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DOCTOR: Now, could we check for a pulse?

(MONITOR FLATLINING)

Can you check the airways for me? Let's have a minute of CPR.

He's had adrenaline, right?

Somebody draw up 300 mls of saline.

Let's have a look at the monitor.

It's not looking good. Right, we need to shock again.

- One, two, three, four, five. - MOTHER: Come on, Ifon!

- Ifon! - DOCTOR: Shocking at 70.

Oxygen away, everybody stand clear, please.

(DEFIBRILLATOR CHARGING)

- Charging. - Clear.

There's no change. All right, let's try one more time.

Everybody stand clear. Charging.

Clear.

We've got a change in rhythm. Can you check the pulse for me?

Thanks and well done. We got him back. Well done, guys.

(LAUGHING)

Good.

FATHER: Beautiful!

Mr and Mrs Parfaitt. Can I have a word?

- Thank you. - Um, sorry.

Look, I know this is something you don't want to hear.

We need to think about not resuscitating baby Ifon in the future.

No. Please don't stop.

Well, we have to think about not prolonging his suffering.

No, he can get well. We pray and pray for a miracle.

- He can get well. I know he can. - Well, fact is he's in a coma.

Every time his heart stops like this,

the damage to the other organs increases, along with his suffering.

He's not suffering.

God would find a way to tell us if he was.

His parents are religious fanatics, Bryce.

- They suddenly have faith, hmm? - Oh, it's more than that.

Well, I think they're feeling guilty about not producing a perfect baby

and can't face it.

What do you propose doing that your predecessor didn't?

We have to decide not to resuscitate

in the event of the heart arresting again.

The parents would never agree.

Well, following the ruling in the baby Charlotte case,

we wouldn't need their consent.

I had Jo Mills look it up.

You can't murder our baby. We won't let you.

No one's intending to do that, Mrs Parfaitt...

We'll go into court and stop you. Won't we, Tone?

How are you feeling, Mac? You ready to give evidence?

I want you to speak clearly from the witness box

and look at whoever is speaking to you.

I don't want to tell.

Do you want to go to a secure unit?

No.

I mean, I can't leave Mum and the girls on their own.

Then tell the truth. The jury will believe you.

But the others are my mates.

Mac, there is nothing matey in them letting you take the blame

for something you didn't do.

Mr Brock, when you saw Kelvin Young approach Rowan Pike on the promenade,

what did you think would happen?

I don't know.

Mr Brock, would you speak up a little so the jury can hear you?

I don't know.

Did you know he had a knife?

No.

I just thought he was getting a cigarette.

Did you discuss stealing Rowan Pike's phone?

No. I didn't know he had a phone.

Isn't it an assumption that all little rich kids have phones?

No... I don't know.

And cigarettes and money and sweets,

and anything else you can steal from them?

No, I... I don't know.

I mean, I didn't know if he was rich.

According to the witness, Mr Lee,

we heard you were all taunting the victim, saying,

"Look at the little fat rich kid."

It wasn't me. It wasn't.

Who was it, then?

- I don't know. - (PEOPLE MURMURING)

So you're prepared to keep the code of your gang, are you, Mr Brock?

Silence.

- It's not a code. - The jury might decide otherwise.

They might also find you as guilty as your confederates.

The three defendants stand accused of robbery and assault.

The subject of their vicious attack, you will remember, was Rowan Pike,

a 13-year-old.

On Brighton Seafront,

back on the evening of January 20th last.

The object was his mobile phone, valued at? 50.

The three young men in the dock approached Rowan Pike

and demanded cigarettes.

He had none. Next they demanded money.

He had none. So they took his phone.

The police found the phone in a dustbin

at the home of one of the defendants, Kelvin Young,

who you heard has three previous convictions for robbery.

Each of these three were positively identified

as being equal perpetrators of this crime.

Two others who were involved

have already pleaded guilty to assault at a separate hearing.

Identification evidence, forensic evidence, lack of alibi,

puts each of these three in time and place with the stolen goods.

Five young men, one of them still at school,

were out larking around on a cold winter's evening,

when two of them challenged another young man

and stole his phone at knifepoint.

Can they all really be equally guilty?

Certainly, the first defendant, Macdonald Brock,

was not acting in unison with the others.

Just because all five of them were out together

does not mean that they were acting together.

By the admission of the other defendants,

Macdonald took no appreciable part in the robbery.

He was a hanger-on and did nothing to stop the others,

but then, which of us is brave enough

to stand out from the herd and challenge our peers?

Coop, ask Mrs Mills to join me for tea in chambers, would you?

Just Mrs Mills, Judge?

Um, no. Better ask Mr Sorrell as well.

(KNOCKING ON DOOR)

- Yup. - Mrs Mills, Judge.

Mr Sorrell sends his apologies. He has another engagement.

I'm surprised you didn't turn me down.

You are the one person I'd turn to in a crisis.

Ah. I thought perhaps my luck had changed.

You always took the view luck was something we made.

Yes.

Good closing argument.

Let's see if the jury agree.

How have you been? Haven't seen you for ages.

I've been in front of you in court for the last four days, John.

In any significant way.

You mean, you haven't seen me to make love.

There was always more to our relationship than just sex, Jo.

- Then why can't we just be good friends? - You are my best friend.

Marc's asked me to marry him.

What did you tell him?

Well, I need a big change in my life.

I said I would. I'm sorry, John. I don't want to hurt you.

Well, how did you think it would make me feel? Happy?

Well, I thought you might be pleased that I'm happy.

Are you?

Do I see any evidence?

You don't see me with Marc.

No, I think that might make me want to throw up.

Can't you ever see it from my point of view?

Oh, I'm totally blind to the point of view.

What's going to sustain you in 10 or 15 years' time?

- He loves me. - I love you.

I like you.

We have a lot in common.

Sustainable relationships are two intersecting circles

and the overlap is what you have in common,

and throughout the relationship you try to increase the overlap.

What have you got with Marc?

You've got the theory, you don't put it into practice.

Well, that was what was so great about our relationship, we never had to.

I've made up my mind, John. I'm sorry.

It's perverse.

Don't marry somebody who's wrong for you

because the person who is right for you is difficult.

(SCOFFS) Oh, aren't you so, so smart!

No, I'm not.

But I know you.

You know nothing about sustaining a relationship.

I've offered you friendship, John.

And even that won't be on the table forever.

- I'm a poor loser, Jo. - Only you are making it a contest.

I'll see you in court.

AUTOMATED VOICE: The phone you are calling may be switched off.

Please leave a message or try again later.

Charlie, what is the point of carrying a cell phone

if you don't switch it on?

This could be an emergency.

(DIALLING)

(DIALLING TONE)

As pleasant a visit from my ex-husband is,

I am actually trying to work.

No Neil?

He's at an illegal immigrant summit in France.

