Defending the Guilty: Truth and Lies in the Criminal Courtroom - Softcover

McBride, Alex

3.77

766 ratings by Goodreads

9780670918300: Defending the Guilty: Truth and Lies in the Criminal Courtroom

Softcover

ISBN 10: 067091830X ISBN 13: 9780670918300

Publisher: Viking, 2010

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"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?

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Review:

Expert, authoritative, hilarious - an insider's fearless account of life at the criminal bar. Look out for it. (Craig Raine TLS Books of the Year)

Alex McBride captures the Dickensian life of the criminal barrister, and the gripping horrors of London's underworld, with great wit, honesty and precision (Harry Mount, author of Amo, Amas, Amat...and All That)

Very funny ... A fascinating overview of our criminal justice system (Daily Mail)

The real life of criminal barristers is expertly caught ... gripping little details (Literary Review)

Rollicks along ... with a good eye for detail and a neat turn of phrase (Observer)

Hilarious (The Sun)

An excellent blend of anecdote and more serious discussion (Tom Bingham)

From the Publisher:

Shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction 2010

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