From the cases of Michael Fagan and other Buckingham Palace intruders to those of West End pickpockets, 'saucy' prostitutes and cockroaches in the kitchens of one of London's most prestigious clubs, Bow Street Beak is a roller-coaster ride through the life and career of stipendiary magistrate Ronald Bartle at the iconic Bow Street Magistrates' Court. It takes a candid look at the often tragic world of the criminal offender but with the kind of humour that stems from pricking the skin of normally rigid, formal and sometimes daunting institutions. From the eccentric behaviour of court...

The case of Lizzie Bordon is one of the most infamous in criminal history having spawned songs, plays and media speculation. It also ranks as one of the most puzzling. Having been acquitted of the axe murders of both her parents, Borden then returned home and carried on as before only to be roundly ostracised by the stoutly religious local community. Prosecutors never charged anyone else. Here, author Ronald Bartle revisits events in Fall River, Massachusetts in 1892. He explains how her answers to police questions were at times strange and contradictory and her accounts often bizarre....