The Ties That Bind

The Ties That Bind turns on a private prosecution for murder, a rare event in English law, and Kavanagh agrees to bring it. Ian Vincent is believed to have beaten a 17-year-old, Graham Foster, to death because the boy had stolen a briefcase from his car. George Russo plays Graham.

There is little solid evidence. Wikipedia says the case relies primarily on Graham's girlfriend, who has also been threatened. TVDB describes the situation from the barrister's side: the odds are against Kavanagh because there are powerful reasons for the truth to be kept hidden.

The reasons are in the family. Vincent's stepfather, Ron Baab, heads a crime family, and he tries to buy everyone off, with both money and veiled threats. David Schofield plays Baab. The result is a case where the witnesses are under pressure, and the prosecution has to be brought privately, because the state has not done it.

In chambers the film provides a comic subplot. Jeremy Aldermarten is anxiously waiting for the result of his application to join an exclusive gentlemen's club in which Peter Foxcott is a member. Nicholas Jones plays Aldermarten and Oliver Ford Davies plays Foxcott.

Edward Canfor-Dumas wrote the film, the first of two he wrote for the series, and Charles Beeson directed. The cast includes Joanna Bacon as Shirley Babb, Susan Engel as Mrs Justice Whitrow, David Foxxe as Geoffrey Pack-Martin, Juanne Fuller as Hazel Dwyer, Christopher Good as Lord Charles Lesser and Frank Grimes as Paddy Spence.

It was shown on Monday 7 April 1997, the fifth film of the third series, after a two-week gap since the fourth, and was made by Central Television for ITV. IMDb voters give it 8.1 out of 10.

The Classic Film and TV Café reviewer points out that, unlike American lawyers, British barristers can take cases from either side, and compares Kavanagh's occasional prosecutions to Perry Mason working as a prosecutor.

Wikipedia says that Kavanagh will not be bullied by threats or bribes from those he is up against in the courtroom, which describes the situation he is in here: the other side has money and a record of making threats, and the barrister who has taken up the case is the one person in the film who cannot be bought.

The sources read do not say whether the jury convicts Vincent or what happens to the witness, so the account stops there.