NEW 24 Hours in Police Custody - tonight 9pm - Channel 4

[teddydaniels]

A TV documentary that follows the work of a police force will show how the investigation into the actions of a teenage killer unfolded.

Nicholas Prosper used a shotgun to kill his mother Juliana Falcon, 48, his brother Kyle, 16, and his 13-year-old sister, Giselle, at their home in Luton on 13 September 2024.
The 19-year-old, who was arrested in the hours after the murders, was jailed for 49 years in March. A trial heard he intended to carry out a shooting at his former primary school.

The Channel Four series 24 Hours in Police Custody, which follows the work of investigators at Bedfordshire Police, will feature the case over two nights on 5 and 6 October.

He was obviously mentally unwell. What he was unwell with doesnt really matter but there was something wrong with him. The obvious lack of empathy, the lack of insight, the lack of awareness over the seriousness of the situation, the lack of guilt, sadness, remorse, the fixation and almost relationship he formed with a character that doesnt exist, the entire fabricated reality he lived in etc all direct you towards a mental illness.

Combine that with the obvious ND. The hyperfixation and obsession with a character, the lack of empathy can feed into this, unhealthy obsessions, and irregular social skills that lead him to form connections with characters instead of people can be associated with ND.

Does any of that excuse, justify, or mitigate his actions? Of course not.

But i think it explains them. If we take away the ND is it likely he would have committed the same act? Id say probably. But if we took away the mental illness would he have done it? I dont think he would.

I think the ND is a contributing factor, and the MH is a reason, without distorted thoughts about what is and isnt real it probably would never have occurred.

Its sad all round, its sad he was never picked up on before, sad no one recognised what was happening, sad for his family he murdered, sad for his family that have to live every day with this tragedy, sad for the community knowing what he was planning to do.

i dont think what he did is excusable, and he deserves the prison sentence, but i think the MH has to be considered, as had that been recognised, and him treated and monitored, been on someones radar, it just wouldnt have happened.

Agreed.

If you read the sentencing report though he was assessed and wasn’t considered to be mentally ill. ASD and psychopathy were the most likely factors but neither of those mean that he was mentallly unwell.

you are right, but, psychopathy is considered to be a mental health condition, not an illness. Its a trait. I think the difference is the understanding of reality which is why it isnt an illness, its a long time since i learned about them. But from what i remember, its a mental health condition as it affects processing but not an illness as it doesnt affect reality? But alot of people with psychopathy can also be diagnosed with anti social personality disorder as the trait can be used diagnostically for aspd.

i think. Its early and im digging deep into my memory

That “lockdown” related to school shooting language- not Covid.

I rewatched it. When he was being led to the police vehicle he asked twice if the schools were in lockdown.

Later in the programme a policeman was relaying the background his father had given - that he had been very different to the rest of the family, he would get interested in a subject, get fixated and research all aspects of it. He was non-aggressive and polite.He was into gaming - Minecraft and Roblox. He had a habit of not answering his phone. His behaviour deteriorated during lockdown. They tried to get him active, tried to engage with him but he refused, he wouldn't speak.

He was obviously mentally unwell

Why? He didn’t come across as mental unwell at all. Wanting to do horrible things and being a pedophile isn’t mental illness.

He’s just a very bad apple that happens to also have ASD.

He wasn’t talking about Covid lockdown. He wanted to undertake a school shooting. To do that he would need to get access to a school before it was known that there was a gunman on the loose and they locked down. His plan went wrong and he had stashed the guns wanting to go back and get them before going to the school. If the schools were in lockdown there would be no point. Also he might have wanted to know the effect he had been having on others.

I can’t see how you’ve made the connection between him deteriorating during Covid and that comment. He was planning a school shooting.
What is the response in the community to man on the lose with a gun? They Lockdown. He’d been on the lose about 3 hours when he was arrested. It was very much about whether the schools were locked down.

Agree about the school in lockdown comment

nowt to do with Covid. They lockwd down to protect themselves from harm

As I said in my post, later in the programme the policeman relaying the background the boy's father had given said that he, his father, had said his, the boy's, behaviour had deteriortated in lockdown. There were two mentions of lockdown, one was the covid one, the other was the boy asking if the schools were in lockdown. I watched it again specifically to see that I hadn't misheard.

