The Victim (2019) s01e01 Episode Script

Episode 1

Come on.
All rise.
Well done.
Another day nearer retirement.
A few of us are off to the pub to celebrate.
Fancy it? Not tonight.
Not tonight.
You can't deal with the general public every day and not drink.
That's how fellas wind up going crazy with automatic weapons in shopping centres.
I do drink.
Just not with your workmates? Just not tonight.
I made a promise.
Is that me done? That's all the appointments.
Great, it's a big night tonight.
Except .
.
he's been waiting about half an hour.
He'll only see you.
How many? You'll live.
Why didn't you turn up to see the doctor yesterday? I was ill.
William, act like a victim and you'll get treated like one.
What do you want me to do? Come here.
Hello? The water is what we use to make the tempura batter so the air bubbles and it gives it a really crisp texture Rebecca? Jess? Rebecca? Got you! Happy Halloween, you monsters! Look! There's one, Daddy! Go on.
Are we having a drink later? I can meet you last thing, maybe.
Princess wants to give out sweets at home.
Trick or treat? Happy Halloween! Oh, this is a lovely costume, did you make it yourself? Yes.
Oh, that's nice.
All right, mate, I've got this.
Take some sweeties.
How you doing, all right? Hiya.
Have you had some sweets? Oh, yeah.
She's got such a lovely costume.
Yeah, it's good, isn't it? Have you had many kids in, or? Have you got any yourself, or? All right, how's it going? All right? Look at that costume! What do you think? Not as scary as usual.
You know, I don't agree with Halloween.
Stop eating the kids' sweets, then! What don't you agree with, Lenny? It's all a bit American now, isn't it? What's wrong with good old-fashioned tapping the door and running away? Is that what you did at Halloween? That's what we did most nights.
Vampire victims! Come on! You too, mask on! OK.
OK, OK, hold on, son! Right, let's go.
I'm meeting Nicki for a drink.
Come down later if you like.
I want to enjoy tonight with him.
Yeah.
So his mates want to know if he can go with them.
Can I, Mum? I'm sorry, love, no.
Why not? Because you're too young.
I mean, I'm in the same year as them! Well, I'm not their mum.
Ally C's dad is going with them.
If you stay here, everyone comes to us.
That's what the pumpkin's for, remember? Mum No, Ben, I'm sorry.
Mum, but No! Come on, pal.
We'll tell them that Danny wants to take you out later.
I'll see you later, OK? Have a nice night.
You didn't come trick or treating with my six-year-old in order to meet women, did you? What? I volunteer because you can't interact with people, and this is the thanks I get? If you'd get your wife to throw me some leads off that website of hers.
It's not a website, it's a forum for local mothers.
Yeah? I need mothering.
You need monitoring.
Trick or treat? Goodbye! Let me just get my daughter.
Call the diet of Her Majesty's Advocate against Anna Dean.
Come forward, please, Mrs Dean.
Are you Anna Dean? I am.
Have a seat.
The indictment reads as follows.
On 31st October, 2017, at Kim's Cafe, Lothian Road, Edinburgh, you did incite others, meantime unknown, to murder Craig Andrew Myers, aged 28 years, of Tomlin Road, Port Glasgow.
All done, boss.
Right, thanks.
Mrs Myers? And who's this? This is Jessica.
No, I meant this.
Oscar.
Oscar? I'm DI Grover, Steven.
I have to get to the hospital.
We'll take you shortly.
It may be best if Jessica stays with someone tonight.
Do you or your husband have any relatives nearby? No.
Um, friends Friends from school that I can call.
Grover.
It's Rebecca Myers.
People are saying Craig's Eddie J Turner.
Eddie J Turner? They're saying Craig isn't Craig! They're saying he's a child killer.
It's got thousands of likes! There's a photo of him, and our address, and it's already been shared thousands of times.
You have to do something! Rebecca, Rebecca, I need you to stay calm, OK? People keep texting me and phoning me.
I'm scared.
Don't answer the phone.
Don't even look at the messages.
Is Craig awake yet? No, but he's waking up.
What am I going to say to him? Nothing until I get there.
I'm on my way.
Do you know where you are? Hospital.
Mm-hm.
And do you know what your name is? Craig.
Craig Myers.
Hey, you! Jess? She's fine.
We're both fine.
Unlike you, Humpty Dumpty! I love you.
I love you too.
So much! Why? Who? I don't know.
