Kavanagh QC (1995) s05e03 Episode Script
Time of Need
1 (Journalists shout questions) One quick shot.
Barbara! Turn this way.
please.
RETURNING OFFICER: Mick.
Kenneth.
the Referendum Perry.
992.
(Scattered applause) Nicholson, Andrew Robert, the Hedgehogs Say No To Bypass Party (Laughter) - 341 (Cheering) - Sinclair, Ashley Peter, Conservative Party (Booing) 16.
808.
(Applause and cheering) Watkins, Barbara Gillian.
Labour Party.
- 26 thousand (Wild cheering) .
.
955.
I hereby declare Barbara Gillian Watkins to be duly elected as Member of Parliament for Hawksley South.
(Cheering) Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr Mayor, to you and your staff for the speed and efficiency of the count.
I would also like to thank the police for their help.
But most of all, I would like to thank the people of Hawksley South for re-electing me as their Labour Member of Parliament.
I've been proud to serve this constituency for the past ten years.
But I'm even prouder tonight because "It's an historic night for the Labour Party.
(Applause) - We are going to win.
There's going to be a Labour government.
Where there was despair, now there's hope.
It's a victory not only for the Labour Party, but for the people of Britain.
Are you sure? A long time ago.
You were only 15.
I'm sure.
The suspect has identified Barbara Watkins from a video recording of the night of the General Election, May 1st, 1997.
Interview suspended, 11:25pm.
We can do business here, Philip.
Barbara, any comment? When we got into the room, she said, 'Don't worry, everything's going to be all right, as tong as you don'! tell anyone.
' It was going to be our secret.
And then she locked the door.
Did you and Mrs Watkins have sexual intercourse? - Yes.
- And what happened afterwards? How do you mean? Well, did she give you anything? - She gave me a fiver.
- She gave you five pounds? You are in a strange town being given money by a woman old enough to be your mother, money to buy your silence after she forced you to have sexual intercourse with her, after she indecently assaulted you.
If If you think back to the events of that day what stays in your mind? ! was scared.
I was just a boy.
Yes.
No further questions, my lord.
Mr Boxer, how tall were you when you were 15? Um, about the same as I am now, I suppose.
But Mrs Watkins is only 5 '6".
Are you saying that you couldn't have left the room if you'd wanted to? I told you, I was scared.
But you were able to have sexual intercourse.
Yeah.
Well, she knew what she was doing, didn't she? KAVANAGH: How long after this alleged sexual encounter with Mrs Watkins did you leave the boys' home, Harcourt Lodge? About two months, when I was 16.
And how has life treated you since then? - All right.
- Really? Since you left Harcourt Lodge, you have been arrested eight times, been to court three times and spent a total of more than five years in prison.
Doesn't the prospect of prison scare you any more? I don't think about it.
I've no doubt you thought about it three months ago, Mr Boxer, when you were arrested for receiving stolen property-.
You knew you could have been sent down for seven years this time.
You must have been terrified.
So you made a deal, didn't you? No.
You offered the police a bigger fish to fry.
Barbara Watkins, a junior minister at the Home Office, no less.
If you could help the police to pin a charge of indecent assault on such a public figure, they'd forget all about your possession of a few stolen goods.
I told them what she did to me back then.
I didn't know that they would drop the charges against me, did I? So you decided to tell the officers that, when you were a boy in care at Harcourt Lodge, you were indecently assaulted by Barbara Watkins in a Hastings guest house? Yes or no, Mr Boxer? Simple enough question.
Or did one of the officers suggest it to you? You must answer the question.
KAVANAGH: Mr Boxer? It never happened.
(Murmuring) Any of it.
Are you saying you were never with Mrs Watkins in Hastings? No.
No, I never was.
And you never had sexual intercourse with her? No.
She never touched me.
The whole story's bollocks.
He made it up.
Him.
(Murmuring) MAN: Quite amazing.
We're grateful, Mr Kavanagh.
Boxer did my job for me.
I can't believe it's over.
Thank you.
Well, now you can get back to running the country.
- How do you feel? - Do you think you were setup? The matter is completely closed and I'm looking forward to getting back to my office.
- Do you hold anyone responsible? - No, I don't.
- What about the police? - I certainly don't bear any grudges.
Why did Boxer take it all back, do you think? One in the eye for the police, crisis of conscience, who knows? Bit risky, wasn't it? The police might re-open the case against him for receiving.
They've dropped that charge once.
They'd never get a conviction.
Boxer probably knew that.
Thanks.
You don't seriously think I put that toerag up to it? Whether Boxer invented the whole story or you did is none of my concern, Chief Inspector.
Child abuse is still child abuse whichever way you look at it.
I'm so sorry I'm late.
Thank you.
Cheers.
It's strictly confidential till after the weekend.
You know the form.
Of course.
My God, you've only been an MP five minutes.
I'm so pleased for you, Christine.
What? That's not the main reason I wanted to see you.
I really shouldn't be telling you this.
But they want to move you.
Where to? Which department? I'm so sorry, Barbara.
Apparently, they want to move you out.
- There may be a chair of a select committee.
- I don't want a chair of a select committee! - I'm a minister.
I want to be in government.
- I told them that.
- You were there when they discussed it? - No, of course not.
I don't believe this.
- They just know how close we are.
- So they sent you to sweeten the pill? I wanted to be the one who warned you.
Did the Police Federation send a delegation to No.
10 demanding my head on a plate? - Life would be easier without me.
Is that it? - Barbara Sacked for being found innocent and having my case dismissed.
Barbara, there's more.
I'm sorry.
They're giving me your job.
You know what people will say when this story breaks.
- "Mrs Watkins was prosecuted for child abuse.
" - The case collapsed.
"Now she's been sacked from the government.
Must be something they're not telling us.
" All right, so you sue the police and get damages.
Then what? There is such a thing as public pressure.
They sacked me because they wanted to pander to the police.
I want people to know that.
It's a hell of a risk.
If you take the police to court for malicious prosecution, they'll go the distance.
They'll do anything to protect their reputation.
Are you ready for that? I want to clear my name once and for all.
When I was at the Home Office, I had several run-ins with the police over corruption, racism, recruitment, you name it.
I ruffled some feathers, so they wanted to fit me up.
They can't be allowed to get away with it.
Walk away from it, that's my advice.
I'm asking you to act for me, Mr Kavanagh.
If you're absolutely determined Well, she's certainly brave, taking on the Met.
Well, you don't get where she did without knowing a thing or two.
I said she was brave not clever.
I'm walking for two here, James.
I've got to sit down.
- Will we call Boxer? - No chance.
He's a self-confessed perjurer.
So the police won't either, for the same reason.
But can we win without him? To be honest, I don't know.
Slaughtered.
Any holiday plans, Thomas? Why do I get the feeling I'm not going to enjoy this conversation? How about a couple of days at the seaside? I don't sunbathe, guv.
I burn easy.
The Met's counting on us, Thomas.
The bad news is, we have to son our defence in our own time.
There's a vicar in Somerset that's got four wives.
I want you to find that guest house.
There is no guest house.
Boxer was taking the piss.
He set the bait and we swallowed it.
Watkins shagged Boxer in Hastings in 1982 and you're going to find out where.
You want me to track down an unknown guest house that might have given someone a room 16 years ago? Had steps at the front, he said.
KAVANAGH: I'm looking forward to it.
FOXCOTT: Oh, so am I.
The Commissioner of Police must be very confident, a big expensive silk like you.
He is, James, he is.
- A trick or two up your sleeve? - Not tricks as such.
To hide the gaping holes in your clients' case? (Laughs) No.
I'm terribly sorry.
- Mr Aldermarten's usually so punctual- - Oh, don't worry-.
Ah, sir, there's a lady What's the point in a Red Route if the road's clogged up with buses every 100 yards? I think the idea is that you don't drive down the bus lane-Um Dorothy, I'm so sorry.
Would you like to come through? She's no idea I've come to see you, but I thought I ought to.
- Well, I'm very grateful.
- She's lonely, Jeremy.
- She doesn't have enough to occupy her mind.
- It's more than that.
She's depressed.
I've been meaning to get down there more often since Father died, but I've been very busy, what with one thing and another and No, that's not true.
I've neglected her.
With a 15-year-old, you say? He was, then.
I'm sorry.
Thank you.
(Journalists shout questions) Have you any comment, Barbara? KAVANAGH: The plaintiff, Barbara Watkins, has extremely good cause to bring this action against the Metropolitan Police.
And I shall be asking for damages to compensate for the personal suffering she had to endure from her wrongful arrest and malicious prosecution.
Damages to compensate for the harm done to her considerable reputation arising out of an accusation of indecent assault.
And damages to make a necessary example of the police's behaviour in this case.
The conduct of the police against the plaintiff leads one to ask if they didn't have some wholly malicious desire to destroy Mrs Watkins' reputation for reasons of their own-.
Former Junior Home Office Minister Barbara Watkins is suing the Metropolitan Police for malicious prosecution, arising out of her trial for indecent assault which collapsed last year.
BARBARA: I'm making forward to a speedy trial so I can get back to my Parliamentary duties as quickly as possible.
I can't say any more at the moment but I have every confidence in the outcome.
Thank you.
(Journalists shout questions) What brought about your first visit to the boys' home, Harcourt Lodge, in 1982? BARBARA: There'd been rumours that some of the boys in the home had been physically abused.
Social services invited me to conduct an independent inquiry to see if there was enough substance in the rumours to begin formal child protection procedures.
Why did they invite you? I was experienced in the field of childcare.
And I was also familiar with the working practices of local authority-maintained children's homes.
I was also available, having recently left my previous employment.
