John Rory Maclean Biography

John Rory Maclean is an award-winning journalist and a former BBC Home Affairs Correspondent. He was a Correspondent for Channel 4 News in the UK for 8 years. He’s specialised in Crime, Legal and Security reporting. He has made documentaries for BBC Radio 4 and has worked on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, World at One and PM as a reporter.

He is the co-author of the book Nightmare which lifted the lid on the dirty dealings, conspiracies and cock ups of the contest to be London’s first directly elected Mayor.

He was the only journalist on board an expedition to the South China Sea which found the wreck of the British vessel Derbyshire two miles down on the seabed. The campaign by Channel 4 News and resulting documentary for Channel 4’s Dispatches strand, “Total Structural Failure” helped persuade the British Government to mount a full investigation of the mysterious loss after it had refused to do so for years. 

When he is not researching and writing he is a qualified inland waterways tug and barge skipper and works on canal and river infrastructure projects. He is married with three children, a Whippet and wayward Bedlington terrier.