The Whole Truth

by Hunter, Cara

  [JOCELYN]

  I wasn’t in court that day. I was still at college. But I do remember the case, and I remember thinking what sort of man could not only commit such terrible crimes against women, but then threaten the family of the man who’d helped convict him.

  Now, of course, I know a lot more than I did then. I’ve also talked at length to Gavin myself, and I know he sincerely regrets any distress he caused that day. He has also been deeply affected by the terrible toll the trial took on his own family, especially his children. Even though the Parries were divorced by the time he was convicted, his family were hounded – by the press, by vigilantes, by their own neighbours. They became pariahs, and Sandra was eventually forced to move to Scotland and revert to using her maiden name, purely in order to protect her kids.

  [SANDRA]

  ‘It’d been bad enough bringing up three kids on my own before that – it was ten times worse so far away from my family. Gavin’s brother used to send me cash whenever he could, but most of the time we barely got by. As for traipsing five hundred sodding miles to visit Gav, forget it.’

  [JOCELYN]

  It meant Gavin scarcely saw them, of course, but he knew what they were going through – he knew his family were the Roadside Rapist’s victims too, just as much as he was, and the women were. And that made what he considered to be a terrible injustice all the harder to bear.

  Because his position has never changed: he did not assault those women, and the man who did is still out there. He still believes the Thames Valley investigation was fundamentally flawed, though these days he doesn’t use words like ‘framed’ or ‘fitted up’. He’s older and wiser and more measured (eighteen years in prison will do that to you). But regardless of whether it was a cock-up or a conspiracy, the end result is the same. He’s spent the best years of his life in jail for crimes he did not commit.

  I’m Jocelyn Naismith, and I’m the co-founder of The Whole Truth, a not-for-profit organization that campaigns to overturn miscarriages of justice. This is Righting the Wrongs, series 3: The Roadside Rapist Redeemed?

  Chapter six: Parole

  [THEME SONG – AARON NEVILLE COVER VERSION OF ‘I SHALL BE RELEASED’]

  [JOCELYN]

  I’m going to start this episode with a confession. The first time Gavin and his lawyers approached The Whole Truth to take on his case, we turned them down. And the second. But then the case hit the headlines again, and everything changed.

  Earlier this year, when Gavin was still in Wandsworth prison, there were two horrific assaults on young women in Oxford – assaults that bore an uncanny and terrifying resemblance to the attacks Gavin was accused of. Was it a copycat or were these attacks the work of the real Roadside Rapist?

  That’s when Gavin’s lawyer, Jeremy Peters, contacted us again, and it didn’t take us long to realize that this was a case that deserved our attention.

  [JEREMY PETERS]

  ‘Gavin’s conviction was reviewed by the Criminal Cases Review Commission in 2002, but they declined to send it back to the Court of Appeal. And even though he’d been a model prisoner, he’d always refused to admit guilt, and that hampered his ability to get parole, even though he’d have been eligible for it after fifteen years. So by early 2018, we were running out of options.’

  [JOCELYN]

  The fact that Gavin had never wavered in his insistence on his innocence, even though that was working against him, was probably the single most important factor in our decision to take on his case. And having made that decision, we did what we always do: we went right back to the very start and looked at the whole investigation. The statements, the forensics, the witnesses. How the police carried out their enquiries, the evidence the jury were presented with in court.

  And – crucially – the evidence the jury never saw at all. Because there’s an element in this case that makes it unique in our experience: the fact that one of the leading detectives subsequently had a relationship with – indeed actually married – one of the victims. And not only a victim: the victim. The woman whose intervention led the police directly to the one and only piece of forensic evidence that definitively linked Gavin Parrie to the crimes: a strand of her hair, recovered in his lock-up. Hair Gavin Parrie has always believed was planted. Possibly with Adam Fawley’s knowledge; even – perhaps – at his instigation.

