by Peter Murphy
‘What else do you do?’
‘I also look at the accommodation and educational arrangements the parties are proposing. I take into account the parents’ financial situation, of course, and I look at the living conditions before the break-up. A divorce always means that there is less money to go around than there was before, so you can’t expect the same standard of living, and in any case that’s not the only consideration.’
‘Do you talk to the children?’
‘If it’s appropriate.’
‘When is it appropriate or inappropriate?’
‘It depends on a number of things. Age is always important. The older the children are, the more likely it is that I will talk to them. In fact, by the age of about twelve or thirteen, most judges will want to know whether the child has expressed any view about where he or she wants to live. But if the child is too traumatised, or I’m not sure he or she is mature enough to express a reliable opinion, I may decide not to speak to them.’
‘Are the parents involved in your decision whether or not you talk to a child?’
‘I listen to what the parents have to say, but it’s my decision. If I decide I should talk to the child, I do it. If the parent resists, I simply tell them that I will ask the judge to make an order. That usually does the trick. Actually, the parents’ reaction when I ask to speak to a child can be quite revealing, and I always pay attention to it.’
She paused to drink from the glass of water Geoffrey had placed in front of her on the witness box.
‘Afterwards, I interview the parents again, separately and together, to give them the opportunity to add anything they wish to add, or to ask me any questions.’
‘And based on everything you’ve done, do you then present a written report to the judge?’
‘I make a written report, and I am available at the hearing to answer any questions from the judge or the parties.’
‘Yes. Thank you, Mrs Cameron. Let me move on to ask you about Susan and Henry Lang. How did you become involved in their case?’
‘I was assigned to attend the first hearing in front of Mr Justice Wesley. Both counsel agreed that a welfare officer’s report would be useful. The judge accepted that view and asked me to prepare it.’
‘And, it is not in dispute I think, the learned judge awarded interim custody to Susan Lang, but ordered that Henry, the defendant, should see the children every other weekend. Is that right?’
‘Yes. The children were with Susan and the judge felt that it would be pointless to move them pending the final hearing. That’s a common enough thing for a judge to do. He made it very clear that it was only an interim order and that the final hearing could go either way.’
‘Can you please now tell the jury what you did in order to prepare your report?’
‘I spoke to both parties and their solicitors that same morning, while they were at court, and I made appointments to interview Henry first, as it was his application for custody, and then Susan.’
‘Typically, where do your interviews take place?’
‘Whenever possible, I try to conduct the individual interviews at the party’s home. They tend to be more relaxed there, and if home is the accommodation they are proposing for the children, it saves time because I can inspect the premises while I’m there. If a party prefers, he or she can come to my office instead, and I always use my office when I am interviewing the parties together.’
‘What happened in this case?’
‘Both Henry and Susan were happy for me to interview them at home, but they wanted me to come back for a formal assessment of the premises because there were changes they were planning to make for the children. That was fine. It’s not unusual. It means that I can at least take a preliminary look around.’
‘And did you in fact interview each of them in turn?’
‘Yes, I did.’
‘Did you meet the children?’
‘No. They were not at home when I interviewed Susan.’
‘And because of the way in which events unfolded, did you ever meet the children?’
‘No.’
‘What was the next step?’
‘I arranged a joint meeting with Henry and Susan at my office.’
‘When and where was that meeting to take place?’
‘On a Wednesday, 28 April, at about lunchtime. Both of them said that was a convenient time.’
‘And where is your office?’
‘It’s in my home, number 26 Dombey Street. It’s a large house, and I use the first floor as my office space.’
Andrew turned to Mr Justice Rainer.
‘My Lord, the jury are going to hear a great deal about the area surrounding Mrs Cameron’s house. If there is no objection, we have a scale plan of the area. I ask that the plan become our Exhibit 1, and it may be convenient if the jury could see it now.’
Ben stood. ‘I have no objection, my Lord.’
‘Yes, very well,’ the judge replied.
Andrew waited for Geoffrey to provide Wendy Cameron with a copy, and to distribute copies to the jury, one between two.
‘Mrs Cameron, on the plan the usher has handed you, do you see your house, number 26, marked with an arrow?’
‘Yes.’
‘Do the front windows of your house overlook Dombey Street, and does your house face directly on to the entrance to Harpur Mews?’
‘Yes, actually, the entrance leads into a courtyard, which goes all the way through past the mews itself, to Harpur Street, which runs parallel to Dombey Street.’
‘Yes, I see. Now, I know this will be difficult for you, but I must ask you about the events of 28 April.’
36
‘Do you remember at what time Susan and Henry arrived on that day?’
‘They didn’t come together, of course. She came first, about 12.20 to 12.25, and he arrived exactly on time, at 12.30.’
‘What was Henry Lang wearing, if you recall?’