What was your previous employment? You weren't a Member of Parliament at the time, were you? No, I wasn't elected till 1987.
In early '82.
I was working full-time in the voluntary sector for a children's charity.
What was the outcome of your inquiry? One member of staff was reprimanded.
That's Maurice Fitzalan, whom we shall be hearing from later.
But he wasn't sacked? The social services in their wisdom allowed him to retire on sickness grounds, with an enhanced pension.
Did you agree with that decision? It wasn't my place to agree or disagree.
But I was satisfied that the boy's future safety was assured.
Now when you were conducting your inquiry, were you given free rein to talk to anyone you wanted? Yes.
Members of the social services committee itself, workers in the home, the boys that lived there, of course, their social workers in fact, anyone that I thought could throw some light on the matter.
And that's when you first met Philip Boxer, then aged 15? He was one of a number of boys I spent time with talking about life in the home.
He eventually admitted to me that he'd been constantly bullied by Fitzalan, as had a number of the other boys.
Did you ever take Philip Boxer to Hastings? - No.
- Or any other boy? No.
Had you ever seen or communicated with Boxer at any time from 1982 until your arrest in 1998? Why would I? Have you any idea why he chose to implicate you in charges of indecent assault? - None at all.
- Have you any idea why he would then retract those allegations at your trial? No.
Now, after Boxer retracted those allegations of abuse, the case against you was thrown out.
So why have you brought this action against the police? I'm concerned that the public might still harbour some doubts about my innocence.
Are you anti-police, Mrs Watkins? Quite the opposite.
I want the public to hold the police fume in the highest possible regard.
But to do that, they must be convinced of the police's absolute probity.
- What did Dorothy tell you? - Dorothy Franks? Do you know, I haven't seen her for ages.
I don't know how you convince a jury.
I know straightaway when you're lying.
She told me you'd been a bit down.
It's my fault.
I haven't tried hard enough.
It's not your fault, sweetheart.
Eight months.
It's just flown by.
Nearly nine.
And before, when Father was so ill.
It's just that when he was here, you know I know.
I mean, we never really hit it off.
Did we? He always meant well, of course.
But he was a private man.
Doesn't mean he didn't love you in his way.
Come and stay with me.
For a bit.
In London? - Yes.
- Whatever for? Well, there's lots of things we could do-We could go to the opera, go to galleries We'd have some fun.
Would you like that, Jeremy? Wouldn't you? Very flattering, I'd have thought, to be considered the only person who could establish the truth of what was going on at Harcourt Lodge? Plenty of people could have carried out that inquiry.
But social services asked you.
- Quite a responsibility, wouldn't you say? - Yes, I suppose it was.
Were you going through a particularly emotional phase in your own life at the time, Mrs Watkins? How do you mean? You mentioned that in the early summer of 1982, you had recently left your previous employment.
Why was that? Do I have to answer? Is there a point to this line of questioning? I think the plaintiff's state of mind at the time of the alleged incidents may be pertinent to the case, my lady.
I left my job because there'd been a personal tragedy in the family.
What sort of tragedy? My daughter Juliet had died.
I'm sorry to have to ask you this but Will you tell us how she died? She was drowned in a friend's garden pond.
How old was your daughter when this terrible tragedy happened? Two years and ten months.
Was it not likely, then, Mrs Watkins, that only a few months after this tragic accident, when you were conducting the inquiry into Harcourt Lodge, that you were in a more vulnerable state than you might otherwise have been? I was still very sad about Juliet, of course I was.
But I would never let that interfere with my duties.
Nevertheless, here you were, a caring and compassionate woman, recently tragically bereaved, showing concern for a teenage boy, Philip Boxer, who had been "constantly bullied" by a member of staff.
Might that boy not have fixated himself with the idea that your kindnesses towards him were in fact thinly-disguised sexual overtures? I was a professional.
I know how careful you have to be when you're in a position of trust.
But if Boxer had convinced himself, and if he were to tell a police officer many years later that you and he had had sexual relations when he was only 15, what would that officer's duty have been? You will have to ask the officer.
I intend to.
But even if Boxer didn't actually believe you'd indecently assaulted him all those years ago, even if he'd only pretended to the police that you'd assaulted him, to get himself off a charge, what would that police officer's duty have been, then? Why are you asking me? Because either way, Mrs Watkins, the police had no choice but to act on the information Boxer gave them, wouldn't you agree? Well, yes, I suppose so In which case, their prosecution of you can scarcely be said to have been malicious.
Can it? But Philip Boxer was lying, wasn't he? He said so in court-.
But the police weren't to know that.
And I'm sure that you of all people wouldn't want to return to the bad old days when victims of sexual assault were assumed to be lying.
Would you? I wish you'd told me about your daughter.
What business is it of anybody's, anyway? Barbara! I thought we were bringing the action against the police.
Am I on trial again here for child abuse? Is there anything else they can dredge up against you? Anything at all? No.
I think you'd better have a look at this, Miss Winslow.
Thanks, Tom.
Your Mr Foxcott's not quite the cosy old gent he seems.
Cosy as in crocodile, professionally.
From the police solicitors.
A Hastings landlady claims to have rented you a room in June 1982.
What? Phyllis Labone.
Proprietor of the Seaview Guest House.
But she does say you were alone.
BARBARA: But she says I was there, doesn't she? A bit bloody late in the day.
Where did they drag her from? It's not too late to settle, Mrs Watkins.
You'd still be the winner.
You'll have made your point.
Throw in the towel, is that what you're saying? Settling out of court is not an admission of guilt-This isn't a criminal trial-.
But it's an admission of defeat, isn't it? Both parties walk away.
Your reputation's intact.
I'm not going to settle.
Please don't suggest it again.
It was completely out of order, Peter.
The daughter's death was inevitably going to arise.
Quite frankly, I'm amazed you hadn't prepared your client.
I had no idea you'd be sinking that low.
Unless, of course, you didn't know about the child.
I didn't need to know.
- Barbara Watkins isn't on trial here.
- Don't be naive.
Of course she is.
Are those your instructions? Get the mud to stick, no matter what? Probity in public life? Her words, James.
I think we might have a problem.
I wish I'd told you earlier.
Told me what? 16 years ago, I spent a night in Hastings.
The landlady couldn't have looked at me more than twice.
And now they've found her.
- On your own? - Of course on my own.
What do you think? Why? The anonymity, I don't know.
I thought a night away from home would do me good.
- Where was I? I don't remember this- - At some conference or other-.
I was in a state.
I didn't know what I was doing.
I walked on the beach, watched the TV.
I never thought.
And now this bloody woman turns up.
I still don't understand.
All day, I'd be with those children in that home and I couldn't help thinking about Juliet.
Wondering what she'd be like.
Ten, twelve.
I had to get away.
Why didn't you say all this in court? Because it would have meant talking about her.
I don't want them trampling all over her memory.
We're going to have to tell Kavanagh.
We can't.
If they know I lied about Hastings, they'll say I lied about everything else-.
Mother.
- Oh, darling, goodbye.
Have a lovely time.
- Hello, Mother.
Lovely to be here.
I'll go on in, shall I? - Dorothy, thank you.
- Bye-bye, Dorothy.
(Dorothy starts car) Oh, such a lot of flowers! I know how you love them.
I thought we could go to Sissinghurst.
It's been years since I've seen the garden.
Vita was a lesbian.
But I've always wondered if that didn't make her a better gardener-.
And Boxer's sitting there in the interview room trying to get my sympathy.
He suddenly comes up with this whole story about him and Mrs Watkins.
How she abused him when he was a kid and ruined his life.
How did you respond to this story? I laughed.
I mean, I've heard some excuses in my time.
But he goes on.
He tells me what they did, what she said.
After a bit, I stopped laughing.
- And you believed him? - No, I didn't believe a word.
But I was intrigued, the detail of it.
- He talked like it was yesterday.
FOXCOTT: So, when did you believe him? Later, at the end of the interview, he said, "You ask Fitzalan.
He'll tell you all about it.
" That was Maurice Fitzalan, a care worker at the boys' home? Yes, he'd been in the Met.
So he wasn't hard to find.
He confirmed Boxer's story.
FOXCOTT: How did Fitzalan know it was true? Boxer told him at the time.
The trip to Hastings, everything.
But when it came to the plaintiff's trial, Boxer changed his tune and suddenly claimed you had invented the story, didn't he? How could I have done that? I didn't know there was any link between Mrs Watkins and Boxer.
Her name never came up in connection with his previous convictions.
- But you had heard of Mrs Watkins? - Of course.
What was your opinion of her? Of her public profile, as it were? I don't think I had an opinion of her one way or the other.
But you did know that she'd expressed some fairly strong criticisms of the police, didn't you? Well, these days, Mr Foxcott, who hasn't? (Ripple of laughter) Ah! Oh, yes Hmm.
(Mutters to himself) Marvellous sense of erm colour.
- It's red.
- Yes, yes, yes, but it's so visceral.
Meaning what exactly? Meaning Art must move with the times, Mother.
You have to push back the parameters.
Must it? Oh, well, I'm more of a Constable person myself.
Oh, the Hay thing.
Charming.
So you had no opinion of Mrs Watkins "one way or the other"? No.
But when Philip Boxer told you the story of how she had abused him, what, 16 years earlier, you decided it was your duty to investigate the allegations? Certainly.
Even if they were made by a known criminal, looking for a way to keep himself out of prison? Even then.
When you investigated the allegations against Mrs Watkins, presumably Maurice Fitzalan wasn't the only person from Harcourt Lodge you interviewed? We spoke to three ex-members of staff and several boys who'd been there.
