Latest / Crime and Horror / A Poet Accused of Benefit Fraud the Briefs S1 EP1 Real Crime

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A Poet Accused of Benefit Fraud the Briefs S1 EP1 Real Crime · Crime and Horror

0:12
Speaker 1: Almost two million people are brought before England's criminal courts
0:17
Speaker 1: every year.
0:22
Speaker 2: The drugs that were found up in the loft were
0:25
Speaker 2: not yours. Your fingerprints won't be on them, will they?
0:28
Speaker 2: Absolutely not.
0:29
Speaker 3: No.
0:29
Speaker 4: OK.
0:30
Speaker 1: More than half of them are legally aided. They're lawyers
0:34
Speaker 1: paid by the taxpayer.
0:36
Speaker 5: He did spit in my face, so I spat in
0:38
Speaker 5: his face.
0:40
Speaker 1: Britain's busiest legal aid practice is Tucker's. They handle thousands
0:45
Speaker 1: of these cases every year. We've spent 12 months filming
0:49
Speaker 1: with them, gaining access to the privileged relationship between lawyer
0:53
Speaker 1: and client.
0:54
Speaker 6: Were you interested in him romantically?
0:57
Speaker 7: No, I certainly wasn't interested in him romantically. There's a
1:01
Speaker 7: great difference in age between us for a start.
1:07
Speaker 8: If you did plead not guilty, I don't think you'd
1:09
Speaker 8: win it simply because of the fact that you've got
1:11
Speaker 8: 22 previous convictions for burglary.
1:14
Speaker 1: At a time when the legal system's under increasing scrutiny,
1:17
Speaker 1: this is how justice really works.
1:20
Speaker 9: I just wanted to go out for a beer.
1:22
Speaker 10: F * * * the courts. What the judge said.
1:38
Speaker 11: Don't light speak anymore because it's not a private conversation
1:42
Speaker 11: for you there because they can hear what you're saying.
1:45
Speaker 11: Alex Templer is one of our clients. He's been arrested
1:48
Speaker 11: at 7 o'clock last night. It's now 2 o'clock in
1:51
Speaker 11: the afternoon. It's a burglary. Just sit tight. I can
1:56
Speaker 11: rest assured that I am on the case, OK? And
1:59
Speaker 11: I suspect that you'll be interviewed within the next hour.
2:02
Speaker 11: So just sit tight and don't do anything silly and
2:05
Speaker 11: don't be interviewed without us, right? Promise me.
2:08
Speaker 1: Shab Aslam is the lawyer sent to help Alex Templer.
2:14
Speaker 6: We get told very little before we go out to
2:16
Speaker 6: a job. The basics, really, it's a burglary. I think
2:20
Speaker 6: we're aware it's a non-dwelling burglary, which basically means it's
2:22
Speaker 6: not a house.
2:23
Speaker 12: It's possibly commercial premises or a garage or something like that.
2:31
Speaker 1: Unusually, a camera's being allowed in to film the client interview.
2:36
Speaker 1: Shab gets the details of the burglary from the police.
2:39
Speaker 1: His client has been arrested in an office block.
2:48
Speaker 12: Within your client's rucksack, the police have found two laptops
2:52
Speaker 12: which are believed to have been stolen from one or
2:54
Speaker 12: both of the premises. In addition to this, you're believed
2:57
Speaker 12: to have been identified as entering Salford University campus at
3:00
Speaker 12: approximately three o'clock on the same day. A report's been
3:03
Speaker 12: received that a mobile phone has been stolen around that
3:06
Speaker 12: time from one of the buildings.
3:09
Speaker 6: I'm not getting killed out of here, am I?
3:11
Speaker 8: It's not looking good at the moment. It's not looking
3:13
Speaker 8: good because I know you've got quite an extensive record
3:16
Speaker 8: with the police, haven't you, for similar type of offences.
3:20
Speaker 8: If you did plead not guilty, I don't think you'd
3:22
Speaker 8: win it simply because of the fact that you've got
3:23
Speaker 8: 22 previous convictions for burglary.
3:27
Speaker 1: Alex offers Shab an explanation for his predicament.
3:31
Speaker 13: Okay. Yeah.
3:32
Speaker 3: I want to tell you something between me and you.
3:34
Speaker 6: Okay.
3:35
Speaker 10: I don't know if it... Okay.
3:36
Speaker 14: Here's what it is.
3:37
Speaker 8: Yeah.
3:40
Speaker 3: Tell me which way do you think we should go.
3:41
Speaker 15: Okay.
3:42
Speaker 12: Okay.
3:43
Speaker 3: Here's what happened now. I went and I took a
3:44
Speaker 3: loan out from a loan shark. This is a mistake
3:46
Speaker 3: I made, right?
3:47
Speaker 16: See?
3:48
Speaker 3: He's given me a 300-pound loan. I'm supposed to pay
3:50
Speaker 3: him back on that loan every week. When I, yesterday now, right, see, right,
3:55
Speaker 3: I've called him, right, see, right, the day before I've
3:58
Speaker 3: called him.
3:59
Speaker 14: And I've gone, and he says, come on down, let's
4:00
Speaker 14: have a beer, really nicey-nicey.
4:01
Speaker 3: Right, I think not another, right, you know what I mean,
4:03
Speaker 3: because I told him, right, he says, you know, right
4:04
Speaker 3: when I got there, he says, what, you take me
4:05
Speaker 3: for a f * * * ing mug, right, you
4:06
Speaker 3: think you can take my money and not pay me
4:08
Speaker 3: my money, right, him and his cousin were there, right, see,
4:11
Speaker 3: and I sat there grabbing it, they pushed it up
4:12
Speaker 3: the next wall, he says, you, I better pay me.
4:15
Speaker 14: Up my f * * * ing.
4:15
Speaker 3: Money or else I'm going to slice your throat, and
4:17
Speaker 3: this is why I was up here in between a
4:19
Speaker 3: rock and a hard place, I just had to do it, man.
4:20
Speaker 2: Okay.
4:21
Speaker 16: Okay.
4:23
Speaker 1: Shab knows he's in for a long night in Longsight.
4:34
Speaker 10: Good morning, Tuckers.
4:36
Speaker 1: Criminal legal aid costs the taxpayer a billion pounds every year.
4:40
Speaker 1: Tuckers handles more of these cases than anyone else.
4:43
Speaker 14: Why are you not coming to Manchester? Is that definite?
4:47
Speaker 14: The sole payer was her.
4:51
Speaker 3: Oh, you see.
4:53
Speaker 1: Franklin Sinclair runs the Manchester office.
4:56
Speaker 2: Everybody on the face of it is against our client.
5:00
Speaker 2: The police are against him, he feels the court's against him,
5:03
Speaker 2: the prosecutor's against him, he thinks the judge is against him.
5:06
Speaker 10: So we're the only friend.
