Excitedly I interrupted Jeremy and said that Hopkins was working. He gave me a puzzled look and repeated what I had said to Andre. Immediately the phone was thrust into my hand and Andre asked me what I had found. I said that Hopkins was leading a nationwide investigation for the Environmental Agency and giving quotes to the press, which hardly sounded like the man who was suffering from amnesia and posttraumatic stress. The same story was also featured in the Lancashire Evening Post, the Shropshire Star, the NatWest Mentor website, as well as some environmental publications, on 2 December 2010.
Andre asked for the search words I had used so that he could see exactly what was on my screen. I could hear him tapping the keyboard before exclaiming, ‘You little star!’ We started to cross-reference Operation Pandora and found that the two people who were arrested were appearing in court on 27 January and found the name of the solicitors representing them. It appeared that Hopkins was too ill to attend our court case but would be all right for late January. Andre ended our conversation as he wanted to instruct his team to look for more information, but the following morning he decided to call Hopkins at his office in Preston where he was informed that he was not in but due in the following day. There was no suggestion that he was unwell. He also asked a trainee solicitor to telephone the Press Office for the Environment Agency who confirmed to her that Hopkins remained on the Operation Pandora investigation and that court appearances were scheduled for later that month.
Andre had also found out that Paul Schofield, a partner of Farley’s Solicitors, was representing the individuals mentioned in the news articles and who had been charged by Hopkins. He remembered meeting with him at Leyland Police Station in December and, in fact, had spoken in passing of his time in the police force. It had been a good day for us and would go a long way in discrediting the police in how they had conducted themselves during this litigation.
The police were granted their hearing for 7 January and minutes before this was to take place, Andre again made a call to the Environment Agency. Hopkins was still not available and not on annual leave. One of his colleagues told Andre that he was working, although not in the office that day, but was expected back. She further volunteered that Hopkins had been working ‘down south’ and would be back in the office briefly later in the day. Andre also asked her whether she knew if he was working the following week but she could not access his diary and, again, there was certainly no suggestion or indication that he was sick or would not be working.
Outside of the court, Andre and Leslie stood with Challenger. Leslie asked him if he knew where Hopkins was that day and he responded that he had ‘no idea’. Once inside the court, Challenger put forward his arguments, to which Leslie was vehemently opposed because there was very little evidence to support the application or justify the lateness of it. Challenger, with some reluctance and under instruction by the judge, briefly showed Leslie and Andre the letter from Dr Bhushan addressed to Grundy dated 22 December 2010. From what they were able to establish from its contents, together with comments from the judge, it became evident that material alterations had been made in this second report compared to the original report by Dr Bhushan and that the police were instrumental in drafting this to put before the court in support of their application to vacate the trial. Also, Grundy’s insistence on claiming privilege was questionable in the circumstances and was considered an attempt to prevent us and the court from knowing the full and true circumstances behind Hopkins’s non-attendance at the trial.
Unsurprisingly, Mr Justice Stewart ordered that their application to break the fixture be dismissed and we were awarded costs. That was always nice to hear. It was also ordered that Hopkins should be issued a witness summons and that further evidence should be provided if he was not going to attend.
If the police continued to maintain and hide behind Hopkins’s ill health, we might never get a retrial and although we very much wanted him to appear in order to give evidence, we made the decision that, rather than have the trial postponed, we would press on, using his statement and sworn evidence from the first trial.
It was a difficult weekend for Jeremy. He was very quiet and withdrawn and I dared not mention the memory map or even the case at all. If he wanted to talk about it then he was to bring it up first. I felt like I was walking on eggshells, aware that saying the wrong thing would make him irritable. It was worrying, so to distract him from the case I encouraged him to walk the dogs and spend some time with his family while I organised a trip to the cinema. It would be good to lose ourselves in a good film while he munched on a large hot dog, a box of very expensive sweets and ice cream washed down with a ridiculously large carton of Coke. Despite his constant anxiety, there was still no change to his appetite.
On the Monday, Andre had been notified by Grundy that Hopkins had had a sudden onset of symptoms the previous day after he became aware that the trial would be going ahead. Apparently, he had become so distressed he had to be seen urgently by a doctor and was prescribed medication. Hopkins was their main witness and it seemed they were still aiming to get an adjournment. Our suspicions were that Hopkins’s illness was bogus. However, in some ways I could understand if he was in some state of anxiety at the thought of having to return to the witness box, as the first time had been a ferocious experience at the hands of Leslie in his endeavour to extract the truth. Jeremy was also dreading going up against Challenger again but refused any medical assistance. He did not want his mind clouded with drugs, especially after all the preparation he had gone through, but now that he was so close to having a second chance to right the scales of justice, his courage was rapidly disappearing. I told him that he knew his case and that he did not need courage to tell the truth.