You didn’t mishear, We all agree those things were said-But just saying those things aren’t related as you’re suggesting

Yes. But two different uses of lockdown. The two are not related.

Not sure what your point is because in the above post it sounds like you’re trying to say he’s asking about lockdowns as in covid lockdowns but in further posts you say that’s not the case. It’s a bit confusing.

https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/SENTENCING-REMARKS-NICHOLAS-PROSPER.pdf

I read the full sentencing remarks and found it informative. I was also interested in how his asd influenced or rather exacerbated his behaviours, but from the documentary and additional sentencing marks it’s clear that he was also a very disturbed and depraved person - for example he meticulously planned to deceive when buying the shotgun, it mentions that the reason he didn’t want his phones to be found was because he didn’t want to get his pedophile friends in trouble (clearly knows that what he was doing was wrong), the type of material he was viewing and just the extreme violence he inflicted on his family members (and additional plans he had for them and others). I also found it interesting at some of his reactions, like for example when he started laughing when the custody officer told him he wouldn’t get bail due to his remarks about fleeing.

He did mention falling out with friends in June and the police officer alluded to it, but I wonder if it was then that his real intentions and things he had been doing began to surface more e.g. collecting extreme images of children, visiting extreme gore sites. Obviously it does mention that his parents tried to get him to engage with mental health services and he refused so there was some understanding of the state of mind he was in, he was kicked out of school for example, but two of the people he was living with were children and his mother was probably stuck between a rock and an extremely hard place, while I imagine also lacking the knowledge of exactly what he was looking at. Having dealt with someone with mental health concerns too, you do become fatigued as it is so so difficult to get help if the person won’t engage, and at times you end up minimising or avoidant, or even enabling of the way they are behaving, it almost becomes the norm.

It did make me incredibly concerned for the types of things that people are accessing on the internet and the types of games people are playing, and has definitely made me think even more about that for my kids in the future. It is also hard not to feel paranoid about the types of people that are out there, combined with the lack of interventions and funding. Overall a very very sad and disturbing watch.

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I never thought the two uses of lockdown were related, I'm sorry for any confusion I've caused.

Just started watching this. He clearly has severe, but functioning autism.
The armed police are being very patient with him. What a horrific tragedy it is.

Just started watching this as my daughter is in a specialist school and the teacher sent an email to say they are going to be watching as part of pshe lessons this week about the dangers of video games. She’s 14, autistic - she already gets cross about stereotypes of autistic people in books and tv not sure how I feel about her watching this , she’s very naive and sheltered doesn’t play video games beyond adopt me style - she’s also a non reader and doesn’t get inference or pick up social cues - to those that have watched further does this feel appropriate there’s only her and one other boy in her class - not aware if he’s into video games. She probably won’t pick up on the emotions of the police officers but I’m finding it a tough watch.

I’m not sure I’d want a 14 year old to watch that particular episode.

Mmm seems an odd way to teach children that age about the dangers of video games

Surely there's better ways...

I don’t think it’s appropriate for a 14 year old to watch. It talks of snuff films, child abuse and graphic murder.

It’s completely inappropriate, I would email and say i don’t consent. I found it an unbelievably hard watch. They don’t intend to make them watch the whole thing do they, surely?

I wouldn't let a14 year old NT child watch it, it's a hard no for a ND child. What is school thinking?!

Thank you - I did reread the email several times and he was definitely saying the latest episode - I know it’s trying to make things relatable but I know she’ll struggle with this one but wasn’t sure if I was in danger of trying to do right by her but other 14 year olds may be ok - now to word an email… his was a this is what we are doing and wasn’t asking permission

The court summing up notes are a sickening read.

So much talk on here of him having autism. My husband has autism and was chronically bullied when younger. I do sympathise.

But- this level of evil, whatever led him there, is inexcusable.

The Internet, the worst places on the Internet, are a cesspool for people with autism. They are prime fodder for getting caught in its web.

The animated porn, anime/ manga stuff, that he watched before committing these atrocities is child porn in disguise. Its a gateway to worse.

Whatever led him there, his is a mind that had become evil in the truest sense, and surely there would be less sympathy on this thread if he had actually committed the primary school massacre he had planned later that day. Especially if your own child had been killed at his hand.

That poor mother, what she must've gone through just before she died, as she realised how bad things had become, and what he had become.

If you have autistic children, protect them as much as possible from what lurks online.