Barristers Sasha Wass and Jeremy Dein investigate whether the murder of a gentleman farmer in the late Victorian era was really carried out by a 19-year-old rabbit poacher.\n\nStaffordshire, 1893. In farmland near the sleepy village of Norton Canes, farmer William Masfen lay in wait to confront poachers who he'd been tipped off were illegally hunting on land he had rights to.\n\nAt about 3.30am, a brutal confrontation saw him shot twice and bludgeoned. Of the three injuries, any one could have killed him. His body was discovered at 9.30am, and police followed distinctive boot marks found at the crime scene to the nearby home of 19-year-old miner and renowned local poacher John Hewitt. There police found a shotgun and Hewitt's boots, which exactly matched the distinctive print. They also found a recently killed rabbit in the pantry.\n\nHewitt was arrested and charged with murder. He initially denied his guilt, but 48 hours after his arrest John Hewitt made a dramatic confession to police in his cell at 3.30am. He claimed that Masfen had confronted him, tried to take the gun off him, and the gun had gone off accidentally in the struggle. However, the teenager was convicted of murder in a trial that lasted just one day. He was later hanged.\n\nOver a century later, two of John Hewitt’s descendants, Adrian and his father Trevor, are keen to find out if John might have been innocent. A family legend passed down the generations says it was actually John Hewitt's father who fired the fatal shots.\n\nAdrian and Trevor have called on the barristers to establish if there could be any truth to the family legend. Exploring questions around the ballistics evidence given at trial, the psychological state of a 19-year-old charged with the most serious of crimes, and a confession made at the dead of night in difficult circumstances, will Jeremy and Sasha be able to find enough new evidence to cast doubt on the safety of John Hewitt's conviction?
Source: BBC 1
Series 3: Episode 9
Leading criminal barristers Sasha Wass and Jeremy Dein investigate the fatal poisoning of a 49-year-old wealthy lodger at a family mansion.\n\nLondon, 1911. Insurance salesman F ...
08-03-2024
BBC 1
Series 3: Episode 8
Barristers Sasha Wass and Jeremy Dein investigate whether the murder of a gentleman farmer in the late Victorian era was really carried out by a 19-year-old rabbit poacher.\n\nS ...
07-03-2024
BBC 1
Series 3: Episode 3
The barristers explore the case of a poultry farmer who buried the body of his fiancé under a chicken run but claimed to be innocent of her murder.\n\nCrowborough, East S ...
06-03-2024
BBC 1
Series 3: Episode 2
Leading criminal barristers Sasha Wass and Jeremy Dein investigate a toxic love triangle which culminated in the murder of a Yorkshire farm owner, who died in mysterious circums ...
05-03-2024
BBC 1
Series 3: Episode 1
Leading criminal barristers Sasha Wass and Jeremy Dein investigate their oldest case yet, the murder of a female canal boat passenger 180 years ago, for which boatmen were convi ...
04-03-2024
BBC 1
Series 4: 8. Dainton
Leading barristers Jeremy Dein QC and Sasha Wass QC examine the drowning of a wife and mother in Victorian Bath, re-evaluating the chain of evidence that led to the conviction o ...
01-03-2024
BBC 1
Series 4: 9. Brown
Top criminal barristers Sasha Wass QC and Jeremy Dein QC re-examine an infamous case of a housewife accused of murdering her young husband. She became the last woman to be publi ...
29-02-2024
BBC 1
Series 4: 7. Read
Top criminal barristers Jeremy Dein QC and Sasha Wass QC re-examine their oldest case yet - the murder of a military veteran by his estranged wife nearly 200 years ago.\n\nLeice ...
28-02-2024
BBC 1
Series 4: 10. Shaw
Leading criminal barristers Sasha Wass QC and Jeremy Dein QC investigate their first Scottish case, the murder of a reclusive pensioner nearly 70 years ago. Two men stood trial, ...
27-02-2024
BBC 1
Series 4: 6. Staunton
Top criminal barristers Jeremy Dein QC and Sasha Wass QC re-examine the complex case against a Victorian auctioneer accused, alongside his brother and two others, of murdering h ...
26-02-2024
BBC 1
Series 4: 8. Dainton
Leading barristers Jeremy Dein QC and Sasha Wass QC examine the drowning of a wife and mother in Victorian Bath, re-evaluating the chain of evidence that led to the conviction o ...
01-03-2024
BBC 1
Series 1: Episode 1
Top criminal barristers Sasha Wass and Jeremy Dein reinvestigate the historic case against Charlotte Bryant, and the story of a murder that tore a family apart in the 1930s.\n\n ...
28-02-2022
BBC 1
Case Closed?: Episode 4
Top barristers Sasha Wass and Jeremy Dein look back at their examination of a seaside case of murder and mistaken identity from 1900 - a case involving false names, suspicious j ...
15-06-2023
BBC 1
Case Closed? Series 4: 3. Brown
Top criminal barristers Sasha Wass QC and Jeremy Dein QC revisit their investigation into an infamous case of a housewife accused of murdering her young husband. She became the ...
22-02-2023
BBC 1
Series 1: Episode 7
Barristers Jeremy Dein and Sasha Wass re-investigate an alleged false confession that led to the hanging of William Burtoft for the brutal murder of Frances Levin in her home in ...
08-03-2022
BBC 1
Series 5: 4. Yarham
Top criminal barristers Jeremy Dein QC and Sasha Wass QC reinvestigate a complex case from Victorian Britain that featured four prime suspects, two trials and ultimately just on ...
04-10-2023
BBC 1
Series 3: Episode 9
Leading criminal barristers Sasha Wass and Jeremy Dein investigate the fatal poisoning of a 49-year-old wealthy lodger at a family mansion.\n\nLondon, 1911. Insurance salesman F ...
08-03-2024
BBC 1
Series 5: 1. Jacoby
Two of the UK’s top criminal barristers, Sasha Wass QC and Jeremy Dein QC, investigate a case from 1922 in which a lowly hotel pantry boy was convicted for the murder of a ...
29-09-2023
BBC 1
Series 3: Episode 6
Leading criminal barristers Sasha Wass and Jeremy Dein investigate the violent assault and murder of a teenage girl in 1918, and how a button and badge found near her body led t ...
13-09-2023
BBC 1
Series 1: Episode 8
Barristers Sasha Wass and Jeremy Dein scrutinise a violent burglary and murder from 1931. The murder weapon could be key to the conviction and execution of Henry Seymour.\n\nIn ...
09-03-2022
BBC 1