Cut-Throat Defence: The dramatic, twist-filled legal thriller

by Olly Jarvis

‘Definitely not.’

  ‘What did you do after you arrested Marpit?’

  ‘I think I went to help the other officers load the drugs into vans. Is that what they’ve said?’

  ‘So who did you leave Marpit with?

  No answer.

  ‘You’re not afraid to tell us are you?’

  No answer. Indecision. Finally, ‘I think it might have been Officer Finch.’

  ‘Officer Finch,’ repeated Jack. ‘Where on that log is it recorded that Officer Finch had Carl Marpit in his custody?’

  ‘It isn’t,’ replied Saunders quietly, defeated. ‘Not absolutely everything gets recorded.’

  ‘Really? I thought you said it did? No further questions.’ He sat down.

  Lara whispered in his ear. ‘Brilliant cross! You’re on a roll.’

  Jack couldn’t quite take it in.

  Chapter 43

  Nearly one o’clock. Otterwood called his final witness, Officer Calvin Finch.

  Officer Finch wore polished shoes and a smart blue suit. He was perspiring slightly from the effort it took to squeeze into it. His paunch betrayed a lifestyle of late nights and wet lunches. His manner, however, was utterly relaxed. Finch took the oath and then proceeded to state his name and rank before even being asked to do so by Otterwood. Cocksure of himself, he was a seasoned pro when it came to giving evidence, often tagging on a comment at the end of an answer to a question, to put a gloss on the case.

  ‘Officer Finch, I believe a large quantity of cash was recovered?’

  ‘Yes, My Lord, it’s often the case in these investigations.’

  ‘How were they wrapped?’

  ‘In bin liners, My Lord, which is not unusual in drugs cases.’

  Otterwood briefly touched on the issue of Marpit being a participating informant.

  ‘I can say categorically that he was not, My Lord.’

  Humphrey Bingham, QC, decided to sidestep this dangerous witness. ‘No questions, My Lord.’

  Katterman’s style was very different. He lived for the limelight. ‘Officer Finch, you will agree that in this case there is no evidence of Mr Purley, whom I represent, being seen in the vicinity of any drugs?’

  ‘Yes, that’s right, My Lord. We often find that organizers want to maintain a geographical distance from the drugs. They tend to use others, that’s why we analyze such things as telephone traffic.’

  There was a sense that Katterman was trying just a little too hard to win this case. ‘A simple yes or no would have done, officer.’ Katterman decided to cut his losses and sat down.

  Jack’s turn. He had to get something or surely it was all over. He decided to start by putting his case. ‘Officer Finch, you were present at Mr Marpit’s arrest, at the airfield, on March thirteenth?’

  ‘No, my colleague, Officer Saunders, arrested him. I was there shortly after.’

  ‘But you were alone with the defendant after his arrest?’

  ‘Yes, briefly, whilst Officer Saunders went to assist the others. I’m afraid my energy levels weren’t as high my colleague’s,’ he replied, patting his belly.

  Several jurors appreciated the joke.

  ‘Why didn’t you radio that through to the loggist – that you took over custody of Marpit?’

  ‘No point. Marpit didn’t utter any verbals.’

  ‘Mr Marpit said to you, “I’m working for Wolfy, you were supposed to let me slip away”, or words to that effect.’

  ‘He certainly did not!’

  ‘Are you sure, officer?’

  ‘Oh, quite sure. I’d remember something like that.’

  Who was lying? Finch or Marpit?

  ‘Why would you remember it?’ asked Jack.

  ‘Well. Because it would be important wouldn’t it?’

  ‘Important? Do you mean because he’s hinting that he’s a participating informant? That he’s working for the authorities?’

  ‘Well, it could mean that. But he didn’t say it.’

  ‘And then you punched him, officer.’

  ‘I did nothing of the sort!’

  Skart took the sting out of it by turning to the jury and saying, ‘Counsel has to put his client’s case, members of the jury. You understand, don’t you?’

  The jurors nodded.

  Jack laboured on. ‘And you knew Mr Marpit’s first name, didn’t you?’

