The Unsuspecting Housewife

by Olivia Charles

  “Hello Luv, can you spare any change?” She stopped and stared at the young homeless man in dirty clothes, huddled in an old sleeping bag and holding out his hand. She opened her bag and took out her purse and smiled warmly.

  “Here, your need is even greater than mine.” She reserved five pounds for the car park but then tipped everything else into his cupped hands. He was astonished and blessed her.

  Henrietta and her legal team waited an age for the CPS to state their case, issue an indictment and arrange a court date for the named individuals to make their respective pleas. It was suggested that the hold-up was caused by Terry Newman who was the only person who had not been arrested by the police and would not return from Spain to face the charges against him. The unofficial news was that the Police were considering the unwanted expense of Mr Newman’s extradition and were in contact with their Spanish counterparts.

  Finally news arrived that Mr Newman had responded to the UK police and had declared he had ‘no case to answer’ and no knowledge of any of the crimes mentioned. Apparently he was angered by Mrs Champion’s attempt to drag him into her own dramatic and desperate situation, and was completely and totally innocent of her crimes. It was clear that a court order would have to be issued against Mr Newman and he would have to be extradited and brought back to the UK but in the meantime a court date had been set for the other defendants. Henrietta was curious to see who the ‘defendants’ would be, but saw no one she knew at the Magistrates Court on the day she appeared. She was physically terrified and morally mortified as she was taken into a gloomy courtroom and asked how she would plead. She trembled as she stood before the Judge and declared; ‘Not Guilty’.

  A few days later Henrietta received a legal letter which she did not understand. She showed the document to Simon who explained that it was a ‘Restraint Order’ from the Crown Court which would freeze her assets and that using her bank accounts may become difficult. He phoned her lawyers to discuss the matter but was surprised by the turn of events, as it seemed that Mr Aiden Hoare had lodged a complaint to the Court and claimed a conflict of interests, as he had consulted with the same firm and divulged his questionable business dealings with Mr Newman during an interview, prior to Henrietta securing the firm for herself. Simon was told that Henrietta could no longer be represented by them and a smaller company in Manchester was proposed. This solution was less than satisfactory but there seemed to be no alternative and meant that Simon would have to drive Henrietta over the Snake Pass every week, no matter what the weather, to assist her to instruct her new defence team.

  December 2009.

  Simon took Henrietta to Manchester to meet Linda, the senior partner of the new firm and she in turn introduced Sarah, the part-time solicitor who would be assigned to Henrietta’s case. Simon was emphatic that he must present at all meetings and copied in to all legal correspondence. Although this was highly irregular, Linda acknowledged that Mr Hennessy had their new client’s best interests at heart and could probably assist them.

  On Hetty’s first formal appointment in the New Year, Sarah had obtained the transferred funding to act for their new client and had been sent copies of the legal paperwork from the CPS which detailed the charges laid against Henrietta which were; a ‘conspiracy to dishonestly obtain a mortgage on a Spanish property’. Sarah took her instruction from Henrietta and made her first official response to the Criminal Prosecution Service, which stated that Mrs Henrietta Champion ‘had no knowledge of the forged documents or the fraudulent activity associated with them, or any fraudulent activity conducted in her name’. Sarah applied for the transcript of the interview Henrietta made at the police station on the day of her arrest and then spent the ensuing months taking repeated statements and explanations from Hetty and prepared a defence case for trial. She also appointed a barrister on her behalf.

  Only when Henrietta finally met the barrister, Mr Kevin Merrill in the spring of that year, did anyone refer to or question the physical abuse she had endured at the hands of Terry Newman. At the end of their first lengthy meeting in which Kevin listened more that he spoke, he asked Sarah to apply for extra funding to be made available for Henrietta to see a psychologist. He also asked Sarah to obtain signed witness statements from everyone who knew their client well enough to vouch for her good character and diminished wealth. At the end of the meeting Henrietta burst into foods of tears which even Simon could not stop. He offered her his freshly laundered and monogramed handkerchief and took her home.

  Sarah’s part-time work load increased from two days to three as she contacted several of Henrietta’s friends including but not limited to; Ruth, Louise, Jill, Yvonne and Gaynar. She also spoke with Henrietta’s mother and the gardener who had witnessed the attempted drowning. She drove to each person’s home and took copious notes to prepare witness statements for them to sign. She asked for extra funding from the LSC to travel to Spain to interview Margot, Annette and Margarita Lopez but was turned down. She phoned Clive Goode and Robert, Hetty’s conveyancer, to ask for their assistance in Henrietta’s defence and took notes over the phone which supported everything Hetty had told both her and the barrister in conference. However when she subsequently phoned those people she had already interviewed, she was disappointed that not everyone wanted to sign their prepared affidavit, as it was made clear to them that they may be called to Court to be cross examined by the CPS barrister. Not everyone wanted to go through such an uncomfortable and inconvenient drama, even to help Henrietta.

