TANNOY: The train now arriving on Platform 2
is the delayed 13:40 from Southampton Central.
We apologise for the late arrival of this service.
The train on Platform 3 is the 16:58 to Whiflon, calling at Vauxhall, Clapham Junction, Mortlake,
North Sheen, Richmond, St Margaret's, Twickenham, Whitton.
GIRL: Bye-bye, Little Woolcott.
BOY: Hello, London.
I'm not going to let anybody hurt you again.
I'm going to look after you.
I promise.
- Do you remember when we first went... - No.
No more remembering, all right?
All right.
Come on, mate, have a drink.
Annie?
Hello. Mrs Swift?
(Bird chirps)
I'll just have a bit of a tidy-up and then we'll do your dressing, all right?
Did you go?
- You didn't go. - Go where?
Don't lie to me! You know exactly what I'm talking about.
Did you go for your methadone?
Say you did. Please, Annie, just tell me that you went.
Don't, please.
You've had a hit, haven't you?
Where is it?
Stop it, please!
(Muffled shouting)
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
Stop it! Stop it!
Stop "It!
I thought you were going to make it. I really did.
(Door slams)
(Matches rattle)
(sobs)
Annie?
Ah! man!
I've killed her. Annie. I've killed her!
All right, love?
It was me. I want you to know.
I killed her.
Do you understand?
FEMALE OFFICER: Oi!
- Come on, son. - Annie! I'm sorry. I'm sorry!
Annie!
Hormones. I read it somewhere. Postnatal whatever.
- I wouldn't tell her that if I were you- - I just did.
Sometimes, Thomas, you can be remarkably stupid.
Bottom line, sir, you can't have counsel being all weepy and useless.
Baby or no baby, you got to do the job, bottom line. Hello?
Yeah. Yeah, I've spoken to your QC and he says on your depositions...
- Martha. - Romchurch.
- Right. - Magistrates' court.
Right.
And it all turns on the width of his hips and the length of his tail.
Does it?
It's a pit bull. I'm representing a dog.
I'm doing very nicely, my practice is really coming on, and then I go and have a baby.
And because I took two years off instead of ten minutes,
that prat in the clerks' room thinks I can't hack it any more.
- Talk to him. - I've had a baby not a lobotomy.
If you don't think you're getting a fair deal, talk to him.
Have it out. Don't let it fester.
Martha. Good. Gather you're doing Romchurch tomorrow.
He's a very important solicitor and we're very nearly very good friends, Mr... Murchie and I.
So be charming, make sure you win, there's a good girl.
- Jeremy? - Yes?
The very unattractive beast I'm representing tomorrow
got nicked because he wasn't wearing a muzzle in a public place.
Probably he'll be put down.
Our very own single mum.
Can't imagine why dad did a bunk, can you?
- Do you fancy a drink? - Sorry. Con.
Anything interesting?
Convicted arsonist,
blows his girlfriend up,
then tells anyone who's listening he did it and then clams up entirely.
Everything against him and now he won'! speak.
But interesting, yes.
- Evening, Robert. - James.
I met a priest once. In Rome. American.
He visited prisons all over Italy.
Arms up, sir.
Do you know what he said?
He said the first thing you notice when you go into an Italian prison is the smell of cooking.
- Do you know why? - No. Legs.
Because Italian prisoners are allowed to do their own cooking.
In their cells.
First thing you notice when you get in here is the smell of boiled cabbage.
- And urine. - And defeat.
It's been smellier than Queen Victoria's knickers ever since she built it
and that's the way Joe Public likes it.
(Sighs)
Michael...
Listen to me, Michael. Two minutes before Annie died,
you were in the house shouting your head off and slamming doors.
Next thing we know, you're having a peek through your own front door
which is right next to a gas fire which is making.
The house goes up, you tell the first two people you see that you did it
and the police find a box of matches in your pocket.
And you're a convicted arsonist.
Our case, if you can call it that,
a nasty landlord trying to gas you out of his house, is a bit less compelling.
Michael?
And a negligent landlord is all we've got if you don't start talking to us.
The truth is, Michael, we ought to have all the time in the world,
you and I, to get things straight.
And I shouldn't think you feel much like talking to two more men in suits, I understand that.
But we haven't got all the time in the world.
I'm sorry, I really am, but you're going to have to talk to me.
Of course, we do have one instruction from you... by omission.
You haven't told us you're guilty.
And it's not often the case
but I think you're not telling us you're guilty because you're not, Michael.
Am I right?
Bit of a risk, James, asking the client if they did it or not.
Never ask a question you don't know the answer to.
First rule of advocacy.
- What do you think? - Oh, I think he's going down.
But what do you think, Robert?
I thought you didn't ask questions you don't know the answer to.
Their pathologist's report. Bit thin.
Our own bloke's looked at the body. You'll have his report first thing.
- There's my answer. - What?
Thanks.
