Morris Downing has risen from modest beginnings through an exceptional educational record to become a chancery barrister. However he now finds himself on the wrong side of the law, accused of growing cannabis and allowing his fellow defendants to smoke it at his weekend home in Fulchester. Co-defendants Bella Janes, Margot Davitt and Patrick Mills have all admitted possession of the drug and other offences. They had befriended Downing who allowed them to stay at the house. Janes supports the prosecution case, even suggesting she and Downing smoked cannabis together. He denies the charges, arguing that he has never smoked even a cigarette and has no knowledge of cannabis at all; Davitt and Mills support his denials and say they never took drugs while he was at the house.
—Alan Briscoe