5:07
Speaker 2: We're there to support them, we're there to explain everything
5:10
Speaker 2: to them and we're there to help them as best
5:12
Speaker 2: as we can. And so we have to make them
5:14
Speaker 2: feel like we're on their side. Just read a file
5:27
Speaker 2: of a client we're going to see, Vera Kennedy and
5:29
Speaker 2: her daughter, Joanne Hume. Both charged with possession of a
5:34
Speaker 2: very large amount of amphetamine with intent to supply it.
5:41
Speaker 2: She's regular in that when she gets into trouble, she
5:43
Speaker 2: always asks for us. She's normally in court with her husband,
5:47
Speaker 2: and she did appear in court with her husband last year,
5:50
Speaker 2: and he got sent to prison for supplying drugs. She
5:53
Speaker 2: got a suspended sentence, and, of course, now, if she's
5:56
Speaker 2: found guilty of this new allegation, she's in breach of
5:59
Speaker 2: her suspended sentence. And she's the oldest drug dealer in town.
6:14
Speaker 10: Smile, you're on candid camera. Well, I'm not bad.
6:22
Speaker 15: Not bad.
6:22
Speaker 10: You knew me when I was a lot fatter, didn't you?
6:24
Speaker 14: No, you weren't fat. Oh, I was.
6:25
Speaker 10: I was quite chubby. In the 90s, when I started
6:28
Speaker 10: dealing with you.
6:31
Speaker 1: Vera's husband, Terry, has just been released from jail. But
6:34
Speaker 1: now Vera's in big trouble.
6:36
Speaker 2: Now, this is the most serious position we've ever had
6:39
Speaker 2: you in. Eight months, prison sentence, wasn't it?
6:42
Speaker 13: Yeah.
6:42
Speaker 10: Suspended.
6:44
Speaker 2: And if you're convicted of this, you're in breach of it.
6:47
Speaker 2: I mean, how's your health at the moment?
6:48
Speaker 14: It's not good.
6:51
Speaker 10: Not good?
6:52
Speaker 7: No.
6:52
Speaker 2: We got a lot of medical reports last time, didn't we?
6:55
Speaker 12: Yeah.
6:55
Speaker 2: This time, the judge may say, well, we heard that
6:57
Speaker 2: last time, and we can treat her in jail.
7:01
Speaker 14: Yeah.
7:01
Speaker 2: I mean, you know, they may do, but jail would
7:03
Speaker 2: be tough for you. You're 63, aren't you? Yeah.
7:06
Speaker 6: Jesus.
7:08
Speaker 10: What you need to know is this.
7:09
Speaker 2: The police came, they searched the property, and there's lots
7:12
Speaker 2: of powder in different places, right?
7:14
Speaker 10: All over, literally. There's stuff in the kitchen. I'm not
7:17
Speaker 10: bothered about that.
7:18
Speaker 14: Pardon?
7:19
Speaker 10: I know you're not bothered about that.
7:21
Speaker 14: No, they're not.
7:21
Speaker 5: No, they're not.
7:22
Speaker 2: But the key thing is, in the loft, is three
7:25
Speaker 2: containers of white powder. And that white powder is, first
7:31
Speaker 2: of all, substantial.
7:33
Speaker 10: And secondly.
7:35
Speaker 2: It's quite a high purity. And they're valuing it at £ 28, 000.
7:42
Speaker 2: And we have scales, obviously, as well, with traces of
7:45
Speaker 2: caffeine and a clear Tupperware box that had about a
7:48
Speaker 2: grand's worth in, and that was in the freezer. Tupperware
7:52
Speaker 2: box in the freezer. We go to the police station,
7:56
Speaker 2: and correct me if I'm wrong, Shab advises you to
7:58
Speaker 2: make no comment and say nothing, but you don't, do you?
8:01
Speaker 14: I don't make no comment.
8:02
Speaker 10: You have, you've made plenty of comments.
8:04
Speaker 2: You said, first of all, it's both of ours, and
8:06
Speaker 2: then you said, no, it's just mine. You were then
8:09
Speaker 2: asked about the money, and you said it was rebates
8:12
Speaker 2: from council, tax and rent that you got. And then
8:14
Speaker 2: you were asked about the recovered drugs from the Loft area,
8:17
Speaker 2: and you said it was amphetamine that was yours. for
8:19
Speaker 2: your own personal use. You said it had been up
8:22
Speaker 2: there for about six months, it was in the loft
8:23
Speaker 2: to keep it cool, and it says here she stated
8:27
Speaker 2: that she was physically able to get into the loft.
8:29
Speaker 10: It's a type of error, isn't it?
8:30
Speaker 14: I did say I couldn't get up there. Oh, did
8:32
Speaker 14: you say you can't?
8:34
Speaker 5: Yeah.
8:34
Speaker 14: Have you tried? I haven't been up there ever.
8:37
Speaker 10: No, you couldn't get up there, could you?
8:40
Speaker 2: I think what we'll do is, after the committal, we'll
8:43
Speaker 2: get you in the office and we'll discuss some options.
8:46
Speaker 10: Now that you're out. There's a lot they can do.
8:49
Speaker 10: to me anyway. There's nothing they can do to you.
8:52
Speaker 10: There's nothing they can do to you. No, there's nothing
8:55
Speaker 10: to do. You've done your time.
8:57
Speaker 2: You've done your time and this was discovered whilst you
9:00
Speaker 2: were serving a prison sentence. Don't worry, we'll have you
9:03
Speaker 2: in tune this year as soon as you can breathe.
9:06
Speaker 10: You need a bit of sun, that's what you need.
9:08
Speaker 10: I know. So do I.
9:10
Speaker 5: I've got that prison time on.
9:11
Speaker 10: I know, so do I. I tell you, I know.
9:12
Speaker 10: All right, all the best Terence.
9:14
Speaker 12: Take care, see you.
9:27
Speaker 1: The victims of crime in Manchester include two famous faces,
9:31
Speaker 1: Wayne Rooney and his wife, Colleen. It all started when
9:36
Speaker 1: Colleen went to a concert at the Manchester Arena. Her
9:40
Speaker 1: camera went missing, and with it, hundreds of private family photos.
9:46
Speaker 1: The crime generated huge publicity. Three people are now charged
9:51
Speaker 1: with demanding £ 5, 000 for the return of the pictures. One
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Speaker 1: of them is a Tucker's client, Stephen Malcolm. Ian Johnston
10:02
Speaker 1: is his lawyer. He's one of the firm's most experienced advocates.
10:07
Speaker 1: His assistant is Lisa Paton.
10:08
Speaker 17: The situation is, if you take into account the whole
10:13
Speaker 17: of the circumstances, it does amount to blackmail.
10:17
Speaker 1: Ian and Lisa are about to meet their client to
10:20
Speaker 1: advise him whether he should plead guilty or not guilty.
10:24
Speaker 5: What do you think you should do?
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Speaker 18: It's one of those ones which could literally boil down
10:30
Speaker 18: to who likes Wayne Rooney and who doesn't.