- Thank you. (Car alarm beeps)
You're a very good solicitor, Robert Guthrie, and occasionally, with the right client...
someone you really believe in...
you're even better than very good.
- Good night. - Good night.
(Alarm clock rings)
(Groans)
- Hello, darling. - Hi, Mum.
(Baby cries) - Go on, quick. Off you go.
Thanks, Mum. I'll see you later.
- Mummy! - Go on.
- We'll be fine. - Mummy!
Bright and early, sir.
Always get a second opinion, Tom.
Thank you, sir.
I'll remember that.
KAVANAGH: Their idiot pathologist missed it.
And he doesn't know, your client?
He had, and has, no idea.
He's a boy, really.
I mean, he's 20, but he's a boy.
I can't get him to talk to me.
How pregnant was she?
About eight weeks when she died.
You get used to... or you think you're used to all the horror, but...
something like this...
- Ms Miller? - Yes.
Norma Braithwaite.
Canine Defence League. I'm here for Satan.
Oh, yes.
It's terrible, isn't it?
- Yes. - You don't put down red-headed people,
just because they've got red hair, do you?
This is Nigel Crisp.
Hello.
The best dog expert in England.
He won'! mind me saying.
FOXCOTT: Can we sit down?
- Are you all right? - Not getting any younger.
Come on, Peter. You're what? Somewhere in your 503?
Hm.
You've always been somewhere in your 503-.
Was that a compliment?
It is now. It wasn't ten years ago.
You want to know whether you should tell him, don't you? Your client, about the pregnancy.
I wouldn't tell him in a month of Sundays.
Now, here's a woman who will always be 30-something.
You look like little boys.
With your Marmite and Mother's Pride, and your crusts cut off.
Now you've gone quiet, cos goodness, a woman's come!
- Eleanor. - Peter.
I'd er... better be getting back to whatever it is I'm doing.
Nice to see you, Eleanor.
CRISP: I think one could say there's quite a bit of Labrador in Satan.
- (Drily) Could one? - Mm, one could.
You seem a bit distracted.
Is that a question or an observation?
Both, I should think.
Do you know what I'd really like?
A weekend in the country, with lots to eat and drink,
and thrilling company.
- You're a brilliant woman! - And thrilling company.
Sussex, I was thinking.
Tongue.
(Norma sobs) - The appeal will be lodged straightaway.
He won't be...
Yet.
Put down, that is.
Because of the appeal.
It's not his fault.
It wasn't him who decided not to wear a muzzle, was it?
Was it?
(Buzz of conversations)
MAN: Leave me alone!
MOTHER: We want you to come home. That's all.
When this is all over, we just want you to come home, where you belong.
There's one thing you've never understood, because you're not capable of understanding it,
which is how much I loved her.
And how much she loved me.
Don't.
- What? - Do that.
- Stop it. - Michael!
Stop caring about what other people think.
Dad... Dad, look at me. Please.
Dad, look at me, at least!
(Drum and bass booms)
- I got you a drink. - Oh, thanks.
But I drank it.
Look, I'm a team player.
I'm very happy getting 35 quid and an egg sandwich,
if it means Jeremy gets massive frauds to do, and you get 10% of what he gets.
Everyone has to do it.
Luton Mags, Monday. Tuesday: Doncaster.
Train fare: 90 quid. Fee: half that-.
Wednesday: Thames Youth Court. "You nicked my Mars bar."
"Oh, no, I didn't." "Oh, yes, you did."
And now - a dog called Satan in Romchurch.
What's the story, Tom?
None of the boys have had a week like mine. Nor do they, ever.
And two years ago today, I was in Court Two at the Bailey.
I've only had a baby, Tom. It happens all the time.
This music's doing my head in. I'm going home.
Is that it?
Is that all you've got to say?
I like a Doris with a bit of spunk.
Here. Have a drink.
And, ooh...
an egg sandwich.
- And'? - He said I was "a Doris with a bit of spunk".
Excellent. Probably.
(Knock at door)
Er... the Woodley case, Mr Kavanagh.
You'll need someone proper for a junior. I thought: Ms Miller?
Great minds, Tom.
Excuse me. Am I present in the room?
Am I actually here or not, chaps?
Oh, yeah, you're here, all right, miss.
Oh, a bit of egg, miss, just there.
- You should read this. - What is it?
Our own pathologists report. We're not using it.
She was pregnant.
God, that's terrible.
What?
He doesn't know. The client.
How will he take it?
He won't. I've decided not to tell him.
You can't do that.
He's had a lot of pain, Martha. He doesn't need any more.
You've got no right to...
Play God?
He's 20 years old.
If we get him off this, I want him to have a life afterwards-.
Call it what you like. It's what we do all the time.
Or had you forgotten?
- Are you patronising me? - I'd never do that.
Pulling age, then?
Perhaps.
I think you're wrong. I think he's entitled to know.
