Kavanagh QC (1995) s04e02 Episode Script
Care in the Community
1 (Dog barks) (Shouting) (Baby cries) CONDUCTOR: The next station stop will be Manchester Piccadilly.
Change for Oxford Road, Salford and Bolton.
Welcome home.
Of course, James, were you to do the decent thing, we could be on the first train back tomorrow.
Emma is our Head of Chambers asking me to admit our client's guilt? I'm not sure.
I think he might be.
And do you think, in the circumstances, it would be sound practice if I sacrificed our client for the sake of his? Absolutely not.
No.
Only trying to cheer you up.
Working alongside you, Peter, always cheers me up.
(Chuckles) CLERK".
On the first count of this indictment, you, Deborah Anne Sattethwaite, are charged that on the 17th day of November REPORTER: The trial begins today, here at Bolton Crown Court, of Deborah Sattethwaite and Mark Holmes.
CLERK".
On the second count of this indictment, you, Mark David Holmes, are charged that on the 17th day of November MARSHAL".
All persons having anything to do before my Lords the Queen's Justices draw near and give your attendance.
To our Chancellor of Great Britain, our Lieutenants and Sheriffs of Counties, our Lord Chief Justice of England, our judges for the time being of our Supreme Court of Judicature, our circuit judges, and to all other persons to whom these presents shall come, greeting.
Damned silly media fuss! I'll have no playing to the gallery.
Oh I'd be grateful if you'd all consent to join me for luncheon.
Our pleasure.
I doubt it.
(Sighs) Ah That judge was bit off his trolley.
That wizened carapace contains one of the most remarkable lawyers of his or any other day.
It's a very great risk the jury will convict them both, you know, the way we're going about it.
I'm sorry, Peter.
We agreed our tactics.
(Mange 'â Keys) - Sir? (Door unlocked) Thank you.
(Door unlocked) All right, Mr Kavanagh? Right, here we go, then.
Debs hasn't said anything else, has she? Her counsel, Mr Foxcott, hasn't told me of anything.
USHER".
Bring them up.
Are you OK? Stick together.
We'll be all right.
On the first count of this indictment, you, Deborah Anne Sattethwaite, are charged that on the 17th day of November last year you murdered Kelly Sattethwaite.
USHER: Jurors required are Mansi, Cazalet, Mischon Prosecution will call in evidence the police officers who visited the scene in response to a reported disturbance.
You, Mark David Holmes, are charged that you murdered Kelly Sattethwaite.
Court rise.
This case concerns the death of a little girl called Kelly who was the daughter of Deborah Anne Sattethwaite and her partner Mark David Holmes.
Kelly, their child, was in their sole charge that day, and Debbie Sattethwaite and Mark Holmes brutally beat her and cold-bloodedly murdered her.
Er, Gary.
Get that biked up to Mr Foxcott in Bolton, please.
- Tom - Mm? Why is Peter Foxcott not available after the 26th? Oh, hm.
Don't know.
Hm? Well? Perhaps he thinks the trial could drag on.
Oh, David.
It's Jeremy here.
DEBBIE ON TAPE: I don't know how she died.
I don't know anything about it.
OFFICER: What about the bruises? - The swollen lip? - She bumped her head, I suppose.
Fen out of her pushchair.
I don't know.
She fell out of her pushchair and that killed her? - Is that what you're saying? - I'm not saying anything.
And that was all she ever said? That night, yes.
She and Mr Holmes issued identical statements through their solicitors the next morning.
Take us back, if you would, to your arrival at the scene.
I was called to the premises as the result of a reported disturbance.
This would be 10pm in the evening.
Mr Holmes answered the door.
Mr Holmes? He was very wound up and reluctant to let me in and said Miss Sattethwaite and the child were out.
Not here.
I heard a noise from inside the flat and insisted Mr Holmes allow me access to the premises.
PROSECUTION: And what did you find? I found Miss Sattethwaite in the kitchen.
Hello.
Are you Debbie? PROSECUTION: How was she? Quiet.
Quite calm, I suppose.
She appeared to have two cuts and bruising on her forehead.
She wasn't crying? No.
Then what did you do? - I asked to see the child.
- Why was that? When I received the call from the station, they had informed me that young Kelly was on the "At Risk" register.
What did they say when you asked to see Kelly? Mr Holmes said she was sleeping.
I insisted on seeing Kelly, and Mr Holmes led us through to the child's bedroom.
Miss Sattethwaite followed a little behind.
The tight was on and the child was tying on her back.
I approached the cot and saw a bruise on the child's temple and a swollen tip.
The upper tip, I believe.
I attempted to find a pulse and found none.
Miss Sattethwaite became hysterical, crying and gasping for breath, and WPC Sabatowski escorted her back to the kitchen.
Did either Miss Sattethwaite or Mr Holmes approach the bed at any time? They did not.
They stayed by the door then went back to the kitchen.
Did they express any concern about her condition? Not really.
Miss Sattethwaite was not crying when you first saw her in the kitchen? No.
But she became hysterical when you found the child, Kelly, dead in her col.
Yes, sir.
So it was a big shock to her? I couldn't say.
She became hysterical and you couldn't say if it was a big shock to her? Well Thank you.
How long did you question the defendants before arresting them? Half an hour, I suppose.
Bit less.
How many questions? - Of which they answered how many? - About half.
So, you arrested them because they failed to answer, or didn't give satisfactory answers to about ten questions? I arrested them because I didn't like what I saw.
You didn't like what you saw? That is correct.
I You didn't like what you saw and you didn't like Miss Sattethwaite and you didn't like Mr Holmes.
Is that not so? There's no harm in giving an honest answer.
Indeed, it's rather expected of you.
Did you like them? I wouldn't say I warmed to them exactly.
Why? Because they were unappealing? Because they didn't offer you tea and biscuits? Mr Kavanagh.
I could see the baby was injured.
I'm sorry, my lord.
You could see the baby was injured? - And you arrested them? - Yes.
Did you have any other feelings towards these two other than dislike? No.
Do you have a child? No, sir.
Have you lost a child? No, sir.
They have.
They had that day.
When you were asking them the ten questions they didn't answer to your satisfaction, their child lay dead only feet away.
And all you felt for them was dislike.
Stylish.
Style is something you use when you're short of substance.
Would that be a convenient moment to break for lunch? We will return at 2:15.
(Dispatch radio) - Do you know a Mr Foxcott? - There he is.
That's him.
- Thanks.
- Mr Foxcott? - Thank you.
(Slams tray down) (Door slams) (Door slams) Don't let it get you down, Peter.
Debbie's loyal.
She said she will say anything Mark wants her to.
- She's beyond us.
- Oh, it wasn't that.
Not just then.
Higher things? Erm in away, yes.
Oh, excuse me, James.
- Horrible, eh? - Hm? The curried egg.
Ah, yeah, I was just going to look for something else.
I wouldn't bother.
There isn't anything else.
- No'? - No.
Madam, I'm afraid you shouldn't be sitting there, on the same seat as His Lordship.
What? Madam may not be aware that His Lordship is, to all intents and purposes, the person of Her Majesty the Queen while this court is in session.
- Is he? - Indeed, yes.
So much so that should the Queen visit Bolton during the term of this hearing, His Lordship will be required to leave the court for the duration of Her Majesty's visit on the basis there cannot be two Queens in the city at the same time.
I feel a joke coming on.
I'd rather you didn't.
JUDGE: Ah, hello.
(All chuckle) (Door unlocked) H-How's it going, then? Never looks the best when the Prosecution are doing their stuff.
(Huffs) Thought they'd scream at me from the gallery.
It's very calm out there, in't it? Yeah.
Are you calm? Well, not after six month inside, I'm not, no.
Rule 43, that's me.
Queers! People who've offended against kids and stuff.
- You know - Nonces.
Yeah, right.
It's all the other cons think about.
How they can get at you, you know, hurt you.
Kill you.
Mr Kavanagh, if if I tell you something can you forget I told you? No.
But you've told me everything, haven't you? Oh, yeah.
And er if you remember, you will tell me how Debbie got the bruises on her head, won't you? Because somebody out there is going to ask how come, if you were with Debbie and Kelly all day, Kelly ended up dead and Debbie injured, and you somehow managed not to notice how or when any of it happened.
It were on and off all day.
In the end, my husband went round and spoke to Mr Holmes there.
He were trying to get football scores and the din were terrible.
So it were er just about five o'clock.
Can you describe the din? Shouting.
Mr Holmes mostly.
Little Kelly crying.
Debbie crying and shouting too.
Did they go quiet again after your husband spoke to Mr Holmes? There were Kelly crying about six.
My husband said he'd go round and knock Holmes's head off if it got worse, but it stopped.
Then later there were terrible screaming and shouting.
I thought he were hurting Debbie or summer.
I were worried for her.
That's when I called the police.
And when would that be? Some time around ten, I suppose.
No questions.
Mrs Bell, how long have you lived next door to Debbie and Mark? They moved in two year back.
Bit less.
When she fell pregnant with little Kelly.
Did you ever baby-sit for them? I've a job.
They're the ones that had the time, lolloping around all day doing their drugs and - Mrs Bell, I didn't ask you that - No, I'm telling you.
Mrs Bell, please.
I'm sorry, but it upsets me.
People like that hurting an innocent time Mrs Bell! If you do not control yourself, I will have you removed from the witness box.
Do you understand? Yes, sir.
Your husband has three convictions for burglary, - two for assault.
- I don't see what that's Are you enjoying being able to point the finger for a change, instead of being pointed at? Mr Kavanagh! EMMA".
Not so stylish.
No.
Let's hope we find something more substantial later.
Shall I meet you there? No, come along with me now, you might as well.
Come on.
Dad likes people dropping in.
But he might want to talk to you about, you know, personal stuff.
No, we did all that at the funeral.
No, it's this case of ours he'll want to go on about.
I've been reading about you.
Ugly thing.
The modern world, eh? Oh, it happened in the old days as well, you know.
But I think we'd have dealt with it differently.
