麻豆约拍

Denise takes a look at the most famous cases in Scottish legal history. Hilarious tales and dramatic trials where ordinary people fought the law and the law didn't win.

Today, Denise investigates one of the most dramatic miscarriages of justice in Scotland: the trial of Oscar Slater.

On a cold December night in 1908, rich spinster Marion Gilchrist is brutally murdered in her Glasgow home. There's public outcry and the hunt is on to find the culprit. Police hone in on Oscar Slater when they find a pawn ticket for a diamond brooch similar to the one stolen during the murder. They soon realise that it's not the same brooch, but continue to pursue their prime suspect regardless, following him across the Atlantic as he flees to New York.

Oscar Slater is a German Jew. He's got a reputation as a gambler, a fence and a pimp. And everyone's determined he's the guilty party.

Eager to prove his innocence, Oscar voluntarily returns from New York to stand trial. He's convicted and sentenced to death, with no means of appeal.

Described as Scotland's Dreyfus, with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle stepping in to lead a public campaign on Slater's behalf, the case led to the establishment of the Scottish Court of Appeal.

Oscar Slater was never pardoned and lived out his days in Ayr working as a baker.