Free Bold Counsel (The Trials of Sarah Newby) by Tim Vicary

brain may become starved of oxygen? In which case their grasp on reality may be somewhat limited?’
    ‘I don’t know. I’m not medically qualified.’
    ‘Quite. So your opinion, that Mr Winnick was of sound mind and telling the truth, rather than indulging in a fantasy, is just an opinion, isn’t it? You have no medical basis for saying that?’
    ‘No medical basis, no. Just thirty years professional experience of interviewing clients.’
    ‘Many of whom lie, no doubt.’
    ‘Of course. I believe Mr Winnick was telling the truth.’
    ‘But you didn’t administer an oath?’
    ‘No. I intended to do that when I returned, with the statement typed up for him to sign. Unfortunately he died before that was possible.’
    It was an incisive performance, inflicting maximum damage on Sarah’s principal witness. As they adjourned for lunch, she wondered if she might have more time in Cambridge with Emily than she had anticipated.
    As court resumed after lunch, the senior judge looked down at the barristers.
    ‘Very well, we have heard Mr Crosse, and have come to a decision. This court is prepared to consider the notes of his conversation with Brian Winnick in the appeal. But before we hear argument on what weight to attach to it, do you have any other evidence you wish us to consider?’
    Hugely relieved, Sarah rose to her feet once again. The first hurdle had been cleared. She might be only a junior barrister from the north east, but she had won a point, at least, in the Court of Criminal Appeal. She addressed the judges, half-aware as she did so of a background of bitter whispering from the two detectives.
    ‘Yes, my Lords. The second major point of Mr Barnes’s appeal concerns the evidence of Amanda Carr. As your Lordships will know, Ms Carr was a student nurse at Naburn Maternity Hospital at the time of the original trial. As soon as she read about the case in the local press, she went voluntarily to the police to make a statement. She had seen a young woman answering Brenda Stokes’ description on the road outside the hospital at four a.m. that night, she said. This evidence was available to Superintendent Baxter...’ She glanced coolly at the elderly detective. ‘... but was never used in trial or disclosed to the defence. My Lords, I submit that this was a serious abuse of process. Had the defence been aware of this evidence, they could not have failed to use it to establish reasonable doubt. My Lords, Ms Carr has been troubled by this matter ever since. Her memory of that night remains clear, and she is here in court today.’
    The judges turned to her opponent. Gareth Jones rose swiftly.
    ‘My Lords, I strongly oppose my learned friend’s submission. Your Lordships will be aware, as she is, that this matter was raised at a previous court of appeal. On that occasion their Lordships concluded that it was not possible to say that it would have created reasonable doubt in the minds of the jury, as Mrs Newby contends. In view of this prior judgement, My Lords, I submit that it is unnecessary to consider this evidence once again.’
    Sarah had expected this. She had read the details of the previous appeal at four o’clock that morning. As he sat down, she rose to her feet.
    ‘My Lords, my learned colleague omits a crucial point of their Lordships’ previous judgement. Let me refer you to paragraph 12. What their Lordships actually said was that they were not convinced that Ms Carr’s evidence on its own would have been sufficient to create reasonable doubt in the minds of the jury. My Lords, those three words on its own are crucial. My client’s appeal today does not rely on Ms Carr’s evidence alone. We seek to combine it with the statement of Brian Winnick, as well as three minor points which I also intend to lay before your Lordships. It is my client’s contention that these five points taken together are more than sufficient to persuade you that he has, for the past eighteen years, suffered a serious