10:33
Speaker 14: You know, all of you are in love.
10:34
Speaker 18: I am fine.
10:35
Speaker 2: I like Alan.
10:38
Speaker 1: Stephen Malcolm's a 42-year-old handyman with a history of petty crime.
10:43
Speaker 1: but he's adamant that it was his boss who'd got
10:45
Speaker 1: hold of the Rooney pictures and dreamt up the blackmail plot.
10:49
Speaker 18: So he'd borrowed your phone once or twice.
10:51
Speaker 13: Yeah.
10:52
Speaker 18: Started when you got your phone back, and that's the
10:55
Speaker 18: first time you had any involvement in it and you
10:58
Speaker 18: didn't know what was going on then.
10:59
Speaker 10: Thursday afternoon.
11:02
Speaker 9: So I finished work around about 5 o'clock Thursday. Go
11:06
Speaker 9: to the local pub, have a few drinks, goes home,
11:10
Speaker 9: start making tea, it's around about 8 o'clock, something like that.
11:13
Speaker 16: And next minute, this phone call.
11:15
Speaker 14: And that's how it started.
11:18
Speaker 1: Stephen says his mobile phone had been used by his boss,
11:21
Speaker 1: Lee Platt, to start the blackmail negotiations. He went along
11:25
Speaker 1: with it because he was tipsy.
11:27
Speaker 9: So I phoned Lee up. Lee, this guy's on the phone.
11:31
Speaker 9: Don't know who he is. What's going on here?
11:36
Speaker 10: All right, yeah, tell him I've got these images. I
11:39
Speaker 10: want five grand for it.
11:40
Speaker 9: So next minute, I hands up. This guy who brings
11:43
Speaker 9: me back, hello, blah, blah, blah, yeah. My boss says
11:48
Speaker 9: he wants five grand, simple as. I'm like, okay then,
11:50
Speaker 9: I'll meet you down at the Manatee Hotel, I'll pass
11:52
Speaker 9: through the next day.
11:54
Speaker 13: Steve, why didn't you, at any stage in those phone calls, say,
11:58
Speaker 13: listen mate, you've got nothing to do with me, you're
11:59
Speaker 13: best speaking to my boss and use his number and
12:01
Speaker 13: give him Lee's number for him to then ring direct?
12:04
Speaker 5: I never thought about it at the time, I just.
12:08
Speaker 19: But then why then agree to sort of, like, be
12:10
Speaker 19: a party to the delivery.
12:12
Speaker 14: On a Saturday?
12:12
Speaker 16: Yeah, but you've got to understand, right, I work for him, right?
12:16
Speaker 16: He assures me that you're not going to get arrested.
12:19
Speaker 16: It's a gentleman's agreement, it's all above board. And that's
12:21
Speaker 16: what I'm thinking.
12:22
Speaker 12: Well, OK.
12:23
Speaker 9: So that particular day, I.
12:25
Speaker 5: Hadn't got a care in the boat.
12:27
Speaker 1: It was when Stephen delivered the images to the Marriott
12:30
Speaker 1: Hotel the following day that he was arrested by undercover police.
12:34
Speaker 9: It doesn't matter what you say about the negative side
12:38
Speaker 9: of it.
12:38
Speaker 10: I'm pleading not guilty anyway.
12:40
Speaker 20: No, I know you are.
12:41
Speaker 19: We're duty-bound and we have to tell you, Stephen, that
12:43
Speaker 19: if you was to plead guilty, you get your credit
12:45
Speaker 19: for that guilty plea.
12:47
Speaker 5: I can't say that it would definitely.
12:49
Speaker 19: Mean you're staying out or supposed to go into prison,
12:51
Speaker 19: but there is a possibility that it could.
12:53
Speaker 5: Make that difference.
12:54
Speaker 18: We can say to the judge, without prejudice, judge, our
12:57
Speaker 18: client's pleading not guilty at the moment, but he would.
12:59
Speaker 10: Like to know.
13:01
Speaker 18: with respect, what is the worst you would do if
13:03
Speaker 18: he pleaded guilty?
13:05
Speaker 10: It would be nice if you ask him.
13:07
Speaker 21: Right.
13:08
Speaker 10: We'll see where we go from there.
13:14
Speaker 1: At Long Sight Police Station, Shab Aslam is still dealing
13:17
Speaker 1: with Alex Templer, arrested for burglary. Alex is desperate to
13:22
Speaker 1: get out of the police station on bail, but he's
13:24
Speaker 1: forgotten the phone numbers of two people who might help him.
13:28
Speaker 1: What happens next is a shock for Shab.
13:31
Speaker 14: I'm going to give you two people's names.
13:32
Speaker 3: Mia, you know what?
13:33
Speaker 14: Do something about it.
13:35
Speaker 3: I don't know if I should be doing this.
13:36
Speaker 5: Go on. Right?
13:41
Speaker 3: I've got a phone, but it's my phone. It's not
13:43
Speaker 3: no stolen phone.
13:44
Speaker 16: Right.
13:47
Speaker 10: I don't know if you want to show this on this.
13:50
Speaker 8: No, I don't think you should show it, Alex, but
13:52
Speaker 8: tell me, go on.
13:53
Speaker 3: Okay, there's two people I'd like you to call. I've
13:56
Speaker 3: got their numbers on the thing, that's why I'm going
13:58
Speaker 3: to have to pull it out.
14:00
Speaker 14: One of them is Sarah. I don't know if you
14:07
Speaker 14: should be showing that.
14:07
Speaker 22: On camera, you know.
14:10
Speaker 3: You know what, I don't really want to go back
14:12
Speaker 3: in there with it.
14:12
Speaker 6: You can't give it to me, Alex.
14:14
Speaker 8: Alex, you do know that You can get in a.
14:21
Speaker 6: Lot of trouble for having that phone.
14:22
Speaker 14: That's too bad. That's too bad, you know what I mean?
14:25
Speaker 14: Did you just have it in your pocket and then
14:27
Speaker 14: you didn't find it? This is my phone.
14:34
Speaker 1: Prisoners in custody are forbidden to have a phone.
14:37
Speaker 6: It puts us in a difficult position.
14:39
Speaker 12: We've got to advise him to hand the phone over
14:41
Speaker 12: to the police, otherwise we'd be.
14:43
Speaker 6: Party to him, possibly pervert in the course of justice.
14:46
Speaker 12: So we have to be quite straightforward and say, look, Alex,
14:49
Speaker 12: you have to hand that over to the police, because
14:51
Speaker 12: if you get arrested with that or they find it
14:53
Speaker 12: later on and you're making phone calls from inside your cell.
14:56
Speaker 6: You're going to be in a lot more trouble than
14:58
Speaker 6: you're in at the moment.
15:02
Speaker 1: Alex Templer handed in the phone. He eventually pleads guilty
15:07
Speaker 1: to burglary and receives a 12-month prison sentence. 90% of
15:15
Speaker 1: all Tucker's business comes from their returning clients.
