Helen West is somewhat frustrated at work with her boss' attitude to the battered women's cases she has been prosecuting. Often the women are afraid to appear and he feels cases should be dropped in they are no-shows. Chief Supt. Bailey meanwhile isn't satisfied that the man they have in custody for killing former professional boxer Damian Flood is really the killer. Flood was beaten by a trio of young lads he had just fleeced at the pool table and his brother-in-law Joe Boyce, married to his sister Cath, witnessed the assault. Bailey thinks Joe may have had something to do with it. Cath has just started working as a house cleaner for Helen who soon realizes that Joe is beating her. Cath moves into her dead brother's flat but an attempt at a reconciliation with Joe goes terribly wrong. Meanwhile, Helen and Bailey's relationship takes an interesting turn.
—garykmcd