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He told the jurors that they had to decide whether the allegations were real and whether someone could remember that far back, or whether, as the mother claims, “this is a piece of fiction”.

Miss Briscoe, who lives in Clapham, southwest London, was one of the first black women in Britain to be appointed as a part-time recorder.

She has two children, Martin, 20, and Francesca, 18, from her 12-year relationship with Adam Wilson, a lawyer, but lives with Anthony Arlidge, QC, who is 20 years her senior. She was one of seven children from her mother’s relationship with George Briscoe. Her mother had a further four children with Mr Eastman.

Miss Briscoe was inspired to join the legal profession when, aged 13, she met Michael Mansfield, QC, and told him that she wanted to be a barrister.

Aged 14, she worked as a cleaner and was later an auxiliary at King’s College Hospital before working at Mr Mansfield’s chambers, Tooks Court.

She was offered a permanent tenancy by Brick Court chambers in 1987 and spent 12 years working mainly in criminal law. She was appointed a part-time Crown Court judge in 1996 and was nominated unsuccessfully for a peerage a few years later.

Ugly has sold 420,000 copies in its paperback and hardback editions and Miss Briscoe recently published a sequel to her memoirs called Beyond Ugly.

The case continues.

Bestselling misery 2008

Not Without My Sister: The True Story of Three Girls Violated and Betrayed by Those They Trusted
— Kristina Jones, Celeste Jones and Juliana Buhring: sold 150,423 copies

Cry Silent Tears: The Heart- breaking Survival Story of a Small Mute Boy
— Joe Peters: sold 114,543 copies

Tell Me Why, Mummy: A Little Boy’s Struggle to Survive
— David Thomas: sold 113,936 copies

The Silent Boy: He was a Frightened Boy who Refused to Speak — until a Teacher’s Love Broke through the Silence
— Torey L. Hayden: sold 81,254 copies

Hidden: Betrayed, Exploited and Forgotten. How One Boy Overcame the Odds
— Cathy Glass: sold 80,584 copies

Source: The Bookseller

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