From the cases of Michael Fagan and other Buckingham Palace intruders to those of West End pickpockets, over-zealous preachers, 'saucy' prostitutes and cockroaches in the kitchens of one of London's most prestigious clubs, Bow Street Beak is a roller-coaster ride through the judicial career of stipendiary magistrate Ronald Bartle at the iconic Bow Street Magistrates' Court.It takes a candid look at the often tragic world of the criminal offender but with the kind of humour that stems from pricking the skin of normally rigid, formal and sometimes daunting institutions. From the eccentric behaviour of court 'regulars' to the ordeal of the clang of the cell door and steps to the dock for the businessmen and others whose careers are at an end from momentary lapses, the book is an acutely observed social record of legal, criminal and everyday London life. At a time when Bow Street court no longer exists and there are questions about the building's future, Bow Street Beak is a record of a fine heritage and a life in the law well spent.Thoroughly entertaining. By one of the UK's best-known stipendiary magistrates (now district judges).Contains reflections on the nature and purpose of the criminal law and sentencing. Features cases that made the headlines. A study in human nature. From famous cases to London low life.

A must for collectors and librarians. Contains a powerful analysis of three of English law's most iconic criminal cases with extracts from the original transcripts and court reports. Readable, accessible and engaging. Paints vivid pictures of three different social eras.There are cases in the annals of English criminal law that forever resonate. In Three Cases that Shook the Law former district judge Ronald Bartle has selected three for close scrutiny: cases where the defendants paid the ultimate penalty even though demonstrably the victims of injustice. They are those of Edith Thompson who suffered due to her romantic mind-set, a young lover and the prevailing moral climate; William Joyce (Lord 'Haw Haw') where the law was stretched to its limits to accommodate treason; and Timothy Evans who died due to the lies of the principal prosecution witness Reginald John Halliday Christie who it later transpired was both a serial killer and likely perpetrator.Weaving narrative, transcripts and original court records the author presents the reader with a captivating book in which his long experience as a lawyer and magistrate is brought fully to bear.A valuable addition to the history of English law that will be of particular interest to those concerned about miscarriages of justice or capital punishment (which remains rife in parts of the world).

The case of Lizzie Bordon is one of the most infamous in criminal history having spawned songs, plays and media speculation. It also ranks as one of the most puzzling. Having been acquitted of the axe murders of both her parents, Borden then returned home and carried on as before only to be roundly ostracised by the stoutly religious local community. Prosecutors never charged anyone else. Here, author Ronald Bartle revisits events in Fall River, Massachusetts in 1892. He explains how her answers to police questions were at times strange and contradictory and her accounts often bizarre. With so many pointers to her involvement in the killings her trial has been compared to that of O J Simpson in the modern day. Whatever the justice of the situation, no-one wanted to see a woman hanged. The case is immortalised in legal folklore as well as the children's skipping rhyme:Lizzie Borden took an axeAnd gave her mother forty whacks.When she saw what she had done,She gave her father forty-one.A refreshing account of a very famous case. Contains legal and other analysis. A fly-on-the-wall view of the nineteenth century USA justice system. A true story that reads like a thriller.From the text: "The essence of the prosecution case in the Borden trial is simply: If Lizzie didn't do it who else could have done? But when that is the proposition before a jury trying a defendant who enjoys from start to finish the presumption of innocence that is not enough...There is a difference between feeling certain that the defendant is guilty-and the sufficiency of the evidence to prove it. The method of criminal trial in Anglo-American jurisprudence is weighted in favour of the defendant...But as a system of justice it is, like democracy, though imperfect, better than all the others."

One of a number of real life cases from an era when juries listened with rapt attention to evidence of exact times, distances, estimates of speed and even in some cases whether a clock was fast or slow—from witnesses whose recollections might be first-rate, mildly inaccurate, mistaken or wholly unreliable. A reading of Old Bailey and other Assize court cases from the time suggests there may have been an entire industry centring on the creation of ambiguity, smokescreens and sometimes false alibis. Advocates demonstrated skill, ingenuity and persistence in constructing explanations, favourable or unfavourable, according to whether they acted for prosecution or defence. The Telephone Murder of 1931 in Liverpool, when William Wallace was acquitted on appeal of his wife’s murder, is a poignant reminder of those days. The story is further spiced because prosecuting counsel was a man fighting to restore his professional reputation. This second edition contains a new Preface as well as a number of textual explanations, enhancement and a fresh index. It complements the author’s series of books on famous cases.