Silent Witness (1996) s12e02 Episode Script

They got Shana.
Streatham crew got her.
We got a new boy.
I don't run with you no more.
She in my crew.
She ain't in your crew, not after what you did! Community service? Oh, yeah.
You're the drunk guy.
I'm fighting a losing battle with most of this lot.
Drinks and drugs.
That's where a lot of them will end up.
She was pregnant and I think she was brutally raped.
DNA the foetus? Yeah.
I've got something for you from Keenan, blood.
They've cut his femoral artery.
Dr Lion? Leo the Lion.
They found out I was a doctor.
Therefore, Dr Lion.
GUNSHOTS The boy that killed Shana Block.
It was an assassination.
All those witnesses and none are talking.
For you, little man.
We help each other, yeah? You delivering gear? For Keenan? Keenan, the one who had me shanked! Shit! Somali's set us up.
You're in Keenan's gang, yeah? No.
No, no, no! Turf war, initiation, they're like dogs, yeah? Always pissing on their turf.
Where's Errol, Levi? He stay out again last night? Yeah.
Two nights he's been out! He didn't have any trouble with the police? He was meant to bring me my cigarettes.
Never did.
Kept my money and don't bring me my cigarettes! We got a match on the bullet that Harry got from Ojama's body.
The gun was used before.
Not that it will help us much.
Unsolved armed robbery.
We don't know who he is.
Nobody saw anything.
Nobody will admit to knowing him.
Nobody will talk! Who does that to somebody? You ever going to catch someone? Are you ever going to help me? Start with the prints and the teeth.
If we don't get a match, we'll need DNA.
If we're lucky, he'll have a criminal record and the prints will be enough.
I know who this is.
That's where he was stabbed.
The boy you were looking for, Errol Harris.
You've found him.
Oh, baby! I am in shock.
Are you sure? My baby's not coming home! Could becould be some mistake, please? Tell me! Could be a mistake? Please, tell me it could be a mistake! Ahhh! I'll speak to her later.
Ahhhh! SHE CRIES How old did you think those kids were? I don't know.
Why wasn't she in school? Errol had previous.
He was a known gang member.
Drugs crimes, menace, theft, been to Feltham.
He was 15 and he was ready to turn pro.
Shana Block is stabbed by Richard Ojama.
Errol Harris paints her portrait on the side of a building.
Ojama is shot.
Harris is What? Guilty? Dead and publicly displayed.
A love triangle or a turf war? What did your man say, Leo? AJ? Two gangs.
Ojama and Shana from one postcode, SW16, Streatham.
Errol from another, Battersea.
Tit for tat killings between the gangs? What if it was a love triangle and a turf war? That doesn't explain the rape.
It would if she were the turf.
Do we have DNA results back on Shana Block's foetus? Not yet, sorry.
Asphyxia.
Thanks.
You can see.
He's inhaled the tar - it's not tar, actually, it's wood creosote - into his air passages.
Look at this one.
Irritation of the tissue.
Wood creosote is too thin to kill him itself.
It was mixed with the goose down.
And he's ingested it.
We found goose down and creosote mixed up together in a ball in the oesophagus and the trachea.
The visual evidence is compelling.
The haemorrhaging in the eyes seems to confirm it.
Yeah.
Asphyxia.
Do you think they meant to kill him this way? It's possible.
I don't know how you could predict that he would inhale enough to block the air passages.
I mean, he was beaten up pretty severely before they decided to do this, probably unconscious.
Fractured right ulna, fractured left radius and a compression fracture to the right zygomatic bone.
Cheekbone.
Abrasions and bruising right through the abdominal area and he has a ruptured spleen, so I think he was kicked repeatedly.
There's no identifiable footprints or impressions on the body.
They do that AND they tar and feather him.
What's that about? Humiliation, I suppose.
There's a viciousness.
It'salmost evil.
Almost? Not a lot of mess on the ground around his body.
I was certain he was killed somewhere else.
He was transported like that? They have to have left a forensic trail.
Oh, by the way, Hungarian white goose down is what I'm thinking.
You know, for the feathers.
European geese have thicker down because it's colder, I suppose.
A bit thicker and clumpier.
I've sent samples to the Natural History Museum.
They'll send us confirmation.
