Unlawful Killings

A gripping account of the law that reads like a cliffhanger (Sunday Times)

The heart-stopping inside story of six murder trials from an Old Bailey judge, exploring why we kill, what happens at trial, and what we can learn about the society in which we live.

High-profile murder cases all too often grab our attention in dramatic media headlines—for every unlawful death tells a story. But, unlike most of us, a judge doesn't get to turn the page and move on. Nor does the defendant, or the family of the victim, nor the many other people who populate the courtroom.

And yet, each of us has a vested interest in what happens there. While most people have only the sketchiest idea of what happens inside a Crown Court, any one of us could end up in the witness box or even in the dock.

With breath-taking skill and deep compassion, the author describes how cases unfold and illustrates exactly what it's like to be a murder trial judge and a witness to human good and bad. Sometimes very bad.

The fracture lines that run through our society are becoming harder and harder to ignore. From her unique vantage point, Wendy Joseph QC warns that we do so at our peril.