‘What do we know about him?’ he asked his clerk. ‘I’ve never come across him myself.’
Alan Jackson, who had been in chambers even longer than Cronshaw, and promoted to senior clerk seven years before, had made a few discreet inquiries.
‘It seems he practised mainly in Leeds. Not that there’s anything wrong with that of course, although he did have a London address in Lincoln’s Inn. Jack of all trades as far as I can ascertain. He has some criminal experience, but not at your level, of course. MP for somewhere north of Watford, I believe.’
Cronshaw listened as his clerk continued.
‘His predecessor would never have interfered like this. And this is not an easy one. I hope Mr. Markham-Moore’s not going to be relieved of the junior brief as a result.’
Cronshaw was uncompromising about that possibility.
‘That is definitely not going to happen. I shall return the brief if it does. You can make that very clear to the DPP.’
His clerk smiled.
‘I already have, sir, but I’ve heard nothing in response.’ He looked at his watch. ‘Your consultation should be about ready. I’ve blocked out Mr Markham-Moore in the diary for three weeks from the beginning of March, so he won’t be very pleased if he has to come out. And I’ve returned a couple of decent cases to keep him available for this trial.’
He paused as he finished arranging Cronshaw’s papers on his desk.
‘No doubt you’ll make that clear to Miss Morrison? Shall I bring them up?’
Cronshaw nodded, took up his position behind his desk and pondered the situation. He glanced once more at the Attorney’s letter then folded it in two before placing it in his desk drawer and turning his mind to more pressing matters. While the actions of the Attorney troubled him, he had to concentrate on the trial. He realised that pulling out at this stage was but an empty threat. Whatever happened, he’d have to stick with it now. His professional duty demanded it.
He’d prosecuted several cases before where the Crown had relied on someone like Derick Duffy and he knew only too well how such hostages to fortune could be blown apart even by the most perfunctory cross-examination. And cross-examination of Derick Duffy would be anything but perfunctory. Julia Hamilton’s solicitor had, he knew, instructed Edwin Everdene QC to represent her. A surprising choice in the view of some, Everdene practised almost exclusively in the commercial court. He had little criminal experience, outside commercial fraud, but his reputation for detailed analysis and sound judgment was second to none. And he had the assistance of Felicity Garrard, a feisty advocate with huge criminal experience on the verge of taking silk herself. Together, they were a formidable team, along with their very capable instructing solicitor, carefully chosen by Julia Hamilton following exhaustive research by her in the prison library.
Digby and Pepper was a small specialist criminal practice in east London with a fearsome reputation. Oliver Wendell Digby was almost completely blind but had developed a quite phenomenal memory over his years of practice which rarely saw him disadvantaged. His parents had named him after the famous American jurist and associate Justice of the Supreme Court. It seemed he had been destined for a legal career since birth and had never disappointed. His disability, which would have seriously impeded most people, had merely served to give a distinctive edge to his professionalism. The junior partner, Giles Pepper, had recently successfully represented a Member of Parliament on a serious fraud charge. It was his decision to instruct Edwin Everdene, to the initial consternation of his client. ‘Trust me,’ he had assured her, ‘he’s the right man for a case of this nature. If anyone can best Cronshaw, he can.’
Everdene and Cronshaw knew each other well. They had recently crossed swords in the House of Lords in a multi-million-pound confiscation appeal and they held each other in the highest regard. The case had been as hard fought as any Cronshaw could remember, and although he had prevailed in the end, two of the Law Lords had dissented in Everdene’s favour. The prosecution of Julia Hamilton was not going to be a walkover.
His clerk knocked on the door and introduced Fiona Morrison and Chief Inspector Hood into the room. Cronshaw stood and welcomed them.
‘Come along in and take a seat. Thank you Alan, that will be all.’
His clerk smiled and left the room. Morrison and Hood made themselves as comfortable as they could but detected a somewhat tense atmosphere. Cronshaw got immediately down to business. He was not in the mood for the usual pleasantries. He first raised the question of the Attorney-General’s intervention.
