Chapter 25
To Do:
Chase burglary file
Forensic testing of Christy’s clothes – where are they? With police or lab?
Court – request/find tapes of hearing and get costing for transcript
Missing statement: Dr Christian (psychologist). Who has this?
Body map – Jamie. Custody suite: Farringdon PS. What injuries did he have on arrest?
Find Jamie’s landlord in Harberton Street. Name?
Call schedules – finish going through
Crime scene/forensic attendance – any more statements?
Police station papers from rep
Attendance on Jamie’s mother – does she have any of the above?
As Sarah looked at the list she’d created on the screen in front of her, a blast of music sounded from the living room, making her jump.
She saved the document and got to her feet.
Her nine-year-old son, Ben, was home today.
There had been a power outage at his school, which had unexpectedly closed.
Sarah exhaled deeply as she went along the hallway to investigate, but, as she did most days, she felt grateful that the particular brand of stress that had come with being the employed single mum of a severely autistic and learning-disabled child was now broadly a thing of the past, although there had been a lot she wanted to get through today and watching Ben hadn’t been on the agenda.
‘No, Ben, too loud,’ she told him, entering the living room to see that he had paired his iPad to the TV and turned up the volume.
She bent down to pick up his glasses, which he had thrown on the floor.
She turned the TV off and led him away to his computer, where she sat him down and flicked on the monitor, pushing the mouse towards him.
Within seconds, he’d opened five different tabs and was simultaneously playing Peppa Pig clips on YouTube in five different languages.
Sarah watched as, with an earnest expression, he clicked on each tab in turn and rewound each of the videos so that they were all playing at the same time.
She wondered, as she often did, how it was that Ben could bear to listen to five different sets of sounds simultaneously, yet found the background buzz of voices inside a restaurant or shop so overwhelming that he would bolt and run or, more often, refuse to enter in the first place.
But that was Ben – her beautiful, wonderfully unique and endlessly intriguing boy.
Back in the kitchen, she scrolled through her emails, looking for one from the data control department at Farringdon Police Station, which looked after the records for all their cases, but still there was nothing.
She picked up her phone, called the number and was passed around the department for a minute or two before eventually being put through to an officer.
‘I’m phoning about my disclosure request in the case of James Clarke. You said I’d hear from you by today, but I still haven’t had a reply.’
‘We’ve read your request,’ the officer said. ‘We can’t disclose the records you’re asking for unless you can be more specific about your reasons for wanting them.’
‘I’ve given you my reasons,’ Sarah said. ‘The burglary was used to convict my client in his murder trial and I need to know if there was any evidence that he was responsible.’
‘That’s not specific enough, I’m afraid. Our rules require you to demonstrate why you want each statement and what you expect it to show.’
‘I won’t know the answer to that until I’ve seen the witness list.’
‘Well, we can’t disclose that without good reason. We have to protect the data of the witnesses.’
‘This isn’t a data protection issue,’ Sarah said, taking a long breath.
‘I’m asking you to disclose information about a criminal investigation in which the witnesses gave statements, fully expecting them to be disclosed to third parties, and especially to lawyers.
If the prosecution of the murder case was predicated on the two cases being linked, this should be reason enough for you to at least disclose the list.’
‘Our rules are that we can’t disclose it unless you can tell us what you expect the statements to show.’
‘How can I possibly know what they’ll show until I’ve seen them?’ Sarah said, through gritted teeth.
‘Well, then, I’m afraid I can’t help you.’
‘The Supreme Court case of Nunn says that you should cooperate with me, not block me,’ Sarah said, her voice rising.
‘I’ll cooperate when you are able to be more specific about your reasons for wanting the records.’
‘I’ve already told you I can’t be!’
‘Well, it sounds as though you’re on a fishing expedition. We can’t disclose what you’ve asked for. You’ll get our email later today.’
Sarah hung up and called Will. ‘You’re not going to believe this,’ she began crossly. ‘Sorry.’ She paused. ‘Are you busy?’
‘Judge has stood the case down for ten minutes,’ he said. ‘What’s up?’
Sarah recounted the conversation she’d just had.
‘Ah, yes,’ Will said. ‘The catch-22. It’s a good catch, that one.’
‘No, it’s bloody not,’ Sarah muttered.
Will laughed. ‘There’s an article about it online. It’s by Dennis Eady in The Justice Gap. Check it out.’
