Eighteen year old Navlika Patel and her younger brother Dinesh run a market stall and are accused of offences connected to a dispute with fellow market trader Henry Pegg. The prosecution allege that Dinesh stole a roll of cotton from Mr. Pegg's stall. Mr. Pegg then went to recover the roll from the Patels and in the process was stabbed with a pair of scissors in the stomach and wounded by Navlika.