The Clerk addressed the prisoner, reciting the three offences with which he was charged – that of driving to the common danger, that of being drunk while in charge of a car and that of obstructing the police.
Baal rose to his feet.
“I appear for the accused and I plead not guilty to all charges. I also ask for an adjournment, that counsel may be instructed on the accused’s behalf.”
Berry consulted his colleagues.
Then—
“Very well, Mr Baal. We will hear the constable’s evidence, and then a remand will be ordered for seven days.”
Vision might have been good-looking, if heavy drinking had not disfigured his face. His age, I believe, was given as thirty-two. His air was resentful and haughty. Who was be to stand in the dock? If these people knew how to behave, they would give him a seat on the Bench.
Constable Gorse was sworn.
“At ten-fifteen on the seventh of November, I was approaching Curlew Corner from the direction of Mockery Dale. When I was close to the corner, I heard a car—”
“Is all this necessary?” said Baal.
“Be good enough to rise,” said Berry, “when you address the Court.”
After a long look, the solicitor got to his feet.
“Yes?”
“I was venturing to inquire, when I was interrupted, whether it was necessary that the constable should give his evidence in full.”
“Before ordering a remand,” said Berry, “it is the practice of this Court to hear evidence of arrest. As the arrest was made by the present witness, it would be out of all order for him to select from his testimony such particulars as he may think proper to lay before the Court.” He turned to the witness. “Go on.”
Approaching Curlew Corner from the East, Gorse, who was on his bicycle, had heard a car coming up very fast from the North. Once it reached the corner, the car must turn East or West, for there was no road to the South. Gorse dismounted and stood waiting, as close to the wall as he could. He was on his left side. The car turned to the East, but was going too fast to take the right-angled turn. As he saw it coming, Gorse let his bicycle go and leaped for the top of the wall. The car struck the wall below him a glancing blow and, running over his bicycle, came to rest. The car had a left-hand drive: otherwise the driver must have been seriously hurt, for all the right side of the car was badly crushed. Gorse got down from the wall and the accused got out. He was alone in the car. He was using very bad language and staggered about the road. He was drunk. He refused to give his name and address. Here Dr Fawcett arrived. After some conversation, Gorse asked the doctor to drive them to Riding Hood. When the doctor assented, the accused became very violent and went for Gorse. Between them, the doctor and Gorse had got him into the car. At Riding Hood he had been charged…
Baal rose to his feet.
“Tell me this, Constable. If…”
“Mr Baal,” said Berry, “the Bench has no objection to your questioning the constable now. But if you do so, Counsel cannot question him on Wednesday next.”
“I’ve only one question to ask.”
“Either you cross-examine, or Counsel. It is for you to choose.”
Baal hesitated. His hands were working: I could not see his face.
Then—
“The Bench is determined to embarrass the defendant,” he said.
“As you and I know,” said Berry, “that observation is beneath contempt. The prisoner will be remanded for seven days.”
“On the same bail,” said Baal.
Berry looked at the Superintendent.
“Are you content with the bail?”
“Yes, sir.”
“The same bail,” said Berry. “Call the next case.”
I think Baal felt that something had to be done. Before the Bluecoat contingent, he had been put in his place. And that was not ‘according to plan’.
“I should like to enter a protest against the treatment I have been accorded today. I have been ordered about, interrupted and, finally, refused permission to question a witness for the Crown. I confess that my practice lies chiefly in the High Court, but on those occasions when I have appeared before Justices, I have always received the courtesy to which my profession is entitled.”
“Your statement,” said Berry, “that you have been refused permission to cross-examine is, to your knowledge, untrue. For the rest, you have received from the Bench a better treatment than your manner to the Bench has deserved.”
Here the next case was called, and Baal and the Bluecoat contingent made their way out of the court.
As we were driving home—
“Did I go too far?” said Berry.
“Certainly not,” said I. “The swine was out to smear you in front of ‘the Bluecoat school’. But Counsel will have more sense.”
“That’s right. Baal is out of his depth in open court. His field is behind the curtain. Nice show we shall have next Wednesday. Evesham will keep you a seat.”
“Will the police be represented?”