Lynched them, you mean? No, no, no, we'd have taken it personally, like it were our responsibility.
Like we'd let 'em down maybe.
It's all very easy to point the finger, you know.
Hm.
No, no, no, it's true.
Yeah, I know, that's what I said in court today.
We didn't waste all our breath, then? Doesn't get any easier, does it, son? The more you miss somebody, the better it must have been.
That doesn't help the loneliness, does it? (Back door closes) Dad, you're welcome to come and live with me in London, you know.
Of course.
And you're just as welcome to come here and live with me.
(Dogs bark) - He's all right.
- Good.
Look, James.
Shall we? Yeah.
Yeah, we're expected.
It's closer than I thought.
(Knocks on door) Have you seen Mr Aldermarten'? Oh, God, it was you who had his Archbold.
- He'll have your bollocks, sir.
- (Whispers) Where is he? I believe he went into Mr Foxcott's room.
(Sighs) Come.
(Creaking) Ah.
I'm sorry, Mr Aldermarten.
- I forgot I had it.
- Don't worry.
It's Henry, isn't it? Don't worry, Henry.
Any time.
You're not enjoying this much, are you? It's not much of a homecoming.
This is where I was born.
- 1924? - No, numb (Chuckles) Cheek.
And that was Ellis'.
It looks different somehow.
That's because you were down here.
Oh, yeah, you're right.
No, Kavanagh, you can't have anything on tick, you rich bastard.
Dick.
Dick Ellis.
- You're looking well.
- Well, you're looking better.
- You visiting your dad? - Yeah, yeah.
And er the scene of the crime.
Oh that.
Well, I'd say good luck to you but I'd see 'em hang.
MOTHER: Wait! I really will give you a clout if you keep wandering off now.
So wait there.
Come on, careful.
This way, come on.
Will you come here! KAVANAGH: It's this place Dick Ellis hates.
The look of it.
The fear of it.
Not them.
Debbie probably bought fags in his shop.
He probably smiled at her, handing over the change.
Dick's probably never been up here in his life.
They're his neighbours, these people, and he's terrified of them.
(Car alarm blares) Whoever built this this place, they ought to come up here and see.
No, feel what it's done to people.
Typical.
Down the other end.
MRS BELL: Here they are.
James Kavanagh.
Emma Taylor.
Mark Holmes's defence counsel.
Whoever is responsible for the four walls, you can't blame them for what happened in here.
No.
No, and I do know what Dick Ellis means.
You need someone to blame.
I don't.
I'm playing a part in a process that hopes to establish truth.
After that, punishment, redemption, understanding, whatever.
I'm not ashamed.
You're like a breath of fresh air.
And you're a patronising old so-and-so.
And you think I'm naive.
Well, as far as the truth goes, I think you are.
Because our job in this is to get our client off.
For better or worse, the truth is probably the last thing we'll be trying to find.
There are times when the best you can do is to create a fog.
What a life.
Television and fags.
Instant coffee and Pot Noodles.
I didn't know you were a snob.
I just can't stand emptiness.
(Train rumbles past) A generation later and I could have been up here.
Cue Hovis music.
A generation earlier and they could have been down there with rickets and no shoes.
The good old days.
Is there no chance of proving them innocent? Well, I suppose Mrs Bell, the neighbour, could have leapt from her balcony onto theirs and murdered Kelly herself.
Just fog, then? Well if we're to speak for them, it helps to know them, but these two no trace.
Hardly anything of her and nothing of him.
It's as if they barely existed.
A lonely woman with no interests or diversions buying the company of a pathetic boy with sex.
Wow Here's the interest.
I can't believe it happened here.
(Kavanagh sighs) Well someone really loved that child.
EMMA: Maybe he did.
I bet she took the picture.
And framed it.
And looked at it.
Yeah, this is where it happened, all right.
Where Debbie dreamed of having a proper, old-fashioned family.
What's the point of playing an all-rounder if you don't bowl him at all? (Laughter) I'm going to go up.
See you in the morning.
- See you tomorrow.
FOXCOTT: Good night.
James! At last.
Join me? Not tonight, it's been a long day.
You should have joined us.
At the flat, I mean.
There's a few things I could tell you about your client.
- Well, feelings more than facts, I admit.
- My client.
I stand accused of neglect.
I'm not accusing.
Well, it's just that er Debbie looked to have been a loving mother, from what I could tell.
It might not do a great deal for my case but it could certainly help yours.
(Sighs heavily) What is it, Peter? There was something I was hoping to share with you, actually, James, but now is not the time.
One too many.
On the train, perhaps - away from all this.
(Door bolted) (Footsteps) (Door bolted) (Alarm bell) (Alarm off) When exactly did the bells begin to ring, Mrs Bolt? When the hospital contacted us.
With consideration to the pregnancy, Debbie had been asked if she was a drug user.
If that proves to be the case, they let us at social services know about it.
Now you refer to Debbie openly using drugs.
There was some complaint from the maternity ward that she was injecting heroin in full view of the other mothers.
- And some complaint about Mr Holmes? - Yes.
He was felt to be intoxicated and offensive when visiting, on two occasions.
- That you know of? - Indeed.
As Child Protection Officer, you were called to their home? Yes.
I found Kelly to have some bumps and bruises, and to be rather weakly and slow in development.
What action did you take? A doctor looked at Kelly and agreed with our worries but also said there was no real indication of non-accidental injury.
But he did support your calling of a case conference and the putting of Kelly on the "At Risk" register.
"Child Protection Register".
Yes.
The parents were invited to this conference.
Did they go? Debbie came, not Mr Holmes.
Thank you, Mrs Boâ.
Er, Mrs Bott.
You came to know Debbie well over the course of your involvement with her? Yes.
- Did you think she was a loving mother? - Absolutely Thank you.
Is that it? What's he playing at? Bad wig day.
Looks as if you'll have to create all the fog yourself.
Reading through the notes of the case conference, I see that you were strongly opposed to Kelly being taken away from Debbie and Mark.
Why was that? You can't take a child away because you don't like the look of the parents.
It's important to give parents the chance to develop parenting skills, - and adopt parental responsibility.
- I see.
In fact, the involvement of the social services, however well meant was erm rather piecemeal, was it not? How do you mean? You were away on holiday when Kelly died? Yes.
And you were away at retraining the fortnight before, when you were scheduled to visit? Yes.
When was your last visit to Kelly before she died? Five weeks previously.
- And before that? - Four weeks.
So you visited Kelly twice in the last three months of her life? Yes.
How many other er .
.
clients do you have, approximately? - So.
- 60'? You can't really pretend to be a substitute for a parent, can you? No.
But you can undermine the real parents by giving a sense that you are a substitute? Yes, I'm afraid that Mark and Debbie were already on your files.
Would you tell us why, please? Debbie was taken into care when she was eight, and lived in various homes run by our department until she was 16.
Mark was also in care from 12 to 16.
Did they have family? Debbie's mother died when she was eight.
The father was unknown.
Mark's mother, I believe, is still alive.
But handed him over to you when he was 12'? Before that He was in foster homes from six or seven, I believe.
And nobody wanted to foster them? There were attempts but no.
With fostering as in life, er indeed, as in court .
.
it's quite a disadvantage if people don't like you, isn't it? Sadly, yes.
Before they scrapped the Right to Silence, defendants in cases like this didn't have to go into the witness box.
Our unappealing duo will, won't they? Mm, quite possibly.
We've got the impartial expert to deal with first, though.
Be warned, this may not be at all stylish.
It would be safe to conclude that a spectrum of abuse had taken place over a period of time.
For instance: there are small fingertip, fingernail type bruises to the upper arms and around the ribcage.
There are healing fractured ribs - here, here and here.
There are small subdural haemorrhages - here, here and here.
Those three findings give clear indications of vigorous, violent shaking.
- Enough to cause death? - Probably not.
However, there are two larger subarachnoid haemorrhages - here and here - which correlate directly with bruises to the outside of the skull.
Caused by two quite substantial blows to the infant's head.
Potentially fatal? I would say so.
If a child falls out of a pushchair and bangs its head, this can cause subarachnoid haemorrhage, is that so? I suppose so.
However, a blow of that kind would be quite obvious to a parent as it would present quickly and lead to unconsciousness or death in a very short period.
If a parent holding a child, while coming down the stairs, say and the child wriggles, and the parent grabs the child in a frantic attempt to prevent it falling, this can cause fingernail bruising.
- Is that not so? - This is better.
(sighs) Yes.
In fact, all the injuries could have happened accidentally? No.
I'm glad you've raised this.
The only injury that was certainly not accidental was the bruising to the gums.
A certain amount of blanching which could only have been caused by sustained pressure.
Yes, well I had attributed these to clumsy or desperate attempts at mouth-to-mouth resuscitation Dr Jardine Let Dr Jardine finish, Mr Foxcott.
But looking through my notes this morning I could find no reports from attendant authorities indicating that anyone gave mouth-to-mouth.
So, in combination with the various petechiae found in the eyes, and behind the heart and lungs and some damage to the pharynx, another conclusion can quite reasonably be drawn.
Which is? In English.
The child may well have been asphyxiated.
Suffocated.
(Murmuring) But you still cannot tell us, with certainty, what caused Kelly's death? I can tell you, with certainty, that it was either the blows to the head or suffocation or a combination of the two.
Thank you.
Dr Jardine, do you rule out any other possible cause of death? Unless presented with new information.
Sudden infant death syndrome - cot death - can show similar post mortem features to the ones you describe for asphyxia, can't it? It can.
But it can't show fractured rib, brain haemorrhaging and general bruising elements.
Dr Jardine are you being paid to appear as a witness? Yes.
How much and who by? Mr Kavanagh, this is utterly unprofessional.
I should not have to remind you that Dr Jardine, whoever calls him, is a witness to this court and not to either side.
I am sorry, my lord.
I must apologise, Dr Jardine.
I overlooked your impartiality for a moment.
You dismiss cot death on the grounds that Kelly had various bumps and bruises.
