Kavanagh QC (1995) s05e01 Episode Script

Previous Convictions

1 (Cheering and applause) Whoo-hoo-hoo! That was a bit hairy.
- Early days, mate.
It's the final that counts.
- Excellent! - Top.
- Thanks.
- Vicky.
- Hello.
Hi.
TANNOY: Winner of the second heat, No-17 Matt Kavanagh Yes! TANNOY: In second (Jet roars overhead) So, does he, like, wear a wig and everything - your dad? Not round the house.
More a slippers and cardigan son of a bloke.
(Drum and bass music booms) I blame the parents.
Not society? No such thing, is there, Cathy? Less understanding, more condemnation.
Which is what we're in for, if we keep Mr Justice Ralston waiting.
Come on! Who the hell is François? You heard.
"My darling François.
" Well, you shouldn't leave things lying about, should you? Bitch! What's all this stuff about me helping? Who is he? What's going on? Just wait till I finish my shift, Lisa.
Lisa? I need a supervisor.
Where's Col? - Don't know.
- I need to get this signed off.
It's due out.
And I'm late.
Baz, really ease back on that left-hander at the top, mate! Says who? Ten seconds off your time! You wish! Wilminster RAF! (Engine refuses to start) (Engine refuses to start) (Jet engines whine) Tony, I need your keys.
- What? - Your car keys.
What the hell is going on? I don't know, sir.
PILOT: Altimeter setting.
CO-PILOT: 9-9-O.
Pick the wing up! PILOT: Bring it up! I've got no control! RADIO: It's believed the aircraft was on a low-level training exercise from RAF Wilminster It's not yet clear if there have been any fatalities.
We'll be updating you on that story as soon as we have any further details.
(Starts engine) (Mobile rings) - Would you? Hello? Yes, he is.
Is that Kate? How are you? It's Cathy Winslow? I hear you Yeah, of course.
Kate? Yeah, he is.
Hanbridge.
When? Any details? And he hasn't called to say he's OK? Radio.
- News.
(Cathy turns radio on) Yeah, well, call me if he calls you, OK? RADIO: The plane, an RAF jet - Try not to worry.
- crashed in Hartbridge Wood - Matt? .
.
where a motocross meeting was taking place.
That bloody bike.
(Tyres screech) - Pull over, James.
- Why? You're in no state to drive.
I'm fine.
Let alone appear in court.
I'm calling Kate and then I'll get an adjournment.
- Who prepared the flight? - Coveney, sir.
He's there.
- Work sheet.
- Sir.
(sobbing) (Siren) (Ambulance honks horn) MATT: Dad? - He's OK.
- The bike's a right-off.
Why the hell didn't you call? Sorry, Matt.
Let's get you home.
(Phone rings) River Court.
Yes, Mr Kavanagh.
She did.
It's down for Friday now.
He is? Oh, what a relief.
Yeah, terrible thing.
Yes, I will.
Bye, Mr Kavanagh.
Matt's safe and sound, Miss Winslow.
I've just heard.
They're on their way home.
Mr Kavanagh says to say thank you for earlier on.
- No injuries? - No.
Just very shook up, he said.
Yes.
How dreadful.
Thank you, Tom.
Oh.
Miss Taylor sends her regards.
- I bumped into her this morning.
- Emma! How is she getting on? Well, we didn't talk about her new chambers.
Just that band of hers.
Ah.
Thrush.
Thrash, sir.
Yes? Tom would you pop this into Mr Aldermarten's pigeonhole? It's a French course of my wife's.
He wanted to borrow it.
Well he won't get it aujourd'hui.
- He's at Romford, doing his stint as recorder.
- So he is.
All hail, great judge! To your bright rays We never grudge something praise.
"Ecstatic".
Trial By Jury.
There had been loads going over, anyway, really low, training, yeah? Or maybe just the same ones going back again the other way.
This one sounded different.
We all looked up.
One minute it was there.
Then it just came down.
(Phone rings) MATT: We were dead lucky.
Kavanagh.
Yeah.
Yes, just hold on.
Baz.
Hello, mate.
Yeah, I'm fine.
Oh, no.
How long do they reckon? Really? I'll pop down tomorrow, check out those nurses.
Vicky, yeah? Have you got any more change? Call back.
Reverse the Oh, no.
(sobs) Broken leg.
Oh, Matt.
This girl was killed.
I'd just been talking to her.
Are you OK? Night, then.
Yeah.
Thanks, Dad.
Clearly, the fact that my client pleaded not guilty can be little to his credit.
And certainly society must be protected from those who seek to burgle its houses again and again, regrettably.
I would ask, however, mindful though I am of the inevitability of an immediate custodial sentence, that it be at the lower end of the scale available to the court, if at all possible.
Mr Ramos, do you have anything to say before I pass sentence? After that vote of confidence? There is never an excuse for breaking into your fellow citizens' homes and stealing from them.
