Silent Witness (1996) s09e07 Episode Script

Testator Sile-ens Costestes e Spiritu-u Si-ilenciu-um.
An overdose would've been cleaner.
That's unusual if it's a suicide.
Jumpers don't normally like to see, do they? I suppose you wouldn't.
Any idea who he is? Not yet.
There's no wallet or anything else to identify him.
Quite well-dressed.
Clean shaven.
Must have wanted to look good for you.
He left these on the rooftop.
Any sign of anyone else being up there? Far as we can tell, he was all alone.
It's a long way up.
Yeah.
And a long way down.
We've had a call from Wembley CID, they've had a stabbing in a clothes shop.
Do you want me to take it? I've got a stack of case reports.
I'll do the PM on him later, if you like.
OK.
Deal.
I've got a homeless person the same way.
You want a lift? Not with your driving, thanks.
Dropping like flies today.
Especially in his case.
OK.
No, I didn't.
I was just working and the next thing I knew Ran in and it all just happened very quickly and Red palms and white nails - liver disease.
Or it could be hypothermia.
Hiya.
I'm Nikki Alexander, the pathologist.
DCI Mike Connors.
My money's on the liver.
Anyone see anything? Said a guy ran in, stabbed him twice, then ran off.
Over in seconds.
Not the liver.
Better get photog back.
Sorry.
Thanks.
Harry? Nikki, where's your stabbing exactly? A clothes shop off the High Street.
My homeless guy is about quarter of a mile from you.
I think he's been stabbed.
Right, well, I've got two entry wounds.
They're deep.
Looks like a patterned edge to one of the incisions.
I'd say the weapon was a single-edged blade about three quarters of an inch across.
Yeah, me too.
The body's still warm.
Earliest signs of rigor mortis in the small joints of the fingers.
What's going on? My colleague's got another stabbing just up the road.
We can't be certain but it could be the same killer.
Ah, hello, Father.
We've got another one - charity worker stabbed.
The paramedics are on their way.
Is he alive? Just.
Any witnesses? Half a dozen.
Our man is white, thirties, medium build, and get this he's a vicar.
I'm done here.
Right.
You get him back to the morgue.
Let's hope we don't need you again today.
POLICEMAN: Stand back, sir.
Stand back.
POLICEMAN: Keep the roadway clear, please.
Nothing to see.
Connors, it's Nikki Alexander.
I've just seen him.
Stay back.
I repeat, stay back.
Yeah.
He's heading north upum er, er Mount Street.
He's heading towards a .
.
a church.
St Mark's.
Nikki, do not approach the suspect, do you understand? Got it.
Move it, move it! Suspect sighted heading towards St Mark's Church in Mount Street.
I want all available ARVs to the scene.
I want roadblocks around the church and see if you can get me a helicopter.
Let's go, let's go.
He's in there but that door's locked.
Alone? No, there's someone else there.
OK, stay outside.
Stop! Armed police! Who is he? David Nicholson.
He has a history of psychiatric illness and resides at the January House Care Centre, specialising in addictions and psychiatric disorders.
Was he under section? You'll have to talk to them.
The director's on his way in.
What does he have to say about our friend? He says he responded well to therapy and to anti-psychotic medication.
He was getting better.
I wonder what happened to cause a relapse.
That's the director now, Dr Morrie Sanders.
The two stabbing victims are prepped for PM.
Yeah, probably be tomorrow now.
I've had a request for a second autopsy, I think you should take it.
Oh, what is it? Nazim Theara.
A 17 year-old.
She was found under a train three months ago.
The inquest returned suicide.
So, what's the problem? Her mother objected.
Claimed her that daughter would never have taken her own life.
Right.
Nazim had been prescribed peroxetine to combat depression.
Her mother swears she didn't need it, that she didn't even pick up the prescription.
But the first PM did show signs of peroxetine, albeit minute levels.
However, it also showed low levels of another anti-depressant, amitriptyline.
Nobody knows how that got there.
I hate exhumations.
There's no need.
They've got an Out of England Order to take the body back to India for a traditional burial.
I see.
Doesn't want to return home to be perceived as a failed mother? Something like that.
Nikki busy? Now, now.
This is Dr Alexander, forensic pathologist.
Hi.
She helped us find David.
What can you tell us about his condition? Paranoid schizophrenia.
He suffers from psychotic delusions.
Like pretending to be a vicar? During his psychotic episodes, David experiences auditory and visual hallucinations, specifically with religious and supernatural content.
He sees the Devil, in everyday people anywhere.
He believes that he was chosen by God to be ready for war.
What were you treating him with? A combination of cognitive therapy and medication.