  [JEREMY]

  ‘The Fawleys’ subsequent marriage should have been grounds for appeal on its own, but they both gave sworn affidavits to the CCRC that their relationship didn’t start until after the trial was over, and this was supported by other witnesses, including several of his superior officers and partners from her law firm. The CCRC had no choice but to accept that.’

  [JOCELYN]

  So however uneasy we were about the possibility that the Fawleys might have colluded in planting the evidence against Gavin, we knew it would be impossible to prove it. So we turned our attention elsewhere – to what had happened in the earlier stages of the investigation.

  And when we did that, it quickly became clear that Thames Valley’s case against Gavin Parrie was what we call a ‘Frankenstein file’. Sadly, we encounter this all too often in prosecutions that turn out to be miscarriages of justice: cases that have been stitched together from bits and pieces of circumstantial evidence, which appear to add up to something monstrous, but are, fundamentally, ‘made-up’.

  The police claimed that Gavin Parrie was angry, volatile and resentful. That he felt let down by life and let down by women, after he was rejected first by his wife and then by Julie, his girlfriend in Cowley. In fact, they went so far as to suggest that it was this second rejection, by Julie, that triggered the first attack on Erin Pope (they even claimed that Erin had a physical resemblance to Julie, and put up pictures in court to prove it).

  They also cited the extreme nature of the porn found in Gavin’s lock-up, which he has never denied was his. But using porn – even hardcore porn – doesn’t make you a rapist.

  They emphasized Gavin’s lack of a steady job, which would have given him the time and flexibility to stalk his victims, and stake out the locations prior to the attacks.

  And they pointed out that he had his own van, and access to his brother Bobby’s. Bobby who was a plasterer and always had calcium sulphate residue inside his vehicle.

  As far as they were concerned, it all fitted.

  But that doesn’t mean it was true.

  We worked closely with Gavin’s lawyers on a detailed analysis of the case, which was submitted to the Parole Board as part of their review. And I’m glad to say that we were successful. Gavin was released from Wandsworth prison on May 23rd 2018. But that’s not the same as being exonerated. His conviction still stands. He has to wear an electronic tag and observe strict licence conditions, which effectively prevent him leading anything like a normal life. And that includes having the sort of ordinary social contact that other people take for granted. He had a girlfriend when he left prison, but the relationship wasn’t strong enough to withstand the difficult process of adjustment post-release, and now, once again, he’s on his own.

  But with luck and perseverance this won’t be the end of Gavin’s story. We’re still supporting Gavin and his lawyers, with a view to making a second application to the Criminal Cases Review Commission early next year.

  In the meantime, Gavin’s determined to make the years he still has left count for something. He’s spending a lot of time with young offenders and rebuilding his relationship with his children. And, of course, they’re not kids any more. Ryan is working in the leisure and wellness sector, and Dawn now has a family of her own, as does her sister, Stacey, who’s living and working in Glasgow.

  Gavin didn’t want to be interviewed on this podcast, but he’s been closely involved in producing it. He wants his story told, if only to help ensure other people don’t suffer the way he has.

  I’ll give the last word to his ex-wife, Sandra.

  [SANDRA]

  ‘The Gavin I’
ve seen since he was released is the Gavin I first fell in love with. Things could have turned out so differently for him. If he’d got some qualifications for a start, or if he’d been a bit savvier about dealing with people. A bit less mouthy. Trouble with Gav is that every time he’s got himself into a situation it’s gone the wrong way. But that wasn’t always his fault – he always did have shit luck. But who knows, perhaps that’s changing now. Perhaps he’s finally going to get what he deserves.’

  [UNDER BED OF ‘I SHALL BE RELEASED’]

  I’m Jocelyn Naismith and this is Righting the Wrongs. You can listen to this and other podcasts from The Whole Truth on Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

  [FADE OUT]

  * * *

  Alex puts her tablet down, then slowly reaches her hand to her mouth.

  There’s a look on her face that’s hard to read.

  But it’s not fear.

  Not this time.

