In 1982, Carman unsuccessfully defended Geoffrey Prime, a British spy who sold and disclosed information to the Soviet Union and also indecently assaulted young girls. Prime was sentenced to 38 years in prison. In 1983, he represented the family of banker Roberto Calvi, whose body—weighted down with bricks and stones—had been found hanging under London's Blackfriars Bridge in June 1982. Carman asserted that Calvi was murdered, and convinced the High Court to reverse the original verdict of suicide and order a new inquest. Also in 1983, he successfully defended "Coronation Street" actor Peter Adamson, who was acquitted of indecently assaulting two eight-year-old girls in a public swimming pool in Haslingden. Adamson later admitted his guilt.