter Morgan's was spectacular. He slept with dozens of escorts, eventually setting one, Georgina Symonds, up in a house, paying thousands a month for the pleasure of her company. When he discovered she was plotting to blackmail him, he hatched a plan to keep her quiet.

Lea Adri-Soejoko and Rahim Mohammadi were very different people, brought together by their shared love of gardening. Refugee Mohammadi's allotment was a mark of acceptance into British society, which is why he would do anything to keep it. Even kill his mentor, kindly 80-year-old allotment society secretary, Lea.

Back-to-school killer Jesse Matthew preyed on young students finding their feet at university. After getting away with a string of campus sex attacks, he took his depravity to the extreme when he began abducting and murdering young, vulnerable women. These were horrendous crimes that went unpunished for years.

Local politician Stephen Searle had a dirty secret; he was sleeping with his son's girlfriend, the mother of his grandchild. When his wife Anne found out she was devastated, humiliated, bitterly angry. After weeks of alcohol-fuelled fights and recriminations Searle and his wife clashed for one final time.

Pilot Iain Lawrence put his wife Sally on a pedestal, until he lost his job. After that, her position as a successful businesswoman was a reminder of the failure he'd become. When their marriage fell apart he refused to accept the loss of not only his wife, but the wealth and status he had grown accustomed to.