Catch up TV

Series 2: Episode 8

Leading barristers Jeremy Dein and Sasha Wass investigate whether a young mother accused of poisoning her family in 1850 was hanged as a result of hearsay and gossip.\n\nIn the mid-19th century, a 'poison panic' gripped Victorian Britain when a slew of murders, many perpetrated by women, caused national hysteria. Their weapon of choice was an easily available powdered poison called arsenic. So, in May 1850, when 43-year-old farm labourer Richard Chesham died after a long illness in a small Essex village, rumour was rife that his wife, 42-year-old Sarah Chesham, was somehow responsible for his death.\n\nSarah had gained a reputation as a serial poisoner three years earlier when she was accused of killing three local boys using poison. She was acquitted on all charges, but the shadow of these grisly events hung over her.\n\nOrdered to stand trial for the attempted murder of her husband despite little evidence against her, Sarah, with no lawyer acting in her defence, was swiftly found guilty and sentenced to hang. Now, more than 160 years and four generations later, Sarah’s cousin Roz Powell has become engrossed in her ancestor’s sensational story and is determined to prove her innocence.\n\nJeremy and Sasha help Roz uncover new evidence as they delve deep into the historic records, reviewing the medical evidence, analysing the impact of the controversial media coverage and unpicking the legal process of the time. But can they convince a modern-day judge that Sarah Chesham was the victim of a miscarriage of justice?

Source: BBC 1