Law and Order: UK (2009) s01e01 Episode Script
Care
In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate, yet equally important groups.
The police, who investigate crime, and the Crown Prosecutors, who prosecute the offenders.
These are their stories.
Follow the line.
Follow the nurses.
The nurses will take you to the assembly hall.
Every morning, my wife makes me promise not to open any suspect packages.
"Don't be a hero," she says.
To the assembly point in the car park.
Quickly and calmly, everyone to the assembly point in the car park.
Quickly and calmly, please.
As quick as you can.
What's happening? You can't go in for the moment.
A security alert.
Some smokers reported a dodgy-looking holdall by the side entrance.
We can't find the owner.
One of those nights.
Please make your way I can do it.
You move back.
What kind of a gentleman would I be, then, eh? Bob? Oh, no.
What is it? God.
Just pop behind the tape.
Thank you.
Ronnie! One of our uniform boys will take your details.
All right.
Thanks.
Bye.
The bag was dumped some time after midnight.
None of the smokers remember clocking it before then.
What about an ID of the person who left it? A Chinese guy dumped it around one.
An Asian bird at half twelve.
A fat Black woman.
A thin White guy.
Take your pick.
God bless the great British Public.
Did Security see anything? Not until it was reported.
They were dealing with a barney between a bloke and his wife.
The woman who found it was still shaking.
She thought it was a bomb.
Well, for someone, it was.
Recently bathed.
Clean clothes.
No sign of exposure to the cold.
No suspicious markings on the skin.
This was a well-cared-for child.
Yeah.
Dumped in the early hours.
Perfect parenting.
Well, the child was dead long before he was put in the bag.
Whoever left him here was disposing of a corpse.
Well, hang on a minute.
How does a well-cared-for baby become a corpse? He was poisoned.
Or, should I say, gassed.
Toxic levels of carbon monoxide in the bloodstream.
The poor kid.
No reports of any missing babies.
Forensics got nine separate sets of prints from the bag.
No matches so far.
A CCTV report says a figure deposited the bag at 27 minutes past midnight.
Thick coat.
Hood up.
Can't tell whether it's a bird or a bloke.
Can we track the route? Well, we lost the suspect at Euston Road junction.
We're cross-referencing with bus and tube cameras.
No matches.
Looks like they stayed on foot.
How far would you carry a dead kid, in a bag, in the centre of London, in the middle of the night? You'd want rid, quick as, wouldn't you? Assume the kid is from that area.
Take a two-mile radius, with the hospital at its centre.
Matt, get a photo and do the rounds of all the nurseries and day-care centres.
The old needle-haystack interface.
Look on the bright side, son.
You might end up with a yummy mummy.
He's already working for one.
That sounds wonderful.
Indian head massages government funded.
How come we don't get this? Once a week for three hours.
We're the only respite most of these women ever get.
The first Mrs Brooks will gladly let you know how mums do much longer hours than coppers.
You got kids? He can't even look after a goldfish.
I fed it just like you said.
The fish was ailing before I went near it.
Tell that to my daughter.
A nine-month-old African-Caribbean boy.
Wearing a winter coat like this.
Ring any bells? Do you know how many babies there are around here? African-Caribbean origin.
Wearing a coat like this in the picture.
Luka, get down! Sorry.
Doesn't ring a bell.
Tilly! Will you stay within the gate? Are you sure? Look, I'm sorry, I've got to keep an eye on 'em.
Last week, a little boy got out onto the main road, hit by a motorbike.
Lovely.
This is getting us nowhere.
Right.
What have we got? The holdall.
The baby.
Yep, and the clothes.
We could try sourcing the coat.
No, no.
That's brilliant.
Thank you.
Grey.
Not green.
They're grey.
I'll be in with the guv.
Let me know.
No worries.
Can you look it up for me? As soon as you can.
Yeah, yeah.
I'll hold.
A single British wholesaler.
The coats are shipped in from Bangalore.
Last year's must-have item.
Great.
Except the coat was brand-new.
Never been worn.
The wholesaler had a dozen boxes remaining.
Sold 'em to a distributor up Tottenham last month.
Here you go.
Your man at White Hart Lane reckons he sold a box each of those coats to 12 shops across Greater London.
Four within a stone's throw of the hospital.
That's what I call progress.
Can't divulge a customer's details? Who does he think he is? A priest? We've still got three shops to go.
Used to be a community round here.
People looked out for one another.
Now nobody sees, nobody talks.
Your blood sugar is dipping.
I'll get you a sandwich.
Matt.
A baby dies and no-one so much as blinks? I'm not having it.
No.
Don't remember.
Maybe, madam, if you were to look at the photograph for more than two seconds, it would jog your memory.
You have sold some of these coats.
Maybe you'll remember.
A baby no older than ten months old.
African-Caribbean.
Possibly a young mum.
When you want something, you're round here, no problem.
Where were you the three times I were burgled, eh? I know the baby.
Remember? His mother came in.
Bought the cot and the coat.
Paid in cash.
I think we'll just talk to Kostas.
If that's OK? Be my guest.
Thank you.
Yeah, I delivered it.
She had a flat on the ground floor, off Kings Cross Road.
Hallem Street, I think it was.
Are you the caretaker here, sir? Oui.
Dionne Farrah.
Number six.
Numero six.
Have you seen her lately? Avez-vous What's "seen"? Vous n'avez pas vu la mere hier ou aujourd'hui? Vous avez un clef pour l'appartement? Oui.
Suivez-moi.
Merci.
He's gonna let us in.
You speak French.
You think I'm some sort of Neanderthal? You might have said something before I made a tit of myself.
Where's the fun in that? Hello.
Someone left in a hurry.
I don't blame 'em.
Ronnie.
Lovely.
Fingerprints match one of the sets from the holdall.
And here's the murder weapon.
The heating system.
Pumping out carbon monoxide.
A death trap.
Literally.
Signs of tampering.
Quite recent.
Plus, a carbon-monoxide alarm set up, ready to go.
No batteries.
Easily removed, if you don't want your neighbours to know what you're up to.
Thanks, Pete.
Sure.
So, what, you reckon a parent gassing their own child? I've seen worse.
Well, yeah, but - A baby crying.
A single mum.
Two hours' kip a night for six months.
Easily done, mate.
I dunno.
Whatever happened to motherly love? I'd have thrown myself in front of a speeding lorry for my kids.
Other days, I'd have happily shook 'em until they rattled.
Thank you.
Eight flats in total.
Four currently unoccupied.
Right.
Qui habite a numero trois? Monsieur Turner.
Turner? Il arrive la.
Mr Turner.
All right, lads? What's occurring? DS Brooks.
This is DS Devlin.
We're looking for a neighbour of yours.
A Dionne Farrah.
Why? What's she done? When was the last time you saw her? Ah, well, I live on the floor above, so our paths don't really cross.
I hear the baby screaming through the floorboards all night, though.
He's got a right pair of lungs on him.
Did she have a husband? I don't think so.
Not that I saw.
No, I think it's just her and the baby.
I think she might be a lezzer.
A lot of them about, these days, isn't there? Not that I mind, as long as they let us have a little watch.
Eh? How long have you lived here, Mr Turner? Erm A couple of months.
And is the building always this empty? Yeah, it is, yeah.
A lot of them took the buy-out from the landlady.
Five grand to get out.
It's pretty persuasive.
Don't you qualify? No.
No, I'm on the sick, you see, from the Post Office.
Er RSI.
But the woman at the letting agency, Mrs Walters, she took pity on me.
She let me have a room, short-term only.
A generous landlady.
Three years ago, I couldn't give a flat away.
These days, I could have 'em wrestling naked in t'mud to decide who gets them.
Can't be that many people fighting over that block, surely? Regent's Quarter.
The new St Pancras.
A proper up-and-comer.
So you got yourself a bargain.
Oh, yeah.
I wish.
I only heard about it at the last minute, I got the bid accepted, not realising the buyer had to honour existing contracts and rents.
