Introducing... The Ballad of Big Mags

It’s the mid 1990s. On the Raploch estate in Stirling, a local community is living in fear.

This is a place with many young families, and word is spreading that a convicted paedophile is living among them, placed there anonymously by the local council.

Residents worry the streets are no longer safe for their kids, and outraged they weren’t told or consulted.

It’s an outrage felt beyond the Raploch estate, and it doesn’t take long for a name and address to find its way into the public domain.

Armed with this information, the Raploch rises – as a mob, led by Margaret Haney, known locally as Big Mags.

An imposing matriarch, charismatic with a voice like gravel, she’s more than happy to take on the authorities and speak to the media. She becomes a figurehead and spokesperson for a movement devoted to driving the ex-offender out of the area.

She succeeds, but for the Big Mags, that that’s just the start, and as her campaign continues, the media become obsessed with this diamond in the rough.

She’s on TV. In the papers. Becomes something of a celebrity.

Big Mags is always good for a soundbite, and she in turn, seems to enjoy the attention.

She doesn’t know it now, but she’s made a huge mistake.

As Big Mags has secrets of her own.

It’s not that long ago that one of the most serious problems faced by the Raploch Estate were the Haney family themselves.

And as Big Mags enjoys the glare of media attention, she will all too soon regret grabbing the limelight.

Her 15 minutes of fame will soon become little more than a chapter within in a legacy of infamy. This is the Ballad of Big Mags.

Presenter: Myles Bonnar Written by: Chris Cruickshank, Marisha Currie, Myles Bonnar and Graham Russell Additional Scripting: Jack Kibble-White Producer: Chris Cruickshank Assistant Producer: Marisha Currie Executive Producers: Graham Russell, Susie Crumless Sound Design and Mixing: Fraser Jackson Commissioning Editor: Heather Kane-Darling

A BBC Scotland production for BBC Sounds