Criminal Record ending explained: Who killed Adelaide Burrowes?

The series saw Cush Jumbo's June Lenker investigating a cold case surrounding the murder of Adelaide Burrowes, for which Errol Mathis was convicted. Lenker becomes convinced that Mathis is innocent, but Peter Capaldi's Daniel Hegarty, who led the initial investigation, is determined to protect his legacy.

But just how did things come together in the finale and, with rumblings of a second season potentially being on the horizon, how were things left between the two main characters?

Read on for everything you need to know about the ending of Criminal Record.

Criminal Record ending explained: Who killed Adelaide Burrowes?

Towards the start of the Criminal Record season finale, Hegarty realised that Errol Mathis wasn't actually the killer, and Adelaide Burrowes was, in fact, murdered by Stefan Ash.

Ash, a local landlord, had recently been working as an informant for Hegarty, but had previously worked for Tony Gilfoyle, before he got ill.

After a frantic search to locate him, Lenker finds him along with the emergency caller who tipped her and the police off about Mathis being innocent, Carla.

After a fight, Lenker and Hegarty got the better of Ash and he was arrested. However, as Hegarty sat in a car next to him driving towards the police station, a motorbike pulled up next to the car and shot through the window, killing Ash and injuring Hegarty.

What happened to Tony Gilfoyle?

After his recovery, Hegarty visited Tony Gilfoyle, who was involved with three major cases – the death of Doris Mathis, a malicious communication charge and, of course, his own involvement in the Adelaide Burrowes/Errol Mathis case.

With regards to the Doris Mathis case, Hegarty told Gilfoyle that it seemed the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) could be talked down from a murder charge to reckless driving. He also noted that he Gilfoyle got bail for the malicious communications charge, boding well for his prospects.

Hegarty told Gilfoyle that, regarding the third case, there would be an internal investigation. He confronted him as to what the "trade" was to get him to divert attention from Ash and towards Mathis, but Gilfoyle insisted there was none, and that he truly believed, and continued to believe, that Mathis was guilty.

Gilfoyle admitted that he turned a blind eye to some of Ash's behaviour, and accused Hegarty of hypocrisy, suggesting that he ordered the hit on Ash himself. When Hegarty refuted this, Gilfoyle said he believed Kim Cardwell ordered the hit on his behalf, without Hegarty having to even speak to him.

Hegarty then told Gilfoyle that the internal investigation would need "a scalp" and that, as he was the one who dismissed Ash as a suspect without an alibi, it would be him that was going down for it.

What happened to Errol Mathis?

After it was confirmed once and for all that Errol Mathis was not guilty of Adelaide's murder, he was finally released from prison.

Following this, he reunited with Patrick, who explained his own muddled feelings towards him, and hosted a barbecue for his local neighbourhood, next to a mural of Adelaide and his mother Doris.

Did Hegarty get punished for the initial investigation?

Hegarty was put under an internal investigation, which looked as though it could see his career brought to an end. As part of this investigation, he provided the panel with the video footage of his interrogation of Mathis, which, in theory proved that he led him to his confession.

However, they got an outside officer to examine the video, and they determined that it was "evidentially inconclusive", meaning he was let off scot-free.

Hegarty told Lenker that he didn't believe he was prejudiced, but that he recognised his own actions could suggest otherwise.

What did Lenker discover about Hegarty?

At the very end of the season finale, Lenker found the initial tape recording of Hegarty's interview with Patrick, and it became clear that he had doctored it, making it seem as though he had described a violent argument between Errol Mathis and Adelaide.

In the doctored recording, it seemed as though Hegarty had asked what Mathis had said during an argument, to which Patrick had responded "I'll knock you flat, I'll knock you flat". However, he had actually just been quoting a cartoon he was watching on TV at the time.

It was this doctored audio that Hegarty had played to Mathis, which made him confess to Adelaide's murder, coming to believe that his memory was faulty.

Lenker called Hegarty to confront him, but after hearing her out, he simply hung up the phone.

Criminal Record is available to stream in full now on Apple TV+. Sign up to Apple TV+ now. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to see what's on tonight.

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