Summary Justice

EIMEAR COONEY has realised her childhood dream of becoming a detective, despite the opposition of her close-knit North Belfast family. Her father DERMOT is an armchair republican, his weapon of choice the TV remote, and her mother IMELDA frets for her safety - she’s already lost one daughter, GRAINNE, whose mysterious disappearance in her teens still hangs over the family. EIMEAR has to work extra hard to prove she wasn’t recruited just for being a ‘twofer’. “Sure, just walk with a limp and you’ll get ACC by Christmas.” Plus it’s hard to be taken seriously when her colleagues – the gruff TREVOR JOHNSTON and flirtatious CHARLIE KELLY – have rumbled she’s a mammoth crush on their Senior Investigating Officer, charismatic Detective Chief Inspector MATT McDAID. EIMEAR catches a break when a manilla envelope appears on her desk, helping her solve a case involving vulnerable victims. There’s no postmark, just her name and the image of a flaming sword. MATT watches EIMEAR closely until he decides she’s passed the test. He reveals that he’s part of The Knights of Uriel, an inner circle of criminal justice professionals intent on keeping the most dangerous offenders behind bars, even if it means bending the rules of procedure. United in their strong faith, the group’s leaders believe they’re working to a higher power. MATT invites EIMEAR to join them. CHARLIE suspects something is going on between EIMEAR and MATT. She’s never out of his office. Could Mr Perfect actually be having a fling? And there’s something fishy about how she always seems to be one step ahead of her colleagues. TREVOR’s staying out of it, happy to run down the clock to retirement. It’s hard to know who to trust. Unable to turn to her family, EIMEAR confides in social worker friend and flatmate LAUREN McDERMOTT. LAUREN persuades EIMEAR it’s better to get dangerous offenders off the streets, having seen through her burgeoning caseload the damage unchecked violence can do. She joined the PSNI to make a difference, didn’t she? Well, here’s her chance. Summary Justice explores whether and when it’s in the interests of justice to go beyond the letter of the law – think The Star Chamber meets The Bay.