Why weren't those people to be called as witnesses at the plaintiff's trial? Well, that wasn't up to me, of course.
The Crown Prosecution Service decided they had nothing to offer the case.
So the truth is, you could only find one witness to corroborate Boxer's story about his alleged abuse.
- Yes, but - And that witness was an ex-policeman.
So what? More importantly, Maurice Fitzalan had no reason to like Mrs Watkins, quite the reverse.
Wasn't she the author of the report which led directly to his being reprimanded and pensioned out of his job? Fitzalan struck me as a truthful man.
So you took the word of a discredited care worker and a known villain against the word of a government minister well-known for her integrity.
I put it to you that you never really believed Fitzalan at all.
I certainly did.
And you never honestly suspected Mrs Watkins of indecent assault either, did you? Yes, I did.
She was falsely arrested and maliciously prosecuted on the spurious word of someone you regard as little more than a "toerag".
At least he doesn't pretend to be something he isn't.
So you do have an opinion of her, Chief Inspector? And once you realised that Boxer had met Mrs Watkins when he was a boy, you saw a golden opportunity.
If you could get her charged with indecent assault, a woman you clearly had no time for, that would be cause for celebration, wouldn't it? Or do you still maintain you were "only doing your duty"? - Is he bothering you? - No.
She's not.
I tell you what is, though.
He's a senior policeman with an excellent record, Commendations, an award for bravery, the lot.
All set for a comfortable retirement where he can cash in on his memoirs.
Is he going to jeopardise all that just to fit up some minor politician? She's hiding something.
Do you get that feeling? I'm trying to suppress it.
Thank you.
Thanks for coming.
I appreciate it.
- It's all they can talk about, this case.
- Who? The police? The police, yes, the Home Office staff, everyone.
Well, they choose their words very carefully when I'm around, of course.
What about the leadership? They don't approve, do they? They'd rather you didn't lose.
- Do you think I'm going to? - Why? Do you? It's a trial, not a focus group.
(Laughs) I'll do my best not to.
Look, Barbara, I'm asking you to We're all asking you to settle the case now.
Just let the whole thing die down.
And here's me thinking you'd come out of solidarity.
I've checked with our legal people.
They say you'd still be the winner.
No.
I could see the lad was in a state.
So I called him into the office.
And he told me what happened.
In detail? Enough.
Mr Fitzalan, how do you know Boxer was telling you the truth? I knew those kids.
I saw them every day.
They couldn't fool me.
So, after he told you he had been indecently assaulted by Mrs Watkins, you decided not to pass this information on to your superiors? Wasn't that a dereliction of your duty, Mr Fitzalan? No.
We tried to solve the boy's problems ourselves.
And did you solve the problem of Boxer's alleged assault by Mrs Watkins? After we saw the last of Watkins, Boxer seemed to be fine.
So, here you were, accused by Mrs Watkins in her report of ritual bullying, but you say you discovered that Mrs Watkins had herself indecently assaulted one of the boys in your charge.
- Yet you never reported her.
- They'd have never believed me.
If I'd turned round and accused her of sexual abuse, - they'd have thrown the book at me.
- Would they not have been justified? It was fiction, wasn't it? Boxer never did tell you about a trip to Hastings.
You knew nothing about any of this until Detective Chief Inspector Kelso called on you 16 years later and asked a favour as one policeman to another.
That's the truth of the matter, isn't it? I've told you what happened.
June 1982.
A 32-year-old woman rings the bell.
She's got a 15-year-old boy with her.
What did he look like? That's for you to tell me, Phyllis.
I'm sorry.
- How about a cup of tea? - Yes, please.
(Door opens and closes) Of course, his police photo was taken a good few years after the time you met him.
He'd look older than how you might remember him.
A bit of a hippy.
A couple of weeks' growth, maybe.
Still good-looking, though.
Him.
We're off to the Wallace Collection and then a matinee of Boris Godunov.
That reminds me, I must have a word with Tom.
Not my sort of thing, I'm afraid.
Nor mine.
Jeremy's been telling me all about River Court.
Some of it good, I hope.
He speaks highly of you in particular, Mr Kavanagh.
Reducing your case load by 25%, Mr Aldermarten! That's going to mean a big drop in chambers' income.
She's my mother.
I want to spend some time with her.
She's depressed.
It won't be for very long.
We all get depressed, Mr Aldermarten.
And he's in that big house all alone.
No wife or children.
His only friends seem to be you and Mr Foxcott, as far as I can make out.
He takes after his father.
He was, what you might call, a loner.
Jeremy doesn't talk about his father much.
They weren't close, I'm afraid.
Lionel wasn't very good at that.
He packed Jeremy off to boarding school when he was seven.
By the time he was 18, they were virtually strangers.
Sorry, Mother.
Really, that man is heartless.
You haven't been boring James with a lot of Home Counties gossip, I hope, have you? On the contrary.
(Low conversation) Mrs Labone, the Hastings landlady, has identified a photograph of Boxer.
CLERK: Court, rise! FOXCOTT.
And what time did they leave the guest house? Round midday, as far as I remember.
Now, Mrs Labone, this was an awfully long time ago.
How can you be so sure it was Mrs Watkins? Well, I wasn't at first.
But when I saw her on the television recently, I knew.
- Because of what she said at the time.
FOXCOTT: How do you mean? PHYLLIS: When she paid me for the room, I had the television on.
It was the time of the Falklands War.
All the lads were coming home, people were waving flags and everything.
Mrs Watkins said something like, "What about all the Argies who've been killed?" Well, I don'! think she said 'Argies' but Anyway, I was quite shocked.
FOXCOTT: By her apparent lack of patriotism, do you mean? Yes.
Now, turning to the boy, Philip Boxer, how well do you remember him? Not too well, to be honest.
He was more in the background.
He didn't say anything.
He was obviously a shy lad.
But he was definitely the young man you identified in the photograph yesterday evening? Yes.
You've been most helpful, Mrs Lab-one-.
Thank you.
How many rooms are there in Seaview, Mrs Labone? - There's eight.
- Eight rooms.
With your guests staying on average, what, a week? Mrs Labone, I estimate that something like 2,000 people have stayed with you since 1982.
- Do you remember them all? - Of course not.
But you do remember the plaintiff? Mrs Watkins? Yes.
On the basis of a chance remark? I do remember her.
Like you remember the boy she brought? Well, yes, but But you didn't in your first statement to the police.
You said you thought Mrs Watkins stayed on her own.
Why didn't you remember him? Well, it was a long time ago.
Yes, it was, wasn't it? But you have remembered him since? Did someone jog your memory, Mrs Labone? When you picked out Boxer's photograph, what were you looking for? Handsome, ugly, fat, thin? What was your memory of the boy Mrs Watkins brought with her? Once you'd remembered there was such a boy? I don't know-I didn't really remember what he looked like-.
Really? But you still picked him out.
I knew he had, like, a bit of a beard.
A bit of a beard? How on earth would you know that? He was only 15 when you met him.
Well, because Because Chief Inspector Kelso told me.
Did he indeed? How helpful of him.
Keep her moving, Boxer.
Sorry, Mr Hawley.
Long way from home, Philip.
Are you the buyer? Needs to see a farrier.
What's a farrier? She needs new shoes, Sergeant.
Got anything fancy down in Stolen Property? You took some tracking down.
Well, I didn't know I was still on your Christmas card list.
We need your help, mate.
We need you back in court.
What are you talking about? You landed me in the shit for reasons I still can't fathom.
So now's your chance to put it right.
Look, I want no more to do with this business.
I've done that woman enough harm.
You should have thought about that before you started shooting your mouth off, shouldn't you? Look, I'm doing all right now, Mr Kelso.
I'm staying out of trouble-.
I don't want anything more to do with the police.
No offence.
Commendable of you.
But I wonder if the owners of this place know what a delinquent they've got on their hands.
Better keep tabs on these horses if they don't want them doing a Shergar.
Perhaps a friendly warning might be in order.
What do you think, Sergeant? Just tell your story one more time and you'll never see either of us again.
I won't do it.
Not to her.
You will, you know.
Because if you don't every time you get in your car, you'll be stopped.
Every time you go for a job, your record will come up.
Every time you so much as cross the road when the little man's still red, you'll be done.
Getting my drift, Philip? - Tell me the truth.
- It is the truth.
- Why is Boxer giving evidence? - I don't know.
- If it's a lie, why's he saying it? - How the hell should I know? - They've brought him back.
Why? - They're desperate.
They've lost the case.
It can't be that.
They've found something out.
They must have.
What could they have found out? - Swear to me.
Swear it isn't true.
- You believe him, don't you? - No, I just need to hear it - You take Boxer's word.
My God, all these years! I've lived with you all these years! And you think I could abuse a child! I just need you to say it.
(sobs) ALDERMARTEN: Mother, I'm off.
I'll be back by eight.
There's a play on the radio I thought we could catch.
There you are.
I didn't realise you were up.
I'm going back, darling.
I phoned Dorothy and she's coming to collect me.
There'll be more time next week, I promise you.
It's these damn committal proceedings.
It's not that.
- Well, what is it, then? - I miss home.
Well, I thought you were lonely there.
It's familiar.
- Well, Mother, I'm sorry.
- You mustn't be.
You've been so sweet.
But what? Oh, Jeremy, I love you, but we're different.
I can't stand opera.
We'll get tickets for Cats.
Heaven forbid.
- Will you be all right? - I love it here, Mother.
- Now, drive carefully, Dorothy.
- I will.
Your father had no real friends either.
Not even me in the end.