  Those friends who did feel compelled to help, out of a sense of moral decency or loyalty, did not realise that the Police would want to interview them too. Henrietta did not know what the police officers said to her old friends but many of those friendships ceased and the Police ostracised her even more by their intervention. She even received a distressing call from Robert:

  “Hetty, I’ve had the Police in my office with a warrant. They just barged in and took your entire file. What the hell is going on? I can’t have police in our reception, in front of other clients! How does that look for the firm?”

  “I didn’t know but I am shocked.”

  “I think the cops were shocked too, by the size of your file, but they took everything.”

  “I am so sorry Rob. I don’t know what to say. You’ve known me for ages and know I would never do anything wrong. I wish I had never gone to the Police for help.”

  “So do I, but I realise all this must all be down to that Newman chap. What did you see in him?”

  “I wanted a husband.” She admitted to her friend who went silent on the line for what seemed like an age then said:

  “I am sorry Hetty, I’ve known you for fifteen years but I can no longer be seen to associate with you. I must ask that you remove my number from your phone and don’t contact me again.” He sighed as he put down the phone and wondered what he had missed, as he was renowned for his professionalism and checked everything that passed over his desk.

  It seemed that the Police were busy and had spoken to several potential witnesses. Those statements were forwarded to the CPS and copies were sent to Sarah, as they were intended be used in evidence at trial. At the next conference in Manchester Sarah summoned Kevin to help make some vital decisions before the Christmas break and ordered a platter of sandwiches and a bottle of wine for the four of them.

  “Henrietta, I have looked at the submissions put forward by the Prosecution but can find little or no documentary evidence of your involvement in the mortgage.” Sarah laid out a number of documents on the large desk for all to see.

  “What is this? I thought it was supposed to be a Spanish mortgage?”

  “I know Henrietta, it is really confusing. Apparently the mortgage was applied for by you in England in November 2005 and the details of that application were verified by your financial advisor before it was sent to the bank manager in Marbella who then forwarded a copy to the office in Gibraltar, then it was sent to the Isle of Man. Unfortunately the original application
form was shredded once the loan was agreed and drawn down. It is most unorthodox to do that, it is customary for the banks to keep the original for six years, not six weeks! It gives us a problem though because now we can’t have that document examined forensically for proof that you never touched it. I presume it would have Mr Newman’s finger prints all over it though.”

  “How do we know all this information? I wasn’t even in England in November, I was in Spain.”

  “It’s in his witness statement.”

  “Who’s? Terry Newman’s?”

  “No, in the Bank Manager’s. His witness statement is very detrimental to you.”

  “How so? If it was a bank manager I met, I only ever saw him for a few minutes, he doesn’t know me.”

  “Not the point. He says it was you who asked for the loan and you he gave the loan to.”

  “That’s rubbish, the man must be confused or lying! Terry told me that he plays golf at the same club. Do you think Terry tricked the bank manager?”

  “I believe you, not him, his statement stinks of a man who is nervous and has been careless at the very least. However he says you e-mailed him several times, arranged the meeting at the hotel, that there was only the two of you at that meeting where you handed him all of the required papers he needed for the loan and verbally confirmed your salary at three hundred thousand a year as national sales manager for the phone company Newman worked for. It seems Terry worked for you.”

  “What? I can’t believe it. How would I know who the man was, he had no ID. That foreign pal of Terry’s escorted me and handed him a big white envelope. I had no idea what was in it.” She looked to Kevin in desperation. “Kevin, I don’t know how to use a computer properly and I have never sent an e-mail in my life.”

  “I wish we could call him to give evidence but it seems he is no longer working for the bank and they haven’t said where he is. Looks like I’m not going to be able to cross examine him under oath. Without him we are sunk.”

  “Now what? This is dreadful. Who is going to corroborate my story?”

  “God knows who we can call. Your conveyancer has said he can’t help without his files which were taken. He hasn’t got copies”

  “Come on man, think. She is innocent.” Simon was desperate.

  “In actual fact, the prosecution barrister has made sympathetic noises in my ear and put the suggestion of a pre-trial plea in my mind as a fall-back position. It has been intimated that if Henrietta was to plead guilty to letting Mr Newman use her identity in the Spanish fraud, it would save the cost of trying to prove his guilt.”

  “Kevin, she went to the police for help and now they say they can’t get him unless they do it through Henrietta because nothing is in his name. She gets charged to get him charged?”

  “Simon, I understand your frustration but she as good as admitted to the police that she was the face and identity of the details which were used to commit the crime and without the original document there is no physical proof that he did this alone. It is obvious to everyone that he used her and forged her signature but doing a deal with the CPS would ensure that he faces a prison sentence for his crime. At least this way she won’t have to be subjected to facing Newman in Court or suffer the humiliation of cross examination. I don’t think she would be up to the task. It’s a thought and could be a win, win. Then afterwards we go back and get the CPS to look at the damage Newman did to Henrietta and hopefully they will then make additional charges against him. Let’s speak again after Christmas and see how we feel then.” He looked out of the office window and was concerned by the huge snowflakes swirling downward into the busy traffic.” I had better get off, if I want to spend Christmas with my family.” He sorely regretted driving from Surrey to Manchester in his Aston Martin rather than catching the train.

