 Judge Deed is presiding over two cases, both of which are particularly challenging. In the first, three men have been charged with drugging and raping a woman they met in a bar. Deed is particularly concerned at the defense counsel s aggressive tactics. In the second, he must sentence a wife beater who has pleaded guilty and where it is apparent that government authorities, including MI5, would like a light sentence. When the judge reviews the evidence - the accused beat his wife with a pipe and poured boiling water over her genitals - he insists on seeing justice done.