‘Yes, m’lord,’ admitted the newly qualified barrister as he rose from his place.

‘No doubt you wish to suggest there are mitigating circumstances in this case, Mr Rodgers,’ prompted the judge helpfully. Haskins’s barrister, a young man who had been selected on the grounds of cost, rather than experience. Mr Justice Gray turned his attention to Mr and Mrs After all, they considered the law to be nothing less than an extension of the Almighty. Her neat floral dress and sensible shoes hinted at an organized and tidy woman, but then they were both wearing the clothes that they would normally have worn to church. His black shoes looked as if they had been spit-and-polished every morning. He stood upright in the dock, and although his suit was well worn, his shirt was clean and his striped tie suggested that he was a member of a club. Chris was about five foot nine, his dark wavy hair turning grey, and he was at least a stone overweight. You could have passed them in the street without giving either of them a second look. Mr and Mrs Haskins looked about the same age, which was hardly surprising as they had been at school together some forty years before. Chris and Sue Haskins had pleaded guilty to the theft of £250,000, being the property of the Post Office, and to falsifying four passports. MR JUSTICE GRAY STARED down at the two defendants in the dock.

Unworthy by Vanessa Hall