Main content

Crimes of Passion

Ex-prison governor David Wilson and novelists Sophie Hannah and Michael Hughes join Matthew Sweet to debate murder in fact and fiction.

Many legal systems have allowed the accused the defence of a 鈥渃rime of passion鈥: attributing their act to a sudden explosion of feeling, rather than pre-meditated violence. Prosecutors, though, have argued that 鈥減assion鈥 is simply another word for 鈥渋nsanity鈥 or 鈥渕alice鈥. A panel with distinguished criminal records tries to draw the line in a discussion hosted by Matthew Sweet at the Free Thinking Festival, Sage Gateshead.

David Wilson was the youngest prison governor in England aged 29. He is Emeritus Professor of Criminology and founding Director of the Centre for Applied Criminology at Birmingham City University. He presented the CBS series Voice of a Serial Killer and, for 成人快手 Radio 4, In The Criminologist鈥檚 Chair. His latest book is My Life with Murderers: Behind Bars with the World鈥檚 Most Violent Men.

Sophie Hannah is a poet and crime novelist who, with the blessing of the Christie estate, has written three new Poirot novels The Monogram Murders, Closed Casket and The Mystery of Three Quarters. Her latest publication is a self-help book entitled How to Hold a Grudge.

Michael Hughes鈥 most recent novel Country maps 成人快手r鈥檚 Iliad onto 1990s Northern Ireland to describe both the black comedy and the brutality of The Troubles. His previous novel is The Countenance Divine. He teaches creative writing and also works as a professional actor.

Producer: Craig Smith

Available now

44 minutes

Last on

Mon 1 Apr 2019 22:00

Broadcast

  • Mon 1 Apr 2019 22:00

Featured in...

The Arts & Ideas Podcast

The Arts & Ideas Podcast

You can download all the past episodes of Radio 3's Free Thinking

Discussions and talks from the Free Thinking Festival 2019

Discussions and talks from the Free Thinking Festival 2019

Angry politics, what we can鈥檛 say, being diplomatic, weeping, emotion in music, film & TV

Click to listen to discussions, talks and music as the Free Thinking Festival 2019 Gets Emotional

Click to listen to discussions, talks and music as the Free Thinking Festival 2019 Gets Emotional

Angry politics, what we can鈥檛 say, being diplomatic, weeping, emotion in music, film & TV

CLICK to LISTEN & SEE programmes from the Free Thinking Festival 2018: The One & the Many

CLICK to LISTEN & SEE programmes from the Free Thinking Festival 2018: The One & the Many

We examine the fast-changing relationship between the individual & the crowd

CLICK to LISTEN & SEE all programmes, images, clips & features from 2017's festival

Free Thinking Festival 2017: The Speed of Life