Eleven year old Julian Morgan has been in a coma and seems unlikely to recover after being seriously injured at home. The Prosecution argue that his mother Linda Morgan had a history of beating him and inflicted the catastrophic injury.
The dismembered body of car dealer John Butlin was dumped from an aeroplane into the Irish Sea. He had been earlier been stabbed. Now Philiip Shepherd finds himself on trial for murder.
Gynaecologist James Binyon and G.P. Fiona Stone face trial accused of sterilising a fourteen year old girl - Janice Scott - without her mother's permission.
Colin Tiler is a popular and respected teacher at a comprehensive school. However he is now in court charged with the indecent assault of one of his pupils, fifteen year old Kevin Anderson.
Ian Whiting, an accountant, is charged with assaulting his wife Jennifer. She says that he regularly attacked her culminating in a final assault that left her seriously injured. He argues that she was prone to rages and that her injuries were caused when he tried to defend himself.
Robert E Scard is accused of deceiving clients about the performance of his businesses in order to attract investments that he then pocketed. He insists he has been framed and evidence of his innocence has been destroyed.
Thomas Nolan was so badly assaulted that he is unable to give evidence in court. Teenagers Frank Price and Sheila Cronin are charged with committing grievous bodily harm on him. The Prosecution claim that Cronin is "vicious and vindictive" and led Price who has learning difficulties. Both defendants assert their innocence - they do not deny an earlier argument with the victim but say they were at home when he was attacked.
Akanni Dawodu is accused of harassing one of his tenants, Mrs. Obl, with the intention of driving her away from her tenancy. It is alleged that he frightened her using a ju-ju (black magic) ceremony which used the bodies of dead animals and death threats using her name. Dawodu asserts his innocence, arguing that the religious ritual was an innocent act of purification and that he believed she was casting the evil eye over him.
James William Kent is charged with assaulting two police officers. They say he punched and kicked them after they arrested him for trying the handles of parked vehicles.
Stanley Roberts was electrocuted and killed when his crane touched cables; a young boy who rushed to help him was also killed in the incident. A postmortem showed that Roberts had drunk alcohol beforehand. His employer Albert Hunter is now charged with health and safety offences.
Leavis and Lovelace work together as jobbing builders and a pub comedy act. They also now share the dock, accused of disguising themselves, tricking their way into the homes of two old aged pensioners and then robbing them.
Cafe owner Frederick Muir stands accused of incitement to racial hatred. The prosecution allege that he unfairly dismissed Tunde Williams, a highly qualified Nigerian immigrant, on the grounds of his race.
Trawler captain William Stringer is charged with causing the death by neglect of John Sullivan, a young crew member who was swept into the sea in extremely stormy conditions.
At an earlier trial Sylvia Turner was acquitted of soliciting on Fulchester High Street. However she now finds herself on trial accused of perjury. The Prosecution claim that Miss Turner lied when she said in court that she was not soliciting on that occasion - she is a known prostitute and propositioned a man.
Prison officer William Parker has been left permanently physically and mentally disabled after being attacked in prison - an attack that was shortly followed by a major riot causing huge damage. Inmate Stephen Benson is now charged with grievous bodily harm, the Prosecution arguing he bore a grudge against Parker and hit him on the back of the head with a hammer inflicting catastrophic injuries.
Lola Martin is on trial accused of persistently importuning for immoral purposes and striking Jeffrey Lent. The case is made more unusual as Lola Martin is a transvestite and gay man and Lent is an undercover police officer who says he was trying to catch drug dealers in the club where the incidents occurred.
Terence Healey, an admitted career criminal turned used car dealer, spent almost two years in prison and faced three trials before being acquitted of involvement in an armed robbery. He is seeking damages from Police.
Jacques Denver and Agnes Lisle, a couple of St Lucian heritage, are accused of abducting their son Ashley from the care of the local authority. Ashley had been taken into care and sent to a residential school for children with learning difficulties.
Scottish nationalist campaigners Hamish Stewart-Mackenzie and Davidina McLeod stand charged with the theft of an oil tanker that was taken from Services near Kendal.