15:19
Speaker 10: The clientele's very mixed.
15:21
Speaker 2: There's the kind of sad, drug-addicted ones, there's the alcoholic ones,
15:27
Speaker 2: there's ones with mental problems, and then there are people who,
15:34
Speaker 2: I suppose, you could say have a bit of an attitude,
15:39
Speaker 2: and are easily disturbed, quite volatile.
15:44
Speaker 1: Monday morning, the lawyers who cover the police stations have
15:48
Speaker 1: been summoned to the office.
15:50
Speaker 11: Right, guys, thanks for coming. A bit of an impromptu meeting. Obviously,
15:53
Speaker 11: I'll let you all know on Friday that I wanted
15:55
Speaker 11: you to come in. Essentially, just to put everybody at ease,
15:59
Speaker 11: nobody's losing the job.
16:01
Speaker 13: OK?
16:02
Speaker 6: No-one's getting a bollocking.
16:04
Speaker 1: Tucker's earned £ 10 million in legal aid last year, but
16:08
Speaker 1: the government is cutting these fees, so law firms need
16:11
Speaker 1: to bring in even more clients. Each police station client
16:15
Speaker 1: brings the firm £ 180. The fees mount up if the
16:20
Speaker 1: case goes to court.
16:21
Speaker 6: Times are really, really hard at the moment.
16:24
Speaker 11: Obviously, I'm on the marketing team, as you know, and
16:25
Speaker 11: I also go to a lot.
16:26
Speaker 14: Of the management meetings.
16:28
Speaker 13: We are.
16:29
Speaker 11: We need more quantity. OK, we need shoplifters. We need
16:36
Speaker 11: repeat offenders. The thing is, we can do all the
16:39
Speaker 11: marketing in the world and we can write to clients
16:41
Speaker 11: and we can have these gizmos and gadgets. When we've
16:44
Speaker 11: got someone at the police station, we need to keep them.
16:47
Speaker 11: You know, that is a fixed thing. That is a client,
16:51
Speaker 11: that's someone that's going to have a mags case and
16:53
Speaker 11: a crown case. And so when we've got her, we
16:55
Speaker 11: need to be concentrating on the ones we've actually got.
16:58
Speaker 11: because they're the ones that are at least asking for us.
17:01
Speaker 14: Get loads of clients, get loads of co-accused.
17:13
Speaker 1: In the Rooney blackmail case, it's time for Stephen Malcolm
17:16
Speaker 1: to make his plea. He's been waiting to see if
17:18
Speaker 1: the judge is likely to give a reduced sentence for
17:21
Speaker 1: a guilty plea. But the judge doesn't say. So his
17:24
Speaker 1: lawyer tries to strike a deal with the prosecutions. But
17:28
Speaker 1: Stephen gets angry with this plea bargaining process and goes
17:31
Speaker 1: off to the pub. Ian tracks him down.
17:35
Speaker 17: Right, they've decided that they will accept our basis of
17:38
Speaker 17: plea and we've persuaded them to drop the handling charge
17:42
Speaker 17: as well, so to bring it down to one count
17:46
Speaker 17: on the basis that you were just acting as an employee,
17:50
Speaker 17: but you have been actively involved to a degree where.
17:56
Speaker 18: You've crossed the line, basically.
17:59
Speaker 17: Where are you at the moment?
18:03
Speaker 23: Calm down now.
18:04
Speaker 18: I don't think he's got the willpower to control that behaviour.
18:09
Speaker 18: If he kicks off like that in front of a.
18:12
Speaker 10: Jury, it wouldn't go down very well.
18:16
Speaker 1: Stephen finally leaves the pub and returns to court.
18:20
Speaker 22: All I wanted to do was just go for the bail.
18:22
Speaker 22: I went with my mate here, I just went for
18:24
Speaker 22: the bail. The court, what the judge said, I just
18:30
Speaker 22: wanted to go out. I even bought edit tablets because
18:34
Speaker 22: I was stressed out. Do you know what I mean?
18:36
Speaker 9: I've got.
18:37
Speaker 16: I've took four of them at the minute and I've
18:40
Speaker 16: got to go back in here and see what my
18:43
Speaker 16: outcome is.
18:45
Speaker 1: His boss, who Stephen blames for the blackmail plot, pleads guilty.
18:50
Speaker 1: The court then asks Stephen Malcolm how he pleads. His
18:55
Speaker 1: lawyers' advice had been to plead guilty and avoid a trial.
18:59
Speaker 1: But it's not what happens.
19:01
Speaker 16: In my mind, I just wanted to plead not guilty
19:05
Speaker 16: all the way. Because I know what happened on the events.
19:12
Speaker 16: I mean, all right, for a lesser sentence and plead guilty,
19:17
Speaker 16: in my eyes, why should I?
19:22
Speaker 1: So Stephen Malcolm will face a full trial for blackmailing
19:26
Speaker 1: Colleen Rooney. It's Christmas in Manchester. At Strangeways Prison, Gary
19:43
Speaker 1: Cox has spent four days on remand. He's an accountant.
19:48
Speaker 1: He's also a convicted sex offender. and he's now charged
19:51
Speaker 1: with harassing his former victim. Tuckers have just managed to
19:55
Speaker 1: get him bail.
19:55
Speaker 7: I wasn't aware that anything was happening behind the scenes
19:59
Speaker 7: but just very grateful that it's happened and that I've
20:01
Speaker 7: managed to get bail. I don't live in the Manchester
20:03
Speaker 7: area and I need to stay away from this area
20:06
Speaker 7: and need to stay at my parents' house as a
20:08
Speaker 7: condition of my bail every night.
20:20
Speaker 1: Three weeks after Christmas, trainee lawyer Jonathan Enston is off
20:24
Speaker 1: to see Gary Cox. Two years ago, Gary got a
20:28
Speaker 1: community order for sexually assaulting a young man and was
20:32
Speaker 1: later convicted of harassing him. He now faces a fresh
20:38
Speaker 1: charge of harassing the same man.
20:41
Speaker 6: Were you interested in him romantically?
20:44
Speaker 7: No, I certainly wasn't interested in him romantically. There's a
20:47
Speaker 7: great difference in age between us for a start.
20:50
Speaker 10: So how old is he?
20:52
Speaker 6: He's 20 now.
20:52
Speaker 24: At the time he was 18?
20:55
Speaker 10: Yeah, 18.
20:56
Speaker 7: So there was clearly quite a difference in age between
20:58
Speaker 7: us that obviously I was very aware of.
21:01
Speaker 6: And so.
21:03
Speaker 7: Even if I was interested, it was a non-starter because
21:06
Speaker 7: of the age difference. He's very good looking, he's very intelligent,
21:09
Speaker 7: he's very confident. you know, he could basically have a
21:12
Speaker 7: relationship with whoever he wanted.