You won't be like him, will you? (Dorothy starts engine) that the evidence I shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Mr Boxer On April 24th, 1998, you were arrested and taken to Welsley Green Police Station, is that correct? Yes, sir.
You were interviewed by Detective Sergeant Raeburn and Detective Chief Inspector Kelso from CID in relation to some stolen property.
Yes.
During this interview, you told the officers a story about a certain experience you had had many years previously whilst in care at Harcourt Lodge, a boys' home in Sussex.
To the best of your ability, Mr Boxer, would you retell that story for us now? I'd been at the Lodge for about six years.
Since! was nine.
I'd never been in any trouble.
And after it was over, she er warned me not to tell anyone.
And she gave me a fiver.
And then she took me back to the Lodge.
But er I was still really very upset.
And so I talked to Mr Fitzalan about it.
He said he would sort it all out.
But er I never saw her again.
FOXCOTT: Everything happened exactly as you've described it, did it, Mr Boxer? Yeah.
Think carefully before you answer my next question.
At Mrs Watkins' trial, you recounted exactly this same story, but then retracted it.
You even announced that Chief Inspector Kelso had invented the story himself.
Why did you do that? To get my own back.
You know? On the police.
For all the crap they've given me.
FOXCOTT: But were you not worried that if you sabotaged Mrs Watkins' trial, so to speak, the police would reopen the case against you concerning the stolen goods? I was pretty sure they wouldn't.
- You took a gamble? - Yeah.
Is that the only reason you retracted your story? I felt sorry for her.
For Mrs Watkins? BOXER: Yeah.
FOXCOTT: Even though she'd indecently assaulted you when you were a child? Yeah, but that was years ago.
That's water under the bridge now.
But if it was water under the bridge why did you tell Chief Inspector Kelso and Sergeant Raeburn the story in the first place? It got me off the charge, didn't it? Thank you, Mr Boxer.
No more questions.
When did you last see Chief Inspector Kelso, before today? Two days ago.
- When you agreed to be a witness? - Yeah.
Did you promise Chief Inspector Kelso that you wouldn't retract the story, like you did last time? Yes.
So you've forgiven them? The police? "For all the crap they've given me"? Did Chief Inspector Kelso encourage you in any way to come here today? No.
Did he threaten you? No.
You just volunteered your services? You said just now that you retracted the story at Mrs Watkins' trial because you also felt sorry for her? Son of, yeah.
KAVANAGH: But today, you've repeated the allegation.
Obviously you don't feel sorry for her any longer.
Well, it still happened, didn't it? Who knows? You say she abused you and then you say she didn't abuse you.
Now you say she did again! What will you say next week? Why did you never tell the story of this alleged assault by Mrs Watkins to the police before, on the occasion of your previous arrests? I don't know.
Did you tell them this time because you were facing a long sentence? Yes.
Was it also because Mrs Watkins had recently become a government minister? Sorry, how do you mean? Did you happen to mention to Chief Inspector Kelso that the woman who allegedly assaulted you was an important politician? Yes.
But he knew that already.
So, whose idea was it for you to be a witness against her? Was it your idea? Or did Chief Inspector Kelso suggest it? Mine, I suppose.
You decided to destroy a woman's career and reputation to save your own skin? - But I didn't want to.
- Didn't want to what? I didn't want to use her like that, you know? You didn't want to use her to get yourself off the hook? No, not like that.
If you didn't want to use her, why did you tell Chief Inspector Kelso she assaulted you? - That doesn't make any sense, Mr Boxer.
- I never told him that she assaulted me, OK? But you've just said you did! How many more times are you going to change your mind? Are you retracting your story yet again? No.
It happened.
It just didn't happen like I said it did.
It was different.
What do you mean? I wanted to be with her.
She never forced me, she never abused me.
She never made me do anything.
What exactly did you tell Chief Inspector Kelso in that police interview room when you were first arrested? She was good to me.
We talked.
That's all.
I was telling her about Fitzalan and what a bastard he was.
And she felt sorry for me.
And she told me about her baby who died.
And I fell sorry for her.
We were friends.
You know? She said she was going to stay over in Hastings, just for the night.
To get away, because she hated doing this inquiry thing.
She even mentioned this place.
Seaview, near the pier.
So, next morning, I got a bus to Hastings.
She was very surprised to see me.
And we were in her room, just talking.
And she started telling me about Juliet again.
And she started crying.
So I just I kissed her.
And she was shocked.
But then we just It just er happened.
No-one had ever held me before.
Not We met.
It was the best day of my life.
KAVANAGH: And was that the version of these events that you told Chief Inspector Kelso? Yeah, that's exactly what I told Chief Inspector Kelso.
But he said I should change my story.
Cos she was guilty, anyway, he said, cos I was only 15.
Right? [And then he said that.]
should make like I was scared like I was a wee boy, you know? I was nothing like a wee boy, not to her.
He even made me say that she gave me money for sex.
That's disgusting.
I would never have taken money off her.
I I really liked her.
You know? If you really liked her why did you betray her? Because I'm scum.
We were sitting on the bed chatting about this and that.
Nothing, really.
And suddenly, he asked me about Juliet again.
And did I want another child? I told him I hadn't the courage.
There was still the gum of "It.
I said I'd die if anything happened to another child of mine-.
And then I (Sighs) started to cry and I couldn't stop-.
It was like all the pain of those months We hadn't really cried.
Not properly.
And the more I cried, the more the pain eased.
And the next thing I knew, he was comforting me kissing me.
We made me.
We needed each other.
Just for that moment.
I'm sorry.
If you tell yourself you haven't done anything wrong often enough you end up believing it.
KAVANAGH: Except you did.
Boxer was only 15.
He knew more about life at 15 than I'll ever know.
It er may be a long wait.
If the jury decide in your favour, they'll have to decide the amount of damages to award you.
That's a big if, isn't it? I went to see Philip before he gave evidence at my trial.
Mrs Watkins, please don't say anything we ought not to hear.
I asked him to retract the story.
I even promised to help him find a job, something he really enjoyed.
He didn't want to hurt me, he wanted to take it back.
Alex, I Mr Kavanagh, unfortunately my client has just said some things about her earlier trial she shouldn't have.
I'm afraid, if you need more help after the verdict, you're going to have to instruct somebody else.
It doesn't matter.
It's all over, anyway.
JUDGE: Will you take the questions we formulated earlier and upon which I gave you directions? Do you find for the plaintiff, Mrs Barbara Watkins, or the defendant, the Commissioner of Police, as to whether the defendant reasonably believed Philip Boxer's original account of being indecently assaulted by the plaintiff in the Seaview Guest House in Hastings in 1982? We find for the plaintiff.
(Murmuring) On the basis of the jury's findings of fact, I find that the plaintiff succeeds in her action for malicious prosecution in respect of her trial for indecent assault.
Has the jury agreed on the amount of damages to be awarded to the plaintiff? We have, my lady.
JUDGE: Firstly, damages to compensate the plaintiff for her personal suffering.
We have agreed on the figure of£100.
(Shocked whispering) Have you agreed on any measure of aggravated damages to compensate the plaintiff for harm done to her reputation? Yes, my lady, we award the plaintiff nothing.
(Murmurs of astonishment) Maurice Fitzalan never knew about Boxer and Barbara Watkins, did he? Not until you told him all those years later.
He knew, all right.
He just had no proof.
And he never spoke about it to anyone until I went to see him.
You still took it upon yourself to rewrite Boxer's story, didn't you? And in the real world, Miss Winslow, how many villains would we put behind bars if we didn't iron out the ambiguities once in a while? It's results that count.
And justice? It's more or less served by a more or less honest system.
If it isn't, I don't know what the hell any of us are doing here.
(Journalists shout questions) REPORTER.
Former Junior Home Office Minister, Barbara Watkins, resigned her parliamentary seat this afternoon following the outcome of her action against the Metropolitan Police for malicious prosecution.
Though technically she won the case, the derisory amount of damages she was awarded have made her appear guilty in the eyes of the world.
Labour Party sources stated that she never had official backing for what was a strictly private action.
Barbara Watkins was appointed to the post of Junior Home Office Minister in 1997 KAVANAGH: A life ruined.
A couple of hours in a Hastings guest house.
Career, reputation, self-esteem.
For what? The comfort of strangers.
But child abuse is child abuse.
That's what Chief Inspector Kelso said.
He had the law on his side so he must be right.
What'll happen to her, I wonder? She'll disappear into discredited obscurity.
And Philip Boxer will no doubt go back to a life of petty crime.
Meanwhile, you and I will carry on trying to turn infinite shades of grey into black and white.
FOXCOTT: No-one will criticise you for refusing instructions under the circumstances, least of all me, James.
FOXCOTT: She wouldn't have instructed you unless she thought you were the best.
(Phone rings) TOM: Hello? Yes? He wants to see you, yeah.
So if you can come in (Tom laughs) Yes.
Don't worry.
Yeah, I'll have someone on it first thing.
Bye.
- Off home, sir? - Um Oh, yes, thank you very much.
Well, mind how you go in those bus lanes.
What? Shame.
There's a case here right up your street.
Big juicy fraud.
At least three months.
York.
Lovely spot.
Oh, well.
- Do you think Mr Foxcott would fancy that? - No, no, no, I'll do it.
No, you're right.
Right up my street.
What about your mother, sir? FOXCOTT: You'll be up for it soon.
Do you fancy the job? KAVANAGH: It's an honour.
But no doubt he'll stay miles away from me.
Come in.
Um, I'm not interrupting, am I? No, not at all, no.
Well, I just wanted to say that Um, well, you know, I've I've not always been entirely open about things.
And I want you both to know that um well, simply that you two are as it were I value what you both give.
Good.
