Four Lives: Part Three

~ beetleypete

This is the third part of a fiction serial, in 882 words.

Lyndsey.

Heading for the pub on the corner after leaving the Crown Court, Lyndsey had a large gin and tonic in her sights. Yet again, the witness statement had been withdrawn at the last minute, and the victim had refused to give evidence. She wondered what the point was any longer. All those years of training to become a barrister, and half the cases she specialised in never got to court in the first place. Even when they did, the accused either got the benefit of the doubt, or the victim failed to show up.

Small wonder that the police were so cynical.

The defence barrister had shrugged, then smiled. To make her feel better, he had offered to buy her a drink, but she had shaken her head. She couldn’t stand the oily bastard, and she had put her head in her hands when she heard he was defending.

After ordering her drink and a ploughman’s lunch at the bar, she sat alone at a table at the back. The others at chambers would no doubt make the right noises when she saw them, but she knew they all pretty much regarded her to be a failure. If the partners kept her on next year, it would be a miracle.

Tom Alfriston had never been that happy about her taking on so many domestic abuse prosecutions in the first place. He liked his team to defend. Then you could string out the cases by questioning witnesses’ authenticity, and the quality of evidence. More days in court, more extra money on the brief.

Tom couldn’t care less whether or not they had actually committed the crime.

After eating the tired-looking ploughman’s, she had another large gin to finish off the tonic and decided not to bother to go back into the city that afternoon. Better to go home and look through the papers on the case she was prosecuting next week. Crown v Fowler, in St Albans.

Denise Fowler had been badly beaten by her husband, Lee. And not for the first time. As it had been outside a pub in Hatfield, there were some witnesses. And Denise must have finally had enough, as she had made a statement and agreed to give evidence. Ex-soldier Lee Fowler had been dishonourably discharged from the army after beating up a prostitute in Germany. He served time for that in Military Prison before being thrown out of his regiment. Returning to Hatfield, he had taken up with his former girlfriend Denise, and found work as a security guard. They married the following year, when she was pregnant with their daughter, Daisy.

After that, he had come to notice on many occasions. A driving ban for drink-drive, emergency calls to the house after Denise had been punched and kicked. But it was always the same outcome. She either refused to make a statement, or retracted one before the case proceeded. This time, he had put her in hospital for three days, as she had to have her broken jaw wired. The Magistrate’s Court had sent him for trial because they considered he needed a custodial sentence. He had gone back to live with his mother, and been told not to approach his wife, or any of the witnesses.

Lyndsey already had a sinking feeling. The defence would undoubtedly try for PTSD, considering his service in Afghanistan. But that could only be in mitigation, as four witnesses to the attack on his wife would make the assault irrefutable. It all depended on Denise holding firm, and actually showing up. During the meeting with her at the solicitor’s Lyndsey had been hard on her. Anyone who had retracted five previous accusations could not be relied upon. And she had been worried about Lee’s family. He had three brothers who had something of a reputation in the town. If they got to work on the witnesses from the local pub, it could all fall apart.

And just as she feared, that was more or less what happened. The CCTV of the pub car park showing the attack failed to adequately cover the corner where the incident took place, and the two main witnesses who had previously been certain that they saw him punching her had now decided that she may have fallen against a concrete post, and Lee was probably trying to help her up and calm her down. The worn-out looking casualty doctor who treated her said she told him she had been punched by her husband, but the judge threw that out.

Admittedly, Denise stood up well though. Until the defence questioned her morals by suggesting a sexual affair that had never happened, and asked her about money she spent on scratchcards instead of buying adequate food for the family. Lee was portrayed as a caring father who had contacted social services with worries over her treatment of Daisy, and she had to admit he had done that. Then it all went downhill when she admitted that she had left Daisy with a casual friend so she could go out drinking with Lee. When pressed, she admitted to being very drunk that evening, but she was adamant that she had been punched, not fallen over.

A majority verdict of ten to two had got the bastard off. Not guilty.

Again.

35 thoughts on “Four Lives: Part Three”

  9. (1) “Officer, I’m lost. This ain’t Albans.”
    (2) Overheard in Texas: “Derrick’s an oily bastard.”
    (3) If a woman orders a ploughman’s lunch, what does a man order?
    (4) The prostitute in Germany wasn’t happy with Lee Fowler’s performance. She accused the soldier’s chopper of a dishonourable discharge.
    (5) Is it Daisy Fowler or Daisy Flower? I’m confused.
    (6) Lee’s threat: “Get ready for some fowl play, my little chickadee!”
    (7) The local newspaper published an article about case under the headline “Punch-Drunk Love.”

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  11. Enjoying this Pete as usual. You weave a good Web.
    Small point. Barristers cannot form partnerships unlike solicitors who can. Chambers are odd places. Each barrister is self employed using the clerks who get a proportion of thr fees. The barristers pay a share of the rent and overheads but the barristrrs do not pool their earnings. Of course the seniors exercise a lot of influence over the juniors.

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    1. Thanks, Geoff. I won’t correct that error now, but I know you are 100% correct. I remember the Head of Chambers, the clerks, and the rest from watching every episode of ‘Rumpole of The Bailey’. 🙂
      I also recall discussions on that TV show about defending being more lucrative than prosecuting.
      I don’t know why I used ‘Partners’, when I had intended to use ‘Head of Chambers’.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  13. Had to go back to the start to remember who was who but I’m guessing soon their stories will be intertwined. Abusers come from abusive childhood, mostly and one tries to understand but really I would rather poke their eyes out. And yes, men can be the victim too, though not as often I think.

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    1. The first four parts introduce the main characters. Then from part five, it does become interlinked. My step-daughter was a victim of domestic violence and controlling behaviour, so the topic interests me.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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