Beyond Innocence (26 page)

Irene left the office early and returned home in order to collect her overnight bag and her personal things for her trip to London. After checking she had everything she needed she walked to her car and started the motor. She drove slowly out of the drive and headed towards the motorway, and London. Knowing she had at least a four hour drive, she determined to make as much time as possible by keeping to the outside lane with her foot pressed firmly on the accelerator. There was quite a lot of traffic on the road together with the usual borders of colourful plastic cones, and contra-flow systems to admire. Despite this, she continued to make good progress towards her destination, which was the Park Hotel in Finsbury Park. As she entered the building and headed to the reception desk, a quick glance at her watch confirmed she had been travelling for just over four hours. Check in procedures completed she made her way to her room on the first floor.

After a quick shower to freshen up, she proceeded to the restaurant for a light evening meal, before retiring to her room in order to be ready for the events of the following day at The Court of Appeal. Before retiring, she made a brief telephone call to Michael Mulrooney to let him know she had arrived, and, she would see him at the court building in the morning.

Michael was already there when she arrived, and they entered the building together. In due course, the other protagonists arrived, which heralded the usual exchange of greetings, then, as the usher solemnly intoned, “all rise” in his familiar dull and monotonous voice, following which the three robed figures took their places, it was time for the proceedings to get under way.

Lord Stanhope made himself comfortable, turned to both of his colleagues to ensure that all was well, then, with a quick cough to clear his throat he opened the proceedings. “In the Appeal Courts of justice in the case of Regina versus Thompson, this court has unanimously decided that this appeal must fail. My colleagues, and I have reached this verdict irrespective of the new evidence provided by the defence. We are united in our opinion that the correct verdict was reached in the original trial, and there was nothing new in the evidence presented by the defence to enable us to come to any other decision.”

“We were not at all swayed by the evidence of the witness, Chambers, who attempted to retract the evidence he gave at the original trial, neither were we suitably impressed with the witness O’Rourke. Regarding the evidence of these two persons, we have ordered that full transcripts of this appeal be sent to the proper authorities in order to ascertain whether any other proceedings should be taken. We have taken a very poor view of the efforts of the defence to smear, and slander, the Merseyside police force with allegations of misconduct and because these allegations have been made, we have issued instructions that an investigation ought to be carried out, if only to clear the good names of the officers involved.

With regard to the new evidence introduced by the prosecution, the defence made a spirited effort to have this evidence rejected. This was bound to fail. Once produced, this evidence only sought to underline the fact that justice was not only seen to be done, but the correct person responsible had been tried, and punished for it. It goes without saying, if this evidence had been available at the very start of this case, then, there would have been no grounds at all for allowing an appeal of this nature.

As Lord Stanhope began to close his papers to indicate the proceedings were over, Irene sprang to her feet, “Your worship”, she cried, in an effort to catch his attention, “Is it possible to have the permission of this court to take this appeal to the House of Lords?”

Looking down at her from his lofty position on the bench, Lord Stanhope thundered, “Certainly not permission denied.”

Then, to the doleful voice of the usher proclaiming, “All rise” the three judges strode purposefully from the court.

The court cleared very quickly, Irene, and Michael, were left alone. “Well Irene he said “that was short and sweet wasn’t it, although, in a way, I’m glad it’s all over.

“Yes”, she replied, “and, as I told you before today’s hearing began, the verdict wasn’t unexpected. Now, we just go straight on with the appeal to the Court of Human Rights. Come on let’s face it it’s not the end of the world, let me buy you a quick drink, then, I’ll have to leave you because I have to collect some papers for the boss from the criminal records centre.” One hour later they both went their separate ways.

Irene paid the taxi driver, and walked across the car park to collect her car. She drove out of the hotel car park, and despite the heavy traffic, she reached her destination just over an hour later. Alighting from the car, she glanced at the building which housed the Central Criminal Records Office, then she entered the building, and proceeded, as directed, to the first floor.

