Episode 7 - Three Monkeys


‘Whitehall wisdom states that a prime cause of juvenile crime is the break up of the family unit - so why in shit’s name try and propagate it?’

When he is forced to defend a blind racist, Gulliver has an identity crisis. Meanwhile Dunbar refuses to intervene in a violent marriage.

Gulliver is called to the police station in order to represent a sweet old lady, Natalie Banks. CS Ross and her colleagues take great pleasure in telling Gulliver that she’s being done for inciting racial hatred. Gulliver doesn’t get the joke, until he meets Natalie; she’s blind.

Natalie offers a very convincing defence – she didn’t know that the leaflets she was distributing were racist propaganda, she must have been duped. However, Gulliver is thrown when it becomes clear that she thinks he is white – she says she can tell by the way he smells. This sends Gulliver into an identity crisis and ultimately results in Natalie showing her own true colours.

She has a string of previous convictions for the same crime. Gulliver gets his own back by passing her case on to the legendary Mr Singh – the worst solicitor in Manchester.

Dunbar’s case involves a repeat offender. Martin Kent is a habitual wife-beater but his wife Joyce usually ends up withdrawing charges. She is too much in his thrall to break free. However, CS Ross is now able to press charges against Martin without Joyce’s consent.

Dunbar’s not happy. Why should the state intervene in this way. It won’t do Joyce any good to imprison her husband against her wishes, if she’s not ready to show him the door herself. Dunbar’s sympathy for Joyce is misinterpreted by Gulliver and Sarah but it’s clear that he isn’t entirely without compassion – he just doesn’t approve of the nanny state.