Tell me about Annie.
Forget about what happened, the case.
Talk to me about Annie.
She was beautiful.
She was clever.
And she kept...
Heroin?
Yes.
You don't?
No. I did, for a time.
I don't now.
I had to look after her, you see.
You were able to love her?
Able to?
Heroin doesn't come second to anything or anyone,
in my experience.
"If equal affection cannot be,
let the more loving one be me."
Auden.
Yeah.
Anyway, we did love each other. We had to.
- Had to? - Your parents?
We left together, Annie and I. Woolcott.
Little Woolcott.
Just after your conviction for arson?
The day we got...
we didn't know where we were going or what we were doing.
We walked from the station down to the river, and we stopped...
and stood for a long time.
And neither of us wanted to leave.
I don't know why.
One of those pauses, I suppose, in between things.
- It's 10:30, sir. - Is it?
(Sighs)
Em...
Will I have to give evidence?
- Well, you don't have to... - But you think I should?
I'm a caller by nature.
I like my clients to go into the witness box.
Particularly if they're intelligent, like you-.
And I speak properly, and I'm wearing a tie.
Well, on the whole, juries think that nice young men,
who speak properly and wear ties,
are less likely to have killed their girlfriends.
Especially if the nice young man tells them how much he loved the girlfriend...
which the nice young man plainly did.
I can't. I can't do it.
(Kavanagh sighs)
You say you loved her.
You say you didn't kill her.
Why aren't you helping yourself, Michael? I don't understand it.
You sound like my father.
- Morning, James. - Giles.
I was thinking last night, when I heard you were doing this:
I don't think I've ever lost a case with you as my opponent.
Am I right?
I don't remember.
Oh, I'm sure you do, you Northerners with your Geoffrey Boycott regard for batting averages-.
- Bolton is in Lancashire. - Is it really?
It's where I come from. Boycott is a Yorkshireman.
All the same to you, I suppose.
Do you know, you're absolutely right.
Anyway, may the best man win, as we say in the proper bits of England.
USHER. Be upstanding.
It's like breathing flame, in a fire like that, with gas around.
Therm a sort of flame-thrower effect.
Burns affect the lungs and airways,
and she would have breathed in the gas before the fire ignited,
so fragmenting of the lungs and haemorrhaging.
(Door shuts)
I have no questions of this witness, my lord.
Thank you, Dr Kidd. We are grateful, as always.
Members of the jury, this is a short case, but an emotional one.
It is my practice to take breaks... from emotion.
- 15 minutes. USHER: Court rise.
MAN: Isn't it terrible?
- You wanted to cross-examine him, didn't you? - Yes.
You wanted to have a go at him over his negligence.
But it wouldn't have helped, so you didn't.
But you wanted to. That's the thing.
What's the thing?
You wanted to cross-examine him, because he deserves to be shown up.
You got to your feet, because of your instinct for justice.
And once you were up, you remembered you couldn't do it,
because you haven't been telling the truth.
Because you haven't told Michael about the pregnancy.
My suspicion is that you're feeling very uncomfortable, squashing your instincts.
Your suspicions are right.
But that doesn't make what I've decided wrong.
- Mr and Mrs Woodley? - Yes.
You'll be able to see Michael later. I'll have a word with the gaolers.
- I don't think that would help- - Why not?
Thanks, anyway.
He'll get life,
if he's convicted.
We have a lot of faith in you, Mr Kavanagh.
19. Burned to death. Terrible.
The jury looked a bit upset, I thought.
By the way, your man's previous for arson -
it's thought the fire was started by putting a match through the letterbox.
If the evidence was a bit more solid, and I was feeling nasty,
I might ask to put your bloke's form in. Similar fact.
But I'm not feeling nasty. Just... very confident.
Collected your fee, Dr Kidd?
Look, you can ask me whatever you like in there, but we're not in there now.
So, if you'll excuse me...
You're a busy man.
- Yes, I am. - Let me guess. What did you do?
Quick look at the lungs? Quick look at the heart?
- Onto the next one? - Excuse me.
I bet you hardly even looked at the body. I'm right, aren't I?
I have no idea what you're talking about.
Yes, you do.
And you're bloody lucky I didn't rip you to pieces in there,
because, believe you me,
it would have given me a great deal of pleasure.
Very good, James.
Everything he deserves.
But I do wonder why you were quite so angry with him.
It crosses my mind that I'm right. You're finding it harder than you thought...
hiding the truth from our client.
PROSECUTOR: How long did the argument go on for, Ms Burgess?
Half a minute.
And what did you hear her shout?
'Stop it.'
She said "stop it" three times.
And then?
And then it went quiet for a moment.
And then there was the sound of a door slamming.
When did you next see Michael Woodley?
At the front of the house. He was holding the letterbox open and looking in.
And after the explosion? Did you see him then?
Yes, at the from of the house again.