What medication? He was on an atypical course of anti-psychotics, risperidone.
David's spent the last five weeks with us, and was considered to have made a full recovery.
He was due to go home.
But at the time of the incidents, he was in your care.
What was he doing in town? Unsupervised day release was part of his programme.
David hasn't had a psychotic episode since he came to us.
You were able to cure him in five weeks? Manage the symptoms, yes.
You'd be surprised, it can often take less time.
Who referred him to you? He referred himself.
What? It's not uncommon.
January House caters for referrals from the private sector, some from the NHS, but there are also many individuals who admit themselves.
There was nothing to justify detention under the Mental Health Act.
I assure you we did everything we should have.
So what went wrong? I honestly don't know.
Our diagnosis showed that he was ready to return to the community, and even if it didn't, we had no power to prevent him.
The mentally ill do have rights, you know.
But he killed two people.
So what do you suggest? Go back to the bad old days and lock them all up? Cause of death - 1A stab wound to the chest.
Yours? Cause of death - 1A stab wounds to the chest.
Thanks.
Just had a call from Records.
They've got a fingerprint match on your roof-jumper.
He had some youth convictions.
His name's Kevin Pery.
Thanks.
A recent guest at the January House Care Centre.
Coincidence? Or incompetence.
I think we'd better pay Dr Sanders a visit.
Mrs Theara? Yes.
I'm Harry, we spoke on the phone.
Hello.
Hello.
Are you here on your own? My husband's busy.
Before we decide what our next move should be, I thought it might be helpful to hear about your daughter.
It might, er help me understand the circumstances better.
Oh.
When Nazim was a baby she laughed all the time.
everyone who saw her always said, ''Isn't she happy?'' I felt like the best mother in the world, and nothing happened to change that.
At the inquest, your GP testified that he had given her a prescription for peroxetine.
He had no right to offer her anything.
Did your daughter share that view? Nazim wasn't depressed.
She had an accident.
She fell, the train came .
.
the train came .
.
and here we are.
I can only present you with what I find, you know that, don't you? I want you to prove that the first post mortem was wrong.
For three months she's been waiting in that fridge.
I want you to give my precious baby her happiness back.
Kevin's dead? The inquest will decide but we believe he committed suicide.
I I don't understand.
He was better? He had responded well, yes.
His residential term here was up at the end of last week.
What does that mean? Like most of my patients, Kevin was referred through his private health insurance.
His policy covered him for four weeks' residential care.
So better or not, his treatment ended.
Residential care, yes.
If there were further problems he could always turn to the NHS.
We had no reason to believe he was in danger of self-harming.
What were you treating him for? Kevin suffered from depression.
And what form did his treatment take? Therapy and a variety of stress management sessions, and a course of anti-depressants.
Peroxetine.
May I ask why you want to know? One of your patients killed two people yesterday.
Another committed suicide.
I'm tying to establish if there's a connection.
Is it possible that Kevin and David had ceased taking the medication you'd prescribed them? I would say that's unlikely.
They were both were rational and had retained insight.
But it's possible? We're dealing with mentally ill people.
People who can't quite exist within the usual parameters of what we call an acceptable society.
They are not very predictable.
Clearly! You are aware the inquest into the deaths of David's alleged victims will be opened formally on Thursday? Does the care centre have to be mentioned to the media? Not sure you're worrying about the right thing there, doctor.
I'm all done here.
Do we have any ID yet? No.
Stewart Deans.
Building Society assistant manager.
Sorry, you are? DCI Palmer, Serious Crimes Unit.
This is his car.
He was found this morning by a woman out riding.
We know a young couple took a walk around here around 9pm last night and the car wasn't here then.
Intelligence told us the building society was a likely target for armed robbery, we've had it under surveillance.
Did Mr Deans know that? Yes, he did.
What about his wife? He was married.
Yes.
Their house is the next stop.
You might need these.
Let's go back to David Nicholson.
You say he admitted himself? That's right.
He had money, he knew there was something wrong, he came to us.
It's not uncommon.
How much does all this cost? Phew.
I'm in the wrong job.
Very little of that is profit, believe me.
While those patients are in my care, I provide an excellent service.
I'm not sure Kevin and David would agree.
And you're qualified to make judgments about my professional competence, are you? Tell me, do you get paid more to get your patients out on the streets faster? We're aware that you may refuse on the grounds of medical ethics, but we could clear this up quicker if we could see your records on David Nicholson and Kevin Pery.
You want to read my case notes? You'll have to go through the proper channels.
I doubt you'll have the foggiest what you're looking at.
We just want to find out what happened.