Is that so? I reject cot death, or SIDS, on the basis that the infant died of brain haemorrhage or asphyxiation.
But when I referred to S-l-D-S earlier, you countered my suggestion - by referring to external wounds.
- Yes.
Are you suggesting that a child, who is hurt during the day, by whatever means, accidental or non-accidental, is not vulnerable to cot death at night'? That only children who are bruise-free are susceptible to cot death? Mr Kavanagh, Dr Jardine has told you that the child did not die from cot death because he is certain that it died from brain haemorrhage or asphyxiation.
(Shouts) It? No more questions.
That concludes the case for the prosecution, my lord.
Are you OK? I'm one of a parade of overdressed fools dancing round a child's death.
- Apart from that, I'm fine.
- It upsets me, too.
I actually know nothing of the worlds these people come from.
I thought I saw something in Debbie's flat, something I knew, but it's all changed.
It's all dead.
My childhood was a Hovis commercial, as you so rightly pointed out.
Right, what were you getting excited about out there? Is he saying she was suffocated? If by he you mean the doctor, then yes, that's exactly what he's saying.
Right.
There's something I've got to tell you.
See, I I did have a go at her, at times and er one time, early that afternoon, I I-I did drop her.
But it were an accident.
But I was scared, I mean, well, that could have been it.
Well, no-one's going to see it as an accident.
So I lied.
But I didn't suffocate her.
See, er she was still alive when I went out.
- A-And when I came back she - Went out? You said you were both in all day.
Yeah, right.
Well, I went out and Kelly was alive.
And when I came back, she was dead.
So it couldn't have been me, could it, eh? I mean, that doctor said she'd die, like, you know, quickly after her head was hit.
But she didn't, did she? Mrs Bell heard her crying at six.
That's like half an hour after I went out.
So I think we should say that.
Let's just get this straight.
You did fracture her ribs, you bruised her, so much so that you thought you'd nearly killed her.
You persuaded Debbie to tie, just like you were lying, in the hope of sharing the blame with her, and now you want us to believe your new story and change your defence, just like that? Yeah, well there's no point in me going down as well as her if I didn't do it.
(Sighs) Where did you go? (Exhales) I was I was at my girlfriend's.
Her husband was away so er I went round to see her.
You know.
That's why Debs and me were fighting.
My girlfriend won't like it, but, well, she'll stand alibi.
I don't know if I can continue to represent you, Mr Holmes.
Emma There is a certain irony in defending someone I'd gladly throttle with my bare hands.
And will you? Continue to defend him? Will you? You have the choice, too.
Yeah.
I defend anyone, whatever they've done, however unpleasant they are.
That's what I've worked for.
It's going to be ugly, you know that.
Tomorrow Debbie goes into the witness box.
She will carry on, blithely, as if she and him are still in cahoots.
She will then walk straight into our ambush.
And her only protection is Peter Foxcott who doesn't appear to be with us this week.
And we have absolutely no option but to ambush him, too.
Right.
If you're telling me the truth, and not just abusing the law to suit your purposes, we will continue to represent you.
Thanks.
Right, tell me what you found when you came back at ten that night.
No, it's still not working.
Send an engineer over.
Erm I would just like to say that everybody in Chambers is invited to a summer party at my place in the country.
Clerks included.
Gary, would you hand these round, please? Why? I-I mean, why the party? Summer equinox.
Fair enough, Mr Aldermarten.
James.
Emma.
Good morning.
Maybe he's keeping something from us.
If it makes you feel better.
Sorry.
I suppose he might have got Debbie to turn on Mark.
Possibly.
Cut-throat versus cut-throat.
FOXCOTT: Debbie.
You are charged with the murder of your daughter Kelly.
Did you kill her? (Mumbles) No.
JUDGE: Speak up, Miss Sattethwaite, please.
No.
FOXCOTT: Did you hit her? No.
Do you know where the bruises came from? No.
You do recall Kelly toppling from her pushchair that day? Yes.
- With a bump? - Yes.
From which the bruises might have come? Oh, I see, yes.
And when she fell from the pushchair was there a bump? Yes.
Where? On her head? And what did you do to her when she had this bump? What do you mean? - Did you pick her up and comfort her? - My lord.
Mr Foxcott, don't lead the witness.
I'm sorry, my lord.
When she fell from the pushchair, what did you do? I picked her up and comforted her.
You were her mother? Yes.
- And you loved her? - Yes.
You loved her and she was your responsibility? Yeah, but it weren't my fault.
I didn't do it, any of it.
I didn't kill her.
It weren't my fault.
That she fell from her pushchair.
- Any of it.
- Debbie Miss Sattethwaite, you said "any of it".
Any of what? Perhaps if I made it a little clearer.
It's quite clear enough, thank you, Mr Foxcott.
Any of what was not your fault? In terms of your sense of responsibility.
Mr Foxcott, please let the witness answer my question.
I er Are you all right, Debbie? Can I go to the toilet? I wonder, my lord, if Miss Sattethwaite might be allowed a few moments to go to the lavatory? - The lavatory? - Yes, my lord.
Does she have an unusually small bladder? I don't know, my lord.
Perhaps you might ask her.
Then she must be expected to endure like the rest of us.
I propose to finish at three o'clock today which, it being Friday, will no doubt please the jury.
Now when you are restored, Miss Sattethwaite, I would like you to tell this court what you mean by "any of it".
Kelly falling out of her pushchair and dying.
- What you're actually saying - My lord, he's leading Just Just Just a moment.
Did you kill Kelly? - No.
- What? Er where was I? Now, Debbie, you and Mark were together all that day.
Is that correct? Er yes.
Did either of you hurt Kelly in any way? Apart from the pushchair.
I I don't believe it's in dispute that the fall from the pushchair was an accident.
I should say everything his client says was in doubt if I were Mr Foxcott.
Was the fall from the pushchair an accident, Kelly? Er Debbie, Miss Sattethwaite.
Yes.
TANNOY: Service to London - I've never had to do this to Peter before.
- Go behind his back? I hope you're good at changing the subject.
I'll do my best.
What will you do with Debbie on Monday? I mean, you've got to go for the jugular, haven't you? Mm, those are roughly our instructions.
Mm.
I kept you a seat.
I was beginning to wonder if you were getting a later train or something.
EMMA: Something came up.
- Ah.
That was a mistake today.
The kind that makes me think I'm not the lawyer I used to be.
Or at least not the advocate.
It wasn't great, Peter.
Thank you, James, for that heartfelt condolence.
I didn't realise Emma was going to be with us.
I could always No, no, no, my dear.
We could talk later? Hm.
(Sighs) At least she never actually said she was guilty.
Some doubt still lingers.
Peter, we can't discuss this.
Are we discussing it? Or am I just unloading a day's aggravation with a colleague and friend? We are in danger of discussing it.
And why would that be such an unprecedented event? We've been discussing it since we first had the briefs.
He's changed instructions.
And now it's cut-throat? And I've hung her out there to dry.
Or for you to lacerate to your clients ends on Monday morning.
I can't discuss this.
And the beauty of it is, I can't even warn her that cuddly old Kavanagh is a snake in the grass because she's in the middle of giving evidence and nobody can speak to her.
You're a two-faced bastard! This is your senior steward speaking.
I would just like to remind you that the buffet car is stilt open, sewing snacks, hot and cold beverages and refreshments.
He's drinking too much.
Do you think that's why he's off his game at the moment? - I don't know.
- He wanted to talk to you privately.
You don't think he's ill? Beverage? Refreshment? One of each, please, Steward.
Senior Steward, actually.
- James.
Emma.
- Jeremy.
Home from the hinterland.
El vino and then dinner at The lvy on me? You coming? Well, you go, you need a break from the hinterland.
- Yeah, I do.
OK, I'll come.
- Good.
- Not me.
- Come on, troops.
After you.
' Gary? - SW'? Mr Kavanagh? Tom Buckley thought you should see this.
Mr Foxcott.
Not available? - Mr Kavanagh? - Paul? - Dad's round the back.
- Oh.
- I'll get him.
- Right, thanks.
Hello, Mr Kavanagh.
Tom.
I'm sorry to disturb you on a weekend.
Nonsense.
You saved me having to get hold of you.
- What, were you going to? - Certainly.
- That bad, eh? - That bad, for both of us.
This is wonderful, Tom.
Well, I've always had a bit of a fancy for you to see it, Mr Kavanagh.
You ought to be honoured, mind.
You're the first lawyer who's been here in three generations.
You've had three generations in Chambers? No, five, but we've only lived here for three.
Only? There were two generations of Buckleys in Chambers before Grandpa Buckley, but he was the first senior clerk.
And er he bought this place in 1921.
Old money, Tom? Well, er Well, I didn't make it to public school like my boys but I do put on the accent along with the red braces as the train goes through Bromley South.
Know what I mean? I don't think Mr Aldermarten could hack it otherwise.
I think he'd choke on this.
Yeah, and he'd take me off commission, put me on a salary and halve my income.
And many other worse things if he were to become Head of Chambers.
Which is why we're here - to stop him.
Because you won't stand, will you? Thought not.
Well, the only alternative is to prevent Mr Foxcott from taking a judgeship.
Could you imagine chambers with Aldermarten as the guv'nor? No.
And I can't imagine Peter on the bench.
Sets you apart, Tom.
Makes you the ref instead of one of the players.
Puts you in an ivory tower.
I think that's what's preying on his mind.
Well? I'll work on Peter.
And you, I imagine, will have some fun torpedoing the good ship Aldermarten.
Tom, where am I tomorrow? Mold, sir.
Mold? This is to be heard in Mold? Where the hell is Mold? - Wales, sir.
- It's North Wales, innit? - Oh, but I can't.
- I've already accepted it on your behalf, sir.
- But - It's a nice little earner.
- I gave His Lordship your message.
- And'? He hasn't got time to talk to you now.
He's sitting in ten minutes.
Court rise.
My lord, I renew my application to see Your Lordship in Your Lordship's chambers.
No.
Your Lordship will know that - No.
- My lord I warn you to be careful, Mr Foxcott.