I propose in such a serious case to impose a prison sentence of 18 months.
It is, of course, easy to condemn.
It's less easy to understand.
Having tried to understand, and, I hope, with a fair degree of success - your background, your circumstances - "It's plain that you've never felt that you've had a erm how shall I put it? - a stake in society.
Yes? Well, I hope you will feel that in the future, as I propose to suspend the sentence for two years.
Nice one! (Muttering) - I hear congratulations are due.
- Are they? - You're Master Reader next term, aren't you? - Oh, I see.
It's strictly on seniority, of course.
No effort involved, apart from staying the course.
- Still - Thank you.
And on what will you address the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple? Haven't even thought.
Nobody comes to those things, anyway.
But I do think a modest celebratory dinner might be in order.
Far more fun.
- Busy weekend? - Social.
Sussex? Yes, a good blow on the Downs if the weather holds.
Oh, and a concert tomorrow evening.
Just our local lot in the village.
- They're not at all bad.
- Well, have fun.
Thank you.
HANDEL: Ombra Mai Fu From Xerxes (Piano and cello) VICAR: Michael Prince-dale, aged 15.
Jeffery Princedale, aged 36.
Kylie Rogerson, aged five.
Natalie Simons, aged 30.
Robbie Slater, aged 14.
Vicky Thompson, aged 20.
Paul Tranter, aged 19.
Natasha Williamson, aged 23.
Scott Yardley, aged 15.
Flight Lieutenant Adam York, aged 38.
Sandy Frees, aged 29.
Rebecca Garfield, aged 19.
Terence Jackson, aged 34.
Terence Jones, aged 22.
Martin Malcolm, aged 14.
KAVANAGH: She'd been having an affair with the mechanic.
His suicide note implicated her.
Or that's what the police thought.
FOXCOTT: You would be defending, arguably, the most hated woman in England.
It's not that, Peter.
Matt could have been killed.
One of his friends was.
No-one would criticise you for refusing the instructions under the circumstances.
Least of all me, James.
If you really feel that your emotional involvement would prevent you - from doing the best for a client, then - No, no, no.
If I take the case, I take the case.
The question is, do I? Hm.
Normally, I'd jump at it.
Smells of the state rushing to judgment.
Again.
All they've come up with is a ragbag of sketchy, not to say circumstantial, evidence.
It's very unconvincing.
What did Coveney's note say? Not that the prosecution can introduce it, of course.
It was ambiguous.
Um "I hope you're satisfied now It's as much your fault as mine.
Along those lines.
But it did mention a François they're still looking for.
François Baudin.
One of this Action Radicale lot.
Who are? It's an extreme breakaway group of a legitimate French political party.
Lutte Rouge.
Trotskyists, basically.
The suicide note was addressed to Lisa White.
Who turned out to be Charlotte Sinclair when they caught up with her.
Charlotte Sinclair - lover of François Baudin, political fanatic - and Lisa White - lover of Corporal Coveney, the mechanic who botched up the aircraft controls - one and the same at the same time.
The CPS is wheeling out the big guns, I hear.
Ross Harkins, Treasury Council.
Will he find his way to a provincial crown court after all these years at the Bailey? (Chuckles) Miss Leeming is certainly very keen for you to accept.
I know, James, but if one's up against the Establishment, there's hardly a better solicitor.
We are the Establishment, as far as Maggie Leeming's concerned.
She wouldn't have instructed you unless she thought you were the best man for the job.
Oh, if you'd seen Matt.
The state he was in, Peter.
The state I was in.
I know it was months ago now, but the last thing I want is to be disloyal.
Have you talked it over? No, no.
That would put him in an impossible position.
No, I've got to make the decision.
And stand by it.
Everyone is entitled to the best defence they can get! - Even her? - Especially her.
She'll need it with all this hostility.
Hostility? I wonder why.
Oh, come on, Matt.
You know how the law works.
Innocent until proved guilty.
There are other barristers.
You could have turned it down.
Yes, I could, but I'd have needed a very good reason.
How about me for a reason? Or Vicky.
God, you even came to the memorial service! Nothing is going to bring them back, Matt.
Any of them.
Well, it's a bit bloody close to home.
Charlotte Sinclair will not collude with state justice.
I thought I'd made that perfectly clear to Miss Leeming.
I have explained your views to Mr Kavanagh.
Not clearly enough, obviously.
At least listen.
You're facing very serious charges.
If you're found guilty, you could go to prison for a long time.
There's a good chance that your collusion, as you see it, won't be necessary.
I shall ask the judge to withdraw the case from the jury once the court has heard the prosecution's evidence.
I shall argue that the disaster itself was an accident, in which case, obviously, all well and good.
Such touching faith in the system.
20 people died, Mr Kavanagh.
22, Miss Sinclair.