Well, I'd better be off.
I don't think I've ever heard him so articulate.
Barbara! Turn this way.
please.
RETURNING OFFICER: Mick.
Kenneth.
the Referendum Perry.
992.
(Scattered applause) Nicholson, Andrew Robert, the Hedgehogs Say No To Bypass Party (Laughter) - 341 (Cheering) - Sinclair, Ashley Peter, Conservative Party (Booing) 16.
808.
(Applause and cheering) Watkins, Barbara Gillian.
Labour Party.
- 26 thousand (Wild cheering) .
.
955.
I hereby declare Barbara Gillian Watkins to be duly elected as Member of Parliament for Hawksley South.
(Cheering) Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr Mayor, to you and your staff for the speed and efficiency of the count.
I would also like to thank the police for their help.
But most of all, I would like to thank the people of Hawksley South for re-electing me as their Labour Member of Parliament.
I've been proud to serve this constituency for the past ten years.
But I'm even prouder tonight because "It's an historic night for the Labour Party.
(Applause) - We are going to win.
There's going to be a Labour government.
Where there was despair, now there's hope.
It's a victory not only for the Labour Party, but for the people of Britain.
Are you sure? A long time ago.
You were only 15.
I'm sure.
The suspect has identified Barbara Watkins from a video recording of the night of the General Election, May 1st, 1997.
Interview suspended, 11:25pm.
We can do business here, Philip.
Barbara, any comment? When we got into the room, she said, 'Don't worry, everything's going to be all right, as tong as you don'! tell anyone.
' It was going to be our secret.
And then she locked the door.
Did you and Mrs Watkins have sexual intercourse? - Yes.
- And what happened afterwards? How do you mean? Well, did she give you anything? - She gave me a fiver.
- She gave you five pounds? You are in a strange town being given money by a woman old enough to be your mother, money to buy your silence after she forced you to have sexual intercourse with her, after she indecently assaulted you.
If If you think back to the events of that day what stays in your mind? ! was scared.
I was just a boy.
Yes.
No further questions, my lord.
Mr Boxer, how tall were you when you were 15? Um, about the same as I am now, I suppose.
But Mrs Watkins is only 5 '6".
Are you saying that you couldn't have left the room if you'd wanted to? I told you, I was scared.
But you were able to have sexual intercourse.
Yeah.
Well, she knew what she was doing, didn't she? KAVANAGH: How long after this alleged sexual encounter with Mrs Watkins did you leave the boys' home, Harcourt Lodge? About two months, when I was 16.
And how has life treated you since then? - All right.
- Really? Since you left Harcourt Lodge, you have been arrested eight times, been to court three times and spent a total of more than five years in prison.
Doesn't the prospect of prison scare you any more? I don't think about it.
I've no doubt you thought about it three months ago, Mr Boxer, when you were arrested for receiving stolen property-.
You knew you could have been sent down for seven years this time.
You must have been terrified.
So you made a deal, didn't you? No.
You offered the police a bigger fish to fry.
Barbara Watkins, a junior minister at the Home Office, no less.
If you could help the police to pin a charge of indecent assault on such a public figure, they'd forget all about your possession of a few stolen goods.
I told them what she did to me back then.
I didn't know that they would drop the charges against me, did I? So you decided to tell the officers that, when you were a boy in care at Harcourt Lodge, you were indecently assaulted by Barbara Watkins in a Hastings guest house? Yes or no, Mr Boxer? Simple enough question.
Or did one of the officers suggest it to you? You must answer the question.
KAVANAGH: Mr Boxer? It never happened.
(Murmuring) Any of it.
Are you saying you were never with Mrs Watkins in Hastings? No.
No, I never was.
And you never had sexual intercourse with her? No.
She never touched me.
The whole story's bollocks.
He made it up.
Him.
(Murmuring) MAN: Quite amazing.
We're grateful, Mr Kavanagh.
Boxer did my job for me.
I can't believe it's over.
Thank you.
Well, now you can get back to running the country.
- How do you feel? - Do you think you were setup? The matter is completely closed and I'm looking forward to getting back to my office.
- Do you hold anyone responsible? - No, I don't.
- What about the police? - I certainly don't bear any grudges.
Why did Boxer take it all back, do you think? One in the eye for the police, crisis of conscience, who knows? Bit risky, wasn't it? The police might re-open the case against him for receiving.
They've dropped that charge once.
They'd never get a conviction.
Boxer probably knew that.
Thanks.
You don't seriously think I put that toerag up to it? Whether Boxer invented the whole story or you did is none of my concern, Chief Inspector.
Child abuse is still child abuse whichever way you look at it.
I'm so sorry I'm late.
Thank you.
Cheers.
It's strictly confidential till after the weekend.
You know the form.
Of course.
My God, you've only been an MP five minutes.
I'm so pleased for you, Christine.
What? That's not the main reason I wanted to see you.
I really shouldn't be telling you this.
But they want to move you.
Where to? Which department? I'm so sorry, Barbara.
Apparently, they want to move you out.
- There may be a chair of a select committee.
- I don't want a chair of a select committee! - I'm a minister.
I want to be in government.
- I told them that.
- You were there when they discussed it? - No, of course not.
I don't believe this.
- They just know how close we are.
- So they sent you to sweeten the pill? I wanted to be the one who warned you.
Did the Police Federation send a delegation to No.
10 demanding my head on a plate? - Life would be easier without me.
Is that it? - Barbara Sacked for being found innocent and having my case dismissed.
Barbara, there's more.
I'm sorry.
They're giving me your job.
You know what people will say when this story breaks.
- "Mrs Watkins was prosecuted for child abuse.
" - The case collapsed.
"Now she's been sacked from the government.
Must be something they're not telling us.
" All right, so you sue the police and get damages.
Then what? There is such a thing as public pressure.
They sacked me because they wanted to pander to the police.
I want people to know that.
It's a hell of a risk.
If you take the police to court for malicious prosecution, they'll go the distance.
They'll do anything to protect their reputation.
Are you ready for that? I want to clear my name once and for all.
When I was at the Home Office, I had several run-ins with the police over corruption, racism, recruitment, you name it.
I ruffled some feathers, so they wanted to fit me up.
They can't be allowed to get away with it.
Walk away from it, that's my advice.
I'm asking you to act for me, Mr Kavanagh.
If you're absolutely determined Well, she's certainly brave, taking on the Met.
Well, you don't get where she did without knowing a thing or two.
I said she was brave not clever.
I'm walking for two here, James.
I've got to sit down.
- Will we call Boxer? - No chance.
He's a self-confessed perjurer.
So the police won't either, for the same reason.
But can we win without him? To be honest, I don't know.
Slaughtered.
Any holiday plans, Thomas? Why do I get the feeling I'm not going to enjoy this conversation? How about a couple of days at the seaside? I don't sunbathe, guv.
I burn easy.
The Met's counting on us, Thomas.
The bad news is, we have to son our defence in our own time.
There's a vicar in Somerset that's got four wives.
I want you to find that guest house.
There is no guest house.
Boxer was taking the piss.
He set the bait and we swallowed it.
Watkins shagged Boxer in Hastings in 1982 and you're going to find out where.
You want me to track down an unknown guest house that might have given someone a room 16 years ago? Had steps at the front, he said.
KAVANAGH: I'm looking forward to it.
FOXCOTT: Oh, so am I.
The Commissioner of Police must be very confident, a big expensive silk like you.
He is, James, he is.
- A trick or two up your sleeve? - Not tricks as such.
To hide the gaping holes in your clients' case? (Laughs) No.
I'm terribly sorry.
- Mr Aldermarten's usually so punctual- - Oh, don't worry-.
Ah, sir, there's a lady What's the point in a Red Route if the road's clogged up with buses every 100 yards? I think the idea is that you don't drive down the bus lane-Um Dorothy, I'm so sorry.
Would you like to come through? She's no idea I've come to see you, but I thought I ought to.
- Well, I'm very grateful.
- She's lonely, Jeremy.
- She doesn't have enough to occupy her mind.
- It's more than that.
She's depressed.
I've been meaning to get down there more often since Father died, but I've been very busy, what with one thing and another and No, that's not true.
I've neglected her.
With a 15-year-old, you say? He was, then.
I'm sorry.
Thank you.
(Journalists shout questions) Have you any comment, Barbara? KAVANAGH: The plaintiff, Barbara Watkins, has extremely good cause to bring this action against the Metropolitan Police.
And I shall be asking for damages to compensate for the personal suffering she had to endure from her wrongful arrest and malicious prosecution.
Damages to compensate for the harm done to her considerable reputation arising out of an accusation of indecent assault.
And damages to make a necessary example of the police's behaviour in this case.
The conduct of the police against the plaintiff leads one to ask if they didn't have some wholly malicious desire to destroy Mrs Watkins' reputation for reasons of their own-.
Former Junior Home Office Minister Barbara Watkins is suing the Metropolitan Police for malicious prosecution, arising out of her trial for indecent assault which collapsed last year.
BARBARA: I'm making forward to a speedy trial so I can get back to my Parliamentary duties as quickly as possible.
I can't say any more at the moment but I have every confidence in the outcome.
Thank you.
(Journalists shout questions) What brought about your first visit to the boys' home, Harcourt Lodge, in 1982? BARBARA: There'd been rumours that some of the boys in the home had been physically abused.
Social services invited me to conduct an independent inquiry to see if there was enough substance in the rumours to begin formal child protection procedures.
Why did they invite you? I was experienced in the field of childcare.
And I was also familiar with the working practices of local authority-maintained children's homes.
I was also available, having recently left my previous employment.