My lord, my client is about to be ambushed from an unexpected quarter.
Do you wish me to call Security? I I mean in cross-examination, my lord.
Which may lead to her being faced with some very awkward questions.
Indeed, my lord.
Would it surprise you, Mr Foxcott, to learn that the whole point of cross-examination is to test witnesses? My lord And that it would be quite wrong of counsel to attempt to warn witnesses in advance? JUDGE: Mr Kavanagh Miss Sattethwaite.
Can you confirm that Mark Holmes did not hurt Kelly at anytime? No, he didn't hurt her.
Did he hurt you? No.
And all the time he was at the flat that day, you were with him? Yes.
Was he ever alone with Kelly? No.
Debbie how did you first meet Mark Holmes? On the estate.
Did he live there, too? No, he'd been kicked out.
By friends? By a girlfriend.
- So he was looking for somewhere new? - Yeah.
Well, he were looking for a squat.
But instead he got to know you.
Yeah.
And he moved in? - Did you get on well? - Oh, yeah.
Knew where I were coming from.
After all, your backgrounds were similar.
And how soon after this did you become pregnant? Month or so? Did you tell Mark? Not straight away.
- Why was that? - Don't know.
- Were you warned'? - Might have been.
Worried he wouldn't like the child? You were right to be worried, weren't you .
.
Debbie? Suppose.
Mark didn't want that baby, did he? But you did.
You wanted a family.
Was there ever anyone else, Debbie? Anyone else you might have settled down with? Mark was the only one you thought of as a partner, then? Mark was a good father, wasn't he? Yes.
- He loved Kelly.
- Yes.
He wasn't exactly a modern father.
He didn't er change her nappies or - put her to bed and things like that? - No.
And you put Kelly to bed that day, as usual, on your own? - Er yes, I did.
- What time would that have been? Erm Was it, say some time after six? Yes.
And some time after that she got the bump on her head? Did she? Did she fall out of her pushchair after six o'clock? Oh, yes.
She woke up and I put her in her pushchair and she fell over.
After six o'clock? Yes.
And what did you do with her then? Put her back to bed.
- And she stayed in bed? - Yeah.
Until Mark came back? Yeah.
Because Mark went out just after five, didn't he? And you put Kelly to bed.
And when Mark got back at ten, Kelly was dead, wasn't she? Please answer, Miss Sattethwaite.
Yes.
Thank you.
Why did Mark go out, Debbie? Don't know.
The noise that Mrs Bell heard at around five - What were you arguing about? - Nothing.
Was there anyone else that Mark might have settled down with? Were you his only partner? Was Kelly crying after Mark left? And what were you doing? Crying too? Why were you crying? All over, wasn't it? He hurt me.
Hun as in upset? You said he didn't hit you.
No.
Hun upset.
So the bump on your head, you did that yourself? To make people think he'd hurt you? No, it were an accident.
I Were you holding Kelly when you banged your head? Yes.
Did you hit her head? Might have done.
Your heads might have banged together? Might have.
- Was Kelly still crying? - Yes.
Had you ever hurt her before? No.
So what did you do next? I thought she's better off without me.
Better off without you.
So what did you do? I I put her to bed.
But you didn't just lay her down, did you? You stayed by her side.
Did you put anything over her mouth, Debbie? Your hand? A pillow? What did you do to her, Debbie? I just put her to bed.
No more questions.
You had me worried for a minute.
Do I go on the stand next? I would advise not.
Why? Because she's said enough.
And whatever facts the jury may have heard, they remain susceptible to likes and dislikes.
I'll leave you to it.
I'll see you in the morning.
James.
- Peter.
- Come to comfort me, have you? Think I'm depressed? Do you think I ought to be depressed? You tell me.
My client's guilty.
I'm not sure I need to take it personally.
If you've done your best.
I'm too old for encounter groups.
If I just tell you you were marvellous, will you leave me alone? I wasn't marvellous.
I protected a pathetic young man who probably did hurt that child in the past and should be punished for it.
You got her to say she did it, near as damn it.
It's too late, and no use anyway, to change to guilty.
I can't run diminished responsibility since I haven't called a medic.
No defence.
Mitigation, then.
Help the judge and jury to understand why it happened.
To understand Debbie.
But I don't understand her.
You understand loneliness.
That's what you're afraid of, isn't it? Because you know how lonely life can be if you go on the bench.
Does everybody know? And what does everybody think? Well, apart from Jeremy, who's launched a full-scale "Aldermarten for Head of Chambers" campaign, we all want you to turn it down.
Does everybody know this is the third time I've been asked, and if I don't accept by Monday I'll never be asked again? And if I do accept and stay alive for a year, I'll probably get a knighthood.
This was meant to be my goal in life.
So what's the problem? Do you see me playing God? Splendid isolation in the judge's lodgings? As you say, death could hardly be more lonely.
I'm terrified of it, James.
More to the point, you'll not be doing what you came here for.
And that's to give people a voice.
Whatever you decide to do don't walk away without speaking up for her, Peter.
If you think she killed that child, help us to understand why.
You've got to take that jury by the hand and lead them to a life .
.
on the eleventh floor, with no mother, and no father .
.
and a lover who goes out to spend his afternoons in bed with another woman.
You have lo help people lo understand how that girl could lean over the side of a col .
.
and stifle the life out of the only thing she has in the world.
FOXCOTT: If you believe someone has killed, you have two options: you can find the defendant guilty of murder if you feel the act was premeditated.
But you can also find manslaughter, if you consider the defendant was in some way provoked.
This, if things were done or said or happened that in your opinion were enough to make a reasonable man or woman lose control.
I suggest to you there is provocation in a child's cry.
An accusation of futility and of failure.
A cry that pierces the heart.
And is there not something as provoking in loneliness? Having no mother, no father, nobody.
We've all taken a battering during this experience, and none more than Debbie.
Yet we all have someone to go to, to share our pain and confusion.
Someone to comfort us and put us right.
Not Debbie.
She had no-one.
Except Mark Holmes.
Parents are responsible for their children.
Similarly, society is responsible for the generations it spawns.
Yet we ignore and despise people like Debbie who are alone and lonely and needful, and we fail them.
To be a mother, you need to have been mothered.
To be a lover you have to be loved.
Yet Debbie, with no experience of either, loved and mothered that child.
Nobody has given us one example of Debbie being cruel or impatient or even inattentive to that child.
Quite the reverse.
So, how could she kill her? Why? To win back Mark Holmes who might have been driven from the house by Kelly's screaming? Or to spare her precious child from the pattern of pain and anguish that have constituted Debbie's own life? "She is better off without me.
" She is alone, and atone one's judgment goes.
Alone one's reason goes.
Alone one's sense of responsibility diminishes until, it too, is gone.
We're also on trial here.
We have the chance to show Debbie the real face of her community.
Is it a face of vengeance and spite and intolerance? Or is it a face of compassion and humility? And a desire to understand and to forgive and to restore.
(Thunder rumbles) GUEST: Typical English summer.
ALDERMARTEN: I can hear the garden drinking it.
Do have some of the strawberries.
They're really lovely.
Excuse me.
Excuse me.
Hello.
Some more? ALDERMARTEN: There you go.
Excuse me, please.
Excuse me.
Tom.
- It's magnificent, Mr Aldermarten.
- Oh, thank you.
- Where do you live, Tom? - Oh, out Bromley way.
Never mind.
FOXCOTT: Jeremy I er wondered if it might be appropriate for me to say a few words.
Oh.
To everyone.
(Chuckles) Of course, absolutely.
Well, perfect, if you think the moment is right.
Excuse me.
Excuse me.
Erm friends - .
.
Romans (Guests laugh) - .
.
chambermaids and mensch.
- (Laughter) First of all I'd like to say what a great pleasure it is to have all you very dear friends here at my modest home.
(Laughter) And I hope there's enough of everything.
ALL: Yes! And now I call upon our paterfamilias who has something he would like to say to you.
ALL: Ooh! This community of friends has been the backbone of my life.
ALL: Aah! My recent experience has confirmed this.
So, having reflected at length, next Monday, after the verdict in Bolton, I shall (Thunder rumbles) .
.
be returning to River Court.
(Guests gasp) (smattering of applause) Nothing I might be offered could persuade me otherwise.
I shall continue to serve you as Head of Chambers for many, many years to come.
(Applause) So I propose a toast to our generous host Jeremy! ALL: Jeremy! Thank you.
ALL: For he's a jolly good fellow For he's a jolly good fellow For he's a jolly good fellow And so say all of us (Laughter) I'm out of champagne.
I think there's some there.
Oh! Very generous of you, Jeremy.
This must have knocked you back 60 quid a bottle.
Over 70.
£76.
99, actually.
Oh.
FEMALE GUEST: Line 'em up, Jeremy! (Champagne bottles clink) MALE GUEST: Here comes another one! Will the defendants please stand? Will your foreman please rise? Madam foreman, have the members of the jury reached a verdict on which they are all agreed? Yes.
On the first count, do you find Deborah Anne Sattethwaite guilty or not guilty of the murder of Kelly Sattethwaite? Guilty.
On the second count, do you find Mark Holmes guilty or not guilty on the charge of murder? Not guilty.
And that is the verdict of you an? It is.
Mark Holmes, you are legally innocent and free to go.
What, now? Thanks.
Before you pass sentence on Miss Sattethwaite, my lord, if we might ask for reports.
Thank you, Mr Foxcott.
You acted quite correctly in finding Miss Sattethwaite guilty on the charge of murder.
However, this court is not deaf.
And although Mr Foxcott's closing comments had little basis in law .
.
they had a firm root in humanity.
It is my feeling that Miss Sattethwaite has suffered enough.
I will, therefore, make my feelings known in my submission to the Home Secretary and recommend that she serve the minimum sentence.
I hope that with some help and some courage, Miss Sattethwaite, you will be lucky enough to find a little happiness on your return to society, however that society may have served you up till now.
He gets a police escort, the best car and he gets the last line.
Oh, no, you don't.
