Never Let Him Go: the decades-long journey for justice for Scott Johnson arrives on Disney+ UK

After receiving a release in the United States in September 2023, the heartbreaking tale of justice in the face of homophobia after decades of campaigning by a loving brother finally arrives on Disney+ UK with the release of “Never Let Him Go,” a four-part series surrounding the murder of Scott Johnson. 

On December 10 1988, the body of American maths student Scott Johnson was found on rocks at the foot of cliffs at Blue Fish Point in North Head near Manly in Sydney. Initially, police believed that his death was a suicide, but it took the efforts of his brother, Steve Johnson, to finally unearth the truth about his death. 

It took decades for Steve to finally have the case reinvestigated, after a coroners investigation prompted police in the area to re-open the death as a “cold case,” when the coroner’s findings in 2017 resulted as the result of a hate crime, owing to Scott Johnson being gay. That led to a number of other cases regarding suicides around the Sydney beaches in the 1980’s to be re-opened and possibly treated as a number of homophobic attacks on members of the LGBTQIA+ community in the area.

During the series' production, filmmakers captured a real-time breakthrough: 35 years after Scott's death, his perpetrator confessed and received sentencing in June of 2023 in the New South Wales Supreme Court. The documentary includes a groundbreaking interview with Helen White, the ex-wife of the confessed killer, breaking her silence for the first time since tipping off the police. 

In addition, the docu-series presents exclusive, in-depth interviews with Steve and his family, along with the first-ever insights from key law enforcement officials involved in the case. Faced with numerous unsolved cases of a similar nature involving gay men in Australia, Steve must grapple with the question of whether his pursuit of justice is truly complete or if it has only just begun.

Who was arrested for the murder of Scott Johnson?

Scott White, initially charged with the murder of Scott Johnson in 2020, changed his plea to guilty in January 2022. Despite attempts to retract the plea, he was found guilty and sentenced to 12 years and 7 months in May 2022. However, the murder conviction was later overturned on appeal, and on February 23, 2023, White pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Subsequently, on June 8, 2023, he was re-sentenced to 9 years in prison, with parole eligibility after 6 years, slated for 2026.

When does “Never Let Him Go” arrive on Disney+ in the United Kingdom?

All four episodes of “Never Let Him Go” have arrived on Disney+ in the UK today (subscription required)