- And what was he doing? - Nothing.
That was the thing.
He was doing nothing. He was just standing there.
- Did he try to go into the house? - No.
Did he do anything about contacting the emergency services?
No.
.Just... standing there?
Yes. And then...
Yes?
Ms Burgess?
He told me he had killed her.
- (Murmuring) - Annie.
Are you sure that was what he said?
He was very clear about it, almost insistent.
Half a minute, Ms Burgess?
Are you sure the shouting lasted that long?
Couldn't it in fact have been a lot shorter?
I've been a practising nurse for 20 years.
I don't know how many patients' pulses We taken,
but if I know anything, it's what half a minute feels like.
With your hand on someone's wrist,
on a hospital ward, making at your watch.
This was a different situation altogether.
You weren't thinking at the time
about how long the argument lasted.
I don't have to think.
My life is measured out in half-minutes.
It was half a minute.
If it had been longer, she might not be dead.
I think, if it had gone on longer, I would have done something.
It's very hard to live with that.
DS Kent.
You're his mum, aren't you?
You're not sitting in?
No.
I wouldn't, either.
I can understand that.
(sobs)
Sorry.
Your patient, and my client, shared a landlord,
Mr Felix Rush.
Yes, that's right.
Did you ever speak to Mr Felix Rush?
- Yes, several times. - What about?
He used to ask after Mrs Swift, my patient. Her health.
- That kind of thing. - Did he?
And what did you tell him?
I told him how she was.
She hasn't got long, Mrs Swift.
He didn't try to evict Mrs Swift?
Evict her? No.
Because that's what he was trying to do to Michael and Annie next door.
As I expect you knew. Did you know?
Yes. They both told me - Annie and Michael.
Now, what do you suppose is the difference between your patient and them?
Why not her?
They took drugs, and she didn't?
Or does Mr Rush have a soft spot for the elderly and infirm?
Or was Mr Rush content in the knowledge
that Mrs Swift would be making her own departure in the not-too-distant future?
I...I don't think I can answer that.
Just what I was about to say to Mr Kavanagh.
Whilst the argument was going on, and you were in Mrs Swift's house...
did you see either Michael or Annie?
No.
So, you can tell us what was said and by whom,
but not what was done?
The door slammed.
But you can't say who slammed it, or why.
You can't provide us with a context, can you, Ms Burgess?
Those words...
What you heard through the wall
was without context.
"Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!"
Without context...
they can mean anything, can't they?
Stop what? We don't know, do we?
I know what fear sounds like. I've heard people when they're frightened.
When I heard her shouting, it was the sound of a very frightened woman.
And the silences. They had a... I don't know...
I knew it wasn't right. The silences were... awful.
Silence is silence.
Until hindsight comes along,
and a picture is painted,
and then silence isn't silence anymore.
When you saw Michael in the street, after the explosion...
He knew. He knew that she was dead.
KAVANAGH: It was a big explosion.
It was more than that. He knew.
You know what shock looks like, don't you, Ms Burgess?
You've seen what shock does in your 20 years as a nurse.
Yes.
You'll forgive the non-medical term.
Frozen to the spot.
Unable to move.
Shock, wasn't it?
That was what you saw.
That was why Michael Woodley was "just standing there".
In your opinion, as a nurse with two decades of experience...
..was this defendant suffering from shock?
Not in the medical sense.
I'd say he was suffering from two things.
Exhaustion... and relief.
My lord, relief isn't a medical condition.
The witness was asked the question based on her experience as a nurse.
And her answer is based on her experience as a nurse.
Rather valuable, Mr Kavanagh.
Mr Luckhurst?
No further questions, my lord.
JUDGE: Thank you, Ms Burgess.
Two o'clock, members of the jury.
USHER: Court rise.
FATHER: So, you think he's... he's coping all right?
- I was just seeing if he was all right. - That's very nice of you.
There's a line straight from Dixon of Dock Green to me.
A thin, blue line.
Would you do me a favour? Get me the details of Woodley's previous for arson.
- That's not a favour. You're entitled. - I thought I'd ask nicely, anyway.
Chatting up the enemy, Ms Miller?
Pit bulls and policemen - I'm re-examining received opinion.
I've arranged it with the gaolers - you can see him later.
If you want to.
I've got a son. He's about the same age as Michael.
And there are times when we keep our distance.
I know how it can be.
But if you don't talk to him......
If things go the wrong way here, and he ends up serving a life sentence......
You don't know the...
the context, as you keep saying in there.
- The context. - You're his father.
He's your son. Full stop. That's all there is to it.
♪ Burn, baby, burn When you gonna learn?
♪ It's time to put out the fire, so...
♪ Burn, baby, burn When you gonna learn?
♪ The flames...
(Slams and bolts door)
I want you to know
my opinion about not telling Michael that Annie was pregnant.
It has nothing to do with you having a baby of your own.
How did you know I'd say that?
