The Accident (2019) s01e03 Episode Script

They've killed our children, and we need to be loud.
I'm just here to offer my assistance.
Oh, you're a lawyer.
Got it.
Official complaint.
We should use it first.
If you're talking about a leak, it'll be traced back to us.
Tell me what you're scared of.
Do you know something? Are you helping someone hide something? Why is the steel not to specification? At no point did I say, "Supply with me lesser-value steel.
" Those kids were alive after the explosion.
The thing that cost them their lives was the building collapse, and buildings shouldn't collapse like that.
Oh.
You go.
No.
No, no, no.
I'd rather jump out of the window.
You've got the busy day, I don't.
Apologies for the boxers.
No need.
You've a nice pair of legs on you.
You cannot be late for a bloody inquest.
Not this morning.
Sure.
She's breathing without assistance, she's eating solid food, and her pelvis is weak, but seems to have re-grafted OK.
I suspect the spinal damage is permanent.
She still can't speak properly.
No.
But it's returning, slowly.
We think she can come home this week.
No.
No.
She should stay here until she's better.
Polly You've got all the equipment here.
If there's an emergency You're ready.
I promise.
W-w-what? You both look terrified.
Am I dying? No, love.
No.
You're coming home.
It's good.
We're getting her back.
Ready to have her home now, are you? Well, we've got a few days, get the place shipshape, and to get the inquest out of the way.
That's what's got you het up, is it? The inquest? What's that ambulance-chasing lawyer been telling you? Whatever it is Pol, let it out.
Philip says the police are looking to see what they can see and if enough isn't there, they'll just chuck us in the long grass.
Yeah, well, Philip isn't the oracle.
I don't trust that man as far as I can throw him.
The police will do their job.
You'll see.
I cannot be late, you understand? The sat nav took me to the wrong place.
Shit.
It's OK.
Hello.
How many lawyers have Kallbridge brought with them? Yeah, they're well armed.
And Alan? Well, his insurance company have descended from on high.
They're the ones you see surrounding young Debbie.
She doesn't look happy.
Don't look at her, look at the woman sat beside the man in the orange shirt.
She works for the Crown Prosecution Service, and she's the one who decides if there's strong enough public interest for a criminal inquiry.
If this goes well, the CPS will have no choice but to proceed.
If we're worthy of their time.
The key question, one all the legals will be asking all the time, is culpability.
It's not who killed your kids, it's what percentage of something killed your kids.
Yeah, well, we've always understood that much.
Your kids broke in.
Well, if they hadn't, they wouldn't have died.
Sorry to be blunt.
That's, say, 30% of the blame.
They fiddled with equipment, that's 20% of the blame.
The equipment was poorly stored, in the wrong place.
That's Alan.
Give that 20%.
That's 70% already gone.
And Kallbridge takes no responsibility for the equipment storage, because Alan Kethin was an independent contractor.
Independent twat.
So, we've only 30% left to kick them.
30% they have to be wholly responsible for.
It's a lot to prove.
It true your Iwan is giving evidence? It's just about what the council was inspecting.
OK.
No, no - not that kind of court.
Sit down.
My name is Ken Percival, and I'm here to try and help make sense of this terrible tragedy.
The purpose of this inquest is fact finding, not fault finding.
All interested persons are entitled and encouraged to ask questions here.
It is my job to examine the who, where, when, and, crucially, the how, and your job to make sure I've heard everything I need to hear.
This is your inquest as much as mine.
I was the first officer on the scene.
And how soon after the accident was this? Nine, ten minutes.
As soon as I was aware there were people inside, I called for the rescue team.
The abdomen was heavily bruised.
Emergency CT revealed a large peritoneal collection of blood and trauma to the liver and left kidney.
A catheter drained two hundred mills of heavily blood-stained urine.
At 15.
30, she went into ventricular fibrillation.
She was immediately shocked but then became asystolic.
The decision was made to abandon further resuscitation attempts, and she was pronounced dead.
May I ask, were the bulk of these injuries sustained during the explosion or during the building collapse? If I was speculating, I'd say the vast majority of her injuries were crush related.
And the fact that she was able to shout to her friend before the collapse would suggest she was fully conscious at that point.
What did you do? What did you do to my daughter? I entirely understand how hard it must be.