Perhaps I could help you with your brief.

Well, who said I needed help?

We all need help somewhere along the line, George.

Can I have a drink?

What do you really want, John?

Is it to bash Neil some more?

(LAUGHS)

Well, I can't pretend that I'm not worried

about your relationship with our illiberal Home Secretary.

I'll survive.

It's going to come unstuck, you know, George. Sooner or later.

Is there something you're not telling me?

He did behave corruptly.

The question isn't whether he did or whether he didn't, John.

- It's whether I care. - I don't believe you.

'Cause you know me so well?

- What? - Why did we fall apart, George?

Oh! I suppose we were too concerned with forging ahead with our careers.

Yeah, but what's a career without a meaningful relationship?

Oh.

Has Little Miss Oxfam finally seen the truth about you?

She plans to marry her surgeon.

Well, why don't you go round there and beat him up instead of Neil?

You're actually enjoying this, aren't you?

(CHUCKLES) No, actually, I'm not, John.

As much as you've made me angry in the past,

you've also made me laugh a lot as well.

I don't like seeing you not in command of your emotions.

How do you know I'm not in command of my emotions?

I'm not weeping all over your carpet.

You're drinking more than usual.

(BOTH SIGH)

Look...

Why don't you go home and get some sleep?

Why don't I stay here with you?

You must be joking.

I don't joke about things like that.

At one time I'd have been flattered.

I suppose one's first love never really loses its excitement.

I'm sorry the love of your life has forsaken you, darling.

But not that sorry. Come on.

(I'M ALIVE BY THE HOLLIES PLAYING ON CAR STEREO)

The Hollies. Glastonbury '76. Fantastic concert.

Must have been about the only year it didn't rain.

You can't be old enough to remember either the weather or the concert.

I was a papoose on me mother's back.

Yeah. Great concert.

- Were you there? - Don't you remember?

Had me going for a minute there, sir.

- Do you know why I stopped you? - Speeding?

You were doing 47 in a 40 mile-per-hour zone.

- Can I have some identification? - Yeah.

Thought I heard you come in.

- You all right, John? - Yeah.

No.

Yeah, I'm fine.

Apart from almost getting nicked for driving too fast

and having too much drink in me.

Well, I haven't half enough in me.

If the Lord Chancellor gets wind of this,

he'll start insisting that High Court judges take buses.

John?

Mmm? No.

Jo Mills is going to marry some guy she's known for about five minutes.

- Younger? - Younger than me, that's for sure.

No, I meant younger than her.

Women of a certain age become irresistibly attracted to younger men.

Biological, I suppose.

I wish Vera would find herself a toy boy.

Oh, it's time to move on, John. For both of you.

I don't want to move on, Monty. That's the point.

Well, you've survived divorce!

And very successfully, as far as I can see.

Don't know if I would.

Why, you thinking about it?

Yeah, from time to time.

(SIGHS)

Marriage becomes a habit.

Like smoking, it's hard to break.

I step to the Rubicon,

I think of all the time I've put in, all the energy we've both invested,

and I don't step across.

(KNOCKING ON DOOR)

(DOOR OPENS)

Excuse me, my lord.

Lady Everard sent me to look for you, sir.

Oh.

Tell her you can't find him, Mr Johnson.

We have some important legal matters to discuss.

Very well, my lord.

Sir Monty isn't to be found in the house, my lady.

Well, he didn't fall down the plughole, Mr Johnson.

Search the grounds. I expect he's outside smoking.

- Vile habit. - Yes, my lady.

Come on, Monty. Let's take this to my room.

Morning.

- Hmm. - (MIMI WHIMPERING)

(WHISTLES) Come on. Come on, darling.

There you are, darling. Go on.

They say you're man's only true friend, Mimi.

It's "best" friend.

They certainly wouldn't put up with all that wives have to.

I shan't even begin to defend our gender's position this morning, Vera.

Oh, John. There's an urgent case I've been asked to hear.

Parents of a child on a life support machine

are resisting the hospital's wish to stop resuscitating.

The Presider of the Family Division

has sent it for me to hear, for some reason.

I'm jammed up. Could you hear it?

Isn't that what you were supposed to ask him last night?

- When? - Last night,

- when you were filthy drunk. - Were we?

Don't remember, Vera.

Well, I'll ask my clerk to talk to Mrs Cooper.

I mean, if you could fit it in, John.

USHER: Will the jury foreman please rise?

On the charge of robbery,

how do you find the first defendant, Macdonald Brock?

Guilty or not guilty?

- Guilty. - (PEOPLE MURMURING)

USHER: How do you find the second defendant, Steven Collins?

- Guilty or not guilty? - JURY FOREMAN: Guilty.

USHER: How do you find the third defendant, Kelvin Young?

- Guilty or not guilty? - Guilty.

Is that the verdict of you all or by a majority?

Oh, we all went guilty, sir.

Thank you for your attentiveness.

You might wish to stay and hear the sentences.

Since you placed reports from the Social Services

and from a child psychologist,

I won't be needing pre-sentence reports.

Am I going to hear from anybody before I pass sentence?

Yes, my lord.

Sometimes the greatest sentence that can be passed on anyone

is the initial shock of being found guilty.

And there sometimes the court has the wisdom

to pause and reflect and decide this is punishment enough,

and deal with the defendant in a more humane way.

This, in the case of Macdonald Brock, would be a non-custodial sentence.

I hope you will be wise

in seeing that a guilty verdict is sentence enough.

Mr Brock was present when the offence was committed.

And this presence alone evidently makes him a party to the crime.

Mrs Mills, I hope you're not going to suggest

that I go behind the jury's verdict.

No, my lord. But he's not essentially a bad boy,

just one who through circumstances found himself in bad company.

Two years ago, just as he became a teenager,

his parents' marriage broke down.

His father deserted the family for another woman.

Not only did he abandon them,

but he pulled away all the props that supported their existence.

His home, his school, his friends, were all snatched from Macdonald,

when his mother was forced to move out of their five-bedroom house,

which the bank took back.

And they were put on to what I can only describe as a sink estate.

It was during this time that he started to harm himself

and was taken into care.

My lord, the pressure on him was so much that he even tried to kill himself.

Macdonald is a vulnerable young man,

who is likely to self-harm if incarcerated.

And that is, as you will read from the reports,

the opinion of the child psychologist

and the resident at the care centre where he was living.

I urge you not to give a custodial sentence.

Would he be returning to care

in the event of a non-custodial sentence?

Well, yes. One would hope with much closer supervision.

No.

As eloquent as your plea in mitigation was, Mrs Mills,

care in the community doesn't seem to have very much to recommend it.

He will be more closely supervised

under a two-year Detention and Training Order

and that is what I propose to do with him.

- No, that is the worst possible outcome. - Mrs Mills...

Such isolation would be damaging to one so vulnerable.