By the way, what's he called?
Hannah.
Fine name for a boy.
Tom. Monday. Which villainous fiend has got me on his side?
Er... Satan, sir.
Very good. I've reached the top. Finest crook of the lot.
It's a dog, sir.
It's a dog case?
- In the Divisional Court. - I'm not doing it.
It's a test-case dog case.
I'm not doing it.
For that solicitor you're nearly friends with- Mr Murchie. With a lot of media interest.
All the rage at the moment, dogs.
People can't get enough of them. Dangerous dogs.
It's the cutting edge.
I'll do it.
Are you doing much at the weekend, sir?
No. Why?
You've got to go and see him.
Who?
- Satan. - What? Where?
It's a secret.
They'll phone me Saturday morning, and then I'll phone you.
And then you'll go to wherever it is that he is...
which is a secret.
Is this a joke?
No, people get upset about their dogs. They don't like to see them banged up.
And pit bull owners - they're a bit like pit bulls.
A bit... lairy. So, secret kennels.
KAVANAGH: They were bad tenants, weren't they, Michael and Annie?
MAN: Not ideal.
Slow with the rent? Untidy?
- Yes. - Anything else?
The drugs, Mr Rush.
Don't tell me you've forgotten about the drug-taking.
- I wasn't going to mention it. - Weren't you?
"A couple of junkies."
Your words, Mr Rush. That's what you told the police.
It's a commonly used term, Mr Kavanagh.
I'm sure you've used it yourself.
You disliked Michael and Annie, didn't you?
It was a professional relationship. I was their landlord.
A couple of junkies who were slow with the rent-.
- Is that a question? - Mr Kavanagh?
Annie Fisk was off her face every time I saw her.
You're a property developer?
I buy and sell properties.
- To make money? - Of course to make money. Is that a crime?
A little touchy, Mr Rush?
Oh, I'm a long way past touchy.
I know how the likes of me are viewed by the likes of you.
And what comes after "touchy", Mr Rush?
Patience,
tolerance, defending my right to make a living in a free society.
Buying, doing up, and in between, letting?
Yes.
And the letting gets squeezed between the buying and the doing-up?
I don't follow.
You buy. You bring in tenants who will give you more money
white you're waiting to do the place up.
But tenants, useful though they are for a bit of extra cash,
can get in the way when you're ready to renovate.
That's a simplification.
Annie and Michael weren't paying the rent,
and they weren't leaving.
And you needed to get on with your cheap and cheerful conversion.
And you were short of money.
You were short of money?
There was a cash-flow problem.
I wanted to sell the building - it was mine to sell - and to sell it, it needed renovating.
And you would do anything to get them out?
Look, I told her... I specifically said not to use the gas.
I told them there was a leak, and I'd get it fixed.
And I told her, "No naked flames."
But she was a hopeless junkie, Mr Rush.
She was "off her face" every time you saw her.
And you had confidence, did you, that she'd remember what you said?
That your house, and the people in it, would be safe?
If you want to suggest that I was responsible for her death, why don't you just say it?
Now you've brought the subject up...
RUSH: You brought it up.
You found out there was a gas leak...
you did nothing about repairing it...
and then you told Annie.
And you told Annie,
to frighten them into leaving your property.
You couldn't lose, could you, Mr Rush?
Either they would leave, for their own safety, or they wouldn't.
And if they didn't, the chances were
that you'd be claiming the insurance on a blown-up building.
I don't know what you're talking about.
You needed money, and you decided that your insurance company
would provide it.
You didn't care whether your tenants were homeless.
You didn't care if they were blown to bits!
- Would you like to hear my answer? - Very much.
Your suggestion is pathetic and desperate.
I didn't kill her.
They were hopeless people.
But that's just it.
They were hopeless people.
And there was a gas teak.
Now, would you mind telling this jury
why you decided that these "hopeless people"
were safe to leave in that house, with that danger?
I have never waited longer than half a minute for an answer to any question in any Se, Mr Rush.
And over the last 30 years,
or three decades, as Mr Luckhurst would put it,
I have learnt exactly what half a minute feels like.
He was found with a box of matches in his pocket.
He admitted killing her - twice.
Er... the er... insurance money.
- Did you get it? - Not yet.
They're awaiting the outcome of this case, your insurers?
- I believe so. - And if Michael Woodley is convicted,
you won't have a cash-flow problem any more?
Martha, I've got a train to catch. Will you tell Michael I'll see him first thing on Monday?
Anywhere nice, sir?
A quieter place than this.
Your bloke's previous.
Winchester Crown Court, 1994.
It was a GP's surgery, just down the road from where he lived.
Handed himself in.
Full confession, guilty plea, suspended sentence.
Why the GP's surgery? Why burn down the GP's surgery?
- I just did. - There must have been a reason.
Was it your GP's?
Was it Annie's?
Van's going, miss. Sorry.
Michael?
