Chapter 51
Chapter Fifty-One
Time spent in prison: nine years, seven months
Pauline and Leo were sitting in the green room of the BBC studios in Pebble Mill, waiting to appear on the live television show Good Morning with Anne and Nick. A young woman wearing a headset and carrying a clipboard came in, bringing with her a hint of sweet-smelling perfume.
‘I’ll come and get you just after we go to the news. We’ll mic you up and I’ll walk you on set, all right?’ she said with a smile. ‘Just to confirm, would you like to be known as Anthony’s mum or mother?’
‘Oh. He always calls me Mum.’
‘OK. And you’re a family friend, that’s right, isn’t it?’ She addressed Leo.
He nodded and smiled.
‘No worries. Help yourself to tea and coffee. The toilet is just to the right of this door, and I’ll be back for you in a few minutes. Try to relax. Anne and Nick are lovely. They’ll not be asking you anything daunting.’
‘Thank you,’ Pauline said. She knew her face was giving her nerves away, but she couldn’t think of what to do. This was her first time on television. The fact it was a live show was even worse. What if she said something she didn’t mean to say? What if she swore?
‘I don’t like that,’ Leo said.
‘What?’
‘Family friend. It makes me sound like a hanger-on, like I’ve come with you to hold your hand.’
Pauline took Leo’s hand. ‘I like that you’re here to hold my hand,’ she smiled.
‘But I’m more than a family friend, aren’t I? We’ve been living together for the past four years.’
‘No offence, but I think I’m a bit too old to be calling you my boyfriend.’
Leo opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again. He tried again but seemed to be struggling to find the correct words. ‘What if … what if we got married?’
Pauline looked at him with genuine surprise. ‘Really?’
‘Yes. We could get married. I mean, not right away, obviously. We could wait until Anthony gets out. He could give you away. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?’
Pauline flashed a warm smile that lit up her face. It was possibly the first chink of lightness in nine years of darkness.
‘Are you asking me to marry you?’
‘Yes. I am.’
‘Go on then,’ she teased.
‘Really?’
‘Yes.’
‘OK,’ he said. He swallowed hard and licked his lips. ‘Pauline Ethel Winstanley, will you marry me?’
She made a play out of thinking it over for a moment and laughed. ‘I’d love to.’
Leo leaned over, placed his hands either side of Pauline’s face and kissed her tenderly on her lips. ‘I love you so much, Pauline.’
‘Oh, Leo. I love you, too.’
The woman with the clipboard came back in. ‘We’re ready for you now.’
‘There’s been a change of plan,’ Pauline said, standing up.
The set of Good Morning with Anne and Nick was designed to resemble a home and was decorated in warm pastel colours.
There were sofas and cushions and pot plants.
It was made to look inviting, relaxed, and friendly.
As Pauline made her way to the adjoining sofa, she smoothed down her beige trouser suit.
‘Good morning, Pauline. How are you?’ Anne asked.
‘I’m very well. Thank you.’
Pauline had a microphone attached to her lapel.
‘Did you have a good journey here?’
‘Yes. We made good time, didn’t we?’ she asked, turning to Leo. ‘Hardly any traffic at all.’
‘That’s good. Now, I want you both to relax. We’re just going to have a conversation about your son and your fight to get him released from prison. Treat it like we’re sitting in your front room at home, OK?’ She smiled.
‘I’ll try.’ Pauline gave a nervous laugh.
Nick walked out onto the set. He said hello to Pauline and Leo, shook their hands and took his position beside Anne.
They had a genuine warmth about them that made them such professional interviewers.
Pauline could already feel herself sinking comfortably into the sofa.
When she looked up and saw the huge television cameras pointing at her, the nerves set in again.
She reached over and grabbed Leo’s hand.
‘Coming out of the news now,’ someone said. ‘We’re live in five, four, three…’
The theme music kicked in.
‘Welcome back,’ Anne said with a smile. ‘Our next guest is a woman who has been fighting for ten years to get her son released from prison for a crime, she says, he didn’t commit.
She claims she has evidence that witnesses lied during the original trial, yet the Crown Prosecution Service won’t acknowledge it.
Pauline, first of all, how is Anthony doing in prison? ’
Pauline took a breath. ‘He’s not doing too well,’ she said, feeling the rise of emotion building inside her. ‘He was badly beaten a couple of years ago. He had a collapsed lung and lost the sight in one eye. His health has deteriorated, significantly, since he was sent to prison.’
‘The crime he was found guilty of was the rape and murder of a vulnerable teenager, Alice Patterson. You say he’s innocent of that crime.’