‘I’m too angry.’
‘Ah, but you do your best work when you’re angry.’
‘It’s so unfair.’
‘So, take the police to court.’
Sarah sighed. ‘Looks as though I’m going to have to.
But that will take time and money and I don’t have any.
I’ll have to get costs protection via legal aid, and to get legal aid I’ll need counsel’s advice.
I know you’ll try and help, Will, but it’s going to be the same old story – we’ll have to prove they’ve got something we’re entitled to.
’ A notification vibrated on her phone. ‘Hang on,’ she said.
‘Don’t go away. The police email has arrived. ’
‘OK.’
She leaned over her laptop. ‘They’re telling me that I can apply to the CCRC and they can request the statements if they consider them to be important enough.
Aargh.’ She let out a frustrated scream.
‘But they won’t. They never do. I’m going to need some evidence from the police to have a chance with the CCRC, but if I had that evidence, I wouldn’t need to ask the CCRC in the first place. ’
‘You couldn’t make it up, could you?’ said Will.
Sarah sank down into her chair and put her face in her palm.
‘Has Joe got any money?’ Will said.
‘None whatsoever. He’s surviving, but only just.’
‘Family?’
‘No. His mum lives in social housing. Dad’s dead.’
‘Hmm. I’m being called into court, love. Sorry. Find me some more reasons why we need these burglary statements and I’ll do the advice.’
Sarah ended the call and sank back into her seat at the kitchen table. The volume in the living room had risen again but was just about bearable. She reread the email from the data controller and dug her nails into her palms. She was so fed up with having these circular arguments about disclosure.
Her phone vibrated on the table next to her and a notification told her that she had missed a call and there was a message. She dialled her voicemail and listened.
‘Hi, Sarah,’ the voice said. ‘It’s Eve Shotton here, Joe’s friend.
You said that it was going to take time to get the funding for the court transcript and the forensic tests and – probably – to get the disclosure you need from the police, too, and I want to help with this.
I want to help Joe.’ Sarah heard her take a shaky breath.
‘I have some money put aside to buy a house, and I want to use it to pay for anything you need. I don’t want this appeal to take months or years if it doesn’t have to.
I know what you’re going to say – that it’s going to cost thousands, not hundreds, but I have the money sitting there in the bank and I can’t think of a better way to use it.
If you are happy with this and it will work for you, please can you let me know and then I’ll talk it over with Joe. ’
Sarah hung up, feeling heartened but wary of the expectation behind the offer, and concerned for both Eve and Joe.
She wondered how long Eve had known him.
Were they already in a relationship? This was going to be a big step, and there was no guarantee either Joe or Eve would get the results they wanted.
Eve would have to pay the police legal costs if the challenge failed and those could amount to tens of thousands of pounds.
It was one thing for Sarah to work on Joe’s case pro bono, but something else entirely for Eve to use her life savings to bankroll it.
And to succeed in court, Sarah would still have to convince the judge that her request was proportionate.
If she had all the statements from the murder trial – all the evidence she should have and was already entitled to – she would have a much better picture of the weaknesses the statements exposed, but even her requests for the original file were being frustrated.
She opened the police email again and typed a reply, asking for the original statement of Louise Coulter, the burglary victim:
Her statement in my client’s case was made over seven weeks after he was charged with the offences of rape and murder.
He would already have entered a not guilty plea and been indicted in the crown court, and it therefore appears that this statement has been taken to bolster the case against him.
It is highly prejudicial and contains no direct evidence against my client.
I wish to know – for context – what other items were stolen in the burglary.
I expect Louise Coulter’s statement made in the burglary investigation to show that it was not considered to be a sexually motivated crime at that time, and that it should not have been introduced in evidence in this case.
The reply came straight back:
As already mentioned, you can apply to the CCRC and they can request the statement if they consider it to be important enough.
Sarah threw her head back in frustration.
If she was sitting here with the court transcript or even half the paperwork she was already entitled to, she might stand a chance, but the police data controller’s response was that it had been given to his solicitor twenty years ago and they were under no obligation to supply a second copy.
The original solicitor didn’t have it. She was getting nowhere fast.
She took a deep breath and typed back:
Has the victim’s clothing been located yet? As mentioned, we wish to undertake our own testing.
Then she picked up her phone again and called the number Eve had left.