No.
You have no fucking idea! But if you could sit down, it'd make proceedings easier.
Someone in this room killed my daughter And that's what we're here finding out.
Sit down.
Sit down.
So, err, just to be clear, in your medical opinion she was killed by the collapse, not the explosion That's correct.
Thank you.
I run building regulations and inspection for the council.
You've submitted a lot of documents to me, Mr Barker.
I like to be thorough.
In your opinion, were there any discrepancies between what you inspected and what was submitted in the designs for this build? None whatsoever.
As leader of the council, there's a lot that I'm across, but this was one of my projects, yes.
And you were supportive of the development, Mr Bevan? Very.
It's important to get Glyngolau working again.
You need the employment.
And the business rates.
The business rates are about all we get as a council.
Well, trouble with Glyngolau is there's no businesses, so every month passes we're eating into reserves.
Approaching bankruptcy, if I'm honest.
So, it was a passion of yours, this project? And getting Kallbridge's support was hugely important for you? I can't lie to you, it was, yeah.
Did you do due diligence on them as a company? Of course I did.
Did they coerce or entice you in any way? Check my bank balance, friend.
I'm too poor to be corrupt.
And once they were on site, you regularly inspected and performed? Of course we did.
We've submitted We've submitted this.
Everything was done thoroughly and by the book.
There you go.
There was There was something about him, your Iwan.
No.
There's nothing, Ange.
There's no need to be defensive.
I'm not defensive.
You sound like you did when you were trying to get off PE at school.
Well, I hated PE and I hate this.
One turned into a few.
Craig was, erm Felt like he'd had his nads out in public, you know, Pol? Poor Craig, eh? Mm.
Makes you feel guilty, these things, without you actually being guilty.
Right.
I'm a bit emotional.
Probably time for a kip to, err, right things.
Your guard dog's here, check you're all right.
I'm fine, Martin.
Go to bed.
See you in the morning.
Yeah.
Bit of a weight off, right? That it wasn't harder.
You thought they'd skewer you.
They didn't.
You think I went for a drink because I was relieved? I don't think you need an excuse for a drink.
Hearing that Doctor talk about Mia .
.
was the hardest thing I've ever heard in my life.
Made me realise what I have.
Made me realise a lot.
Didn't stop you getting another pint.
Hm? Hm? No.
Maybe it should have.
Well bed.
I love her and I love you.
And I'm going to live up to that, you'll see.
I am a Senior Vice President at Kallbridge.
And this was your project? I was managing it on behalf of Kallbridge, yes.
Is it right you take full financial responsibility until the work is completed? Yes, it's a forward-funded project.
You are fully financially implicated until your Japanese client was satisfied with the work? Yes, that's right.
And this was proving quite an expensive build.
It was behind schedule, and you have a problematic relationship with your site manager, Alan Kethin.
So, you looked for savings elsewhere.
That's my job.
And you pushed your supplier quite hard to get them to provide you with cheaper steel - 30% according to reports.
Yes.
We've looked into that thoroughly.
Our paperwork makes clear that we expected the steel to be of equivalent quality.
Unfortunately, that matter has to be taken up with the steel company.
They're claiming different.
Then they need to see the paperwork, as do you.
The steel had entirely the correct certification.
So So, you're not responsible? Morally, I am.
Morally, it was my responsibility as leader, but the facts are, I'm afraid, I simply wasn't aware.
I hired Alan Kethin in good faith, I hired the steel company in good faith.
I was wrong to, and I cannot forgive myself for those facts.
Good, because I can't forgive you for any of this.
Angela, perhaps it'd be best No.
No, no, no.
She's making a fool of the lot of you.
Excuse me.
Excuse me, madam.
Oh.
Do you want to go with her? Will you fuck off? She's fine on her own.
These e-mails to Alan Kethin were increasingly angry outbursts about what his speed was costing the company.
Other companies were being queued behind him, other companies were being brought in early, causing overlap problems.
I think I was always on the right side of civility.
You're a very polished performer.
I'm actually very nervous.
I want to make sure to tell the truth here.
Do you have any sense of how these e-mails to Alan Kethin about the gas canisters were leaked to the press? No sense at all.
