A solicitor pulls something out of his pocket and a card bearing the Mercedes-Benz logo flutters to the carpet. The imperative to drive overrides common sense. We're here because of a car crash.
R v Hughes is a dark tale. When an unlicensed, disqualified or uninsured person drives faultlessly, does he or she commit an offence under section 3ZB of the Road Traffic Act 1988 if the deceased caused the accident? Mr Dickinson took a bend on the wrong side of the road under the influence of heroin, methadone, benzodiazepine and more, laced with lack of sleep. He died after his car was hit by Mr Hughes's van. Mr Hughes was uninsured and driving without a full licence.
During the arguments a hypothetical case keeps jumping off a motorway bridge in slow motion, his demise considered at various stages of his fall and impact.
Time passes swiftly. Lunch is a sandwich and a Kit-Kat. In the bright white cafe, three robed barristers settle like exotic birds around a solicitor in blue and pink checked socks. One of them has a eureka moment: 'The answer is this!'
Talking of wigs, I once proposed to illustrate a law firm's history with this engraving [right] by Hogarth, which dates from around the time of the firm's foundation. The senior partner was aghast: 'We mustn't offend the bench!'
More pictures if you scroll down, including a few attempts at Lord Kerr, but none of them keeps still.
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