Sergeant Gerald Crowther was feeling quite smug, and very pleased with himself. Today was his first day of work at the Records Office. Even though he’d only been there a couple of hours, and despite the fact that it was a very mundane job to say the least, nevertheless, he was enjoying every minute of it. Not for him the unrelenting shifts, and station life with all its rules regulations, and, bullshit, no, this job suited him down to the ground. A regular day job, no real loss of pay to speak of, just turn up on time each day, do your eight hours, enjoy your breaks, lots of opportunities to skive off for a smoke and no inspectors or superintendents to worry about. Throughout this first day, he’d reflected many times on his good fortune at landing a cushy number such as this and, considering he’d been on sick leave for almost twelve months with early retirement looming, he had to keep pinching himself in order to convince himself he wasn’t dreaming. Another bonus for him was the never ending stream of women calling at his counter, in order to deposit or take away bundles of legal documents. Because he always fancied himself as a ladies’ man, this gave him ample chat up opportunities which he positively relished. At this very moment, all he could see were the ample curves of Irene Yarwood approaching his counter. Flashing his broadest smile he enquired “Yes Miss can I help you?”

“Yes,” Irene quickly responded, “I’m here to collect some crown prosecution papers for Sebastian Krieff QC. He’s been asked to take the Crown Prosecution case against the Latimer Brothers appeal and, I understand the papers are here awaiting collection by myself. Whilst she was talking, it occurred to her the sergeant did not appear to have his mind fully on the job, and an idea flashed through her brain. She resolved to exploit the situation adding, “I don’t think I’ve seen you here before have I? She waited with baited breath for his reply praying she hadn’t blown it but, she needn’t have worried as he responded, “No miss, actually it’s my first day here; I’m sort of feeling my way about so to speak.”

The idea in her brain grew enormously as she realised this was indeed a heaven- sent opportunity. What on earth prompted her, or, where the idea sprang from she didn’t have a clue. All she knew was she had to go along with it, and she said, as casually as she could, “and Mr. Kreiff would also like the papers on Regina versus Thompson Liverpool 1988. He might not have gone through the channels for those papers as he only rang me whilst I was making my way here.” Irene flashed him a warm inviting smile whilst awaiting his response.

She didn’t have to wait long. His reply was almost instantaneous. He was well and truly hooked, and he returned her smile with one of his own together with a wink, saying “Don’t worry about it Miss, I’ll go and get those first then we’ll sort things out from there. He turned away, swaggering along the corridor thinking to himself, “this job’s a bloody doddle. Who knows, I might even be in here.”

He returned a few minutes later with the bundles of documents which he placed on the counter, saying as he did, “I’ll be back in a few minutes. I’ve just been told my boss wants a quick word, and, as it’s my first day, I don’t want to risk upsetting him.”

“Take all the time you want,” she replied, unable to believe her good fortune. Irene watched him disappearing down the corridor and, with her brain pounding and her hands trembling, she began to look at the files he had left. As soon as she saw the third folder, she knew she had hit the jackpot. It was boldly emblazoned with a white sticker containing the words Not To Be Disclosed To The Defence. When she saw this, she was almost in a state of shock, and she realised the only thing she could do was borrow it, and hope the stupid oaf hadn’t counted the files before leaving them. She reasoned thatonce outside the building she would have ample time to look at it, and if there was nothing of any great significance, she could return it immediately without harm. She looked around quickly, to ensure there was nobody about, then she placed the file beside her brief case on the floor. She busied herself searching the other files, wishing all the time the sergeant would soon return. A quick glance through the other folders gave no insight to any additional information concerning the case, although there was a note from the crown prosecution legal team rejecting Theresa O’Rourke as a witness on the basis that she might prove unreliable and this could possibly have a damaging effect upon the testimony of Bridget Riley, and Royston Chambers.

When Sergeant Crowther returned, he was pleased to see Irene busily scribbling her shorthand notes. He placed the transcripts of the Latimer Brothers case on the counter, and enquired if she would be taking away the files on the Thompson case.

She gave him another dazzling smile as she answered, “Well actually, it would be better if I could. I really wanted to get back to Manchester tonight in order that Mr. Krieff might look at them but, if that’ll give you a problem, I might just as well stay here and make some more notes.

