Safely convicting criminals relies on finding the truth. But what is the
truth and can we ever get the complete picture? Convicting Britain's
Most Ruthless Criminals is a collection of serious crime cases in
modern Britain. It gives a detailed insight into the amassing of
evidence for the prosecution and how the truth can be uncovered, given
that there is always a piece of evidence missing, whether it is a hidden
fortune, an elusive murder weapon or even an undiscovered body.
Drawing on unique access to the case files and speeches of a leading
crown prosecutor combined with expert witness information, these are
fascinating stories of criminal acts, their perpetrators, and how they
were brought to justice by putting together a jigsaw of evidence, much
of which has never been revealed before, which includes ballistics,
pathology, mobile phone records and CCTV analysis. Enough to get as
close to the real truth as possible, given that the picture of each
jigsaw is never completely revealed.
There is the case of an appeal by woman who was convicted of killing her
husband decades ago, a bungled robbery that ended up as murder, a staged
gem heist only uncovered years later during a plea-bargaining exercise,
a death in police custody, a serial killer who decided to confess, and a
brothel keeper maintaining that he was simultaneously providing a
community service whilst servicing the Greek national debt.
The cases are intertwined with stories and anecdotes including the juror
who ended up being convicted, how the gangland drugs scene became big
business and why there is so much dressing up in court.