(Birdsong)
(Knock at door)
Come in.
No pressure, James.
A girl shouldn't presume, just cos she spent a night on a man's boat,
that the wind is set fair.
It's just erm...
Well, it hasn't been that long since...
It still feels...
a son of betrayal.
That's all.
Tell you what. I'll powder my nose and meet you downstairs in 20 minutes.
Then drinks in the pub, champagne with dinner, and at the end of it all, you can...
lie by yourself in your four-poster and wish like hell you'd tried to kiss me.
- All right? - All right.
(Buzz of conversations)
Appropriate.
I don't even know if I should call him now.
I've been on at him about how he's got to go into the witness box,
but I've no idea what he might say.
And we've done all right so far.
Why are they at court at all, the parents?
- I mean, they're not there for Michael. - Michael?
- My client. - I know he's your client.
But you don't often call your clients by their first names.
When he smokes - Michael-
I can't take it seriously.
I have to stop myself from telling him off.
He's the same age as your Matt.
A father not wanting to see his son... I mean, he's there.
He's in court.
Stiff upper lips have to be seen to be stiff.
You've never met my father, have you?
It took me a while to appreciate how much I owe him.
His horizons were limited.
Of course they were - he worked down the pit - but he had the imagination to support me,
when I told him I wanted to come to the Bar.
He said,
"You do what you like,
provided you do it properly.
If you do it properly, I'll be behind you."
Gave me strength, you know, at the start,
at the Bar, when the toffs were all...
- Being toffs? - (Laughs)
They ask an awful lot from us, don't they?
Clients.
And one does it.
The social work, psychiatry, the mothering.
Just occasionally, I ask myself,
"Who do I think I am?
Who said I could do this?"
Humility, Eleanor.
Are you being nice to me again?
Mm.
(Footsteps)
You look lovely.
Oh... l was hoping for "gorgeous".
You look gorgeous.
Woodley, J.
Somewhere called Woolcott.
Hampshire.
(Footsteps)
(Door closing in distance)
(Phone rings)
(Groans)
Hello? (Clears throat)
Hello, Tom.
Where?
What time is it?
Bloody hell, Tom.
- Good of you to do this, Jeremy. - I had a window, between murders.
That's the trouble with murders. They don't run for very long.
A bit more of a numbers man, myself.
Give me a nice long mortgage fraud, any day.
- James... - Yeah?
- Can I ask you something? - Of course.
Have you any idea where the hell we are?
Absolutely none.
(Panting) God, I'm sorry.
Don't worry.
We're being chased.
But it's all right.
Tell them that way.
They're guests at the hotel.
MAN: Come on, this way!
Why you?
Why did they believe you and not me?
- Gravitas. - What?
They looked at me. They looked at you.
They believed me.
And you were lying.
With conviction.
- I was telling the truth. - Yes, you were.
- With less conviction? - Precisely.
Sometimes, James, you can be a pompous old bugger.
But you love me dearly.
Are you pretending to be lost, or are we lost?
Pretending.
(Dogs barking)
- Ah, Gibby. This is Mr Aldermarten. - Morning, sir.
(Barking and whining)
(Yapping)
The hips are the thing, our expert says.
Satan's a bit slim-hipped for a pit bull.
(Barking) - Do you want to go in?
- Yes, please. - Erm...
Yes, yes, of course, yes.
(Growling)
(snarling)
How do they erm... if...?
By injection, I suppose.
An electric chair would be a palaver.
Bit slim in the hips for a pit bull.
In my judgment.
(Laughter)
Hello.
Oh, hello.
You want to know what we were doing, running around in the woods like mad people.
(Panting) It's a hunt. A manhunt.
We were the hares today.
My great-grandfather came here.
He was the first, with his friends.
In his time, the hares stayed out at night if they weren't caught.
(Chuckles)
We've gone a bit soft, I suppose.
He was killed.
First day of the Somme.
And so were all his friends.
- The Sussex Regiment? - You've seen that?
June 1916.
His last leave. "Uncaught the whole weekend.
Happy the whole weekend. "
- Captain...? - Francis Read.
My grandmother bought the house after the war. It's been in the family ever since.
We get down about... twice a year.
And run around the woods like mad people! (Laughs)
In his honour, I suppose.
Passed-down happiness.
Anyway, thanks for your help in the woods.
We could have been anyone.
Pleasure.
You liar, Eleanor Harker!
Pleasure? You were all for shopping them!
(Lawnmower whirring)
- Hello, dear. - Is your wife in?
Yes.
I'll make some tea, hm?
- Sorry. - Mrs Woodley...
There's something that you should know.
Michael won't have told you.
Tom? Martha Miller. I need James Kavanagh's number in Sussex.
But this is important.
Yes, it is to do with the case.
I want him disturbed.
He would want to be disturbed.
I don't care what he said. Give me the bloody number.
Don't lie to me.
What?
