Arnot Manderson members Laura Thomson, Paul Harvey and David Parratt QC are taking part in a dramatisation of a murder trial as part of the Faculty’s support for the Bloody Scotland crime writing festival in Stirling this weekend. All three shows have sold out!

“You The Jury” is inspired by the 1932 trial of a man accused of murdering his lover by strangling her with a pulley cord. They have set the trial in the current day, with scientific evidence based on modern forensic techniques.

The inspiration for this project arises from a concern that courtroom scenes portrayed in television, film and literature are often inaccurate and misleading; and a desire to educate the public as to what really happens in court, and to involve them (as jurors) in that process. Their objective was to stage a retelling of the Peter Queen trial which accurately portrays criminal law and procedure, court craft and forensic science techniques. The Judge, Clerk, Macer, Prosecutor, Defence Counsel, forensic scientist and pathologist all play their own parts. “You The Jury” is a unique opportunity to showcase crime writing, forensic science and advocacy through a dramatic retelling of an old murder trial, as authentic as it is entertaining.

This project is a collaboration between the Faculty of Advocates, the Scottish Sentencing Council, the Hutton Institute, and Douglas Skelton, writer of true crime and crime fiction.

https://bloodyscotland.com/