‘Whose idea was it to kidnap Mrs Campion and blackmail the judge?’
Duffy looked towards the dock and pointed to Julia.
‘Hers. She thought the whole thing up.’
The jurors looked at Julia. She slowly shook her head.
‘When did you first become aware of this plot to blackmail the judge?’
‘When Gus told me about it?’
‘Which was when?’
‘I can’t remember the exact date, but it was before she came to Hastings to see him.’
‘When did she come to Hastings to see him?’
‘The sixteenth of March last year.’
‘You remember the date?’
‘I do. It was one of the days I drove to Dover with an artic. Bobby was with me.
‘Bobby?’
‘Bob Owen, one of my drivers. I called in to see Gus on the way back. She was already there. Bobby had driven an artic there too. We came back in my unit. I can produce the manifest if you want me to. I gave it to Inspector Hood.’
‘Did you know she was coming?’
‘Yes. That’s one of the reasons why I called in. I wanted to see her. I’d heard of her, of course, but I’d never met her.’
‘What did Bobby do when you got to Grayling’s home?’
‘It was nothing to do with him. He stayed in the passenger seat. I parked the unit in a lay-by a few yards from Gus’s gates. I didn’t pull it into his drive, so Bobby would only have seen anything when the bike pulled out after the meeting.’
‘You stayed for a time after Julia Hamilton had left?’
‘That’s right. I discussed things with Gus for about ten minutes then I was on my way. Gus said…’
Cronshaw raised his hand. ‘No Mr Duffy, we can’t have what Grayling said in the absence of the Defendant. Tell us how Miss Hamilton was dressed?’
‘Motorcycle kit. A leather jacket, trousers and a helmet. She’d taken the helmet off when I saw her.’
‘It was definitely Julia Hamilton?’
Duffy looked at the dock and smiled.
‘It was her all right. You couldn’t mistake her, now could you?’
Julia remained quite impassive. Her expression did not change.
‘Did you see a motorcycle?’
Duffy paused for some time before he answered.
‘I didn’t see one to begin with, but I did hear one. As she was leaving, I heard a motorcycle revving up down the drive. That’s when I saw it. It was some distance away.’
‘Did you see whose it was?’
‘No.’
‘Or the other rider?’
‘Not to recognise them, no.’
‘How long was the defendant at Grayling’s house?’
‘Thirty minutes, tops. Gus was very ill. He couldn’t manage much longer than that.’
‘You heard the conversation between Grayling and the defendant?’
‘I did. Not that I understood it all.’
‘What did you hear?’
He paused as if in thought.
‘She offered Gus quarter of a million if he would arrange the kidnapping of some judge’s wife in order to blackmail the judge who was trying Michael Doyle. She explained that if he dismissed the case against Doyle, he’d be free for long enough to disappear along with her.’
‘The judge’s name?’
‘She mentioned his name. Campion. He sat at Leicester she said.’
‘What was Grayling’s reaction?’
‘He didn’t say anything for a bit, then he said he would want more than that. He said half a million, minimum. It had to be done pretty quickly, so he hadn’t got much time to put it together. That’s why he used the same team that had been lined up to do the Retford robbery.’
‘Did he agree to it?’
‘He did, not that he intended it to succeed.’
‘What do you mean?’
Duffy took a deep breath.
‘Gus had organised the robbery of a security van at the Charnwood centre near Loughborough just before Christmas. Not that he would have taken part himself, of course. As I said, he was the ideas man. It was all ready to go but Michael Doyle’s crew carried out a successful robbery at the same place only a day or two before – and he hadn’t cleared it with Gus. Doyle owed Gus big time and Gus was furious. Well, after Doyle struck, the police had the place locked down, didn’t they? So Gus’s job had to be called off. He decided to teach Doyle a lesson. He’d heard that Doyle had been arrested and remanded in custody so he went along with the kidnapping idea but the police were informed where the judge’s wife was – before the case was heard. The idea was that Doyle would get the blame. That was what Gus wanted. He was really made up when Doyle got transferred to Wakefield. We opened a bottle of champagne to celebrate.’
He paused.
‘Last bottle Gus opened before he died.’
‘Who made the call to the police?’
Duffy hesitated.
‘I did.’
‘Why?’
‘To make sure Doyle wasn’t released, of course. That was the last thing Gus wanted.’
‘But why you?’
‘Because Gus told me to. I had to time it right, you see. If it had been made too early, it would have looked suspicious. Gus said it was crucial it was made after the judge had set out for court.’
‘Why couldn’t Hanlon make the call?’
Duffy looked at the jury and shook his head.
‘In case it was recorded, of course. If the judge listened to it at some stage it could have ruined everything. He might have recognised Hanlon’s voice. He’d been with the judge for over twenty-four hours, hadn’t he? And he was supposed to be the only one of them who spoke. He’s got a very distinctive accent, you know. It had to be me. We’re not amateurs Mr Cronshaw.’ He smiled knowingly. ‘Hanlon phoned me and told me everything had gone to plan. Then I made the call.’
‘What about the money? The fee for the kidnapping?’
