A BBC podcast series which detailed the murder of a gay RUC officer in Belfast has taken home two top honours at a prestigious podcast awards in London.
Released last year, Blood on the Dance Floor followed the murder of Darren Bradshaw, a 24-year old police officer in the RUC in Northern Ireland in 1997.
He was shot dead by republicans in Belfast’s then-only gay bar The Parliament in front of hundreds of people.
The republican paramilitary group the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) claimed responsibility for the killing but no one has ever been convicted for Darren’s murder.
Blood on the Dance Floor, a 6-part series presented by Jordan Dunbar examined the effect Darren’s murder left on Northern Ireland’s LGBT community and featured interviews with Darren’s friends, former colleagues and figures with Northern Ireland’s gay scene.
On Thursday, the series which was produced by BBC Sounds took home gold at the British Podcast Awards.
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It beat out Poison, a series produced by The Times which won silver and BBC Radio 4’s Short Cuts which took home bronze. The BBC Asian Network series Bloodlines was highly commended in the category.
It also took home gold in the True Crime category, beating out World of Secrets: The Disciples from BBC World Service which won silver and BBC Radio Scotland’s The Missing Madonna which won bronze.
“So glad we could bring Darren’s real story and the stories of all the DJ’s, Drag Queens and dancers from the Parliament bar and Belfast’s scene to so many people,” said reporter Jordan Dunbar about the accolades.
“It couldn’t have happened without the incredible people who were brave enough to share their story with us and the talented team who made it. Thank you.”
He also shared a quote from Belfast drag queen Trudy Scrumptious on social media to celebrate the double win.
“Thing is people think they can silence us, they can make us be quiet. But we’re from Belfast we just shout louder” – Trudy Scrumptious. So unbelievably proud to have had this #belfast takeover at the @britpodawards last night.”
Blood on the Dance Floor was accompanied by a television documentary which aired on BBC Three and BBC iPlayer which featured interviews with Game of Thrones star Kristian Nairn and the Belfast Telegraph’s political editor Suzanne Breen.
A Q&A event which detailed the making of the podcast also sold out earlier this summer as part of Belfast Pride.
Other winners at the awards included podcasts The News Agents, The Rest Is Politics and Help I Sexted My Boss.
The BBC remained the most awarded network with the corporation taking home a total of 12 Gold awards for shows produced by divisions including Radio 4 and 5 Live.