Whatever.
My point is that our independent judiciary has always been subject to the pressures of opinion.
Exactly.
We're not all card-carrying members of the Establishment, as I'm sure Miss Leeming will have told you.
As a matter of fact, she did say she'd heard you were a political animal in your youth.
Did she? What did you do? March? Yes.
With my late wife.
Vietnam, abortion.
- Nuclear disarmament.
- Gestures.
Look at the world, 30 years on.
Be that as it may, if the judge decides that we have to proceed with our defence, I'll need to offer the jury some explanations.
The diagrams of the plane, the map you drew up of RAF Wilminster, this unfinished letter to François Baudin about Nicholas Coveney being arm.
what is it? "A big help to you both.
Let's go for a spectacular soon.
" Do you have any explanations? I wouldn't have thought Coveney was your type.
François, yes.
An intellect to match yours.
Presumably.
Star pupil, head girl.
- Roedean, no? - Cheltenham Ladies, please.
So sorry.
Then the Sorbonne.
I'm overqualified for sex with a corporal, is that what you're saying? It wasn't love, then.
Is that where you met François, when you were studying in Paris? Well done.
He was my professor.
May I ask how old he is? Yes.
Old enough to be my father.
Who is your father? I've no idea.
He died before I was born.
I'm sorry.
And your mother? I'm bored with this.
- What happened to your hand? - I burnt it.
MISS LEEMING: Would you like me to make a complaint? It's name, rank and number, I'm afraid, as you can see.
I am still trying other avenues.
Personal background.
I don't understand.
I mean, she's obviously an intelligent woman.
It doesn't mean she can't be stupid.
On the second count of this indictment, you, Charlotte Anne Sinclair, are charged with conspiracy to murder, contrary to Section One of the Criminal Law Act 1977.
And the particulars of this offence are that you, with Nicholas Robert Coveney and François Baudin, conspired to murder Flying Officer Sammy Pollard, Flight Lieutenant Adam York and persons unknown.
On the second count of this indictment, do you plead guilty or not guilty? I denounce this so-called court of law as the instrument of an oppressive state.
You murdered my boy, you evil bitch! (Murmuring) It has forfeited its right to judge the people by failing to truly represent the people.
State justice is no justice.
JUDGE: Enter a plea of not guilty.
I will take this opportunity to make one thing crystal clear.
You are standing in a dock, not upon a soapbox.
If you are in any doubt as to the difference between the two, I am sure your counsel will clarify the matter, before I am obliged to.
My lord.
Neither will I tolerate any interruptions from the public gallery.
May it please Your Lordship, members of the jury.
There must be few, if any of you, who cannot recall where you were, what you were doing, on June 9th last year when you heard news of the appalling disaster, which claimed so many lives in so few seconds in Hanbridge Wood.
A disaster which we say was the result of a series of deliberate and calculated actions.
There is no dispute as to the immediate cause of the mash.
Both the Crown and the defence accept the conclusions of the Royal Air Force Inspectorate of Flight Safety.
There was a failure to reconnect certain controls, which had been disconnected during routine maintenance.
Corporal Coveney, the experienced and highly-trained mechanic involved, who subsequently took his own life, made the sort of error that for you and I would be the equivalent of miswiring a household plug.
In our case, it would mean that our vacuum cleaner didn't work when we switched it on.
In the case of an aircraft, the result would be deadly.
Having done this, you will hear that he contrived to subvert the two remaining procedures which would have detected his deadly error before the aircraft took off.
Why? We say that he was persuaded or bullied or blackmailed.
We may never know the precise nature of the evil bargain by the defendant his lover Charlotte Sinclair.
Alors, je nous dis mes Confréres Parliamentaires de Strasbourg, Que la chose la plus importante, c'est (Knock on door) - Entrez.
Most impressive, from what I could hear.
I was more of a classicist, of course.
Ah, of course.
This found its way onto my desk somehow, addressed to you.
- Thank you.
- May I ask? - Confidentially, Peter.
- Naturally.
I am starting to feel that I should place my advocacy at the service of my country.
You tried once, didn't you, for the Tories? You didn't get adopted.
Only just not.
On a technicality.
No wife.
This isn't a roundabout way of telling me you're getting married? No, no.
No.
That remains an ambition, of course.
But one has others, and one can look beyond Westminster.
Ah, the European Parliament.
Strasbourg.
Labour, though, Jeremy.
How many times did Churchill change his party? Well, yes.
But he did have the common touch.
I do pride myself on a pretty strong rapport with my clients.
And they're often extremely com mon.
All manner of men and women.
People at the end of their tether, though-.
Does one ever know enough about their ordinary everyday concerns? A date for your diary.
The 14th.
My little celebration.
Ah! You are encouraging turns, I trust.
Well yes.
Good.
Well, sed fugit tempus irreparabile.
Now I'm the rusty one.
