Terror Kid (15 page)

‘I understand,' said Jackson. ‘However, I have to tell you that the protocol is that you simply answer questions that you are asked and don't just offer up information. But I understand this is very emotional for you.'

‘That's right. It's emotional, and I just want it to be over with.'

‘Are you happy to carry on with the interview?' asked Jackson.

‘I wouldn't call it happy, but I want to carry on.'

‘OK,' said Jackson. ‘As you say, but I won't let them carry on too long.'

‘What do you think will happen?' asked Rico nervously.

‘It's difficult to tell. They'll probably charge you with some computer crime so they can hold you and continue investigations.'

Rico thought for a moment. ‘Well, that might give them time to find the truth.'

There was a pause. Rico took a good look at Jackson and then asked, ‘So are you an expert in this thing then?

‘What thing?'

‘This terrorism thing.'

‘Not really,' replied Jackson. ‘When I was at school I saw a lot of injustice, especially with young people. I saw how kids could be abused, exploited and misrepresented. I even saw a teacher get killed, and I wanted to do something about it, so I studied law. I now specialise in defending young people.'

‘So how do you know my dad then?' asked Rico.

‘I didn't. Not until today,' replied Jackson. ‘I'm a friend of your sister, Lola. We studied at the same university. She called your dad, your dad said he needed a lawyer, so he called me, and I came straight away. By the way, Lola asked me to say hello. She said she'll come to see you as soon as she can.'

Rico looked around the room as he tried to put it all together in his head. Then a uniformed officer put her head around the door and said, ‘Can you finish up, please?'

‘We're just finishing now,' said Jackson.

DI Kennedy entered the room, sat down on his chair and turned on the recorder. Another officer stood at the door.

‘Right,' said DI Kennedy. ‘The good news is, I'm going to end this interview. The bad news,' he continued, ‘is that you are going to be charged.'

Rico's eyes widened in shock and darted from the officer to Jackson, and from Jackson back to the officer.

Jackson spoke. ‘I take it that these charges relate to computer crime.'

‘I'm afraid not,' said the officer. ‘Rico Federico, I am formally charging you with the murder of Detective Constable Glen Holland, and committing an act of terrorism.'

‘What?' shouted Rico.

‘This is outrageous,' said Jackson.

‘I'm afraid this is the way it is,' said DI Kennedy. ‘We have consulted the Crown Prosecution Service, and they have agreed with our analysis that there is enough evidence to charge. I have to say at this point that there is a high possibility that further charges will follow.'

Rico could not take his eyes from the officer. He felt like screaming, he felt rage, he felt anger, but all he could do was stare, panicking, as DI Kennedy turned off his recorder and began to leave the room.

As he reached the door he turned back and said, ‘You've got ten minutes.'

Rico's eyes stayed on the door after it had closed behind the officer. Jackson gave him time to gather his thoughts. Rico shook his head slowly and turned to Jackson.

‘So what happens now?'

‘They'll keep you in custody until you appear in court, and I will start preparing your defence.'

‘You'd better go then,' said Rico despondently.

Jackson gathered his papers together, put his laptop in its case. He stood up and looked down at Rico, who was now sitting hunched with his head bowed.

‘Don't worry,' said Jackson. ‘We're going to do the best we can for you.'

‘When will I see you again?' asked Rico.

‘I will come back tomorrow and we can talk about the individual charges and how you choose to plead. Then on Monday morning you'll be in court. It will be a very short court hearing, but I'm going to try to get bail for you. It will be difficult, but I'll try.'

He reached forward and shook Rico's hand.

‘Thanks. Thanks a lot,' said Rico.

Jackson picked up his papers and laptop and left. Rico gazed at the walls surrounding him. He was alone with his many thoughts racing around his mind.

 

Rico was not alone for long; soon DI Kennedy entered the room with another officer. An officer Rico had not seen before. They were both smiling in a way that made Rico feel uneasy.

‘Right, let's take you away.'

Rico stood up and they took him by his arms and led him towards the cells – but they walked past the cells and came to the door of another room. The new officer unlocked the door, tapped Rico on his shoulder and said, ‘Wait in here for a while. It's much better than those cells.'

Rico walked in. He thought the room was empty, but then he saw Karima sitting on the floor in a corner.

‘Karima!' Rico shouted.

Karima didn't say anything; she just stood up and walked towards Rico. As she walked towards him, Rico opened his arms to hug her, but she hit him in his left eye with a punch so fast Rico did not see it coming. He saw stars. As he cupped his face in his hands he felt a kick to his ribcage that threw him to the ground. Rico curled up into a ball and Karima sat on him and began pounding his head and back with her fists, shouting, ‘You supposed to be my friend, brov. What you been saying about me? What kind of rubbish you been telling the cops, hey? Hey? You supposed to be my friend.'

Rico was so overwhelmed that he couldn't find the energy to speak. He had neither air in his lungs nor space to move. He could not match Karima's kick-boxing, but he also knew she could knock him out if he just stayed down and did nothing. Using all the strength he had, he forced himself to his feet with Karima still going at him, but he managed to stagger into a corner and shout.

‘What have I done?'

