June: Voice of a Silent Twin

June and Jennifer’s elective mutism and slow synchronised movements lead to bullying and isolation at school. Teachers and experts try to help, but with little success. The twins leave school more isolated than ever, with few prospects, wondering what will become of them and fearing for their future. June now looks back on how these early experiences contributed to the tragic outcomes later in their lives.

Credits: Narrator: Linda Mitchell Producer: Beccy Leach Assistant Producer: Jessica Gunasekara Sound design: Cathy Robinson Executive producer: Karen Voisey Voice director: John Norton Original title music: Kizzy Crawford Voice of young June: Bethan Mary-James Voice of young Jennifer: Olivia Forrest Production manager: Andrea Deere With thanks to Marjorie Wallace

The story of identical twins June and Jennifer Gibbons, growing up in the 1970s, speaking only to each other and isolated from the outside world. After a short infatuation with some boys, they’re driven by heartache and a quest for revenge to a five-week crime spree. Aged just 19, they become the youngest women in Broadmoor Secure Psychiatric Hospital. The day of their release ends in tragedy.

Credits: Narrator: Linda Mitchell Producer: Beccy Leach Assistant Producer: Jessica Gunasekara Sound Design: Cathy Robinson Original Music: Kizzy Crawford Exec Producer: Karen Voisey A BBC Wales Production for BBC Sounds

June and Jennifer’s crime spree comes to an end after their biggest and most dangerous crime leads to arrest. Life behind bars is unbearable – the twins can’t cope when they’re apart and fight when they’re together. A visit from a journalist will change their lives forever. With insights from the twins’ diaries, and her own recollections, June takes us through their time in Pucklechurch Remand Centre as their big day in court approaches when their future will be decided.

Credits: Narrator: Linda Mitchell Producer: Beccy Leach Assistant Producer: Jessica Gunasekara Sound design: Cathy Robinson Executive producer: Karen Voisey Voice director: John Norton Original title music: Kizzy Crawford Voice of young June: Bethan Mary-James Voice of young Jennifer: Olivia Forrest Production manager: Andrea Deere With thanks to Marjorie Wallace

Aged just 19, June and Jennifer are given an indefinite sentence to Broadmoor Secure Psychiatric Hospital. They’d hoped for a short sentence to get the help they needed, and they have a childish excitement about going to Broadmoor. The reality of living alongside serial killers and rapists turns out to be a far cry from their idealistic expectation.

Credits: Narrator: Linda Mitchell Producer: Beccy Leach Assistant Producer: Jessica Gunasekara Sound design: Cathy Robinson Executive producer: Karen Voisey Voice director: John Norton Original title music: Kizzy Crawford Voice of young June: Bethan Mary-James Voice of young Jennifer: Olivia Forrest Production manager: Andrea Deere With thanks to Marjorie Wallace

After many years languishing in Broadmoor Secure Psychiatric Hospital, the twins continue their desperate fight to get out. June and Jennifer meet notorious fellow patients Ronnie Kray and the Yorkshire Ripper. And the now infamous sexual predator Jimmy Savile is a regular visitor to the hospital. The twins are given drugs which help them talk, but which have other undesired consequences. For the first time, June reveals how she wrote to doctors begging for her medication to be reduced so she could “be herself” once again.

Credits: Narrator: Linda Mitchell Producer: Beccy Leach Assistant Producer: Jessica Gunasekara Sound design: Cathy Robinson Executive producer: Karen Voisey Voice director: John Norton Original title music: Kizzy Crawford Voice of young June: Bethan Mary-James Voice of young Jennifer: Olivia Forrest Production manager: Andrea Deere With thanks to Marjorie Wallace