Manchester law graduates and students feature in BBC One Series

A new BBC series sees two Law graduates from the University of Manchester investigating the British court system and questioning its effectiveness in today’s modern society. Chris Daw QC and solicitor Ayesha Nayyar explore their opposing arguments over the course of this 5-part series, before presenting their cases to a jury, which also features two current Law students and a recent Law graduate of the University of Manchester.

The series, ‘Crime – Are We Tough Enough?’, follows Chris and Ayesha as they meet and interact with victims, convicted criminals and those impacted by the criminal justice system to further inform and consolidate their own arguments. Ayesha thinks that there should be higher conviction rates in the British legal system and that those found guilty should be serving longer prison time. However Chris presents the view that this is already happening and is ineffective; instead, we should consider how to prevent crime in the first instance. 

These arguments, with the evidence gathered, is then presented to a 12 person jury in Sackville Street Council Chamber to decide whether Britain is too tough on crime or not tough enough. 

Ayesha graduated from Manchester in 1995 and is now a well-respected solicitor with 20 years of law experience and is a director of Nayyars Solicitors, an award-winning law firm based in the North-West. She has appeared as a guest speaker discussing legal issues on BBC Breakfast, BBC Two’s Victoria Derbyshire Show and Sky News. Chris graduated from Manchester in 1992 and has worked within the legal industry since, appearing in many high profile cases.

The jury features two students from the University, Law with Politics student Gabriella Hartfield, Criminology student Alexandra Meek and recent LLB graduate Cian Hickey. 

All 5 episodes of the series are currently available to stream on the BBC iPlayer website.