Karima stood back. ‘You know what you've done.' She then delivered a kick to his leg that made him want to go back down, but by sheer will he stayed on his feet.

‘Karima – stop, listen. I haven't said anything,' Rico pleaded.

Karima, still in kick-box stance as if waiting to strike, shouted, ‘So since when did I convert you to Islam then?'

‘I never said that – and you know I wouldn't.'

‘And when did I ask you about how to make bombs then?'

‘I didn't say that, Karima, either. Honestly.'

‘I told you I'm not interested in burning anything up any more.'

‘I know. I know. Honestly, I didn't say anything about that stuff.'

They looked at each other. Karima's eyes were red and wet with tears of anger. Rico's eye was purple and already beginning to swell.

‘Karima,' said Rico, with one hand covering his eye and the other pointing towards the ceiling. ‘Can't you see? Look around you. Cameras are everywhere. This is a set-up. They put us together to see if we would start talking.'

Karima looked up and around at the cameras on the ceiling. Rico continued.

‘Why would they put us together? Why wouldn't they come and stop us from fighting?'

Karima looked at the pitiful state that Rico was in – not just at the damage that she had done to him, but at his broken spirit. She then went back to sit in the corner and said, ‘I think you're right. I'm sorry, brov. I'm just messed up at the moment. Nothing makes sense.'

Rico looked down at Karima in the corner. To him her spirit looked broken too. He went over and sat next to her, and for a while they both sat in silence until Rico spoke.

‘They're watching us.'

‘I know,' said Karima.

‘All we have to do is tell the truth, right?' said Rico.

‘That's right, brov. The truth. That should do the job.'

 

The next day, Rico had another meeting with his lawyer. Karima also had a visit from a lawyer, who had been recommended to her by a local law centre, but Karima and Rico were kept apart until they stood next to each other in court on Monday morning. The court was packed with members of Karima's family, the press and Rico's family, including Lola and Kim. Lola was sitting between her parents, the three of them holding hands.

It was a quick hearing. Rico and Karima confirmed their names, addresses and ages, and their lawyers entered their pleas. Karima pleaded not guilty to all the charges and Rico pleaded not guilty to handling explosives, and not guilty to nine charges of murder. But he did plead guilty to computer hacking. They were both remanded in custody until their appearance in the Crown Court.

Both were detained in the same high-security youth unit. Although they were never allowed to see each other, they were both subject to rule 43, a rule that kept suspected terrorists separated from other prisoners for their own protection. They saw newspaper stories about themselves where their capture was seen as a victory in the war on terror. Journalists were investigating the histories of their families, and they both felt helpless, unable to defend themselves or their relatives from the intrusion. Some newspapers portrayed them as evil, fanatical young people, and to a whole range of extreme groups they were heroes. Karima and Rico thought they were none of these things.

On the day of the Crown Court hearing, Jackson Jones was there to support Rico, but his firm had employed Michael Fieldsman, the country's best-known human rights barrister, to represent him. Before they went into the courtroom, Michael Fieldsman had a meeting with Rico where he explained that he had spoken to his parents, and was dedicated to representing him because he had examined the case and believed that Rico had been exploited. He promised to tell Rico's story as best he could. He also said that he felt this was so important that he would waive his fee.

Michael Fieldsman presented Rico's case with so much passion and attention to detail that it sounded as if he was a witness to it all. He had done a survey of the area and was able to show exactly where the street cameras were. He argued that the reason Speech had restricted their movements when they met was because he was avoiding the street cameras. They were always in camera blind spots. He called Ana as a witness, and she told the court that she did have a birthday just after the date of the explosion, and that her dream was to start a dressmaking business. She had no idea who Speech was, but her birthday was on a couple of social networking sites. When Speech had asked Rico to build the website and then check for his speeding ticket, he was just testing Rico; he wanted to see how good his computer skills were. The car registration number he'd given didn't even exist. Michael Fieldsman summed up his defence of Rico by telling the court that, like Michael Fieldsman himself, Rico was someone who wanted to see justice in the world. He was someone who wanted to do something about injustice. He urged the court to see that it was Rico's idealism that had been exploited, allowing him to be tricked and manipulated, and that he had committed a crime, but he was not a terrorist or a mass murderer.

After all the evidence from both the prosecution and defence had been presented to the court, the jury gave their verdict. Karima was found not guilty of all charges, and released with immediate effect, and Rico was found not guilty of handling explosives, not guilty of nine counts of murder, but guilty of unlawful use of a computer, and unauthorised computer access. He was sentenced to twelve months in youth custody. When he heard the sentence Rico showed no emotion. He was relieved that the court realised that he really wasn't a terrorist, and he accepted that twelve months was much better than a life sentence – but there was nothing to celebrate. He looked around and saw and heard members of his family breathing sighs of relief. His mother nodded her head just a little, his father wiped his forehead with his hand, and Lola gave a small smile. It was bittersweet. As Rico finished scanning the courtroom it hit home how they were all there because of him. He looked back to his family and as he thought about all the trouble he had caused them his eyes began to fill with tears, but just then two police officers grabbed his arms and he was led out of the court.