‘He was wearing a jacket, brown I think, and grey trousers, and a light raincoat, which I thought was a bit odd because it was a pretty warm day.’
‘Did he wear the coat during the meeting?’
‘No, he hung it up. I keep a coat rack outside the office.’
‘This may seem an odd thing to press you on, but did Henry hang the coat up himself, or did you take it from him?’
‘He hung it up himself.’
‘Thank you. How did the meeting begin?’
‘The same way as usual. I made coffee and put out glasses of water and we started talking.’
‘Could you give us a sense of how the conversation developed?’
‘I began by inviting them both in turn to make any comments they wanted to about their individual interviews. Neither of them had much to say about that. So I began to explain where I wanted to go from there, a further inspection of both their homes, the possibility of interviewing the children, and so on.’
‘All right. I want to ask you about your impression of both of them at that meeting. What, if anything, struck you about Susan?’
Wendy Cameron thought for some time.
‘Susan was always very hard to read. She said all the right things. She knew how to sound like a devoted mother. She made all the right noises about how the children were the most important thing in the world to her. But if you challenged her, she would admit that they spent a lot of time with child minders, usually her parents – especially when she went out at night. Sometimes, I had the feeling that it was more important to her that Henry shouldn’t have the children than that she should, if you know what I mean. She could be very controlling.’
‘And on this occasion?’
‘It was the same old story. She was a full-time mother, Henry was working too hard, he cared about nothing except his business, and he would never be there for the children. It
was as much for Henry’s benefit as mine. She knew how to wind him up.’
‘What was your impression of Henry?’
Again, she did not reply immediately.
‘Henry was far less talkative. At times, you had to push him pretty hard to get him to say anything at all. He didn’t try to impress me with his credentials as a parent in the same way she did. But he loved the children. I never doubted that.’
‘But how did he strike you on this occasion?’
‘He was very quiet. It was an effort to get him to participate in the meeting at all. It was as if his mind was somewhere else.’
‘Was there any discussion specifically about the possibility that Mr Justice Wesley might award custody to Susan?’
‘Yes. I tried to make it clear to both of them that nothing had been decided, and that whichever way it went, they had to work together in the children’s interests once it was all over. So we had to consider all the possibilities.’
‘How did Henry react to that?’
She shook her head.
‘The idea that the children might end up with Susan distressed him very much. He didn’t seem able to get past that idea. I couldn’t get him to move on and focus on what would be in the children’s interests if that happened.’
‘How did he show his distress? Visibly? Audibly?’
‘Yes. I don’t mean that he was shouting. Henry hardly ever raised his voice. But there was an intensity about him. I don’t quite know how to put it, but whatever he was feeling ran very deep, and when he did say something, it came across very clearly.’
‘Was it a productive meeting, would you say?’
‘No. Not really. They were both too interested in making the same points over and over again. I tried to tell them that I understood what they were saying, but I wasn’t the right person to say it to. They would have to say all that to Mr Justice Wesley, not me. But they weren’t really listening. When I called time on the meeting at about 1.30, it was obvious that we weren’t going to get anything done with the two of them together in the same room. I would have to rely on individual meetings if I was going to move them forward.’
‘At which point, the meeting was adjourned, and they left?’
‘Yes.’
‘What did you do then?’
She closed her eyes and brushed away a tear.
‘I went into the kitchen to make myself a sandwich for lunch.’
‘Mrs Cameron, did you know that Henry Lang had brought a knife with him to the meeting?’
‘No, I most certainly did not.’
‘Would you have permitted it?’
‘No, of course not. I would never tolerate anyone bringing a weapon to a meeting.’
‘What would you have done if you had known that?’
‘I would have cancelled the meeting, and reported it to the judge – and probably to the police.’
37
‘As you were making your sandwich,’ Andrew continued quietly, ‘did you hear something?’
She nodded. She had taken a white handkerchief from her handbag, and was clutching it in both hands.
‘I heard some loud noises, like shouting, coming from the street. At first I didn’t pay much attention. I didn’t associate it with Henry and Susan. I assumed they would have gone their separate ways by then. But when it didn’t stop, I suddenly became alarmed, and I ran back to the front room to see what was going on.’
‘Did you look through your front window?’
‘Yes.’
‘Please tell the jury what you saw and heard.’
‘I saw them standing together across the street, by the entrance to Harpur Mews. They were both very angry, screaming at each other. I couldn’t really hear what they were saying apart from the odd word here and there, but it was obviously about the children. I was about to go outside, and tell them both what a stupid idea it was for them to be arguing outside my front door, when they were supposed to be trying to impress me as responsible adults who could be trusted with the custody of children. But then…’
She stopped abruptly. She bowed her head and brought the handkerchief up to her face. She was crying softly.
‘Mrs Cameron, do you need a break?’ Andrew asked. ‘I’m sure his Lordship and the jury won’t mind.’