‘I’m no happier about it than you,’ said Morrison. ‘But I do believe we can restrict him to opening the case. He’ll probably lose interest after that. He’ll have more than enough on his plate with this new Parliamentary bill on telephone intercepts. His attention will probably be focused on that – unless it goes through before the trial begins.’
‘That’s a distinct possibility,’ replied Cronshaw. ‘But we’ll be governed by the Nineteen Eighty-five Act – whatever changes Parliament introduces. We already know that it will not have retrospective effect.’
‘So,’ said Morrison, hesitating and casting a coy look at Hood before turning her attention to Cronshaw, ‘I see from your written advice you think we may be able to get this intercept in?’
Cronshaw smiled.
‘A very interesting question, if I may say so? Markham-Moore and I have researched the matter in depth. On balance, we think we should be able to persuade the judge to admit it. And if we can’t, we should still get the fact of the call in. It’s only the product of the intercept that the judge could rule out, if he was of a mind to do so’
‘Well that’s a relief,’ said Hood. ‘If the recording doesn’t go before the jury, we can still establish a connection between the call from the telephone box in Thrussington and Grayling’s home.’
‘Quite,’ said the QC, ‘but let’s hope we can do better than that.’
Fiona Morrison nodded.
‘Well, I’ve served it on the defence on the basis of your advice – I wonder how they’ll react?’
Cronshaw smiled.
‘Good. I think it will give us a tactical advantage even if the judge excludes the recording. It will do us no harm for Julia Hamilton to realise we know exactly what she was up to.’
‘My feeling entirely,’ said Morrison.
Cronshaw looked at her intently.
‘Mr Markham-Moore did most of the research, you know and prepared the initial draft of the skeleton argument. I trust the intervention of the Attorney is not going to prejudice his continuing in the case. I couldn’t manage without him.’
She smiled. ‘There is no need to concern yourself about that. I appreciate this trial is not going to be easy. There is no question of removing Edward’s brief. The DPP is an agreement about that. If I had my way, it would be the Attorney-General who would be leaving the case, but, of course, that is not my decision.’
‘Nor mine,’ added Cronshaw, ruefully, before continuing. ‘As we advised in our joint opinion we have another important tactical decision to make before I draft the case opening. I’m sure neither of you has overlooked that fact that Kelly Maguire gained admission to Judge Campion’s home by the deception that she was a bona fide prospective purchaser. But that occurred three weeks or so before this telephone call to Grayling.’
‘That’s been a concern of mine ever since I heard the tape,’ said Hood. ‘Grayling must have been up to something in respect of the judge before Hamilton made direct contact with him.’
‘Is that really a problem?’ asked Morrison. ‘She could have contacted Duffy before she spoke to Grayling or perhaps Grayling was already planning to drop Doyle in it before Hamilton contacted him. Her appearance on the scene was just an added bonus.’
Cronshaw sighed. ‘It could also mean that Michael Doyle really was involved. There’s no evidence she kne
w Grayling or how to contact him. Doyle did know him. We took the pragmatic view last time that it wasn’t down to him. But the contents of the tape suggest that someone must have put Hamilton on to Grayling. In my view, the favourite has to be Doyle. He has the right criminal background and he owed Grayling money. Unless either of you has another candidate in mind?’
Neither replied.
Cronshaw nodded.
‘That’s one of the reasons I want to amend the indictment. A single count of attempting to pervert the course of justice will not tie us down at too early a stage. At least the Attorney agrees with me about that.’ Cronshaw almost spat the words out. ‘And the defence have indicated they are unlikely to object. So it should be possible to persuade the judge to grant the amendment. By the way, any word on who the trial judge will be?’
‘Yes. I heard earlier today,’ replied Morrison. ‘The Senior Presiding Judge has allocated the trial to Mr. Justice Hornbeam. He’s also directed it should take place at Nottingham Crown Court.’