Mrs Mills, there is no easy answer in these matters.

In any event, I am bound by the guidelines of the Court of Appeal,

which state that anyone convicted of a mobile phone robbery

should serve a custodial sentence.

Even though the Court of Appeal seems to find it difficult

to make its mind up how long that sentence should be.

You are the sentencing judge, my lord.

Yes, I am. And I think a two-year Detention...

- No. No! - ...and Training Order is the best

to some not very satisfactory alternative.

- No, it can't be... - Mrs Mills.

Now, I'm going to take a short adjournment

and I'll see you in chambers.

Alone, Mr Sorrell.

All rise.

I can't believe you did that.

I would never have believed that you could be so spiteful and vindictive!

I never was, and you know it.

John, that was nothing except spite

because I told you that I'm going to marry Marc!

Oh, don't be ridiculous.

If that's all you've got to fall back on,

I should report you to save you from yourself.

And I will if you ever talk to me like that again in my court!

Oh, this is good. This is what I needed to hear years ago.

Your true character.

God! And to think that I even thought that you might change.

- I did change. I'm still changing. - Not for the better.

You used to be a man of principle.

Someone who would fight for the underdog!

- Yes, well, I still am. - Are you? I don't think so.

You seem to see the underdog as part of a threatening underclass.

Soon, you will be as bad as Monty Everard

and all of the other judges that you used to despise.

This is outrageous. You know that I had no choice

other than to send that boy down under current guidelines.

You're a High Court judge, John. You can do what you like.

No. No, no, no, the guidelines are absolutely clear.

Custodial sentences for all participants in mobile phone robberies.

You've ignored sentencing guidelines before.

You have chosen not to now because of me.

I'm sorry it came out like this, Mrs Brock.

No, you did your best, Mrs Mills.

Yes, well, evidently that wasn't good enough.

The judge was intransigent.

- Is there nothing we can do? - Well, we'll appeal, of course.

- And what will happen to him? - Detention and Training.

It's a tough regime but they will keep a close eye on him.

Well, the girls will be devastated.

They were when he was taken into care.

We'll keep working, Mrs Brock. I'm not giving up on your son.

Thank you, Mrs Mills. It means a great deal to Macdonald.

Is there any chance I could see him before they take him away?

(DOOR UNLOCKING)

Mum!

(SOBBING)

I don't want to go, Mum. I don't want to go.

I didn't take that phone. It was the others.

I've let you and the girls down again and I didn't mean to.

We are going to be all right.

And we will come and visit you as soon as we can.

And meanwhile, Mrs Mills is going to try and get you out.

JO: We'll do our best, Mac.

They will take care of you. The judge promised me.

(SOBBING)

- A tough morning, John? - The worst.

I had to send some boys down the river.

I'm not sure they all deserved to go. Especially one of them.

Oh, I don't know, John.

Sometimes it's what they need.

Shock to the system sorts them out.

Now, I once slammed the door in the face of my alcoholic brother

when he came round looking for a hand-out.

Wife and children haven't eaten for three days,

was his sad story that day.

But nor would they yet, if I had given him any more money.

No, it was what he needed. Sorted himself out.

Became a director of ICI.

You ever let your personal feelings influence your judgement on the bench?

Oh, we're supposed to be above all that, aren't we, John?

I think Justice Cardozo got it about right.

We do not stand aloof on these chill and distant heights.

The great tides which engulf the rest of men

do not pass the judges by.

Jo Mills accused me of putting this boy away

because of my negative feelings about her.

Yeah. The whole corridor heard the row.

- Did you, John? - No, of course not.

It was governed by these stupid guidelines.

If the Home Secretary wasn't in the pocket

of the mobile phone companies,

then he'd insist on proper security

and this kind of crime wouldn't exist in the first place.

I've put the baby resuscitation case on for tomorrow morning, Judge.

I thought it was urgent.

Oh, it is. But you've a pile of papers to get through first.

If his heart stops again, the hospital would resuscitate him.

To refuse to resuscitate baby Ifon should his heart again stop,

which it has done some 20 times in the past year,

might appear to some an act singularly lacking in compassion.

It is. We know God doesn't want our son to die.

Mr Parfaitt, even as a parent,

I cannot begin to imagine what you and your wife must be going through.

But we are here at your request, to hear the arguments for and against.

You must allow the other side to put their argument.

If there are any interruptions to be made,

I'm sure your very able barrister, Mr Gaydon, will do it.

- Mr Michaels. - I'm obliged, my lord.

It's because of their very great compassion

that the doctors want to be able to make the decision not to resuscitate Ifon.

During cardiac arrest and whilst resuscitating,

considerable damage is done to the other organs.

Baby Ifon is now in a coma.

And the doctors at St James's Hospital don't know if he'll emerge from it.

But they feel that this damage has reached a critical level

and that all they're doing

is prolonging the child's suffering with no further gain.

But Ifon does know us.

- Thank you, Mr Michaels. - My lord.

Mr Gaydon.

Yes indeed, my lord.

Baby Ifon does know his parents and does respond to them.

This baby was born at 21 weeks into Mrs Parfaitt's pregnancy

and wasn't expected to live.

Thanks to the miracles of modern medicine, he did live.

And was brought back to life again and again after he had technically died.

It is understood that Ifon's fragile organs had taken a greater toll.

His heart, lungs, liver, kidneys had all been damaged at birth

from oxygen starvation.

Mr and Mrs Parfaitt don't doubt these facts

when the doctors tell them it is so.

What they do doubt is the degree of suffering Ifon is supposedly enduring.

What would be the purpose

of the doctors attempting to deceive the parents over this?

(SCOFFS) There's no deception being perpetrated here, my lord.

Mr and Mrs Parfaitt completely accept with what the doctors say

as honest and honourable. Merely mistaken.

Do they feel they know more than the doctors?

Medically, no. Emotionally, yes.

During the two years that Ifon's been alive and in hospital,

his parents have been there with him every day.

They are sensitive to his slightest mood change.

We could assume that the medical team has been there every day, too.

With all the goodwill in the world, the medical team could not hope to match

Mr and Mrs Parfaitt's attentiveness and sensitivity to baby Ifon.

They know from these observations

that Ifon isn't suffering anything like as much as the doctors imagine.

At times he's even responded like a normal child.

Well, he's two years old, Mr Gaydon. I believe he's deaf.

He doesn't speak or walk, he's blind and incontinent,

and according to the doctors, he experiences only pain.

If I can draw your lordship's attention to Lord Donaldson's remarks,

which is cited at J1 991 Family 33 at 47.

This is tab B in your authorities bundle, my lord.

Thank you.

"That even very severely handicapped people

"may find a quality of life rewarding,

"which to the unhandicapped

"may seem manifestly intolerable."

Yes, I see.

What the trust is arguing

is whether it's right to prolong unnecessary suffering.