‘As far as I know, it was never paid. But I wasn’t involved in that part of it. That was between her – he pointed at the dock – and Gus, but he wasn’t expecting to be paid after Doyle came under suspicion. And Gus wasn’t interested in money by then. He was in a bad way.’
‘Was Doyle mentioned in the conversation between Grayling and the Defendant?’
‘Course he was. I expect he put her up to it. That was what Gus wanted the police to think anyway. It was the mention of Doyle that persuaded him to agree to it, I suppose.’
‘What did she say about Doyle.’
Duffy paused.
‘He was just mentioned as the reason for the kidnapping. She didn’t say anything about what he might have said to her. She just said that the clever legal trick his lawyers were using wouldn’t work. I didn’t understand what she was on about, but Gus did. And she also said the money Doyle owed Gus, which I knew nothing about by the way, would be paid off when Doyle was freed. Doyle was selling all his properties because they were going to go and live abroad. Spain I think she said.’
‘If Doyle were freed, what was the defendant proposing to do?’
‘To go off with him, of course. She told Gus she was expecting a baby. I heard her say she couldn’t face bringing the child up without him. She just had to get him out. She looked pretty desperate to me.’
‘Did she look pregnant?’
‘I couldn’t say, not dressed as she was in the motorbike gear.’
‘Did you see your daughter, Kelly Maguire, at Grayling’s on the sixteenth of March?’
‘No. I didn’t. I hadn’t seen Kelly for about three or four days. As far as I was aware she was in Wales with her boyfriend.’
‘Do you know where she is now?’
‘Last thing I heard she was in Holloway, but she was hoping to
be moved.’
‘She’s serving a sentence?’
‘Yes.’
‘Was she involved in the kidnapping of Judge Campion’s wife?’
‘She only went with them to make sure no harm came to the wife or the kid. That was the only reason for her being there. Gus and me were very particular that no-one should get hurt.’
‘Who provided the gun? The jury has heard that the judge was threatened with a loaded sawn-off shotgun?’
Duffy dropped his head.
‘I did. It was my gun. But the cartridges were blanks. Gus and me insisted on that.’
‘It was a valuable Purdey, wasn’t it - before the barrels were shortened?’
‘It was, yes. I was dead against it being sawn–off, but Hanlon insisted. He said it wasn’t manoeuvrable enough full size and you don’t argue with a man like him. They were supposed to be using one of the guns that we were getting for the Retford job, but they hadn’t arrived. It was all so last minute.’
‘That weapon was recovered from your floor safe in South Wales?’
‘Yes.’
‘Were you one of the people who entered Judge Campion’s home?’
‘No. I was in South Wales at the time. I was very careful to make sure I had an alibi. I made the phone call from there, after I was given the word.’
‘Who were the four who went in?’
‘Joseph Hanlon – he was in charge. My daughter, Kelly. Her boyfriend, Adam Leckie and Liam Kinch, Adam’s mate. They’d both done jobs for Grayling before.’
‘Did you have any contact with the Defendant after you saw her at Hastings.’
‘No. It wasn’t necessary. I did hear…’
Everdene stood up but Cronshaw cut the witness short.
‘We can’t have what you may have heard, Mr Duffy.’
He shrugged his shoulders.
‘Please yourself.’
‘You were arrested in South Wales?’
‘Yes. I was grassed up. We’d never have been lifted otherwise.’
Duffy spoke angrily, seemingly failing to appreciate he was doing the exactly same thing himself.
‘And brought to Leicester where the investigation into the Retford robbery was based. The individuals who took part in that offence were all arrested near Ollerton?’
‘Caught in the act, or so I heard! The police obviously had some inside information from somebody. You can’t trust nobody these days.’
‘You eventually made a witness statement implicating all of them, including Bobby Owen.’
‘Yeah. I was in two-minds about Bobby, but Inspector Hood insisted. All or nothing he said. And Gus was dead by then.’
‘And you subsequently pleaded guilty to all charges?’
‘I did.’
‘Was your witness statement the truth?’
‘Gospel. And they all pleaded on account of it, so it had to be true, didn’t it?’ He glared at Julia sitting in the dock. ‘All except her, of course!’
Cronshaw sat down. As he did so, the Attorney came into court, bowed to the judge and took his place next to Cronshaw.
‘I have something to discuss over the short adjournment. Sorry I’m a bit late,’ he whispered. ‘The train was behind time. Signalling problems north of Bedford.’
‘Are you ready to cross examine, Mr Everdene?’ asked the judge, ignoring the arrival of the Attorney.
‘My Lord, yes.’
Everdene placed a large lever-arch file on his lectern and scrutinised the witness before he began. Duffy swallowed hard. He realised he was in for a difficult time.
‘How long were you living a lie?’ asked Everdene.
‘Living a lie?’ replied Duffy, as if he didn’t understand the question.
‘Yes. Pretending you were someone else, Mr Duffy, or would you prefer Lafferty or Maguire, perhaps?’
‘I see what you mean – and Duffy will do, Mr Everdene, if you don’t mind?’
He smiled towards the jury.
‘As you please, Mr Duffy. I suppose it must be quite useful, having the choice of three identities, especially if you’re up to no good.’