Some of those tenants are on fixed contracts for five years.
Always read the tiny print, gentlemen.
But the building's half empty.
Yeah, well, if we want to renovate, and we do, we have to buy them out of their contracts, which is where we are now.
OK.
Here we are.
Dionne Farrah.
Resident since 2006.
References taken from the previous owner.
One from an employer.
Another from a teacher based in Archway.
There you go.
So what happens to the people who take all the buy-outs and can't afford to live in the area any more? They move to areas where they can afford it.
Oh, right, and when that gets gentrified, where do they go, then? So we don't improve these areas? Kings Cross has always been a dump.
Finally, it's improving.
That is communities all over the city being displaced.
Areas change.
Cities shift.
Nothing new.
Been happening for decades.
In 20 years' time, when the only gaff you can afford to live in is a caravan, think of me.
Really? Well, that is great.
OK.
I'll ring you back.
Please, if you could.
Bye-bye.
OK.
Listen up.
Dionne Farrah made one call from a mobile phone yesterday morning.
Five hours after the baby's body was found.
To a Leona Collins.
Leona Collins? Yeah.
Wait.
Wait, wait, wait.
Leona Collins.
Yes.
Leona Collins was Dionne's referee for the flat.
Admit it.
I am good.
Well, I am better, because Leona Collins' maiden name was Not Farrah? Farrah.
Dionne has a sister.
Let's go.
I'll call you back.
I spoke to her a couple of days ago.
What about? The usual stuff.
Sister stuff.
And since then? Look, I ain't seen her.
Leona, does Dionne have children? A little boy.
Sean.
Sean? And how old is Sean? Nine months.
Lovely.
Do you enjoy being an auntie, Leona? Yeah, I bet.
What are you gonna get him for his birthday? You seem the sort of person family means a lot to.
The kind of girl that'd like to protect her own.
Is this your nephew? Where's your sister? It's all right, Lee.
I don't want to hide any more.
It's my fault.
It's all my fault.
So why did you take the batteries from the CO alarm, Dionne? I didn't.
I didn't even know I had one.
OK.
Just talk us through what happened.
I had to get to work.
I clean offices on Pentonville Road.
I was already late three times in the last month, because of Sean.
On my last warning.
I can't afford to lose the job.
What about Sean's father? He was killed in a car accident four months before he was born.
He never saw Sean.
Do you normally leave Sean on his own while you go to work? No! I phoned Serena.
She's the baby-sitter.
She said she was like three minutes away.
I thought he'd be OK.
She said she was on her way.
So you left Sean in the flat.
I got home about midnight.
The flat was all dark and no Serena.
I went over to Sean's cot.
I leaned in, trying to hear him breathe, but I couldn't.
So I reached out, all gently, to touch him, but he wouldn't move.
So I picked him up and he was all I tried to give him mouth-to-mouth, but I don't know how to give mouth-to-mouth properly.
I never learnt, I should have learnt, but he wouldn't move and he's such a light sleeper and I knew then, I knew he was I took him to the hospital.
And you left him at the entrance.
I didn't know what I was doing.
I just thought it was the best place for him.
I couldn't face anyone.
All the questions.
I knew they'd be thinking the same thing.
It's all my fault.
She had no intent to kill or cause harm.
Oh, come on, if you prosecute her, who does it serve? We'll have to see what the CPS say.
If we play it by the book, she's looking at manslaughter by gross negligence.
She was worried about her job.
She's got no partner, no support.
What would you have done? Waited for the baby-sitter.
Dionne said that when she spoke to you, you told her you were three minutes away.
I was on the bus.
There was this van in the middle of the road.
Everyone was yelling at the driver.
It should have only taken three or four minutes, but it turned out being about 20.
So, why weren't you looking after Sean when Dionne got back from work? I never got in.
I've only got the key to Dionne's flat.
They changed the locks on the main door a few weeks back.
I never got a copy.
The caretaker wouldn't let me in.
Caretaker! Have you seen the state of that place? I told him I'd come to baby-sit Sean.
He said he couldn't let me in.
He said he'd never seen me before.
I was outside the flat for like half an hour, buzzing other people, waiting for someone to come out.
And then the caretaker came out again and said if I didn't go, then he'd call the police.
Erm, une jeune fille, seize ans, says you wouldn't let her into the building.
Non, je ne l'ai jamais vue.
He says he never saw her, never answered the door to her.
Well, someone's lying.
Did you Did you take the batteries out of that? Je ne l'ai jamais touche.
Reckons he never touched it.
A lot of "jamais" round here, mate.
So who's guilty here? A young mum for leaving her baby, a baby-sitter for not doing her job or that caretaker for not letting her in? If Dionne didn't remove those CO alarm batteries, it puts her in a different light.
Yeah.
I mean, the building's half empty.
Look at it.
The place is an absolute dump.
The gas systems aren't being checked, at all.
And the landlady's got her heart set on redevelopment.
So what does my devious mind conclude from that little lot? The landlady wants that building cleared of tenants.
Yeah.
The heating engineers who've got the contract for the building, they haven't had a maintenance request in 15 months.
They tried to do an annual check, but they couldn't get access.
Take a trip down to the tenants' ombudsman on The Strand.
Find out if Maureen Walters has got a record of driving out tenants.
Hang on.
What about Dionne? She's the one who left the kid alone.
I want to make sure we've explored every avenue before I see a mother accused of the death of her child.
Maureen Walters? The Wicked Witch Of The West, when she had properties in Notting Hill.
We need a new filing cabinet just for her.
No water.
Broken doors.
Floods.
Textbook methods of how to empty a place.
Can you not get mozzarella on the files? So what are you doing to stop her? Unless a private landlord is a member of the guild, we don't have jurisdiction.
So, you just sit here and watch the complaints pile up? What else can we do? We're an ombudsman, not like you boys.
This gaff on Hallem Street.
Do you think she's trying to empty it? You're asking me to forego my impartiality.
Oh, perish the thought.
Put it this way, I couldn't exclude the possibility that's what's happening.
I don't suppose you've got any records of former tenants who tried to lodge complaints? Oh, yes.
Did my head right in, that place.
I come home and the lock on my door's been broken.
The caretaker is neither use nor ornament.
I shove a chair against the door.
Can't get a locksmith till morning.
The middle of the bloody night, smash, the door is off its hinges.
That mad git Turner is in my lounge.
The RSI postie with a lesbian fetish.
He's throwing my CDs on the floor, switching t'telly on full volume.
Acting like he's drunk.
When you say acting - Oh, I know what a pissed bloke smells like.
He didn't smell of booze, at all.
More likeLynx and mouthwash.
Turner's a thug.
He got what he wanted.
I moved out.
Well done him.
I want this thing wrapped up.
Oh, guv.
Yes? What have you got? I did a full FIU on the landlady's company.
Guess what? Mike Turner is on the payroll.
So we checked him out.
He's got two previous convictions.
One for ABH.
One for GBH.
Both on tenants who claim he was harassing them to get them out of their homes.
From property records, ex-tenants, we reckon this must be the sixth building he's cleared for the company.
Fine.
This makes him a thug, but not a killer.
Dionne Farrah also mentioned that she hadn't messed around with the heating system in her flat, yet the Scene Of Crime Officer said it had definitely been tampered with.
The maintenance company say a bloke matching Turner's description barred them access to the flats, saying that he was looking after the heating systems.
So he sabotages the heating to get the mum out.
Ends up killing the baby.
Guv, if Mike Turner is responsible for the death of this child, we really should be out there, bringing him in.
Let me talk to James Steel from the CPS, see if we've got enough for him.
It's clear Mike Turner was harassing tenants, but you've got to show me proof he's responsible for Sean's death.
At the moment, we can only prove I don't know.
Harassment of occupier? Or maybe agent of the landlord withholding services from occupier.
And what is that? That's like, two years, max.
Just a fine.
I mean, a baby has been gassed to death.