Time is flying, never to return.
A final word of caution.
This is not a political trial.
We don't have those in this country.
But we do say that the defendant's motives were political.
I've touched on her involvement with Action Radicals.
Radical Action.
A name which sounds almost quaint .
.
outlandish, certainly, to our English ears.
But ideologies are no respecters of national frontiers.
And even the most absurd have had the most dreadful atrocities performed in their name.
He still gets nightmares.
Do you'? Not any more.
I can't remember the last time you watched your old man doing his stuff.
It is a public gallery.
Fine.
As long as you're getting your university work done.
If she's innocent, why the hell doesn't she say so? He's so angry, Cathy.
I'm not used to it.
- You took this case for the right reasons.
- It doesn't make it any easier.
Why won't she open up? She's enjoying being the Centre of attention, if you ask me.
Do you think she knows where François Baudin is? Oh, you bet she does.
The little madam.
We're not obliged to like our client.
Nor her solicitor.
Peas in a pod, James.
Nice girls and their causes.
The middle class in search of an authentic experience.
Do you want my cheesecake? My eyes were bigger than my belly.
I might be eating for two but, no, thank you.
Good and bad news.
I've managed to locate the mother- Mrs McEnery now.
She remarried three years ago and moved to Canada.
I've got a number for her.
And the "bad"? Our expert witness is no longer available to appear, should we need to II him-.
He sends his apologies.
Nice of him! This late in the day? It's it's not on, Miss Leeming.
His wife has died.
I'm working on a replacement.
Well, ASAP, please.
So we can serve the new report to the prosecution.
And to give me a chance to digest it - in the middle of a case.
- Of course.
The original report was refreshingly clear.
At least, they'll know what to ask their expert.
KAVANAGH: Mr Durden, you've explained how the control cables operating the ailerons were not fully reconnected after maintenance, so that when the pilot tried to correct the wing drop in that turbulence, the plane rolled and went into a downward spiral.
Yes.
Is this failure to reconnect a common occurrence? No.
But it is known to happen? Rarely.
But it is known to happen? Yes.
As a result of simple human error.
- Presumably.
- Not as part of an attempt at sabotage? Not to my knowledge.
And mechanics have been known to sign off their own work? They want to finish their shift early, so they scribble a signature, where their supervisor should have signed his after inspecting the work.
Again, rarely.
Again, but it has happened? Yes.
And not as a result of any attempt at sabotage? Until now.
The jury will decide that, Mr Durden.
Before this accident? Not to my knowledge.
Do you have complete confidence in the current procedures for checking that controls have been properly rigged? I have no reason to believe that they are anything less than adequate.
It is true, isn't it, Corporal Knapp, that, had you performed that final control movement check properly, you would have spotted Corporal Coveney's error? Yes.
And the crash would not have happened.
Those 22 lives would not have been lost.
Please ans Would you like a little time to compose yourself? I er l have no wish to upset you, but it is my duty to put this to you.
That when you told my learned friend earlier that Nicholas Coveney deliberately distracted you from your task, that wasn't true.
It was.
I am sure you were distracted, but deliberately? Isn't it possible that, consciously or unconsciously, you exaggerated your account of Coveney's interruption? The more it fitted the prosecution's version, the less badly it would reflect on you.
If it wasn't deliberate, how come I saw him driving his own car later in the day, when he told me that it wouldn't start? He might have mended it.
He was a mechanic.
No further questions.
Taxi! That's all right.
Don't mind me.
You're welcome.
Have a nice day.
- It's a strict cab rank principle, Mr Aldermarten - What? No, no.
I'm taking the underground.
Eh'? The tube, Tom.
GIRL: Bonjour, monsieur.
- Excusez-moi.
Excusez-moi.
Merci, mes enfants.
The letter from my client to her alleged lover François Baudin is capable of more than one interpretation, as is her assumption of a false name, and Action Radicale has no record of violence in this country.
But even if the worst construction were put upon this and the other circumstantial evidence, there is an overriding consideration.
Which is that the sequence of events leading to the crash, is entirely consistent with human error.
And, especially in a case like this, which arouses strong emotions, the desire perhaps to see someone pay for a terrible disaster, I submit it is proper for Your Lordship to intervene and withdraw the case from the jury.
I have listened carefully to what you have said, Mr Kavanagh.
It was a good submission, James.
Not good enough, unfortunately.
Our new expert's report.
Thanks.
Trevor Gregson.
What's he like? Ex-MOD, with a bit of a chip on his shoulder, I'm told.
I've never used him before.
Well, I did tell you my first two alternatives were unavailable, or have been persuaded to be.
Leant on? I have been up against the Ministry before.
And Charlotte's mother is here.
Charlotte's refusing to see her.
I urge you to explain yourself.
The jury will listen.
They're ordinary people.
They just want to hear your side of the story, from you.
