Responsible Child director reflects on Jerome Ellis case: 'There's no perfect conclusion'

This article was first published in Radio Times magazine in December 2019 ahead of the release of Responsible Child. The case that served as inspiration for the BBC drama went on to be the central focus of The Jury: 14 and on Trial for Murder on Channel 4 in September 2026.

BBC Two’s challenging new drama Responsible Child is based on fact – a grisly one. It tells the story of two brothers – one 14, the other 23 – who launched a knife attack on their abusive stepfather, killing him as he slept on the sofa. He was stabbed 70 times and such was the ferocity of the attack that his head was nearly severed.

The film’s director, Nick Holt, sat through much of the 2014 trial that followed, his attention focused on the younger defendant, Jerome Ellis. Was Ellis too young to be held criminally responsible for his actions? Was an adult court the best place for those actions to be judged? This 90-minute drama is the result.

“Many people are unaware that we put children on trial for serious crimes from the age of ten [in England and Wales],” says Holt. “It’s among the youngest age in the EU [in Ireland, ten- and 11-year-olds can be charged with suspected rape and murder], and it’s one of the youngest ages anywhere in the world. It’s an extraordinary piece of legislation to still have in place.”

Holt, like many who believe the minimum age of criminality should be raised, points to the Jamie Bulger case as a key obstacle in reviewing the law, as urged by the UN since 1995. Jon Venables and Robert Thompson were both ten when they killed the two-year-old in 1993.

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“It was obviously a terrible case, but I think politicians have become paralysed by it. There has been no meaningful debate around this issue without that case being mentioned. I think politicians are frightened of being seen as weak on crime.”

What, in his mind, should the minimum age of criminal responsibility be? “From the reading I’ve done, and the experts I’ve spoken to, there is a feeling that 16 should be our minimum age. Children of ten or 12 really do have significant impairment in understanding the long-term consequences of their actions. They are much more vulnerable to impulsive acts.”

Holt met the teenage killer, who now has a new identity, “many times” in the making of this drama. Though it isn’t revealed in the film, he received a six-year sentence for his part in the attack.

“I think he feels that the trial wasn’t the best or fairest way for him to be able to articulate what happened. He’s keen that others don’t have to go through what he went through.”

At which point it’s right to highlight one thing. Responsible Child sticks closely to the original 2014 case – dysfunctional family, chaotic home environment, abusive stepfather – except for one crucial departure. Jerome Ellis was 14 when he killed his stepfather, an age that many countries, including Germany, have set as their age of criminal responsibility.

Here he is cast as an angelic-looking 12-year-old, called Ray. Is this a cynical subversion of the facts to create traction for the drama’s message?

“Both ages still hit the point we’re trying to make,” says Holt, although he does concede: “We wanted Ray to look like a young child – to get a sense that really young children go through this. We looked at actors of 14 who could play it and children very quickly start looking like young adults. Pitching it at that age [12] allowed us to make the point slightly more strongly.”

Holt says he has consulted widely in making the film, stressing that he doesn’t seek to diminish the “horror or trauma” of what happened. “The film doesn’t seek to draw a perfect conclusion. It’s an emotive and nuanced area and my aim is to just present the case the best way I can and give people an insight into the system and areas of law that are so often hidden behind reporting restrictions.”

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Responsible Child is available to stream on Netflix now. Sign up for Netflix from £7.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

The Jury: 14 and on Trial for Murder is available to watch on Channel 4.

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