10 True Crime Stories That NEED A Netflix Documentary

The story was covered this year by a well received and popular Guardian podcast, but it deserves greater exposure still. The story of the Freshwater Five has it all: high drama, unusual twists and turns, and the possibility for genuine societal impact.

The Freshwater Five are a quintet of fishermen who were arrested in 2010 after their small fishing boat was out at sea around the time 250 kilograms of cocaine washed up on the shores of the Isle of Wight. Radar data along with the testimony of two officers on patrol saw the five men imprisoned for significant sentences.

Two are out, but three remain incarcerated, and all five have maintained their innocence throughout. Until recently the case has been under consistent appeal, and while recent efforts to escalate the case didn’t yield results, a much-publicised documentary could - on the basis there’s more to the case than the courts would suggest - make a significant difference.

Either way the verdict falls, this is a fascinating story of either terrible luck or criminal activity gone awry, with a tempestuous oceanic backdrop for added excitement.