Is it really so hard to grasp, Mr Kavanagh, that some of us live our political beliefs? We don't slip in and out of them like changing our clothes.
I will not compromise what I believe in.
Is there a special gene for martyrdom? What? If there is, you've got it.
Excuse me.
Mrs McEnery? Yes.
I'm Cathy Winslow, junior counsel appearing for your daughter.
Rosalind.
How is she? (sighs) Difficult.
Did she do this thing, do you think? What I think's not important.
And erm she's not saying.
Why won't Charlotte see you? Do you have children? Just this one.
Oh.
(Laughs) There comes a time to let your children take responsibility.
To respect their anger.
What is she so angry at? Apart from the world.
Isn't that enough? Has she mentioned her father? Only that she never knew him and doesn't know who he was.
That's not true? The flight's catching up with me, I'm afraid.
I'm sorry.
She left home when she was 16.
We've barely spoken since.
Very young, Mrs McEnery.
It was her decision.
Family stuff.
You see, the more I know about what makes her tick, the better my chances of helping her.
Charlotte found out I'd been lying to her about her father.
I always told her he'd been killed in a car crash.
In fact he took his own life when I was five months pregnant.
And you didn't tell her that until she was 16.
I didn't tell her at all.
We always think our children don't know our hiding places, Christmas presents, other secret things.
I'd kept the cuttings.
The cuttings? Just a report of the inquest-.
May I ask why he He was severely depressed.
He hanged himself.
I can understand your daughter's shock at finding out.
Fury that I'd kept the truth from her.
Such a deep rift, though.
She didn't even contact you when she was arrested.
She did know that you'd gone to live in Canada after you married again? Again? Oh, her father and I were never married.
Far too bourgeois for Rosalind Sinclair and Jerry White.
What was he like? I really don't want to talk about him, Mr Kavanagh.
Do you know why Charlotte doesn't? Perhaps she thought it wouldn't help you.
Helping us seems to be the last thing on her mind.
Sometimes the truth can do more harm than good.
Would it, in this case? Sorry.
Why did you come? To show solidarity.
Ah, Mr Spragg's office just rang, confirming your lunch today.
Ben? Good.
He's done well for himself, hasn't he, since leaving us? Junior Minister of something or other.
Tom we should have a chat sometime.
- Should we? - I should like to learn about your aspirations.
As an ordinary person son of chap.
Perhaps over a jar at the rub-a-dub, one evening.
I'll look forward to that, sir.
As we discussed, Mr Gregson, just keep it simple for the jury.
Can't be too careful.
What did Charlotte call herself when she was with Coveney the mechanic? Lisa something.
White.
Ah, I thought so.
Is there a decent library in town? Ross, I'm sorry about landing you with that extra report.
Oh, not at all.
It happens.
James, how do you find Trevor Gregson? You've had dealings? My junior has.
And how are you coping with Semtex Sally, as my clerk calls her? I'm sure your clerk would acknowledge Ms Leeming's commitment to justice, Ross.
As would those clients who owe their liberty to her persistence.
I'm sure they would, James.
Especially the guilty ones.
Even the most experienced mechanic might make such a mistake if, for example, they were under particular stress.
An experienced mechanic might be even more prone to.
It's a routine procedure.
And familiarity breeds, if not contempt, complacency? Far too often.
Far too often.
Mr Gregson, you've read the report of the Royal Air Force Inspectorate on this accident? Yes.
Does anything you have read in this report lead you to conclude that the disaster was the result of a conspiracy? My Lord, is this witness's field of expertise aircraft safety or conspiracy? Mr Kavanagh? Both, actually, since he asks.
JUDGE: I beg your pardon, Mr Gregson? A comment, just a comment.
Leave it.
Please confine yourself to answering questions.
- Mr Gregson? - Yes, if that's what you want.
Mr Kavanagh.
I am obliged to Your Lordship.
Mr Gregson does anything you have read in that report lead you to conclude that this disaster was the result of anything other than a series of tragic mistakes? No, sir.
No further questions.
Mr Harkins, do you wish to cross-examine? I'm much obliged to Your Lordship.
When did you cease to be employed by the Ministry of Defence, Mr Gregson? In what circumstances was your employment terminated? I left on the grounds of ill health.
Would you care to be more specific? Would I care to be? Not really.
Would it be true to say that the ill health you spoke of was psychiatric in nature? Why don't you ask my watcher? Whoever it is.
They'll have been programmed with my retro profile.
They'll tell you.
Em And was that the only reason you left the MOD? The women in question were in on it.
Cleaners? Third-level operatives, obviously.
(Whispers) "A bit of a chip on his shoulder"? We are talking about the same thing, are we? Allegations of a sexual nature made against you by Mrs My lord, it is clear that the witness is under considerable strain.
Mr Harkins, unless you have any further questions for the witness? No, my lord.