It's OK, it's all right.
Sh-sh-sh-sh.
Thank you.
OK.
Hi.
Hi, Craig, I'm DI Grover.
Did you mention anything? Craig, do you recognise the name Liam Graham? I don't know.
Why? He was murdered in Edinburgh in 2003.
He was nine years old.
I think I remember.
Turned out he was killed by a boy only four years older.
No motive, no explanation.
Caused quite a sensation when he was caught.
He pleaded guilty and the sentence was delivered in closed court.
His face was never made public, but his name was leaked by mistake.
Eddie J Turner? He got a life sentence with a punishment part of seven years.
He was released in 2010.
You must remember that.
Well, just cos there was a lot of publicity, there was a campaign to keep him locked up.
Death threats were made and the court granted him lifelong anonymity under Article 8.
I don't Someone put your name and picture on the internet, saying you're Eddie J Turner.
But why would they do that? We're investigating that, alongside the attack.
Can you think of anyone that holds a grudge against you? The attacker didn't say anything? Not that I can Do people believe it? Look.
Why have "DON'T LET EVIL LIVE" all in caps, and "near our kids" in lower case? I heard Turner got moved to Wales.
Cos it's an instruction.
Get a body on the door of Craig Myers' hospital room.
And talk to Cybercrime.
Will I get uniform on the costume hire stuff? Yeah, but the priority is getting that offline and finding out where it came from.
Sorry to get you in so early, boss.
Have you been to see this Myers? Yeah, he's in a bad way.
Pretty bewildered by the whole thing.
Right, but could it be him? Well, he's the right age.
From a Protected Persons point of view, Port Glasgow fits.
Does it look like him? There was only that one picture of Turner as a kid, and it was so bad it could have been anyone.
The thing is, it doesn't really matter, does it? No, no, no, no, you're right, I mean, we have got the Police Federation quiz to organise.
What I mean is, a man has been seriously injured as a direct result of that message.
His past is only relevant in terms of investigating that, right? They should never have let him out.
Did you work on the case? No.
No, but I saw the photos of the wee boy's body, so We won't get anything out of the PPU.
I need to make some calls.
You brief the comms team and then warn Liam Graham's family.
The media don't need an excuse as good as the Grim Reaper delivering judgement door-to-door to run an Eddie J Turner story.
Come on, then! I don't want to! Why not? I'm doing this, Dad! They're not going anywhere.
Come on, this'll be good to keep.
OK, then.
Right, then.
Here we go.
Name? Liam.
Liam Graham.
Age? Nine.
Er, OK, what else? What do you want to be when you grow up? Big.
I want to be big.
Mum? Mum? Hello.
Mrs Graham Dean, sorry, long night.
DI Grover, this is DS Harvey.
I'm sorry to bother you.
I just wondered if anyone from the media been in touch in the last 24 hours.
About what? Well, there was an attack on a man in Port Glasgow last night after he was accused online of being Eddie J Turner.
Keep a secret and you invite people to try and guess it.
It's not the first time, is it? No, it's the first time there's been an actual physical attack after someone's been identified as Turner.
We have always said that, if you make his name public, the innocent won't get accused.
DI Grover didn't say the man was innocent.
So are you saying it's him? I'm certainly not saying that.
So it isn't? You know I couldn't tell you, even if I knew.
And you don't? Craig Myers? If I looked in his eyes, I'd know.
Is he badly hurt? Yes.
But he's alive? As you know, the media can't publish names or faces, but they'll get wind of this.
We'll speak to your ex-husband in prison, but it's you that's likely to get the calls.
I hope so.
I don't ever want people to forget.
We'll wait.
I'm a law student.
Right.
I'm a policeman.
I'd like to be here when you speak with my mum.
This is a friendly visit but, of course, it's well within your rights I know.
What's up? A guy in Port Glasgow's been attacked.
They think it might be him.
Is Anna OK? How did we not see it online? Do they know who did it? The police are here now.
Come.
I should go.
Why? It's none of my business.
Don't be daft, Danny! I'm on my way to work anyway.
I only stopped to say hello.
I'll go.
Crown Production Number 19.
The original accusation that Craig Myers is Eddie J Turner.
Cybercrime worked through the night to trace the account used to post the accusation.
The e-mail address told us that the account had been created using false details.
It took us only a few hours to establish that the password for the account that had posted the accusation was Twinkle.