Thoroughly captivated, desperately anxious to please and make a good impression, Sergeant Crowther volunteered his services to book the additional files out for her, even though he knew the request and subsequent arrangements, should have been made beforehand.

Irene couldn’t believe her luck as she quickly gathered up all the files on the counter. She placed them all on top of the file she had secreted, and picked up her brief case before smiling once more at her hapless victim saying, “Thank you very much sergeant you’ve been most helpful. Obviously I’ll get these back to you as soon as possible. If I can’t get back myself I’ll send them by express courier.” Another smile, then she was rushing through the door.

Despite the fact that she didn’t want to draw undue attention to herself, she still found herself almost running to her car and she had to force herself to slow down. Once safely within the confines of the vehicle, she knew she had to resist the deadly urge within her to look at this mysterious file there and then, as it was imperative to get away from this place. With her heart still thumping and pounding away, she started the car and drove slowly out of the car park. As she drove, she kept telling herself not to panic, and all she needed to do was concentrate on her driving until she found a safe place to stop where she could look at the file in much greater detail.

Gradually she regained control of herself, and began the long drive back to Manchester along the motorway. When she saw the sign for the first service station she didn’t hesitate. She moved smoothly off the busy road, and into the parking area. She didn’t get out of the car. Instead she reached for the file. Her hands continued to tremble as she opened it to reveal the information the police and the prosecution had strived so very hard to conceal from the defence.

She certainly wasn’t disappointed. The file contained all the details of the police interview with Timothy Harris. It clearly showed he’d been with Angela Clarkson, and confirmed he had paid her for sex. His statement also confirmed that he’d given her the watch, or a watch identical to the watch shown on the Crime Watch programme on television. Then there was the DNA evidence, confirming he’d been her last client. After reading the statements of Timothy Harris and the manager of the Roundhead Hotel, it soon became clear why he had been excluded from the murder enquiry. It was equally obvious, and apparent to Irene that, had this evidence been available to the defence at the time of the trial, Harry Thompson would have stood an excellent chance of being found not guilty. She also knew, with this evidence before the appeal judges, his appeal might even have been successful. However, that was water under the bridge now as that issue was clouded by the admission of the new forensic evidence. Damn that bloody DNA sample, and damn that bloody judge Lord Stanhope. She cursed silently to herself. If it wasn’t for that, this case would be as good as finished. Still, never mind she thought, I can still get there through the European Courts so it isn’t the end of the world yet.

She had reached the end of the file and thoroughly digested the contents. Now, it was abundantly clear Timothy Harris had lied to parliament, and he had perjured himself in his libel trial against the press. With some reluctance she closed the file, and made her way to the cafeteria where she bought herself a much needed drink. Apart from the drink, she needed time to think and clear her brain before she could face the long journey home. Taking out her mobile phone she called Sebastian Krieff as she thought it was of the utmost importance to advise him of these dramatic developments in the case. Once the connection was made, Sebastian couldn’t believe what he was hearing, “Just take your time getting back. I’ll wait here until you do Irene,” he urged, “In the meantime I’ll let Michael Mulrooney know, although, on second thoughts, maybe you should do that; after all it’s you that has earned it. Before leaving, she telephoned Michael with the good news, then she resumed her journey back to Manchester.

Four hours later she arrived back at the office where she found Sebastian waiting as promised. She was also surprised to find the other two senior partners present together with Michael Mulrooney. Sebastian explained to Irene that the news of her discovery had travelled quickly through the practice, and although congratulations were not yet in order, nevertheless, they all felt the occasion was worthy of some celebration. In addition, everybody wished to see if there was any contribution they could make. To Irene, the fact that her colleagues were prepared to put themselves out in this manner, without being asked, pleased her immensely, and she was delighted at the thought that, she had joined a practice where her partners really cared. Naturally, all concerned wanted to see first-hand the mysterious file, especially since something as sinister as this was almost unknown in legal circles. In fact, they could only recall one other instance relating to a case in the Midlands many years ago, where the defence had been denied access to vital documents.