21:15
Speaker 1: Gary's accused of following the young man one night at
21:18
Speaker 1: Salford Quays. Gary says he was actually there to gather
21:22
Speaker 1: evidence to appeal against his previous conviction for harassment. He
21:27
Speaker 1: says he then decided to hang around that area to
21:30
Speaker 1: feed the ducks.
21:31
Speaker 24: So tell me about feeding the ducks. Tell me how
21:34
Speaker 24: it sounds.
21:35
Speaker 6: I know it sounds so ridiculous. Absolutely. I can put
21:39
Speaker 6: it better myself.
21:40
Speaker 7: When I used to live in Manchester, I had occasionally
21:43
Speaker 7: gone to the Salford Quays area and knew there were
21:45
Speaker 7: a load of geese and whatever that winter there. So,
21:49
Speaker 7: you know, I had fed them there before. So, you know,
21:52
Speaker 7: I thought while I was in the area, I'd walk
21:54
Speaker 7: down and there were usually a few ducks and geese
21:56
Speaker 7: around and there were. Loads and loads, dozens of them
21:59
Speaker 7: this night. So I was down there feeding them for
22:02
Speaker 7: quite some time.
22:03
Speaker 6: And you didn't see anyone?
22:05
Speaker 7: I saw one or two people walk past, but, you know,
22:08
Speaker 7: didn't pay any attention to them.
22:09
Speaker 1: Mm-hm.
22:11
Speaker 10: Too busy.
22:11
Speaker 7: I was just feeding the ducks, to be honest.
22:22
Speaker 1: Jonathan heads off to Salford Quays. he's checking out statements
22:27
Speaker 1: made by the prosecution witnesses.
22:30
Speaker 24: As we crossed the footbridge between the water sports centre
22:33
Speaker 24: and the beef eater, I noticed Gary to my left.
22:36
Speaker 24: He was on the left side of a smaller canal bank,
22:38
Speaker 24: which I presume is.
22:41
Speaker 6: Just down there.
22:42
Speaker 24: The prosecution's version of events is that that comes from
22:46
Speaker 24: the victim and his brother, is that they're walking this way.
22:49
Speaker 24: So I know I'm walking backwards now, but obviously walking forwards,
22:52
Speaker 24: having come from the Lowry Theatre... Gary's informed me, and
22:56
Speaker 24: this is why he wants me to come here today,
22:58
Speaker 24: is that he was actually over there by the Holiday
23:01
Speaker 24: Inn feeding the ducks. It's all about undermining the credibility
23:13
Speaker 24: of the witnesses, and that's something that has definitely been
23:16
Speaker 24: improved by coming down today and taking photos.
23:26
Speaker 1: There's a week to go before the start of the
23:28
Speaker 1: Rooney blackmail trial. Lawyer Ian Johnston has had a car
23:33
Speaker 1: accident and broken his leg. He's hobbled into the office
23:36
Speaker 1: for a pre-trial meeting with his client, but there's no
23:40
Speaker 1: sign of Stephen Malcolm.
23:42
Speaker 14: Hi, Chuck.
23:43
Speaker 18: What are we going to do about Mr Malcolm's no-show?
23:48
Speaker 10: Still not here, no. Give him to three. Has he
23:51
Speaker 10: got the current mobile?
23:52
Speaker 5: No.
23:55
Speaker 18: Permanently switched off and he's not updated us.
24:00
Speaker 6: Okie dokie.
24:02
Speaker 18: Some people don't seem to care at all about their fate.
24:08
Speaker 18: If it was me, I'd be at my solicitor's office
24:11
Speaker 18: every day going, what's new, what can we go through,
24:13
Speaker 18: how can we attack this?
24:15
Speaker 10: But obviously, that's me. Not everybody is as bothered.
24:28
Speaker 1: Friday prayers in a Rochdale mosque. Among the crowd is
24:35
Speaker 1: one of Tucker's busiest lawyers, Asim Ali.
24:39
Speaker 23: I go there because it's a sense of community, to
24:42
Speaker 23: see people that I wouldn't ordinarily see. Clearly, if I'm
24:48
Speaker 23: there and if someone's got a problem... I'm quite happy
24:51
Speaker 23: to speak to people in confidence. And they make no
24:54
Speaker 23: secret of the fact that I am a lawyer who
24:57
Speaker 23: works in criminal defence.
24:59
Speaker 1: Today he has a trial in Bury, and he's meeting
25:02
Speaker 1: the client at Tucker's local office. Nigel Walker is charged
25:12
Speaker 1: with racially aggravated assault. He took a cab home one
25:15
Speaker 1: night in Rochdale. The police say he attacked the Asian
25:19
Speaker 1: taxi driver. Nigel says the taxi driver attacked him, and
25:23
Speaker 1: Nigel had been the one who'd called the police.
25:26
Speaker 4: We'll say to him the reason he's not ringing the
25:28
Speaker 4: police is because he was the aggressor. The court's going
25:33
Speaker 4: to say to you, well, you were drinking from three
25:34
Speaker 4: till about midnight, so that's quite a few hours, that,
25:39
Speaker 4: to be drinking.
25:40
Speaker 5: We'd only had eight pints through the day, we'd had
25:42
Speaker 5: our dinner.
25:43
Speaker 4: And I take it eight pints isn't a lot for
25:46
Speaker 4: you to drink?
25:46
Speaker 5: Not really, not counting.
25:48
Speaker 4: Were you probably merry but not on your way?
25:52
Speaker 11: No.
25:52
Speaker 5: I mean, it's impossible to get drunk off a car.
25:56
Speaker 10: Is it?
25:59
Speaker 4: You said on the journey, the drivers talked about American
26:01
Speaker 4: foreign policy and didn't seem to be happy about you
26:03
Speaker 4: being drunk.
26:04
Speaker 16: Yeah.
26:05
Speaker 4: So was he going on about the way they interfere
26:08
Speaker 4: with other countries?
26:09
Speaker 25: I'm trying to have a conversation with my friend and
26:11
Speaker 25: the taxi drivers interfering and trying to make a conversation
26:15
Speaker 25: with me and my mate what.
26:15
Speaker 5: Was in the taxi.
26:18
Speaker 10: What were you talking about? Me and your friend.
26:22
Speaker 5: Just day-to-day things, what had gone on in town and that.
26:26
Speaker 4: Now, you say he spat in your face. Did you
26:29
Speaker 4: tell the police that?
26:32
Speaker 10: I can't remember.
26:34
Speaker 5: He did spit in my face, so I spat in
26:36
Speaker 5: his face.
26:37
Speaker 4: You denied you were being racist throughout because.
26:41
Speaker 10: You don't really have any problems with people. Not really.
26:44
Speaker 25: I might have been a bit racist when he... cut
26:46
Speaker 25: my hand in the kitchen when the police officers turned up.
26:49
Speaker 10: If they believe you, then you'll be acquitted.
