Now in his 50s, the evergreen Hong Kong star of song and film stayed popular last year with the movie Blind Detective.

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The current series is also the last, and viewers will find out how Simm's character, Detective Inspector Sam Tyler, became stuck in the past.

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Detective Chief Inspector Norman McKinlay retired the following year, but one of his last decisions in the job was to recommend a review of the Sweeney case.

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Late last week, the state of New South Wales announced an inquiry after a top policeman, Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox, accused the church of trying to silence investigations into allegations of abuse.

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Equally, during the last 16 years when crime has been falling, people haven't said it is down to brilliant detective work or the sterling efforts of patrolling constables.

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"Much of the area in the last decade has been paved over, with new construction, making a search today very difficult, " said Detective Bob Dean of the Alachua County Sheriff's Office.

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Even James Murdoch admitted, in evidence to MPs, that last week's revelation that his company had hired a private detective to spy on lawyers representing the victims of phone-hacking and their families was "appalling" and "unacceptable".

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