The Secret Barrister

Writing as S. J. Fleet, The Secret Barrister's first novel, The Cut Throat Trial, is available now.
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An anonymous barrister offers a shocking, darkly comic and very moving journey through the legal system – and explains how it's failing all of us.

The Sunday Times number one bestseller.
Winner of the Books are My Bag Non-Fiction Award
Shortlisted for Waterstones Book of the Year
Shortlisted for Specsavers Non-Fiction Book of the Year

You may not wish to think about it, but one day you or someone you love will almost certainly appear in a criminal courtroom. You might be a juror, a victim, a witness or – perhaps through no fault of your own – a defendant. Whatever your role, you’d expect a fair trial.

I’m a barrister. I work in the criminal justice system, and every day I see how fairness is not guaranteed. Too often the system fails those it is meant to protect. The innocent are wronged and the guilty are allowed to walk free.

In The Secret Barrister: Stories of the Law and How It's Broken I want to share some stories from my daily life to show you how the system is broken, who broke it and why we should start caring before it’s too late.

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‘Eye-opening, funny and horrifying’ – The Observer
‘Everyone who has any interest in public life should read it’ – Daily Mail