(Police siren) MAN: Hanging's too bloody good for you! WOMAN".
Murdering bitch! We still need you, Peter.
Hm.
Change for Oxford Road, Salford and Bolton.
Welcome home.
Of course, James, were you to do the decent thing, we could be on the first train back tomorrow.
Emma is our Head of Chambers asking me to admit our client's guilt? I'm not sure.
I think he might be.
And do you think, in the circumstances, it would be sound practice if I sacrificed our client for the sake of his? Absolutely not.
No.
Only trying to cheer you up.
Working alongside you, Peter, always cheers me up.
(Chuckles) CLERK".
On the first count of this indictment, you, Deborah Anne Sattethwaite, are charged that on the 17th day of November REPORTER: The trial begins today, here at Bolton Crown Court, of Deborah Sattethwaite and Mark Holmes.
CLERK".
On the second count of this indictment, you, Mark David Holmes, are charged that on the 17th day of November MARSHAL".
All persons having anything to do before my Lords the Queen's Justices draw near and give your attendance.
To our Chancellor of Great Britain, our Lieutenants and Sheriffs of Counties, our Lord Chief Justice of England, our judges for the time being of our Supreme Court of Judicature, our circuit judges, and to all other persons to whom these presents shall come, greeting.
Damned silly media fuss! I'll have no playing to the gallery.
Oh I'd be grateful if you'd all consent to join me for luncheon.
Our pleasure.
I doubt it.
(Sighs) Ah That judge was bit off his trolley.
That wizened carapace contains one of the most remarkable lawyers of his or any other day.
It's a very great risk the jury will convict them both, you know, the way we're going about it.
I'm sorry, Peter.
We agreed our tactics.
(Mange 'â Keys) - Sir? (Door unlocked) Thank you.
(Door unlocked) All right, Mr Kavanagh? Right, here we go, then.
Debs hasn't said anything else, has she? Her counsel, Mr Foxcott, hasn't told me of anything.
USHER".
Bring them up.
Are you OK? Stick together.
We'll be all right.
On the first count of this indictment, you, Deborah Anne Sattethwaite, are charged that on the 17th day of November last year you murdered Kelly Sattethwaite.
USHER: Jurors required are Mansi, Cazalet, Mischon Prosecution will call in evidence the police officers who visited the scene in response to a reported disturbance.
You, Mark David Holmes, are charged that you murdered Kelly Sattethwaite.
Court rise.
This case concerns the death of a little girl called Kelly who was the daughter of Deborah Anne Sattethwaite and her partner Mark David Holmes.
Kelly, their child, was in their sole charge that day, and Debbie Sattethwaite and Mark Holmes brutally beat her and cold-bloodedly murdered her.
Er, Gary.
Get that biked up to Mr Foxcott in Bolton, please.
- Tom - Mm? Why is Peter Foxcott not available after the 26th? Oh, hm.
Don't know.
Hm? Well? Perhaps he thinks the trial could drag on.
Oh, David.
It's Jeremy here.
DEBBIE ON TAPE: I don't know how she died.
I don't know anything about it.
OFFICER: What about the bruises? - The swollen lip? - She bumped her head, I suppose.
Fen out of her pushchair.
I don't know.
She fell out of her pushchair and that killed her? - Is that what you're saying? - I'm not saying anything.
And that was all she ever said? That night, yes.
She and Mr Holmes issued identical statements through their solicitors the next morning.
Take us back, if you would, to your arrival at the scene.
I was called to the premises as the result of a reported disturbance.
This would be 10pm in the evening.
Mr Holmes answered the door.
Mr Holmes? He was very wound up and reluctant to let me in and said Miss Sattethwaite and the child were out.
Not here.
I heard a noise from inside the flat and insisted Mr Holmes allow me access to the premises.
PROSECUTION: And what did you find? I found Miss Sattethwaite in the kitchen.
Hello.
Are you Debbie? PROSECUTION: How was she? Quiet.
Quite calm, I suppose.
She appeared to have two cuts and bruising on her forehead.
She wasn't crying? No.
Then what did you do? - I asked to see the child.
- Why was that? When I received the call from the station, they had informed me that young Kelly was on the "At Risk" register.
What did they say when you asked to see Kelly? Mr Holmes said she was sleeping.
I insisted on seeing Kelly, and Mr Holmes led us through to the child's bedroom.
Miss Sattethwaite followed a little behind.
The tight was on and the child was tying on her back.
I approached the cot and saw a bruise on the child's temple and a swollen tip.
The upper tip, I believe.
I attempted to find a pulse and found none.
Miss Sattethwaite became hysterical, crying and gasping for breath, and WPC Sabatowski escorted her back to the kitchen.
Did either Miss Sattethwaite or Mr Holmes approach the bed at any time? They did not.
They stayed by the door then went back to the kitchen.
Did they express any concern about her condition? Not really.
Miss Sattethwaite was not crying when you first saw her in the kitchen? No.
But she became hysterical when you found the child, Kelly, dead in her col.
Yes, sir.
So it was a big shock to her? I couldn't say.
She became hysterical and you couldn't say if it was a big shock to her? Well Thank you.
How long did you question the defendants before arresting them? Half an hour, I suppose.
Bit less.
How many questions? - Of which they answered how many? - About half.
So, you arrested them because they failed to answer, or didn't give satisfactory answers to about ten questions? I arrested them because I didn't like what I saw.
You didn't like what you saw? That is correct.
I You didn't like what you saw and you didn't like Miss Sattethwaite and you didn't like Mr Holmes.
Is that not so? There's no harm in giving an honest answer.
Indeed, it's rather expected of you.
Did you like them? I wouldn't say I warmed to them exactly.
Why? Because they were unappealing? Because they didn't offer you tea and biscuits? Mr Kavanagh.
I could see the baby was injured.
I'm sorry, my lord.
You could see the baby was injured? - And you arrested them? - Yes.
Did you have any other feelings towards these two other than dislike? No.
Do you have a child? No, sir.
Have you lost a child? No, sir.
They have.
They had that day.
When you were asking them the ten questions they didn't answer to your satisfaction, their child lay dead only feet away.
And all you felt for them was dislike.
Stylish.
Style is something you use when you're short of substance.
Would that be a convenient moment to break for lunch? We will return at 2:15.
(Dispatch radio) - Do you know a Mr Foxcott? - There he is.
That's him.
- Thanks.
- Mr Foxcott? - Thank you.
(Slams tray down) (Door slams) (Door slams) Don't let it get you down, Peter.
Debbie's loyal.
She said she will say anything Mark wants her to.
- She's beyond us.
- Oh, it wasn't that.
Not just then.
Higher things? Erm in away, yes.
Oh, excuse me, James.
- Horrible, eh? - Hm? The curried egg.
Ah, yeah, I was just going to look for something else.
I wouldn't bother.
There isn't anything else.
- No'? - No.
Madam, I'm afraid you shouldn't be sitting there, on the same seat as His Lordship.
What? Madam may not be aware that His Lordship is, to all intents and purposes, the person of Her Majesty the Queen while this court is in session.
- Is he? - Indeed, yes.
So much so that should the Queen visit Bolton during the term of this hearing, His Lordship will be required to leave the court for the duration of Her Majesty's visit on the basis there cannot be two Queens in the city at the same time.
I feel a joke coming on.
I'd rather you didn't.
JUDGE: Ah, hello.
(All chuckle) (Door unlocked) H-How's it going, then? Never looks the best when the Prosecution are doing their stuff.
(Huffs) Thought they'd scream at me from the gallery.
It's very calm out there, in't it? Yeah.
Are you calm? Well, not after six month inside, I'm not, no.
Rule 43, that's me.
Queers! People who've offended against kids and stuff.
- You know - Nonces.
Yeah, right.
It's all the other cons think about.
How they can get at you, you know, hurt you.
Kill you.
Mr Kavanagh, if if I tell you something can you forget I told you? No.
But you've told me everything, haven't you? Oh, yeah.
And er if you remember, you will tell me how Debbie got the bruises on her head, won't you? Because somebody out there is going to ask how come, if you were with Debbie and Kelly all day, Kelly ended up dead and Debbie injured, and you somehow managed not to notice how or when any of it happened.
It were on and off all day.
In the end, my husband went round and spoke to Mr Holmes there.
He were trying to get football scores and the din were terrible.
So it were er just about five o'clock.
Can you describe the din? Shouting.
Mr Holmes mostly.
Little Kelly crying.
Debbie crying and shouting too.
Did they go quiet again after your husband spoke to Mr Holmes? There were Kelly crying about six.
My husband said he'd go round and knock Holmes's head off if it got worse, but it stopped.
Then later there were terrible screaming and shouting.
I thought he were hurting Debbie or summer.
I were worried for her.
That's when I called the police.
And when would that be? Some time around ten, I suppose.
No questions.
Mrs Bell, how long have you lived next door to Debbie and Mark? They moved in two year back.
Bit less.
When she fell pregnant with little Kelly.
Did you ever baby-sit for them? I've a job.
They're the ones that had the time, lolloping around all day doing their drugs and - Mrs Bell, I didn't ask you that - No, I'm telling you.
Mrs Bell, please.
I'm sorry, but it upsets me.
People like that hurting an innocent time Mrs Bell! If you do not control yourself, I will have you removed from the witness box.
Do you understand? Yes, sir.
Your husband has three convictions for burglary, - two for assault.
- I don't see what that's Are you enjoying being able to point the finger for a change, instead of being pointed at? Mr Kavanagh! EMMA".
Not so stylish.
No.
Let's hope we find something more substantial later.
Shall I meet you there? No, come along with me now, you might as well.
Come on.
Dad likes people dropping in.
But he might want to talk to you about, you know, personal stuff.
No, we did all that at the funeral.
No, it's this case of ours he'll want to go on about.
I've been reading about you.
Ugly thing.
The modern world, eh? Oh, it happened in the old days as well, you know.
But I think we'd have dealt with it differently.
Lynched them, you mean? No, no, no, we'd have taken it personally, like it were our responsibility.
Like we'd let 'em down maybe.
