Brief encounters

FOR people standing in the dock accused of a crime, only one thing stands between freedom and prison - defence barristers.

- BY SARA WALLIS

At the frontline of justice, as over a million cases pass through the UK courts every year, these barristers aren't looking for who is guilty. Their mission is to defend.

"We all should empathise with people who are victims of crime, but that doesn't mean that people who are accused of crimes shouldn't have a fair trial," says defence barrister Leon-Nathan Lynch.