Crown Court (1972)
← Back to main
Edward Jewesbury as The Hon. Mr. Justice Bragge
Episodes 38
Helen Lord, a maths teacher at Fulchester's John Fordhurst secondary school, is accused of wounding a police officer with a chisel. The court will hear that Miss Lord went to Calderley police station to speak to Detective Bretherton about the contents of a letter which he had sent to the headmistress of the school, advising her that Miss Lord was not suitable to work with children. When she was denied access to Detective Bretherton, she 'went berserk' and attacked the desk sergeant. The decision of the headmistress to employ Miss Lord without checking references is also being brought into question.
Read MoreWe don't have an overview translated in English. Help us expand our database by adding one.
We don't have an overview translated in English. Help us expand our database by adding one.
Blackmail: Regina v Brewer and Brewer: Part 1
The spurned lover of a Church of England clergyman is accused of blackmail after threatening to expose their affair unless the vicar pays £400.
Read MoreBlackmail: Regina v Brewer and Brewer: Part 2
When Rev. Frank Warrender gives contradicting evidence, Charles Lotterby asks the judge to treat him as hostile witness. Police Inspector Savage confirms that it was Mrs Warrender who brought the blackmail letters to the police.
Read MoreBlackmail: Regina v Brewer and Brewer: Part 3
Following Janet Brewer's revelations about her health and her breakdown, the judge turns down Barry Deeley's request to dismiss the case. Despite pleas from her doctor and father the judge maintains there is still a case to answer.
Read MorePersimmons and Dishwashers: Regina v Curl: Part 1
Fulchester's notorious Curl brothers are accused of demanding money with menaces and GBH. The court will hear that the brothers had been conducting a reign of terror over Fulchester's club and bar owners through a Chicago-style protection racket. After refusing to pay the brothers for protection, a number of club owners suffered injuries ranging from falls down stairs, feet burned with electric fires and attacks with hammers. Indeed, one of the brother's own enforcers has disappeared and is believed to have been buried under the new M16 motorway foundations. The defense insist that the brothers are legitimate businessmen.
Read MorePersimmons and Dishwashers: Regina v Curl: Part 2
The second day of the trial of brothers George and Arnold Curl. The pair are accused of running a Fulchester protection racket. Much of the evidence comes from Stephen Telfer, a club owner who is now in a coma following a savage beating.
Read MorePersimmons and Dishwashers: Regina v Curl: Part 3
Facing a second day under cross examination, George Curl claims he found religion while in Reading Gaol. However his brother Arnold gets rattled when questioned about hiring Arther McGraw to injure Stephen Telfer.
Read MorePortrait of an Artist: Kingsley v Messiter: Part 1
Before his death a year ago, a renowned artist wrote a will in which he bequeathed his estate to his favourite model, Rose Messiter. The will is being challenged by his business partner Brenda Kingsley, who had been named as sole beneficiary in an earlier will written by the artist. She claims that at the time of writing the second will, the artist was not of sound mind. Ms Kingsley is now challenging the second will and is laying claim to the artist's estate.
Read MorePortrait of an Artist: Kingsley v Messiter: Part 2
Graphologist Mr Pascoe gives evidence on behalf defendant Rose Messiter and can not rule out that Martin Emsworth's writing was forged. Brenda Kingsley claims, although she acted a witness to the Will, she did not see the contents.
Read MoreFreak-Out: Regina v Marlow: Part 2
Photographer Alleyn Griffin gives evidence about Natasha Marlowe erratic behaviour at the party. Marlowe takes the stand, in her own defence, and confesses that she has taken so much L.S.D that she has little memory of the night.
Read MoreThe Death of Dracula: Part 2
Lingerie model Kathleen Nolan gives evidence of the events leading to the death of Norman Mattson, at the 501 Club. Rita Mattson takes the stand and claims in the 8 years of her marriage she never knew how the silver bullet trick worked.
Read MoreThe Death of Dracula: Part 3
Rita Mattson is cross examined by James Elliot QC. She is rattled when he claims her husband was threatening to leave her for a younger woman. Brig. Sir Ferdinand Tennyson-Pusey gives evidence about how he believed gun trick worked.
Read MoreThe Inner Circle: Part 1
The Sunday Nation newspaper, and one of its leading reporters, are being sued for libel after describing a psychotherapy group as 'harmful' and 'fraudulent'. Stephen Harvesty QC, for the defendants, will try to convince the court that the psychotherapy group is indeed nothing more than a cult which forces its members to part with large sums of money for very little in return.
Read MoreThe Inner Circle: Part 2
During Manubhai Gupta evidence he admits to donating £35,000, to the group. At the highest level funds were raised for new Centres but were never built. Martin Heywood claims the Inner Circle should be considered a religion order.
Read MoreThe Inner Circle: Part 3
Mrs. Peacock attempts to explain the benefit of the Open Box community and how they helped her following a nervous breakdown. Megan Watts, finally, takes the stand and denies that members, at Tute Hall, are terrified of her.
Read MoreThe Open Invitation: Part 1
Maureen Sellers is accused of kidnapping a baby which had been left in its pram outside a Fulchester supermarket. She claims she had the mother's permission to take the baby, who she had previously babysat for, but the mother denies this.
Read MoreThe Open Invitation: Part 2
Psychiatrist Dr. Richard Whatmore is subpoenaed by the prosecution to give evidence about Maureen Sellers. He reveals how she had suffered from depression following a miscarriage. Maureen Sellers, then, takes the stand in her defence.