26:53
Speaker 4: If they don't believe you, then unfortunately they'll be convicted.
26:58
Speaker 10: That's how it works.
26:59
Speaker 4: It just works on who they believe on the day
27:02
Speaker 4: for these type of cases.
27:10
Speaker 1: The trial is being held at Bury Magistrates Court. Nigel's
27:15
Speaker 1: fate hangs on whether Asim can undermine the witness for
27:19
Speaker 1: the prosecution.
27:22
Speaker 23: The taxi driver was a young Asian chap. The way
27:26
Speaker 23: he put forward his account was thoroughly unconvincing. He went
27:30
Speaker 23: so far as to deny some of the things he'd
27:35
Speaker 23: admitted in his witness statement, and the key factors in
27:37
Speaker 23: his witness statement, he admitted to having a screwdriver and
27:41
Speaker 23: waving this at Mr Walker, but in court he denied
27:45
Speaker 23: he had anything in his hand at all.
27:51
Speaker 1: With the main witness changing his story, Asim asks the
27:55
Speaker 1: magistrates to drop the case.
28:04
Speaker 6: Well, Nigel, that was a good result.
28:08
Speaker 15: The court, obviously, having heard what he had to say
28:10
Speaker 15: and the police officers, they felt that they couldn't believe
28:14
Speaker 15: what he said. And he obviously tripped up about the
28:17
Speaker 15: knife-stroke screwdriver part.
28:20
Speaker 10: So, good result.
28:22
Speaker 6: Trust you won't get in trouble again.
28:24
Speaker 5: No, I won't, no.
28:25
Speaker 6: All right, so take care. You've got my number if
28:27
Speaker 6: you need anything.
28:29
Speaker 5: Very happy how the case went. It's been hard.
28:33
Speaker 25: I've had a few arguments with my girlfriend because she
28:36
Speaker 25: wasn't sure whether I was telling the truth. I don't
28:40
Speaker 25: like going to courts, you know.
28:42
Speaker 10: What I mean?
28:43
Speaker 6: It can be a bit intimidating.
28:46
Speaker 25: Because they try discrediting you and making you out to
28:50
Speaker 25: be the liar, which wasn't the case.
29:00
Speaker 1: The Gary Cox case is Jonathan's last as a clerk
29:03
Speaker 1: on the magistrate's team. He's just qualified as a solicitor.
29:07
Speaker 2: I think you're going to have a fantastic career, so
29:09
Speaker 2: all the best to you and congratulations.
29:12
Speaker 1: He's due to hand over his notes on this case
29:14
Speaker 1: to trial lawyer Caroline Wilbraham. But Caroline can't find the
29:20
Speaker 1: notes and she's an exacting colleague.
29:24
Speaker 6: Just where are the.
29:24
Speaker 14: Instructions that he's taken?
29:26
Speaker 5: Where is everything? Why is it not on the file?
29:30
Speaker 1: On the eve of Gary Cox's trial, the stress is showing.
29:53
Speaker 1: Gary Cox is charged with harassing a younger man he's
29:56
Speaker 1: already sexually assaulted. And Caroline rates the prospects for him
30:01
Speaker 1: as pretty bleak.
30:02
Speaker 21: He says that he didn't follow them and they wouldn't
30:05
Speaker 21: have been able to see him from where they say
30:08
Speaker 21: they are. So there are questions that I can put
30:11
Speaker 21: to the witnesses, but it all depends on magistrates, but
30:15
Speaker 21: I think the magistrates will find him guilty.
30:23
Speaker 1: It's the morning of Gary Cox's trial. Caroline's finally got
30:27
Speaker 1: the papers as she wanted them and makes her way
30:29
Speaker 1: to court. Her client is less breezy.
30:32
Speaker 7: Just trying to keep it together, basically.
30:41
Speaker 1: But Gary's trial doesn't happen because there aren't any witnesses.
30:47
Speaker 21: Unfortunately, the Crown Prosecution Service hadn't prepared their file properly
30:51
Speaker 21: and they hadn't warned their witnesses to attend.
30:55
Speaker 1: The prosecution want to adjourn the trial to allow the
30:58
Speaker 1: alleged victim to give evidence. But Caroline stops that using
31:03
Speaker 1: a legal manoeuvre.
31:03
Speaker 21: There's a new initiative at the moment that's been implemented
31:08
Speaker 21: from January.
31:10
Speaker 13: Called Stop Delaying Justice, which.
31:12
Speaker 21: Essentially means that all cases should go ahead at the
31:16
Speaker 21: first available opportunity. The magistrates agreed that there was not
31:20
Speaker 21: a good and compelling reason to adjourn the case on
31:23
Speaker 21: this occasion, so unfortunately for the prosecution service, the magistrates
31:28
Speaker 21: ordered that the trial go ahead today, in which case,
31:31
Speaker 21: because the prosecution witnesses weren't here, there's no evidence that
31:35
Speaker 21: the Crown can offer in respect of the charges, and
31:38
Speaker 21: so the charge has been dismissed.
31:41
Speaker 7: Something at last has gone right in my case, so
31:44
Speaker 7: for it finally to get dismissed was very good news
31:47
Speaker 7: and a huge relief for the family as well.
31:52
Speaker 21: I can fully understand that with the case being dropped,
31:55
Speaker 21: the alleged victims may feel a little aggrieved at that.
31:59
Speaker 21: At the end of the day, they've made a complaint
32:01
Speaker 21: about somebody for something that they believe has taken place,
32:06
Speaker 21: and it's been dropped. You know, if somebody is guilty,
32:11
Speaker 21: it's not up to me to prove that. It's up
32:13
Speaker 21: to the prosecution to prepare their case. And if the
32:17
Speaker 21: client is guilty, they should be able to prove that
32:19
Speaker 21: through the evidence.
32:29
Speaker 1: The media are out in force on the opening day
32:32
Speaker 1: of the Colleen Rooney blackmail trial. Ian Johnston has heard
32:36
Speaker 1: nothing from his client. He's not even sure Steve and
32:39
Speaker 1: Malcolm will show up.
32:41
Speaker 18: I'm hoping that the court will open reasonably early so
32:44
Speaker 18: that I can get in and get changed in court.
32:47
Speaker 5: Hello.
32:48
Speaker 10: Hiya.
32:49
Speaker 16: What have you done?
32:53
Speaker 18: I've bust my knee. Where have you been hiding? We've
32:57
Speaker 18: written to you and tried ringing you and such like
33:01
Speaker 18: to get you in to go through it all.
33:02
Speaker 22: Yeah, but I feel.
33:04
Speaker 10: Yeah.
33:06
Speaker 16: I feel that there's nothing to discuss, because on the
33:09
Speaker 16: last visit, you're telling me virtually to plead guilty. So
33:13
Speaker 16: why should I come into your office to discuss things?
33:18
Speaker 22: You tell me that.