You may step down, Mr Gregson.
Just one thing.
There are no more questions for you.
Please leave the witness box.
Get the MOD to show you 3/RAF/TG/912.
Checking Procedures In Ground Maintenance by yours truly.
Restricted.
Very possibly secret by now.
My lord, I would be grateful for an adjournment in order to take further instructions.
You know what they say.
Just because you're paranoid It doesn't mean 3/RAF/TG/912 - restricted, possibly secret - doesn't exist.
MISS LEEMING: They're letting us have it.
But, of course, they'll want to introduce it in camera.
No public, no press.
Whatever it is.
She made it sound as if Jerry White's suicide was newsworthy.
I'll take The Telegraph and The Mail.
You take The Times and The Express.
Five months pregnant when it happened.
Allow some time for an inquest.
Let's start at, say December 1973.
My coat of arms joins these.
But, of course, it's a splendid excuse for a dinner.
Oh, Peter, my dear, I'm so sorry.
Doris.
Nary a taxi to be had, even for ready money.
No matter.
I was just explaining the mysteries of Master Reader of the Honourable Society of The Middle Temple.
Matthew Atta, Sir Henry Dorrister, Rouge Gryphon Pursuiuant of the College of Arms-.
Delighted.
I am, of course, no stranger to arcane titles myself.
Matthew is a prince.
Terribly minor.
My costume is a model of restraint compared to yours, Sir Henry.
All that gorgeous velvet and gum.
Well, it can prickle on a hot day.
Excuse me.
Lunch well.
How is the world of azure crests and rampant lions? Well, the frock allowance doesn't get any better.
I had to keep my breeches up with a discreet safety pin last time I was on show.
Very heady looks from Portcullis and Bluemantle.
Well, now, Peter any ideas about what you might want? Have you thought about your motto? Humblest apologies from Ben.
Ministerial duties.
I'm from Millbank Tower.
Melanie Morrison.
- Not too disappointed, I hope? - No, goodness.
- Apéritif before your meal? - Campari and soda, please.
Pour moi, seulement de I'eau.
Gaseuse, s'il vous plaît.
I'm sorry, sir.
I'm Italian.
Well, we should all have an extra language or two up our sleeves these days.
- Particularly in the service industries.
- Mm.
Fizzy water.
Grazie.
Sir.
So, Ben was a little vague on the nuts and bolts, but I gather you're keen to come on board in a big way.
The last few months, Melanie, have been a time of soul-searching for Jeremy Aldermarten QC.
But now I feel more than ready to commit myself to making a pretty major contribution.
I realise, of course, that I'm a relative newcomer to the party.
Well, that's no problem.
You don't even have to be a member.
Erm surely Donations.
Bequests.
Covenants.
Was it more than £50,000 you had in mind? Fancy a bite to eat? I can come back this afternoon if you'd like.
While you deal with the in camera application.
It won't take long.
I'll get very short shrift if I oppose it.
It's that son of case.
Every Euro constituency has a long, long list of potential candidates already, Jeremy.
But I have swayed jurors, Melanie.
Swayed them by argument, by passion.
Is such advocacy to be denied a role, speaking for one's country, in the very heart of Europe? You have left it a little late in life.
I'm too old? There must be some fast-track procedure.
WAITER: Spero Che vi 5-piacuflb if pranzo? Vi pesto il canto? - Erm - ll conto, signore? No, we're fine.
Just the bill.
Grazie.
You're quite sure I won't be recalled? Both the judge and counsel for the prosecution agree with me that we should spare you that ordeal.
They won't let it out, you know.
The truth.
The jury will hear your report, at least, and a not guilty verdict would raise a lot of questions.
They're cleverer than that.
JUDGE: In view of the nature of the evidence you are about to hear, I have decided it should be heard in camera, which means that the press and public have been asked to wait outside.
You are, of course, under a general duty not to discuss this case with anyone outside your number.
It is especially important that you bear this duty in mind with regard to what you are now going to hear.
KAVANAGH: Mr Durden, do you recall an answer you gave when I was cross-examining you last Tuesday? I asked you about procedures for checking the proper rigging of controls.
And you said "I have no reason to believe that they are anything less than adequate.
" Yes.
Yes.
You see, the jury has just been listening to parts of this report.
This sensitive report.
This secret report classified as such, I am sure, for the best of reasons by those who know best, which paints a very different picture.
"Might have been considered adequate by Biggles for his Sopwith Camel.
An accident waiting to happen.
Deeply concerned that budgetary constraints are putting lives at risk.
" Several confirmed accounts of failures to reconnect controls.
Though, none, thankfully, resulting in an accident.
It would appear that they are not so rare after all.
And you still say you had no reason to doubt the adequacy of these procedures.
I do not doubt them.
You did then.
When you first read the report.