Read MoreThe Open Invitation: Part 3
Maureen Sellars denies, that when she wheeled a way the pram, she was kidnapping the baby. Probation Officer Hilda Day puts the blame on Mrs. Bascombe for allowing Maureen to have too much involvement to the baby's care.
Read MoreThe Night for Country Dancing: Part 1
Barbara Airey is a hairdresser earning £1500 a year according to her tax returns. How, then, does she afford her lavish lifestyle which includes fancy cars and a private education for her two children? The Inland Revenue, and the prosecution team, want answers. Ms Airey insists that her three wealthy lovers lavish cash gifts upon her which enable her to live the sort of lifestyle that would require earnings in the region of £10,000 per annum.
Read MoreThe Night for Country Dancing: Part 2
Arthur Moore, Mrs Airey's lover for the last ten years gives evidence and claims he gave her £2,500 a year and is the father her son Paul. When Raymond Deane is called he also claims to have been her lover for ten years and Paul's father.
Read MoreThe Night for Country Dancing: Part 3
Barbara Airey gives her evidence and tries to explain away her three lovers and their gifts worth £10,000 a year. The prosecution claims this is a lie to cover up years of tax evasion and she was simply fiddling the books.
Read MoreDestruct, Destruct: Part 1
A 13 year old boy is charged with the murder of his 12 year old pal after suffocating him with a plastic bag. Was there a real intent to harm the boy or did a game they were playing go horribly wrong? The defense will try to prove that the accused boy was not aware of his actions and agree to have the youngster placed under hypnosis in court to prove a point.
Read MoreDestruct, Destruct: Part 2
Martha Ainsworth reads disturbing entries from her son's diary. Child psychiatrist Dr. Chisolm gives details of a report he made on Philip Ainsworth. He claims he is highly intelligent but pretending to be an hapless idiot.
Read MoreDestruct, Destruct: Part 3
Philip Ainsworth's father gives an unflattering account of the child's odd behaviour. He noted the boy seemed to want to damage property in the house. Child psychiatrist Dr. De Quincey counters evidence on Philip's mental state.
Read MoreThe Thunderbolts: Part 1
After previously being convicted of assaulting a police officer, the leader of The Thunderbolts, a local motorcycle gang, has returned to court. He's accusing the policeman of malicious prosecution, claiming that the officer bore a grudge against him after he dated the policeman's daughter. Helen Tate, for the defense, will try to prove the the policeman has been deliberately picking on the motorcyclist ever since.
Read MoreThe Thunderbolts: Part 2
Thunderbolts gang member John Tucker claims that Sgt. Goss disliked bikers and harassed them on a regular basis. John Lloyd accuses the gang of shouting abuse outside the Goss home. Witness Amanda Grants saw Easter provoked by Sgt. Goss.
Read MoreThe Thunderbolts: Part 3
Gratten St Peters resident Francis Larwood and Sgt. Goss's pregnant daughter Susan give character references on his behalf. The final witness is Goss, himself, who claims he only hit Benjamin Easter, back in self defence.
Read MoreInfanticide or Murder?: Part 1
A 15 year old schoolgirl has given birth to an illegitimate baby. Within a week of the birth, the body of the baby has been found buried in the girl's back garden by police acting on a tip-off. The schoolgirl's father (the baby's grandfather) has been charged with the murder of the baby after it was discovered that the infant had been strangled.
Read MoreInfanticide or Murder?: Part 2
Dominic Collins is cross examined by barrister Helen Tate. He maintains he did not strangle the baby and was it dead when he found it. 15-year-old Mary Collins shocks the court by claiming she strangled the baby moments after the birth
Read MoreInfanticide or Murder?: Part 3
The previous day ended sensationally with both Dominic Collins' wife and daughter confessing to killing the baby. Barrister Helen Tate accuses Mary of researching the Infanticide Act in bid to get her father off a murder charge.
Read MoreFreak-Out: Regina v Marlow: Part 1
The effects of hallucinogenic drugs provide a theme in this case. Peta Best, a leading sixties fashion photographer, has been found dead in her studio with a cloth pushed down her throat. Natasha Marlow, a young model who was with Peta Best at the time of her death, is charged with murder but claims that herself and the photographer were 'freaking out' after an L.S.D. session and she would therefore have been incapable of committing murder. Light is shed on the sleazy world of pornography as the trial progresses.
Read MoreFreak-Out: Regina v Marlow: Part 3
Natasha Marlow is cross examinined by Jonathan Fry QC after it was revealed she threatened to kill Peta Best while high on drugs. The defence called Sister Joanna Forbush but her evidence, based on Marlow's therapy, proved problematic.
Read MoreThe Mugging of Arthur Simmons: Part 1
A pensioner is mugged in a dark alley. two young black men are identified as the muggers in a local youth club. However, the defense claims that the identity parade was not carried out according to correct police procedure.
Read MoreThe Mugging of Arthur Simmons: Part 2
P.C. Kershaw takes the stand to give details of the arrest of the two defendants. With Mrs Palmer evidence tainted there are now doubts that John Dempsey was the second man. Walter Sissons QC also queries Kershaw's impartiality.
Read MoreThe Mugging of Arthur Simmons: Part 3
While giving evidence in his defence, John Dempsey claimed that PC Kershaw saw the university student as a black activist and kept him under constant surveillance. He now faces an aggressive cross examination from James Elliot QC
Read MoreThe Death of Dracula: Part 1
Count Alucard, a Dracula-themed illusionist, is shot dead on stage when a stunt involving a gun goes horribly wrong. His assistant (his wife, Rita) is accused of having tampered with the gun, killing him after discovering yet another of his affairs. did she purposely kill her husband, or was the gun faulty?
Read More