Get a warrant.
What's going on? Did I miss something? I'm going to need you to come with us, Mrs Dean.
I was going to get you some grapes, but there's never anything fresh, so .
.
I got you this.
That's petrol stations for you.
Shit! What are you going to do? I'm fine, Tom.
It's fucking everywhere! Thanks for asking.
This is serious, man! It must be serious - you didn't even look at that nurse.
Yeah, I've already had her.
Last I heard, Eddie J Turner was living in Norfolk and was on Come Dine With Me.
What are you going to do? Nothing.
I haven't done anything wrong.
But sometimes that doesn't matter, does it? What is in the folder labelled Twinkle? No comment.
The folder was copied from the computer seized at your home address.
Do you recognise it? No comment.
In the folder labelled Twinkle, there are 609 photos and movies of your son, Liam.
After Liam's tragic death No! Tragic makes it sound like he contracted a rare disease and drifted away in his sleep.
He didn't.
He was tortured to death under a bridge and left there like a piece of rubbish, all on his own! Since then, you have campaigned for victims' rights, correct? There's a list of initiatives, but it turns out they're more about winning votes than actually helping people.
So, would it be fair to say that you feel dissatisfied by the way the law has treated you? Liam, not me.
And has this dissatisfaction ever tempted you to take the law into your own hands? Yes.
Anna! Almost every day since June 22nd, 2003.
And have you ever done so? No comment.
Mrs Dean, you're being detained on suspicion of a serious offence that can result in life imprisonment.
Sentencing is way outside your remit, Detective.
Life? Life?! He killed a child and got sentenced to seven years playing video games! Anna, please.
Was Twinkle your pet name for Liam? Do you know what he did to Liam's body? Anna! I know there's a man in ICU with potentially life-changing injuries.
Right, then.
Here we go.
Name? Liam.
Liam Graham.
Age? Nine.
He was small for his age.
What do you want to be when you grow up? Big.
I want to be big.
I'm familiar with the case, Mrs Dean.
He only went to get football stickers.
I wouldn't have let him go, but it was still light and the shop was just down the way.
I thought he must have bumped into some pals.
Liam bought the stickers, and That sick bastard even took the stickers as a trophy! And was attacked on his way home, as I've said.
You're familiar with the case, I know.
From what you've read and watched.
There was a lot of that at first.
Then it stopped.
He pleaded guilty, so there was no trial, no explanation.
I didn't even get to see him receive that insult of a sentence! It was all just over! Except for Liam's dad and his sister and me.
So you resent the lack of ongoing coverage? Really, Anna, I will stop this.
You said at the house that you hoped the media would get wind of the attack.
Is that what's behind this? I've got a right to know where he is.
Actually, no, I'm afraid you haven't.
He killed my son and he was given a new name and a new life.
He could walk past me and my family and we wouldn't even know.
He could do anything.
And he will because he's evil! Enough.
Wherever Eddie J Turner is, the terms of his licence prevent him from entering the City of Edinburgh.
Good job we know he's such a law-abiding citizen, then.
Where and when did you first hear the name Craig Myers? No comment.
You used social media to instruct someone to attack him, didn't you? No comment.
Did you have any evidence? No, you made wild accusations against an innocent man, right? We've barely begun looking into this.
What will we find when we examine your phone? I'm not the criminal! Do you know who attacked Craig Myers? No! But I'm glad they did! Anna! Now we stop! Hiya, you all right? Got you a sandwich.
I'm not hungry.
Leigh from the depot called to see how you are.
How or who? It's a joke.
It was inappropriate.
Sorry.
What? Tell her.
I remembered something.
The guy - he did speak to me.
He whispered something in my ear.
What did he say? "Evil can't live near our kids.
" The same words as in the message? All right, thanks, Rebecca.
At the time of the interview, DI Grover, why did you believe there to be a link between the message and the attack, and therefore reason to detain Mrs Dean? Because the attack happened two hours after Mr Myers' name, address and picture appeared on the internet.
And those were your only grounds? There was also the way that the message was written.
Oh, yes, of course! Lest we forget, the typographical style in which you discerned a hidden exhortation to violence.
Those were your grounds? Along with my judgement, as an experienced police officer.
It's perfectly normal to detain an individual and then gather evidence.
I had reasons to suspect Mrs Dean.
Ah, well, it's your reasons for suspecting her and your professional judgement I'm interested in.