I appreciate that and we all want to convict whoever is responsible, but, trust me, at the moment, I just don't have enough to convince a jury of Turner's guilt.
And if we prosecute him without enough evidence, we won't get justice for Sean or his mother.
So what do you need? Evidence directly linking Mike Turner's actions to Sean's death.
You get me that, I'll put him in the dock.
This caretaker, Daniel Matoukou, it must have been his job to service the gas system that killed Sean.
What's he got to say for himself? Well, not a lot, because he barely speaks any English.
What is it, Matt? I can hear your brain whirring from here.
Well, the, erm, caretaker.
Serena said that he threatened to call the police, told her he'd never seen her before.
So? Well, do you think Serena speaks that much French? Thank you, Serena.
That's very helpful.
Result.
She says the man who wouldn't let her in was White, Northern and big-boned.
So, not the caretaker, at all.
It was Mike Turner.
He barred her access.
Just like he barred the maintenance people from checking the heaters.
Enough of a link? Now we can build a case.
I said, stop it! Leave me alone, you bloody great ape! This wood is rotten, Mrs Murphy.
It needs to be replaced.
Only after you started hacking away at it! Got the cuffs? I've just had that painted! Matt, cuffs.
Get off me! Michael Turner, I'm arresting you on the manslaughter of Sean Farrah.
You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence, if you do not mention, when questioned, something which you later rely on in court.
Dionne, we've arrested Mike Turner.
We believe the owners of the building are trying to harass the tenants by damaging the heating systems.
You mean, they did it on purpose? They killed my boy.
I'm so sorry, Dionne.
Throwing old ladies and young mothers onto the street to make a few quid? This Mike Turner is below amoeba.
Unlawful act manslaughter? That's what I'm going for.
I don't see it.
Where's the unlawful act? The law requires that landlords service gas systems and have them safety-checked annually.
The tests on the system found the CO levels were more than The Health And Safety Executive's safety level is 50.
Statistics.
Blind me with science.
I couldn't give a rat's backside.
You have to convince me of intent, that Turner essentially knew that what he was doing was unlawful.
A big loophole for him to dance through.
Turner intended to make the conditions unliveable, so that the tenants would leave.
He's done this half a dozen times before.
If I get his previous convictions admitted, the context is clear.
You'll need a judge and jury in generous moods.
We've got good evidence.
Enough of it? We need direct evidence that Turner tampered with the gas system.
Without it, I'm not convinced.
What if we turn the caretaker, Daniel Matoukou, to give evidence against Turner? Mr Matoukou knew the gas system was unreliable, he knew the CO alarms weren't functioning properly, but he didn't try to get them repaired or serviced.
Oh, come on.
He's just the caretaker.
Someone will take responsibility for this baby's death.
Either he tells us about Mike Turner or we charge him with manslaughter.
Scale his charge down to withholding services from a tenant.
A summary offence only.
Then he'll talk.
Who tampered with the gas system? Mike Turner.
Unlawful act manslaughter? What's the matter with you? Huge credibility problems here.
Any jury with half a brain cell between them will see that Matoukou is simply trying to shift blame onto Mr Turner.
He is the caretaker.
The building and services are his responsibility.
Nothing to do with us whatsoever.
Mr Turner is an habitual offender.
One previous conviction for GBH, one for ABH, both against tenants.
I reckon a jury will be fascinated by his previous convictions.
You've been sniffing the Tipp-Ex.
No judge will allow that.
Take up golf, James.
A better use of your energies.
Come along, Mr Turner.
See you in court.
You can't allow this, my lady.
It's totally prejudicial.
The cases are identical.
Mr Turner assaulted tenants who were trying to repair essential services.
Assaults on people.
Not tampering with gas systems.
Entirely different, my lady.
Yes, thank you, Mr Ridley.
Let me get this clear.
Making the buildings unliveable is intent to cause injury.
That's what's common to all these incidents? Yes.
Thank you, my lady.
You're not going to allow this? Do you know? I think I am.
It's a novel theory and I rather like it.
Mr Turner's previous convictions may be admitted as evidence.
I tried to push past, but he wasn't having any of it.
He just slammed the door in my face.
I tried to get in.
I really did.
I adored Sean.
If I'd known what was gonna happen, I The man who blocked your access to the building, is he in this court? That's him.
He said he'd never seen me before, but I've been there loads of times.
For the record, the witness was pointing at the defendant.
No further questions.
Miss Jackson May I call you Serena? Serena, you told the police that Mr Turner was the caretaker.
That's right.
But he's not.
If you'd been there so often, why didn't you know that? He was around a lot.
I just assumed.
So you didn't really know who he was.
Is it possible, therefore, that he didn't know who you were? J'ai dit a Monsieur Turner que je voulais reparer le reseau de gas de Mademoiselle Farrah.
I told Mr Turner I was trying to fix Miss Farrah's gas system.
And what did Mr Turner do? Qu'a fait Monsieur Turner? Il m'a dit de laisser tomber.
He told me to leave it.
Il m'a ordonne de m'ecarter du systeme de gas.
He pulled me away.
Et puis il a donne un coup de marteau dessus.
And then he gave it a thump with a hammer.
As the level of carbon monoxide in the room increased, the child would have suffered from cerebral oedema.
Can you explain what that is, please, Mr Stanton? Cerebral oedema causes brain cells to crush into each other, through swelling, essentially killing the cells as they're compacted.
Could the carbon-monoxide leak have been caused by a source other than the gas heating system? I don't believe so.
And, in your expert opinion, would Mr Turner's attack on the gas system have increased the chances of such a fatal leak? In my opinion, yes.
Thank you.
No further questions.
I don't know if I can do this.
All those people looking at me.
This is your chance to tell everyone the truth, Dionne.
I dreamt of Sean last night.
He was asleep in the cot next to me, like none of this had happened.
When I woke up .
.
it was like I was losing him all over again.
I thought Sean would only be on his own for five minutes at most.
I thought I thought he'd be fine.
How long was Sean alone? Seven hours.
When you left, did you notice anything unusual about the air in the room? No.
And when you returned? It was like thick.
I opened the window, before I .
.
saw Sean.
Thank you.
No further questions.
This must be very distressing, Miss Farrah.
I'll be brief.
Can you just explain to the court why you didn't phone home to check with Miss Jackson that everything was all right? We're not allowed phones at work.
Two months back, one of the cleaners got sacked for making calls during work time.
You don't have breaks? I went to my locker to get my phone.
It had run out of battery.
I must have left it on.
So I went outside to use the phone box across the street, but it wasn't working.
By the time I'd done that, my ten minutes was up.
None of your co-workers had phones? The break was over - You clean an office block, how many telephones - I'd be fired if I used any of them.
So your job is more important to you than the welfare of your child? My lady.
Mr Ridley.
A little compassion goes a long way.
Miss Farrah, isn't it true you could have made a phone call, if you'd really wanted to? I don't know.
Maybe.
Yes.
So, who is actually responsible for the death of little Sean? This is why the rest of Ridley's chambers call him "Limbo".
There's nothing he won't stoop to.
He may be making your case for you.
The jury will have sympathy for the mother after that.
Are you ready for this? There's been a note from the jury.
One of the jurors speaks fluent French.
He's questioning Daniel Matoukou's testimony.
A mistranslation.
I don't know how serious.
Tell me Ridley's not applying to discharge the jury? Looks like he'll succeed.
Mike Turner would go free on a technicality.
I just told them what I heard.
I lived in France for 20 years.
He said, "ordered", not "pulled".
And I have a note from other jurors stating that you corrected three other words that you considered mistranslations.
I just told them what Mr Matoukou really said.
I wasn't trying to be difficult.
So more than one word.
My lady, how can we now be certain that the rest of the translated evidence has been correctly understood by the jury? Yes, thank you, Mr Ridley.
I agree.
It's a mess.
It's more than a mess.
The trial is aborted.
I don't care how many trials it takes.
Dionne Farrah and her baby will get justice.