33:19
Speaker 18: Because I can tell you what the sort of questions
33:21
Speaker 18: that the prosecution are going to try and put to
33:23
Speaker 18: you to try and.
33:25
Speaker 16: If I plead not guilty?
33:26
Speaker 24: Yeah.
33:27
Speaker 13: Right.
33:27
Speaker 16: But you're coming across on the last visit, this is
33:30
Speaker 16: what I'm trying to say to you.
33:32
Speaker 9: to please go there.
33:33
Speaker 16: So why should I come in and see you?
33:37
Speaker 18: Because what I said to you last time, Stephen, was
33:39
Speaker 18: you're sitting on a very fine line.
33:41
Speaker 1: Yeah, of course I am.
33:42
Speaker 18: You're sitting on a very fine line, and it all
33:44
Speaker 18: boils down to really your knowledge of what the prosecution
33:48
Speaker 18: could show.
33:49
Speaker 10: The prosecution could.
33:50
Speaker 18: Show, obviously, that you were instrumental in the drop and
33:54
Speaker 18: that you had telephone contact with the undercover officer the
33:56
Speaker 18: night before.
33:57
Speaker 8: And.
34:00
Speaker 18: Really, that's their case, that you're associated with Platt, that
34:04
Speaker 18: you were doing his running for him, and that you
34:07
Speaker 18: knew what it was about.
34:10
Speaker 5: Right.
34:11
Speaker 16: Hurry up, because I'm losing my patience with these. So
34:15
Speaker 16: hurry up, and we're going for it, because these.
34:17
Speaker 18: Yeah, I didn't see them standing there.
34:20
Speaker 10: So....
34:23
Speaker 18: Just waiting for Lisa to turn up.
34:30
Speaker 1: The trial gets underway, and on day one at least,
34:34
Speaker 1: Stephen Malcolm's feeling confident.
34:37
Speaker 9: I feel good at the.
34:37
Speaker 16: Minute because I knew from the start I was pleading
34:41
Speaker 16: not guilty, and at the minute I'm feeling pretty good.
34:46
Speaker 10: So I'm just going for a beer.
34:48
Speaker 16: I need a beer.
34:56
Speaker 2: MUSIC PLAYS.
35:03
Speaker 1: On day two of the trial, Stephen's opting for a suit.
35:08
Speaker 1: By pleading not guilty, he's hoping to avoid prison altogether.
35:12
Speaker 1: But he's been warned that if he's convicted, he'll pay
35:14
Speaker 1: for it with a longer sentence. He insists his family
35:18
Speaker 1: makes the gamble worthwhile.
35:20
Speaker 16: My oldest daughter, Joanne, I only got in contact with
35:25
Speaker 16: her three years and a few months. And I've got
35:31
Speaker 16: a bond with Joanne When she turns up, I always
35:37
Speaker 16: make sure that the heating's on, there's food in the cupboards,
35:41
Speaker 16: the duvet's always changed, nice and fresh for her.
35:45
Speaker 10: I get on here.
35:48
Speaker 16: So in the morning, it's hectic because she's using the
35:53
Speaker 16: shower and I'm like knocking on the door, are you finished?
35:58
Speaker 1: No, right, all right.
35:59
Speaker 16: It's just a dad thing that I've missed for so
36:02
Speaker 16: many years. And I don't want to lose that. It's
36:18
Speaker 16: day three of the trial. Stephen's about to give evidence,
36:22
Speaker 16: and he's given up on the suit.
36:25
Speaker 1: I'm thinking to myself, hang on a minute.
36:26
Speaker 16: They take me, the jury take me as I am,
36:30
Speaker 16: and the circumstances surrounding this case. So I shouldn't have
36:34
Speaker 16: to go, I shouldn't have to come here to make
36:36
Speaker 16: an impression.
36:37
Speaker 10: I put a tie on.
36:39
Speaker 16: After today, as soon as I've been questioned, it all
36:42
Speaker 16: gets a little bit easier.
36:46
Speaker 1: Up to this point, Stephen Malcolm's line has been that
36:49
Speaker 1: he didn't realise what he was involved in was wrong
36:52
Speaker 1: or illegal. On the stand, he changes his tune.
36:56
Speaker 18: What he in fact said was he did realise it
36:58
Speaker 18: was wrong and he realised it was illegal. At that point,
37:01
Speaker 18: the prosecutor said, in that case, Mr Malcolm, why are
37:05
Speaker 18: we all here?
37:08
Speaker 19: It's quite sad, really, watching him being cross-examined in the
37:12
Speaker 19: way that he was, and he was clearly struggling with
37:15
Speaker 19: his answers.
37:16
Speaker 6: I think.
37:20
Speaker 19: She ran rings around him, but I think a lot
37:21
Speaker 19: of it as well with him was not necessarily sure
37:24
Speaker 19: he really understood what was going on.
37:26
Speaker 4: It was as though he was lost.
37:30
Speaker 1: His lawyers tell Stephen he's left with no option but
37:33
Speaker 1: to change his plea to guilty. The judge accepts Stephen's
37:38
Speaker 1: plea and says he'll sentence him after Christmas.
37:40
Speaker 22: I feel a bit shit in a minute, so I'm
37:44
Speaker 22: going to go home.
37:46
Speaker 10: So, what more can I say? So, see.
37:50
Speaker 9: You in January.
37:53
Speaker 1: I feel completely deflated.
37:55
Speaker 18: And if I was going to say anything about it,
37:57
Speaker 18: and I don't pass comment very often, that's why we
37:59
Speaker 18: have pre-child conferences. They are our clients and we do
38:02
Speaker 18: what they instruct us to do. If they don't want
38:05
Speaker 18: to follow advice, that's for them.
38:12
Speaker 14: How are you?
38:15
Speaker 1: Vera Kennedy, the oldest drug dealer in town, turns up
38:19
Speaker 1: at the office for a meeting with Franklin.
38:21
Speaker 25: Hi.
38:22
Speaker 10: Good afternoon. How are you, my love? Good afternoon, Terrence.
38:27
Speaker 1: They need to work out how she's going to plead
38:29
Speaker 1: when she appears in court the following week.
38:33
Speaker 2: Lisa's here as well because of course Lisa did your
38:34
Speaker 2: last case.
38:35
Speaker 10: She did a very good job as she always does.
38:38
Speaker 10: She's brilliant.
38:39
Speaker 1: The situation is complicated because Vera admitted to the offence
38:43
Speaker 1: at the police station.
38:45
Speaker 2: When we last discussed the case, you were telling us that,
38:49
Speaker 2: in reality, the drugs that were found up in the
38:52
Speaker 2: loft were not yours, although you actually admitted to them
38:56
Speaker 2: at the police station, didn't you?
38:57
Speaker 7: Yeah.
38:57
Speaker 2: But, in fact, you said at the police station that
39:01
Speaker 2: you could get into the loft.
39:02
Speaker 10: Can you get into the loft? Is it, Terry, impossible
39:05
Speaker 10: for her? It's impossible. Absolutely impossible. And if we have to.
