Fit Up

by Faith Clifford

  After only a short time the usher was announcing the magistrates’ return. I sat down to await their decision but my heart was as frozen as my feet. The head magistrate quickly did a summary of the case and then said that as there were transactions on Jeremy’s credit card yet to be investigated, it was in the public’s interest to pursue the case to trial. You stupid, stupid man, I thought. Did he not remember that the charges for incitement (the credit card transactions) were thrown out due to insufficient evidence at the first hearing?

  The usher, for the final time, said ‘all rise’, and I just sat there; these people no longer deserved my respect. I looked at the magistrate who had shown so much distaste for the case, my eyes blazing with hatred. She looked up briefly at me still seated and I met her gaze, to which she quickly turned away and disappeared through the door behind her.

  Jeremy thanked Hamilton again for his efforts and offered him a lift to the train station. It was a relief to get out of this court and make our way home.

  This case wasn’t going away any time soon, I realised. In fact, it was just warming up.

  Chapter 10

  FOURTH COURT APPEARANCE

  As Jeremy’s case had been referred to the Crown Court in St Albans, the case management hearing to review the evidence was to take place on 20 December.

  Jeremy saw little point in my attending such appearances, but on this day I wanted to support him and if the hearing ran on time, we could go out later on to do some Christmas shopping. We couldn’t believe that we were about to have another Christmas with this hanging over our heads.

  St Albans Crown Court was a more modern building with TV screens in the public areas that gave the times, names and some details of each case. Jeremy’s name had the time, 11.30, and distressingly ‘Operation Ore’ next to it, and I was fearful that this would attract the interest of roving reporters. In fact, Jeremy had already spotted the young journalist who had been at his previous hearings and who was obviously looking for a story. Would this be the week that Jeremy would be named in the local papers and our terrible secret exposed? It made me frightened for our reputation and, more importantly, our safety.

  Jeremy and I had been to see our barrister, Martin Lahiffe, a week earlier at his chambers in London and had felt reassured that we were in good hands. He seemed confident this case would be thrown out, but we were reluctant to believe this line any more. Disappointingly, only two days before this hearing Hamilton had told Jeremy that Lahiffe was now not representing him on this day, and that he should make himself known to a Nichola Cafferkey. I knew that Jeremy was taking this hard as he had pinned his hopes on Lahiffe. We eventually found Cafferkey, whereupon we shook hands and she led us into a small meeting room.

  She looked to be in her thirties with the air of someone who meant business, but did she have as much knowledge and experience as Lahiffe? Jeremy told her that he was disappointed not to see Lahiffe and that this last-minute change was unsettling. Cafferkey said she had been adequately briefed and that this was just a case management hearing to prepare for a forthcoming trial. Forthcoming trial! Hearing this was shocking, but she assured us that this was early days and the prosecution’s evidence was weak.

  Finally, a court usher called for our hearing and I took a seat in the public area where I would be able to have eye contact with Jeremy in order to reassure him – it would also be of some comfort to me.

  The reporter we had seen earlier was here and I made a mental note to buy the local papers. Everyone responded to ‘all rise’ as the judge came in to take his seat. He nodded to the assembled courtroom and we all sat down together. I looked at Jeremy. His face was pinched, he was fanning out his hands in his lap and staring at his nails, lost in thought. I felt someone sit in the seat next to me by the aisle and casually glanced over to my new neighbour. To my horror, it was Hopkins and I quickly looked forward. My heart had started to thud painfully in my chest, I could hardly breathe and I was sure I had gone the colour of my red jumper. Making sure that not one part of me touched Hopkins, I pulled up my sleeves to my elbows as I was uncomfortably hot and tried to distract myself from the situation by folding and re-arranging my coat on my lap. I was so aware of his presence that I couldn’t take in the proceedings. Judging by Jeremy’s expression, he wasn’t aware that Hopkins was seated next to me – his view must be blocked, I thought.

  Shifting in my seat slightly, I looked at Hopkins side on. His face and neck were a mottled map of pasty white and scarlet patches and he was clearly very nervous.

  I had not taken in much of the proceedings but had picked up enough to know that, as with the other hearings, the CPS’s barrister had floundered along flicking backwards and forwards with their papers desperately trying to make something of the flimsy evidence. Cafferkey had done a good job in defending Jeremy and highlighting the holes in the prosecution’s case. The judge was clearly irritated with the CPS and gave them a further chance to firm up the dates before the next hearing as to when the images appeared on the PC as they had failed to establish this.

  Feeling Hopkins fidgeting beside me, I took a sneak peak and the blush was still evident. As the usher called ‘all rise’ for the final time and dismissed the court, the CPS barrister, looking irate, signalled for Hopkins to meet him outside. I followed the crowd of people heading towards the exit, where Jeremy and Cafferkey would catch up with me. I noted the reporter scuttling out but I was more interested in Hopkins, who was looking quite troubled as his barrister talked rather animatedly to him while pointing at a file. I was sure Hopkins was getting a dressing down for not providing adequate information but could not follow them much further as they had disappeared into a meeting room.

