Beyond Innocence (15 page)

Chambers        “Initially, although he had been pointed out to me, I didn’t know him at all. It was only when I moved to A block and I was put into the next cell to him that I got to know him.”

Sir Gordon       “Did anybody tell you or ask you to get to know him?”

Chambers        “Definitely not.”

Sir Gordon       “Now, Chambers, let’s be quite clear about this. You are saying that you asked for a move from Warrington to Walton but, not from H block at Walton, and, when you were moved to A block, that’s the first time you knew you were next door to Thompson. How did you feel about that last move?”

Chambers        “Well I wasn’t too pleased and I wanted to go back to H block because all the lads reckoned he was off his trolley. When I found out he’d done two of them in, I didn’t fancy being that close to him. In the end, after a couple of days we just started talking and it all stemmed from there.”

Sir Gordon       “Did you mention to Thompson anything about his crimes and, if so, how did he respond?”

Chambers        “Well it was a bit funny at first yet, once we started talking, he began to ask me what I was in for so I told him, then he’d ask me about prison life in general and how much time I’d spent inside. Yet when I asked him any questions about himself, he used to go very quiet and he wouldn’t say a word. This went on for four or five weeks but, one day after we’d been for a shower, he just came right out with it. He came up to me and, after making sure nobody else was about, he asked me if I had any idea what he was in for. When I said I hadn’t got a clue he said, “well you must be the only one in here who doesn’t because I’m in for murder. I killed two of them.” After that he hardly said a thing and, at first I thought I couldn’t report him for saying that because I thought he’d just deny it. Then I had the idea that if he actually confessed I could just let them know. I thought, if he confessed properly, it would help to clear up his case. You see it’s like this, thieving is one thing but murder, ugh, that’s ugly. Nobody wants to know a murderer because you never feel safe. A few days later, and presumably because I didn’t grass him up, he just came up to me and said he had to talk to somebody as he had to get things off his chest, sort of, and, if he didn’t he thought he would go mad. With that he launched into this full blown confession about how he killed these two poor women.”

Sir Gordon produced some sheets of paper which he handed to Chambers saying “Mr. Chambers, is this the statement that you made in the presence of two police officers whilst you were on remand in Walton Gaol and were there any other persons present when you gave that statement?”

Royston Chambers was in his element. He couldn’t wait to tell anybody who would listen especially if he felt it would assist his cause when his own case came up for trial. He knew he had no need to fear any repercussions from Thompson as it was hardly likely he would ever see the light of day on the outside of prison again but that didn’t bother him in the slightest as he replied, “Yes this is the statement I gave and signed in the presence of Detective Inspector Taylor, and Detective Sergeant West. There was also one prison officer present and that was Officer Fitzgerald.”

“Were you offered any inducements or favours by anyone at all to obtain this confession and, if so, will you please tell this court the precise nature of any favours or special treatment you’ve been offered to come here today?” Sir Gordon asked.

The witness looked arrogantly towards the judge and then at Sir Gordon, before replying, “None, none at all. When this man Thompson told me he wanted to confess in order to get this off his chest, I considered it my duty to let the authorities know what he had told me. The things he told me almost made me feel ill so much so, I think he must be sick in the mind to do what he said he did.”

From the courtroom there came a shout of protest.

Irene Yarwood was on her feet crying, “Your honour, I most strongly object to this. This man has no medical knowledge whatsoever and it is not incumbent upon him to pontificate or express his opinions on the mental state or well-being of my client at any time past, or present. With all due respect, Your Lordship, I must remind the court that the sanity of my client is not under any investigation by anybody in this court. In fact, may I also remind you that my client has entered a not guilty plea to the charges laid and it is fair to say that he has in fact refused to change this plea since his arrest.”

The Judge leaned forward. He raised his glasses slightly before ordering the prosecuting counsel to ensure that the witness should keep all such opinions to himself. Then, after telling the clerk to delete the last answer, he ordered the jury to ignore it and motioned to the Crown to proceed.