Hello?
My father was in the Army,
and he was...
What's the word?
Fabulous.
We went everywhere,
and he was fabulous everywhere,
especially in the evening.
Hong Kong, in Singapore, he was fabulous in the evening.
Gold buttons.
Red stripe down the trouser.
Spurs.
(Tearfully) "Spin the spurs, Daddy."
Eleanor...
But we hardly ever spoke.
Not really.
He was like... a wonderful smell.
And then he died.
Of course, you never forget a smell.
(Tearfully) I don't remember a single thing he ever said.
Strange place, isn't it?
Oh, I don't think it's the place.
Your client...
Call him.
If he's telling the truth, for God's sake, call him.
KAVANAGH: I'm on your side,
however much you pretend you don't want me to be.
But if it carries on like this,
and you don't talk to me, and you don't talk to this jury,
in a few hours' time, you'll be starting a life sentence.
And I'll tell you something else.
I have never gone this far with so few instructions from any client,
which makes you pretty unique.
But here's the real truth, Michael.
Unique or not...
l'll forget about you.
You'll blur in the memory.
But you won't ever forget the mistake you are making.
(Car horn)
Mr Aldermarten? I'm Norma Braithwaite.
Canine Defence League.
Yes!
Are we finished with hips?
ALDERMARTEN: My lord, yes.
2ND JUDGE: Too thin, in a nutshell?
- Yes, my lord. - Good.
Do get on.
One of the main factors determining whether a particular dog is a pit-bull type dog is behaviour.
I'm always loath to be anecdotal, and I'm not an expert, technically...
But you're about to be both?
Two things I've always disliked about the Bar:
anecdotalism and false modesty.
Rampant, the pair of them.
Well, I hope Your Lordship isn't suggesting...
Straight-talking and rank big-headedness is so refreshing, Mr Aldermarten.
Two strange men - myself and my solicitor - walk into a five-foot by ten-foot kennel,
the place that Satan had come to regard as his home.
After nine months' incarceration,
nine months to sit and think, what did he do?
He showed his true colours.
In extremis, at the end of his tether, he licked my hand.
SUPPORTERS IN GALLERY: Aah!
We'd never met before.
I mean, what kind of a dog...
Thank you, Mr Aldermarten
The court is moved.
Not a dry eye on the bench.
Now, returning, if we may,
to your realm of expertise,
which I understand is the law...
- You're late. - She was pregnant.
You can consider that argument over.
- Before. - What?
At the time of the arson, in Woolcott...
Annie was pregnant.
- Who told you that? Not him? - His mother.
TANNOY: All parties in Woodley...
(Hushed conversations)
(Whispering)
With Your Lordship's leave, I'll call Michael Woodley.
KAVANAGH: She was being prescribed methadone in order to get her off heroin?
Yes.
- And you were helping? - Yes.
- Why? - Why?
Why were you helping her?
I was helping.
Because you loved her.
That's a statement, and if it's pretending to be a question, it's a leading one.
Did you love her?
When did you and Annie come to London?
(Judge clears throat)
Three years ago.
Tell me what you did, that first day in London.
We got here...
and... went for a walk.
Mr Kavanagh?
My lord, this might be a good moment to take the morning break.
We're doing rather well, Mr Kavanagh. We'll press on, I think.
(Sighs)
Is it right
that in May 1994,
at Winchester Crown Court,
you pleaded guilty to one offence of arson?
Are you sure you want to do this?
And did you know Annie Fisk at the time?
- Yes. - And at the time of the offence,
was she pregnant?
Yes, she was.
And how did that make you feel?
I...we were happy.
We thought we could make it.
We were happy.
And may. may Mapped her,
Her parents, and my parents.
Everybody. The doctor.
She had an abortion.
That was what they wanted.
The doctor who had the surgery that was burnt down?
Yes. He pressed her.
He was a friend of her parents, you see.
Woolcott is a very small place.
Did you burn down the surgery at Woolcott?
It's a matter of record. The defendant pleaded guilty to the offence.
How did you do it?
With a match,
some newspaper, through the door.
- Was there anyone about? - No. I don't think so, no.
You don't think so?
How did you get there?
By car.
- You were 16. - Yes.
- Too young to drive. - What?
Yes, er...
On foot, it must have been.
! den'! remember.
You don't remember? A thing like that, and you don't remember how you got there?
- Were you there at all, Michael? - Yes.
Michael... Michael...
Please...
Tell me the truth, Michael.
It wasn't me.
Who was it?
It was Annie.
I told them I'd done it.
I wanted to protect her.
It was Annie.
I'm sorry.
"If equal affection cannot be...
..let the more loving one be me.'
She was pregnant.
What?
Yes.
No.
Annie was pregnant again...
when she died.
She was pregnant.
What?
(Murmuring)
Oh. my God!
No...
Oh. my God!
My lord, an issue of law has arisen, which must be dealt with straightaway.