Specifically, your attitude towards women who dare to peak up for themselves.
Isn't it the case that you've been seconded from Edinburgh to Inverclyde due to an ongoing investigation into your conduct? Objection, My Lady.
The question is entirely irrelevant.
Move on, please, Mr Mishra.
I used to sing it to Liam.
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.
He was a terrible sleeper to begin with.
It was the only thing that made him go off.
What's keeping them? Hi.
News on the artist formerly known as Eddie J Turner and Mr Myers.
Two different people.
Definitely? The smoke's settled above Myers cos the fire could well be pretty local.
So, for obvious reasons, we need to handle this sensitively.
What reasons? If Anna Dean accused an innocent man of being a child killer You did just hear the sensitively part, Steven? The Crown Office has just given me permission to charge.
With? Incitement to murder.
The Grim Reaper used almost exactly the same words to Craig Myers as the ones in the online post.
That's a very serious charge.
It's a very serious knife, not fancy dress.
It's what the Fiscal advised.
How hard did you push? Anna Dean knows who did this.
That's to be proved.
Are we releasing a statement? No, it only gives the story oxygen.
There'll be reporting restrictions in place? On the grounds that we've yet to arrest an attacker.
OK, charge and release Mrs Dean on an undertaking.
Remind her of the consequences if any of this gets out.
Mm-hm.
And sensitively, Steven, OK? We have made enquiries.
There are no grounds to believe that the man who was attacked was your son's killer.
Unless, of course, you know different.
Up to this point, you have been questioned under suspicion.
You are now under arrest on a charge of incitement to murder.
I must caution you that you're not obliged to say anything, but anything you do say will be written down and may be used in evidence.
I will ask the duty officer to release you on an undertaking to appear We appreciate your understanding and co-operation.
We're satisfied that it's a case of mistaken identity.
So hopefully things'll get back to normal pretty quickly.
Will there be a statement, saying Craig isn't him? No, we want the story to die as soon as possible.
But we will be coming down hard on anyone repeating the accusations, on or offline.
Yeah, but Don't.
He's reading.
I said goodnight.
Here you go.
Will someone please ask me? Why? We already know, don't we? Was it you who put the message online, Anna? I couldn't tell any of you anything or you'd be implicated.
I know you're angry, but you're going to be a lawyer.
Did you know about the attack before the police came? No.
Do you know who did it? Of course she doesn't! I was told it's definitely him.
But it's not! According to the police Oh, Christ, Mum! What else are they going to say? Who told you? Please, tell me you didn't trust Mo bloody Buckley! Any number of people would have gladly have put it online for you! I know.
So why didn't you let them? Because I'm his mother! I don't blame you, Anna.
Do you know how much I wanted to tell you? But you knew what I'd say.
I'm trying to protect you.
You can't always, Mum.
You know you can't.
Where are you going? To e-mail uni to tell them that I won't be at tomorrow's lecture because my criminal mother is at the Sheriff Court, trying to get bail! No end to it, is there? My mother said you were trouble.
She also said you could cook.
This isn't me not sharing it with you.
If the worst happens, you have to be here for Ben.
But it won't come to that.
What changed? The ACC doesn't tend to share that sort of thing with me.
He just tends to tell me what to do and I just tend to do it.
You see the pattern? He felt the Fiscal you spoke to wasn't experienced enough to make such a big decision.
Bollocks! What's so bloody big about it? Incitement to murder is a big call.
And you can see this is delicate.
All I can see is that the law has been broken.
Nobody wants to criminalise a victim, especially not one people know.
And, like it or not, we need to consider public opinion.
Public opinion' doesn't exist! It was invented by the media.
The bottom line is it's in everybody's interests for this to just quietly go away.
Unless it was your head that was split in two.
He'll get Compensation? Christ! Boss, whoever did this, they didn't go to Craig Myers' house to give him a hiding.
They went there to try and kill him.
What if they try again? There's a six-year-old girl living in that house.
So let's just wait and see what the Fiscals come back with.
If Anna Dean walks because the Chief Constable got spooked and called the Crown Office We're both too old for conspiracy theories.
Then we are basically sanctioning vigilantism! You are already walking a tightrope, Steven.
Now would not be the best time to start running.
It's out of our hands now, OK? Bad news? We'll talk tomorrow.
A few of us are going for a drink, if you fancy it.
You still haven't really met everyone.
Thanks, but not tonight.