Baby Ifon will go on living for as long as he is able,

with the help of hospital staff.

He has fought for life for the last two years.

He could go on living another two years.

We don't know how wonderful that life is.

His parents certainly believe it is a life worth preserving.

We would ask you to rule that it should be preserved.

Thank you, Mr Gaydon.

Such decisions can never, and must never, be arrived at in haste,

but reflected upon long and hard.

I have read a great deal about this case

and I would like to read and hear a great deal more before giving judgement.

In the meanwhile, my lord, should the baby's heart stop again?

Well, I'm sure the doctors will make every effort to restart it. Yes?

Yes, yes, that's what we do.

And you are?

I'm Marc Thompson.

Consultant of Thoracic Surgery at St James's, Brighton.

I inherited this child's case from my predecessor.

Ah, yes, thank you, Mr Thompson.

I'd like to hear from you and the parents at a later stage.

USHER: All rise.

This is going to be a tough decision.

Can you imagine what those parents are going through?

Every day they go to the hospital to see their baby.

It just breaks your heart.

Might have been better if they hadn't formed such an attachment to him.

I can't help thinking the doctors are right.

Well, even if they are, he is their son.

It's a pity more people don't feel the same way about their children.

Uh, Charlie called, she said she'd meet you at five.

Thank you.

Dad.

Sorry I'm late. Men trouble.

(SIGHS) I'm being stalked by a barrister in chambers.

Not really. I mean, he's just a bit keener than I am.

Story of my life, Chaz. Do you want a drink?

Yes, thanks.

Water?

Well, it's not tap water. It won't poison you.

Yeah, it's not going to knock my brain cells out either, is it?

- Can I have a Cava? - Yes, sure.

- So has nothing got better with Jo? - Not unless you know something I don't.

She nearly bit my head off when she came out of court yesterday.

Perhaps I should beat up Marc Thompson.

Do you think you could? He's very tall.

He was in court today.

Arguing against the resuscitation of a two-year-old.

- Tricky. - Yes.

Morag.

I'm not in your bad books?

- Well, you do work for Ian Rochester. - Don't we all?

He's head of the Lord Chancellor's civil service.

Yes, he and I have some outstanding issues.

I was on the Court Advisory Service Committee.

- Didn't exactly make us intimate. - Do you know my daughter Charlie?

I didn't get a chance to congratulate you, Dame Morag.

Not yet, not officially.

I have an audience with the Queen on the 29th.

I'm slotted in between 12:40 and 1:00.

- They'll give you lunch. - Lunch isn't on the agenda.

Well, perhaps Charlie and I can remedy that by offering you dinner. Hmm?

Fantastic.

Where are we going?

I can't, Dad. I'm...

I sort of promised this stalking barrister that I'd meet him

and there he is.

Look, I'll... I'll talk to you later.

Bye-bye, Dame... Morag.

- Doesn't look like a stalker. - Oh, you can never tell with lawyers.

And what about judges?

Is it over with Jo Mills?

Oh, you heard about that.

Ours is a small world, John.

What are you drinking?

Water? Are you planning on staying sober?

Life is more interesting that way.

- Mrs Mills, how are you today? - Thank you, well.

Shall I call up and warn Sir John, miss?

- That's all right. - Perhaps I should, miss, I mean...

(INSISTENT KNOCKING ON DOOR)

Yes, all right, all right. What've you got, a writ?

Jo.

(SIGHS)

It didn't take long to go from undying love to somebody else in your bed.

Probably a record, even for you.

- Been watching me? - (SNIGGERS) I've been far too busy.

- Is everything all right, Sir John? - Yeah, yeah, it's fine, fine. Thank you.

- Elaine Brock has just been to see me. - Has she got your address?

Her son Mac was found hanging in his cell this morning.

- Is he dead? - Of course he's dead!

Oh, but of course, you can't do anything about that.

Your hands were tied.

What sort of Prison Service are we running? How did this happen?

Yeah, that's what his mum wants to know. How? How? How?

He's inside a Young Offenders Institution

barely 48 hours.

Depressed, isolated, in a stripped cell.

Unloved, uncared for. No one even checking that he didn't harm himself.

How? I didn't send him to a Young Offenders Institution.

Well, that's where he ended up!

He hanged himself with strips from the single canvas poncho

they gave him to wear.

He tore it with his teeth.

Three of his teeth were broken. He was that desperate.

He wasn't a bad boy.

He got in with the wrong crowd and got nicked, so what?

He did not need a High Court judge kicking him when he was down.

I hope you feel very proud of what you've done, John.

See if you could be a man and face his mother and explain what you did.

Would you dare to face her?

To look her in the eye and tell her why her son

had to go to a closed institution?

Because he was such a dangerous offender?

Because he was such a threat to society? Face her.

And tell her that.

- How can I? There are rules. - Which you conveniently hide behind.

Rules which you choose to break on any other occasion

when it is convenient for you so to do.

God, I so hate you at this moment.

(DOOR OPENS)

(CHUCKLES)

Wow.

I'm glad I missed that.

Poor you.

You can't let her blackmail you into seeing this woman.

How can you be responsible?

You made your decision according to the Chief's guidelines.

Yes, the rules.

You've got the motorway murder trial due to start, Judge.

Yes.

I... I don't think I can take it just now, Coop.

See if you can push it off somewhere else, would you?

I'll have a word with the resident judge's clerk.

And would you see if Mrs Justice Hughes is free for lunch?

Okay.

I've told you, John, you're not responsible

for what happened to that boy.

If judges carried those sorts of burdens, none of us could function.

But I'm no longer sure we can just walk away.

Well, most of us can.

Without looking back. You have to.

I'm thinking of going back into therapy.

Ian Rochester said you'd been in therapy.

He thought it made you unreliable.

Is that the word he used?

- Weak, is what he said. - Yes.

What do you think?

Still doesn't make you responsible for what happened.

- I wasn't looking for absolution. - Well, I wasn't offering it.

If I thought that was what you'd need, then I would've suggested a priest.

(LAUGHS)

I wonder what Ian Rochester and his apparatiks would make of that?

I expect more than a few of our brethren have been to confession.

Isn't therapy little more than intellectual hoop-jumping?

Well, I suppose it can be.

(MIMI BARKING)

My therapist told me that I had a problem trusting women,

ever since my mother left me.

She committed suicide when I was 10.

That's pretty intimate stuff, John.

Does it make you feel uncomfortable?

It does, doesn't it?

I'm sorry.

I'm not sure you should trust me with your intimate secrets.

Why?

That boy isn't dead because of some thoughtless sentence you gave him.

You've changed the subject.

Why did you feel compelled to give such a sentence?

Well...

It's possible,

just possible,

that I sentenced him to get back at Jo.

I can't believe that's true.

Well, I don't know. I honestly don't know.