Your client can't wriggle out of this indefinitely.
You don't need golf.
You need therapy.
Brutal, unforgiving therapy.
How do you sleep at night, Robert? In a gorgeous hand-made bed, imported from Osaka.
But then, of course, I don't have to make do on a CPS salary.
We've got to retry Mike Turner.
You're letting your heart rule your head.
A retrial means going back to square one.
You'd have to get Turner's criminal record admitted again.
I managed it last time.
Yeah.
You got lucky.
No guarantee that a new judge will be quite so obliging.
And without Turner's previous, your case looks perilously thin.
So he walks free? I don't like it any more than you do.
We have to make do with what we have at our disposal.
I might be able to help you there.
Looking through Turner's file, on his last assault charge, he was offered to deal down to a year in prison, if he gave up Maureen Walters - he didn't bite.
He went to prison rather than give evidence against his boss? That's some loyalty.
Because she's not his boss.
Mike Turner is a silent partner in the whole company.
All of those buildings, they own them together.
Their property portfolio must be worth nearly £5 million.
While a child dies in squalor in one of their flats.
So Maureen Walters must have known exactly what Mike Turner was doing.
They must have hatched the plan together to get the tenants out.
She's culpable.
Mm.
We go after Maureen Walters.
As head of the company, the buck stops with her.
We put her in the dock.
Hold on.
If they're partners, then they will deny everything in unison.
We have to be more pragmatic.
But surely - No trial, but we get Turner and Walters to plead guilty to a lesser charge.
George, a baby was killed.
Dionne Farrah's life has been destroyed.
This way, we convict those responsible.
The most they'd get would be a couple of months.
They could even walk out of court with fines.
For a child's death? That's a disgrace.
George is right.
A trial is no guarantee of success.
I'd rather see them convicted of something, than walk free.
Let's bring Turner and Walters in, see if they'll take it.
'You're asking me to plead guilty?' "Withdrawing services with intent to cause occupier to leave.
" Scraping the barrel a bit, James.
If you don't accept my proposal, I will take Mr Turner back to trial and I'll dig up every charge possible to level at Mrs Walters.
That baby's death had nothing to do with me.
I'm just trying to earn a living, keep my head above water.
But that's not possible, these days, is it? Nobody takes responsibility for their own lives.
Sorry? Would it kill that girl to check the CO alarm herself? Eh? Batteries.
That's all it would have taken.
But, no, she'd rather complain than do something.
The law states it's your responsibility to ensure your - Don't get me started about the law.
Do you know the amount of red tape I have to deal with every day? It's a wonder there's any small businesses left.
Every day, there's some new legislation making it impossible to earn an honest living.
Wow.
A fascinating interpretation of "honest".
I did nothing to hurt that baby.
We're leaving.
You don't even care, do you? What? I beg your pardon? I'll have you for slander.
Come on, Mike.
Is there something funny? I've done prison.
A few months inside, it's easy.
It won't get that far.
Matoukou's memory won't be so clear next time.
Daniel Matoukou's evidence is on the record.
Are you admitting threatening a witness? No.
She didn't say a word.
None of this ever happened.
We were never here.
She's threatening to sue you? For slander? After she blamed Dionne Farrah for the death of her baby.
She's a one-off, that woman.
She knows you haven't got enough on her.
That digging you wanted.
Tell me you found treasure.
Mike Turner previously served for the assault charges.
During that time, Environmental Health Officers received and upheld against Maureen Walters.
So? The moment Mike Turner is released, the complaints drop.
Turner gets out and starts bullying tenants again.
There's something else.
Nine months ago, the Environmental Health Inspector changed.
The new inspector is pretty generous.
Of the 27 complaints that were made against Maureen Walters since then, every single one has been resolved in her favour.
That's an impressive success rate.
I love the smell of bribery in the evening.
See what you can prove.
Oh, and Alesha Brilliant work.
Thank you.
I've got five minutes.
Nine months ago, you were covering Maureen Walters' buildings.
What changed? A new manager came in.
Reorganised the way we divided up casework.
So who took over complaints against Maureen Walters? Charlie Dias.
Does he take bribes? I didn't hear that.
Did Maureen Walters ever offer you a bribe? She hinted at it.
I'm not saying that I wasn't tempted.
You know how much they pay us? The wife was going on about a new fridge.
One nod to Maureen Walters and everyone would have been happy.
Has Charlie Dias bought a new fridge recently? Your five minutes are up.
Charlie Dias.
Works at Environmental Health.
Withdraws 200 quid a week from his current account, going back years.
The past nine months? Nothing.
Not a penny.
Doesn't prove he took bribes.
His wife paid for her weekly shop by debit card for the last three years.
The past nine months? Cash only.
So they've got extra cash.
Still no link to Maureen Walters.
Doesn't prove anything.
What if someone offers Dias a bribe? He takes the bribe.
We get enough evidence like that, a jury will see that Maureen Walters was responsible for Sean's death.
Set it up.
Look, I'm just asking.
Why me? We, er, took a vote.
We decided you were the one who looked most like a dodgy landlord.
You're supposed to be my mate.
Maybe take your tie off.
Perfect.
Antony Simpson? Yeah.
Charles Dias.
Environmental Health.
Right.
We've got, er, three complaints, two about the central heating, one about the damp.
Yeah, I think those are a misunderstanding.
I'm having the place totally renovated.
Well, I'm gonna have to take a look, but I must warn you - Do we have to do this now? What else would we do? Careful.
Wait till he asks.
He knows what he's doing.
We're not just pretty faces, you know.
I don't want to add to your paperwork.
How can we make this go away? You tell me, Mr Simpson.
Well, if I knew what you were looking for - What are you looking for? I don't want to insult you, Mr Dias.
£500.
Here we go.
'What about£250?' Is this the way in? What about £300? £300, then.
Cash? Now? Cash.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Good.
That's one hundred.
Very much obliged.
Two hundred Charles Dias, you are under arrest for corruption.
Oh, no.
No, no.
You can't do this.
Can I have my tie back now? Entrapment.
You stitched him up.
He solicited the bribe.
Mr Dias is going to resign.
Without a pension.
Then he's going to give us the names of every landlord who ever bribed him.
Or he'll find himself in the dock.
Who do you want first? In my experience, Mr Turner, people change their plea for two reasons.
Conscience or self-preservation.
Now, as conscience seems beyond you, I'm giving you one last chance to save yourself.
We've charged Maureen Walters with 16 counts of bribing a public official.
Mrs Walters claims it was your idea.
What has she been saying, the lying cow? Mr Turner, silence is your friend.
We're going to charge you both with manslaughter by gross negligence, over Sean Farrah's death.
Prison may be easy for you, Mr Turner, but 15 years? That's a whole slab of your life.
I've been through one trial.
Why keep coming back at me? For all the years Dionne Farrah will never spend with her son.
What did you have in mind, James? Maureen Walters has already begun to turn on you.
Here's where your self-preservation can kick in.
Give evidence against her, in exchange for a lesser charge or be back in the dock alongside her.
The old divide and conquer, eh? A baby died.
A baby named Sean Farrah.
He was nine months old.
Maureen Walters didn't strangle Sean.
She didn't stab him or run him over.
Maureen Walters never even met Sean Farrah.
She did, however, fail to maintain gas-central-heating systems, in a deliberate attempt to force her tenants to leave.
She bribed Environmental Health Officers to look the other way and, in doing so, she breached her duty of care to Sean.
A breach amounting to gross negligence.
Why did she commit this breach? Because she wanted more money.
She wilfully and repeatedly placed the value of her property above the value of a human life.
No parent should outlive their child and convicting Maureen Walters won't bring Sean Farrah back to his mother, but it will send a forceful warning to others.
We all have a duty of care towards one another.
And no breach shall go unpunished.
In relation to the count of manslaughter by gross negligence, do you find the defendant, Maureen Walters, guilty or not guilty? Guilty.
Well done, James.
A good result.
Go home.