This note of a discussion in November, "FD" - Francis Durden - "expressed the view that notwithstanding the alarmist tenor of Gregson's conclusions, there are real causes for concern which must be addressed.
" You asked me whether I have any doubts.
Had you asked me what I thought then, I might have given a different answer.
Bull had no knowledge of the report then.
Neither did my learned friend.
Then you can hardly expect my answers to have reflected my comments on a report that did not exist, as far as this court was concerned.
Put simply, Mr Durden, do you not agree that your evidence last week fell well short of giving the whole picture? Constrained as I was, by the sensitivity of Look, I suppose it could be construed, if you want to put it that way that, to borrow a phrase, I was a little economical with the old actualité.
(Muttering) No further questions.
CATHY: A bomb through a restaurant window.
Because there were class enemies inside.
"Committed to the overthrow of the state but she was not a central figure in this conspiracy Inclined to leniency suspended sentence for this intelligent, though foolish, young woman.
" - Like mother, like daughter.
- But nothing about Jerry White.
No.
Mrs McEnery! Rosalind, I'd like to ask you about your daughter's father Gerhardt Weiss.
I was afraid of this.
KAVANAGH: Jerry White - Gerhardt Weiss.
We thought we could change the world.
He was very handsome.
But of course.
One couldn't fall for a plain revolutionary.
It was Che Guevara on our walls, not Chairman Mao.
And he was in Baader-Meinhof? On the fringes.
Like me with the Angry Brigade.
We were very small fry.
Did you meet in London? Yes.
He was passing through, using our squat.
The radical home from home.
We talked revolution, we fell in love.
He stayed for a wonderful summer.
Then he went back to Berlin.
He was arrested.
And took his own life before he could be tried.
At least he had a choice of sons.
His comrades weren't so lucky.
Very trigger-happy, the Polizei.
How did Charlotte react when she found out the truth? She hasn't yet.
She still thinks that I betrayed his memory.
That he was a hero.
But he wasn't.
Just a man I loved.
My first instinct was to tear the rag into small sheets.
To hang on a nail in my gardener's outside privy.
However, the story only appeared in the earliest London edition.
The gibbering editor is even now facing his proprietor.
I think it unlikely that the jury will have seen it.
If I prove correct, and as we are nearing our close, I would be minded to let the trial continue.
Unless, of course, you wish to make an application to the contrary.
I have yet to discuss this with my client, my lord.
I'm sure you will impress upon her that if the trial does continue and she is found guilty, that there can be no appeal against the verdict on the grounds of this prejudicial publicity.
Personally, I'm inclined to agree with His Lordship and let the trial continue, if, for no other reason, than to save my client from having to go through a retrial.
If there were one.
It might not be thought in the public interest.
It's a distinct possibility.
Is it, Ross? I imagine.
Excuse me.
What did Gregson say about the truth not coming out? The state murdered him.
The suicide was organised, faked.
He was a martyr.
You do believe me? You of all people.
Charlotte, I've no doubt that the state, any state, is capable of that sort of thing, and worse but if I've learned anything, working inside a system with which I have fundamental differences, it's that my strongest weapon is the truth.
That's what gets the old sods on the run.
And I'm afraid the truth about your father is not what you think.
It's time you saw your mother.
Really.
It's a bit of a turn-up for James.
Mummy ex-Awkward Brigade and Daddy ex-Baader-Meinhof.
Angry Brigade, Jeremy.
Oh.
Well, Dame Radicalism never really clasped me to her bosom.
A narrow escape for you both.
How was your famous lunch, by the way? Famous? The scallops were over-seared and the granita a tad on the crunchy side.
Ah.
You could always stand as an independent, I suppose.
Alakazam.
Alakazoo.
Mystery, wystery, dazzle and foo.
If I can get the trial stopped, it does seem likely that erm you won't have to go through another one.
It's your decision.
Do what you like, Mr Kavanagh.
You should have been proud of my father.
Why are you so ashamed of him? I'm not.
I just didn't want you to be.
Perhaps you'd like a few moments.
It's not easy for either of them.
CHARLOTTE: That's a lie! ROSALIND: It's not 'My Darling Rosalind, Please try and understand.
I have today heard that Stefan and Rolf and Anna were kitted when the Polizei raided the safe house.
I was promised, stupid to believe, that the bastards would not shoot.
Yes.
I told them where to find my comrades.
I was "turned", I think, in English.
If I informed, then I would not get too long a sentence and one day I can again be with you and with the child you carry so beautifully.
A normal life, after all the craziness.
But now I cannot forgive myself.
What I have done, it must be for you to tell, or not, all this to my son or my daughter.
Only you will know one day if they are a person to be too much hurt by the Win.
And now I finish.
My love to you .
.
and to the child.
" Is that an unfinished letter written by you to François Baudin of Action Radicale? Yes.
What was the nature of your relationship with him? He was my lover.
And my teacher.