And it's driving me mad.

I doubt any other judges ponder such questions, John.

Are we so infallible?

I like to think so.

- Have we got Mrs Brock's address, Coop? - The dead boy's mother?

- I think I'll go and talk to her. - No, Judge.

I mean, I don't think you should.

Well, I hardly think she's dangerous, Coop.

Well, you never can tell. She's likely to be very angry with you.

Angry enough to want to kill me, I should think.

- I know I would be. - Well,

if you do go and see her then I'll have to go, too.

Do you think the tyres will still be on it by the time you get out?

I'll take a chance.

She might not agree to see me.

I don't know that I have anything to say to you, Mr Deed.

I didn't come here looking to excuse myself, Mrs Brock.

I came here wondering how I could help.

Give me back my son.

Can you give Macdonald back?

I haven't told the girls what's happened to him.

I can't bear to tell them.

I can't seem to believe it's happened.

Not even after seeing his body.

Do you know the staff didn't want me to see him?

He's my son.

How could they think I wouldn't want to see him?

I've seen every other stage of his life.

Pain when his father left.

The way he'd hurt himself, like it was his fault.

Well, the girls will take this very badly.

They loved Mac very much.

Why did it happen?

Why?

I don't know, Mrs Brock, but I will find out.

I will insist on a full inquiry.

Well, that might make you feel better, Mr Deed,

but it really won't help his sisters or me.

Why did you have to send him to that place?

He hadn't done any harm.

(SIGHS)

He was convicted

of a crime for which the law insists on a custodial sentence.

But not a life.

What is it you want from me?

Whatever it is, I will never give it to you.

I hate you for what you did.

Not because you did it,

but because you didn't have to.

Couldn't you see what had happened?

All Mac was doing was looking for some sort of identity

with those lads he was hanging around with.

Why couldn't you see?

He wasn't really bad.

He wasn't.

He was decent and gentle.

Why couldn't you understand that?

What is the point of having a judge with a heart and a brain

if he just follows the rules like a robot?

I want...

I want to try and make some kind of amends.

Well, you can't.

He didn't deserve to die the way he did.

Especially not alone.

And uncared for.

I'm sorry, I...

He's not a bad man.

Really, he's a very, very decent man, Mrs Brock.

- You probably don't want to hear that. - No.

I don't.

There's no other judge who'd have dared come and face you like this.

Do you think

he can even begin to understand

what it is like to lose a child?

I can't.

He was my son.

I know.

You can't ever imagine them not surviving you.

You blame yourself, wish it were you who were dead.

There's not a day goes by that I don't think about my son.

He was drowned in a lido in Blackpool.

He'd be 31 now, married.

Maybe with children.

We only took our eyes off him for a second.

No one noticed him at the bottom of the pool until it was too late.

I blamed my husband,

the attendants at the lido, other holidaymakers.

None of it brought my little Alan back.

Anger seemed to give us some release at the time.

Without it, I think we'd have gone mad.

The only trouble with anger is

it's very rarely directed at the right person.

What can I do, Coop? How can I help that mother?

Sometimes, Judge, there's no help to be had from anywhere.

You could ask the Lord Chief Justice to change his ruling on mobile phone crime.

No, he won't, he wouldn't dare.

Well, why don't you tackle the Home Secretary?

It's his fault, really.

It's his fault that the boy was sent to a Young Offenders Institution.

It's much cheaper to send offenders there

rather than the Detention and Training you asked for.

John, John, this is not really a convenient time to talk to Neil.

We're having dinner with some of his cabinet colleagues.

Well, then, this is a perfect time, George, I can lobby them as well.

- Have you been drinking? - Yeah, of course I have.

So have you.

Oh!

(ALL CHATTERING)

john, this is too much.

John, what a pleasant surprise.

I wonder.

You know our illustrious Mr Justice Deed.

John, please, don't make a scene.

And what should I do, George, not rage against dying?

Let the death of a boy pass for the sake of polite company?

I'm sure we could discuss this soberly, tomorrow.

Why don't you call my office for an appointment?

And what good would that do?

Well, you could always doorstep him, John.

You were always rather good at that, if I remember.

(LAUGHING)

Is something funny?

No. No, no, nothing's funny.

You laughed, I thought you must have found something funny.

(MURMURING)

Oh, for goodness sake, what is this?

You see, when people laugh it's because something has amused them,

and I wondered what it was that had amused you.

Nothing. It wasn't...

- So why'd you laugh? - John, please stop.

I came here to discuss the unnecessary death of a 15-year-old.

Is that what's amused you, Neil?

- Life goes on, old son. - Not for the boy's mother.

- Have a drink, John. - I don't want a drink!

- I want some answers! - Well, you sentenced him, man.

Working to rules forced on me by him.

The jury found him guilty.

I gave him a custodial sentence

to make sure that he was looked after, and now he's dead.

It's not my fault. That's not anyone's fault.

The Home Office shoved him into a Young Offenders Institution

because it was the cheapest option!

No, the reason he was sent where he was sent

was to help make the streets safer.

Crime and fear of criminals is the electorate's biggest concern.

So, why don't you try legislating for a more equitable society?

- Do you want to tell us how? - Yes.

Leave sentencing to the judges.

Locking up all offenders accomplishes nothing.

And if we did that we'd have every pimp, drug dealer, killer

back on the street before the red-top papers could draw ink.

I daresay the boy had a choice.

If a parent treated a 15-year-old

the way the Prison Service treated Macdonald Brock,

he would be prosecuted.

But it's perfectly legal for the state to stick him in a stripped cell

with nothing but a canvas smock?

Aren't you ashamed of yourself?

Well, quite frankly, no.

He was a boy, Neil.

Who would mug you as efficiently as his father.

(GUESTS MURMURING)

It was a proper sentence, John, it just had tragic consequences.

You have to try and see it in context.

No. He has to do something.

Why don't you have the courage to stand by your perfectly correct judgement

instead of whingeing?

John, stop this.

Please leave or I will call my security people.

This really is beyond the pale. I want you to go, now!

(SIGHS)

(MURMURING)

WOMAN: The man has gone mad!

John! John!

- Please, please, can you leave it? - John!

Please, leave it.

Please, excuse me, look, look, leave it to me.

I know exactly how to deal with him.

You might well have security in your job, John,

but you'll be made a laughing stock if you carry on like this.

- I'm responsible. - Yes!

So, face up to that fact.

And stop trying to shift the blame onto Neil or anyone else who's convenient.

Just grow up!

Jo. Jo!

- Jo! - Are you stalking me?

Yes.

- Jo, I really need to talk. - I'm not sure I do.

Jo, come on, I'm really desperate here.

Then try your therapist, she's very accommodating.

Oh, don't do this.

Listen to me. I don't know what's happening to my life.

It feels like I'm becoming estranged from all the things that really matter.

