I served as a magistrate for about 10 years and watched with interest the various solicitors who represented their clients in court. There was one that I will call Mr Toad because he resembled a large fat toad watching unblinkingly as the prosecutor presented the case against the defendant. If I ever get into trouble with the law I want Mr Toad to defend me. Many a time I would listen to the prosecution case and wonder how on earth Mr Toad could combat the seemingly irrefutable evidence. But then he would slowly rise and with a wide smile on his amphibian-like face he would set about his work. Twisting a fact here, planting an insinuation there, continually pressing and harrying witnesses he would eventually generate enough cracks in the edifice constructed by the prosecution and create enough doubt in the minds of the magistrates that a ‘Not Guilty’ verdict…