Calling Down the Storm

by Peter Murphy

  ‘Did you react to what she said to you?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘Mr Lang, please tell the jury what was said in that last exchange of words between you.’

  ‘I said: “Look, I can’t do this any more. You can have all the men and drugs you want. Just give me my children.”’

  ‘How did she respond?’

  ‘She said: “What makes you think they’re yours?”’

  74

  ‘Mr Lang,’ Andrew said, getting slowly to his feet, ‘you had a visit at your place of work from this mysterious man who said he was giving you a message from Danny Ice: is that right?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘You’d never seen this man before?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘And you’d never met Danny Ice, had you?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘And the message was: “if you know what’s good for you, withdraw your custody application and let Susan keep the children?” Yes?’

  ‘That’s right, yeah.’

  ‘So, as long as Susan got custody, you would be all right?’

  ‘I presume so, yeah.’

  ‘Well, that’s what he’s suggesting, isn’t it?’

  ‘I suppose so.’

  ‘Did he suggest that there was a time frame involved?’

  ‘Time frame? What do you mean?’

  ‘Did he say you had to withdraw your application that same day, the next day, within a week, before the next hearing, or when? How long did he give you?’

  ‘He didn’t say anything about that.’

  ‘How were you supposed to know what Danny Ice expected of you?’

  ‘I don’t know. I suppose he meant, do it as soon as possible.’

  ‘I see. In any case, you weren’t going to withdraw, however long he gave you, were you? You told us that.’

  ‘I wasn’t going to withdraw, no.’

  ‘Did you think you were in immediate danger?’

  ‘Immediate danger?’

  ‘Yes. When the man left your garage, did you think to yourself, “Danny Ice could come for me at any time; I’d better take steps to protect myself immediately”?’

  Henry hesitated.

  ‘Well, let me help you,’ Andrew said. ‘When you left work that day, where did you go?’

  ‘Home.’

  ‘Did you go out anywhere after going home?’

  ‘Yeah, I’d arranged to have a pint with the lads from the garage.’

  ‘You went to the pub?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘Did you take a knife with you?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘So, you didn’t think Danny Ice was coming for you that evening, did you?’

  ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘The next morning, 27 April, were you at work again?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘Did you take a knife to work with you?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘You didn’t think Danny Ice was coming for you that morning, did you?’

  ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘And then –’

  ‘I didn’t feel the need at work. We have knives and a lot of other dangerous tools at the garage.’

  ‘All right, fair enough, but what about on the way to work, what about on the way home?’

  ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘But then we come to the morning of 28 April, when you’re going to see Mrs Cameron, don’t we?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘Yes. And on that morning, you do take the knife with you, don’t you?’

  ‘I did, yeah.’

  ‘Yes. And are you telling this jury that you thought Danny Ice might strike when you were going to meet your wife and the court welfare officer?’

  ‘He might have, yeah. He knew where I would be, didn’t he?’

  ‘Two days after the man had given you the message?’

  ‘Yeah. Why not?’

  ‘Well, you hadn’t really had much chance to withdraw, or do anything, had you?’

  ‘I could have called my solicitor, couldn’t I? That’s all it would have taken.’

  ‘Mr Lang, you’re not seriously telling this jury that you thought you might be attacked in the street two days after being warned, are you? Even though the man didn’t give you any time frame?’

  ‘I did think I was in danger, yes.’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Yes, really.’

  ‘Why didn’t you call the police?’

  ‘I’ve already explained why not.’

  ‘What, you thought Danny Ice might pose a danger to your children?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘But Danny Ice’s interest was in making sure Susan kept the children, wasn’t it?’

  ‘That’s what the man said.’

  ‘Yes. So there was no threat to the children, was there? The threat was to you?’

  ‘Yeah, but –’

  ‘The police could have solved that for you, couldn’t they? They could have spoken to Danny Ice and told him they knew what was going on, couldn’t they? If necessary, they could have arrested him.’

  ‘Oh yeah, that’s brilliant, that is. I would really have been for it then, wouldn’t I, if I grassed him up?’

  ‘Would you? Let’s think about that for a moment, Mr Lang. You tell the police about Danny Ice, and then somebody attacks you. It’s not going to take the police long to work that one out, is it? Do you really think Danny Ice would be loyal enough to Susan to go inside as easily as that?’

  ‘I don’t know, do I?’

  ‘Didn’t it occur to you that if you told somebody that Danny Ice was threatening you, and word of that got back to Mr Justice Wesley, Susan would have some explaining to do in court?’

  ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘Don’t you? You’d already told the judge about her running around with drug dealers. You’d said that in your affidavit, hadn’t you?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘And you wanted to persuade the court that she wasn’t a fit person to have custody?’

  ‘I suppose so, yeah.’

  ‘Yes, and this would have been proof positive, wouldn’t it? It would have been just what you needed to persuade the court to trust you with the children rather than her, wouldn’t it?’

  ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘It’s all nonsense, isn’t it, Mr Lang? There never was a man sent by Danny Ice, was there?’

  ‘There was.’

  ‘Did the lads at work see him?’

  Henry hesitated.

  ‘They might have done. Like I said, he wanted to see me privately in the office.’

  ‘But they might have seen him arrive or leave, might they?’

  ‘Yeah, they very likely would have.’

  ‘And no doubt we’ll be hearing from the lads later, will we?’

  Ben stood.

  ‘That’s not a proper question, my Lord.’

  Mr Justice Rainer raised his head, but Andrew continued before he could say anything.

  ‘My learned friend is quite right. You don’t need to answer that, Mr Lang. What did this man look like?’

  ‘Look like?’

  ‘Yes, what did he look like? What was he wearing?’

  Henry shook his head.

  ‘I don’t know. Average height, dark hair.’

  ‘How old?’

  ‘Thirties, forties? I don’t know.’

  ‘What was he wearing?’

  ‘A dark jacket, I think; and blue jeans. I’m sorry. I can’t remember exactly. It’s been a while.’

  ‘You never lost your memory of 26 April, the day when the man came, did you?’

  ‘No.

  ‘Just 28 April?’

  ‘That’s right.’

 
‘It would have been an unusual event, wouldn’t it? It’s not every day someone calls on you at work and makes threats of violence, is it?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘You would remember exactly what he looked like, I suggest. Did he have facial hair, a beard or moustache?’

  ‘No… no, not that I recall.’

  ‘Was he white or black?’

  ‘White. Yeah, white, but sort of swarthy.’

  ‘What sort of build?’

  ‘Average, I suppose.’

  ‘Average, you suppose. Again, it’s all nonsense, isn’t it, Mr Lang?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘You took the knife with you because you intended to kill your wife that day, if you got the chance, isn’t that right?’

  ‘No. That’s not right. I would never have done that.’

  ‘Mr Justice Wesley had already given Susan interim custody of the children, and you were afraid you would lose them permanently because you were working too hard to look after them properly, weren’t you?’

  ‘I was concerned about that, yes. Of course I was.’

  ‘She was running around with drug dealers, and taking drugs herself, and fooling around with other men – men involved in crime – and you’d had enough, hadn’t you?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘You didn’t trust the High Court to do it for you, and you decided to make sure that the children would come back to you. You decided to take matters into your own hands.’

  ‘That’s ridiculous.’

  ‘Mrs Cameron thought you were obsessive about the children, didn’t she?’

  ‘I can’t say what she thought.’

  ‘They were your children, weren’t they? Always your children?’

  ‘They are my children, yeah.’

  ‘And you weren’t about to let this unfit mother take your children, were you?’

  ‘That doesn’t mean I wanted to kill her.’

  ‘If you wanted to show the court what was going on, all you had to do was tell Mrs Cameron, or the police, about Danny Ice, wasn’t it? You even had a witness – Louise – didn’t you?’

  Henry did not reply.

  ‘You told the jury that you lost control because she suggested that you might not be the children’s father, is that right?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘Just that one remark made you lose all control?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘There was nothing you could do to keep yourself from killing her?’

  ‘I didn’t intend to kill her, as far as I know. I just lost all control and lashed out, and she died.’

  ‘She died because you stabbed her repeatedly and very violently with a knife, Mr Lang.’

  ‘Yeah. I was holding the knife when I lashed out, yeah.’

  ‘So at some point you must have taken the knife out of your jacket pocket. When did you do that?’

  ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘Before she made the remark that made you lose control, or after?’

  ‘I don’t remember.’

  ‘Do you not? Are you saying that you might have taken the knife out of your pocket even before she made the remark about the children?’

  ‘Well, no… it must have been when I heard her say it.’

  ‘Whenever you did it, it wasn’t because Danny Ice was after you, was it? He wasn’t there, was he?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Mr Lang, this wasn’t the first time Susan had taunted you, was it?’

  ‘Taunted me?’

  ‘Yes, taunted you, tried to wind you up. She was quite good at winding you up, wasn’t she?’

  ‘She was. Yeah.’

  ‘I made a note of something you said to my learned friend Mr Schroeder, when he was asking you questions. You remember, Mr Schroeder was asking you questions about the meeting at Mrs Cameron’s house, and you told him that you and Susan were polite to each other. Yes?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘And then you said, and I made a note of this, “She had the odd dig at me, but she could never resist that, and I didn’t react.”’

  ‘Yeah, that’s true.’

  ‘Well then, Mr Lang, if she was always having a dig at you, and it was something you had come to expect, and you could choose not to react, why would you lose control just because she made some stupid remark when you were in Harpur Mews?’

  ‘It was because of what she said.’

  ‘Really? Because of this one remark, after all the unpleasant things she had said to you over the years – and I accept that she said some very unpleasant things, Mr Lang, I’m not trying to defend her – but that one remark took away all your self-control, did it?’