  ‘No, I don’t think he told us his name until he was at the police station.’

  This was going nowhere. It was time to change tack. ‘Officer Finch, you are the Officer in the Case, are you not?’

  ‘I am.’

  ‘Just so the jury understand – that means you were responsible for the overall investigation of Operation Lion’s Paw?’

  ‘I was.’

  ‘What you don’t know about this investigation is not worth knowing?’

  ‘Well, I don’t know about that,’ he chuckled.

  ‘Officer, as with any operation, you don’t just go out and arrest people, you have to gather evidence. There is a lengthy process of gathering information about the defendants, before they are arrested?’

  ‘Yes, of course.’

  ‘That process often takes months?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘As the OIC, it is also your responsibility to ensure that all the information comes from lawful means – in particular I am referring to the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.’

  ‘Yes, very important.’ Finch was enjoying this apparent platform from which to demonstrate the integrity of his investigation.

  ‘For example, officer, the jury may not know this, but you can’t just go around observing people. It is a breach of their human right to privacy. Now you need authority from the relevant senior officer, in accordance with the Act.’

  ‘That’s right.’

  ‘As the Officer in the Case you have many resources at your disposal, don’t you?’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Well, you can cell-site people’s mobile telephones by getting information from the telephone’s service provider? You can find out the phone’s location when a particular call was made or received?’

  ‘It’s very expensive, so we have to be careful in what we choose to obtain, but yes, we can do that.’

  ‘Carl Marpit was bailed on Friday by this Judge, was he not?’

  ‘He was.’

  ‘He had a bail address that was known only to the court and his legal team?’

  ‘That’s correct.’

  ‘There was a condition that his solicitor check on the defendant daily and then ring you to confirm that he had been seen at the relevant address?’

  ‘That’s correct, and your solicitor complied with that requirement,’ offered the officer.

  ‘Once my instructing solicitor, Miss Panassai, made that call, you then had a record of her telephone number?’

  ‘I suppose so.’

  ‘Did you then authorize the cell-siting of her telephone in order that you might locate the bail address?’

  ‘Certainly not!’

  ‘Did you do it without authorization?’

  ‘Mr Kowalski,’ interjected Mr Justice Skart, ‘I hope you have some foundation for this line of cross-examination. Without that, such an allegation would be outrageous.’

  Jack didn’t have any real evidence and knew he had to back off. ‘My Lord, I am merely asking the officer, I am not making any positive assertion.’

  Katterman seized the opportunity to score a point at someone else’s expense. ‘In fairness to the officer, My Lord, I think we would all like Miss Panassai’s telephone number, particularly my young friend, Mr Kowalski.’

  The jury laughed at the joke.

  The judge ignored it. ‘Proceed very carefully, Mr Kowalski. I’m warning you.’

  Jack was fishing; he had nothing else to go on. He turned to Lara. ‘Any ideas?’ he whispered. ‘I can’t ask about the intruders at the hotel. Skart will ask why we didn’t inform the court.’

  ‘I know, tha
t’s it, Jack. We did our best,’ she whispered softly. ‘Game over.’

  Almost one o’clock. A last attempt to buy some time: ‘Officer Finch, Mr Marpit was in contact with an officer from the NCA by telephone. We have his number.’

  ‘Yes, I’ve seen that number. It shows up on Marpit’s billing records, but we can’t find out who was using that telephone. It certainly wasn’t an NCA officer.’

  ‘Do you have your mobile telephone with you today?’

  The officer didn’t know where this was going. Neither did anyone else, including Jack.

  ‘It’s one o’clock now, officer,’ said Jack. ‘I wonder if I might borrow your telephone over the short adjournment?’

  Silence.

  No one quite knew how to respond to such a novel request.

  Jack persisted. ‘I have no client to show it to, so please don’t worry about security. It’s for my eyes and that of my solicitor only.’

  How could Finch say no? Reluctantly, he pulled the phone from his pocket.

  Case adjourned.

  Chapter 44

  ‘What the hell were you doing?’ demanded Lara once they were in the privacy of a conference room. ‘The jury will think you’re a right idiot at two-fifteen, when you have to hand it back to Finch and sit down.’

