I have been privileged enough to cover some of the biggest, most absorbing trials in recent British history: for example the serial killer Christopher Halliwell defending himself in court or the drama of hostile-witness-victim in the Cilliers case of the sabotaged parachute.As this trial has just happened, this is lesser-known. But I am sure it will weave its way into the crime documentary/podcast/drama repertoire.In 2012 Claire Holland - a mother of four - vanished in Bristol in the south west of England. At the time police concluded she’d probably suffered a dreadful accident, perhaps drowned in the city’s historic docks.She was never found.Seven years later her former partner, Darren Osment, made a drunken call to emergency services, saying he’d killed her. He handed himself in.Later, when sober and with a lawyer, he retracted this confession.But after seven years, what could police do? They had no body, no weapon, no murder scene, no forensics, no CCTV footage of anything suspicious. They just had the drunken ramblings of an ex.So they deployed a covert police officer to befriend Osment to find out more.The officer was given the legend ‘Paddy O’Hara’ and pretended to be a low-level criminal.Over the next year or so, Osment made 15 references to Paddy that he had killed Claire. But this wasn’t enough to charge.Then in June 2022, Paddy gained ‘Confession #16.’You can see what he said in the video. It is dark. But also darkly revealing. Would this be enough to put to a jury - or for a jury to convict?Rarely in the UK are covert officers used in homicide cases. And I understand this is the first case in British legal history to be built around a confession to an undercover officer.And it is all the more remarkable that these admissions were filmed.This was my report for ITV network news in the UK on December 20th.Next week - a new podcast: The Policewoman’s Secret. An interview with a former officer who gained justice 50 years after she was attacked. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertmurphy.substack.com/subscribe