EPISODE

4. Duty of Care

When a fire at his home leads to the death of a teenager with severe disabilities - DS Devlin and DS Brooks soon discover the fire was no accident. The investigation draws our cops in many different directions, but the finger of blame soon points towards the last person anyone would have expected. Complications develop in prosecuting the defendant when the CPS find themselves up against 'win-at-all-costs' defence lawyer Dominic Peck whose outrageous ego threatens the fair outcome of the trial. With Peck constantly shifting the goalposts and misinforming his client, James finds himself acting as both defence and prosecution.

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THIS ENTRY’S STORY

The story

Spoilers ahead. Coverage follows the scope labeled below.

Plot summary

A fire starts in a flat above a corner shop, a young mother is forced to leave her disabled 13-year-old son to die. Brooks and Devlin first suspect the shop owner, who has been renowned for insurance scam operations in the past. However, it later becomes clear that the fire was caused by the young boy's mother, who, after believing he had died from an epileptic seizure, decided to start the fire to kill herself. However, when her lawyer Dominic Peck ( Oliver Dimsdale ) appears to be bending the truth in an attempt to fool the jury, James and Alesha must deal with Peck, who is determined to win at all costs.

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Adapted from Wikipedia contributors, Law & Order: UK series 4. HTML formatting and reference markers removed.

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