It's all very easy to point the finger, you know.
Hm.
No, no, no, it's true.
Yeah, I know, that's what I said in court today.
We didn't waste all our breath, then? Doesn't get any easier, does it, son? The more you miss somebody, the better it must have been.
That doesn't help the loneliness, does it? (Back door closes) Dad, you're welcome to come and live with me in London, you know.
Of course.
And you're just as welcome to come here and live with me.
(Dogs bark) - He's all right.
- Good.
Look, James.
Shall we? Yeah.
Yeah, we're expected.
It's closer than I thought.
(Knocks on door) Have you seen Mr Aldermarten'? Oh, God, it was you who had his Archbold.
- He'll have your bollocks, sir.
- (Whispers) Where is he? I believe he went into Mr Foxcott's room.
(Sighs) Come.
(Creaking) Ah.
I'm sorry, Mr Aldermarten.
- I forgot I had it.
- Don't worry.
It's Henry, isn't it? Don't worry, Henry.
Any time.
You're not enjoying this much, are you? It's not much of a homecoming.
This is where I was born.
- 1924? - No, numb (Chuckles) Cheek.
And that was Ellis'.
It looks different somehow.
That's because you were down here.
Oh, yeah, you're right.
No, Kavanagh, you can't have anything on tick, you rich bastard.
Dick.
Dick Ellis.
- You're looking well.
- Well, you're looking better.
- You visiting your dad? - Yeah, yeah.
And er the scene of the crime.
Oh that.
Well, I'd say good luck to you but I'd see 'em hang.
MOTHER: Wait! I really will give you a clout if you keep wandering off now.
So wait there.
Come on, careful.
This way, come on.
Will you come here! KAVANAGH: It's this place Dick Ellis hates.
The look of it.
The fear of it.
Not them.
Debbie probably bought fags in his shop.
He probably smiled at her, handing over the change.
Dick's probably never been up here in his life.
They're his neighbours, these people, and he's terrified of them.
(Car alarm blares) Whoever built this this place, they ought to come up here and see.
No, feel what it's done to people.
Typical.
Down the other end.
MRS BELL: Here they are.
James Kavanagh.
Emma Taylor.
Mark Holmes's defence counsel.
Whoever is responsible for the four walls, you can't blame them for what happened in here.
No.
No, and I do know what Dick Ellis means.
You need someone to blame.
I don't.
I'm playing a part in a process that hopes to establish truth.
After that, punishment, redemption, understanding, whatever.
I'm not ashamed.
You're like a breath of fresh air.
And you're a patronising old so-and-so.
And you think I'm naive.
Well, as far as the truth goes, I think you are.
Because our job in this is to get our client off.
For better or worse, the truth is probably the last thing we'll be trying to find.
There are times when the best you can do is to create a fog.
What a life.
Television and fags.
Instant coffee and Pot Noodles.
I didn't know you were a snob.
I just can't stand emptiness.
(Train rumbles past) A generation later and I could have been up here.
Cue Hovis music.
A generation earlier and they could have been down there with rickets and no shoes.
The good old days.
Is there no chance of proving them innocent? Well, I suppose Mrs Bell, the neighbour, could have leapt from her balcony onto theirs and murdered Kelly herself.
Just fog, then? Well if we're to speak for them, it helps to know them, but these two no trace.
Hardly anything of her and nothing of him.
It's as if they barely existed.
A lonely woman with no interests or diversions buying the company of a pathetic boy with sex.
Wow Here's the interest.
I can't believe it happened here.
(Kavanagh sighs) Well someone really loved that child.
EMMA: Maybe he did.
I bet she took the picture.
And framed it.
And looked at it.
Yeah, this is where it happened, all right.
Where Debbie dreamed of having a proper, old-fashioned family.
What's the point of playing an all-rounder if you don't bowl him at all? (Laughter) I'm going to go up.
See you in the morning.
- See you tomorrow.
FOXCOTT: Good night.
James! At last.
Join me? Not tonight, it's been a long day.
You should have joined us.
At the flat, I mean.
There's a few things I could tell you about your client.
- Well, feelings more than facts, I admit.
- My client.
I stand accused of neglect.
I'm not accusing.
Well, it's just that er Debbie looked to have been a loving mother, from what I could tell.
It might not do a great deal for my case but it could certainly help yours.
(Sighs heavily) What is it, Peter? There was something I was hoping to share with you, actually, James, but now is not the time.
One too many.
On the train, perhaps - away from all this.
(Door bolted) (Footsteps) (Door bolted) (Alarm bell) (Alarm off) When exactly did the bells begin to ring, Mrs Bolt? When the hospital contacted us.
With consideration to the pregnancy, Debbie had been asked if she was a drug user.
If that proves to be the case, they let us at social services know about it.
Now you refer to Debbie openly using drugs.
There was some complaint from the maternity ward that she was injecting heroin in full view of the other mothers.
- And some complaint about Mr Holmes? - Yes.
He was felt to be intoxicated and offensive when visiting, on two occasions.
- That you know of? - Indeed.
As Child Protection Officer, you were called to their home? Yes.
I found Kelly to have some bumps and bruises, and to be rather weakly and slow in development.
What action did you take? A doctor looked at Kelly and agreed with our worries but also said there was no real indication of non-accidental injury.
But he did support your calling of a case conference and the putting of Kelly on the "At Risk" register.
"Child Protection Register".
Yes.
The parents were invited to this conference.
Did they go? Debbie came, not Mr Holmes.
Thank you, Mrs Boâ.
Er, Mrs Bott.
You came to know Debbie well over the course of your involvement with her? Yes.
- Did you think she was a loving mother? - Absolutely Thank you.
Is that it? What's he playing at? Bad wig day.
Looks as if you'll have to create all the fog yourself.
Reading through the notes of the case conference, I see that you were strongly opposed to Kelly being taken away from Debbie and Mark.
Why was that? You can't take a child away because you don't like the look of the parents.
It's important to give parents the chance to develop parenting skills, - and adopt parental responsibility.
- I see.
In fact, the involvement of the social services, however well meant was erm rather piecemeal, was it not? How do you mean? You were away on holiday when Kelly died? Yes.
And you were away at retraining the fortnight before, when you were scheduled to visit? Yes.
When was your last visit to Kelly before she died? Five weeks previously.
- And before that? - Four weeks.
So you visited Kelly twice in the last three months of her life? Yes.
How many other er .
.
clients do you have, approximately? - So.
- 60'? You can't really pretend to be a substitute for a parent, can you? No.
But you can undermine the real parents by giving a sense that you are a substitute? Yes, I'm afraid that Mark and Debbie were already on your files.
Would you tell us why, please? Debbie was taken into care when she was eight, and lived in various homes run by our department until she was 16.
Mark was also in care from 12 to 16.
Did they have family? Debbie's mother died when she was eight.
The father was unknown.
Mark's mother, I believe, is still alive.
But handed him over to you when he was 12'? Before that He was in foster homes from six or seven, I believe.
And nobody wanted to foster them? There were attempts but no.
With fostering as in life, er indeed, as in court .
.
it's quite a disadvantage if people don't like you, isn't it? Sadly, yes.
Before they scrapped the Right to Silence, defendants in cases like this didn't have to go into the witness box.
Our unappealing duo will, won't they? Mm, quite possibly.
We've got the impartial expert to deal with first, though.
Be warned, this may not be at all stylish.
It would be safe to conclude that a spectrum of abuse had taken place over a period of time.
For instance: there are small fingertip, fingernail type bruises to the upper arms and around the ribcage.
There are healing fractured ribs - here, here and here.
There are small subdural haemorrhages - here, here and here.
Those three findings give clear indications of vigorous, violent shaking.
- Enough to cause death? - Probably not.
However, there are two larger subarachnoid haemorrhages - here and here - which correlate directly with bruises to the outside of the skull.
Caused by two quite substantial blows to the infant's head.
Potentially fatal? I would say so.
If a child falls out of a pushchair and bangs its head, this can cause subarachnoid haemorrhage, is that so? I suppose so.
However, a blow of that kind would be quite obvious to a parent as it would present quickly and lead to unconsciousness or death in a very short period.
If a parent holding a child, while coming down the stairs, say and the child wriggles, and the parent grabs the child in a frantic attempt to prevent it falling, this can cause fingernail bruising.
- Is that not so? - This is better.
(sighs) Yes.
In fact, all the injuries could have happened accidentally? No.
I'm glad you've raised this.
The only injury that was certainly not accidental was the bruising to the gums.
A certain amount of blanching which could only have been caused by sustained pressure.
Yes, well I had attributed these to clumsy or desperate attempts at mouth-to-mouth resuscitation Dr Jardine Let Dr Jardine finish, Mr Foxcott.
But looking through my notes this morning I could find no reports from attendant authorities indicating that anyone gave mouth-to-mouth.
So, in combination with the various petechiae found in the eyes, and behind the heart and lungs and some damage to the pharynx, another conclusion can quite reasonably be drawn.
Which is? In English.
The child may well have been asphyxiated.
Suffocated.
(Murmuring) But you still cannot tell us, with certainty, what caused Kelly's death? I can tell you, with certainty, that it was either the blows to the head or suffocation or a combination of the two.
Thank you.
Dr Jardine, do you rule out any other possible cause of death? Unless presented with new information.
Sudden infant death syndrome - cot death - can show similar post mortem features to the ones you describe for asphyxia, can't it? It can.
But it can't show fractured rib, brain haemorrhaging and general bruising elements.
Dr Jardine are you being paid to appear as a witness? Yes.
How much and who by? Mr Kavanagh, this is utterly unprofessional.
I should not have to remind you that Dr Jardine, whoever calls him, is a witness to this court and not to either side.
I am sorry, my lord.
I must apologise, Dr Jardine.
I overlooked your impartiality for a moment.
You dismiss cot death on the grounds that Kelly had various bumps and bruises.
Is that so? I reject cot death, or SIDS, on the basis that the infant died of brain haemorrhage or asphyxiation.