Then look at what you think matters so much and see if it really does.

Well, yeah, right. Well, let's talk about that, then.

No, John, not now. If we do, then you are dictating the terms again.

(CAR STARTING)

(DOOR OPENS)

Oh, hey!

Oh, hey.

Saved you some supper.

I ought to marry you.

Well, what about when the kids break up?

I can get some time off.

- Our wedding? - Good.

You know, you need some time off.

Well, we both do.

I'm fine.

I keep thinking about Macdonald Brock.

John somehow assumes that I'm going to help him with his guilt.

Hang on. You're seeing him?

No.

He was a good friend, though.

Is it always going to be like this?

You, me and the judge?

Jo.

I love you.

I want us to be married.

You still haven't said if you think half-term's a good idea.

Quite soon, isn't it?

Are you no longer sure?

Of course I am.

Don't beat yourself up about it, Dad. It's not worth it.

I feel like beating somebody up, Charlie.

Well, why don't you beat up Neil?

You're about the only one who wouldn't get prosecuted for it.

(LAUGHS) Maybe.

Why don't you get the other High Court judges to gang up on him?

Just joking, Dad.

Couldn't you get these other High Court judges

to resist these straightjacket guidelines?

Find exceptional circumstances in every case

in order not to give severe sentences to already damaged goods?

You could make these new laws unworkable.

I doubt we'd find enough brave judges.

Talk to Grandad about that. He'd know what they're feeling.

No, not yet. I've got baby Ifon back.

Evidence from Marc Thompson.

The whole cycle of this baby's heart stopping and being restarted

is badly damaging the other organs.

Some were never strong to begin with.

Have you been able to measure the function of these organs?

The heart is functioning at only about 20% of its normal capacity,

same with the lungs.

Kidney function is also severely impaired.

They're taking the biggest hits now each time the heart stops.

Why the kidneys?

They're the most sensitive to oxygen starvation.

They can't regenerate once they've been damaged.

Is this child ever likely to come out of hospital

to lead anything like a normal life?

I don't like ever to say never.

But I have to say the prospects are virtually nonexistent.

Do they exist in any form?

In my opinion, based on my considerable medical experience,

I'd have to say they do not.

Short of a miracle,

he'd need multiple organ transplantation.

He wouldn't survive that.

But miracles do sometimes happen.

So do multiple organ transplants.

I've seen some wonderful medical techniques performed.

I've also seen some wonderful responses to medical science.

I have to say, nothing I know in medical science can be done for baby Ifon.

I've consulted with colleagues throughout the world.

If there were something, we'd have done it.

When Ifon was first on the Special Care Baby Unit,

he was so weak and sickly.

He was struggling for survival.

I mean, it was painful to watch.

You could tell what a bad way he was in.

Well, Tina and me,

we prayed to our God.

We prayed and prayed that Ifon would be spared all this pain.

That he'd be taken from us if that was the will of the Lord.

It wasn't His will

because our little baby clung on to life.

It's so precious to him.

He clung on, with the help of God.

I know the medical staff and nurses at St James's

worked ever so hard for Ifon.

Some even prayed with us.

God is working through them.

God makes the miracles we see every day in medicine.

We're just praying and praying for a big one for our baby.

Meanwhile, the doctors tell us he's suffering.

Yes, he was, sir.

We asked God about that.

He told us suffering isn't necessarily a bad thing.

People don't understand why we have to suffer.

They don't want it for a second longer than they have to have it.

Through it, they get an understanding of what their suffering is really about.

God told you this?

Yes, in our prayers.

Does baby Ifon understand it?

It wasn't his understanding that was so affected, it was ours.

We strengthened our faith in the Lord and he rewarded us.

Ifon is getting stronger and recognising us more.

We don't pray any more for him to be taken, but to recover.

Every day when we go into hospital, we see the answer to our prayers.

We see how he responds when his mum strokes his skin.

The look on that tiny face, that's worth all the suffering.

Every day we see it, we know it's a pure miracle.

There's nothing I would like more

than to see that mealy-mouthed, little squit Haughton thwarted.

Thank you, Rosie. Thank you.

But how do we do it?

We had in mind some sort of strike.

Strike?

(LAUGHING)

Yes, well, it has a certain irony about it.

I took a small straw poll.

A number of our brethren are with us emotionally on this.

And everyone seems to dislike the Home Secretary as much as you do.

How do we persuade our noble band of brothers to strike?

It could mean the end of the rule of law.

Oh, I doubt it, Joe. The Chief could be a might upset.

I daresay we could live with that.

DEED: We need some kind of strategy.

It's one thing High Court judges disliking Haughton,

but it's another going against the laws he enacts.

It could change the course of history.

Joe, if one or two are so resolved,

the others will fall into line, I'm sure.

Why don't we divide the judges up amongst us?

We can then decide who might respond

to whose argument.

When do you want the baby Ifon hearing back for a ruling, Judge?

I'm not really any further forward on that, Coop.

I think I want to go and see the baby first. It might help.

With counsel and the stenographer?

Should do, really. No, apologise to them.

I'll drop in on the hospital informally.

We'll advise counsel when we're ready.

(BUZZING)

Hello, are you a relative?

No, I'm John Deed. I'm the judge.

Ah, yes, sir. Someone rang to say to expect you.

Thank you. Thanks.

How is he today?

He's not a well little lad. Some days are better than others.

What sort of day is this?

Today's quite a good day, sir.

He's stable and he has been for a few hours.

What happens when he's unstable?

The day before yesterday, he started to fit

for no reason any of the doctors could discover.

- You have no idea why? - No, sir. Then it just stopped.

- Any additional damage? - No, sir. It just stopped.

He's gripping my finger quite hard.

Yes, he does do that.

Is there any other kind of response?

No. No, I don't think so.

You don't seem quite sure.

I haven't seen him respond.

He's a poor, dear, wee thing.

He doesn't see or hear?

Those parents of his certainly believe he does.

Do you believe there's any basis for their belief?

The doctors don't, Sir John.

His parents would be heartbroken if we were to let him go.

Parents' comfort is not the court's primary concern.

Surely if God had wanted the wee lamb to die,

he wouldn't have brought him this far.

DEED: The parents are the only ones who seem to have seen

any kind of response from him.

MCNALLY: You'd see it soon enough, when they come to his bedside.

DEED: He responds to them, does he?

MCNALLY: It's not a massive response, but it is there.

It's there right enough.

You can't take much notice of what Margaret McNally says.

She's got religion, like the child's parents.

She's completely taken in by them.

So I take it you haven't seen any response from him?

There are none to be seen. He's in a vegetative state.

Yes, she's right about that.

But if he were merely vegetative, that would be one thing.

But he's deteriorating the whole while. Thank you.

Do you care about him?

Yes. Of course we do.

But you're prepared to let him slip away?

