It's a cliche, but the truth actually often is much stranger than fiction and there's nowhere better than the courts to see what happens when rationality takes a holiday or the empathy gene is missing. Even the seemingly mundane cases can draw you in if you listen to the finer details. A fight between two Cumbrian brothers which spilled out into the street? Nothing there to grab the attention of anyone who isn't a relative or neighbour. It gets a lot more interesting when you discover they were brawling because one of them played a DVD the other thought was too 'racy' to watch in front of mother. The title of the film was sadly not revealed. But the cases described here do not concern everyday crime or court procedure. Cannibals, sadomasochists and a tyrannical judge are among those who have the dubious pleasure of being involved in these extraordinary trials. Ranging from the historic to the modern, they remind us that human beings really don't need the encouragement of a film crew or the shield of internet anonymity in order to shock, misbehave or amuse. The eyebrow raising moment of the tale may lie in the crime that was committed or it may come from what happens afterwards. Some of the details might raise a smile, some might raise the contents of your stomach, the important thing to remember is that they are all true. Even though you'll probably wish they weren't.