  ‘First of all, write out a list of every name and number in the address book. Then we need to compare all the numbers with the numbers in the case. The first number to check for is the handler’s.’

  ‘All in an hour and a quarter?’

  Methodically, painstakingly, they got the job done, just, but nothing in Finch’s contacts helped them, only lots of names and unknown numbers. The handler’s number was not there. Not only was Marpit’s case lost, Jack was going to look a fool, again.

  The jury came into court before the judge. Everyone sat waiting expectantly. Had Kowalski found something? Or was it going to be just another cross-examination without any substance?

  Once the judge was in court, Jack handed the phone to the usher, who took it to Finch.

  ‘Thank you very much, officer. No further questions.’ Jack sat down, defeated.

  The officer had a smug expression on his face. He couldn’t resist twisting the knife. ‘My Lord, our conduct is strictly regulated by RIPA, to which we adhere, as Mr Kowalski well knows. Mr Marpit was not providing us with any assistance or information.’

  ‘I have no re-examination. Does Your Lordship have any questions?’ asked Otterwood courteously.

  ‘No, thank you. Mr Finch, you are free to go.’

  As Finch left the witness box he gave a slight smirk to Otterwood, seeking approval of his assured performance.

  Jack stared blankly at the list of names and numbers Lara had written out. Suddenly, he realized something. ‘Just a minute,’ he said, leaping to his feet. ‘I’m sorry. There’s something else. I’m sorry, My Lord.’

  The judge gave a disapproving sigh. ‘Very well, Mr Kowalski, but make it quick.’

  Jack rang a telephone number on the list and handed it to Lara, whispering: ‘You’ve got thirty seconds to find out whose number that is. I’ll waffle till you get back but please make it quick.’

  Finch was back in the box, trying to conceal his irritation at being recalled.

  ‘Officer, at the end of your evidence you mentioned RIPA?’

  ‘Yes, the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act.’

  ‘It is quite a mouthful isn’t it, so officers and lawyers tend, in common parlance, to refer to the Act as RIPA?’

  ‘Yes we do, My Lord.’

  Jack felt a tug on his gown. Lara was back already. She handed him a piece of paper with a word written on it. She had also written a question mark, not understanding the word’s significance. Jack did. His heart was pounding. Was it possible that he was finally on to something?

  He turned back to Finch. ‘In a separate part of RIPA there is a lengthy section that sets out everything to do with the code of conduct in relation to informants, in order that everything is RIPA compliant.’

  ‘Yes, My Lord.’

  ‘That Code is called the Code for Covert Human Intelligence Sources, is it not?’

  ‘It is.’ The witness was starting to sweat a little more profusely.

  ‘So nowadays, since the Act came into force, you refer to an informant as a Covert Human Intelligence Source, abbreviated to CHIS, pronounced chiz?’

  Finch knew where this was going now. He answered timidly, ‘Yes.’

  ‘In your address book, there are two entries named “chizm” “chizl”.’

  ‘Er, yes.’

  ‘Does that stand for “chiz mobile”, and “chiz landline”?’

  Finch’s eyes were pleading to Otterwood for help, who obliged. ‘My Lord, we have made all the relevant disclosure, I do not think that it is appropriate for Mr Kowalski to go fishing through this officer’s address book.’

  Jack responded in a flash before His Lordship had time to rule. ‘My Lord, can I allay any fears my learned friend, or indeed the witness, may have? I will not be revealing the telephone number at this stage, but there is a line of cross-examination I need to pursue.’

  ‘Proceed with caution, Mr Kowalski.’

  Jack nodded courteously. ‘Well, officer, do the entries represent the landline and mobile number of your chiz?’

  ‘Yes.’

  The jurors whispered to each other excitedly.

  ‘That informant worked in a nightclub?’

  ‘Yes.’

  The next two questions were crucial. ‘Were you aware that the defendant’s daughter, Melanie Marpit, worked at those premises?’ Could it even be possible, Jack thought, that Melanie was the chiz?