If it had been English goose down, which is thinner, you have to wonder if it would have blocked his airways quite so well.
It's not an argument for buying English, is it? I hadn't meant it to be, but, you know.
Whatever.
It's confirmed.
It was Errol.
Errol.
The only time he did anything expected of him.
What? Die.
You heard anything? I hear a lot of things.
I need to know what those kids know.
Yeah? What they know? What'd you think? The world's a better place without him? You think he was a killer.
You're not going to work too hard to give him justice.
I need your help.
To do what? To find out who did it.
So you're going to find out who did it? Yes, I am.
I'll arrest them and I'll stop them doing it again.
Find out who did it.
You ain't got the gaols big enough for who did it.
I'll arrest every little shitbag hoodie in Streatham if I have to, but I will find who's responsible.
Everybody's responsible.
Oh, do you want to help me translate? That's the truth.
This is the future we give them.
They think they're hard and they know everything.
They kill each other and become the niggas their parents never were and never wanted them to be.
AJ? Do you know what happened? All manner of things happen and then one day they just run out of hope.
Nothing to hope for, just run out of hope.
That's the big reason.
That's the biggest reason.
AJ They hang out, think they're family, it feels like hope.
I can't waste time here.
Waste of time? You're right! If you get anything worth telling me, you know where I am.
Do you know what happened to Errol? He's died! That's what happened to him.
Yeah, OK.
If you hear anything I hear everything.
Too much noise, Dr Lion.
Just too much noise.
You know, Errol, he did some bad things.
But you still thought there was a bit of hope there, you know? Now, it's all just gone.
It's all just run out.
Levi, bring the ball in! Levi.
Levi.
I'm sorry about your brother.
Yeah.
I need you to help the police.
You cut my brother open, Dr Lion? Well, one of the doctors on my team did a post mortem, yeah.
Did they see his heart? Yeah.
Yeah, they would have looked at his heart.
So they saw how big it was, yeah? He had a big heart.
Biggest heart ever.
Will you help the police find the people who did this to him? Police ain't gonna do nothing.
Police never do nothing to help.
They gonna pay.
See, I know that.
Whoa, who's gonna pay? Who's gonna make them pay, Levi? I can't tell you nothin'.
Let me help you, Levi.
Let somebody help you.
Not yet.
I have to.
I have to be somewhere.
At this hour? It's so early.
Sorry.
You know, I don't do this very often.
That surprises me, because you're very good at it.
Yeah, thanks! Pleasure.
I'm trying really hard not to take you seriously.
I know.
If you've got something else going on with someone else, it's better to tell me.
No, it's not.
It's better to lie.
You always leave so early in the morning.
I don't know, maybe you're stealing time with me and telling someone else you're working the night shift.
Am I paranoid? I'm sorry, I don't mean to pry.
It's your business.
Come with me.
Now? Mmm.
SHE LAUGHS Levi.
Keenan wants to see you.
We going to do 'em, yeah? For what they did to Errol.
That's what he wants me for? Hey, what's he want? Man, what's he want? Where's the gear? I don't have it.
I swear.
Errol took it off me.
I told you.
Why you give it to Errol? He's my brother.
I'm your brother! OK.
Bring me Mr Mean.
You let me down.
Sorry.
Hold this.
Come here, boy.
HE WHISTLES DOGS BARKS AND GROWLS You want to pet him? DOG BARKS Come here, boy.
You going to pay me back.
Pay you back? You cost me money.
The gear you lost.
I gave you gear, you lost it.
I told you DOG BARKS Yeah.
Yeah, I'm gonna pay you back.
Richard was a good boy.
Little white boy gets shot, police are all over it, trying to find out who did it.
Richard gets shot and there's nothing.
Why not? Miss Ojama is asking what any mother would ask.
Justice and closure.
The police did not protect her son and they're not pursuing his death in an adequate or timely way.
They've let this family down.
Richard didn't deserve this.
He was a good boy.
No, I don't think he was, Miss Ojama.
You're not saying he deserved to die? No, of course not.
Dr Harry Cunningham performed the post mortem on him.
There were a couple of things we found.
Better to hear it now, rather than in court.
Or the newspapers.
What things? His blood tested positive for cocaine and alcohol.
And this is a reason not to pursue his killer? No.
We are going to catch his killer.
