When two year old Ryan Stark goes missing from a high street merry-go-round, his distraught mother, Kayla reports him kidnapped and a massive police hunt is launched to find the missing toddler. In spite of public appeals and additional police manpower, the search throws up more questions than answers. The legal case uncovers a history of dealings with the social services before Ryan went missing, something which alerts our heroes to the possibility that his mother isn't being entirely truthful. With more than one suspect and little physical evidence, will Ryan's family ever learn the truth of what happened to their baby boy?
Based on the wildly successful American show of the same name, "Law & Order: UK" follows a group of detectives and prosecutors as they work together to solve crimes and bring perpetrators to justice in London. Ronnie Brooks is a cop from the East End with a tough past and a big heart. His partner, Joe Hawkins, is a young officer who has come straight from child protection to the cuddle squad. Their boss DI Wes Leyton has been through it all and knows the only way to change things is from the inside.
On the side of the court is Crown Prosecutor Jacob Thorne, a gifted and uncompromising criminal prosecutor. His second chair is defence barrister turned Crown Prosecutor Kate Barker who is fresh from the more lucrative side of the courtroom. With Henry Sharpe as their wise and pragmatic boss. The two teams encounter never-ending action in their quest to keep London safe.
Employing the original series' iconic two-part structure that focuses first on the investigation of a crime at the police level and then shifts in its second half to the prosecution of the suspects, Law & Order: UK approaches the format and characters from a uniquely English perspective. The episodes are based on scripts and episodes of the parent series.