Free The Hanging Tree by Geraldine Evans

then
despaired. No wonder, either, if some of them took to dispensing their own
justice.
    Rafferty, suddenly aware that his heart was hammering wildly, took a
deep breath and forced himself to calm down. Llewellyn was right, he realised;
thinking along those lines just led to frustration, indigestion and coronaries.
Worse, it clouded his brain with negative emotions and ruined his judgement.
    He forced his mind back to the current problem. 'As you said, the Smith
case was thrown out because the judge ruled that his confession was
inadmissible. But why did it ever get as far as the Crown Court?'
    Stubbs sighed heavily. 'I suppose good old human error was at the root
of it. But, in mitigation, you must remember the Smith case was brought at a
very difficult time. It was 1986; at the beginning of the year PACE was
implemented throughout England and Wales, and by October of the same year the
bloody Crown Prosecution Service or as I call it, the Criminals' Pals Society,
took over the prosecution of offenders from the police.
     'It was change, disruption, difficulties at every turn. As I said, the
whole legal process was in a state of flux; endless new rules to remember and
bumptious young prosecution briefs getting up everyone's noses. There was no
DNA evidence to help us then; it was another year till the courts started to
accept such evidence. Not that we had a blood sample. We didn't even have a
semen sample. Crafty sod had used rubbers; all we had was Smith's confession
and the testimony of the girls.'
    Stubbs scowled again as, probably for the thousandth time, he relived
his bitter memories. 'I'd worked long and hard on the Smith case — we all had. Most
of the team had daughters round that age or younger. And by the time we caught
him, we were all exhausted. I,' he paused, then went on, 'I just about cracked
up.'
    From his rigid posture, Rafferty could see how much it cost him to admit
this. He already knew of course. Stubbs's old colleagues had said as much and
more.
    'But we got the confession out of him before my GP had me hospitalised. As
I said, the whole team were exhausted by the time we finally nailed him, and
although I had my doubts as to whether his confession might contravene the new
PACE rules, the Prosecutor appointed was so young and eager to get her teeth
into a rape case that she just charged ahead with it. Got through the Committal
Proceedings with no trouble, but then we both know magistrates are often glad
to pass the buck upwards to the Crown Courts when it comes to ruling on a point
of law, such as admissibility.
    'Anyway, I'll tell you plain, we were both humiliated when it got to the
Crown Court. Especially Ms Osbourne, the prosecuting counsel. Not too keen on
women, old Judge Jordan; hated having them in his court and always gave them a
hard time. He called Ms Osbourne into his chambers and told her she wasn't fit
to iron his robes.' Stubbs gave a sour grin. 'I only learned about it later. Like
most coppers, I'd never been keen on the introduction of the CPS and Ms
Osbourne had me convinced I was right. As I said, she was arrogant and flaunted
her college education as if she thought we were a bunch of dinosaurs and that
experience counted for nothing. It was the only bit of satisfaction I got when
I heard that old Jordan had wiped the floor with her.'
    The light faded from his eye. 'Still, it was a difficult time to be a
policeman.' Rafferty nodded. 'I tell you, if I could have ended my career any
other way, I'd have been glad to retire then.'
    'But surely, sir,' Llewellyn spoke up, 'the Chief Prosecutor would have
overseen—'
    'Old Stimpson? Don't make me laugh. He was near retirement himself. He
only took the job as a favour to the new Regional Director, he didn't intend to
work too hard, I can tell you and he gave a pretty free rein to the young
bloods in his traces. Spent as much time on the golf course as he did in his
office. Besides, although it was never admitted officially, it was