But when I referred to S-l-D-S earlier, you countered my suggestion - by referring to external wounds.
- Yes.
Are you suggesting that a child, who is hurt during the day, by whatever means, accidental or non-accidental, is not vulnerable to cot death at night'? That only children who are bruise-free are susceptible to cot death? Mr Kavanagh, Dr Jardine has told you that the child did not die from cot death because he is certain that it died from brain haemorrhage or asphyxiation.
(Shouts) It? No more questions.
That concludes the case for the prosecution, my lord.
Are you OK? I'm one of a parade of overdressed fools dancing round a child's death.
- Apart from that, I'm fine.
- It upsets me, too.
I actually know nothing of the worlds these people come from.
I thought I saw something in Debbie's flat, something I knew, but it's all changed.
It's all dead.
My childhood was a Hovis commercial, as you so rightly pointed out.
Right, what were you getting excited about out there? Is he saying she was suffocated? If by he you mean the doctor, then yes, that's exactly what he's saying.
Right.
There's something I've got to tell you.
See, I I did have a go at her, at times and er one time, early that afternoon, I I-I did drop her.
But it were an accident.
But I was scared, I mean, well, that could have been it.
Well, no-one's going to see it as an accident.
So I lied.
But I didn't suffocate her.
See, er she was still alive when I went out.
- A-And when I came back she - Went out? You said you were both in all day.
Yeah, right.
Well, I went out and Kelly was alive.
And when I came back, she was dead.
So it couldn't have been me, could it, eh? I mean, that doctor said she'd die, like, you know, quickly after her head was hit.
But she didn't, did she? Mrs Bell heard her crying at six.
That's like half an hour after I went out.
So I think we should say that.
Let's just get this straight.
You did fracture her ribs, you bruised her, so much so that you thought you'd nearly killed her.
You persuaded Debbie to tie, just like you were lying, in the hope of sharing the blame with her, and now you want us to believe your new story and change your defence, just like that? Yeah, well there's no point in me going down as well as her if I didn't do it.
(Sighs) Where did you go? (Exhales) I was I was at my girlfriend's.
Her husband was away so er I went round to see her.
You know.
That's why Debs and me were fighting.
My girlfriend won't like it, but, well, she'll stand alibi.
I don't know if I can continue to represent you, Mr Holmes.
Emma There is a certain irony in defending someone I'd gladly throttle with my bare hands.
And will you? Continue to defend him? Will you? You have the choice, too.
Yeah.
I defend anyone, whatever they've done, however unpleasant they are.
That's what I've worked for.
It's going to be ugly, you know that.
Tomorrow Debbie goes into the witness box.
She will carry on, blithely, as if she and him are still in cahoots.
She will then walk straight into our ambush.
And her only protection is Peter Foxcott who doesn't appear to be with us this week.
And we have absolutely no option but to ambush him, too.
Right.
If you're telling me the truth, and not just abusing the law to suit your purposes, we will continue to represent you.
Thanks.
Right, tell me what you found when you came back at ten that night.
No, it's still not working.
Send an engineer over.
Erm I would just like to say that everybody in Chambers is invited to a summer party at my place in the country.
Clerks included.
Gary, would you hand these round, please? Why? I-I mean, why the party? Summer equinox.
Fair enough, Mr Aldermarten.
James.
Emma.
Good morning.
Maybe he's keeping something from us.
If it makes you feel better.
Sorry.
I suppose he might have got Debbie to turn on Mark.
Possibly.
Cut-throat versus cut-throat.
FOXCOTT: Debbie.
You are charged with the murder of your daughter Kelly.
Did you kill her? (Mumbles) No.
JUDGE: Speak up, Miss Sattethwaite, please.
No.
FOXCOTT: Did you hit her? No.
Do you know where the bruises came from? No.
You do recall Kelly toppling from her pushchair that day? Yes.
- With a bump? - Yes.
From which the bruises might have come? Oh, I see, yes.
And when she fell from the pushchair was there a bump? Yes.
Where? On her head? And what did you do to her when she had this bump? What do you mean? - Did you pick her up and comfort her? - My lord.
Mr Foxcott, don't lead the witness.
I'm sorry, my lord.
When she fell from the pushchair, what did you do? I picked her up and comforted her.
You were her mother? Yes.
- And you loved her? - Yes.
You loved her and she was your responsibility? Yeah, but it weren't my fault.
I didn't do it, any of it.
I didn't kill her.
It weren't my fault.
That she fell from her pushchair.
- Any of it.
- Debbie Miss Sattethwaite, you said "any of it".
Any of what? Perhaps if I made it a little clearer.
It's quite clear enough, thank you, Mr Foxcott.
Any of what was not your fault? In terms of your sense of responsibility.
Mr Foxcott, please let the witness answer my question.
I er Are you all right, Debbie? Can I go to the toilet? I wonder, my lord, if Miss Sattethwaite might be allowed a few moments to go to the lavatory? - The lavatory? - Yes, my lord.
Does she have an unusually small bladder? I don't know, my lord.
Perhaps you might ask her.
Then she must be expected to endure like the rest of us.
I propose to finish at three o'clock today which, it being Friday, will no doubt please the jury.
Now when you are restored, Miss Sattethwaite, I would like you to tell this court what you mean by "any of it".
Kelly falling out of her pushchair and dying.
- What you're actually saying - My lord, he's leading Just Just Just a moment.
Did you kill Kelly? - No.
- What? Er where was I? Now, Debbie, you and Mark were together all that day.
Is that correct? Er yes.
Did either of you hurt Kelly in any way? Apart from the pushchair.
I I don't believe it's in dispute that the fall from the pushchair was an accident.
I should say everything his client says was in doubt if I were Mr Foxcott.
Was the fall from the pushchair an accident, Kelly? Er Debbie, Miss Sattethwaite.
Yes.
TANNOY: Service to London - I've never had to do this to Peter before.
- Go behind his back? I hope you're good at changing the subject.
I'll do my best.
What will you do with Debbie on Monday? I mean, you've got to go for the jugular, haven't you? Mm, those are roughly our instructions.
Mm.
I kept you a seat.
I was beginning to wonder if you were getting a later train or something.
EMMA: Something came up.
- Ah.
That was a mistake today.
The kind that makes me think I'm not the lawyer I used to be.
Or at least not the advocate.
It wasn't great, Peter.
Thank you, James, for that heartfelt condolence.
I didn't realise Emma was going to be with us.
I could always No, no, no, my dear.
We could talk later? Hm.
(Sighs) At least she never actually said she was guilty.
Some doubt still lingers.
Peter, we can't discuss this.
Are we discussing it? Or am I just unloading a day's aggravation with a colleague and friend? We are in danger of discussing it.
And why would that be such an unprecedented event? We've been discussing it since we first had the briefs.
He's changed instructions.
And now it's cut-throat? And I've hung her out there to dry.
Or for you to lacerate to your clients ends on Monday morning.
I can't discuss this.
And the beauty of it is, I can't even warn her that cuddly old Kavanagh is a snake in the grass because she's in the middle of giving evidence and nobody can speak to her.
You're a two-faced bastard! This is your senior steward speaking.
I would just like to remind you that the buffet car is stilt open, sewing snacks, hot and cold beverages and refreshments.
He's drinking too much.
Do you think that's why he's off his game at the moment? - I don't know.
- He wanted to talk to you privately.
You don't think he's ill? Beverage? Refreshment? One of each, please, Steward.
Senior Steward, actually.
- James.
Emma.
- Jeremy.
Home from the hinterland.
El vino and then dinner at The lvy on me? You coming? Well, you go, you need a break from the hinterland.
- Yeah, I do.
OK, I'll come.
- Good.
- Not me.
- Come on, troops.
After you.
' Gary? - SW'? Mr Kavanagh? Tom Buckley thought you should see this.
Mr Foxcott.
Not available? - Mr Kavanagh? - Paul? - Dad's round the back.
- Oh.
- I'll get him.
- Right, thanks.
Hello, Mr Kavanagh.
Tom.
I'm sorry to disturb you on a weekend.
Nonsense.
You saved me having to get hold of you.
- What, were you going to? - Certainly.
- That bad, eh? - That bad, for both of us.
This is wonderful, Tom.
Well, I've always had a bit of a fancy for you to see it, Mr Kavanagh.
You ought to be honoured, mind.
You're the first lawyer who's been here in three generations.
You've had three generations in Chambers? No, five, but we've only lived here for three.
Only? There were two generations of Buckleys in Chambers before Grandpa Buckley, but he was the first senior clerk.
And er he bought this place in 1921.
Old money, Tom? Well, er Well, I didn't make it to public school like my boys but I do put on the accent along with the red braces as the train goes through Bromley South.
Know what I mean? I don't think Mr Aldermarten could hack it otherwise.
I think he'd choke on this.
Yeah, and he'd take me off commission, put me on a salary and halve my income.
And many other worse things if he were to become Head of Chambers.
Which is why we're here - to stop him.
Because you won't stand, will you? Thought not.
Well, the only alternative is to prevent Mr Foxcott from taking a judgeship.
Could you imagine chambers with Aldermarten as the guv'nor? No.
And I can't imagine Peter on the bench.
Sets you apart, Tom.
Makes you the ref instead of one of the players.
Puts you in an ivory tower.
I think that's what's preying on his mind.
Well? I'll work on Peter.
And you, I imagine, will have some fun torpedoing the good ship Aldermarten.
Tom, where am I tomorrow? Mold, sir.
Mold? This is to be heard in Mold? Where the hell is Mold? - Wales, sir.
- It's North Wales, innit? - Oh, but I can't.
- I've already accepted it on your behalf, sir.
- But - It's a nice little earner.
- I gave His Lordship your message.
- And'? He hasn't got time to talk to you now.
He's sitting in ten minutes.
Court rise.
My lord, I renew my application to see Your Lordship in Your Lordship's chambers.
No.
Your Lordship will know that - No.
- My lord I warn you to be careful, Mr Foxcott.
My lord, my client is about to be ambushed from an unexpected quarter.
Do you wish me to call Security? I I mean in cross-examination, my lord.