So, if I were to tell you that there were means of proving this leak to the press came from inside your office? Relevance? A concerted campaign by a large industrial group to reapportion blame.
I believe this has relevance.
It does.
I have no idea how the e-mails came out, and they were nothing to do with me.
Nothing at all.
Kids before profits! Kids before profits! Kids before profits! Kids before cash! Kids before profits! Kids before cash! Kids before profits! Kids before cash! No comment.
How can you sleep at night? They're here.
Are you OK? And these e-mails that were leaked from here.
Are you investigating that? Yes, we are investigating that too.
You understand there is a limit where embarrassment is concerned for my firm.
If there are further issues then we may have further issues.
We are investigating the leak, but honestly, that's just one employee in a very large organisation.
Now, as for the other matter, the steel thing is a nonsense.
They have nothing, we are hiding nothing.
Fucking arsehole.
He speaks perfect English, always has done, but still the meeting have to start in Japanese.
How close would you say we are to losing them? For future business? I'd say we'd have to fight hard to get them back.
And for the businesses we have now? Contracts are watertight.
Hmm.
I hope you're right.
Hello.
It's still the same house.
It's only a few adjustments to make it easier.
They're They're staring.
Course they are.
So you can tell them to fuck off like you always used to.
Don't look so scared now, Keriat.
You see? Everyone's so happy to have you back.
I asked for that, didn't I? I got this.
No, Iwan, I'm not sure Hey, there's three of us here.
Let's get her settled at least Let's get started as we mean to go on.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Thanks ever so much.
There we are.
What you having, Leona? Do you want tea or something harder? Oh, Iwan.
I know.
It won't work with the drugs.
I was only joking.
She knows that and I know that.
Can of pop and a bap, then, is it? For all of us.
My mother wants to meet you.
Wow.
Wrong way to bring that up? Erm, it's not going to happen.
She knows how old you are.
I haven't told her anything other than that.
You just said, "Mum, I've got a girlfriend, she's ancient.
" I said you were kind.
I said we worked together.
She'd really like to meet you.
We need the room.
Shut the door on your way out, Tim.
It wouldn't hurt you to be a tiny bit more polite.
The press are all over these leaks.
We're trending on Twitter again.
I hadn't noticed.
Well, our board has.
Was it the boy? It was the boy who leaked.
Right? Now, Laura's prepared a statement, we're gonna release it.
Your gonna say that, err He didn't know any better.
Please don't give them his name.
Oh, we're gonna go way further than that.
We're going to say that what he did, he did as a result of his infatuation with you.
Sorry? Well, you've hardly been discrete.
And it is strictly against company policy.
You're a cunt.
If it just comes out this was a leak from your assistant, then the matter will come straight back to you.
So, we're going to say - or, rather, you're going to say - this was a leak from your assistant and your lover.
No.
Do you realise how bad this could get? We have crap steel that nobody wants to accept responsibility for, we have a massive fine coming down the track, and we have the CPS breathing down our neck! Now, if you don't do this, we're gonna pin the whole thing on you.
Now, the damage to you, dishonourable conduct, no pension, no pay, and a possible jail sentence, because we won't be protecting you from the police.
So, this is what we want you to say.
And when they come for me? What then? We won't hurt you unless we absolutely have to.
I need to think about this.
- Oh.
Hello.
A delegation.
- Is Iwan in? No, he's taken Leona to physio.
What's going on? CPS have come back.
They're canning it.
What? There's going to be no criminal investigation.
Can we come in? I got some Jaffa Cakes too.
Oh, lovely.
The steel company are saying, "It wasn't us, we supplied what we were asked for," and they're saying we asked for what it says we asked for.
Seemingly there's nothing in writing.
Someone fucked someone, but no-one can find the dick.
In cases like this Everyone gets off scot-free.
Well, there'll be substantial fines but the evidence threshold for criminal charges is high.
They'd need to prove that Harriet knew that the steel was inadequate and she continued to use it anyway.
Or that the steel company knew that the steel they were using, was being used for a thing that they shouldn't be using it for.
And they're saying they had no idea.
The case is fucked.
It's dead.
The HSE are going to prosecute.
The fines will be large, but they'll just be fines.
And that is not good enough.
We're facing two simple options.
We give up.
We fight on.
And how do we fight on? A private prosecution.