  Jeremy and Cafferkey finally caught up with me outside the courtroom. I said I was not sure what difference it would make, but told her what I had seen. She was not surprised and said that the CPS were having difficulties with the lack of evidence. Later that day, Jeremy received an email from Hamilton informing him that the next hearing date would be 21 January 2005. It was sheer torture.

  Chapter 11

  A BRIEF GLIMMER OF HOPE

  We had accepted that we were stuck on the rollercoaster and that, until we had assigned a forensic expert to look at the computer evidence, we would not be getting off any time soon.

  After the fourth hearing, we had decided that we needed something to help us get through yet another Christmas overshadowed by fear and uncertainty. That came in the form of a dog called Sasha. She had proved to be a pleasurable distraction from the case and even getting up early on these dark winter mornings to feed and play with her was not a hardship. We adored her and my only regret was that we couldn’t focus completely on this joyous bundle of fur.

  Jeremy was to be in court again and Lahiffe would be representing him this time. Rather than continuing to use up my leave, I decided not to go. After all, it was only a case management hearing, and these seemed only to go over the same information, with the only conclusion being the scheduling of another date. It would be another day of the shop being closed for business, however, but we could not afford to take on other staff and if Jeremy did not attend the hearing it would be Sod’s Law that he would be needed to answer questions directly.

  At around 11.30 a.m. the phone rang while I was at work. I jumped, expecting Jeremy’s call, but on a closer inspection of the clock I thought it might be too early to be him. I picked up and offered my usual greeting. Silence. I repeated, ‘Good morning, Office Services.’ It was then that I heard the sound of a sob, followed by Jeremy’s voice: ‘The case could be thrown out this afternoon.’

  For the first time in months I felt a surge of hope and asked him what made him think this. Jeremy had difficulty in getting his words out. He had driven from the court and had to park up as he could not see through his tears to drive properly.

  ‘Faith, Faith, it’s over,’ he said.

  This news was so exciting that I couldn’t stop smiling. Apparently the CPS were rambling thro
ugh their case and the judge kept interrupting to ask questions, the kind of questions we had been asking, which was encouraging. Not happy with the responses, he decided, as lunchtime was fast approaching, that the CPS should go away and reconsider their case, and that to proceed with a possible week-long trial would be a waste of tax payers’ money. The evidence was flimsy at best and if the court were to proceed and find Jeremy guilty then it would just be a fine. In comparison to costs that would be spent on both sides, was this a good way to spend public money? I thought.

  Jeremy continued: ‘The judge is clearly irritated and the CPS’s barrister looked embarrassed by the judge’s comments.’ I asked what Lahiffe’s opinion was and he replied that seeing how the morning’s session had gone, it was more than likely that the case would be thrown out and that the CPS were quite ruffled. At last, I thought, a judge that could see clearly. My faith in the justice system was restored a little. Jeremy was now heaving sobs of relief, very much overcome with the last fourteen months of stress and absolute misery. Listening to him, I could not contain the emotion myself and felt the tears drop down my cheeks. At last, we could move on.

  The court would be reconvening at 2 p.m. and I needed to go home to feed Sasha before then, so I told Jeremy to go and get some lunch, while I did the same at home, thinking that from now on we could really get on with our lives.

  Back at work, I was clock watching from 2 p.m., constantly wondering what time I would hear from Jeremy. I couldn’t concentrate and just aimed for trying to look busy. After what seemed like an age, Jeremy called. His voice was despondent as he told me that the CPS barrister had returned to court and very aggressively told the judge that she had spoken with Hopkins and they were pursuing the case because it was in the public’s interest. I asked what the judge’s response to this was and Jeremy said he looked kind of witheringly at the CPS, but let it go ahead.

  Apparently Lahiffe said that it happens that way sometimes and that we had to get our own forensics report. I agreed but it seemed to be taking ages for our side to get to grips with sorting this out.

  I made my excuses at work and left to be home with Jeremy. As I parked up on the drive I looked up to our bedroom window to see the curtains were closed. Jeremy’s reaction to the afternoon’s events was to bury himself under the duvet in the darkness. From being full of hope earlier in the day he had now descended into despair.

  My thoughts returned to Hopkins who wanted to ‘press on’. How I hated him.

  Chapter 12

  THE FORENSIC EXPERT

  In my search for a forensic expert, I had found Duncan Campbell on a website forum where I had been in contact with a fair few other people who were in similar situations to ourselves. To chat with them online had been a real comfort to me in the previous months, as I could not always talk to Jeremy. One person that I had been communicating with, whom I only knew as ‘Nugget’, recommended Duncan after I mentioned that we were looking for a forensic expert and he let me have his telephone number.

  One afternoon Jeremy made contact with Duncan to discover that he was an investigative journalist specialising in privacy, civil liberties and secrecy issues covering electronics, computers and telecommunications. It was on the basis of this background and the fact that Duncan had lots of experience with Operation Ore cases that Jeremy had made up his mind that this was the expert he needed.

  Just after the bank holiday Duncan let us have a copy of his draft report, which spanned twenty-four pages. Although a lot of it was quite technical (especially in relation to computer terminology) and not totally understandable to us, there were enough positive paragraphs to make it encouraging reading.

