Tue, Jan 13, 1976
Eleven year old Julian Morgan has been in a coma and seems unlikely to recover after being seriously injured at home. The Prosecution argue that his mother Linda Morgan had a history of beating him and inflicted the catastrophic injury. However she says it was a terrible accident as he slipped down the stairs. Her former husband testifies against her and Mrs Morgan did not challenge him divorcing her on the grounds of her past treatment of Julian. She argues though that she did not challenge the grounds for divorce as she was desperate to escape a bullying husband.
Tue, Jan 20, 1976
The dismembered body of car dealer John Butlin was dumped from an aeroplane into the Irish Sea. He had been earlier been stabbed. Now Philiip Shepherd finds himself on trial for murder. The prosecution assert that he killed Butlin and pocketed the £5000 he had been carrying at the time. Shepherd passionately protests his innocence. He argues he had been asked by three criminals - Johnny the Print, Boyesie and Big Willie - to dump a load of counterfeit number plates at sea. He was then horrified to discover that it contained a dead body instead. He presumes these three men killed Butlin but they have never been traced; the prosecution claim they are the product of his imagination.
Tue, Jan 27, 1976
Gynaecologist James Binyon and G.P. Fiona Stone face trial accused of sterilising a fourteen year old girl - Janice Scott - without her mother's permission. Janice has learning difficulties and the prosecution allege that Binyon and Stone sterilised her without revealing to her mother the true nature of the operation, a claim backed by Mrs. Scott. They also claim that Binyon in particular was motivated by eugenicist ideas of "survival of the fittest". Both defendants protest their innocence and insist that Mrs. Scott knew the full facts about her daughter's treatment which was in her own interest and of any children she might have had.
Tue, Feb 3, 1976
Colin Tiler is a popular and respected teacher at a comprehensive school. However he is now in court charged with the indecent assault of one of his pupils, fifteen year old Kevin Anderson. Kevin comes from a troubled background but developed a good relationship with his teacher but did Tiler then take advantage of that relationship? The prosecution think so and argue that Tiler was sexually attracted to Kevin and used an opportunity when they met one evening for inappropriate and unwanted physical contact. Tiler admits that he is gay but insists he would not engage in sexual conduct with a pupil and that any inappropriate contact was accidental.
Tue, Feb 24, 1976
Thomas Nolan was so badly assaulted that he is unable to give evidence in court. Teenagers Frank Price and Sheila Cronin are charged with committing grievous bodily harm on him. The Prosecution claim that Cronin is "vicious and vindictive" and led Price who has learning difficulties. Both defendants assert their innocence - they do not deny an earlier argument with the victim but say they were at home when he was attacked.
Tue, Mar 2, 1976
Akanni Dawodu is accused of harassing one of his tenants, Mrs. Obl, with the intention of driving her away from her tenancy. It is alleged that he frightened her using a ju-ju (black magic) ceremony which used the bodies of dead animals and death threats using her name. Dawodu asserts his innocence, arguing that the religious ritual was an innocent act of purification and that he believed she was casting the evil eye over him.
Tue, Mar 16, 1976
James William Kent is charged with assaulting two police officers. They say he punched and kicked them after they arrested him for trying the handles of parked vehicles. Kent denies the offences. He was convicted a few years earlier of being an "incorrigible rogue" - a persistent vagrant - and says that as a result the police are prejudiced against him and that the law gives him little chance of escaping conviction. He admits a long criminal record but says he has no previous convictions of violence, is arthritic and would never have struck the officers. He says his life has been turned around since joining a hostel run by Mr. Livingstone and that his criminal days are behind him.
Top-rated
Mon, Mar 29, 1976
Stanley Roberts was electrocuted and killed when his crane touched overhead cables; a young boy who rushed to help him was also killed in the incident. A postmortem showed that Roberts had drunk alcohol beforehand. His employer Colin Hunter is now charged with health-and-safety offences. The prosecution asserts that Hunter knew Roberts was an alcoholic and yet took no proper action to stop him working. His widow says Roberts used to hit her, and says she wrote to Hunter about her husband's drinking. However, the defence maintains that there is no evidence that Roberts was ever drunk at work, and that the company took reasonable measures to ensure he was a safe employee.
Tue, May 18, 1976
Cafe owner Frederick Muir stands accused of incitement to racial hatred. The prosecution allege that he unfairly dismissed Tunde Williams, a highly qualified Nigerian immigrant, on the grounds of his race. Following the dismissal a number of witnesses say that Muir made a highly offensive racist speech. Muir denies the charge. He argues that he quite correctly dismissed Williams for incompetence. He admits to then speaking about racial issues but says his words condemned racism and he has been deliberately misquoted by the witnesses who have colluded in their evidence to try to discredit him.