Brixton in the late 1990s. Delroy Brown, a young black man being held in police custody, dies in a confrontation in his cell with a police officer.

The officer claims to have acted in self-defence but fails to give a satisfactory explanation for being in the dead man's cell.

Chief Inspector Elliott conducts an investigation into Delroy's death, but his enquiries are obstructed by a lack of co-operation from police officers, the activities of a corrupt private investigator – and the legal system itself.

Alison French, a young journalist, Neeta Patel, Delroy's family's solicitor, and Ben Weekes, a black youth worker, join forces to try and find out the truth about Delroy's death, but find themselves in growing danger, as they are drawn into a murky world of violent criminals and police informants.