We lead the case ourselves against the person who was leading the build for Kallbridge, Harriet Paulsen.
I've never even heard of a private prosecution.
Get her in front of a jury, amass a little more evidence.
Yeah, and they can still get jail time.
Every charge can still stick.
So, why wouldn't we do that? One, it'll take money.
Two, it'll take a shitload of luck.
We'd be chancing it.
I think I can get it into court with the evidence we already have, but we'll need more than we've got to get a conviction, but we'll have time to dig, and we can have our day.
How much money? Half a million.
Give or take.
Oh, Ange.
What? Your husband's on the dole, if you didn't remember.
I've got a job.
I'm not sure you'll raise the necessary in the Co-op.
You're better than that.
And Iwan is Iwan has his council allowances.
We're on our knees and you know it.
We'll do some of that crowd-funding, we thought.
Plus there's our houses.
Do you get paid? Do you get paid from this half a million quid, Philip? A small amount, survival money.
The bulk is taken by barristers.
We need good ones, they aren't cheap.
I will try to keep costs down as much as I can.
And if you can't, we lose our houses.
We can win, Polly.
We can do this, and we have to.
For our kids.
Which brings me onto the digging part.
You see, the police have to obey the law but we can switch things up in a way they can't to get the evidence we need, which is she knew the steel was inadequate.
So, which law do you intend to break? Do you use your husband's computer? Yes.
Good.
Then it's technically not stealing.
We need the hard drive.
We need you to use this to get it from him.
This isn't a friendly discussion, is it? It's a hijacking.
And here was I thinking I was the girl you preferred, Philip? Are you two now a double act? He's helping us win the case, Pol.
We don't know what he's doing.
An angel come on high to defend us.
I happen to be passionate about this one.
Oh.
Tell you to do one, did they? Your kids broke the law.
Some of them had records.
No-one gives a shit about them.
Well, I know what it is to be one of those kids.
He sounds rehearsed to me.
Does he to you, Ange? No, no.
He sounds like he gives a shit.
Where do you stand, Polly? You're asking me to risk my marriage.
Some fucking marriage.
It's all I've got.
I've lost all I had.
I've got a fat husband who can't get any work, I've got a fat son who sits on my sofa all day, and my beautiful, beautiful daughter is six feet in the fucking ground.
Angela, you can't just ask people I can, I can.
No, you can't I can, I have to.
And you don't understand.
Leona, she led them in and she got out and now you you don't even Enough! You don't even want to Enough.
That's enough.
No-one is saying Iwan did anything wrong, we're just saying there's a possibility he might be involved in e-mail chains, which can shed light on all the matters.
The police won't ask for his hard drive, not without more evidence than they have.
Polly.
I still want to know who I can blame.
Why don't you? I've been trying to work out what news you'd want to hear about.
I've been thinking I should Google, but then I went on Google and I realised I didn't have a clue.
I Googled your Justin Bieber.
Well, I'm pretty sure you're not into him any more.
N-n-no.
No.
He's had quite a hard time recently, I think.
I Googled Beyonce, she seems very political now.
Still impressive, though.
I looked up a lot of stuff.
Nothing seemed particularly interesting.
So, we'll start with the undercover regions? And then we'll give your hair a nice wash.
I got you some new shampoo from the Co-op.
Let me! Let me! Let me! No.
No.
No.
No, you're not doing that.
You're not doing that.
No.
Iwan's phone.
Hello? Hello.
Who is this? I wasn't expecting to talk to you.
I thought I'd called his mobile.
Harriet? How's your daughter? Why are you calling Iwan? This is a lot less nefarious than you think it is.
And I'm so sorry anyone got hurt.
Was that my phone? No.
Do it.
Ready? Hey.
Hey.
Leona.
Leona.
You're OK.
OK? You OK? You OK? Bad dream, was it? Hate those.
I've always, erm, struggled with those myself.
Got to say, quite enjoying the handicap stuff we've got now D-d-disabled.
Yeah.
I'm most grateful for those handles we've had to put in by the toilet.
I'm not being funny but I increasingly don't have the knees for getting down for the squat and then back up again.
That's a g-g-genuinely muntin' image.
Really? Let me give you the proper details.
