Episode 2

Every year, over a million cases pass through the UK courts. And for the people in the dock, only one thing stands between freedom and a prison cell: defence barristers. From violent assault to international drugs smuggling and murder, this series follows some of the country's leading defence barristers as they fight for clients accused of the most serious crimes. In this episode, defence barrister Laurie-Anne Power and King's Counsel Paul Mendelle take on a complex gang murder case - the fatal stabbing of a teenager in north London. As the trial unfolds, they face the challenge of navigating conflicting evidence and the weight of the joint enterprise doctrine, which means that their client could be convicted of murder even if he did not deliver the fatal blow. Elsewhere, Leon-Nathan Lynch fights for a client at the Court of Appeal: a man arrested at gunpoint and now facing deportation to Sierra Leone for perverting the course of justice. And in a case with profoundly personal stakes, Tom Flavin defends a terminally ill man who's at risk of losing his driving licence; a ban that could prevent him from reaching the hospital for urgent cancer treatment. From life-changing sentences to desperate personal battles, this episode reveals the skill and determination it takes to defend when everything is on the line.