  January 4th 2011.

  Simon and Henrietta took the train to London and a taxi from the station to Merrill Chambers on Chancery Lane. They were directed from the modern flower filled reception into the small lift to the top floor and greeted by Kevin when the doors opened.

  “Welcome. Better weather! I trust you both had a good Christmas? Sarah is here too, look.” Kevin called to his assistant for a tray of coffees and biscuits and showed them into the boardroom where he explained that he had been communicating with the Prosecution Barrister over the Christmas break in the hope of finding an amicable solution. The startling news was that Mr Newman had attempted to visit his children for Christmas and had been arrested at Manchester airport. Henrietta was exuberant until Kevin explained that her importance to the CPS had consequently diminished and her choice now was to either enter into a protracted trial with the men who hated her or do a similar deal with the CPS to exclude her entirely from the experience. He read out the e-mail he had received from Max Farnell:

  Dear Kevin,

  We now have Mr Newman but feel confident that if your client made a plea to the count we discussed, it would still be acceptable. We are unable to apportion blame between your client and Newman as to their relative culpability and if your client wants to do this, it is likely that Mr Newman will want to try to persuade the Judge differently. This would mean a Newton Hearing, where both parties would be able to attack the other in an open court.

  The material you have assembled in your client’s defence may persuade the Judge of your client’s argument but your client must understand that the ordinary course of legal events will be initiated at trial. That said; any assistance your client can offer to limit proceedings would be recognised by the CPS and the Court.

  Best wishes,

  Max

  “So basically, the CPS are looking to save money by making this trial as short as possible and will avoid Henrietta embarrassment on the stand. In return the CPS will accept that Henrietta pleads guilty to knowing her identity was used as an instrument in the Spanish fraud, that she was the face of the details at the meeting with the bank manager but that Newman was the instrumental user.”

  “What is the worst that can happen if she is minded to accept this plea?”

  “Good question Simon and I wish we knew what might happen on the day but I am prepared to ask the Judge for a Goodyear indication and hope for a suspended sentence at worst. A plea could be our best bet.”

  “But I didn’t believe he was a bank manager. I would never knowingly commit a crime.” Henrietta was exasperated by the regurgitated stupidity of the charge.

  “The CPS claim that you willingly made yourself the ‘face of the details which were false.”

  “Willingly! You call the threat of my Mother being bludgeoned to death; willingly? I could not have known the details were false if I never saw the bloody things!”

  “Calm down Henrietta, this is why I don’t want to put you on the stand; your flippant and emotional responses would not serve you well in front of a Jury. The CPS will say you are well educated and intelligent and knew what Newman was doing. Perhaps if you were not so intelligent, I might have felt happier running with the duress angle.”

  “How would you like to be accused of something you didn’t do, or didn’t know you were doing? How is it that only thick or uneducated women are seen to be the object of abuse?”

  “Henrietta, do you want to spend several weeks at trial with the men you have exposed and brought to justice or bow out on part of a charge?” It was Kevin’s final question.

  “I can’t face Terry and I would be frightened to stay in London on my own.”

  “Couldn’t you pay for a hotel and stay with her Simon?” Sarah asked.

  “You can’t be serious? Surely something can be done to secure accommodation for her?”

  “If she can’t afford accommodation, the only solution offered by Legal Services would be to stay at a police station, but I realise that would be traumatic and unacceptable.”

  Henrietta was horrified and looked to Simon for support but he turned away in anger to stare out of the office window and exhaled a puff of smoke and scowled.


  “Actually we have a no smoking policy in chambers Simon.”

  “Then prosecute me, or shut up!” Simon had heard enough of the merry go round of arguments which always ended up in the same place: Henrietta must plead guilty to something she didn’t do, or have her life, finances and suffering slapped all over the newspapers.

  Kevin was intimidated by Simon and tried to appease him:

  “I go into Court tomorrow and will make a limited plea on Henrietta’s behalf. Now though, l will take you all for lunch to a nearby restaurant where they do a fabulous fillet of beef and serve a very respectable Chablis for you Simon. Come on team, get your overcoats.”

  January 5th 2011.

  The Judge was a grand figure of a man in red robes with huge cream cuffs and wore a horsehair wig which was coiffed to signify his status. He had an intelligent yet irascible face and it was clear from behind the fine rimmed spectacles that this erudite man would let no-one waste his precious time. He spoke to each of the barrister in turn, then and came to Kevin.

  “Mr Merrill, is your client ready to make a plea? I think you were looking toward a suspended sentence to be appropriate in this case?”

  “Yes Your Honour, to part of the charge at Count nineteen. She accepts that she went to a meeting with the representative of a bank, on behalf of someone else.”

  “I notice from the submissions that duress has been raised as a possible defence but you realise she would have to be cross examined by the Crown, if you chose that course.”