Night.
I only want to talk.
You can't be anywhere near me.
Five minutes.
Please, Cathy.
No.
Just tell them the truth.
I said no! He still doesn't understand that when a woman says no .
.
she means no.
Daddy! Hello! Have you been good? I've missed you so much! Oh! Oh! I spoke with Crown Counsel last night, and it seems they've changed their position.
Should we be willing to tender an early guilty plea under Section 76, we'd receive the maximum discount on sentence.
Does that mean non-custodial? If we negotiate a soft plea and a watered-down narration now, that's the implication, yeah.
She'll walk away.
And if she pleads not guilty? Then we go to trial, Mr Myers gives evidence, and Who knows? Aye.
Who knows? Anna, I need you to tell me what you want me to do.
If this is so serious, why are they willing to negotiate? Because they know what you've been through.
And because you're a pain in the arse and they're scared of public opinion if you go to jail.
Or because I'm too close to the truth.
They've been lying to us for 15 years, Lou.
Why assume they're being honest now? What if Craig Myers is Eddie J Turner and this is our one chance to lift the rock he's hiding under? You've been with us almost from the start, Mr Mishra, you know what I've always wanted - for everyone to know who and where that evil bastard is because he's still evil.
I know he is.
He never had to answer for it.
He never had to stand up in court and tell us - why? Why Liam? What about Ben? This is about Ben and every other kid.
None of them are safe until everyone knows where Turner is.
It's worth pointing out, Anna, that if you do decide to take this to trial, there'll be no going back for Mr Myers, whoever he is.
If you plead not guilty, Mum, there's no going back for any of us.
Can I have some time to consult with Anna, please? Now everything can get back to how it was, hm? I keep thinking, what if Jess had answered the door with me? I just wanted to update you.
It can't be reported, but the accused is Anna Dean.
Liam Graham's mother.
She posted the picture? That has to be proven, if we get that far.
She's been granted bail on condition that she stays out of Port Glasgow and makes no attempt to contact you.
Sorry, what do you mean, if we get that far? There's been some dialogue.
There's a question mark over whether or not the case will go to trial.
A lot depends on her plea.
He nearly died! I know.
Let's just wait and see what happens.
I suppose, if there's no trial, it should go away quicker, right? Why me? Did she answer that? No.
I'm a parent and I feel for her, but .
.
why do this to me? Mrs Myers? And at that point, did things return to normal? Mrs Myers? Sorry.
It's OK.
I know it's been a difficult time for you.
I asked you whether, after DI Grover's assurances, did things return to normal for you and your family? No.
Not that DI Grover lied.
He didn't know.
None of us did.
You all right? What happened? Anna has instructed me to tender a plea of not guilty.
The case will go to trial.
Mrs Myers, did you see the attacker whisper to your husband? No, I was upstairs.
The attack was over before I heard anything.
So, all you know is what your husband has told you? How well do you know your husband, Mrs Myers? How well does anyone know anyone in the end? Well, generally speaking, married couples tend to share everything with each other.
I don't know.
I'm no expert.
So you don't share everything? Is this relevant? With respect, Mrs Myers, we won't know that until you answer the question.
We made a kind of agreement .
.
that anything that happened before we met doesn't matter.
I see.
Because? We both come from .
.
not particularly happy backgrounds, and neither of our families are around, so .
.
we agreed there's no point in looking back.
And we decided to concentrate on looking forward and building a proper family of our own.
That's all.
Since you've been together, then, have there been any occasions when your husband hasn't been honest with you about something significant? Yes, but I Thank you, Mrs Myers.
Thank you, Mrs Myers.
Court will reconvene at 10 a.
m.
tomorrow.
This is how we get the truth.
This is how we get him.
I thought they'd get to him today.
Hm.
Definitely tomorrow.
The police are saying it's not him.
I need proof that Craig Myers is Eddie J Turner.
You do have proof? I was in the process of getting it when you decided to go global.
The Crown's position is that it doesn't matter whether Craig is Eddie J Turner or not.
It matters to me.
You know your mum's amazing, don't you? I mean, really amazing.
We all understand why you might feel an affinity with Craig Myers, but there's no conspiracy.
Just remember who the victim is.
Craig Myers is Eddie J Turner.
And when he stands up in court and falls to pieces in front of everyone, he'll prove it himself! Could you tell us your name, please? My name is Craig Andrew Myers.

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