Rough Justice

Cast: Clive Francis, Wendy Allnutt, Leon Sinden, Joy Harington

Rough Justice was a BBC television series which investigated alleged miscarriages of justice. It was broadcast between 1982 and 2007, and played a role in securing the release of 18 people involved in 13 cases involving miscarriages of justice. The programme was similar in aim and approach to The Court of Last Resort, the NBC TV series that aired in the US between 1957 and 1958. It is credited with contributing to the establishment of the Criminal Cases Review Commission in 1997. Rough Justice was cancelled in 2007 due to budget restraints, leading to criticism from the media as the announcement came just as the BBC launched an £18 million Gaelic-language channel which would serve only 86,000 viewers.