Kevin Nunes: documentary on gangland killing broadcasts tonight

BBC Radio 4's prestigious File on 4 will chart the failings by detectives and senior officers in the 15-year-old murder investigation, which led to five men being jailed and then acquitted on appeal.

It will build on the revelations by the Express & Star's own inquiries over the past three years, as well as featuring an interview with Express & Star investigations editor Rob Golledge.

It will also include interviews with the family of Kevin Nunes, who yesterday praised the role of the Express & Star in putting pressure on Staffordshire Police and the force watchdog to reveal the full details of what went disastrously wrong.

The programme will be aired at 8pm and then available on the BBC iPlayer.

Last month, the Independent Police Complaints Commission finally released its investigator's full report into the scandal – nearly three years after its inquiry was completed.

It found that senior officers – including three chief constables – had a case to answer for misconduct or gross misconduct, but ultimately no disciplinary proceedings went ahead.

The Express & Star's work included winning a year-long Freedom of Information battle with Staffordshire Police to get a damning dossier of failings from the case made public for the first time.

This newspaper has also written dozens of articles revealing further failings and wrongdoing by officers in the case which centre on the mishandling of the prosecution's star witness.

The E&S's coverage has been praised by Government Chief Whip Gavin Williamson, who is the MP for South Staffordshire where the murder happened back in 2002.

He said: "It is down to the courage and determination of Rob Golledge and the team at the Express & Star that has meant the authorities have been put in a position where they have had to answer questions which frankly should have been answered a long time ago.

"In my seven years as an MP this case is one of the most disturbing I have heard in terms of incompetence and a lack of desire to deal with failure in the police service.

"Thanks to the Express & Star, the public and importantly the victim's family are getting answers, if not justice.

"It goes to show the key role regional and local newspapers play in holding authorities to account and giving a voice to the voiceless."

Kevin Nunes, 20, was a promising footballer with Stafford Rangers but was shot five times in a gangland killing in Pattingham in 2002.

In 2008 five Black Country gangsters were jailed for the slaying but were cleared on appeal in 2012.

It sparked a major police corruption inquiry.

Earlier this year, the Express & Star revealed two of the alleged killers – including one who is in prison for a separate murder – had been paid £200,000 in damages by Staffordshire Police.

The police watchdog inquiry found serious failings by officers but no criminality or wilful cover up.