Duffy stopped smiling.
‘Now Mr Duffy, are you ready to answer my question? How long were you living a lie?’
‘About three years plus, I guess.’
‘And in that period of time, I suppose you must have succeeded in deceiving any number of people?’
Duffy nodded. The judge intervened.
‘It’s no good just nodding. You need to speak for the tape to pick up your reply.’
‘Sorry, sir. Yes.’
‘Shall we consider for a moment just a few of those individuals or organisations? There’s the St Brieuc golf club, for example. You became a member under a false name, did you not?’
‘I suppose I did.’
‘There’s no suppose about it, Mr Duffy. You stated on the application form that your name was Patrick Lafferty and that you had no criminal convictions. That was a lie.’
‘What if I did? They were quite happy to take the two thousand pound joining fee off me.’
He smiled towards the jury again.
‘And then there’s Chief Superintendent Thomas. You deceived him as to your identity?’
‘Yes.’
‘He played golf with you regularly?’
‘Well, he seemed to have a lot of spare time – for a copper.’
‘I expect you thought it amusing, playing golf with a senior police officer, he being unaware that his partner was an armed robber?’
‘Well someone had to play with him. He was a lousy golfer.’
Two of the jurors smiled. The judge did not.
‘Then there was the bank. You provided them with false references didn’t you?’
‘Only ’cos they insisted. The account was in the company’s name.’
‘Then there’s Companies House. All the documents supplied to them were fraudulent, were they not?’
‘Not all of them, but most of them would have been, yes. But Gus arranged all that while I was still inside.’
‘You went along with it?’
‘Yeah. Well I had to didn’t I?’
‘Then there was Carol Jarvis. You formed a relationship with her using your false identity?’
Duffy’s attitude changed markedly.
‘You leave Carol out of this. Me and her were in a genuine relationship. What does a name matter?’
‘A genuine relationship? What did she call you, Mr Duffy?’
‘Darling, most of the time!’
Duffy smiled at the jury, several of whom grinned. They were starting to enjoy Duffy’s performance. Everdene raised his eyebrows.
‘You know what I mean, Mr Duffy. She thought your name was Patrick Lafferty, didn’t she?’
‘What if she did?’
‘She worked at The National and Commercial Bank at Loughborough, didn’t she?’
‘Yes.’
‘The bank that supplied the money to the Charnwood Centre that you and Grayling were planning to rob?’
‘That was a coincidence.’
‘A very useful one, when it came to gaining information from her?’
‘It was still a coincidence. Her ex-brother-in-law worked for me as general manager. He ran the business for me. He still does.’
‘And what did he call you? I don’t suppose he called you ‘darling’ did he?’
Duffy looked down.
‘No. He called me Pat or Patrick.’
‘So he was deceived too?’
‘By your way of thinking, yes. But I had nothing to do with the robbery at the Charnwood. That was all down to Gus. I wasn’t involved in everything he got up to.’
‘But you were part of the conspiracy to rob the security van from R
etford in May last year, weren’t you? And the money you targeted was going to the bank at Loughborough where Carol Jarvis worked. Was that a coincidence too?’
Duffy looked and sounded irritated.
‘I’ve pleaded to that.’
‘But you played a leading role in that offence. Grayling was confined to his bed by then, wasn’t he? It was all down to you. The planning, obtaining the guns, the ammunition, recruiting the team. You did it all.’
‘Under Gus’s direction. He was still able to control things. There was nothing wrong with his brain. And he recruited Hanlon. I didn’t even know him.’
‘And Carol Jarvis was a useful if innocent source of information for you?’
‘Yes, but she had no idea what we were up to.’
‘You deceived her?’
Duffy sighed.
‘Yes.’
‘Just as you are seeking to deceive this jury today?’
‘No. I’m telling the truth today.’
He turned and looked towards the dock, jabbing his finger towards Julia Hamilton.
‘What I’ve said about her is the truth. It was all her idea. God strike me dead if I’m lying.’
Duffy looked up as he spoke, but visibly shook when Julia Hamilton deliberately caused her lever arch file of papers to fall to the floor of the dock with a loud bang. The judge intervened.
‘Is that a convenient moment Mr Everdene? I shall be taking a slightly longer lunch today. Two-fifteen, members of the jury.’
Chapter Twenty-Two
The Attorney and Cronshaw remained behind in the courtroom after the judge rose for lunch.
‘It’s about Doyle,’ the Attorney whispered, looking about him to make sure no-one else could hear what he was saying. ‘He’s been attacked again in prison. After the two incidents at Draycott Heath, he was moved to a category D prison near Colchester. It was thought he would be safe there. He was found apparently unconscious in his cell two days ago. He seems to have been drugged.’
‘I was aware of the stabbing,’ said Cronshaw. ‘But not of a second attack at Draycott.’ He paused. ‘Why would anyone want to assault Doyle? Let alone kill him? As far as I’m aware, the defence has no intention of calling him. They’d be quite mad even to contemplate it. And the information he gave is supposed to be top secret.’
A Private and Convenient Place Page 20