39:08
Speaker 14: I've never been in it, ever.
39:09
Speaker 10: Never been in it.
39:10
Speaker 5: What's a bit funny about you, aren't you?
39:14
Speaker 2: He's very flattering, isn't he? He's very flattering. He knows
39:17
Speaker 2: how to flatter a woman.
39:18
Speaker 14: Right.
39:20
Speaker 10: Did you know they were there or not?
39:22
Speaker 2: So you didn't know they were there and your fingerprints
39:24
Speaker 2: won't be on them, will they?
39:26
Speaker 10: Absolutely not.
39:27
Speaker 3: No.
39:27
Speaker 16: Okay.
39:28
Speaker 10: Can you explain the.
39:29
Speaker 2: position with regard to those drugs that were found around
39:33
Speaker 2: the house, the freezer, the living room, etc.
39:38
Speaker 22: It's just what we all love, we all love amphetamine,
39:40
Speaker 22: all of us, all my lot.
39:42
Speaker 2: So you take it, and to help pay for that,
39:45
Speaker 2: and also to help pay for a debt, I'm writing
39:48
Speaker 2: saying that whilst Tony's been in prison, have you been
39:50
Speaker 2: selling it as well?
39:51
Speaker 5: Yeah.
39:52
Speaker 10: Right, OK.
39:53
Speaker 2: So, because of that, Vera's going to have to enter
39:56
Speaker 2: a guilty plea to the possession of drugs with intent
39:59
Speaker 2: to supply, OK?
40:01
Speaker 1: Vera is already on a suspended prison sentence, so if
40:05
Speaker 1: she pleads guilty, it means she'll almost certainly go to jail.
40:09
Speaker 2: I'm anxious to avoid a contested, any kind of hearing.
40:14
Speaker 2: I think that Vera is such a, well, she's such
40:16
Speaker 2: a nice lady. She'll agree with the nice prosecution barrister
40:20
Speaker 2: and he'll go, isn't it this? And he'll put a
40:23
Speaker 2: lot of pressure on her and he'll scare her.
40:25
Speaker 10: You know what I mean? I tell you what, if
40:27
Speaker 10: we keep you out, that will be an amazing, an
40:30
Speaker 10: amazing result.
40:38
Speaker 1: Vera Kennedy pleads guilty to supplying drugs. Her daughter pleads
40:43
Speaker 1: guilty to possession. They are both currently awaiting sentence.
40:48
Speaker 2: It's been suggested that we profit from our client's bad behaviour. Obviously,
40:54
Speaker 2: in very simple terms, we do. But firstly, let me
40:57
Speaker 2: point out that we are a business, and if we
41:00
Speaker 2: don't make any profit, we won't survive, and there won't
41:03
Speaker 2: be any criminal law firms defending anybody. And, as a
41:07
Speaker 2: senior judge recently said, nobody else protects the vulnerable as
41:12
Speaker 2: well as criminal lawyers do.
41:18
Speaker 1: It's sentencing day in the Colleen Rooney blackmail trial. Stephen
41:23
Speaker 1: Malcolm's brief is waiting for him at court. Stephen Malcolm, however,
41:28
Speaker 1: is on the other side of town, in the pub
41:32
Speaker 1: with his mates.
41:39
Speaker 10: I just hope the judge, like.
41:39
Speaker 6: has a heart.
41:40
Speaker 16: Do you know what I mean?
41:45
Speaker 1: Has a heart.
41:48
Speaker 16: Go to jail, all right, your privileges are all gone.
41:55
Speaker 16: You can't, like, open your front door, you can't open
41:58
Speaker 16: the window, you can't go to the shop, you can't
42:00
Speaker 16: have sex with somebody, you can't even spend your money there.
42:05
Speaker 16: But it's not going to, it's not going to change me, okay?
42:13
Speaker 16: The only person that's going to change me is my mother.
42:16
Speaker 16: When I come home, right, and I go to my mum's,
42:19
Speaker 16: and mum says, son, don't do this again, because it'll
42:25
Speaker 16: break my heart, this and that. Whatever she says.
42:39
Speaker 6: Not the judge.
42:40
Speaker 10: Whatever my mum says. Goals. Not the judge.
42:43
Speaker 20: All you've got to do is treat her like an older.
42:46
Speaker 14: Treat her like an older. She'll be all right.
42:53
Speaker 1: His daughter, Joanne, has come along to support him.
42:56
Speaker 12: We.
42:57
Speaker 20: come back into contact last year 2011 April I'm going
43:00
Speaker 20: to miss.
43:00
Speaker 10: You I'm going to miss you.
43:03
Speaker 20: Get over there alright April I was going to London
43:07
Speaker 20: and I know this is his local so as I
43:10
Speaker 20: was in the taxi I was getting on the coach
43:12
Speaker 20: you know National Express around the corner and I had
43:15
Speaker 20: 45 minutes to get on my coach to go to
43:17
Speaker 20: London because he had an end due on the Saturday
43:19
Speaker 20: so I seen his little ginger ball dead out here
43:21
Speaker 20: and I thought right get on to you what have
43:23
Speaker 20: you been doing you naughty boy so he said oh
43:25
Speaker 20: it's a long story I said right I'm back from
43:26
Speaker 20: London on Sunday. You tell me what the script is,
43:29
Speaker 20: exactly what you've done, and then we'll go from there.
43:32
Speaker 20: And this is why I'm sat here today. All you
43:35
Speaker 20: can do, it's family, you know what I mean? No
43:37
Speaker 20: matter what you've done, what you've caused, blood's thicker than water,
43:41
Speaker 20: so what more can I do?
43:43
Speaker 5: Yeah.
43:43
Speaker 20: Mm-hm.
43:55
Speaker 8: You'll be all right, Dad.
44:00
Speaker 20: Yeah, of course it will.
44:04
Speaker 14: Of course it.
44:14
Speaker 3: Will.
44:15
Speaker 25: Mr.
44:20
Speaker 16: Malcolm?
44:20
Speaker 20: Mr.
44:21
Speaker 5: Malcolm?
44:23
Speaker 24: The judge describes Stephen Malcolm.
44:28
Speaker 20: As a willing accomplice and sentences him to.
44:32
Speaker 14: 20 months in jail.
44:52
Speaker 1: That's just four months less than the main blackmailer, Malcolm's boss.
44:57
Speaker 18: I think the sentence was too high. The distinction between
45:01
Speaker 18: them of four months was on the face of it
45:04
Speaker 18: not enough. Perhaps he should have kept his appointments when
45:10
Speaker 18: he had them. For some bizarre reason, some people seem
45:18
Speaker 18: to think they know better that I do is to
45:22
Speaker 18: the correct way to proceed with things and obviously in
45:25
Speaker 18: Mr Malcolm's case he didn't know the correct way to
45:29
Speaker 18: proceed with things