Have a drink.
It's over.
For us, maybe.
The police, who investigate crime, and the Crown Prosecutors, who prosecute the offenders.
These are their stories.
Follow the line.
Follow the nurses.
The nurses will take you to the assembly hall.
Every morning, my wife makes me promise not to open any suspect packages.
"Don't be a hero," she says.
To the assembly point in the car park.
Quickly and calmly, everyone to the assembly point in the car park.
Quickly and calmly, please.
As quick as you can.
What's happening? You can't go in for the moment.
A security alert.
Some smokers reported a dodgy-looking holdall by the side entrance.
We can't find the owner.
One of those nights.
Please make your way I can do it.
You move back.
What kind of a gentleman would I be, then, eh? Bob? Oh, no.
What is it? God.
Just pop behind the tape.
Thank you.
Ronnie! One of our uniform boys will take your details.
All right.
Thanks.
Bye.
The bag was dumped some time after midnight.
None of the smokers remember clocking it before then.
What about an ID of the person who left it? A Chinese guy dumped it around one.
An Asian bird at half twelve.
A fat Black woman.
A thin White guy.
Take your pick.
God bless the great British Public.
Did Security see anything? Not until it was reported.
They were dealing with a barney between a bloke and his wife.
The woman who found it was still shaking.
She thought it was a bomb.
Well, for someone, it was.
Recently bathed.
Clean clothes.
No sign of exposure to the cold.
No suspicious markings on the skin.
This was a well-cared-for child.
Yeah.
Dumped in the early hours.
Perfect parenting.
Well, the child was dead long before he was put in the bag.
Whoever left him here was disposing of a corpse.
Well, hang on a minute.
How does a well-cared-for baby become a corpse? He was poisoned.
Or, should I say, gassed.
Toxic levels of carbon monoxide in the bloodstream.
The poor kid.
No reports of any missing babies.
Forensics got nine separate sets of prints from the bag.
No matches so far.
A CCTV report says a figure deposited the bag at 27 minutes past midnight.
Thick coat.
Hood up.
Can't tell whether it's a bird or a bloke.
Can we track the route? Well, we lost the suspect at Euston Road junction.
We're cross-referencing with bus and tube cameras.
No matches.
Looks like they stayed on foot.
How far would you carry a dead kid, in a bag, in the centre of London, in the middle of the night? You'd want rid, quick as, wouldn't you? Assume the kid is from that area.
Take a two-mile radius, with the hospital at its centre.
Matt, get a photo and do the rounds of all the nurseries and day-care centres.
The old needle-haystack interface.
Look on the bright side, son.
You might end up with a yummy mummy.
He's already working for one.
That sounds wonderful.
Indian head massages government funded.
How come we don't get this? Once a week for three hours.
We're the only respite most of these women ever get.
The first Mrs Brooks will gladly let you know how mums do much longer hours than coppers.
You got kids? He can't even look after a goldfish.
I fed it just like you said.
The fish was ailing before I went near it.
Tell that to my daughter.
A nine-month-old African-Caribbean boy.
Wearing a winter coat like this.
Ring any bells? Do you know how many babies there are around here? African-Caribbean origin.
Wearing a coat like this in the picture.
Luka, get down! Sorry.
Doesn't ring a bell.
Tilly! Will you stay within the gate? Are you sure? Look, I'm sorry, I've got to keep an eye on 'em.
Last week, a little boy got out onto the main road, hit by a motorbike.
Lovely.
This is getting us nowhere.
Right.
What have we got? The holdall.
The baby.
Yep, and the clothes.
We could try sourcing the coat.
No, no.
That's brilliant.
Thank you.
Grey.
Not green.
They're grey.
I'll be in with the guv.
Let me know.
No worries.
Can you look it up for me? As soon as you can.
Yeah, yeah.
I'll hold.
A single British wholesaler.
The coats are shipped in from Bangalore.
Last year's must-have item.
Great.
Except the coat was brand-new.
Never been worn.
The wholesaler had a dozen boxes remaining.
Sold 'em to a distributor up Tottenham last month.
Here you go.
Your man at White Hart Lane reckons he sold a box each of those coats to 12 shops across Greater London.
Four within a stone's throw of the hospital.
That's what I call progress.
Can't divulge a customer's details? Who does he think he is? A priest? We've still got three shops to go.
Used to be a community round here.
People looked out for one another.
Now nobody sees, nobody talks.
Your blood sugar is dipping.
I'll get you a sandwich.
Matt.
A baby dies and no-one so much as blinks? I'm not having it.
No.
Don't remember.
Maybe, madam, if you were to look at the photograph for more than two seconds, it would jog your memory.
You have sold some of these coats.
Maybe you'll remember.
A baby no older than ten months old.
African-Caribbean.
Possibly a young mum.
When you want something, you're round here, no problem.
Where were you the three times I were burgled, eh? I know the baby.
Remember? His mother came in.
Bought the cot and the coat.
Paid in cash.
I think we'll just talk to Kostas.
If that's OK? Be my guest.
Thank you.
Yeah, I delivered it.
She had a flat on the ground floor, off Kings Cross Road.
Hallem Street, I think it was.
Are you the caretaker here, sir? Oui.
Dionne Farrah.
Number six.
Numero six.
Have you seen her lately? Avez-vous What's "seen"? Vous n'avez pas vu la mere hier ou aujourd'hui? Vous avez un clef pour l'appartement? Oui.
Suivez-moi.
Merci.
He's gonna let us in.
You speak French.
You think I'm some sort of Neanderthal? You might have said something before I made a tit of myself.
Where's the fun in that? Hello.
Someone left in a hurry.
I don't blame 'em.
Ronnie.
Lovely.
Fingerprints match one of the sets from the holdall.
And here's the murder weapon.
The heating system.
Pumping out carbon monoxide.
A death trap.
Literally.
Signs of tampering.
Quite recent.
Plus, a carbon-monoxide alarm set up, ready to go.
No batteries.
Easily removed, if you don't want your neighbours to know what you're up to.
Thanks, Pete.
Sure.
So, what, you reckon a parent gassing their own child? I've seen worse.
Well, yeah, but - A baby crying.
A single mum.
Two hours' kip a night for six months.
Easily done, mate.
I dunno.
Whatever happened to motherly love? I'd have thrown myself in front of a speeding lorry for my kids.
Other days, I'd have happily shook 'em until they rattled.
Thank you.
Eight flats in total.
Four currently unoccupied.
Right.
Qui habite a numero trois? Monsieur Turner.
Turner? Il arrive la.
Mr Turner.
All right, lads? What's occurring? DS Brooks.
This is DS Devlin.
We're looking for a neighbour of yours.
A Dionne Farrah.
Why? What's she done? When was the last time you saw her? Ah, well, I live on the floor above, so our paths don't really cross.
I hear the baby screaming through the floorboards all night, though.
He's got a right pair of lungs on him.
Did she have a husband? I don't think so.
Not that I saw.
No, I think it's just her and the baby.
I think she might be a lezzer.
A lot of them about, these days, isn't there? Not that I mind, as long as they let us have a little watch.
Eh? How long have you lived here, Mr Turner? Erm A couple of months.
And is the building always this empty? Yeah, it is, yeah.
A lot of them took the buy-out from the landlady.
Five grand to get out.
It's pretty persuasive.
Don't you qualify? No.
No, I'm on the sick, you see, from the Post Office.
Er RSI.
But the woman at the letting agency, Mrs Walters, she took pity on me.
She let me have a room, short-term only.
A generous landlady.
Three years ago, I couldn't give a flat away.
These days, I could have 'em wrestling naked in t'mud to decide who gets them.
Can't be that many people fighting over that block, surely? Regent's Quarter.
The new St Pancras.
A proper up-and-comer.
So you got yourself a bargain.
Oh, yeah.
I wish.
I only heard about it at the last minute, I got the bid accepted, not realising the buyer had to honour existing contracts and rents.
Some of those tenants are on fixed contracts for five years.