‘Not at the Bailey?’
‘No. Judge Campion is sitting there now, so it wouldn’t be appropriate.’
Cronshaw sighed.
‘So not only do I have to put up with the Attorney-General breathing down my neck, I have to find somewhere to stay in Nottingham! I don’t fancy a daily commute from London.’
‘There’s a couple of decent hotels I know of,’ said Hood, soothingly.
Morrison continued.
‘He’s also provisionally rejected a written application by the defence for it to be transferred off circuit. He’s authorised the trial judge to deal with any oral renewal of the application before trial.’
‘The defence want it off circuit?’
‘Yes – at least they did. Because of Hamilton’s previous paralegal work in the area. Apparently, the Presider says it should not be too difficult to swear in a jury that hasn’t heard of her.’
‘Providing we have a big enough panel,’ added Cronshaw, dryly.
‘That’s in hand, or so I’m told.’
‘Pity we couldn’t get it transferred to one of the other London courts. I could stay in my flat in Gray’s Inn then.’
‘The Presider is very keen to keep it on circuit. It’s going to receive a great deal of publicity – and the fact that it’s in Nottingham should deter the Attorney from interfering too much. He’ll want to be in London as much as possible.’
‘Every cloud…’ remarked Cronshaw, half-smiling.
‘What do we know about him? asked Hood. ‘The trial judge I mean?’
‘Quite a bit, actually,’ said Morrison. ‘He’s from my neck of the woods. I’ve even met him a couple of times when he was still at the Bar. He was appointed just over three years ago and unlike some High Court Judges I could name, he knows quite a bit about crime. Practised mainly in Manchester, but his reputation was such that he appeared in courts all over the country. He was in some quite notorious cases too.’
She leant forward, ‘He got off that woman from Warrington who was suspected of poisoning her lover. Caused us quite a bit of embarrassment that did. His cross-examination of our so-called expert proved our undoing.’ She sighed. ‘I tried to instruct him once but he’d already been grabbed by the defence. You must have come across him, Mr Cronshaw?’
‘No, I can’t say I have. I rarely venture outside London these days. I’ve heard of him, of course and I saw him once in the Court of Appeal when I was waiting to get on. Very competent. His reputation was as a trial advocate – very good with juries and very bright they say. And it should do us no harm having a judge who understands criminal work.’
Morrison’s voice dropped to a whisper. She must have realised she was about to be very indiscreet.
‘He’s also had two wives and at least one mistress. Quite a reputation with the ladies before he married number two.’ She smiled knowingly. ‘When I was in Manchester and he was still at the Bar, he was known as “Horny Hornbeam.” Let’s hope Julia Hamilton doesn’t work her magic on him!’
Hood smiled. Cronshaw did not.
‘Quite,’ he said, looking at Hood. ‘Shall we get back to this intercept?’
Morrison coughed in embarrassment. She had obviously spoken out of turn. Intent on retrieving the situation, she assured Cronshaw that the technical evidence in support of the intercept had been fully assembled and checked out by the experts. ‘And you’re pretty sure we’ll get it in?’
‘Well nothing is certain as you know. Everything will turn on proving that Grayling used his cordless phone in the sitting room to take the call and not the ordinary phone in his bedroom.’
‘Does it matter that much?’ asked Hood.
‘It certainly does. If he used his cordless phone – as Duffy says he did – at the point the interception occurred the phone was no longer connected to a public telecommunications system – so the Nineteen Eighty-five Act does not bite. On the other hand, if he used the phone upstairs, that would have remained connected to the public system throughout and we would be caught by the legislation. The product of the interception could be used for intelligence purposes only. There would be no chance of persuading a judge to admit it.’
Hood shook his head in disbelief. ‘But surely the base unit would still be connected to the BT system?’
