Caitlin Hanna: Trafficked in Belfast

The life and sudden death of a young Belfast woman, and how it fuelled a three-year police investigation that exposed a hidden criminal underworld operating in Northern Ireland. Twenty-one-year-old Caitlin's life was tragically cut short, leaving behind her friends and her mum, Deborah, searching for answers. They had not known that Caitlin had been exploited by a criminal enterprise, where she and many other young women were groomed, controlled and fed drugs by ruthless men. But after Caitlin’s sudden death following an overdose, women bravely began to come forward, putting four men behind bars.

With access to police and family testimony and archive, the programme tells how a bright young school student was targeted by predators. Caitlin wasn’t alone – she was among a group of women who were being used and abused by men purchasing sex. The criminals used coercion, fear and heroin to remorselessly and repeatedly exploit these young people and keep them obedient.