That afternoon, Andre phoned to tell us two things. One, that the trial was being pushed back a day to start on Wednesday, as the eleventh was to be set aside as a ‘reading day’ for the judge. This was annoying and disappointing at the same time because we were psyched up ready to go. The second thing was much more frightening: Jeremy’s legal aid for the second trial was being withdrawn and we had no more personal funds to finance it. Our well was dry! Andre said that our only chance would be to switch to a Conditional Fee Arrangement, a no-win, no-fee policy, which also required us to purchase insurance. If we were turned down for insurance, there would be no CFA, and on top of that we only had a day to sort out this unexpected obstacle. There were no guarantees and if we were turned down, it would all be over.
If we had been nervous before about returning to the High Court, we were now petrified at the thought of not being able to get the case heard due to lack of funding.
Chapter 53
RETRIAL’S EVE
It was just as well that the trial date had been pushed back as it gave Andre precious time to spend a fraught day searching for companies who would be prepared to insure Jeremy for the CFA. I don’t know how he did it but he played a blinder in finding a suitable company who were able and willing to offer insurance and get the paperwork processed before the end of the day.
Having been unexpectedly distracted with this task, Andre had to return to finishing his latest statement for submission to the court ahead of the next day’s hearing. This was to include a detailed account of how the police had behaved in relation to using Hopkins’s alleged illness as a means to get the case adjourned. He made it clear that Jeremy wanted Hopkins to give live evidence and that if he did not attend court then he would rather press on with Hopkins’s statement and sworn evidence from the first trial being read out than postpone. In fact, we were of the opinion, and making preparations for the possibility, that we would never see Hopkins again. Even if a new trial date was set, his psychiatrist would always claim that he would become too traumatised and suffer a relapse. Andre summarised all the evidence with the appropriate exhibits and also attached the press releases that related to Hopkins leading a complex national investigation for the Environment Agency. He had also pointed out that Hopkins’s claims of ill h
ealth (as opposed to his fear of perjury and attempting to pervert the course of justice) needed to be considered very carefully, particularly given his absence, the lack of information and general evasiveness by Challenger and Grundy.
Andre had emailed Jeremy a copy of his statement by early evening and I felt a real sense of achievement that I was able to help in such a massive way, being the one who had found out about Hopkins – even better that it would surely be causing some consternation for the police. Anyone reading the statement could see that this was the conduct of someone seeking to avoid being questioned. I hoped we would have an open-minded judge this time.
While sitting down to relax and watch television with the comfort of our dogs nearby, I couldn’t believe that, finally, we were on the eve of the retrial that we, Andre, Leslie and their support teams had fought so hard to get to. I thought nothing could go wrong now.
Jeremy and I had been quite involved with his final preparations earlier in the day and he seemed fairly jovial and much more confident. We had an early dinner and agreed that there would be no more court talk that evening. At around 9.30 p.m. Jeremy said that he needed to put petrol in the car as we had such an early start in the morning. I wondered why on earth he had not done that earlier in the day but I did not bother to question it.
After about half an hour I looked at my watch to see that it was nearing 10 p.m. and he was not back yet. Strange, I thought, as the petrol station was not far away. I then suspected that he may have gone to the little corner shop that sold his favourite sweets. I guessed that he was looking for some comfort junk food and tutted to myself, although I was starting to feel a little bit uneasy.
Suddenly the phone rang, making me jump. I said hello and there was silence. I knew it was Jeremy and I was worried. ‘Is that you, Jeremy?’ I asked and then he meekly replied, ‘Yes’, followed by: ‘I’m sorry, but I cannot do what everyone wants me to do tomorrow. I know I am letting everyone down, but I am not coming back, forgive me.’
‘Come home now!’ I yelled, and before I could say anything else the line went dead. I tried frantically to ring him back, but each time the call went straight to voicemail. I started to pace around the house, demented, not knowing what to do next, how to sort this out – Do I sort it out? Do I request a search party? Who do I call to help? All the time I was thinking of Andre and Leslie, of their hard work and how he was letting them down. I couldn’t bear the thought of it and neither could I bear the vision of the smug faces of Challenger and Grundy winning the trial by finally breaking Jeremy.
I decided that I had to call Andre: ‘Sorry to call you so late, but I have bad news: Jeremy has disappeared.’ I informed him of the brief conversation I had had with Jeremy and admitted that I thought it was my fault for being so hard on him for the past few weeks. Andre must have felt as panicked as I did but he certainly never revealed that in his voice. He said he would try to call Jeremy in the hope that he’d take Andre’s call if not mine. The minutes ticked by while Andre and I desperately tried to make contact with Jeremy. I left a voicemail message on my last try, pleading with him to come home and telling him that he was so close to the end of this whole sorry saga. I finished with what I hoped would persuade him to return. ‘Think about me,’ I said.
It was approaching 11 p.m. and I was at a loss as to what to do now. I could not believe that we might have to vacate our own retrial, so I phoned Andre to ask what we would have to do and as soon as I started speaking I heard a key in the lock of the front door. ‘Andre, it’s Jeremy,’ I exclaimed in shock. ‘I’ll come back to you.’ He reassured me that he would be at the end of the phone at any time. I rushed downstairs to see Jeremy who was looking rather grey, but was apologetic about his behaviour. He said he was scared to death about what was ahead. I told him it was perfectly natural to feel like that and that he should ring Andre for a reassuring chat before going to bed.