‘Yes. I know people are going to say that, because I’m his mum, I’m going to stand up for him, but I wouldn’t do that. If he was guilty, I’d say he was. But I know, hand on heart, that he’s innocent and he should not be in prison.’
‘You say witnesses lied at the original trial,’ Nick said. ‘Who lied?’
‘The prosecution’s case hinged on the fact Anthony watched prostitutes in the red light district and was aggressive towards them.
That’s simply not true. There were four witness statements, and at least one of those witnesses that I know of has come forward to say they were paid to make their statement. ’
‘So, why isn’t the CPS reopening the case or asking for a retrial?’
‘I don’t know. They won’t talk to us at all.
We have a charity involved called Wrongly Accused who have helped get people out of prison who were wrongly convicted.
Jennifer Ripley, our solicitor, has been with us right from the beginning.
She believes me. She believes Anthony. I know I’m here fighting for my son, but at the back of all this is a young woman who was murdered, and her killer has got away with it for ten years. ’
‘One major problem, however, is that Anthony doesn’t have an alibi for the time of the murder, does he?’ Anne asked.
‘No. Anthony loves storms. On the night of the murder, there was a massive storm, and he was out at the coast watching it. Of course there aren’t going to be any witnesses to that as most people were indoors sheltering from the wind and rain.’
‘Leo, if I can turn to you,’ Nick said. ‘You’ve known the Winstanley family for a long time, and you and Pauline have recently become engaged, haven’t you?’
‘That’s right.’
‘Congratulations,’ both Anne and Nick said in unison, which made them all giggle.
‘Thank you,’ Leo smiled, clasping Pauline’s hand tighter. ‘We’ve always been close, but fighting for Anthony has brought us closer still. We’re determined to wait until Anthony is free and he can give his mother away. It’s what we all want.’
‘What are you hoping for, from appearing on this programme?’ Anne asked.
‘There was one woman who was a sex worker and appeared at the trial for the prosecution. Her evidence helped put Anthony away. We can’t seem to find her anywhere and we want to know how much of what she said was true and if she, like the others, was paid to lie in court.
We won’t be seeking a prosecution from her lying under oath, but we need Tania Dove to come forward and help us. ’
Anne turned directly to the camera. ‘If Tania Dove is watching, or if anyone knows Tania, you can call us up using the number on screen and pass on any relevant information.’ She turned back to Pauline. ‘How optimistic are you both for the future?’
‘Very,’ Leo said, firmly. ‘I know the last ten years have been a nightmare and we don’t know how much longer this is going to go on for, but we both believe in justice, and we know we will win.’
‘Pauline?’ Nick asked.
‘This is every parent’s worst nightmare; seeing their only child locked up for a crime they didn’t commit.
But like Leo said, we both believe in justice, and the truth will come out eventually.
It just needs to be sooner rather than later because I don’t know how much longer my Anthony can cope with life in prison,’ she said, choking on her last few words.
Pauline had told Anthony she was going on television that morning and he’d asked permission from the prison officers to watch the show in his cell and start work later. As it was the first time he’d asked for anything, and he was a model prisoner, they didn’t refuse him.
Being on the vulnerable prisoners’ wing, Anthony rarely came into contact with the other prisoners.
The ones he did see on a regular basis, he tended to keep away from.
They scared him. He didn’t know what they were in prison for, but they oozed bad attitude, and he knew they were serial killers, paedophiles and rapists.
Some had a malevolent air about them. They enjoyed their notoriety.
Others were defeated and had accepted their fate that they’d never be released from prison.
Anthony was a man on his own. He knew he was innocent.
He smiled when he saw his mum on TV. She’d told him she’d bought a new outfit especially for the appearance and he thought she looked nice.
Leo looked very smart in a suit and tie.
He hated wearing ties, but Pauline had told him to make an effort for the BBC.
When they announced they were engaged and waiting for him to come out so he could give his mum away, his smile grew into a grin.
He was so excited. Leo was going to be his dad.
That was amazing. They probably wouldn’t get married in a church but that didn’t matter.
He’d dress smart and make his mum proud, and afterwards, at the reception, he’d give a speech saying how…
His smile dropped. He looked around him at his small cell, at the bare brick walls, at his meagre possessions, his single bed, the thin mattress and the threadbare duvet.
He shouldn’t get his hopes up. It had been ten years, though it seemed longer.
There was no chance he was going to get out of prison any time soon.
His mum and Leo may not have given up hope, but he had. This was his life now.