“I think they should be, and Evesham is going to apply. I mean, they’ll have to put Vision in the box. And they may call evidence.”
“To say he drank nothing but water all day long?”
“It’s a wicked world,” said Berry. “Did you see Fawcett at all?”
“I did,” I said. “Counsel may shake Gorse, but he won’t shake him. He followed the car, because he knew it would crash. And Vision couldn’t stand up.”
“Who’d be a Magistrate?” sighed Berry.
“You’ve been one now for more than twenty-five years.”
“I know. And I’m glad to be one, when I can do some good. But here I can do no good. Vision is a law to himself. And now he has fallen foul of a law that is greater than he. I represent that law and am, therefore, his deadly foe. Though I let him go with a caution, Vision would hate my guts. D’you remember Lewis, the poacher – that came to a sticky end? He was the same. He knew no law but that of his own desires. In cases like these, the Magistrate is simply a hangman. My God, what a farce it is. I’ve got to sit there on Wednesday and probably Thursday as well, listening to Counsel misrepresenting the facts and to men and women committing perjury. And against them are Fawcett, who’s nothing whatever to gain by telling the truth, and Vision’s face. And Baal. Does anyone go to Baal, if his hands are clean?”
“What you want,” said I, “is a drink. And you must keep an open mind.”
“I stand corrected,” said Berry. “But no man can have it both ways. To be any good at his job, a JP must be able to size up his fellow men – to tell a fool from a knave and a sheep from a goat, no matter what clothing they wear when they are in Court. Say that I have acquired that curious faculty. Well, you can’t turn it on and off, as you can the spigot that graces a barrel of beer. So how can I help being struck by the pageant this afternoon? Fawcett, grave and keen-faced, a dutiful, clean-living man. Vision, as wilful a drunkard as ever I saw. (I’m not throwing any rocks. But for the grace of God, there go you and I.) The Bluecoat contingent, an idle, worthless bunch, actually cheering their crony when he is degraded by stepping into the dock. And Baal, the embodiment of evil… Don’t be alarmed, gossip. If Fawcett goes back on his proof, the drunkard will leave the Court, an unconvicted man. The run he will have will be absolutely fair. But pity the poor JP, whose bogey is prejudice, who sees the truth sticking out, because he has eyes to see.”
Half an hour later, perhaps—
“Was it very unpleasant?” said Daphne. “You look so tired.”
“Not too bad,” said her husband. “I had to put Baal in his place.”
“I suppose half Bluecoat was there.”
“They were bound to come,” said Berry. “They couldn’t let the side down.”
“And Vision?”
“A very ordinary bloke. May or may not be guilty. We’ll have to see what he says.”
“Oh, you’re no good,” said Daphne. “I’ll have to talk to Boy. Wait a minute. Lo
ok in my eyes.” And then she was down on her knees, with her cheek against his. “My blessed darling, why will you take things so hard?”
“Because I’m a fool,” said Berry. “Motley’s my wear. I can strut in the counsellor’s gown: but the executioner’s tunic chafes me under the ribs.”
The next day the London papers were full of ‘The Vision Case’. The headlines were naturally arresting – EARL’S BROTHER CHARGED…DUEL BETWEEN CHAIRMAN AND SOLICITOR… SHARP PASSAGES IN COURT. Reporters arrived at White Ladies before midday. I gave them a photograph of Berry – I thought it best. We were drinking beer in the hall, when Berry appeared.
“Ah,” he said, “a party,” and poured some beer. “Here’s to Contempt of Court.” There was a roar of laughter. “And if you say I said that, the Vision case will be heard in camera.”
“Won’t you give us something, sir?”
“Have a heart,” said Berry. “How can I? I know it’d be a scoop, but what about me? I don’t want to be impeached, or what ever the procedure is.”
“Just something, sir.”
“I will, on one condition – that you don’t say you got it from me.”
“That’s all right, sir.”
“I mean that.”
“We’ll promise.”
“That’s good enough.”
For a quarter of an hour he spoke of Riding Hood – of Justices he could remember, of famous counsel defending the motorcar, of how a Lord Chancellor had been summoned and had appeared by counsel and paid his fine.
“Who was that, sir?”
