Book description
?As a criminal barrister, you work with the material you get: a junkie
shoplifter with thirty-five previous convictions and four packs of
Lidl?s frozen chicken stuffed down his trousers is heading only one
way?? Every day, like every criminal barrister in this country, Alex
McBride stands up in court and, with nothing but quick-thinking,
sharp-talking and his hard-won legal expertise, attempts to save people
from criminal conviction, prison, even a lifetime behind bars. Sometimes
he's had only a few hours to prepare his case. Sometimes his client is
obviously guilty. In this hilarious, heart-stopping memoir, he takes us
behind the scenes of Britain's criminal justice system - in barristers?
chambers, in the courtroom, in the cells and on the streets -
introducing us to its outlandish personalities, arcane eccentricities
and its many moving stories of triumph and defeat. Whether he's
defending hapless teenagers at Harlow Youth Court or prosecuting gold
bullion robbers at the Bailey, his hair-raising tales reveal all the
secrets of courtroom success and what it takes to survive in this
chaotic world of fluked escapes and crushed hopes. Throughout he
attempts to answer that most important question: how do we ensure that
the guilty are convicted and the innocent walk free? Alex McBride is a
criminal barrister. He is the author of the 'Common Law' column in
Prospect
magazine and has contributed to the New Statesman
and various BBC programmes, including From Our Own Correspondent
.