Which may lead to her being faced with some very awkward questions.
Indeed, my lord.
Would it surprise you, Mr Foxcott, to learn that the whole point of cross-examination is to test witnesses? My lord And that it would be quite wrong of counsel to attempt to warn witnesses in advance? JUDGE: Mr Kavanagh Miss Sattethwaite.
Can you confirm that Mark Holmes did not hurt Kelly at anytime? No, he didn't hurt her.
Did he hurt you? No.
And all the time he was at the flat that day, you were with him? Yes.
Was he ever alone with Kelly? No.
Debbie how did you first meet Mark Holmes? On the estate.
Did he live there, too? No, he'd been kicked out.
By friends? By a girlfriend.
- So he was looking for somewhere new? - Yeah.
Well, he were looking for a squat.
But instead he got to know you.
Yeah.
And he moved in? - Did you get on well? - Oh, yeah.
Knew where I were coming from.
After all, your backgrounds were similar.
And how soon after this did you become pregnant? Month or so? Did you tell Mark? Not straight away.
- Why was that? - Don't know.
- Were you warned'? - Might have been.
Worried he wouldn't like the child? You were right to be worried, weren't you .
.
Debbie? Suppose.
Mark didn't want that baby, did he? But you did.
You wanted a family.
Was there ever anyone else, Debbie? Anyone else you might have settled down with? Mark was the only one you thought of as a partner, then? Mark was a good father, wasn't he? Yes.
- He loved Kelly.
- Yes.
He wasn't exactly a modern father.
He didn't er change her nappies or - put her to bed and things like that? - No.
And you put Kelly to bed that day, as usual, on your own? - Er yes, I did.
- What time would that have been? Erm Was it, say some time after six? Yes.
And some time after that she got the bump on her head? Did she? Did she fall out of her pushchair after six o'clock? Oh, yes.
She woke up and I put her in her pushchair and she fell over.
After six o'clock? Yes.
And what did you do with her then? Put her back to bed.
- And she stayed in bed? - Yeah.
Until Mark came back? Yeah.
Because Mark went out just after five, didn't he? And you put Kelly to bed.
And when Mark got back at ten, Kelly was dead, wasn't she? Please answer, Miss Sattethwaite.
Yes.
Thank you.
Why did Mark go out, Debbie? Don't know.
The noise that Mrs Bell heard at around five - What were you arguing about? - Nothing.
Was there anyone else that Mark might have settled down with? Were you his only partner? Was Kelly crying after Mark left? And what were you doing? Crying too? Why were you crying? All over, wasn't it? He hurt me.
Hun as in upset? You said he didn't hit you.
No.
Hun upset.
So the bump on your head, you did that yourself? To make people think he'd hurt you? No, it were an accident.
I Were you holding Kelly when you banged your head? Yes.
Did you hit her head? Might have done.
Your heads might have banged together? Might have.
- Was Kelly still crying? - Yes.
Had you ever hurt her before? No.
So what did you do next? I thought she's better off without me.
Better off without you.
So what did you do? I I put her to bed.
But you didn't just lay her down, did you? You stayed by her side.
Did you put anything over her mouth, Debbie? Your hand? A pillow? What did you do to her, Debbie? I just put her to bed.
No more questions.
You had me worried for a minute.
Do I go on the stand next? I would advise not.
Why? Because she's said enough.
And whatever facts the jury may have heard, they remain susceptible to likes and dislikes.
I'll leave you to it.
I'll see you in the morning.
James.
- Peter.
- Come to comfort me, have you? Think I'm depressed? Do you think I ought to be depressed? You tell me.
My client's guilty.
I'm not sure I need to take it personally.
If you've done your best.
I'm too old for encounter groups.
If I just tell you you were marvellous, will you leave me alone? I wasn't marvellous.
I protected a pathetic young man who probably did hurt that child in the past and should be punished for it.
You got her to say she did it, near as damn it.
It's too late, and no use anyway, to change to guilty.
I can't run diminished responsibility since I haven't called a medic.
No defence.
Mitigation, then.
Help the judge and jury to understand why it happened.
To understand Debbie.
But I don't understand her.
You understand loneliness.
That's what you're afraid of, isn't it? Because you know how lonely life can be if you go on the bench.
Does everybody know? And what does everybody think? Well, apart from Jeremy, who's launched a full-scale "Aldermarten for Head of Chambers" campaign, we all want you to turn it down.
Does everybody know this is the third time I've been asked, and if I don't accept by Monday I'll never be asked again? And if I do accept and stay alive for a year, I'll probably get a knighthood.
This was meant to be my goal in life.
So what's the problem? Do you see me playing God? Splendid isolation in the judge's lodgings? As you say, death could hardly be more lonely.
I'm terrified of it, James.
More to the point, you'll not be doing what you came here for.
And that's to give people a voice.
Whatever you decide to do don't walk away without speaking up for her, Peter.
If you think she killed that child, help us to understand why.
You've got to take that jury by the hand and lead them to a life .
.
on the eleventh floor, with no mother, and no father .
.
and a lover who goes out to spend his afternoons in bed with another woman.
You have lo help people lo understand how that girl could lean over the side of a col .
.
and stifle the life out of the only thing she has in the world.
FOXCOTT: If you believe someone has killed, you have two options: you can find the defendant guilty of murder if you feel the act was premeditated.
But you can also find manslaughter, if you consider the defendant was in some way provoked.
This, if things were done or said or happened that in your opinion were enough to make a reasonable man or woman lose control.
I suggest to you there is provocation in a child's cry.
An accusation of futility and of failure.
A cry that pierces the heart.
And is there not something as provoking in loneliness? Having no mother, no father, nobody.
We've all taken a battering during this experience, and none more than Debbie.
Yet we all have someone to go to, to share our pain and confusion.
Someone to comfort us and put us right.
Not Debbie.
She had no-one.
Except Mark Holmes.
Parents are responsible for their children.
Similarly, society is responsible for the generations it spawns.
Yet we ignore and despise people like Debbie who are alone and lonely and needful, and we fail them.
To be a mother, you need to have been mothered.
To be a lover you have to be loved.
Yet Debbie, with no experience of either, loved and mothered that child.
Nobody has given us one example of Debbie being cruel or impatient or even inattentive to that child.
Quite the reverse.
So, how could she kill her? Why? To win back Mark Holmes who might have been driven from the house by Kelly's screaming? Or to spare her precious child from the pattern of pain and anguish that have constituted Debbie's own life? "She is better off without me.
" She is alone, and atone one's judgment goes.
Alone one's reason goes.
Alone one's sense of responsibility diminishes until, it too, is gone.
We're also on trial here.
We have the chance to show Debbie the real face of her community.
Is it a face of vengeance and spite and intolerance? Or is it a face of compassion and humility? And a desire to understand and to forgive and to restore.
(Thunder rumbles) GUEST: Typical English summer.
ALDERMARTEN: I can hear the garden drinking it.
Do have some of the strawberries.
They're really lovely.
Excuse me.
Excuse me.
Hello.
Some more? ALDERMARTEN: There you go.
Excuse me, please.
Excuse me.
Tom.
- It's magnificent, Mr Aldermarten.
- Oh, thank you.
- Where do you live, Tom? - Oh, out Bromley way.
Never mind.
FOXCOTT: Jeremy I er wondered if it might be appropriate for me to say a few words.
Oh.
To everyone.
(Chuckles) Of course, absolutely.
Well, perfect, if you think the moment is right.
Excuse me.
Excuse me.
Erm friends - .
.
Romans (Guests laugh) - .
.
chambermaids and mensch.
- (Laughter) First of all I'd like to say what a great pleasure it is to have all you very dear friends here at my modest home.
(Laughter) And I hope there's enough of everything.
ALL: Yes! And now I call upon our paterfamilias who has something he would like to say to you.
ALL: Ooh! This community of friends has been the backbone of my life.
ALL: Aah! My recent experience has confirmed this.
So, having reflected at length, next Monday, after the verdict in Bolton, I shall (Thunder rumbles) .
.
be returning to River Court.
(Guests gasp) (smattering of applause) Nothing I might be offered could persuade me otherwise.
I shall continue to serve you as Head of Chambers for many, many years to come.
(Applause) So I propose a toast to our generous host Jeremy! ALL: Jeremy! Thank you.
ALL: For he's a jolly good fellow For he's a jolly good fellow For he's a jolly good fellow And so say all of us (Laughter) I'm out of champagne.
I think there's some there.
Oh! Very generous of you, Jeremy.
This must have knocked you back 60 quid a bottle.
Over 70.
£76.
99, actually.
Oh.
FEMALE GUEST: Line 'em up, Jeremy! (Champagne bottles clink) MALE GUEST: Here comes another one! Will the defendants please stand? Will your foreman please rise? Madam foreman, have the members of the jury reached a verdict on which they are all agreed? Yes.
On the first count, do you find Deborah Anne Sattethwaite guilty or not guilty of the murder of Kelly Sattethwaite? Guilty.
On the second count, do you find Mark Holmes guilty or not guilty on the charge of murder? Not guilty.
And that is the verdict of you an? It is.
Mark Holmes, you are legally innocent and free to go.
What, now? Thanks.
Before you pass sentence on Miss Sattethwaite, my lord, if we might ask for reports.
Thank you, Mr Foxcott.
You acted quite correctly in finding Miss Sattethwaite guilty on the charge of murder.
However, this court is not deaf.
And although Mr Foxcott's closing comments had little basis in law .
.
they had a firm root in humanity.
It is my feeling that Miss Sattethwaite has suffered enough.
I will, therefore, make my feelings known in my submission to the Home Secretary and recommend that she serve the minimum sentence.
I hope that with some help and some courage, Miss Sattethwaite, you will be lucky enough to find a little happiness on your return to society, however that society may have served you up till now.
He gets a police escort, the best car and he gets the last line.
Oh, no, you don't.
(Police siren) MAN: Hanging's too bloody good for you! WOMAN".
Murdering bitch! We still need you, Peter.
Hm.