Roger Cook, the fearless journalist who made a career exposing con artists, fraudsters, paedophiles and other villains, has died aged 83 after a short illness. The hard-hitting reporter became one of Britain's most recognisable investigative journalists, earning fame not only for confronting wrongdoers but also for the violent retaliation he often faced. Over decades on BBC Radio 4’s Checkpoint and later ITV’s The Cook Report, Cook repeatedly put himself in danger. He received death threats, was attacked with baseball bats, held at gunpoint and suffered broken fingers, cracked ribs and dislocated shoulders. In one dramatic incident, Cook was run over by a car while investigating a man accused of swindling pensioners by falsely claiming their homes faced compulsory purchase. After surgery, an Australian doctor reportedly told him: “Jeez, mate. Put it this way, if you weren’t built like a brick privy, you’d probably be dead.” Cook’s trademark style combined calm determination with relentless questioning. Armed first with a tape recorder and later accompanied by television crews, he became famous for doorstep confrontations that left targets scrambling for answers. His breakthrough came with Checkpoint, which he conceived after working as a reporter on BBC Radio 4’s World at One. One early investigation involved a Bristol mortgage company accused of selling unsuitable loans. When Cook challenged the boss, asking what qualified him to run a financial organisation “other than being a heavyweight wrestler”, the man allegedly grabbed him in a bear hug and threw him down a flight of stairs. The entire confrontation was captured on tape. Checkpoint ran from 1973 to 1985 and attracted more than two million listeners. Despite its popularity, Cook later recalled BBC executives initially felt uneasy about naming individuals and companies and worried about complaints over his aggressive interviewing style. His investigations soon expanded onto television through programmes including Nationwide and Newsnight. In 1981, while confronting a fraudulent antiques dealer for Newsnight, Cook was beaten with a metal bar. His dream of bringing Checkpoint fully to television was only briefly realised at the BBC before the corporation opted for the less confrontational Watchdog format. Cook then moved to ITV, where The Cook Report became one of the most famous investigative programmes on British television. Running from 1987 to 1997, with specials continuing until 1999, the show tackled loan sharks, counterfeit goods, drug dealing, people smuggling, the ivory trade, neo-Nazis in Germany, Northern Ireland protection rackets and baby trading operations in Brazil and Guatemala. Success also brought controversy. A libel case linked to a 1992 programme resulted in compensation and legal costs exceeding £700,000. Another libel action connected to a 1994 episode on cot deaths was later settled out of court. In 2000, allegations emerged that several programmes had been faked through staged criminal scenarios. Carlton Television defended the use of investigative stings, and the Independent Television Commission ultimately cleared the programme. The News of the World later accepted there had been no “fakery or deception”. Another controversy centred on claims made by Cook and the Daily Mirror that miners’ leader Arthur Scargill and two union officials had paid off mortgages using Libyan funds during the 1984-85 miners’ strike. Twelve years later, former Mirror editor Roy Greenslade publicly acknowledged the claims were untrue and apologised. Born in Auckland, New Zealand, during the Second World War, Cook spent much of his childhood in Australia before moving to Britain in 1968. He worked across radio, television and documentaries before becoming one of the country's best-known investigative reporters. His achievements earned widespread recognition. In 1998, he received a Bafta special award for investigative reporting. His autobiography, Dangerous Ground, was published in 1999 and later updated as More Dangerous Ground in 2011. Even after The Cook Report ended, he returned to ITV in 2007 with Roger Cook’s Greatest Hits, revisiting some of his most memorable investigations. Cook's first marriage to Madeline Koh ended in divorce. In 1982, he married Frances Knox. She survives him, along with their daughter, Belinda. As tributes follow, Cook leaves behind a remarkable legacy built on confronting powerful figures, exposing wrongdoing and repeatedly putting himself in harm’s way to uncover the truth. Roger Cook obituary
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