- Paperback: 288 pages
- Publisher: Viking (1 April 2010)
- Language Unknown
- ISBN-10: 067091830X
- ISBN-13: 978-0670918300
- Product Dimensions: 23 x 15.2 x 2.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 172,532 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Defending the Guilty
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More About the Author
Product Description
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 )
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 )
Product 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?
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is a fantastic "Legal Babylon" style exposee of the life of a criminal barrister. Peppered with just the right amount of interesting facts about the history of English law and how today's judicial system came about, it's a lively read. Best of all, it's actually well written, which you don't often get with this kind of book. Thoroughly enjoyable and highly recommended.
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a very readable book - I read it in two days, and would have got through it at one sitting had I had the time. The various stories are interesting and often funny, but the book also has a serious side. I liked the way McBride uses the case histories as illustrations to draw more general conclusions. One example is the case of Mr V, wrongly arrested for (at that time, 2005) a non-arrestable offence, from which McBride goes on to point out that the distinction between arrestable and non-arrestable offences has since been removed in the Serious and Organised Crime And Police Act of 2006, thus giving the police powers of summary arrest for any offence. The same chapter (21) also points out a number of "reforms" introduced begiining with the Criminal Justice Act 2003 that have tipped the balance against the defence and in favour of the state or the police. What is surprising to me is that these changes were enacted by a centrist government headed by a prime minister who had himself been a barrister and who had many lawyer colleagues among his MPs. Perhaps legal professionals are not the best people to make laws!
On DNA evidence, there is a good explanation of its limitations: this explanation is clear even to a layman without knowledge of statistics. DNA is a powerful investigative tool, but not however infallible. The discussions of the limitations of CCTV evidence and witness visual identification evidence(backed up in both cases by examples from the courts) also give the reader pause for thought.
All- in-all the book is entertaining, informative and thought-provoking.
On DNA evidence, there is a good explanation of its limitations: this explanation is clear even to a layman without knowledge of statistics. DNA is a powerful investigative tool, but not however infallible. The discussions of the limitations of CCTV evidence and witness visual identification evidence(backed up in both cases by examples from the courts) also give the reader pause for thought.
All- in-all the book is entertaining, informative and thought-provoking.
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Clear and well written insider knowledge of the English Bar. I managed to finish it in two days so it keeps your interest. Its written in a style more atuned to the outsider to digest but don't let that put you off if you see yourself as a plucky amateur.
Plenty of eye opening situations and case examples. I particularly enjoyed the story running through the chapters about his daily life as a 'pupil'. If you have an 'interest' in the law or on how 'justice' is delivered on a day to day basis or would like to understand how the whole system is a lot more of a conveyor belt than an art form then this is good place to start.
Plenty of eye opening situations and case examples. I particularly enjoyed the story running through the chapters about his daily life as a 'pupil'. If you have an 'interest' in the law or on how 'justice' is delivered on a day to day basis or would like to understand how the whole system is a lot more of a conveyor belt than an art form then this is good place to start.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A great read!
This delightful book moves from the ridiculous to the sublime and back again with consummate ease. The author has a real talent as a writer and his legal career notwithstanding, he... Read more
Published 3 months ago by J. P. Ryder
Entertaining&informative
This is a really great book, informative, entertaining, with legal stories and facts described in graphically amusing language. Read more
Published 4 months ago by P. Masters
Excellent
Complelling detail of a lawyer's daily life, the history of various justicial shenanigans and opinion on contemporary matters of law. Easy to read and well paced.
Published 4 months ago by Trip Dude
Interesting viewpoint & a good read!
This is the first book I have read concerning our chaotic judicial process that has not been written by a police officer and I found it very interesting. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Lizzie
Really entertaining, well written.
This was one of the first books I paid out for on my nice new Kindle and I wasn't disappointed!
I'm professionally involved in the legal, so-called, "system" and spend... Read more
I'm professionally involved in the legal, so-called, "system" and spend... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Wetandwindy
The truth is out there!
As a regular professional witness in Crown Court, Coroner's court and Family Division of the High Court I found this entertaining and to a certain extent educational. Read more
Published 5 months ago by J. H. Mccarthy
Law and Injustice
Public fascination with crime and the criminal system has existed for centuries and shows no sign of abating. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Neutral
A briefs brief
Excellent read, we flew through this book, theres nothing to dislike about this guy contrary to other reviews, he's a typical barrister. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Stephen George Newman
a great book
This is a great book about a young barrister. It is well-written, funny and informative. It tells us about how difficult it is to have a career as a barrister if you are not... Read more
Published 13 months ago by anna
infuriating
I agree with Gareth Wilson (my fellow reviewer). Alex McBride comes across as infuriatingly smug. On page 30 he also makes himself look sillier than one would have thought humanly... Read more
Published 13 months ago by T. Quinn
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