2. Put these legal procedures in the order in which they usually take place:

a) be convicted of an offence

b) be charged with an offence

c) be sentenced

d) be arrested

e) be suspected of an offence

f) appeal

g) stand trail

h) be given bail or go into custody

3. Below you see the story of an extraordinary case in British legal history. The affair started in 1949 and was finally closed in 1966. At the moment, there are a number of gaps in the story. Use the words below to complete it:

trial confessed court custody guilty

convicted inquiry(x2) sentenced jury execution

arrested innocent charged appeal dropped

pardon judges plea apprehended hunt

suspect tried executed statements denied

The story began when a man called Timothy Evans was … for the murder of his wife and baby. He was … with the double murder, but a shot time later one of the charges was … and he was … for the murder of his daughter only. During the … Evans accused the man whose house he had been living in, John Christie, of the crimes, but no attention was paid to him. The … found Evans … and he was … to death. An … was turned down and he was … in 1950.

Some time later, more women’s bodies were discovered in Christie’s house: two, three, four, five, six. John Christie was the police’s chief … and they started a nationwide … for him. He was soon … . Alleged … by Christie while he was in … cast doubt on the Evans handing. When he went to …, Christie … that he had murdered Mrs. Evans, but in private it was said that he … to that crime. His … of insanity with regard to other murders was rejected and he was … of killing his wife.

Soon afterwards there was an … into the … of Timothy Evans. The … decided that justice had been done and Evans had been rightly hanged. It was only in 1966 that another … was set up. This time it was decided that Evans had probably been … and he was given a free … . Better late than never, as they say.

4. Read the newspaper article and the letter in reply it. Who do you agree with – the judge or the writer of the letter? Write your letter in answer:

A judge ordered an 82-year-old man to pay 4,000 damages to a burglar who was trying to break into his house. Jack Lewis was asleep in his house in Maidstone, Kent, when he heard noises. He picked up his shotgun and went downstairs where he found Michael Phillips in the hall with a bag full of electrical equipment. Phillips claimed that because he was unarmed, he put the goods down and raised his hands when he saw the shotgun. Lewis said Phillips had turned to run out of the open front door, so he shot him.

Phillips suffered minor wounds to the legs. The judge said despite the fact that Lewis was defending his own property, the shotgun was unlicenced and in any case, it was not acceptable for people to take the law into their own hands.

‘Sir, I am writing in disbelief at the judgement passed on Jack Lewis yesterday. In my opinion it is absolutely unfair to make him pay for his act of self-defence. In theory he has committed an offence by firing an unlicenced shotgun, and he should be prosecuted for this. But in practice the law should be more flexible. As far as I’m concerned, for a criminal to receive compensation for an injury sustained while carrying out a crime is quite outrageous.’

Yours faithfully,

Brian Forbes