As I do! I promise you.
So what do you think? Is he hiding something? Has to be.
Do the maths.
20 patients a week.
Three grand a head, three million in turnover, that's big money.
Well, except he's paid by the week.
He has no incentive to release patients before they're ready.
The longer he keeps them, the more he's paid.
So if there is a scam, you'd think it would be to keep them in for as long as possible.
But he's cutting corners somewhere.
I don't know if he's a crook or a quack.
The body is that of a young Asian female consistent with the stated age of 1 7.
There is skin discolouration in keeping with the subject having been kept frozen for three months since death.
There is clearly significant physical trauma consistent with the impact of a train.
I'll take some liver for the repeat tox screen.
There are traumatic amputations of both legs and the right arm, plus a range of additional lacerations and abrasions suggesting she may have been dragged along by the train for a period of time.
However, there is widespread blunt force trauma, which may well have been caused by the initial impact.
Looks like a Le Fort Three fracture.
Middle third of the facial skeleton has fractured off from the base of the skull.
I think she was standing up, facing the train when it hit her.
Mrs Deans? MUFFLED: Help me! Help me, please! Mrs Deans? Anything? No.
Help me! Police.
Mrs Deans! They took Stewart.
You have to find him.
Oh, no! No.
See if you can get the ties off, yeah? Oh, no.
Stewart.
What did the good Dr Sanders have to say for himself? That he was doing a good job and he has no idea why things went so badly wrong.
Do I detect a note of cynicism? I just think that they need proper care, not just a month in Sanders' Hotel Happiness.
I don't think the community is the right place for them.
Cases like David's attract publicity and everyone wants to see them locked up.
The truth of the matter is, schizophrenics are much more likely to self-harm or be murdered themselves.
They're rarely violent.
I can't imagine what it must be like.
They're terrified.
It's like being in your own personal horror film.
If you imagine you believe, you really, really believe that there's some other-worldly demon, if you like, following you around all the time, telling you what to do, you're not going to argue with it, whatever it says to you.
What? Like Leo? Even worse than Leo.
Mrs Deans is on her way to hospital.
She was very shaken but she managed to tell me that she was attacked as she entered the living room.
A man in a mask jumped out from behind the door.
There were two others.
They roughed the husband up but that's all we could get out of her.
Oh, and they killed her dog.
I don't do dogs.
Bashed it on the head out there in the garage.
SOCO came back with some cigarette ash.
The Deans don't smoke.
There's no sign of a break-in and there's some blood - probably the husband's.
These guys are pros.
I'm not expecting a juicy fingerprint.
What about the building society? How much did they get? Well, that's the thing - there wasn't any break-in.
So something went wrong? Is Morrie in? Yes.
Hello, Morrie.
Wanda.
I've brought you the tranqs and the anti-inflammatories you wanted.
I wondered if you need anything else for this month? Normally I'd get a smile.
It's not been a good couple of days.
Ah, you're feeling a bit low? You could always prescribe yourself something and I could provide it.
One of my patients attacked some people in town.
There's two dead.
Oh, my God! January House will be on the news.
Oh, I'm really sorry.
Um, I guess, you know you can't help everyone.
I thought I could.
How's the art work coming on, Jack? It's good.
I'm working well.
Got the old desire back.
Talking to an agent about her tying to maybe place my work.
Oh, that's great.
I'm very pleased.
And I've got myself a job.
It's just an assistant at a photographic printers but it's it's OK.
You'll be Damien Hirst before you know it.
You won't want to know me soon.
I'll be here just as Long as I need these.
Well done, everybody.
Meet again same time next week.
And remember if you want anything, you know where I am.
The addictions group went well.
Will you be able to sit in on cognitive therapy on Thursday? I've got to attend the inquest.
Well, after that? Hattie, there isn't going to be anything after that.
One patient dead, another a killer.
The press are going to be all over it.
January House, my name's going to be in the papers.
You can fight.
There are lawyers.
They cost money.
The consultants, therapists, nursing staff, physios, yoga, catering, cleaning.
Bloody carpets cost a fortune.
There's no end to it.
But Morrie, the patients.
They come here empty, disorientated, angry, addicted, and YOU take all that away.
I just buy it.
But Only this time, I didn't buy it deep enough.
It's not just about the patients.
There's also people like me.
Thanks to you, I have a purpose.
It's over, Hattie.
We can start again.
Anywhere you go, I If I were you, I'd start looking for another job.
Mail order's up this month.
The website's doing well.
I just wish we had a few more wholesale orders.
We'll get there, Mum.
I'm, I'm sorry About? The school and everything.
