Wealthy local personality Malcolm Winfield was mugged walking through a park late at night with Ronald Hamilton whom he had met at a club earlier in the evening. Hamilton was unharmed in the attack. The victim's wallet was found later on at the home of Derek Clark and Sharon Cox, tucked inside a record player. Winfield says that Clark and Cox attacked him that evening. Hamilton is also accused of the same crime - the prosecution argue he was a male prostitute who willingly took part in a plan to entice Winfield to the park where his former house-mates could rob him. All the defendants deny the charges. Clark and Cox say this is a case of mistaken identity - they simply found the wallet in the park and were going to hand it in to police the next day; Hamilton says he was forced to assist the others who would have made public his sexuality had he not done so.
Rock musician Lance Porter is suing his father Reverend Fortescue Porter in a civil case. He composed a rock opera called "Jesus, Baby!" about the nativity. He promised his father the copyright to the show on the understanding that if he fell on hard times he would receive part of the proceeds. However his father then spent all the considerable revenue on charitable causes even though he strongly disapproved of the content and style of the show. Reverend Fortescue says he did nothing wrong. At the time neither he nor his son expected the production to make money. In his view Lance has not fallen on hard times and has no need for any share.
James Mallard signed a confession admitting that he had stolen a car belonging to his doctor with whom he and his family have long been unhappy. He had hinted to the doctor just before the incident that he would do him some harm. Mallard has now retracted his confession and asserts his innocence. He argues that he was forced into a confession by Sergeant Attrass who has long victimised him because of his criminal past. The prosecution argue that the initial confession was absolutely correct. They have eye-witness testimony linking Mallard to the crime and insist the Sergeant has treated Mallard quite fairly.
Two mountaineers died in an unsuccessful attempt to scale the Choga Sar in the Himalayas. That ill-fated expedition is now the subject of a libel trial. Captain Piers Bowman who led the climb alleged in a TV documentary that the men died as a result of the cowardly and negligent behaviour of fellow climber Dennis Wainwright. Wainwright argues the allegations were false: he behaved completely properly in dreadful conditions and the men's deaths could not have been prevented. He suggests Bowman has made the claims because he is unable to cope with failure and is looking for a scapegoat.
Charles Oldbury died in the bathroom of the old people's home where he lived. Dr. Fulmer who attended the scene thought he had suffered a heart attack and then drowned in the bath; she tried to resuscitate him without success. However the owners of the home - Margaret and Kenneth Povey - are now on trial accused of his murder and of defrauding his estate of £30 000 with the aid of convicted solicitor's clerk Leonard Saxton. The prosecution claim that they fabricated a change to his will for their benefit and then killed him in the bath, trying to make his death appear to be one of drowning. Both defendants deny all charges. They insist the change to the will was genuine and Mr. Oldbury's death was a tragic accident.
Irene Rutland faces charges of theft, criminal damage and wounding a police officer. The officer was called to a restaurant after Mrs. Rutland was involved in an argument over what she considered an excessive bill. The prosecution argue that she was in a drunken rage and struck the officer while resisting arrest. She was also found in possession of a handbag belonging to another woman - Linda Brightson - and she is also charged with theft of this item and damage to the restaurant. The Defence accept there was a disagreement but argue Mrs. Rutland did not steal the handbag and that the officer was injured by accident.
After surviving the crash of a light aircraft in which two passengers were killed, the pilot of the aircraft is suing a relative of one of the victims for libel. The relative claimed in a newspaper article that the pilot was medically unfit to fly the aircraft and may also have been attempting to commit suicide by deliberately crashing the plane. He denies the allegation.
Pakistani housing landlord Muhammed Aslam is accused of demanding money with menaces from a number of illegal immigrants from Pakistan, who have found their way to Fulchester across Europe by train and boat. Mr Aslam insists that he was merely demanding his fees for arranging the immigrant's journey and for housing rent.
After suspecting that irregular betting patterns had taken place at a greyhound stadium, bookmaker Ronald Charles refused to pay out on a winning betting slip worth over £200,000. A group of men have subsequently been accused of having conspired to cheat the on-track Tote betting system, and Mr Charles, out of thousands of pounds. Barry Deeley leads the prosecution in what is a confusing case for those not familiar with betting procedures.