Wendy Joseph Interviewed by Susannah Jowitt

Former Old Bailey judge Wendy Joseph explains what it is like to dispense justice in some of the UK’s most high-profile murder cases and warns that fracture lines in our society are becoming harder to ignore.

Joseph explains how cases unfold and what it’s like to be a murder trial judge and witness to the good and the very bad in human behaviour. She says every unlawful death tells a story. Most of us get to move on, but not the defendant, the family of the victim or the judge.

‘Riveting, thought-provoking, and very, very entertaining. I loved it.’ Roddy Doyle

Joseph sat as a full-time judge between 2007 and 2022. She was the only woman of 16 judges when she moved to the Old Bailey in 2012. She was also a diversity and community relations judge helping to promote understanding between the judiciary and many different sectors of society.