Catch up TV

Case Closed? Series 3: 5. Chesham

Leading barristers Jeremy Dein and Sasha Wass look back at their investigation into 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 responsible for his death.\n\nSarah had gained the reputation of 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. Ordered 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. \n\nMore than 160 years and four generations later, Sarah’s cousin Roz Powell became engrossed in her ancestor’s sensational story and determined to prove her innocence. Jeremy and Sasha helped Roz uncover new evidence by delving deep into historic records, reviewing the medical evidence, analysing the impact of the controversial media coverage and unpicking the legal process of the time, all in an effort to convince a modern-day judge that Sarah Chesham was the victim of a miscarriage of justice.\n\nNow, one year on from Judge Radford’s decision, Jeremy and Sacha catch up with Roz and Steve and discover that the couple are more determined than ever to right a wrong, as they campaign to secure a full pardon for Sarah Chesham.

Source: BBC 1