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An in-depth view into the role of a judge during murder proceedings in the UK. Told with compassion and frankness, Wendy Joseph QC guides the audience through the decisions she must make on a daily basis.
Her book is outstanding. It is one of the best non-fiction books that I've read for many years. She writes with a novelist's flair and ease about things that are real and often tragic and sad. Throughout the book, various different cases are discussed, all involving the death of at least one person. The way that she describes the court room, and the people within it is fascinating. I learnt a great deal from this book, and from Her Honour. There were aspects of the law that surprised me, especially the explanation about the verdicts of guilty and not-guilty and how no one ever tried by a jury is found 'innocent', as there is no such verdict in England and Wales. A verdict of not-guilty only means that the prosecution has not made the jury sure of guilt. Even if a jury concludes the defendant is very probably guilty, they must return a verdict of 'not guilty' - because 'very probably' is not 'sure'. I have thought about this so many time since I read it. It's basic and straight forward, but I'm guessing that many people don't know this, or consider it.This is a book full of dark subjects with plenty of content warnings to be aware of, but it's very engaging and I didn't get bored at all. Even the legal speak is done in a way that makes it easy to understand. It's almost written as if we are the jury, but instead of getting all the gritty details we get the bare bones. I must admit, in many of the cases I tried to guess what the outcome would be, and I wasn't always right - especially in the last case the author talks about.
The cases that are written about are intriguing and I found myself desperate to discover the outcome of each one. The author explains each one in a manner that is empathetic and factual. I've been a fan of crime thrillers and detective novels for years. I love the thrill of the chase, working out 'whodunnit' and seeing the criminal being arrested and lead to the cells at the end. But what happens after that? In Unlawful Killings, Wendy Joseph takes the reader through six different murder trials that she has presided over as Judge and explains calmly, clearly and with great compassion what happened to the victims and what happens in a trial to the perpetrators of these terrible crimes. How does a jury get selected? What evidence will be presented, what is withheld? What guidance is provided when the jury go to deliberate their decision? All is revealed in this excellent book. I have been talking about this book pretty much non-stop since I read it! If anyone has any connections to the author and could ask her if she would come to my university to deliver a talk on criminal law to our students, I would be so grateful! It seems morally wrong as well as personally disturbing to say I loved a book with such a gruesome subject matter so, instead, I’ll say that it was absolutely fascinating and illuminating, even to someone who has studied criminal law. Written by former barrister and judge, Her Honour Wendy Joseph QC, from her perspective as a presiding judge in cases heard at the most famous criminal court in the world, the Old Bailey, it gives a revealing peek behind the curtain into a world that very few people ever get to see.Having recently sat as a Juror, I can state, first hand, that it is nothing like you see on the TV. Countless hours of waiting around to be called, a slow, almost pedestrian look through the evidence (in this case not murder but still very nasty), and with none of the high energy 'gotcha' reveals that you may have been used to seeing on old episodes of Perry Mason. The author very clearly dispels this myth in her narrative, but also takes us behind the scenes of the things we might not witness as jurors. All those moments of lawyerly wrangling that cannot be shared with the jury for fear of prejudicing the outcome. Using a very down to earth, often humorous, tone that always carries that edge and gravitas you might expect from a Judge, Her Honour Wendy Joseph delivers candid and very astute observations of the entire process, dissecting not only the salient parts of the case, but the legal teams, the witnesses, the defendants and even the jury, really making you feel like you are there in the public gallery watching proceedings.
And I can't get the story of the parents who killed their daughter out of my head due to the two kids involved. The fact that the mother and father were willing to allow their daughter to be ripped apart but not their son is disgusting. The utter sexism is hard to stomach, both the murder of the older daughter and the treatment of the younger daughter. And the fact the mother got a lawyer who is well known for ripping witnesses apart nastily and she was okay with her younger daughter going through that. And the fact that the mother was set free and took custody of them both again. I can't imagine that this didn't break the kids mentally. The boy witnessed the death. Your mother obviously loves her son more than her daughter and that would impact the girls mental psyche. And having to live with someone who all probably helped murder your sister. Both kids were utterly traumatised. I hope they got therapy. It's awful situation all around. I hope they grew up okay but probably not. I hope they are happy. Utterly heartbreaking situation. The book is structured in a very accessible way, even to people with absolutely no experience of criminal law or legal procedure in any form. She has constructed a series of fictional cases, built from her experiences of hearing hundreds of real cases, to demonstrate different aspects of the crimes of murder and manslaughter, what the law is, how it is applied and how verdicts and sentences are reached. The author explains in straightforward, easily understood language the facts of each case, what evidence is brought forward in support of the case, the defence presented and how the judge instructs the jury and how sentence is passed. For anyone who is interested in more detail of the law being applied, there are detailed appendices which you can consult for further reading but, if that’s not your bag, you don’t need to go into that much depth to understand the points being made. Aside from its storytelling in the capacity of true crime, Her Honour also draws out a real and disturbing pattern — that in most cases before the court, our societal institutions have been the breeding ground for the very crimes we reprehend.
What really comes across in this book is how the facts of every case are different and so much more complex than the average newspaper summary can possibly get across and the initial facts aren’t the only things that will need to be taken into account when passing judgment or sentence. It gives a great insight into the dilemmas that cross the consciences of juries and judges every day and will really make the reader think what decision they would have come to when presented with that scenario, and how the people making those decisions weigh up all the factors. If you have never been involved in a jury trial, it might give you a better idea of what an enormous burden this can be and how hard it is for judges to make sentencing decisions. As we are taken through 6 different semi-fictionalised trials involving members from every section of society, Her Honour Wendy Joseph gives us access into a Judge’s perspective and uncovers the fundamentally human face under the cold steely mask of the law. Unfortunately, this did not really land for me. Joseph QC has written a great book here, one which ought to be recommended to all first year Law students, and those considering a career in Law. It does a good job of covering basic principles in the criminal law of murder, but goes no further. In some ways, Joseph QC satisfies the job she set out to establish. It is an effective piece, with a good deal of suspense and provides insight into a judges role. However this is a rather basic, limited insight, with more in the way of entertainment than analysis. Moreover the fictionalised, hodgepodge stories, for me, felt intangible, because the writing made them seem like heightened reality, rather than facts as they might appear in court. The fracture lines that run through our society are becoming harder and harder to ignore. From a unique vantage point, the author warns that we do so at our peril. Absolutely superb. 5 stars for sheer readability alone. Her Honour entertains as she educates us about murder, about the law and about how we human beings are shaped as we create the culture we live with.' PHILIPPA PERRY, author of THE BOOK YOU WISH YOUR PARENTS HAD READ
I found this to be an informative read and highly interesting. The author gives us real insight into her role as a judge and takes the time to discuss aspects of the law that readers are unlikely to be familiar with. I met Her Honour Wendy Joseph at the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Fiction Festival in Harrogate last year. I have never knowingly met a Judge before. I've always had that stereotypical view that a judge will be large, and loud and usually male. Her Honour is tiny and soft spoken and gentle and I was a little bit smitten by her! Some of the text is a little dry but personally I can’t see a way in which it could be made more digestible, the author has tried their best.
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