Did Richard have learning difficulties, Miss Ojama? I couldn't keep him in school.
He struggled, that's the truth.
People who suffer from it often have trouble understanding cause and effect, right and wrong.
What does this have to do with anything? Are you trying to deflect us, take the heat off the police for not working hard enough to solve Richard's murder? Your son appeared to have physical features consistent with foetal alcohol syndrome.
Why are you telling me this? Where is this going? The deceased is the victim in this crime.
Did you ever hear of a girl called Shana Block, Mr Assante? Yes, of course.
She died at the funfair.
Fell out of a ride.
I imagine you'll find a way to make that her fault? No, we won't.
We think your son was a member of a gang.
He stabbed Shana Block.
Richard wouldn't kill Shana! He thought the world of Shana.
He loved Shana.
She was kind to him.
We think your son was killed in revenge.
I'm afraid he was a perpetrator, Mr Assante, as well as a victim.
We think he was easily led astray by others.
I need to know the names of the ones who put him up to it, the members of his gang.
What proof do you have that he was in a gang? Jerome? I don't want this happening to somebody else.
I'll tell you whatever I can.
Thank you.
You say it's not his fault, yeah? If he had this foetal disease.
If he didn't understand, then it wasn't his fault, yeah? He has a disease.
Why didn't the doctors help him? Why didn't the school help him? They just tell me he's not clever, has special needs and that.
They just tell me he's disruptive, send him to the referral unit.
Why didn't they tell me he had a disease? As Dr Cunningham said, it's not a disease.
How do you get it? Tell me! I wanted you to have a look at this.
Reported stolen three days ago.
Can you open up the back, please? SOCO been here yet? Yeah.
Anything? Well, lots of prints.
They got some footprints that could tie a perp to the scene once we make an arrest.
Most of the known members of the Streatham crew have previous.
We've got their prints on the database.
Nothing matches.
Why is the van in Brixton? How do you mean? This isn't Streatham.
You're on enemy territory.
Brixton Brotherhood.
How do you know this stuff? I've met 'em.
You've met them? Five of them.
They don't talk very much, but AJ says that they "command respect".
They scare the shit out of everyone.
Somali kids have got no fear and don't care about anything.
Maybe they've seen things in Somalia that you and I can only imagine.
Oh, that excuses it, let's all go home(!) You know what I'm saying.
If it is the Brotherhood, the Somali kids, most of them are unknown to us.
Illegals.
It would explain why we don't have a match on the prints.
It would explain why the van's in Brixton.
I just don't understand why.
We talk as if this is supposed to make sense.
It doesn't make sense.
How does killing someone because they have a different postcode make sense? How does THIS make sense? Yo, Levi.
RAP MUSIC PLAYS She wants to be part of our crew.
Good girl.
Levi! You shank one of the Somali bastards for Errol.
You want to do 'em, you do 'em.
You stick it in their stomach then you got to turn it, yeah? We going to teach the Somali bastards to respect us.
I don't want to do it.
You lost my gear.
You owe me.
You make them pay for what they did.
We back you up.
Safe.
.
.
Kate Moss.
THEY LAUGH What's? Sorry.
It wasn't that funny! Sorry.
Sorry.
I thought you were coming to see me.
I did.
I even had to bring a dead body in to do it.
I'm dying to see you! That's so naff.
Naff? I haven't heard that in years.
You're beautiful.
See you.
He's great, Nikki.
He's great.
You did make him pay for the first date, didn't you? Was I meant to? Yes! And you're, you know, you're not going to offer up the goodies too soon? What goodies? Oh, God, I'm too late, aren't I? Here, I'll take that.
You don't need to come no more.
I've got 14 hours of community service left.
I'll sign it off.
No.
No, I couldn't do that.
You'd miss me too much.
You don't belong here, Dr Dalton.
Just give me those cones.
You seen Levi? No, I lost him.
Lost him in the flood.
Swept away.
Maybe the boy can swim on his own.
I'll see you tomorrow.
Oh, shit! DOG BARKING Sit! In the white, yeah? Get him as he comes out with his hands full, before he gets to his dog.
You're good, yeah? Own 'em! He's goin'.
Get it done, man! Run! Yo! The gear.
You didn't get the gear.
DOG BARKING HE WHISTLES Here, boy.