Thus rebuked, Sir Gordon continued, “What did you do after Thompson confessed?”

A little subdued now, Chambers looked nervously at the Judge before answering, “I requested an urgent meeting with Detective Sergeant West and Detective Inspector Taylor. When they came to the prison I asked to make my statement. At that time they told me they couldn’t make any promises about my own case when it came to trial. In fact, they went so far as to warn me that I couldn’t expect to receive any special favours as a result. Chambers had recovered his composure a little now and he turned to face the Judge before continuing, “however, they did say that if I came to court to give evidence, the presiding judge might be persuaded to say something on my behalf, to whichever judge heard my case.”

Somewhat shocked by these remarks, Judge Ewing began to scribble furious notes on his pad whilst allowing the Crown to continue. At this point, Sir Gordon indicated to Chambers it was time for him to read the confession to the court.

Chambers began, “first of all, Thompson came up to me one Monday after we’d both taken a shower. Without any prompting from me, he said he was inside for killing “two of them.” At first I didn’t know what to do and I thought I can hardly go and tell somebody because he’ll only deny it, and it’ll look as though I was trying to cause trouble for him. A few days later, when we were walking back to our cells, he told me he needed to talk to me about the crimes he’d committed. I told him, if he wanted to make a confession, he should get hold of the police officers who arrested him or talk to his barrister, but he said he couldn’t do that. He went on to say that he thought he would feel better within himself if he could tell somebody like me about the murders. Somehow, I think he thought this would ease his conscience and that I wouldn’t tell anybody so I agreed to go along with it. He told me he killed his girl friend because they had an argument about his sexual performance. During this argument, he struck her on the jaw to try to stop her from screaming then he grabbed her tights and wrapped them around her neck. All of a sudden, he said, he noticed she’d stopped screaming and he thought she was pretending to be asleep. He told me that he shook her in an effort to wake her and, when she didn’t move, he realised she was dead. At first he started to cry then he realised he’d have to get rid of the body as he thought nobody would believe his story. He got hold of some black bin liners, together with some rope and he tied her and her clothes in a bundle. Then he drove to a lake somewhere near Preston, where he threw her in. He kept repeating over and over again how he never intended to kill her. Yet later, he told me he was very surprised when they found her body there as he didn’t think it would ever be discovered.”

Chambers stopped for a moment whilst he took a sip of water. He made the most of this opportunity to weigh up the looks upon the faces of the people he could see. From what he could see, it seemed pretty obvious to him they appeared to be taking it all in.”

He began again, “Thompson told me Clarkson was different. She was a prostitute.”

Chambers’ arrogance was returning and it was definitely showing as he continued, “he told me he was a client of hers. When he saw her in this local bar he said he couldn’t believe his luck. He went straight up to her and said he fancied a bloody good screw and he knew she would give him one. They went outside where they got into his car to go to a quiet spot to have it off. When he couldn’t manage it, he wanted his money back. This led to an argument and, to stop her screaming the place down, he grabbed her tights, threw them around her neck and throttled her. Once again he said he never intended to kill her and that he only wanted his money back. He made sure she was dead and he pulled her out of the car. After throwing her body and clothes in a ditch, he went back to the car for her handbag, collected the money from it together with her watch, then he threw her bag and the rest of the contents into the ditch with her. After this he went home to bed.”

“When he woke up the next day, he realised what he’d done and he might come unstuck if he was ever found with the watch. Because he didn’t want to lose it, he thought it would be very clever of him if he handed it in at his local nick then he could claim it back three months later.”

Chambers then confirmed that the confession had been freely given in the presence of the two police officers from Merseyside who were in charge of the case, together with a prison officer who had remained in attendance throughout the proceedings.

Sir Gordon didn’t see the need to ask the witness any further questions. He considered the confession contained more than enough detail and he didn’t wish to risk exposing the witness any more than necessary.

Once again it was the turn of the defence. Irene didn’t relish the prospect of trying to discredit the evidence just heard but she decided she had no choice other than to attack the witness in the hope that he might crack or she might be able to show in some way that the evidence was flawed.