What I do is, I lower the old trousers, then the old nick nacks, and then just sort of Shut up! Shut up! I haven't been the best of dads.
But I'm trying to do better here, on this one, right now.
I'm not asking you to forgive me.
Just work with me, OK? No more t-t-toilet stories.
Scout's honour.
All right.
She's OK.
Coming back to bed? No, I might just I can't really sleep.
Might just sit up, read a bit.
How did you? Your kitchen door needs a new lock.
I'm not angry with you.
I know you were pressured into it.
I'd like to make a statement - one declaring how I feel about you, how much you mean to me, how much we matter to each other.
The secretary never gets to speak.
I'd like to speak.
They call you a toy boy, not a secretary.
Take your clothes off.
Harriet.
All of them.
I want to see you.
I'm not taking my clothes off.
You broke into my house.
If I make a call, the police will come.
I don't want to make that call.
Take your clothes off.
You have ruined me.
Finally he admits it.
Now take your fucking clothes off.
No.
I've ruined you already - what harm can it do? You always liked me looking at you.
All of them, I said.
You, sir, are a work of art.
But if I can just tell them that I love you.
I adore you, but I don't love you.
This is not about you.
This is about me.
They're dismissing me, they're making Can you stop doing that? I won't.
You're my humiliation.
If you're going to do that, then I want to touch you.
You can't.
I really want to touch you.
You look at me with such wide adoring eyes.
Harriet, I don't want this.
And I adored you back.
But given a choice between saving my own skin and saving yours I did the wrong thing.
It was all me.
I I didn't lie.
I deserved punishment.
Ah, ah! I betrayed you.
My beautiful boy.
You were my boy.
My beautiful, beautiful boy.
And I'm so, so sorry.
I shouldn't have betrayed you.
They won't sue you, Kallbridge.
They could for breach of contract, but they won't.
I've made sure of that.
You are fired, though.
This is the point where you say something cutting and obnoxious.
I love you.
Go out the way you came in.
Make sure no-one sees you.
My lawyers called.
His lawyers, whatever they are.
They said there'll be a fine, but no-one's going to jail.
Yeah.
They managed to push most of Alan's liability onto Kallbridge.
But even so, there'll be some.
I'll lose everything in his name.
Oh.
So I wanted to give you this.
I managed to sell some of his equipment on the QT to one of his builder mates.
This is eight grand, Debbie.
You could get in trouble.
You're going to fight on, right? That's what they said, the families might launch a private prosecution.
We are.
Well, use this.
The money's good.
It's your choice if you take it.
Where's Angela? I thought you two came in pairs.
I I thought you might find it easier talking to me.
What, you think I'd rather talk to a lawyer than my best friend? I'm not an ambulance chaser or a fake.
That's just what an ambulance chaser and a fake would say.
I felt like our last meeting went badly.
We're just digging for one crucial piece of information and I think we will find it.
I think we can win this case.
Then you don't know round here very well.
35 years ago, they closed the pit up the road.
25, the steel plant.
We've been fighting for jobs ever since, and got bloody nowhere.
This area loses.
We've always lost.
Your long list of injustices, your Hillsboroughs, your Aberfans - one thing they've all got in common - they involved working-class people no-one really gave a fuck about.
Even when a block burns down in one of the richest bits of London, because it's a working-class block, no-one cares.
Not really.
They give it lip service and then they move on, and we're THAT, Philip.
We're them.
And the CPS have proved it, and to keep fighting, that only means more hurt, and more heartbreak, because they'll beat us again and this time, they'll take our homes too.
So I surrender.
I say fuck it.
I say I'm done with the damage of it all.
I'm a mother and a wife, and all this - I can't do it.
I can't do it any more.
I'm out.
The defendant has been accused of gross negligence manslaughter.
They've all taken on mortgages they can't pay back to pay for this trial.
This is my chance to say my bit and do my bit.
And I want to get justice.
Don't you? I just don't want you to get hurt.
This whole case is going to come down to something quite specific - who the jury wants to believe.
I've never lied about what I did.
Big day.
Back on the stand.
Do you know what they're going to say? Why would I know what they're going to say? They wanted me to take your computer and I refused.
I need you, Polly.
I need you too.
Only you chose the wrong side.
We're going to win.
We've an ace up our sleeve.