Well, I wouldn't be.

If he weren't in such terrible pain and distress.

I don't wish to see him suffering, should his heart stop again.

- Is that likely? - Yeah. It's almost certain to happen.

He's tenacious. He's not strong.

Can faith and love restore him? His parents seem to have plenty.

He's way, way beyond that.

Would it make an economic difference to the trust

if you're required to go on restarting his heart?

- That was never a consideration. - That's not what I asked you.

Well, how could it not?

This bed is costing the hospital trust about? 800 a day.

Medicine, equipment, staff time taken up on his care.

Judge, he's not going to come back and live a normal, happy life,

no matter how much faith his parents have.

There comes a time when you have to make the call.

Sir John...

I have seen responses from baby Ifon.

They're small and they might be insignificant, probably they are.

But he does respond.

- Have any of the doctors seen these? - Well, I doubt it.

They're on the unit a few moments and often on a busy ward round.

And what about other members of the nursing staff?

Well, most of us have seen something or we think we have.

Yes, but are they significant enough to put this baby through more suffering?

I can't tell you that, sir. Only what I have seen.

I just didn't want you to leave here with the wrong impression, sir.

Well, thank you for your candour, sister.

Oh. Thank you, Mr Johnson.

Morag...

- Have you been avoiding me? - Ian.

You move with such delicacy.

(CHUCKLES) You mean I creep.

Have you been avoiding me?

I would say not. I've had nothing to tell you.

Oh, really?

My spies tell me you and Deed have become quite close.

- And I thought I was your spy. - Ah, but are you reliable?

I always have been.

And now you're an excellent judge, my lady.

Are you, in fact, that close to him?

Are you asking if I'm under him, Ian?

I'm concerned you may become as outspoken as Deed.

John is very exercised over the boy who hanged himself

following the two-year sentence he gave him.

I heard he was thinking of taking some sort of action on that.

He's mobilising the judges. At least he's trying.

Will he succeed? That's what we need to know, Morag.

Urgently.

Won't you only really know that if and when

we openly rebel in court?

Hardly. There must be some consensus.

Are you holding out on me?

There are more positive responses than negative ones.

I'm surprised Deed's as popular with his fellow judges.

They're his brothers, at least.

It might be more to do with the unpopularity

of this Home Secretary with the judges.

He'll be more unpopular with them

if he brings in a law to curb them further, as he threatens.

If they ignore his rules, Ian?

That's what we need to head off.

Could they defy what shortly will be written in statute?

We must never allow the situation to arrive at that point, Home Secretary.

Well, the Parliament cannot be defied, Ian.

No. But we could tell the judges that we're sensitive

to reducing the prison population.

I won't be made to look foolish.

It's Deed who's becoming more and more foolish.

You heard what happened at my dinner party?

Alan Peasmarsh told me.

The man seems to be wigging out.

If he can't accept he was no more responsible for that boy's death

than I was, that's his lookout.

With a young thug like that, it would have happened sooner or later.

No, we'll see this through, Ian.

Mr Justice Hedley says in the baby Charlotte case

that in coming to a judgement he had seen not just the physical being

but a body, mind and spirit

expressed in a human personality of unique worth

who is profoundly precious to her parents.

But he did tell the hospital doctors they needn't resuscitate.

(PHONE RINGING)

ANSWERING MACHINE: Hello, this is Jo Mills.

Please leave a message and I'll call you back.

Thanks.

(GAVEL POUNDING)

USHER: All rise.

I've heard the medical argument

why doctors should not be obliged to resuscitate baby Ifon

were his heart to stop again.

It is a powerful argument based on their deep concern

for his continued suffering.

The baby's parents argued passionately and with great conviction

that their child is not suffering anything like

as much as doctors believe.

Their conviction is based in their deep faith

that God would not allow their child to suffer,

and certainly not without purpose.

Now, in this modern age, we may have faith and science

apparently arguing on opposite poles,

experience and common sense tends to push us towards science.

So what is faith, that we should dismiss it so lightly?

It is a belief in, a trust in and a loyalty to God.

Now, never once did these parents mention religion or their church,

but only their faith in God.

So, if we abandon faith

in favour of science, as we all too often do,

then we go one step nearer as a society

to a brutal empirical existence

where nothing has any value unless it is proven.

And if we do that, then I believe we would be the poorer for it.

Legally, where there is doubt of medical prognosis, as there is here,

judgement must always fall in favour of life.

Therefore, if baby Ifon's heart were to stop again,

the doctors must go on using their best skills to restart it.

(LAUGHING) Oh, my God!

(PEOPLE MURMURING)

Perhaps in this way, the parents' fervent prayers may be answered.

This is madness.

The alternative would set a dangerous precedent

where we'd be establishing an easy exit strategy

in this age of cash-strapped hospitals,

where value judgments would all too easily be made.

(WHISPERING)

Is there anything further?

My lord, baby Ifon's heart is arresting.

You have my ruling.

USHER: All rise.

The Home Secretary is absolutely right about curtailing the power of judges.

What happened?

I think he's trying to punish you through me.

No, maybe he's just trying to get at me.

He's saying the medical profession has no feeling,

that we're all driven by the need to save money.

As if I'd weigh the cost against the child's life.

The baby has no life.

Marc, come on, let's get a coffee and calm you down.

I need to go to the hospital. Baby Ifon's arrested.

I hope for his sake we don't get him back.

Okay, well, then, I'm coming with you.

It's a radical idea, John.

Introducing faith back into society.

Did it ever really depart?

Well, I've not seen much evidence of it.

Well, the odd recidivist believing he won't go back to prison.

Those parents have faith.

There's not another judge in the country who'd have acted as you did, John.

Weren't you sitting down here?

We're still waiting on the forensic in the shaken baby case.

- Do you want to have dinner? - I don't think I can.

I have to go to Bradford this evening.

Well, you could go in the morning.

Would I want to get out of bed?

You could try persuading me with the rigour of argument.

(DOOR OPENS)

Excuse me, Judge. Mrs Mills would like a word.

- Is she appearing down here? - No, I don't think so.

I'd better go.

I'll come with you and press my argument.

Tell Mrs Mills five minutes. Come on, Mimi.

(WHIMPERING)

Mrs Mills, he'll give you five minutes.

It won't take that long.

Jo.

- Why are you dressed like that? - What?

- Like that? - Why not?

- Just not quite you, that's all. - Marc likes it.

Oh, right.

What are you trying to do, John? He's a decent man and a fine doctor.

Well, I'm sure he must hold something for you.

- It's not dress sense. - Oh, now, stop this right now.

You are trying to make him out to be something that he's absolutely not.

He's neither venal nor judgemental.

- I'm attempting no such thing. - Then what are you doing?

Trying to save this baby's life

because you're feeling guilty about trashing Macdonald Brock's?