  Just before this time we had received copies of witness statements from Gerard and Fouhey, the forensic expert acting for the police, who had produced the first report. Fouhey’s statement of 21 July 2004 was a three-page report listing various items of software and the five computers confiscated. Against each piece, Fouhey had stated that ‘examination showed nothing of any note’. However, against the Tiny computer that was sold to Gerard, he stated:

  Analysis showed that the system was running Windows 98 installed on 11 February 2001. The person installing had entered the name Jeremy Clifford as the registered owner. An examination was made of the existing files on the disk and deleted files for which full file information such as file name, dates and times could be recovered. As a result I found 17 images of note. A picture of note is one considered of interest to the investigating officer and is not necessarily an indecent photograph of a child under the age of sixteen years. These images were compiled into a report called ‘CCU04_95 Allocated / Deleted. pdf’ which due to the nature of the content I transferred to an encrypted CD which I now produce as my exhibit GEF/95/1.

  This was it? Despite an investigation through hundreds of tapes, various electronic media, computer software and five computers, all coming out clean, the only computer that contained seventeen images of note was the one that was sold to Gerard, now a prosecution witness.

  That paragraph, together with a few blurry thumbnail pop-ups and a no comment interview, had evidently got Hopkins excited enough to convince the sergeant to charge Jeremy. Even Fouhey said they were ‘not necessarily’ indecent photographs.

  The conclusions of Duncan’s report in summary were:

  There is no evidence to support the charges that Jeremy made indecent images of children.

  There is no evidence to support the charge that Jeremy possessed indecent images of children.

  The dates and times specified in a police statement and in the charges against Jeremy in relation to making indecent images of children bore no relation to the forensic evidence that he inspected.

  Circumstantial and damaging testimony against Jeremy from an important prosecution witness [Gerard] was refuted by forensic evidence. If cleaning of the computer had taken place it would follow that none of these images would have survived and could not be recovered.

  Forensic evidence for a prima facie case of possession and possible attempted distribution of indecent images of children can be made out against the same witness but this evidence appears to have been ignored (by police) and has not been reported.

  Intelligence passed to Hertfordshire police and which led them to regard Mr Clifford as a suspect was based on gravely flawed and in some respects untruthful information provided by United States law enforcement officers in 2002. Important parts of this misinformation have since been corrected or retracted.

  The report further stated that the ‘images of note’ had been deleted and were found in an area called ‘unallocated clusters’ which meant they were not therefore knowingly in Jeremy’s possession.

  We were interested to read of Gerard’s activity on the Tiny computer where he had installed a programme called Morpheus, one of a number of file sharing programmes available on the internet and commonly used by paedophiles. In one of Gerard’s folders were two sexually explicit images that were made when he was the owner and user of the computer. The labels on the images suggested sexually explicit material of underage girls and we wondered why Fouhey did not pick up on these images and the significance of the titles. Perhaps if Hopkins knew this he might not have been so quick to consider Gerard as a reliable prosecution witness.

  Duncan’s report continued:

  The background to Operation Ore is that UK police forces were supplied with intelligence information from the Texas police source by the National Criminal Intelligence Service. Before going further, the receiving police force – Hertfordshire police in this instance, would have been expected to make relevant checks to exclude the possibility of inaccuracy, error or fraud leading to false identification of an action against an individual in respect of suspected offences involving indecent images of children. In Mr Clifford’s case it appears that neither these checks were not done sufficiently, competently or completely.

  I found it interesting that the US government approached its citizens differently from the U
K. Instead of branding every name on their list from Landslide as a paedophile, officials carefully profiled and investigated selected individuals against whom there was fresh evidence of making indecent images of children or of actual abuse. In respect of the 35,000 US records, only 144 homes were searched and 100 people charged. In the UK, there were 7,272 individuals and currently 4,283 people had been arrested.

  Chapter 13

  CHANGE OF REPRESENTATION ORDER

  Jeremy’s relationship with Hamilton had become acrimonious and we were losing confidence in how he was being represented. Duncan Campbell had recommended a solicitor called Irene Hill of Smith, Brown & Sprawson with whom he had worked recently. Jeremy, after meeting her, knew that he had, at last, found the right person to defend him. Upon Hamilton’s return from holiday he was informed that Jeremy wished to part company. He said that he would not oppose this but it would involve another court appearance to change the representation order.

  Jeremy was advised to turn up in a suit for the hearing in case the judge wanted to speak to him. He hoped it would all go to plan; he was anxious for Irene and Duncan to get going on his case once they had got past this formality.

  Entering the court and seating himself, Jeremy looked around for Hamilton but he wasn’t there. It had turned out that Hamilton had actually sent a barrister to represent him and his practice, and there he was, settling down with papers at one of the lecterns. What came next was even more amazing. Once the proceedings started, the barrister fought vigorously to keep Jeremy as a client for Hamilton. What had happened between the verbal and written assurances that Hamilton would not be opposing this change of solicitor? Jeremy had called him every name under the sun; to have to remain together would have meant that Hamilton would likely have only done legally what was necessary rather than really care about Jeremy, and Jeremy would only resent having to deal with him.