What was your previous employment? You weren't a Member of Parliament at the time, were you? No, I wasn't elected till 1987.
In early '82.
I was working full-time in the voluntary sector for a children's charity.
What was the outcome of your inquiry? One member of staff was reprimanded.
That's Maurice Fitzalan, whom we shall be hearing from later.
But he wasn't sacked? The social services in their wisdom allowed him to retire on sickness grounds, with an enhanced pension.
Did you agree with that decision? It wasn't my place to agree or disagree.
But I was satisfied that the boy's future safety was assured.
Now when you were conducting your inquiry, were you given free rein to talk to anyone you wanted? Yes.
Members of the social services committee itself, workers in the home, the boys that lived there, of course, their social workers in fact, anyone that I thought could throw some light on the matter.
And that's when you first met Philip Boxer, then aged 15? He was one of a number of boys I spent time with talking about life in the home.
He eventually admitted to me that he'd been constantly bullied by Fitzalan, as had a number of the other boys.
Did you ever take Philip Boxer to Hastings? - No.
- Or any other boy? No.
Had you ever seen or communicated with Boxer at any time from 1982 until your arrest in 1998? Why would I? Have you any idea why he chose to implicate you in charges of indecent assault? - None at all.
- Have you any idea why he would then retract those allegations at your trial? No.
Now, after Boxer retracted those allegations of abuse, the case against you was thrown out.
So why have you brought this action against the police? I'm concerned that the public might still harbour some doubts about my innocence.
Are you anti-police, Mrs Watkins? Quite the opposite.
I want the public to hold the police fume in the highest possible regard.
But to do that, they must be convinced of the police's absolute probity.
- What did Dorothy tell you? - Dorothy Franks? Do you know, I haven't seen her for ages.
I don't know how you convince a jury.
I know straightaway when you're lying.
She told me you'd been a bit down.
It's my fault.
I haven't tried hard enough.
It's not your fault, sweetheart.
Eight months.
It's just flown by.
Nearly nine.
And before, when Father was so ill.
It's just that when he was here, you know I know.
I mean, we never really hit it off.
Did we? He always meant well, of course.
But he was a private man.
Doesn't mean he didn't love you in his way.
Come and stay with me.
For a bit.
In London? - Yes.
- Whatever for? Well, there's lots of things we could do-We could go to the opera, go to galleries We'd have some fun.
Would you like that, Jeremy? Wouldn't you? Very flattering, I'd have thought, to be considered the only person who could establish the truth of what was going on at Harcourt Lodge? Plenty of people could have carried out that inquiry.
But social services asked you.
- Quite a responsibility, wouldn't you say? - Yes, I suppose it was.
Were you going through a particularly emotional phase in your own life at the time, Mrs Watkins? How do you mean? You mentioned that in the early summer of 1982, you had recently left your previous employment.
Why was that? Do I have to answer? Is there a point to this line of questioning? I think the plaintiff's state of mind at the time of the alleged incidents may be pertinent to the case, my lady.
I left my job because there'd been a personal tragedy in the family.
What sort of tragedy? My daughter Juliet had died.
I'm sorry to have to ask you this but Will you tell us how she died? She was drowned in a friend's garden pond.
How old was your daughter when this terrible tragedy happened? Two years and ten months.
Was it not likely, then, Mrs Watkins, that only a few months after this tragic accident, when you were conducting the inquiry into Harcourt Lodge, that you were in a more vulnerable state than you might otherwise have been? I was still very sad about Juliet, of course I was.
But I would never let that interfere with my duties.
Nevertheless, here you were, a caring and compassionate woman, recently tragically bereaved, showing concern for a teenage boy, Philip Boxer, who had been "constantly bullied" by a member of staff.
Might that boy not have fixated himself with the idea that your kindnesses towards him were in fact thinly-disguised sexual overtures? I was a professional.
I know how careful you have to be when you're in a position of trust.
But if Boxer had convinced himself, and if he were to tell a police officer many years later that you and he had had sexual relations when he was only 15, what would that officer's duty have been? You will have to ask the officer.
I intend to.
But even if Boxer didn't actually believe you'd indecently assaulted him all those years ago, even if he'd only pretended to the police that you'd assaulted him, to get himself off a charge, what would that police officer's duty have been, then? Why are you asking me? Because either way, Mrs Watkins, the police had no choice but to act on the information Boxer gave them, wouldn't you agree? Well, yes, I suppose so In which case, their prosecution of you can scarcely be said to have been malicious.
Can it? But Philip Boxer was lying, wasn't he? He said so in court-.
But the police weren't to know that.
And I'm sure that you of all people wouldn't want to return to the bad old days when victims of sexual assault were assumed to be lying.
Would you? I wish you'd told me about your daughter.
What business is it of anybody's, anyway? Barbara! I thought we were bringing the action against the police.
Am I on trial again here for child abuse? Is there anything else they can dredge up against you? Anything at all? No.
I think you'd better have a look at this, Miss Winslow.
Thanks, Tom.
Your Mr Foxcott's not quite the cosy old gent he seems.
Cosy as in crocodile, professionally.
From the police solicitors.
A Hastings landlady claims to have rented you a room in June 1982.
What? Phyllis Labone.
Proprietor of the Seaview Guest House.
But she does say you were alone.
BARBARA: But she says I was there, doesn't she? A bit bloody late in the day.
Where did they drag her from? It's not too late to settle, Mrs Watkins.
You'd still be the winner.
You'll have made your point.
Throw in the towel, is that what you're saying? Settling out of court is not an admission of guilt-This isn't a criminal trial-.
But it's an admission of defeat, isn't it? Both parties walk away.
Your reputation's intact.
I'm not going to settle.
Please don't suggest it again.
It was completely out of order, Peter.
The daughter's death was inevitably going to arise.
Quite frankly, I'm amazed you hadn't prepared your client.
I had no idea you'd be sinking that low.
Unless, of course, you didn't know about the child.
I didn't need to know.
- Barbara Watkins isn't on trial here.
- Don't be naive.
Of course she is.
Are those your instructions? Get the mud to stick, no matter what? Probity in public life? Her words, James.
I think we might have a problem.
I wish I'd told you earlier.
Told me what? 16 years ago, I spent a night in Hastings.
The landlady couldn't have looked at me more than twice.
And now they've found her.
- On your own? - Of course on my own.
What do you think? Why? The anonymity, I don't know.
I thought a night away from home would do me good.
- Where was I? I don't remember this- - At some conference or other-.
I was in a state.
I didn't know what I was doing.
I walked on the beach, watched the TV.
I never thought.
And now this bloody woman turns up.
I still don't understand.
All day, I'd be with those children in that home and I couldn't help thinking about Juliet.
Wondering what she'd be like.
Ten, twelve.
I had to get away.
Why didn't you say all this in court? Because it would have meant talking about her.
I don't want them trampling all over her memory.
We're going to have to tell Kavanagh.
We can't.
If they know I lied about Hastings, they'll say I lied about everything else-.
Mother.
- Oh, darling, goodbye.
Have a lovely time.
- Hello, Mother.
Lovely to be here.
I'll go on in, shall I? - Dorothy, thank you.
- Bye-bye, Dorothy.
(Dorothy starts car) Oh, such a lot of flowers! I know how you love them.
I thought we could go to Sissinghurst.
It's been years since I've seen the garden.
Vita was a lesbian.
But I've always wondered if that didn't make her a better gardener-.
And Boxer's sitting there in the interview room trying to get my sympathy.
He suddenly comes up with this whole story about him and Mrs Watkins.
How she abused him when he was a kid and ruined his life.
How did you respond to this story? I laughed.
I mean, I've heard some excuses in my time.
But he goes on.
He tells me what they did, what she said.
After a bit, I stopped laughing.
- And you believed him? - No, I didn't believe a word.
But I was intrigued, the detail of it.
- He talked like it was yesterday.
FOXCOTT: So, when did you believe him? Later, at the end of the interview, he said, "You ask Fitzalan.
He'll tell you all about it.
" That was Maurice Fitzalan, a care worker at the boys' home? Yes, he'd been in the Met.
So he wasn't hard to find.
He confirmed Boxer's story.
FOXCOTT: How did Fitzalan know it was true? Boxer told him at the time.
The trip to Hastings, everything.
But when it came to the plaintiff's trial, Boxer changed his tune and suddenly claimed you had invented the story, didn't he? How could I have done that? I didn't know there was any link between Mrs Watkins and Boxer.
Her name never came up in connection with his previous convictions.
- But you had heard of Mrs Watkins? - Of course.
What was your opinion of her? Of her public profile, as it were? I don't think I had an opinion of her one way or the other.
But you did know that she'd expressed some fairly strong criticisms of the police, didn't you? Well, these days, Mr Foxcott, who hasn't? (Ripple of laughter) Ah! Oh, yes Hmm.
(Mutters to himself) Marvellous sense of erm colour.
- It's red.
- Yes, yes, yes, but it's so visceral.
Meaning what exactly? Meaning Art must move with the times, Mother.
You have to push back the parameters.
Must it? Oh, well, I'm more of a Constable person myself.
Oh, the Hay thing.
Charming.
So you had no opinion of Mrs Watkins "one way or the other"? No.
But when Philip Boxer told you the story of how she had abused him, what, 16 years earlier, you decided it was your duty to investigate the allegations? Certainly.
Even if they were made by a known criminal, looking for a way to keep himself out of prison? Even then.
When you investigated the allegations against Mrs Watkins, presumably Maurice Fitzalan wasn't the only person from Harcourt Lodge you interviewed? We spoke to three ex-members of staff and several boys who'd been there.
Why weren't those people to be called as witnesses at the plaintiff's trial? Well, that wasn't up to me, of course.