Is that what he's worked out for you to say?

- It doesn't take much working out. - Then why can't he approach me himself?

- You know why. - It is too late for Macdonald Brock.

- This baby is still alive. - Yes, and suffering terribly.

And he will go on suffering every time they bring him back!

Don't be so blind, John!

You were doing this to assuage your feelings of guilt.

Baby Ifon will go on and on suffering, until finally

his body will not be able to take any more and gives up the ghost.

Is this you talking or Marc Thompson?

You might not realise it yet, Jo,

but he sees everything in stark, economic terms.

This life and not that life.

Healthcare provision is a very finite resource.

Perhaps judges should wake up to that fact, too.

I've told Marc that the trust can appeal.

They can appeal your conversations with staff.

In the absence of counsel, they can also appeal

your personal conflict of interest with Marc.

(WHIMPERING)

Sorry, Mimi.

- How's Bradford looking? - Still have my ticket.

- Are you done with Mrs Mills? - Yeah.

- She plans to marry her surgeon. - Does she?

Mmm-hmm.

What sort of a relationship did you have?

Well, you get right to it, don't you?

Um...

Relationships are difficult.

You didn't answer the question.

She always told me I wasn't committed.

She was prepared to give up her hard-fought-for independence.

Was it that hard-fought-for?

- You're clearly not a woman, John. - Oh, you noticed.

And you still didn't answer the question.

You must have been a very good advocate.

I once sneaked into the back of the Bailey.

Just to watch you defend a subnormal man accused of murder.

Oh. Wish I'd seen you.

Why didn't you make a commitment?

Well, if I knew that, Morag,

I might have been able to remedy the situation.

- Was it a question of trust? - In what way?

Oh, you mean, I was afraid she might betray me? No.

No, that was not a problem.

Isn't there a tendency to suspect everyone of lying?

Of betraying our trust?

Well, if we do, it's tempered with wisdom.

Don't you just have to be guarded in your feelings

when you become a judge?

Notionally, but they can still burst through and put you out of control.

I was always afraid of being out of control.

Although, I did burst in on the Home Secretary's dinner party

and give him hell for what happened to Macdonald Brock.

- That was out of control. - Yes, I heard.

So did all the other judges.

I stopped myself finally.

I mean, as angry as I was, I did pull back.

You're a complicated man, John Deed.

I went to see the dead boy's mother.

Wasn't that a huge risk?

I felt responsible for her son's death

and there was nothing I could do about it.

Your hands were tied.

I couldn't do anything to help her.

What were you expecting to do for her? You're not Jesus Christ.

Well, occasionally we bring victim and perpetrator

together in some kind of reconciliation.

Why not the judge and the dead boy's mother?

Because she was...

(SIGHS)

She was like the 10-year-old me

when my mother committed suicide.

So full of pain and fear.

Your actions is court were impeccable.

And the result was chaos.

I really should get my train.

Mrs Brock.

I told you I don't want to talk to you, Mr Deed.

I really need to talk to you, Mrs Brock.

Why?

I feel this more than you can believe.

You know what I can't work out is what you want with my suffering.

What I can believe is it's got more to do with you than with me.

Well, I don't want you in my home, reminding me.

Do you hear me? You just go away.

What I do promise you, Mrs Brock,

is I that will get these guidelines changed

so that no other child has to suffer as yours.

It's too late for Macdonald.

What's this, John? Another fist fight? I do have my panic button.

You might not need it.

Get the phone companies to tighten their security.

Then repeal automatic custodial sentences for phone thieves.

- You've got to be joking. - This is outrageous, John.

You can't expect Neil to respond like this. It's totally unfair.

That's exactly what Mrs Brock thinks.

Her son shouldn't have offended.

You really are a self-indulgent fool, aren't you?

- There's no need to get personal. - I feel like being personal, Neil.

John, you're seriously out of control. You need help.

Now...

you have a choice. You can help me

or I will invite every High Court judge, every circuit judge, every recorder,

to resist the guidelines generated by your Home Office report.

Will anyone take any notice? I doubt it.

And if they don't, I will audit every edict issuing from the Home Office.

I will personally take apart every one of your pronouncements

line by line.

I think you'll find your views are less popular than you imagine.

Let's see.

(SIGHS)

Are we to unleash the hounds of war on the present incumbent?

Yes, let's start alerting the judges who are sympathetic.

Most are.

Just that some of them are not quite as brave as we are.

Power may not care who owns it, but we do.

With respect, Home Secretary,

the Lord Chancellor is most concerned that there shouldn't be open warfare

between the judges and the Home Office.

Well, they know what the solution is, Ian.

It would make the courts unworkable.

Law and order could break down.

As long as the electorate knows who's to blame.

The Lord Chancellor fears blame will attach to no one

but the government.

It certainly won't be the judges.

Well, then we must make sure that it is.

I believe he intends speaking to the PM to head this off.

Am I to be made the scapegoat?

We could head this off entirely.

And what do I get if I were to back down?

Eggy face?

We still have Deed and Sir Joseph Channing

in a compromised position.

Deed failed to report his daughter's gross misconduct in court

to the Bar Council.

Needs must when the devil drives.

Excuse me, would it be possible to see Mr Deed?

I don't know if he's around.

I could ask his clerk. Wait there.

Judge, Mrs Brock is in court. She wonders if she could have a word.

I think it's best I don't see her, Coop.

- What? - Nothing.

I'm sorry, Mrs Brock, I'm afraid the Judge can't see you.

Oh.

It's all right. Thanks, Coop.

Mrs Brock.

I heard on the news. The Home Secretary's backed down.

He's promised to stop the courts

having to automatically lock up juveniles.

But as you said, too late for your son.

- I'm sorry I got so angry. - Yeah, well...

You have a lot be angry about, Mrs Brock.

I always thought Mac was never meant for this world.

He was too sensitive.

He always tried so hard to be strong and not to care.

You always blame yourself, but...

I think, finally, I understood.

It wasn't me he was trying to get away from.

It was himself.

It had little or nothing to do with you.

I can't be let off so lightly.

What happened?

We just don't know, Marc.

His heart stopped.

The crash call team got here in record time

and worked on getting his heart started again.

After about five minutes, they restarted it

and he just came out of the coma.

(IFON CRYING)

That's wonderful. That is... That is truly wonderful.

John...

Is everything all right?

I'm sorry for all the things I've said to you.

Probably no more than I deserved.

Marc's called.

To end your relationship?

Baby Ifon has come out of his coma. He's doing very well.

Well, how about that for the power of prayer?

Or did he come up with some new scientific protocol?

No, Marc puts it squarely in the realms of miracle.

- To be quoted? - I doubt it.

Marc says there's nothing in medical science to explain it.

- Not a lot else besides, Jo. - Mmm.

Well, perhaps we'll get another miracle.

Perhaps I'll get you back.