Based on a true story

It is 2003. The front page of the Sun newspaper is filled with a picture of Sam, aged thirteen, his face pixelated to disguise his identity. Sam has won his case in the High Court. His extraordinary story is all over the newspapers; it’s on Sky News and on BBC News 24. They interview a city solicitor to try to give an explanation.

Fast rewind to 1993

Gregory Franks is a criminal law barrister whose work defending criminals influences his violent and abusive behavior. His wife, Joanne, has had enough and divorces him, taking her son Sam with her.

Joanne meets Chris, a loving and caring doctor, and they are blissfully happy. Joanne gives birth to Alex, a brother for Sam, and they all think they can live happily ever after, oblivious to what is lurking in the shadows of Gregory Franks’ mind. Gregory wants revenge. This is just the moment that he has been waiting for. His plan is to take Joanne’s son Sam away from her, and he has friends in high places to help him.

The odds are stacked against Joanne and Chris

They find that the judges will only listen to Gregory Franks, the barrister. Court recordings are carefully choreographed; the police are powerless, and CAFCASS is concealing the evidence.

But what nobody has reckoned on is Joanne and Chris’s tenacity and determination not to give up on Sam. As a doctor, Chris cannot let Gregory Franks continue to abuse Sam, and Joanne’s instinct is to protect her son. How long will this corruption go on?