Always read the tiny print, gentlemen.
But the building's half empty.
Yeah, well, if we want to renovate, and we do, we have to buy them out of their contracts, which is where we are now.
OK.
Here we are.
Dionne Farrah.
Resident since 2006.
References taken from the previous owner.
One from an employer.
Another from a teacher based in Archway.
There you go.
So what happens to the people who take all the buy-outs and can't afford to live in the area any more? They move to areas where they can afford it.
Oh, right, and when that gets gentrified, where do they go, then? So we don't improve these areas? Kings Cross has always been a dump.
Finally, it's improving.
That is communities all over the city being displaced.
Areas change.
Cities shift.
Nothing new.
Been happening for decades.
In 20 years' time, when the only gaff you can afford to live in is a caravan, think of me.
Really? Well, that is great.
OK.
I'll ring you back.
Please, if you could.
Bye-bye.
OK.
Listen up.
Dionne Farrah made one call from a mobile phone yesterday morning.
Five hours after the baby's body was found.
To a Leona Collins.
Leona Collins? Yeah.
Wait.
Wait, wait, wait.
Leona Collins.
Yes.
Leona Collins was Dionne's referee for the flat.
Admit it.
I am good.
Well, I am better, because Leona Collins' maiden name was Not Farrah? Farrah.
Dionne has a sister.
Let's go.
I'll call you back.
I spoke to her a couple of days ago.
What about? The usual stuff.
Sister stuff.
And since then? Look, I ain't seen her.
Leona, does Dionne have children? A little boy.
Sean.
Sean? And how old is Sean? Nine months.
Lovely.
Do you enjoy being an auntie, Leona? Yeah, I bet.
What are you gonna get him for his birthday? You seem the sort of person family means a lot to.
The kind of girl that'd like to protect her own.
Is this your nephew? Where's your sister? It's all right, Lee.
I don't want to hide any more.
It's my fault.
It's all my fault.
So why did you take the batteries from the CO alarm, Dionne? I didn't.
I didn't even know I had one.
OK.
Just talk us through what happened.
I had to get to work.
I clean offices on Pentonville Road.
I was already late three times in the last month, because of Sean.
On my last warning.
I can't afford to lose the job.
What about Sean's father? He was killed in a car accident four months before he was born.
He never saw Sean.
Do you normally leave Sean on his own while you go to work? No! I phoned Serena.
She's the baby-sitter.
She said she was like three minutes away.
I thought he'd be OK.
She said she was on her way.
So you left Sean in the flat.
I got home about midnight.
The flat was all dark and no Serena.
I went over to Sean's cot.
I leaned in, trying to hear him breathe, but I couldn't.
So I reached out, all gently, to touch him, but he wouldn't move.
So I picked him up and he was all I tried to give him mouth-to-mouth, but I don't know how to give mouth-to-mouth properly.
I never learnt, I should have learnt, but he wouldn't move and he's such a light sleeper and I knew then, I knew he was I took him to the hospital.
And you left him at the entrance.
I didn't know what I was doing.
I just thought it was the best place for him.
I couldn't face anyone.
All the questions.
I knew they'd be thinking the same thing.
It's all my fault.
She had no intent to kill or cause harm.
Oh, come on, if you prosecute her, who does it serve? We'll have to see what the CPS say.
If we play it by the book, she's looking at manslaughter by gross negligence.
She was worried about her job.
She's got no partner, no support.
What would you have done? Waited for the baby-sitter.
Dionne said that when she spoke to you, you told her you were three minutes away.
I was on the bus.
There was this van in the middle of the road.
Everyone was yelling at the driver.
It should have only taken three or four minutes, but it turned out being about 20.
So, why weren't you looking after Sean when Dionne got back from work? I never got in.
I've only got the key to Dionne's flat.
They changed the locks on the main door a few weeks back.
I never got a copy.
The caretaker wouldn't let me in.
Caretaker! Have you seen the state of that place? I told him I'd come to baby-sit Sean.
He said he couldn't let me in.
He said he'd never seen me before.
I was outside the flat for like half an hour, buzzing other people, waiting for someone to come out.
And then the caretaker came out again and said if I didn't go, then he'd call the police.
Erm, une jeune fille, seize ans, says you wouldn't let her into the building.
Non, je ne l'ai jamais vue.
He says he never saw her, never answered the door to her.
Well, someone's lying.
Did you Did you take the batteries out of that? Je ne l'ai jamais touche.
Reckons he never touched it.
A lot of "jamais" round here, mate.
So who's guilty here? A young mum for leaving her baby, a baby-sitter for not doing her job or that caretaker for not letting her in? If Dionne didn't remove those CO alarm batteries, it puts her in a different light.
Yeah.
I mean, the building's half empty.
Look at it.
The place is an absolute dump.
The gas systems aren't being checked, at all.
And the landlady's got her heart set on redevelopment.
So what does my devious mind conclude from that little lot? The landlady wants that building cleared of tenants.
Yeah.
The heating engineers who've got the contract for the building, they haven't had a maintenance request in 15 months.
They tried to do an annual check, but they couldn't get access.
Take a trip down to the tenants' ombudsman on The Strand.
Find out if Maureen Walters has got a record of driving out tenants.
Hang on.
What about Dionne? She's the one who left the kid alone.
I want to make sure we've explored every avenue before I see a mother accused of the death of her child.
Maureen Walters? The Wicked Witch Of The West, when she had properties in Notting Hill.
We need a new filing cabinet just for her.
No water.
Broken doors.
Floods.
Textbook methods of how to empty a place.
Can you not get mozzarella on the files? So what are you doing to stop her? Unless a private landlord is a member of the guild, we don't have jurisdiction.
So, you just sit here and watch the complaints pile up? What else can we do? We're an ombudsman, not like you boys.
This gaff on Hallem Street.
Do you think she's trying to empty it? You're asking me to forego my impartiality.
Oh, perish the thought.
Put it this way, I couldn't exclude the possibility that's what's happening.
I don't suppose you've got any records of former tenants who tried to lodge complaints? Oh, yes.
Did my head right in, that place.
I come home and the lock on my door's been broken.
The caretaker is neither use nor ornament.
I shove a chair against the door.
Can't get a locksmith till morning.
The middle of the bloody night, smash, the door is off its hinges.
That mad git Turner is in my lounge.
The RSI postie with a lesbian fetish.
He's throwing my CDs on the floor, switching t'telly on full volume.
Acting like he's drunk.
When you say acting - Oh, I know what a pissed bloke smells like.
He didn't smell of booze, at all.
More likeLynx and mouthwash.
Turner's a thug.
He got what he wanted.
I moved out.
Well done him.
I want this thing wrapped up.
Oh, guv.
Yes? What have you got? I did a full FIU on the landlady's company.
Guess what? Mike Turner is on the payroll.
So we checked him out.
He's got two previous convictions.
One for ABH.
One for GBH.
Both on tenants who claim he was harassing them to get them out of their homes.
From property records, ex-tenants, we reckon this must be the sixth building he's cleared for the company.
Fine.
This makes him a thug, but not a killer.
Dionne Farrah also mentioned that she hadn't messed around with the heating system in her flat, yet the Scene Of Crime Officer said it had definitely been tampered with.
The maintenance company say a bloke matching Turner's description barred them access to the flats, saying that he was looking after the heating systems.
So he sabotages the heating to get the mum out.
Ends up killing the baby.
Guv, if Mike Turner is responsible for the death of this child, we really should be out there, bringing him in.
Let me talk to James Steel from the CPS, see if we've got enough for him.
It's clear Mike Turner was harassing tenants, but you've got to show me proof he's responsible for Sean's death.
At the moment, we can only prove I don't know.
Harassment of occupier? Or maybe agent of the landlord withholding services from occupier.
And what is that? That's like, two years, max.
Just a fine.
I mean, a baby has been gassed to death.
I appreciate that and we all want to convict whoever is responsible, but, trust me, at the moment, I just don't have enough to convince a jury of Turner's guilt.
