Criminal Justice

22 year old Ben Coulter plans for a night out with a friend, but when he is blown off, he picks up pretty and intriguing Melanie instead. They return home to her place, and the following morning Ben wakes up he finds Melanie has been stabbed through the heart.

Ben enters prison life and has to learn the ropes quickly if he is to survive unharmed. He has already made an enemy of inmate Milroy. Ben's only ally is his cellmate, Hooch, who guides him through the precarious waters of prison life.

Ben is about to go back to court with his new barrister, Alison Slaughter. As Ben is unable to tell his legal team how Melanie sustained her fatal wound, Slaughter has decided that Ben will admit he killed Melanie in self defence which-if the jury believes him-will see him set free.

Ben takes the stand and states that he can't remember what happened for the part of the night that Melanie was killed, but he knows he is not a murderer. The prosecution reveals Ben’s has a history of lying, and by the end of the cross-examination Ben is at his breaking point.

Ben is found guilty and sentenced to life. Frances won't give up and she re-interviews Melanie's ex boyfriend and discovers that the night she died they were meant to meet up but he blew her off. Frances decides to retrace Melanie's steps the night she was murdered.