  * * *

  Not for the first time, Dave King is glad he keeps a spare shirt in the office. Though he’s made bloody sure to stick the wrecked one in an evidence bag. And take some majorly incriminating selfies to go with it. He’s going to cook that bitch’s goose good and proper. But first he’s going to deal with the Fawley fuck-up. Really deal with it this time.

  He pushes open the door to the side office. They could have done this somewhere else, but he likes the idea of making it feel official, of upping the discomfort factor. And judging by the look he gets as he sits down, it’s working.

  ‘Sorry about the delay,’ says King breezily. ‘Managed to get coffee all down my fucking shirt.’ He puts his tablet on the table in front of him and leans forward. ‘So, you said on the phone you’ve got something to show me?’

  ‘Look,’ says Anthony Asante. ‘This is really difficult – what I found, it isn’t what I expected –’

  King snorts. ‘Thought you’d be able to get the boss off the hook, did you? Play the hero and bank some major brownie points? Well, tough titties. You’re a copper. That’s how it is. Now give.’

  Asante isn’t happy, that much is obvious, but he has no choice, and he knows it. ‘It’s CCTV,’ he says. ‘From the night Emma Smith died.’

  * * *

  ‘Standing room only, I see,’ says Bryan Gow drily as he edges round the furniture to the only empty chair. Gislingham is already installed in front of the two video screens and the CPS rape prosecutor is taking a yellow counsel’s notepad out of her briefcase. Gis is tempted to ask if she has a couple of spares; she’s going to need them.

  Gow takes his seat and glances across at Gis. ‘I sent Quinn some background info last night and talked him through it, so he should be fully briefed.’

  ‘I’ve read it too,’ says the CPS lawyer. ‘And I’ve read the NDA as well.’ She takes a print-out from her bag and tosses it on to the table with as much contempt as she can muster.

  ‘He’s played a bit of a blinder on this, by the way,’ says Gow. ‘Quinn, I mean. That was a pretty sharp insight of his about the boy.’

  Gis nods. ‘I know. And I’ll make sure Harrison knows too, if it gets us a result. Though I suspect Quinn will probably beat me to it.’

  They exchange a smile; Quinn is as predictable as he is ambitious.

  ‘And the rest of your team are prepped, are they?’ says the lawyer as the video monitors ping into life. ‘They know the score?’

  ‘Oh yes,’ says Gis softly. ‘They know the score.’

  On the left-hand screen, Somer and Asante are showing Caleb Morgan and his lawyers into an interview room. As they take their seats and start going through the preliminaries, Morgan looks straight up into the camera, holding his gaze there long enough for the message to be clear: he knows they’re there.

  But there’s one thing he doesn’t know.

  He’s not the only one they’re watching.

  * * *

  Interview with Marina Fisher, conducted at St Aldate’s police station, Oxford

  16 July 2018, 9.15 a.m.

  In attendance, DC G. Quinn, DC V. Everett, Ms N. Kennedy (solicitor)

  GQ: This is the fourth interview with Professor Marina Fisher in connection with an allegation of sexual assault made by Caleb Morgan, alleged to have taken place on July 6th 2018. Professor Fisher, I need to remind you once again that you are still under caution –

  NK: What on earth is going on here? I thought we’d established that it was Marina who was assaulted, not Morgan. It’s him you should be interrogating, not her.

  GQ: We’re still working to establish exactly what happened that night, and we need the Professor’s help to do that. And as I’m sure you can appreciate, any case where the principal witness is a very young child is especially complicated –

  NK: But –

  GQ: – and as Professor Fisher remains, for the time being, under arrest, we don’t have any choice but to conduct any interview with her under caution. As I’m sure you’re aware.

  NK: [pause]

  OK. Fair enough. What do you want to know?

  * * *

  ‘So, Mr Morgan,’ says Asante. ‘I’d like to start by asking you again about what Tobin Fisher saw on the night of July 6th –’

  Meredith Melia rolls her eyes. ‘Not again.’

  Patrick Dunn clears his throat. ‘I have to say, I agree. We’ve already discussed this, repeatedly and at length. Whatever that child saw or thinks he saw, he’s a child. A young, impressionable and therefore – by definition – unreliable child.’