And if we prosecute him without enough evidence, we won't get justice for Sean or his mother.
So what do you need? Evidence directly linking Mike Turner's actions to Sean's death.
You get me that, I'll put him in the dock.
This caretaker, Daniel Matoukou, it must have been his job to service the gas system that killed Sean.
What's he got to say for himself? Well, not a lot, because he barely speaks any English.
What is it, Matt? I can hear your brain whirring from here.
Well, the, erm, caretaker.
Serena said that he threatened to call the police, told her he'd never seen her before.
So? Well, do you think Serena speaks that much French? Thank you, Serena.
That's very helpful.
Result.
She says the man who wouldn't let her in was White, Northern and big-boned.
So, not the caretaker, at all.
It was Mike Turner.
He barred her access.
Just like he barred the maintenance people from checking the heaters.
Enough of a link? Now we can build a case.
I said, stop it! Leave me alone, you bloody great ape! This wood is rotten, Mrs Murphy.
It needs to be replaced.
Only after you started hacking away at it! Got the cuffs? I've just had that painted! Matt, cuffs.
Get off me! Michael Turner, I'm arresting you on the manslaughter of Sean Farrah.
You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence, if you do not mention, when questioned, something which you later rely on in court.
Dionne, we've arrested Mike Turner.
We believe the owners of the building are trying to harass the tenants by damaging the heating systems.
You mean, they did it on purpose? They killed my boy.
I'm so sorry, Dionne.
Throwing old ladies and young mothers onto the street to make a few quid? This Mike Turner is below amoeba.
Unlawful act manslaughter? That's what I'm going for.
I don't see it.
Where's the unlawful act? The law requires that landlords service gas systems and have them safety-checked annually.
The tests on the system found the CO levels were more than The Health And Safety Executive's safety level is 50.
Statistics.
Blind me with science.
I couldn't give a rat's backside.
You have to convince me of intent, that Turner essentially knew that what he was doing was unlawful.
A big loophole for him to dance through.
Turner intended to make the conditions unliveable, so that the tenants would leave.
He's done this half a dozen times before.
If I get his previous convictions admitted, the context is clear.
You'll need a judge and jury in generous moods.
We've got good evidence.
Enough of it? We need direct evidence that Turner tampered with the gas system.
Without it, I'm not convinced.
What if we turn the caretaker, Daniel Matoukou, to give evidence against Turner? Mr Matoukou knew the gas system was unreliable, he knew the CO alarms weren't functioning properly, but he didn't try to get them repaired or serviced.
Oh, come on.
He's just the caretaker.
Someone will take responsibility for this baby's death.
Either he tells us about Mike Turner or we charge him with manslaughter.
Scale his charge down to withholding services from a tenant.
A summary offence only.
Then he'll talk.
Who tampered with the gas system? Mike Turner.
Unlawful act manslaughter? What's the matter with you? Huge credibility problems here.
Any jury with half a brain cell between them will see that Matoukou is simply trying to shift blame onto Mr Turner.
He is the caretaker.
The building and services are his responsibility.
Nothing to do with us whatsoever.
Mr Turner is an habitual offender.
One previous conviction for GBH, one for ABH, both against tenants.
I reckon a jury will be fascinated by his previous convictions.
You've been sniffing the Tipp-Ex.
No judge will allow that.
Take up golf, James.
A better use of your energies.
Come along, Mr Turner.
See you in court.
You can't allow this, my lady.
It's totally prejudicial.
The cases are identical.
Mr Turner assaulted tenants who were trying to repair essential services.
Assaults on people.
Not tampering with gas systems.
Entirely different, my lady.
Yes, thank you, Mr Ridley.
Let me get this clear.
Making the buildings unliveable is intent to cause injury.
That's what's common to all these incidents? Yes.
Thank you, my lady.
You're not going to allow this? Do you know? I think I am.
It's a novel theory and I rather like it.
Mr Turner's previous convictions may be admitted as evidence.
I tried to push past, but he wasn't having any of it.
He just slammed the door in my face.
I tried to get in.
I really did.
I adored Sean.
If I'd known what was gonna happen, I The man who blocked your access to the building, is he in this court? That's him.
He said he'd never seen me before, but I've been there loads of times.
For the record, the witness was pointing at the defendant.
No further questions.
Miss Jackson May I call you Serena? Serena, you told the police that Mr Turner was the caretaker.
That's right.
But he's not.
If you'd been there so often, why didn't you know that? He was around a lot.
I just assumed.
So you didn't really know who he was.
Is it possible, therefore, that he didn't know who you were? J'ai dit a Monsieur Turner que je voulais reparer le reseau de gas de Mademoiselle Farrah.
I told Mr Turner I was trying to fix Miss Farrah's gas system.
And what did Mr Turner do? Qu'a fait Monsieur Turner? Il m'a dit de laisser tomber.
He told me to leave it.
Il m'a ordonne de m'ecarter du systeme de gas.
He pulled me away.
Et puis il a donne un coup de marteau dessus.
And then he gave it a thump with a hammer.
As the level of carbon monoxide in the room increased, the child would have suffered from cerebral oedema.
Can you explain what that is, please, Mr Stanton? Cerebral oedema causes brain cells to crush into each other, through swelling, essentially killing the cells as they're compacted.
Could the carbon-monoxide leak have been caused by a source other than the gas heating system? I don't believe so.
And, in your expert opinion, would Mr Turner's attack on the gas system have increased the chances of such a fatal leak? In my opinion, yes.
Thank you.
No further questions.
I don't know if I can do this.
All those people looking at me.
This is your chance to tell everyone the truth, Dionne.
I dreamt of Sean last night.
He was asleep in the cot next to me, like none of this had happened.
When I woke up .
.
it was like I was losing him all over again.
I thought Sean would only be on his own for five minutes at most.
I thought I thought he'd be fine.
How long was Sean alone? Seven hours.
When you left, did you notice anything unusual about the air in the room? No.
And when you returned? It was like thick.
I opened the window, before I .
.
saw Sean.
Thank you.
No further questions.
This must be very distressing, Miss Farrah.
I'll be brief.
Can you just explain to the court why you didn't phone home to check with Miss Jackson that everything was all right? We're not allowed phones at work.
Two months back, one of the cleaners got sacked for making calls during work time.
You don't have breaks? I went to my locker to get my phone.
It had run out of battery.
I must have left it on.
So I went outside to use the phone box across the street, but it wasn't working.
By the time I'd done that, my ten minutes was up.
None of your co-workers had phones? The break was over - You clean an office block, how many telephones - I'd be fired if I used any of them.
So your job is more important to you than the welfare of your child? My lady.
Mr Ridley.
A little compassion goes a long way.
Miss Farrah, isn't it true you could have made a phone call, if you'd really wanted to? I don't know.
Maybe.
Yes.
So, who is actually responsible for the death of little Sean? This is why the rest of Ridley's chambers call him "Limbo".
There's nothing he won't stoop to.
He may be making your case for you.
The jury will have sympathy for the mother after that.
Are you ready for this? There's been a note from the jury.
One of the jurors speaks fluent French.
He's questioning Daniel Matoukou's testimony.
A mistranslation.
I don't know how serious.
Tell me Ridley's not applying to discharge the jury? Looks like he'll succeed.
Mike Turner would go free on a technicality.
I just told them what I heard.
I lived in France for 20 years.
He said, "ordered", not "pulled".
And I have a note from other jurors stating that you corrected three other words that you considered mistranslations.
I just told them what Mr Matoukou really said.
I wasn't trying to be difficult.
So more than one word.
My lady, how can we now be certain that the rest of the translated evidence has been correctly understood by the jury? Yes, thank you, Mr Ridley.
I agree.
It's a mess.
It's more than a mess.
The trial is aborted.
I don't care how many trials it takes.
Dionne Farrah and her baby will get justice.
Your client can't wriggle out of this indefinitely.