She shook her head.
‘No, I’ll carry on.’
‘We will break for lunch when you have finished your examination-in-chief,’ Mr Justice Rainer said. ‘We will have cross-examination at 2 o’clock,’ he added, with a glance at Ben. Ben nodded.
‘Much obliged, my Lord. Mrs Cameron, you told us that you were about to go outside…’
‘Yes. Just as I was about to go out, he struck her.’
‘Where were they standing at that point?’
‘In the entrance to Harpur Mews. He was to the right as I was looking at them, and she was on the left, but they were only inches apart.’
‘And when you say he struck her, can you describe that action for us?’
She shook her head.
‘It was a terrible thing to see. He had one hand on her shoulder, holding her. He raised his other arm – his right arm – very high and brought it down with full force on her body. It was sickening to watch. And then –’
‘Let me stop you for a moment,’ Andrew said. ‘Were you able to see whether he hit her with his hand, or with something else?’
‘I didn’t see the knife until it was all over,’ she replied. ‘I don’t know why. I think I was so horrified by the violence of it all, the huge arc he made with his arm, the force with which the blows landed. For some reason, the knife didn’t register until it was all over and he was sitting on the ground.’
‘When you say “until it was all over”, do I take it from that that he hit her more than once?’
‘Yes. It was six or seven times, at least. I can’t be sure. I was so shocked, I felt paralysed. My mind seemed to have stopped working. It all seemed to be happening in slow motion. But I know he hit her six or seven times, and each time, with the same huge arc, the arm raised so high, the same violence…’
She wept quietly again. Andrew waited.
‘I’m all right now. Thank you.’
‘Thank you, Mrs Cameron. I know it’s difficult. Can you tell us what happened to Susan after the first blow was struck. Did she do anything?’
‘No. I heard her scream once, then she fell to the ground in a heap, and he kept hitting her when she was just lying there. She didn’t move, and I didn’t hear her call out again.’
‘And what did Henry do when he stopped hitting her?’
‘He just sat down in front of her, blocking my view of her. That’s when I saw the knife. I saw him bring the knife down and sit holding it in his right hand.’
‘Then what happened?’
‘Nothing. That was the strange thing. He didn’t move, and neither did I. I don’t know how long I stood there before I reacted. When my mind finally started to work again, I dialled 999 to call the emergency services. I know this is going to sound odd, but it took a real physical effort just to pick up the phone and dial. It was as if my body had frozen along with my mind.’
‘And we know that the police and the ambulance arrived soon afterwards?’
‘Yes. They responded very quickly.’
‘When the police arrived, had Henry moved?’
‘No, he hadn’t moved at all. He was still sitting on the ground, holding the knife, in exactly the same position.’
‘I will call the police officers to deal with what happened next,’ Andrew said. ‘I needn’t trouble you with that, except to ask you this: did the police in due course come to see you, and did you tell them what you had seen?’
‘Yes.’
‘Thank you very much, Mrs Cameron. That’s all I have.’
Andrew
turned to Ben and Mr Justice Rainer in turn.
‘My Lord, may we now adjourn until 2 o’clock?’
Before the judge could reply, she spoke again.
‘I didn’t go outside,’ she said quietly. ‘I could have. I knew them both. Perhaps if I had…’
Andrew shook his head.
‘Mrs Cameron, I assure you, and I think I speak for everyone in court when I say that no one blames you for that at all. There was nothing you could have done, except to put yourself in danger. No one would have expected you to do anything other than what you did.’
Ben stood.
‘My Lord, I agree entirely with what my learned friend has said, and I will certainly not be suggesting otherwise.’
The judge nodded. ‘Thank you, Mr Schroeder. We will adjourn for lunch. Be back for 2 o’clock, members of the jury.’
As the judge stood, there was a cry, a wail, from the dock. Ben turned round sharply. Henry Lang had risen to his feet. He had walked to the front of the dock, holding his head in his hands. He began to weep so violently that his whole body shook. The two prison officers who were with him also stood and approached, but without touching him.
‘I’m sorry,’ Henry said, just loudly enough for the court to hear. ‘I’m so sorry.’
38
‘Mrs Cameron, I won’t keep you any longer than I have to,’ Ben reassured her. ‘But I’m sure you understand that there are certain things I have to ask you on Henry’s behalf.’
‘Yes, I understand. Thank you.’
‘First of all, I would like to establish how much contact you actually had with Henry. Mr Justice Wesley assigned you to report on 5 April, during the first hearing. That’s right isn’t it?’
‘Yes.’
‘You may recall that my learned junior, Miss Farrar, represented Henry on that occasion?’
She looked over at Jess and smiled.
‘Yes, I remember.’
‘And we know that Susan was killed on 28 April, just over three weeks later.’
‘Yes.’