The Crown Prosecution Service decided they had nothing to offer the case.
So the truth is, you could only find one witness to corroborate Boxer's story about his alleged abuse.
- Yes, but - And that witness was an ex-policeman.
So what? More importantly, Maurice Fitzalan had no reason to like Mrs Watkins, quite the reverse.
Wasn't she the author of the report which led directly to his being reprimanded and pensioned out of his job? Fitzalan struck me as a truthful man.
So you took the word of a discredited care worker and a known villain against the word of a government minister well-known for her integrity.
I put it to you that you never really believed Fitzalan at all.
I certainly did.
And you never honestly suspected Mrs Watkins of indecent assault either, did you? Yes, I did.
She was falsely arrested and maliciously prosecuted on the spurious word of someone you regard as little more than a "toerag".
At least he doesn't pretend to be something he isn't.
So you do have an opinion of her, Chief Inspector? And once you realised that Boxer had met Mrs Watkins when he was a boy, you saw a golden opportunity.
If you could get her charged with indecent assault, a woman you clearly had no time for, that would be cause for celebration, wouldn't it? Or do you still maintain you were "only doing your duty"? - Is he bothering you? - No.
She's not.
I tell you what is, though.
He's a senior policeman with an excellent record, Commendations, an award for bravery, the lot.
All set for a comfortable retirement where he can cash in on his memoirs.
Is he going to jeopardise all that just to fit up some minor politician? She's hiding something.
Do you get that feeling? I'm trying to suppress it.
Thank you.
Thanks for coming.
I appreciate it.
- It's all they can talk about, this case.
- Who? The police? The police, yes, the Home Office staff, everyone.
Well, they choose their words very carefully when I'm around, of course.
What about the leadership? They don't approve, do they? They'd rather you didn't lose.
- Do you think I'm going to? - Why? Do you? It's a trial, not a focus group.
(Laughs) I'll do my best not to.
Look, Barbara, I'm asking you to We're all asking you to settle the case now.
Just let the whole thing die down.
And here's me thinking you'd come out of solidarity.
I've checked with our legal people.
They say you'd still be the winner.
No.
I could see the lad was in a state.
So I called him into the office.
And he told me what happened.
In detail? Enough.
Mr Fitzalan, how do you know Boxer was telling you the truth? I knew those kids.
I saw them every day.
They couldn't fool me.
So, after he told you he had been indecently assaulted by Mrs Watkins, you decided not to pass this information on to your superiors? Wasn't that a dereliction of your duty, Mr Fitzalan? No.
We tried to solve the boy's problems ourselves.
And did you solve the problem of Boxer's alleged assault by Mrs Watkins? After we saw the last of Watkins, Boxer seemed to be fine.
So, here you were, accused by Mrs Watkins in her report of ritual bullying, but you say you discovered that Mrs Watkins had herself indecently assaulted one of the boys in your charge.
- Yet you never reported her.
- They'd have never believed me.
If I'd turned round and accused her of sexual abuse, - they'd have thrown the book at me.
- Would they not have been justified? It was fiction, wasn't it? Boxer never did tell you about a trip to Hastings.
You knew nothing about any of this until Detective Chief Inspector Kelso called on you 16 years later and asked a favour as one policeman to another.
That's the truth of the matter, isn't it? I've told you what happened.
June 1982.
A 32-year-old woman rings the bell.
She's got a 15-year-old boy with her.
What did he look like? That's for you to tell me, Phyllis.
I'm sorry.
- How about a cup of tea? - Yes, please.
(Door opens and closes) Of course, his police photo was taken a good few years after the time you met him.
He'd look older than how you might remember him.
A bit of a hippy.
A couple of weeks' growth, maybe.
Still good-looking, though.
Him.
We're off to the Wallace Collection and then a matinee of Boris Godunov.
That reminds me, I must have a word with Tom.
Not my sort of thing, I'm afraid.
Nor mine.
Jeremy's been telling me all about River Court.
Some of it good, I hope.
He speaks highly of you in particular, Mr Kavanagh.
Reducing your case load by 25%, Mr Aldermarten! That's going to mean a big drop in chambers' income.
She's my mother.
I want to spend some time with her.
She's depressed.
It won't be for very long.
We all get depressed, Mr Aldermarten.
And he's in that big house all alone.
No wife or children.
His only friends seem to be you and Mr Foxcott, as far as I can make out.
He takes after his father.
He was, what you might call, a loner.
Jeremy doesn't talk about his father much.
They weren't close, I'm afraid.
Lionel wasn't very good at that.
He packed Jeremy off to boarding school when he was seven.
By the time he was 18, they were virtually strangers.
Sorry, Mother.
Really, that man is heartless.
You haven't been boring James with a lot of Home Counties gossip, I hope, have you? On the contrary.
(Low conversation) Mrs Labone, the Hastings landlady, has identified a photograph of Boxer.
CLERK: Court, rise! FOXCOTT.
And what time did they leave the guest house? Round midday, as far as I remember.
Now, Mrs Labone, this was an awfully long time ago.
How can you be so sure it was Mrs Watkins? Well, I wasn't at first.
But when I saw her on the television recently, I knew.
- Because of what she said at the time.
FOXCOTT: How do you mean? PHYLLIS: When she paid me for the room, I had the television on.
It was the time of the Falklands War.
All the lads were coming home, people were waving flags and everything.
Mrs Watkins said something like, "What about all the Argies who've been killed?" Well, I don'! think she said 'Argies' but Anyway, I was quite shocked.
FOXCOTT: By her apparent lack of patriotism, do you mean? Yes.
Now, turning to the boy, Philip Boxer, how well do you remember him? Not too well, to be honest.
He was more in the background.
He didn't say anything.
He was obviously a shy lad.
But he was definitely the young man you identified in the photograph yesterday evening? Yes.
You've been most helpful, Mrs Lab-one-.
Thank you.
How many rooms are there in Seaview, Mrs Labone? - There's eight.
- Eight rooms.
With your guests staying on average, what, a week? Mrs Labone, I estimate that something like 2,000 people have stayed with you since 1982.
- Do you remember them all? - Of course not.
But you do remember the plaintiff? Mrs Watkins? Yes.
On the basis of a chance remark? I do remember her.
Like you remember the boy she brought? Well, yes, but But you didn't in your first statement to the police.
You said you thought Mrs Watkins stayed on her own.
Why didn't you remember him? Well, it was a long time ago.
Yes, it was, wasn't it? But you have remembered him since? Did someone jog your memory, Mrs Labone? When you picked out Boxer's photograph, what were you looking for? Handsome, ugly, fat, thin? What was your memory of the boy Mrs Watkins brought with her? Once you'd remembered there was such a boy? I don't know-I didn't really remember what he looked like-.
Really? But you still picked him out.
I knew he had, like, a bit of a beard.
A bit of a beard? How on earth would you know that? He was only 15 when you met him.
Well, because Because Chief Inspector Kelso told me.
Did he indeed? How helpful of him.
Keep her moving, Boxer.
Sorry, Mr Hawley.
Long way from home, Philip.
Are you the buyer? Needs to see a farrier.
What's a farrier? She needs new shoes, Sergeant.
Got anything fancy down in Stolen Property? You took some tracking down.
Well, I didn't know I was still on your Christmas card list.
We need your help, mate.
We need you back in court.
What are you talking about? You landed me in the shit for reasons I still can't fathom.
So now's your chance to put it right.
Look, I want no more to do with this business.
I've done that woman enough harm.
You should have thought about that before you started shooting your mouth off, shouldn't you? Look, I'm doing all right now, Mr Kelso.
I'm staying out of trouble-.
I don't want anything more to do with the police.
No offence.
Commendable of you.
But I wonder if the owners of this place know what a delinquent they've got on their hands.
Better keep tabs on these horses if they don't want them doing a Shergar.
Perhaps a friendly warning might be in order.
What do you think, Sergeant? Just tell your story one more time and you'll never see either of us again.
I won't do it.
Not to her.
You will, you know.
Because if you don't every time you get in your car, you'll be stopped.
Every time you go for a job, your record will come up.
Every time you so much as cross the road when the little man's still red, you'll be done.
Getting my drift, Philip? - Tell me the truth.
- It is the truth.
- Why is Boxer giving evidence? - I don't know.
- If it's a lie, why's he saying it? - How the hell should I know? - They've brought him back.
Why? - They're desperate.
They've lost the case.
It can't be that.
They've found something out.
They must have.
What could they have found out? - Swear to me.
Swear it isn't true.
- You believe him, don't you? - No, I just need to hear it - You take Boxer's word.
My God, all these years! I've lived with you all these years! And you think I could abuse a child! I just need you to say it.
(sobs) ALDERMARTEN: Mother, I'm off.
I'll be back by eight.
There's a play on the radio I thought we could catch.
There you are.
I didn't realise you were up.
I'm going back, darling.
I phoned Dorothy and she's coming to collect me.
There'll be more time next week, I promise you.
It's these damn committal proceedings.
It's not that.
- Well, what is it, then? - I miss home.
Well, I thought you were lonely there.
It's familiar.
- Well, Mother, I'm sorry.
- You mustn't be.
You've been so sweet.
But what? Oh, Jeremy, I love you, but we're different.
I can't stand opera.
We'll get tickets for Cats.
Heaven forbid.
- Will you be all right? - I love it here, Mother.
- Now, drive carefully, Dorothy.
- I will.
Your father had no real friends either.
Not even me in the end.
You won't be like him, will you? (Dorothy starts engine) that the evidence I shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Mr Boxer On April 24th, 1998, you were arrested and taken to Welsley Green Police Station, is that correct? Yes, sir.
