John Hibberd, an old man, was left paralyzed and unable to speak after two strokes and was cared for by his wife Violet. She now stands accused of deliberately harming him - firstly by scalding his arm with boiling water and then by putting caustic soda in his bath water. Both Prosecution and Defence agree that the Hibberds had a very unhappy marriage but Violet denies deliberately inflicting the injuries - she insists both occurred by accident.