  Finch took his time. Finally, ‘Yes. I was aware she worked there.’

  Jack was going to ask the next question unless anyone tried to stop him. ‘Was the chiz providing information in relation to Operation Lion’s Paw?’

  Again Finch looked to Otterwood, who this time remained stony faced.

  ‘Yes.’

  The atmosphere of the court had changed. Jack could feel the tension. There was one final question, for now. Although he was afraid to ask it, Jack knew he had to. ‘Did you make the Crown Prosecution Service aware’ – Jack paused – ‘or Mr Otterwood, of this link with Melanie Marpit?’

  Finch answered nervously. ‘No I didn’t, My Lord.’

  The courtroom burst into excited chatter.

  The judge tried to restore some order.

  Otterwood sought to regain some control of his case. Although embarrassed, at least Otterwood’s integrity – to Jack’s relief – was intact.

  ‘My Lord, clearly we must resolve where we go from here. It may be a convenient moment for the jury to stretch their legs?’ He smiled at the jury. Creating reasons for the jury to have a break usually went down well, but they had just become unsure of Otterwood. Mr Kowalski was in the ascendancy.

  ‘Yes, go with the usher please, members of the jury. I hope you won’t be kept waiting for too long.’

  As the jury were ushered out Jack whispered to Lara, ‘If Melanie is a red herring why did Finch keep it from his own counsel?’ He handed her back the piece of paper, which read ‘Milo’s?’

  Lara’s face was a picture of curiosity.

  ‘Jack, how the hell did you know Melanie worked at Milo’s?’

  ‘I’m so sorry, with all the pressure it slipped my mind. A client called Maisie Harris told me in passing. She knew her.’

  Lara laughed, shaking her head in disbelief at this lucky break.

  Chapter 45

  Once the jury had retired to their room, Otterwood hauled himself up to his lectern.

  ‘Well, Mr Otterwood, what do you intend to do now?’ The judge was clearly annoyed by this unforeseen development – the Officer in the Case being less than candid with his own counsel.

  ‘My Lord, clearly I need to get to the bottom of this. The only way I can see is for me to speak to Mr Finch, in conference. Following that
, it may be that there is further material to disclose, or it may be that I will need to see your Lordship in chambers and make a public interest immunity application – I just don’t know at this stage.’

  ‘You’ve got twenty minutes. I’ll rise.’

  Jack and Lara retreated to a conference room to escape the intensity of the courtroom. Jim Smith of the Manchester Evening News was already outside, talking feverishly into his phone. He gave an appreciative wink as they passed; he had something juicy to write about.

  Jack’s head was throbbing. He was trying to assess all the possible scenarios and what his response would be. It was like a game of chess. Jack’s brain couldn’t cope with so many different combinations.

  Lara took control, and tried to go through the possibilities in turn. ‘What’s the best outcome, Jack?’

  ‘Finch gives Otterwood information that is disclosable and they decide not to disclose it, so Otterwood has no alternative but to offer no evidence – drop the case.’

  ‘Or he could try and claim PII – that it’s not in the public interest to disclose it?’

  ‘Yeah, of course, but if Skart orders disclosure and they don’t want to, or can’t, they would have to offer no evidence.’

  ‘So, if we get no disclosure at all, chances are he has claimed PII successfully?’

  ‘That would be my guess, because there’s bound to be relevant information there.’

  ‘What if we get some disclosure?’

  ‘If it’s something totally new we’ll have to ask for time to investigate it; and surely we’d get it.’

  Otterwood entered the conference room clutching several sheets of paper, parked himself on a chair and placed the pages on the table.

  ‘I’ve got some disclosure for you, but first let me tell you what we know.’ Otterwood paused and took a breath. ‘Firstly, and probably most importantly for your purposes, Melanie Marpit was not a CHIS, informant, or whatever you want to call her. She was not providing information. The CHIS was a man called Acer Spears. He worked on the door at Milo’s. Melanie working briefly at Milo’s was a complete coincidence. As far as the NCA are concerned she has no relevance to the investigation.’

  Jack interrupted. ‘How did Finch know who she was, then?’