‘Correct, but the interception is not made through the base unit but through the cordless receiver. It’s very technical, but providing the House of Lords doesn’t change the established interpretation of the statute, we should be all right.’
‘Is that a possibility?’
‘Very much so. There’s no saying what the House of Lords might do with a criminal appeal. I’m entirely with those who say their lordships shouldn’t be allowed within a hundred miles of a criminal case. They have hardly any criminal experience and they’re far too removed from the coalface.’
He laughed. ‘But we’ll have to wait and see.’
Hood sighed.
‘It’s a good job we searched Grayling’s home when we did. What we found confirms what Duffy says in respect of the phone system. And he had a bed made up in his sitting room, right by the phone. But suppose the defence try and argue he might have used his upstairs phone?’
Cronshaw waved aside such considerations.
‘Any legal argument on this topic will take place at the outset of the trial. The judge will have to proceed on the basis of the facts set out in the witness statements. I’m pretty certain any ruling will have to accept, as a fact, that the cordless phone was used. There is simply no evidence to the contrary.’
‘Let’s hope that it’s still the law when we get to the trial,’ ventured Morrison, ‘and that Duffy doesn’t go hostile on us. You know he’s been beaten up a couple of times.’
‘He must have been aware of the risk of that happening,’ said Hood. He should be safe enough where he is now, at least until after the trial. I suspect he’s expecting his co-operation will result in a bit more off his sentence.’
‘Well I suppose he can hope,’ said Morrison. ‘Personally, I think he’s already done pretty well compared with the others.’
‘He’ll be greedy for more,’ grunted Hood, ‘or should I say less?’
Cronshaw smiled.
‘Any other concerns?’ he asked.
‘We will still have to prove it was Hamilton who made the call,’ said Morrison. ‘I see that the voice recognition evidence is equivocal. A pity that, I was hoping after comparison with her voice captured in her cautioned interviews that we would be able to prove conclusively it was her. We are thrown back on inference. We can’t prove for certain that she made the call, which the defence will try to take full advantage of.’
Hood intervened. ‘It’s a pretty strong inference, though, isn’t it?
Cronshaw agreed.
‘But it doesn’t follow that the judge will let i
t in even if he accepts the intercept occurred when the phone was not connected to a public telecommunication system. Remember, this intercept was authorised for a quite different purpose. It was to monitor Grayling and his associates’ alleged involvement in a plot to smuggle heroin into the UK from Holland. A great deal will depend on the attitude of the defence. There’s likely to be considerable legal argument about section seventy-eight – whether the admission of this evidence in all the circumstances will affect the overall fairness of the proceedings.’ He paused again, then added sarcastically, ‘but I suppose we can always leave that to the Attorney-General to deal with?’
He smiled broadly and noticed the concern spreading over the faces of both Hood and Morrison.
‘Don’t worry,’ he added. ‘I’m joking, of course. I suspect the Attorney wouldn’t know where to start. According to my clerk, he’s never conducted a trial before at this level.’
He grinned then became serious and addressed Hood.
‘How did your visit earlier this week go with Hanlon? The Attorney’s very excited about it, not that I share his enthusiasm to use him, always assuming he’s willing to assist?’
‘He’s not agreed to anything – yet. But he would certainly expect something in return. He’d be taking quite a risk if he made a statement, more so if he actually gave evidence.’
Cronshaw pushed his chair back and stood up. He walked from behind his desk and stood in front of it, his hands in his pockets.
‘What’s his motivation? I’m suspicious about someone like Hanlon even hinting that he’s prepared to help the prosecution.’
‘He wants to move from Whitemoor,’ said Hood. ‘It’s his health. He’s been diagnosed with Type Two diabetes. Oh, it’s true enough. He gave his consent for me to look at his medical records. I’ve taken a copy. It’s quite serious, apparently. He was found in a diabetic coma shortly after he arrived there. He needs a special diet and lots of exercise! And he’s now on insulin twice a day.’
A Private and Convenient Place Page 7