Steadford Road.
Received.
On route.
SIREN WAILS Get in! Fuck him.
GUNSHOTS EXPLODE You did the best you could.
Yeah.
Wasn't good enough, though.
You sure you didn't get hit? It's his blood, not mine.
How do you know he's Somali? Educated guess.
Shape of the skull, skin, features.
It's one of my party pieces.
You've got so many.
You've got a cut on your face.
From the broken glass.
You'll need an HIV test.
Yeah, I know.
Ain't no Mr Big.
If that's what the police are looking for, they ain't gonna find it.
No-one's going to talk, they're all too scared.
It's a waste of time.
Hey, go and do your homework! Everybody wants the police to get hold of this.
I have to do something.
They don't want to stop it altogether.
Big business is built on deprived black youths in the City.
Reform them children.
Save them! We need charities to do it, we can't do it ourselves.
Why can't we do it ourselves? Why is that? Yeah, lots of charities.
People making good money off of it.
Every time somebody dies, somebody else gets their cheque book out.
Too many people living off it for it to stop.
You're talking rubbish.
You know so much about it(!) Why do you do this? What? This.
Every day.
With these kids.
The money.
That's not the truth, you know it.
You're just a ho, innit! That's all you are, you're a ho.
Charlie B! Hey, Jolie, you OK? Charlie B? You know I don't like this "ho" business.
Only time I want to hear that is when Santa's coming down the chimney.
Hey, clear up the rest of that stuff, yeah? Come here.
Why you gotta be talking to her like that, man? It's not necessary.
That's not the way to treat your woman, you get me? Eh? SMASHING GLASS Charlie B's got woman troubles.
Streatham crew - that's their tag.
Yeah? Itchy Richie's crew.
When did this happen? Yesterday.
Yeah? Yeah.
Be careful.
I'll see you tomorrow.
What do you want? What do you want from me? You important, Dr Lion, yeah? Doctors are important.
Even if they is a doctor for dead people.
I can't see you, Levi.
Everybody's dyin'.
You must be busy.
What do you want? I don't wanna die.
No-one wants that.
Keenan gonna do me.
Who's Keenan? Errol knew.
He didn't want me rollin' with them.
I got Errol killed.
Errol's dead cos of me.
You promise you won't tell no-one it was me who told over on 'em, yeah? The police will help you, I promise you.
Errol and Shana, they were close .
.
like boyfriend and girlfriend.
She didn't live in our estate.
She lived in Streatham.
Same estate Itchy Richie lived.
Keenan told Shana she could be part of his crew.
He'd keep her safe from the Streatham boys.
But the initiation was to rape her.
Richard Ojama was obsessed with her, thought she was disrespecting him and the gang he was in, so he stabbed her.
As you do when you feel jilted.
Errol was devastated.
Then Keenan started to use Levi to carry drugs, knives, guns.
The night Errol was killed, Levi was carrying drugs for Keenan.
Did he tell you anything else? Yeah.
He was supposed to stab the Somali boy last night.
But he didn't? No.
He couldn't go through with it.
I was scared.
They killed my brother but I was too scared.
It's OK.
Yeah, it's OK.
Everything's going to be all right.
You trust him? I think so, yes.
He seems an innocent boy, to be honest.
An innocent boy who steals, conceals and carries illegal weapons, intended to stab and was part of a conspiracy to commit murder.
You haven't quite made your case.
It's the best information you've got.
It puts the pieces together.
It does Professor Dalton, but it's second hand.
It's good intelligence, but we can't use it in court.
I need to speak to him directly.
I don't want no-one to know I told over on 'em, yeah.
It's OK.
Nothing is going to happen to you.
If your boy IS reliable, we should be able to find something that ties Keenan to the crimes.
He's scared.
I promised I'd protect him.
This has all got out of hand.
I gave my word! The best way to protect him is to put away as many of the little bastards as we can, anyway we can, don't you think? Hi, Mrs Harris, it's Detective Inspector Wallace.
I'd like to speak to Levi.
Are you Keenan Barnes? Did you know Richard Ojama? Can you speak, please, for the tape? Mr Barnes has indicated no by a shake of the head.
Have you ever heard of the Brixton Brotherhood? Mr Barnes has indicated no by a shake of the head.