Hey - no, no, no, it's OK.
Look, you haven't done anything wrong.
You have an anxiety disorder, you're not in trouble.
Mrs Carson says that I'm disruptive.
And you're going to get better.
Yeah.
But I still have to go to a different school, don't I? Yes.
We can't afford for me to go to a private school, can we? Don't know, maybe dad could help? Well, he pays what he can but you know he's making a new start too.
Something'll turn up.
I've done this wrong.
I'm really sorry.
I've done it wrong.
It's all right.
Julia.
Sorry.
Oh, I'm really sorry.
It's all right.
I'm sorry.
Look, remember your exercises.
Sorry.
Come on breathe.
.
.
and breathe.
I'm sorry.
All right now? I'm getting worse, aren't I? Well, we've got an appointment with the specialist in a fortnight and we'll talk to him.
I just I just mess everything up.
Look, we'll up the diazepam to five mils a day.
OK? Then everything will be all right.
Yeah? OK.
He told me about the possibility of it being robbed, why didn't you stop them? Mrs Deans I was scared stiff but he said not to panic because you were in control of the situation.
Can you take us through what happened yesterday? In your own time.
My sister had been over for lunch.
Stewart and I had a relaxing afternoon and then we went out to the pictures about 6.
30pm.
It had been a lovely day.
We sat in the back and ate popcorn like teenagers.
We got back about 9.
30pm.
What did you do then? My dog had been in all evening so I took him for a walk.
I'd only been gone about 20 minutes.
You took him out on your own? Stewart wanted to watch something on the television.
Can you remember what? No.
I can't.
And what happened next? There we go.
There we go.
What's that funny smell, what is it? The first thing I remember was cigarette smoke.
We're neither of us smokers so I thought maybe a neighbour had popped around.
And? Sit down! Someone grabbed me from behind.
There were two others, they had Stewart.
They had I don't know, metal bars or some things.
One of them took Roy .
.
my dog.
I don't know what happened to him.
I'm sorry, Mrs Deans, they killed your dog.
Give me your rings! Get down.
The man who grabbed me tied me up.
The other two had Stewart in a chair, frightening him.
Saying what would happen to me if he didn't co-operate.
Sit back! He tried to get up and one of them hit him.
I don't know if he was knocked out.
They picked him up and dragged him out of the house.
Before they took him away, did you hear what they were saying? Not really.
I was so frightened.
Something about security codes at the building society.
SOCO found drag marks on the floor leading to the garage.
They must have used Stewart's car so that they left no trace in their own.
Did they get the money? No.
There was no break-in.
All this was for nothing? It seems so, yes.
This is insane.
What sort of people do that? He may have refused to help them.
He'd been at that branch for 25 years.
He was going to take six months off this summer.
We were going to do so many things together.
There's a palpable depressed fracture consistent with blunt impact to the occipital region of the skull.
It's consistent with the blow that Mrs Deans described.
No evidence of any defense wounds.
I can't see anything underneath the fingernails.
Did he die in the house or in the car? Well, we'll look at the brain later but survival after head injuries is notoriously unpredictable.
I'm not sure I'll be able to help you on that.
Time of death? Too early to give more than a rough estimate, but certainly 1Opm the day before yesterday is possible.
Any news from forensics? Nothing yet.
But a neighbour did report hearing the dog bark like crazy about three in the afternoon.
Our gang may have come around earlier to do a recce.
Why didn't the dog bark when the intruders came in? It probably did but nobody heard it.
It was late.
Everyone's inside with the telly on.
How's Mrs Deans bearing up? Not that great.
But the doctor's prescribed her something.
Palmer.
Take more than a few pills.
Cell five.
Cell five! He was on a 1 5 minute suicide watch.
I guess he figured that out and knew how long he'd have.
This'll go up to the IPCC.
Another force will investigate.
I still want to do the autopsy.
There are numerous small petechial haemorrhages on the upper part of the face and eyelids, which together with the cyanosis of the lips are consistent with an asphyxial mode of death.
There is also some bleeding from the nose.
And there are small subconjunctival haemorrhages bleeding under the white of the eyes.
Poor guy.
I'm going to rush through this tox report, and try to hurry up the tox report on our other suicide, Kevin Pery.
Link them and then we'll get a court order to open Dr Sanders' books.
I'm not so sure about this, Mum.
Oh, come on.
Guy's parties are always full on.
Lot of fun, and we could do with it.
I thought it was business.
Well, yes, but you know he's always been very kind to us and anyway, I want you to meet his daughter.
So be nice.
I'm always nice.
Hip hip.
Hooray.
Hip hip.
Hooray.