  Morgan turns to him. ‘No, it’s not just that – he’s a lying little toerag. He lies all the time – if he told me the sky was blue, I’d go and fucking check.’

  Asante glances at Somer. Her turn.

  ‘You told us before you thought he had “problems”.’

  Morgan nods. ‘Right. Exactly.’

  ‘A child like that, he’d probably find any sexual act alarming, wouldn’t you agree?’

  He frowns, unsure, suddenly, where this is going.

  ‘You see,’ says Somer, sitting forward now, ‘we think we know what happened that night. There never was an assault, was there, Caleb?’

  His head drops, but he says nothing.

  ‘What Tobin saw was his mother having sex. He’d never seen it before, he had no idea what it meant and he was understandably frightened. But he had no need to be: his mother wasn’t in any danger. Like I said, she was just having sex. But if that’s what happened – if that’s all it was – you’ve got a lot of questions to answer. Starting with why the hell you’ve been lying to us all this time.’

  * * *

  GQ: As I said, it’s much harder to bring a successful prosecution where the case relies on a child as the only eyewitness. Juries worry that they might have been coached or told what to say.

  MF: I would never do anything like that.

  GQ: All the same, you can appreciate that before we go any further we need to establish whether Tobin’s testimony can be relied upon.

  MF: I’m not sure I understand –

  VE: Morgan’s lawyers are also questioning his reliability. Which is not unreasonable, given his age.

  GQ: So, Professor Fisher, is your son a truthful child, would you say?

  * * *

  The room is silent. Morgan’s head is in his hands. He’s shaking his head slowly, again and again. The time on the recording machine moves steadily on; a minute, a minute and a half, two.

  ‘Was she threatening you, Caleb?’ says Somer eventually. ‘Is that why you lied?’

  Meredith Melia leans over and puts a hand on Morgan’s shoulder. ‘Caleb,’ she says quietly. ‘Are you OK?’

  There’s no response. Melia turns to the officers. ‘Perhaps you could give us an explanation for this sudden interrogatory volte-face?’

  Somer and Asante exchange a glance.

  ‘The leak of Professor Fisher’s identity,’ says Asante. ‘It’s prompted someone to come forward. Someone who went through a similar experience.’
>
  ‘Halle-bloody-lujah,’ says Dunn, under his breath.

  * * *

  MF: What are you suggesting? Of course he’s truthful –

  GQ: In one of our earlier interviews you told us he lied to you about the dress.

  MF: That was different.

  GQ: Different? How, exactly?

  MF: [silence]

  GQ: So he has, in fact, lied, on one occasion, at least. Does he make things up as well? Tell stories about things that turn out not to have happened?

  MF: No, of course he doesn’t.

  GQ: Ah, you see, that’s the problem. I spoke to Tobin’s teacher, yesterday afternoon. And before you ask, Ms Kennedy, the conversation was authorized by an Inspector under Section 29 of the Data Protection Act 1998, which allows for the disclosure of personal information without parental consent for the purposes of detecting or preventing crime.

  NK: Even so –

  GQ: And given that the enquiry we were making might potentially exonerate Professor Fisher, it would be very odd if she were to object to it now.

  [pause]

  Wouldn’t you agree?

  * * *

  ‘Did you know?’ says Somer. ‘That this had happened before? That she’d done the same thing to someone else?’

  Morgan shakes his head. He looks like he’s struggling to take this on.

  ‘The young man in question transferred to King’s London eighteen months ago,’ Somer continues. ‘Before you came to Oxford. He couldn’t face staying here after what happened to him. That’s why we need you to tell us the truth. And all of it, this time.’

  Morgan sits back. His face is pale and he’s having difficulty making eye contact.

  ‘OK, I admit it – I slept with Marina. Once. Once. It was when me and Freya were on a break. Freya never knew.’ He glances up at them. ‘And I don’t want you telling her now, either.’

  ‘So when you told us you’d never had sex with Professor Fisher, that was a lie?’