Chapter 30 The Trial
The Trial
One of the defence’s key jobs was to pick apart the alleged motive for Caira’s murder.
It was flaky anyway, this suggestion that Miles – a man with an unblemished record and no history whatsoever of violence – had launched a deadly assault on her simply because their date hadn’t ended a certain way.
But the prosecution still tried to make it stick.
And Eleanor had her work cut out to not only show Miles’s good character but also discredit the prosecution’s attempts to sully it.
It was also down to Miles’s defence to put forward more plausible motives for Caira’s murder that might exist elsewhere.
To that end, Eleanor called Briony Edwards, a regional manager of social services.
She was a recently retired wiry, grey woman with a downturned mouth and baggy eyes, and the decades she’d spent dealing with human misery seemed written into the lines on her face.
Once the oath had been sworn, Eleanor began by asking about her career background.
Briony confirmed she’d spent more than twenty years working in the same department that had featured in the docu-series Guardian Angels.
‘In your experience,’ Eleanor said, ‘have you, or any of the staff you’ve managed, ever been on the receiving end of hostile or intimidating behaviour while at work?’
A wry smile formed on Briony’s face, combined with a barely detectable eye-roll. ‘Unfortunately, yes. That’s very common.’
‘And why is that, Mrs Edwards?’
‘Parents sometimes don’t react well when they’re told they’re not providing suitable care for their children.’
‘I see. And how would you describe a typical reaction?’
Briony shrugged. ‘Denial. Frustration. Anger.’
Eleanor then gestured towards a TV set in the corner of the courtroom. ‘I’m going to show you a clip from the documentary series Guardian Angels, in which Ms Kennedy explains to the parents of a child that there will be a court hearing to decide whether their son is to enter foster care.’
The video played, showing Caira calmly explaining to a man and a woman what their upcoming court process would entail and why it was happening.
The man, dressed in tracksuit bottoms and a grubby grey T-shirt, appeared twitchy and unsettled from the beginning.
Both parents’ faces were pixellated, but even so, the man’s behaviour became visually more aggressive as the clip went on.
Anger flared in his body, and the video ended with him being restrained by two security guards while he attempted to move towards Caira, his neck straining angrily as he lunged at her.
When the clip was done, Eleanor resumed her questioning. ‘Mrs Edwards, would you describe what we just saw on that clip as an unusual reaction?’
Briony considered that for a moment. ‘It’s quite an extreme reaction, but not completely unusual.’
Eleanor nodded. ‘Have you yourself ever witnessed a social worker being subjected to this kind of physically aggressive behaviour?’
‘Yes, I have.’
‘And are you aware of any cases in which any members of the families you serve have developed an obsessive dislike for a particular social worker?’
‘Yes.’
‘And in such situations, have you ever been aware of any social worker becoming fearful for their own personal safety?’
Briony nodded, sadly. ‘Yes. I’m afraid so.’
‘And my last question for you, Mrs Edwards, have you ever come across a situation where a social worker has feared for their life as a result of their work?’
‘Yes, I have.’
Eleanor left a long silence before thanking Briony and turning to face the judge. ‘No further questions, my lady.’