You don't need golf.
You need therapy.
Brutal, unforgiving therapy.
How do you sleep at night, Robert? In a gorgeous hand-made bed, imported from Osaka.
But then, of course, I don't have to make do on a CPS salary.
We've got to retry Mike Turner.
You're letting your heart rule your head.
A retrial means going back to square one.
You'd have to get Turner's criminal record admitted again.
I managed it last time.
Yeah.
You got lucky.
No guarantee that a new judge will be quite so obliging.
And without Turner's previous, your case looks perilously thin.
So he walks free? I don't like it any more than you do.
We have to make do with what we have at our disposal.
I might be able to help you there.
Looking through Turner's file, on his last assault charge, he was offered to deal down to a year in prison, if he gave up Maureen Walters - he didn't bite.
He went to prison rather than give evidence against his boss? That's some loyalty.
Because she's not his boss.
Mike Turner is a silent partner in the whole company.
All of those buildings, they own them together.
Their property portfolio must be worth nearly £5 million.
While a child dies in squalor in one of their flats.
So Maureen Walters must have known exactly what Mike Turner was doing.
They must have hatched the plan together to get the tenants out.
She's culpable.
Mm.
We go after Maureen Walters.
As head of the company, the buck stops with her.
We put her in the dock.
Hold on.
If they're partners, then they will deny everything in unison.
We have to be more pragmatic.
But surely - No trial, but we get Turner and Walters to plead guilty to a lesser charge.
George, a baby was killed.
Dionne Farrah's life has been destroyed.
This way, we convict those responsible.
The most they'd get would be a couple of months.
They could even walk out of court with fines.
For a child's death? That's a disgrace.
George is right.
A trial is no guarantee of success.
I'd rather see them convicted of something, than walk free.
Let's bring Turner and Walters in, see if they'll take it.
'You're asking me to plead guilty?' "Withdrawing services with intent to cause occupier to leave.
" Scraping the barrel a bit, James.
If you don't accept my proposal, I will take Mr Turner back to trial and I'll dig up every charge possible to level at Mrs Walters.
That baby's death had nothing to do with me.
I'm just trying to earn a living, keep my head above water.
But that's not possible, these days, is it? Nobody takes responsibility for their own lives.
Sorry? Would it kill that girl to check the CO alarm herself? Eh? Batteries.
That's all it would have taken.
But, no, she'd rather complain than do something.
The law states it's your responsibility to ensure your - Don't get me started about the law.
Do you know the amount of red tape I have to deal with every day? It's a wonder there's any small businesses left.
Every day, there's some new legislation making it impossible to earn an honest living.
Wow.
A fascinating interpretation of "honest".
I did nothing to hurt that baby.
We're leaving.
You don't even care, do you? What? I beg your pardon? I'll have you for slander.
Come on, Mike.
Is there something funny? I've done prison.
A few months inside, it's easy.
It won't get that far.
Matoukou's memory won't be so clear next time.
Daniel Matoukou's evidence is on the record.
Are you admitting threatening a witness? No.
She didn't say a word.
None of this ever happened.
We were never here.
She's threatening to sue you? For slander? After she blamed Dionne Farrah for the death of her baby.
She's a one-off, that woman.
She knows you haven't got enough on her.
That digging you wanted.
Tell me you found treasure.
Mike Turner previously served for the assault charges.
During that time, Environmental Health Officers received and upheld against Maureen Walters.
So? The moment Mike Turner is released, the complaints drop.
Turner gets out and starts bullying tenants again.
There's something else.
Nine months ago, the Environmental Health Inspector changed.
The new inspector is pretty generous.
Of the 27 complaints that were made against Maureen Walters since then, every single one has been resolved in her favour.
That's an impressive success rate.
I love the smell of bribery in the evening.
See what you can prove.
Oh, and Alesha Brilliant work.
Thank you.
I've got five minutes.
Nine months ago, you were covering Maureen Walters' buildings.
What changed? A new manager came in.
Reorganised the way we divided up casework.
So who took over complaints against Maureen Walters? Charlie Dias.
Does he take bribes? I didn't hear that.
Did Maureen Walters ever offer you a bribe? She hinted at it.
I'm not saying that I wasn't tempted.
You know how much they pay us? The wife was going on about a new fridge.
One nod to Maureen Walters and everyone would have been happy.
Has Charlie Dias bought a new fridge recently? Your five minutes are up.
Charlie Dias.
Works at Environmental Health.
Withdraws 200 quid a week from his current account, going back years.
The past nine months? Nothing.
Not a penny.
Doesn't prove he took bribes.
His wife paid for her weekly shop by debit card for the last three years.
The past nine months? Cash only.
So they've got extra cash.
Still no link to Maureen Walters.
Doesn't prove anything.
What if someone offers Dias a bribe? He takes the bribe.
We get enough evidence like that, a jury will see that Maureen Walters was responsible for Sean's death.
Set it up.
Look, I'm just asking.
Why me? We, er, took a vote.
We decided you were the one who looked most like a dodgy landlord.
You're supposed to be my mate.
Maybe take your tie off.
Perfect.
Antony Simpson? Yeah.
Charles Dias.
Environmental Health.
Right.
We've got, er, three complaints, two about the central heating, one about the damp.
Yeah, I think those are a misunderstanding.
I'm having the place totally renovated.
Well, I'm gonna have to take a look, but I must warn you - Do we have to do this now? What else would we do? Careful.
Wait till he asks.
He knows what he's doing.
We're not just pretty faces, you know.
I don't want to add to your paperwork.
How can we make this go away? You tell me, Mr Simpson.
Well, if I knew what you were looking for - What are you looking for? I don't want to insult you, Mr Dias.
£500.
Here we go.
'What about£250?' Is this the way in? What about £300? £300, then.
Cash? Now? Cash.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Good.
That's one hundred.
Very much obliged.
Two hundred Charles Dias, you are under arrest for corruption.
Oh, no.
No, no.
You can't do this.
Can I have my tie back now? Entrapment.
You stitched him up.
He solicited the bribe.
Mr Dias is going to resign.
Without a pension.
Then he's going to give us the names of every landlord who ever bribed him.
Or he'll find himself in the dock.
Who do you want first? In my experience, Mr Turner, people change their plea for two reasons.
Conscience or self-preservation.
Now, as conscience seems beyond you, I'm giving you one last chance to save yourself.
We've charged Maureen Walters with 16 counts of bribing a public official.
Mrs Walters claims it was your idea.
What has she been saying, the lying cow? Mr Turner, silence is your friend.
We're going to charge you both with manslaughter by gross negligence, over Sean Farrah's death.
Prison may be easy for you, Mr Turner, but 15 years? That's a whole slab of your life.
I've been through one trial.
Why keep coming back at me? For all the years Dionne Farrah will never spend with her son.
What did you have in mind, James? Maureen Walters has already begun to turn on you.
Here's where your self-preservation can kick in.
Give evidence against her, in exchange for a lesser charge or be back in the dock alongside her.
The old divide and conquer, eh? A baby died.
A baby named Sean Farrah.
He was nine months old.
Maureen Walters didn't strangle Sean.
She didn't stab him or run him over.
Maureen Walters never even met Sean Farrah.
She did, however, fail to maintain gas-central-heating systems, in a deliberate attempt to force her tenants to leave.
She bribed Environmental Health Officers to look the other way and, in doing so, she breached her duty of care to Sean.
A breach amounting to gross negligence.
Why did she commit this breach? Because she wanted more money.
She wilfully and repeatedly placed the value of her property above the value of a human life.
No parent should outlive their child and convicting Maureen Walters won't bring Sean Farrah back to his mother, but it will send a forceful warning to others.
We all have a duty of care towards one another.
And no breach shall go unpunished.
In relation to the count of manslaughter by gross negligence, do you find the defendant, Maureen Walters, guilty or not guilty? Guilty.
Well done, James.
A good result.
Go home.
Have a drink.
It's over.
For us, maybe.