“No, you don’t,” said Berry. “I don’t want to lose my job. But he was very angry – I’ll give you that. ‘Biting the hand that fed us,’ was what he said. So in fear and trembling we fined him thirty shillings… As you may believe, the case was not reported.”
And then, at last, Wednesday came.
If the court had been full before, that day it was crammed. But for Evesham, I should not have reached my seat. Mr Romeo, of Counsel, was sitting with Baal: small and dark, be looked extremely efficient. The police were represented by Arthur Leech, a very pleasant solicitor, not up to Romeo’s weight. The Bluecoat contingent was stronger – I counted ten. They were making a lot of noise, when Romeo shot them a glance and whispered to Baal. Baal got up and went over to where they sat. And then they quietened down. The Press was present in force – I recognized three reporters, and they saw me.
The Magistrates took their seats and Vision appeared. Romeo’s demeanour left nothing to be desired. The man knew how to behave. But I was pretty sure that be had a whip in his boot.
He had – and he hit Gorse hard. But Gorse was hardly fair game. And he could do nothing with Fawcett, try as he would.
“‘Drunk’ is a loose expression?”
“‘Drunk’ is a wide expression, loosely used.”
“D’you ever use it loosely?”
“Off the record – yes.”
And later on—
“You’re an experienced doctor. Have you ever known a case in which a man appeared to be drunk, but was really ill?”
“I have known three such cases.”
“In which a mistake was made?”
“Yes.”
“Excusably?”
“Yes. In every case the man appeared to be drunk.”
“But he wasn’t?”
“No. He was very seriously ill. Two of them died, and the third was discharged from hospital after six months.”
Shock went the same way. Nothing could shake Fawcett. Vision was drunk.
Finally—
“You are determined, doctor, to send this young man down?”
Berry leaned forward.
“Please reconsider that question, Mr Romeo.”
“As you please, sir,” said Counsel, and took his seat.
Then the accused was called, and put up a dreadful show. He made extravagant statements, none of which, I feel sure, appeared in his proof. Even I could have torn him in pieces. Leech was more lenient; but he tied him up more than once. His manner was atrocious.
Whilst he was being cross-examined, he went too far.
“Do you usually ‘blind’ by night along roads that you do not know?”
“Of course I don’t. I’m not such a — fool.”
Berry looked up.
“You will immediately withdraw that epithet and apologize to the Court for using it.”
For a moment there was dead silence.
Then Baal left his seat, to approach the witness-box.
“Leave him alone, Mr Baal.”
There was another silence.
Then—
“I beg your pardon,” said Vision, sullenly.
“Go on, Mr Leech.”
When he had returned to the dock, Romeo rose.
“I have four more witnesses, sir, and it is half-past five.”
“Then we’d better adjourn,” said Berry. “If tomorrow will be convenient, the Bench is prepared to sit at eleven o’clock.”
Romeo consulted with Baal.
Then—
“Thank you, sir. That will suit us very well.”
“And you, Mr Leech?”
“It’s all right for me, sir, thank you.”
“Very well. The accused is remanded till tomorrow at eleven o’clock.”
We were on our way back.
“I’m sorry for Romeo,” said Berry. “You couldn’t see his face, when Vision was in the box.’
“I can imagine it,” said I.
Berry expired.
“The whole thing’s so damned unpleasant. Every soul in that court knows that Vision has done the things he is said to have done. And there he is, a gentleman born, telling lie after lie upon oath and flaunting his contempt and resentment of a system which has presumed to embarrass his way of life. And now say your piece about not prejudging the case.”
“I can’t,” I said. “Not after Fawcett and Vision. The words won’t come.”
“Is it possible,” said Berry, “that Romeo will persuade him to withdraw his plea of ‘Not guilty’ and plead, instead?”
“If I know anything of Counsel, he’ll have a damned good try.”
“Let’s hope to God he succeeds. I should feel so much better about it – everyone would. It would be a redeeming feature, and that is what this case needs – and has not got.”
But Vision must have hardened his heart, for when the morrow came, the case went on.
The witnesses from Bluecoat were called. They spoke to the quality and quantity of the liquor which Vision had consumed. They swore that he was not drunk when he left the house. Under cross-examination, one of them went to bits and made an awkward admission, which plainly shook Romeo up.
