Hi everyone, I wanted to give you a heads up about a new podcast from Wondery that we are

red handed, think you will love. It's called Hooked on Freddie and it's the bizarre true

story of a friendship between a man and a dolphin and the wild accusation that threatens

to destroy them both. So picture the scene, it's 1987 and the seaside town of Amble in the

north of England has seen much better days. It's cold, tired and run down. So when a wild

dolphin suddenly appears in the harbor, it's the miracle everyone's been waiting for.

He's like a ray of light, the locals in Amble love him and name him Freddie and Freddie loves

them all. But his favourite playmate is Alan Cooper, a committed animal rights activist.

Alan and the wild dolphins swim together for hundreds of magical hours and a beautiful

friendship is soon born. But when Alan is accused of taking his friendship with the dolphin too far,

he finds himself at the centre of a tabloid scandal that grips Britain and ends in one of the most

bizarre court cases in legal history. Now I'm about to play you a clip but if you'd like to hear more,

search Hooked on Freddie wherever you listen to podcasts.

September the 28th, 1990, is a fine day in Amble, a small coastal town on the tip of Northease England.

But we're not in the town. We're about a quarter of a mile out in the North Sea.

A man's in the water, wearing a wetsuit with yellow arms and he's just hanging there alone.

His name is Alan Cooper and at first yes he is all alone but then

something dark moves at speed under the water, circles, disappears and then resurfaces.

Now we can see him. It's a wild dolphin, a bottle nose and he wants to play.

He twists onto his side inviting Alan to take hold of his dorsal fin.

It was start to dive. Just go straight down for about 20 feet

and then can swiftly back up

...