Chapter 54
RETRIAL – DAY ONE, WEDNESDAY 12 JANUARY 2011
After Jeremy’s pep talk with Andre, he had slept relatively well. Not so for me, and I was glad to stop the tossing and turning so that I could get up and start the day.
We had arrived in London early for breakfast and then to meet with Andre at Leslie’s chambers in Lincoln’s Inn Fields. After a short briefing we all walked to the High Court together. Leslie led the way, striding it out with his hands thrust deep into the pockets of his overcoat and talking animatedly to his harem of paralegals, while Jeremy and I kept up with Andre who had the unenviable task of pulling along a large suitcase containing the trial bundles. I so hated the hustle and bustle of London and having to concentrate on weaving in and out of oncoming pedestrians with the constant blaring horns and squeaking brakes emanating from the incessant roar of traffic.
Seeing this building again made me feel nauseous and even though we had been here before, we still relied on following Andre to the courtroom appointed to us. As opposed to last time, we were down one level and not too far from the entrance. It looked a whole lot easier to navigate than our previous courtroom locations. Our legal team went in first to set up their files and settle in while Jeremy and I waited outside. We did not want to sit inside just yet – those hard wooden benches could wait – so we took the opportunity to be alone. Although it did not need it, I straightened Jeremy’s tie and brushed non-existent fluff off his suit, all the while giving him words of encouragement. Then Challenger, Grundy et al paraded along the corridor, spoiling the moment. Grundy glanced over at Jeremy and gave him her smacked bum face, which we had now grown accustomed to. Her hair was cut in a neat short bob which sported vivid orange and blonde highlights making her look both pale and severe. Whereas Fiona Campbell, who had represented the Gerard family, had been stick thin, Grundy was the complete opposite.
We let them go into the court first and then we followed to sit alongside Andre, who informed us that there was likely to be another attempt by Challenger to halt proceedings. Before we could ask any questions, the court clerk called for us all to rise as Mr Justice Mackay made his way to his seat. As we sat down, he cast a stern eye over all of us which felt a little unsettling. I looked toward Challenger and wondered when he was going to derail the trial.
Leslie was on his feet first to confirm that the judge had been provided with the trial bundles of the case. Mackay replied rather grumpily that it was unlikely that he would look at more than 10 per cent of the documents provided and that if there was ever a case that should have a core bundle, it was this one. Leslie then asked if he had received his further opening arguments and the flagged core documents provided the previous day. The response – still a little stroppy – was that he could have done with it a bit sooner and then he recited a list of papers that he had already read and those he had not, which turned out to be the transcript of Hopkins’s evidence. Looking out to his audience with an air of a strict school master, he concluded with, ‘So there we are.’
Leslie asked, ‘My Lord, may I ask you why you have not read the transcript of Mr Hopkins?’ to which Mackay responded wearily, ‘Yes, I didn’t have time.’
Andre whispered something to Jeremy and I looked quizzically at him. Jeremy then told me that Andre was a bit worried as it seemed that the judge did not like us. My blood ran cold – this had happened at the first trial.
Leslie, undeterred, moved on to address the point of the attendance of Hopkins. The judge asked if he was present, to which Leslie responded that he was not and suspected that he would not be coming to court at all. Turning to Challenger, he was asked what the position was with Hopkins. Challenger replied that Hopkins was still unwell and evidence had been provided to support that he was unfit to give evidence. Leslie jumped in to say that he had seen none of it.
Mr Justice Mackay said that he had had a conversation with Mr Justice Clark, who had heard Challenger’s application on 3 December and that he had formulated the view that the witness might never be fit to give evidence. ‘What do you say, Mr Challenger?’
&
nbsp; ‘May I say that my learned friend says all the evidence is here. However, there was a letter of 22 December which was disclosed at the CMC hearing heard by Mr Justice Clark,’ said Challenger, starting to sway from side to side.
In an impatient tone, Mackay said, ‘Give me the headlines, Mr Challenger. Do you wish to proceed without this witness giving live evidence?’
Challenger responded, ‘I will give my Lord the headlines, but if I can give you some background to this matter.’ I had the feeling Challenger was gearing up for one of his usual lengthy speeches, and I suspected this judge was going to have none of it. Sure enough Mackay jumped in: ‘It’s a straight question to which at some stage I would like a straight answer.’ There was that tone again.
Challenger went on to explain that Hopkins was being seen by the psychiatrist, Dr Bhushan, that day and that he was awaiting an updated report. He went on to suggest that Mackay consider the current position of the witness and push the ‘matter’, by which I assumed he meant this trial, back to Monday. Or sometime never, I was reckoning.
Mackay said that he could not stop evidence being read or excluded and that Challenger would have to give notice for doing so, but was now out of time. He was further told that he would have to consider the charges of the case and what this could bring to bear when looking at damages. Challenger had to agree that Hopkins’s evidence could not be excluded but he was an important witness for the defence’s case. He brought to Mackay’s attention that Leslie had said in his speaking note that Hopkins’s illness was bogus and that he had pulled the wool over the doctor’s eyes. Challenger continued, ‘My Lord is aware that Mr Hopkins is ill.’
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