Where were you on the night of the seventh, Mr Barnes? Do you remember where you were? We can play this game all night.
I'm up for it.
Levi! You been talking? What you been saying, huh? No school today.
Come with us.
DOG BARKS Walk! Ah! TEARING AND MAULING SOUNDS Come here, boy.
Come here.
The area had to be secured first.
Are you all right, my brother? Cos a vicious dog was loose, the paramedics were told to stand off.
Oh, you bastard! Now you're upset.
Give yourself a minute and then we can talk.
He trusted me.
I trusted you.
If I hadn't said anything to you, he would still be alive! Hang on.
Yes, I did go and see him and he wouldn't tell me anything.
Nada.
But no, you're right, he might still be alive, for this week, or this month, or this year.
But don't make the mistake of thinking that he'd have been safe! You don't care? They're animals.
You don't care at all, do you? I care very much.
I wish I had a crystal ball so that I could stop all before it happened.
But I don't.
Now maybe dead people are easier to predict.
What are you doing? What's the matter with you? You know who did this.
Yeah? Well, you help me find some evidence so I can prove it! 'I need you at the crime scene.
' 'Most people get a day off, Leo.
' 'I'm sorry.
I tried to call Nikki but her mobile was off.
' 'Why can't you do it?' 'I know the victim.
' Levi Harris.
The boy who came to see you.
Yeah.
Do a good job.
Can you lay out his clothing, please? Levi Harris post-mortem? Yeah.
Why are you here? I'm representing the Harris family.
Yeah? Yeah.
Me, too.
Apparently the police stopped the paramedics from going in to attend to Levi.
Had they arrived quicker, they might have saved his life.
You're not expecting me to comment, are you? We intend to file a complaint and the Metropolitan Police.
You might want to look away.
They are about to cut him open.
There were nine knife wounds.
Some superficial - obviously this one to the upper abdomen was quite serious.
The knife was twisted in the wound, making it quite hard to be precise about blade width or shape.
If we recovered the knife, could you match it? I doubt it, but hold on.
The wound isn't very large, about the size of a common or garden steak knife, but nonetheless, it's cut through a lot of tissue, a primary vein and into the stomach.
And I found a good deal of leakage of gastric juice but not as much blood as I would have expected, allowing for the amount he had bled out.
So, I think that he was near death when he was stabbed and I think that the dog killed him.
The dog? This is the damage to the tissue on the leg and the arm and the neck.
Canine attack occurs in a very predictable manner.
The dog goes for the neck and face, he tries to shield himself with his arms, so the dog rips the forearm and tricep and, in this case, he's ripped the fingers off the right hand of the deceased.
He turns his face to try and escape and exposes the neck, so the dog rips his throat, tearing the carotid artery and so he haemorrhages and he dies.
You all right Leo? Yeah.
Yeah, I'm OK.
So, there isn't enough blood pressure to pump that much blood out of the knife wound.
Even if we found the knife, you're telling me it didn't kill him.
That's good news though, isn't it, Harry? You might struggle with the knife, but we could identify the dog with DNA - teeth.
Yep.
If you're quick, we might even find some fabric from Levi's uniform still in his GI tract.
Levi bled a lot.
If we can find the dog, his DNA will be all over it.
They might think to throw the knife into the river but they won't think of throwing the dog in with it.
RAP MUSIC PLAYS You want to be part of the crew, yeah? Huh? No.
Get off me.
Stop it! Get off me! Don't! CRASHING SHOUTING AND SIRENS Shut up! DOG BARKS Get on your back, you idiot! Stay still.
Specks of blood.
Wait for the DNA.
Yeah.
What does he want? Someone to agree with him.
He wants compensation.
You're kidding, right? How long does it take for a boy to bleed to death? There's no fixed time.
It depends on the size of the wound, the size of the boy.
His age.
to respond to the call and it took the paramedics Would they have waited It's a scam.
I mean, what are we meant to do? I mean, they're feral.
Makes me want to risk my life for the little black bastards, how about you? Ryan! I've gotta go.
They let him die.
Because he was black? It's not for me to say, but I really don't think the police would prevent the paramedics from treating Levi because he was black.
I don't think they knew what colour he was.
Can you be sure he didn't die in those 19 minutes? That's what I'm asking.
It's the one thing you can say.