Hip hip.
Hooray.
Hi.
Hi.
Glad you could make it.
Hi, Julia.
It's a great house you've got.
Oh, thank you, yeah.
Yeah, well keep doing business with me, and you may end up with something similar one day.
Come on in, come and meet everyone.
Come on in.
What can I get you to drink? Hi.
Thanks for coming by.
What are we doing here? Intelligence on my bank robbers came up short.
They were at a stag night in Solihull on the night of the murder.
Undercover say they decided not to do the job.
Couldn't have been them.
Anyone else in the frame? No-one apart from Heather, herself.
Who was tied up at the time.
And has no motive apart from pretty average life insurance.
So what exactly puts Mrs Deans under suspicion? Well, SOCO have been flat out for a day on the house and the car and they haven't found a thing.
Oh, so guilty by default then? Thanks for that, Professor.
She comes into this room, is grabbed from behind by someone hidden by the door.
Just as she described, yeah.
Wouldn't you say Mrs Deans is very house proud? Everything in its place? Yeah.
Does that seem very bare, as if something's missing? Everything in its place and a place for everything.
There are indentations.
You're right.
Something's supposed to be there.
No.
Doesn't that magazine rack seem out of place to you? Perfect! So our masked men took a little time out to re-arrange the furniture? That's odd but it doesn't prove anything.
There could be lots of reasons.
Makes you wonder though, doesn't it? OK, Kevin Pery's tox report.
No alcohol, no recreational drugs.
Some very low level traces of anti-depressants including minimal quantities of peroxetine, but nothing like the dosages that Dr Sanders said he was taking.
David Nicholson tests positive for alcohol but a fairly low level.
And again, very low levels of what's he supposed to be taking? Risperidone.
Very low levels of risperidone and he has traces of chlorpromazine.
What's that? Well, it is an anti-psychotic but it's almost never used any more - gives you side effects.
So neither of them are taking the medication that Dr Sanders said they were.
Dr Sanders was switching medication and charging for drugs that he was never prescribing.
That's enough for a court order.
We'll open his files, case histories, the lot.
Thanks.
I just wanted to say Another time.
Sorry.
I'm the one who's sorry.
And listen, all the years I've known you, you've been incredible.
Dr Cunningham.
Mrs Theara.
What have you discovered? I'm sorry, the process is still ongoing.
There's nothing I can tell you.
But you've done the autopsy? Yes, I have.
Then tell me.
I have a right to know.
Well, I'm waiting for some toxicology results from your daughter's tests but I'm afraid I have given a preliminary report to the coroner that my findings concur exactly with the first post-mortem.
It's not true! It's not true! Calm down, calmcalm down! Get off me! Calm down.
Get off me.
This isn't conclusive.
It's possible that we may find that her judgment was impaired by drugs or drink or something.
My daughter would never do that.
I'll get another opinion.
It will be just the same.
I wish I could say different.
She was so happy as a baby.
Look, it's OK.
I think it's time to take another one of these.
Mum.
I can hear my heart pounding in my ears.
Look, let me just I'll just go and get some water for these, OK? No, no.
Mum No, it's all right Julia, it's all right.
Breathe.
Breathe.
It's all right, darling.
It's OK.
Dr Sanders is probably still in his office.
Are all the patients accounted for? Of course, why? Dr Sanders? Morrie? Where is he? There's been a lot of interest in work from differently-abled artists at the moment.
Liverpool had their exhibition of art therapy work by brain-injured patients.
Ah, yes.
For the ''Hidden Disability''.
All artists draw inspiration from somewhere.
He's constricted? Drug dependency? But the other face is serene.
The duality of schizophrenia.
But the point is that both are being strangled by the snake.
Isn't that right, Jack? Er, yeah, that's, um, that's right.
Interesting.
And what abomination is being perpetrated here, I wonder? Is this how you see yourself? Sometimes.
Self-portraits are supposed to be revealing.
Mmmm.
I see in there .
.
chaos.
Is that what you meant? That's how it felt.
He won't get far.
I'll have a warrant out.
We can freeze his bank accounts.
sorry, he was there half an hour ago.
Nobody is to touch anything until my team gets here.
Is that understood? Hattie Not now, Richard.
If Dr Sanders gets in touch, you must let me know.
I don't understand any of this.
I tried to wake him up.
Where is he? Right, stay away.
Here, take this.
Dr Sanders.
Dr Sanders! He's still got a pulse.
He's alive.
Put a light here.
Yeah, this is DCI Connors.
We need an ambulance now.
January House Private Care Centre.
No.
No! No! It can't be.
It can't be.
It can't be.