The first of two films on the morality of punishment.

From Greek tragedy to the death penalty, society has demanded revenge and retribution in punishment. This film explores the part the victims play in getting even, and shows how the justice system struggles to compensate for the suffering of victims by the degree of pain it inflicts on the offender.

It tells the story of Stephen Owen who, frustrated by the failure of the courts to inflict sufficient suffering on the man who killed his son, took the law into his own hands. And there is a report from America, where victims have become a political force. The cameras go into a Californian court to witness a murder trial. In a chilling and disturbing climax, it shows for the first time how relatives of the victim persuade a jury to sentence the offender to death.
(Part 2, A Cure for Crime, is on Wednesday at 8.10pm)