Then he reprieved his reputation, although some think he went too far and that the verdict of 12 people should have stood. And what of Barry Scheck, her bumptious lawyer? On his advice she fought the murder rap, which carried a life sentence, when the prosecution would have accepted a conviction on the charge of manslaughter.Space provided examples of genuine achievement and heroism. The Hale- Bopp comet and the Pathfinder mission to Mars made us contemplate our origins, while the plight of the crew on the Mir Space Station forced us to hold our breath.Dolly the Sheep was a triumph of scientific endeavour or disastrous meddling with nature, depending on your point of view. Call the Woodland Trust’s Tree Gift Freephone on 0800 026 9650.Queue Avoidance.

So stressful has Yule-tide spending and shopping become that counselling courses have been set up to comfort Christmas-phobes. For details of local organic suppliers, call the Soil Association, 0117 929 0661.Plant A Tree Help conserve our native trees. For pounds 5 the Woodland Trust will plant a tree for someone in one of the 850 woods it owns and manages. For pounds 10 you can choose which area of the country it is planted For pounds 25 you can choose th e actual wood. A gift certificate and Christmas card will be sent to the recipient to mark the contribution.

For something stronger, try the Organic Wine Club, 261 Upper Town Street, Bramley, Leeds, 0113 257 7545. Choose from a range of Breakfast, Teatime, Mediterranean, Stocking Filler and Gourmet (pounds 15 to pounds 85) from The Better Food Company 1 Hobbes Lane, Barrow Gurney Orders and inquiries 01275 474545. They can be exchanged for a huge range of plants, shrubs and gardening gear at most garden centres and nurseries across the UK and are available in values of pounds 1, pounds 5, pounds 10 and pounds 20 For details call 0345 6 60442.Organic Food Hampers. For details of Lets schemes, call LETSlink UK on 01705 730639.Make-Up. The safest bet is to choose from the Beauty Without Cruelty range, which only uses ingredients established before 1976, the year the EC first required animal test data to approve new cosmetics For mail order call 01732 365291.National Garden Gift Token. That way you cut down on car journeys, help small traders to survive cut-throat competition from out-of-town superstores, support local craftspeople and encourage economic diversity.

You could buy ethically minded loved ones membership of their nearest Local Exchange Trading System (Lets), or set one up yourself as a present to your neighbourhood. By buying and selling goods and services in local currencies, you can help foster community spirit, expertise and skills. Frisbees, boomerangs and “balloon helicopter” toys are among the other air-powered toys stocked at the shop. The Kite Store, 48 Neal Street, London WC2, 0171 836 1666.Local Buy or barter locally wherever you can. “It’s flying by proxy – a very relaxing antidote to the computer age,” says Andy King, co-owner of the The Kite Store. You can choose from 200 different models at prices to suit most pockets – from pounds 1.95 for the miniature, diamond-shaped kite, to pounds 799 for a kite-cum-paraglider Two- line steerable kite start at pounds 8.95.

Ethical shoppers bored or turned-off by the ethnic look need not despair. Traidcraft’s winter catalogue features a sophisticated new range of silver-based earrings, pendants and brooches which would not look out of place at Harvey Nick’s. For body piercers, there are fair trade Indonesian silver and 22-carat-gold studs which would fit nicely into nose and navel, and for men, smart silver and onyx cufflinks from Peru.Kite. A good fountain pen can last a lifetime, provided the recipient looks after it. Good hand-writing will become a more highly prized skill when the Millennium Bug causes all the computers to crash – so it’s never too soon to start practising.Jewellery.