Copied from the Times. It duplicates at the bottom but I'm on my phone & it's hard to edit.
One of the most eagerly anticipated criminal trials in British legal history finally has a start date as a household name goes into the dock charged with attempted murder.
The defendant is Helen Titchener and the trial, which starts on Sunday and will run for an expected six days, will bring to a climax a storyline on The Archers that has shocked and gripped listeners with its portrayal of domestic abuse.
Producers have promised that the trial will follow the full trajectory of a real court case, examining in harrowing detail the events that led Helen to stab Rob, her abusive husband, in front of their son.
Witnesses will be called for both sides as the prosecution tries to depict Helen as an unstable woman and unfit mother while the defence argues that she was a victim of years of abuse and wanted to protect her child.
Helen not only has her liberty at stake but also the custody of her sons Henry and Jack.
Barristers were consulted to guarantee the accuracy of the court case while Tim Stimpson, a scriptwriter, spent a day at Birmingham crown court sitting in on trials that dealt with wounds similar to the ones that Helen inflicted on Rob.
Stimpson said the trial was a challenge to write because British courts were more “sober and non- confrontational” than those depicted in American courtroom dramas.
The storyline has been brewing for almost three years, charting the transformation of Rob, played by Timothy Watson, into a controlling and violent figure, inflicting psychological and physical abuse on Helen, played by Louiza Patikas.
In an episode in April she finally planned to leave Rob, leading to a confrontation where he placed a knife in his wife’s hands, goading Helen to kill herself and telling her “it’s the only way I am ever letting you go”.
When the couple’s son Henry came into the room, Helen charged at Rob and stabbed him. He nearly died from blood loss but survived, suffering a punctured lung and perforated bowel.
The storyline led to an outpouring of sympathy for Helen’s character, with more than £133,000 donated to Refuge, a charity for victims of domestic abuse. It won praise for highlighting the issue, although some critics deemed it sensationalist.
Helen has spent the intervening period in custody, charged with attempted murder and wounding with intent, which she will deny. Rob has painted a picture of himself as the innocent victim. Helen’s defence will be hampered by her reluctance to share with her lawyer the full extent of the abuse she has suffered and the forensic evidence that shows her fingerprints on the knife — but not that Rob placed it in her hand.
In Ambridge, villagers do not know whose story to believe.
Patikas said: “There are several possible outcomes — it’s not just win or lose. It would be devastating for Helen to be found guilty and sent back to prison, thereby losing both of her children to Rob. But it would be equally terrible to be found not guilty yet still potentially lose custody of Henry and Jack to Rob and have to live in the village watching her children being brought up by him.”
Soaps in court
•Deirdre Barlow of Coronation Street, played by Anne Kirkbride, was sentenced to 18 months for fraud in 1998. The conviction was overturned after a campaign backed by Tony Blair, the prime minister.
•In 1993 Nick Cotton, played by John Altman, was cleared of murdering Eddie Royle, the Queen Vic landlord, although EastEnders viewers knew he was guilty.
•Last year Dot Cotton, played by June Brown, stood trial for the murder of Nick. She refused to call an ambulance after her son took impure heroin. Dot was cleared but jailed for 14 years for manslaughter. of the most eagerly anticipated criminal trials in British legal history finally has a start date as a household name goes into the dock charged with attempted murder.
to stab Rob, her abusive husband, in front of their son.
Witnesses will be called for both sides as the prosecution tries to depict Helen as an unstable woman and unfit mother while the defence argues that she was a victim of years of abuse and wanted to protect her child.
Helen not only has her liberty at stake but also the custody of her sons Henry and Jack.