“Mr. Chambers, you are aware that my client totally and utterly refutes every word of that confession. In addition my client insists each and every word you have uttered is nothing more than a pack of lies. Earlier today we heard Judge Ewing telling another witness about the penalties for perjury in his court and I have to remind you of the severity of the sentence awaiting you when the truth is known. Make no mistake, Mr. Chambers, the truth will out and you will be punished. Later the jury will have a very simple choice. They can believe your testimony or they can reject it preferring, instead, the testimony of the defendant. In their shoes I know whose evidence I would choose to believe.”

“Now, Mr. Chambers, going back to your time at Warrington, who arranged your transfer from there to Walton?”

Chambers        “I asked Detective Sergeant West and he said he’d see what he could do.”

“That’s what I thought,” she replied adding, “How long were you in H block and how did you came to be moved to A block?”

Chambers         “As I said earlier, I didn’t request that move to A block. I was just told by Officer Fitzgerald I was being moved and I had a new cell in A block so I just collected my stuff and did as I was told.”

Miss Yarwood  “You didn’t think it had been pre-arranged then? In other words it never occurred to you someone from the police might have had a word beforehand and conveniently arranged it? Or, you might consider this, before you occupied the cell next door to Thompson, Thompson would have had ample opportunity to confess to the person who occupied the cell before you, wouldn’t he?”

Chambers        “Yes, I suppose he would but maybe Thompson wasn’t ready to talk then.”

“I see,” mused the defence lawyer, “now please tell the court whilst you were living next door to Thompson how many visits you received from your friend Sergeant West and explain the nature of these visits to the Court.”

Chambers        “Three, I think one was to see if I knew anything about a hold up in St. Helens and the others were to ask me some questions about my own case.”

Miss Yarwood  “Well what questions did he ask you in relation to your own case?”

Chambers had already mumbled, “I can’t remember,” before Sir Gordon interrupted with his objection on the grounds that Chambers was not in the dock and he was there to answer questions relative to the murder trial and nothing else.

From his lofty position, the Lord Chief Justice glowered at Miss Yarwood whilst saying, “sustained.”

Irene knew she had been presented with a slight opening and she was prepared to exploit it by continuing, “I’m sorry, Your Honour but I’m trying to show that the confession is a fabrication and, I think, the reply the witness has just given is an indication of that. I am sure if any one of us was in prison on a serious charge we would be capable of remembering why the arresting officer had been to see us and what questions we had been asked as a consequence.”

His Lordship was not the least bit impressed with the defence, ordering the question, together with the reply, to be struck from the record. With a rebuke from the Judge she was allowed to resume her cross-examination.

Miss Yarwood  “Perhaps you can tell the court why you didn’t report this alleged confession to the prison authorities? Why on earth didn’t you ask any of the warders if you could speak to the prison governor or, failing that, his assistant?”

Chambers        “Well I didn’t think I should. I thought it would be better if I spoke to Sergeant West and his boss Inspector Taylor.”

Miss Yarwood  “Earlier, you told this Court you considered it your public duty to let the authorities know that the person in the next cell had confessed to you that he had committed two murders, didn’t you?”

Chambers        “That’s correct.”

Miss Yarwood  “Then, a few moments later you said, and I quote, ‘thieving is one thing but murder, that’s ugly, and you never feel safe.’ Bearing that in mind and not forgetting your comments casting doubt upon the sanity of the defendant, surely it was in your own interests to ensure that this confession was brought to the attention of the authorities immediately?”

Chambers        “Well that’s what I did and why I asked to see the two police officers.”

Miss Yarwood  “Well surely that can’t be right? Here you are, next door to a crazed killer who has just confessed to you he’s committed two murders, yet you can’t pass this information to the prison authorities. Are you asking this court to believe you heard this confession and you never considered for a moment that your own life might have been put in jeopardy? That you needed to be moved to a place of safety away from the possible clutches of this maniac?”