Hard-Gating

En indsat i et fængsel anklages for mordet på sin cellekammerat - og for at have spist af liget bagefter. John Deed beslutter at sætte fokus på fængselsvæsenets optræden i sagen. Dermed lægger den stædige højesteretsdommer sig endnu en gang ud med indenrigsministeren.

Deed questions an unpleasant prison officer closely about the death of Paul Settle, a young prisoner who was stabbed to death and then partly eaten by his cell-mate Ben Bradwell just a week before he was due to get out. The Judge is worried that Settle was black, while Bradwell was known to be a vicious racist. In another case, Deed comes up with a thoughtful sentence for a drunk driver who killed a child. Meanwhile, Deed and Jo seem to be growing apart.