You were interviewed by Detective Sergeant Raeburn and Detective Chief Inspector Kelso from CID in relation to some stolen property.
Yes.
During this interview, you told the officers a story about a certain experience you had had many years previously whilst in care at Harcourt Lodge, a boys' home in Sussex.
To the best of your ability, Mr Boxer, would you retell that story for us now? I'd been at the Lodge for about six years.
Since! was nine.
I'd never been in any trouble.
And after it was over, she er warned me not to tell anyone.
And she gave me a fiver.
And then she took me back to the Lodge.
But er I was still really very upset.
And so I talked to Mr Fitzalan about it.
He said he would sort it all out.
But er I never saw her again.
FOXCOTT: Everything happened exactly as you've described it, did it, Mr Boxer? Yeah.
Think carefully before you answer my next question.
At Mrs Watkins' trial, you recounted exactly this same story, but then retracted it.
You even announced that Chief Inspector Kelso had invented the story himself.
Why did you do that? To get my own back.
You know? On the police.
For all the crap they've given me.
FOXCOTT: But were you not worried that if you sabotaged Mrs Watkins' trial, so to speak, the police would reopen the case against you concerning the stolen goods? I was pretty sure they wouldn't.
- You took a gamble? - Yeah.
Is that the only reason you retracted your story? I felt sorry for her.
For Mrs Watkins? BOXER: Yeah.
FOXCOTT: Even though she'd indecently assaulted you when you were a child? Yeah, but that was years ago.
That's water under the bridge now.
But if it was water under the bridge why did you tell Chief Inspector Kelso and Sergeant Raeburn the story in the first place? It got me off the charge, didn't it? Thank you, Mr Boxer.
No more questions.
When did you last see Chief Inspector Kelso, before today? Two days ago.
- When you agreed to be a witness? - Yeah.
Did you promise Chief Inspector Kelso that you wouldn't retract the story, like you did last time? Yes.
So you've forgiven them? The police? "For all the crap they've given me"? Did Chief Inspector Kelso encourage you in any way to come here today? No.
Did he threaten you? No.
You just volunteered your services? You said just now that you retracted the story at Mrs Watkins' trial because you also felt sorry for her? Son of, yeah.
KAVANAGH: But today, you've repeated the allegation.
Obviously you don't feel sorry for her any longer.
Well, it still happened, didn't it? Who knows? You say she abused you and then you say she didn't abuse you.
Now you say she did again! What will you say next week? Why did you never tell the story of this alleged assault by Mrs Watkins to the police before, on the occasion of your previous arrests? I don't know.
Did you tell them this time because you were facing a long sentence? Yes.
Was it also because Mrs Watkins had recently become a government minister? Sorry, how do you mean? Did you happen to mention to Chief Inspector Kelso that the woman who allegedly assaulted you was an important politician? Yes.
But he knew that already.
So, whose idea was it for you to be a witness against her? Was it your idea? Or did Chief Inspector Kelso suggest it? Mine, I suppose.
You decided to destroy a woman's career and reputation to save your own skin? - But I didn't want to.
- Didn't want to what? I didn't want to use her like that, you know? You didn't want to use her to get yourself off the hook? No, not like that.
If you didn't want to use her, why did you tell Chief Inspector Kelso she assaulted you? - That doesn't make any sense, Mr Boxer.
- I never told him that she assaulted me, OK? But you've just said you did! How many more times are you going to change your mind? Are you retracting your story yet again? No.
It happened.
It just didn't happen like I said it did.
It was different.
What do you mean? I wanted to be with her.
She never forced me, she never abused me.
She never made me do anything.
What exactly did you tell Chief Inspector Kelso in that police interview room when you were first arrested? She was good to me.
We talked.
That's all.
I was telling her about Fitzalan and what a bastard he was.
And she felt sorry for me.
And she told me about her baby who died.
And I fell sorry for her.
We were friends.
You know? She said she was going to stay over in Hastings, just for the night.
To get away, because she hated doing this inquiry thing.
She even mentioned this place.
Seaview, near the pier.
So, next morning, I got a bus to Hastings.
She was very surprised to see me.
And we were in her room, just talking.
And she started telling me about Juliet again.
And she started crying.
So I just I kissed her.
And she was shocked.
But then we just It just er happened.
No-one had ever held me before.
Not We met.
It was the best day of my life.
KAVANAGH: And was that the version of these events that you told Chief Inspector Kelso? Yeah, that's exactly what I told Chief Inspector Kelso.
But he said I should change my story.
Cos she was guilty, anyway, he said, cos I was only 15.
Right? [And then he said that.]
should make like I was scared like I was a wee boy, you know? I was nothing like a wee boy, not to her.
He even made me say that she gave me money for sex.
That's disgusting.
I would never have taken money off her.
I I really liked her.
You know? If you really liked her why did you betray her? Because I'm scum.
We were sitting on the bed chatting about this and that.
Nothing, really.
And suddenly, he asked me about Juliet again.
And did I want another child? I told him I hadn't the courage.
There was still the gum of "It.
I said I'd die if anything happened to another child of mine-.
And then I (Sighs) started to cry and I couldn't stop-.
It was like all the pain of those months We hadn't really cried.
Not properly.
And the more I cried, the more the pain eased.
And the next thing I knew, he was comforting me kissing me.
We made me.
We needed each other.
Just for that moment.
I'm sorry.
If you tell yourself you haven't done anything wrong often enough you end up believing it.
KAVANAGH: Except you did.
Boxer was only 15.
He knew more about life at 15 than I'll ever know.
It er may be a long wait.
If the jury decide in your favour, they'll have to decide the amount of damages to award you.
That's a big if, isn't it? I went to see Philip before he gave evidence at my trial.
Mrs Watkins, please don't say anything we ought not to hear.
I asked him to retract the story.
I even promised to help him find a job, something he really enjoyed.
He didn't want to hurt me, he wanted to take it back.
Alex, I Mr Kavanagh, unfortunately my client has just said some things about her earlier trial she shouldn't have.
I'm afraid, if you need more help after the verdict, you're going to have to instruct somebody else.
It doesn't matter.
It's all over, anyway.
JUDGE: Will you take the questions we formulated earlier and upon which I gave you directions? Do you find for the plaintiff, Mrs Barbara Watkins, or the defendant, the Commissioner of Police, as to whether the defendant reasonably believed Philip Boxer's original account of being indecently assaulted by the plaintiff in the Seaview Guest House in Hastings in 1982? We find for the plaintiff.
(Murmuring) On the basis of the jury's findings of fact, I find that the plaintiff succeeds in her action for malicious prosecution in respect of her trial for indecent assault.
Has the jury agreed on the amount of damages to be awarded to the plaintiff? We have, my lady.
JUDGE: Firstly, damages to compensate the plaintiff for her personal suffering.
We have agreed on the figure of£100.
(Shocked whispering) Have you agreed on any measure of aggravated damages to compensate the plaintiff for harm done to her reputation? Yes, my lady, we award the plaintiff nothing.
(Murmurs of astonishment) Maurice Fitzalan never knew about Boxer and Barbara Watkins, did he? Not until you told him all those years later.
He knew, all right.
He just had no proof.
And he never spoke about it to anyone until I went to see him.
You still took it upon yourself to rewrite Boxer's story, didn't you? And in the real world, Miss Winslow, how many villains would we put behind bars if we didn't iron out the ambiguities once in a while? It's results that count.
And justice? It's more or less served by a more or less honest system.
If it isn't, I don't know what the hell any of us are doing here.
(Journalists shout questions) REPORTER.
Former Junior Home Office Minister, Barbara Watkins, resigned her parliamentary seat this afternoon following the outcome of her action against the Metropolitan Police for malicious prosecution.
Though technically she won the case, the derisory amount of damages she was awarded have made her appear guilty in the eyes of the world.
Labour Party sources stated that she never had official backing for what was a strictly private action.
Barbara Watkins was appointed to the post of Junior Home Office Minister in 1997 KAVANAGH: A life ruined.
A couple of hours in a Hastings guest house.
Career, reputation, self-esteem.
For what? The comfort of strangers.
But child abuse is child abuse.
That's what Chief Inspector Kelso said.
He had the law on his side so he must be right.
What'll happen to her, I wonder? She'll disappear into discredited obscurity.
And Philip Boxer will no doubt go back to a life of petty crime.
Meanwhile, you and I will carry on trying to turn infinite shades of grey into black and white.
FOXCOTT: No-one will criticise you for refusing instructions under the circumstances, least of all me, James.
FOXCOTT: She wouldn't have instructed you unless she thought you were the best.
(Phone rings) TOM: Hello? Yes? He wants to see you, yeah.
So if you can come in (Tom laughs) Yes.
Don't worry.
Yeah, I'll have someone on it first thing.
Bye.
- Off home, sir? - Um Oh, yes, thank you very much.
Well, mind how you go in those bus lanes.
What? Shame.
There's a case here right up your street.
Big juicy fraud.
At least three months.
York.
Lovely spot.
Oh, well.
- Do you think Mr Foxcott would fancy that? - No, no, no, I'll do it.
No, you're right.
Right up my street.
What about your mother, sir? FOXCOTT: You'll be up for it soon.
Do you fancy the job? KAVANAGH: It's an honour.
But no doubt he'll stay miles away from me.
Come in.
Um, I'm not interrupting, am I? No, not at all, no.
Well, I just wanted to say that Um, well, you know, I've I've not always been entirely open about things.
And I want you both to know that um well, simply that you two are as it were I value what you both give.
Good.
Well, I'd better be off.
I don't think I've ever heard him so articulate.