大象传媒

Air an ochdamh latha deug dhen Ghearran, 1889, thoisich c霉is-lagh uamhais san 脿rd-ch霉irt ann an D霉n Eideann. Fo chasaid bha boireanach 貌g, 27 bliadhn' a dh'aois, airson tri霉ir ph脿isdean a mhurt. Chan ann leatha fh猫in a bha a chlann - bha iad aice air uchd mhacach, tro chleachdadh borb aig an 脿m ris an canar 'baby farming'.

Ach cha robh an coltas ann gun robh c脿il a dh霉il aig Jessie King an tri霉ir ph脿isde a thug i a-steach airson airgead a chumail. Bochd, gun foghlum agus gun taic bho dhuine - bha beatha dhuilich aig Jessie King.

A-r猫ir coltais dh猫anadh i rud sam bith a dh'iarradh daoine ann an 霉ghdarras oirre. An d霉il an tug a c猫ile, a bha 30 bliadhna nas aosta na i, brath air a' sin? Trom air deoch l脿idir, is gun obair, dh'fheumadh e d貌igh air choireigin a' lorg airson a chumail a' dol... Le beachdan bho e貌laichean agus iomhaighean dr脿ma, air aithris le Iain Moireasdan.

On 18th February 1889 at the High Court in Edinburgh, a shocking trial opened. The defendant was a 27-year-old woman, accused of the murders of three babies. She was not their mother, but had adopted them by a crude means known as 'baby farming'.

But Jessie King had no intention of keeping the babies she had taken in for money. Vulnerable, uneducated and penniless, the young woman struggled to survive. She appeared willing to do whatever was asked of her, by anyone she saw as a figure of authority.

Could it be that Jessie's lover took advantage of her easily manipulated nature? 30 years her senior, and an unemployed alcoholic, Thomas Pearson had to find ways and means to feed his addiction. With expert opinion and drama reconstruction, the programme is presented by John Morrison.