  ‘It did, yeah. You have to understand –’

  ‘It’s the jury who have to understand, Mr Lang. Why don’t you explain it to them?’

  Henry was silent for some time. He looked directly at the jury.

  ‘I’d lost Susan a long time before. She’d gone off and chosen the life she wanted – away from me. I’d accepted that, and even if I hadn’t, there was nothing I could have done about it. I just wanted my children, and I wanted to make sure I could keep them safe – that her way of life didn’t put them in danger. My children are all I care about now. And for her to say they weren’t even mine…’

  He broke down and wept.

  ‘Mr Lang,’ Andrew said, ‘I’ve almost finished. But if you need a break –’

  With a huge effort, Henry recovered.

  ‘I don’t want a break. I just want you to understand what I’m saying. I didn’t care what she said about me. But to suggest that they weren’t even mine… the children were all I had left. That was the one thing I couldn’t deal with. I can’t deal with it now, and I couldn’t then.’

  ‘Mr Lang,’ Andrew said, ‘you took the knife with you because you wanted to finish it once and for all if you got the chance, isn’t that right?’

  ‘No. It’s not right.’

  ‘You didn’t lose control over one obviously stupid remark, did you?’

  ‘I did.’

  ‘And when you realised what you’d done, you pretended to everyone – not only to the police, but even to your own solicitor and counsel – that you couldn’t remember anything about it.’

  ‘It was true. I couldn’t remember.’

  ‘And your memory conveniently returned four days before this trial began?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘Thank you, Mr Lang.’

  Andrew resumed his seat.

  ‘Are you suggesting to the jury that it is not possible for a single remark to cause a man to lose self-control, Mr Pilkington?’

  The judge’s intervention took Andrew by surprise. He glanced at Ben, who seemed equally startled. For a second or two he found himself with no idea how to respond.

  ‘No, my Lord,’ he replied.

  ‘That wouldn’t accord with the law of provocation, would it?’

  ‘No, my Lord, and I don’t suggest that it could never happen. But I do suggest that it didn’t happen in this case.’

  ‘That’s a matter for the jury to decide, isn’t it?’

  ‘It is, my Lord.’

  ‘And they should take into account that a particularly wounding remark might well have that effect, shouldn’t they?’

  Andrew felt the heat rising under his collar.

  ‘With all due respect, my Lord, it is for the jury to decide what points assist them, and what points do not assist. May I also point out that the defendant is very ably represented, and it is not for your Lordship to make points to the jury which I’m sure my learned friend will make very well when the time comes?’

  ‘I’m merely trying to ensure that the jury doesn’t overlook anything,’ the judge replied. ‘In the interests of fairness.’

  ‘My Lord, I mus
t protest in the strongest terms –’

  ‘The court will rise for lunch,’ Mr Justice Rainer said.

  He left court abruptly. When he and the jury had gone, Andrew turned to Ben.

  ‘I don’t believe this man. Was I being unfair to Lang?’

  ‘No,’ Ben replied.

  ‘Well, that’s it. I’m going to ask him to discharge the jury.’

  ‘Why? Because he said something that might possibly help the defence?’ Ben smiled. ‘I don’t think so, Andrew.’

  ‘It’s not that –’

  ‘Andrew: have lunch – and take a few deep breaths. I’ll see you at two o’clock.’

  75

  When Mr Justice Rainer took his seat on the bench after lunch, Ben remained standing.

  ‘Yes, Mr Schroeder,’ the judge said.

  ‘My Lord, I’ve asked for the jury to be kept out of court so that we can deal with a question of law.’

  ‘Yes, very well.’

  ‘My Lord, the point is this. Susan Lang was represented in the family proceedings in front of Mr Justice Wesley by a solicitor, Miss Turner, and counsel, Miss Fisk. Both Miss Turner and Miss Fisk have made witness statements, which my learned friend has seen. May I invite your Lordship to read them?’

  Geoffrey took the statements from Ben and handed them to the clerk, who in turn passed them up to the judge. Ben did not sit down entirely, but leaned against the back of counsel’s row while the judge read. It did not take him long. He nodded to indicate that he had finished.

  ‘My Lord, this evidence is clearly relevant. Mr Lang says that he was threatened with violence by Daniel Cleary, and that was why he took the knife with him on 28 April. The prosecution dispute that. The independent evidence of Miss Fisk and Miss Turner is that Daniel Cleary was making threats against Mr Lang on behalf of Susan Lang. That is bound to assist the jury in deciding where the truth lies.

  ‘The difficulty I face is that when Susan Lang said these things to Miss Turner and Miss Fisk, they were acting as her legal representatives, and on the face of it, whatever she said to them is privileged. I concede that the privilege between lawyer and client does not come to an end automatically if the client dies. But I submit that there are two reasons why your Lordship should rule that the privilege must be set aside in this case, to allow this evidence to go before the jury. I have handed up a copy of Cross, with the relevant passages flagged up. If I may take your Lordship through them –’