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Available for over a year

Clive Anderson looks at a variety of famous and infamous court cases and retells the story that the case brought into the public eye. In this programme he explores the Somersett Case from 1772. James Somersett was an escaped slave in London. His master Charles Stuart tracked him down and tried to transport him back to the Caribbean to be sold. The court case that ensued, in which defenders of James Somersett argued in front of the most powerful judge in the country, Lord Justice Mansfield, that a human being cannot be forced out of the country against their will would go on to pave the way for the abolition of the slave trade a generation later. Featuring Amma Asante, Professor Norman Poser, Professor James Walvin and Steven M. Wise.