Members of the jury, will you take a short break?
And Mr Woodley.
Thank you.
You're bloody well giving evidence.
He had no idea she was pregnant.
You're going to get reported for this.
I don't need to hear from you, Mr Luckhurst. Mr Kavanagh...
The worst I can actually say is that you have asked a highly leading question.
I don't know whether your client told you that the victim in this case was pregnant
before she died. Nor should I.
That is a confidential matter between you and your client.
And that is that.
The jury cannot unhear... what it has heard.
KAVANAGH: Only one question.
Did you kill Annie Fisk?
She'd been taking heroin.
And then she came off it.
And she stayed off it.
That's what we did...
Together.
She was... doing well.
And then, that day...
I came home, and I knew.
You just know.
And I got angry, and I shouted.
I didn't want to shout. It just...
came out.
And she looked at me...
and I was just like all of them.
All of the rest.
And something finished.
I had to get out, and so I left. And then...
the way she looked at me...
Something in the way she looked -
a sort of dreadful calm -
made me stop.
I went back.
My keys were still inside.
I looked through the letterbox...
and she was standing next to the fire.
I couldn't see her face.
I called her name.
She took out a box of matches from her pocket.
She kneeled down beside the fire...
and looked.
She looked right at me.
She looked at me, Mr Kavanagh.
She was saying, "Sorry."
She was looking at me.
Let me tell you something.
Let me tell everyone something.
If she had known...
If she had known she was going to have a baby...
And she shook her head... a little...
and lit a match.
And the next thing I remember...
the neighbour was pulling at my sleeve.
I...I killed her.
You see?
I didn't save her.
No-one saved her.
None of us.
Do you see?
Do you?
Do you see?
Yes.
I think I do.
KAVANAGH: I've never got used to it.
Waiting for a verdict.
She wouldn't have.
Would she?
Annie, if she'd known.
TANNOY: Will all parties in Woodley please return to Court One?
Have you reached a verdict upon which all of you are agreed?
FOREWOMAN: Yes.
Do you find the defendant,
Michael Woodley,
guilty or not guilty of murder?
Not guilty-
(Murmuring)
My father always says to me,
"Win with grace... lose with grace."
It's a maxim that's served me well over the years, Giles.
Mr Kavanagh...
Thank you.
We are grateful to Learned Counsel for...
impassioned argument.
However, it has been plain to us right from the start of this appeal
that there can be only one outcome.
Satan is plainly not...
a pit-bull type,
as defined in the Act.
This case will be remitted to the magistrates' court
with the direction to acquit.
Yes!
Satan is going to be...
a free dog.
SUPPORTERS IN GALLERY: Yes!
(Cheering and laughter)
PHOTOGRAPHER: This way, sir!
- Are you a brief? - Yes.
And before you ask, if a client tells you he's guilty and pleading not guilty,
you withdraw from the case;
I've no idea what Cherie Blair is really like;
and no, I can't help you with your divorce.
You win in there?
Yes, I did, as a matter of fact.
Big case?
Here. Take a look at this.
Pit bull, innit?
Their Lordships in Court Ten would disagree with you.
They don't know their arses from their elbow, vis-à-vis dogs,
if you'll pardon my French.
And would you tell me just how you presume to have greater knowledge than Their Lordships?
I'm a cab driver. I've got to have a dangerous dog to go with my stupid questions.
(Cries)
(sobs)
Hey. Hey, come on.
Hey...
Would you mind, Mr Woodley? My junior's bag's rather heavy.
DS KENT: Goodbye, Michael.
I've bought a dog.
A greyhound. Well, a third of one.
With my mate, the clerk from number seven.
Well, he's bought a third, too.
And we were thinking: you're a man who knows a bit about dogs.
Well, the thing is,
we need someone for the arse and tail, as it were.
The final third, so to speak.
Do you seriously think that I'm going to buy the rear end of a greyhound
with you and Jack-the-lad? You must be joking.
Big mortgage fraud's just come in. I haven't allocated it yet.
Private. Be worth a few quid.
More than the rear legs of anything.
(Odds shouted out)
ALDERMARTEN: Right, this is us!
You won, I hear.
I also hear you did a brave thing. Changed your mind.
Not easy, I can tell you!
I've got six weeks at the Bailey, miss. Starts Monday.
Big violent disorder.
Could be very nine-to-five. Might suit.
I don't want to be treated...
Brand-new solicitors. Very pukka.
Could lead to stuff, if you play your cards right.
- You're not watching the race- - I know the result-.
It hasn't finished yet.
Yeah, I know the result-.
(Cheering)
He looks like a thin Mussolini.
(Laughs)
They've gone.
Well! You'd think it was any old dog, wouldn't you?
TANNOY: Trap three, Good Boy, owned by Mr Aldermarten...
DRIVER: Where to?
His place or mine.
Or round and round the dog track.