He brought me to life.
He let me share in his commitment.
Do you still love him? Yes.
Do you know where he is now? I would never betray a comrade.
No.
"NC" That's Nicholas Coveney, Corporal Coveney? Yes.
"NC is being brilliant.
A big help with what we need.
Let's go for a spectacular soon.
' Can you explain what you meant? Action Radicale were going to get into the base at night and Spray-paint an aircraft was one idea, or smash up a generator or some communications equipment.
And why was Coveney helping you? He didn't know he was.
I cultivated him for intelligence purposes.
Cultivated? I had a sexual relationship with him, using a false name.
And how did that help you? I could visit the base as his guest.
Find out enough to draw a decent map, get any details I could of the security.
And you were able to take from his briefcase technical diagrams of the plane? Yes.
Why? To help you sabotage it? No.
No, I'd never All those people Nick was in such a state when he found the letter and called me.
He couldn't have been thinking straight.
22 lives.
And his.
So, why the diagrams? Because they were there.
That's all.
And how would this planned spectacular have furthered the aims of Action Radicale? It would have shown that the military machine can not escape the anger of the people that the oppressed will find a voice.
Can you explain more fully? I anticipate you, Mr Harkins.
Mr Kavanagh, the word soapbox springs to mind.
With great respect, my lord, it was my learned friend who introduced the defendant's political beliefs, or aversion of them, at the start of this trial.
I submit that the jury is entitled to hear about them from the defendant herself.
Very well.
Briefly.
I am much obliged, Your Lordship.
What do you believe? In your own words.
That it's immoral to spend billions on warplanes, when millions live on the breadline.
That our society is organised for the benefit of the few.
That the people that do the hardest work create huge wealth in which they have no share.
That there has to be a better way to run things.
Thank you.
No further questions.
KAVANAGH: Members of the jury my learned friend promised to show you that the defendant was part of a terrible conspiracy.
He hasn't done that, has he? It became clear that the crash was due to a series of tragic errors-.
The blame for which, incidentally, you may feel should not be shouldered by individuals alone.
He also referred to the very notion of radical action as quaint and outlandish.
To some, maybe.
Is Charlotte Sinclair naive and misguided? Possibly.
Idealistic? Certainly.
But idealism is not a crime.
And as you consider your verdict, I would ask you, however naive or misguided you consider my client, to reflect upon her idealism.
The appalling loss of life in Hartbridge Wood was a tragedy, not just for the victims, but for their families, their friends.
And you saw Charlotte Sinclair weep for them all.
A ruthless and calculating terrorist? Or just a young woman who wants to change the world? Charlotte Sinclair, the jury has found you not guilty of conspiracy to murder, and on that count you are discharged.
You have, however, in a belated recognition of the inevitable, confessed to theft and been found guilty of that charge-.
You insinuated yourself into the affections of the late Corporal Coveney, a bye! servant of the Crown.
For your political ends, with dreadful consequences.
This is no ordinary case of theft and I cannot pass an ordinary sentence.
You will go to prison for four years.
- Mum.
- Oh, it's all right.
It's all right.
(sobs) It's all right.
Thank you.
Your mother had a poster of Che Guevara on her wall when we first met.
And don't say "Who?" I'm feeling my age.
But you didn't throw bombs at the rich and privileged.
Just as well that's all stopped, I suppose, for your sake.
Quite beautiful, Peter.
And the Latin? Time is flying, never to return.
Never mind, Jeremy.
An act of class treachery for you, I'd have thought - the Labour Party.
No, no, no, no.
I'm sure I would have fitted in very comfortably these days.
If that's what's worrying you-.
However je Ne regrette rien.
Que sera sera.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes, completely empty, Peter.
Fix! - Trust me, I'm a silk! (Men groan) Now, your watch, if you please, sir-.
MEN: Oooh! Ooh! His watch.
Thank you so much.
I can clearly see it's second-hand.
That's second-hand.
(Men groan) I wrap it in my handkerchief.
So.
Thus it is safe and secure.
Still going? Just.
But we'll soon put a stop to that.
Alakazam! Alakazoz! Here is your watch, just as it was.
I knew it would go wrong this evening.
This has never happened before, ladies and gentlemen.
MAN: Oh, yes, it has.
James advice.
Plead guilty to malicious damage, but stress provocation.
Alternatively, get rid of the evidence.
In that case I could just go Alakazam! Alakazoo! Your watch is gone, boo-hoo-hoo! Alakazam! Alakazuck! Your watch is restored, cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck! (Applause) KAVANAGH: "If I ever become a rich man, [Or if ever.]
grow to be old, I will build a house with deep thatch To shelter me from the cold, And there shall the Sussex songs be sung And the story of Sussex told.
I will hold my house in the high wood Within a walk of the sea, And the men that were boys when I was a boy Shall sit and drink with me.
"
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