You ask that doctor if he can be sure.
That family has lost two children.
Two boys that everyone has failed.
But there are two younger siblings.
Two lives that could be changed.
All you have to do is say he wouldn't have died if they had not waited 19 minutes.
That's all that has to be said.
They just want money.
That's what it's about, money.
It's not like they're British.
Ryan, Ryan, Ryan, Ryan.
Not really.
If you look at it objectively, it's our fault.
It is.
We let the bastards in.
Should never have let them in.
You have to go, Ryan.
Now.
What? Say it and you change that family's life.
The money they would get in compensation would transform them - give them a chance! Make Errol's life, make Levi's life worth something because it ain't worth shit now.
But you, Professor Dalton, can make a difference.
You can be sure Levi Harris did not die in vain.
Hmm.
You all right? I don't know.
Harry? I need to have a word about the PM results on Levi Harris.
Yeah.
Leo! Leo! You beauty, Leo.
We nailed the little bastard.
Love you, Jerome.
The dog's a DNA match! He's done and dusted.
Nicked, sunshine.
Booked, Danno! We got him.
And that is the question Assante's asking.
I don't know and I don't know how I would know.
He could have died, he could have been saved.
There's no definitive right answer.
But I cannot say it was the fault of the police or the paramedics.
Are you sure? Nikki can do a second post mortem if that's what he wants.
But it won't tell us anything different.
No offence, Nikki.
I'm not offended.
Would you? Have you ever? No, Leo.
I have neverdone that.
It might change their lives.
It was my fault.
your fault, Leo.
in the queue in front of you who PHONE RINGS Leo, if you want to overrule me, revise my report, you'll do it for a good reason.
But it won't be the truth and that's the business we're in, isn't it? PHONE RINGS Let's go, let's go, come on! Dr Lion is finishing his time here with us today.
So, let's give him a big cheer.
ROAR! That wasn't bad! Thank you.
And good luck, everyone.
Listen to AJ.
He may not look it, but he's a wise man.
Ah, he's so right about that.
Give him another roar! ROAR! Well done.
Everyone get packed up.
Let's go.
CAR HORN HOOTS Thank you.
Break in continuity.
So the CPS says.
They can't place the dog with Keenan at the time it attacked Levi.
Could have been off its lead.
Could have run away.
What about the knife? Nothing on the knife.
You must have something.
Failure to control.
Dangerous Dogs Act, and that might be a stretch.
He denies he owns it.
Says it was a stray, nothing to do with him.
But it's the best we can do.
Best you can do? Unless we have more, and we don't have more, he'll walk tomorrow.
Nothing? And Errol? Anything? No.
Best you can do.
It's not my fault, is it? Who's fault is it, Leo? No.
Nobody's fault.
No-one to blame.
I did the best I could.
I know you've been searching for such a long time Searching for hope and some peace of mind There's a friend who will step in on time He'll take the pain away He'll take the pain away He'll take the pain away I know, he'll take the pain away He'll take the pain away I know, he'll take the pain away Oh, Leo, I got the rest of the results back on Shana Block.
I know the boat's probably already sailed on that one but I still need to complete the report.
All right.
Good.
Yeah, finish it up.
Nikki? DNA on the foetus.
Shana Block's foetus.
Did you get those results? Yeah, they came in yesterday.
Let me see the file, will you? Detective Inspector Wallace, please.
Professor Dalton Any news? No.
PHONE RINGS Hello.
Does anybody want a sandwich? No, nothing.
Thanks.
PHONE RINGS Hello.
Match.
Yeah.
Thanks.
The odds of that sequence occurring? Keenan Barnes was the father of Shana Block's child.
She was 13.
Statutory rape.
They put Keenan away.
I heard.
So why are you here? The money.
You? WHISTLE BLOWS Let's go.
Pick it up, boys.
No slipping on the grass.
Charlie B, let's move.
Charlie B, let's move! If I can touch you, you're not running fast enough.
If I can touch you, you're not running fast enough.
Don't let me catch up to you.
Charlie B, stay alive.
Let's go! WHISTLE BLOWS All right, go get some water.
Catching practice, anyone who drops one goes in goal for the rest of the day.
Yo, Nizzy! You play good man, real good.
I got some boots for you.
Safe.
That's cool.