Still, he made an excellent speech. Few men could have made such bricks without any straw. It might have shaken a jury, drawn from the countryside. But Berry, Lefevre and Lawson were not jurymen.
“Before I sit down, I should like to thank the Bench for the latitude I have been given, for the patience and courtesy shown me from first to last. You will please believe, sir, that I am very grateful.”
“As a man sows, Mr Romeo, so shall be reap.”
Counsel smiled and bowed, and the Magistrates retired.
No one in court, I think, can have had any doubt that on two, at least, of the charges they would convict the accused. The only question was, would they be content with a fine? Reviewing the circumstances of the case, I could not believe that they would. Vision had no excuse. No harm had been done, of course: but that was not Vision’s fault. And the public had to be protected against such selfishness. The way to protect it was to show prospective transgressors how hard might be their way. For Lefevre, I could not answer: Lawson believed in discipline – that I knew: Berry was very human – his bark was worse than his bite.
Five and twenty minutes went by, before they returned.
Then the accused was brought in, and Berry looked round.
“The accused,” he said
, “stands charged with three offences, far the most serious of which is that of being drunk while in charge of a car. It is to that charge that most of my observations will relate.
“It is the bounden duty of every Judge, Juryman or Magistrate to weigh the evidence given before him on oath. If the testimony of each of the witnesses in this case is separately weighed, no man of average intelligence can deny that the evidence of Dr Fawcett is very much more weighty than that of anyone else. In the first place, he is the only completely independent witness that has been called. He is not the Police Surgeon, and, until that unhappy evening, he had never so much as set eyes upon the accused, So far, therefore, as Dr Fawcett is concerned, there can be no question of bias, for or against. In the second place, he is a General Practitioner of fifteen years’ standing, has been House Surgeon at St Bartholomew’s and served with a combatant unit throughout the War. With such a record, he is far better qualified to decide whether or no a man is drunk than is any other of the witnesses that have been called before us. In the third place, according to the evidence of the constable, which has not been disputed, Dr Fawcett arrived upon the scene little more than one minute after the accident had occurred. And so, in his person, we have the only independent witness, the best qualified witness, and a witness who was, to all intents and purposes, on the spot. Now, for his evidence. He was about a mile from Curlew Corner, when he was met and passed by the accused’s car. So high was its speed and so erratic was its course that, although he was on his way home, he turned his car round and followed, in case his services should be needed, when the accident, which he felt to be inevitable, had taken place. He arrived, to find the accused out in the road. He immediately examined him, and this is his report. ‘He was unhurt: he was not suffering from shock: he was drunk.’ Counsel, in the execution of his duty, did his best to shake those conclusions. In the opinion of the Bench, he failed. Pressed in cross-examination, the doctor used these words. ‘In my time I have seen a great many intoxicated men. They may be divided into three classes – those who are under the influence of drink, those who are drunk, and those who are dead drunk. When I saw the accused, he belonged to the second class.’ And a little later, in re-examination, ‘He might have been suffering from shock, had he not been drunk. But he was not in a condition to appreciate how narrow had been his escape.’ So much for Dr Fawcett. The constable, whose evidence is less weighty, bears out what the doctor says. Four witnesses have come from Bluecoat, and each of them has sworn that, when the accused left the house, he could not be said to be under the influence of drink. But from the cross-examination of one of them, a significant fact emerged. And that was that, as soon as it was realized that the accused had left the mansion, two cars were at once turned out to find out which way he had taken and follow him up. The witness in question declared that this action was not inspired by apprehension; but we cannot ignore the strong resemblance it bears to that which the doctor took. Finally, there is the evidence of the accused. He has sworn that he was perfectly sober, that the constable was on his wrong side and that it was in an endeavour to avoid the latter that he took his car into the wall. Upon that statement, he was asked two questions. The first was, ‘How did you see the constable, if he was on his wrong side?’ The accused replied, ‘I saw the glow of his bicycle lamp.’ The second was, ‘In that case how do you account for the bicycle’s being found beneath the car?’ To this the accused made no answer. For this and other reasons, the Bench is quite unable to accept his evidence.
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