Crown Court - There was a Little Girl (1973) - video Dailymotion

Jezza

Crown Court - There was a Little Girl. Fiona Gray is indicted on the charge of arson. Frank Middlemas, Dorothy Vernon and John Flanagan star. Watch out for a guest appearance by Denis Lill, who would go on to appear in programmes such as Mapp & Lucia, BlackAdder the Third and Only Fools and Horses.

Transcript

00:00:00Today in

00:00:26Fullchester Crown Court, Fiona Gray,

00:00:28a 28-year-old housewife,

00:00:30is charged with maliciously and voluntarily

00:00:32burning the house of another,

00:00:34namely of her husband, Richard

00:00:36Francis Gray. So what

00:00:38I am anxious to establish, Miss Tate, is that

00:00:40the accused, Mrs. Fiona Gray, had

00:00:42absolutely no financial interest in the

00:00:44property which burned down.

00:00:46Number 7, Adelaide Close. If she had,

00:00:48you will appreciate, the charge of arson

00:00:50would not stand. The property must be

00:00:52not one's own, but that of another. Yes,

00:00:54my lord, I do appreciate that.

00:00:56Unfortunately, however, my client can in no

00:00:58sense claim to be part owner of the house she

00:01:00once lived in. Unfortunately, Miss Tate.

00:01:02The accused husband owned the property

00:01:04and all the furnishings and fittings,

00:01:06and she, as his wife, had nothing to call her own.

00:01:08I see. Mr. Lloyd, will you proceed?

00:01:12You are

00:01:12Mrs. Roberta Helder of Five Adelaide Close

00:01:14Coldwater Valley. I am, yes.

00:01:16Five Adelaide Close, that would be the neighbouring property

00:01:18to number 7, wouldn't it? Until it was burned

00:01:20down, yes. Are you acquainted with the accused,

00:01:22Fiona Gray? Well, naturally, one

00:01:24usually knows the people next door.

00:01:26As a matter of fact, Alex and I,

00:01:28that's my husband, Alex,

00:01:30we were quite close to Fiona and Rick for a time,

00:01:33until it became all too

00:01:34wearisome. All too wearisome, Mrs.

00:01:36Helder? We moved

00:01:38to Adelaide Close in, it'll be

00:01:4012 months ago, last January.

00:01:44We heard

00:01:44later that things had been bad between

00:01:46the greys from time immemorial, but

00:01:48we just made friends, you know,

00:01:50broke the odd bottle and crust,

00:01:52and then...

00:01:54Yes, Mrs. Helder?

00:01:56Well, I never knew the whole thing,

00:01:58you understand. It was none of my

00:02:00business, and I didn't wish to pry,

00:02:02but, well, it became painfully obvious

00:02:04to Alex and me that whenever we

00:02:06went in to see the greys, or if they came to see

00:02:08us, Fiona would use

00:02:10the occasion to get at Rick,

00:02:13quite openly in the end.

00:02:15Accusations, insults,

00:02:16that sort of thing. You're saying then that you observed

00:02:18a regular pattern of recrimination

00:02:20by the accused against her husband?

00:02:22Yes. It was very embarrassing,

00:02:24but par for the course

00:02:26according to the rest of the district.

00:02:29Poor Rick. He seldom said

00:02:30a thing. He just sat there

00:02:32grinning and bearing it. And what was the nature

00:02:34of the insults and accusations directed at

00:02:36her husband by Mrs. Grey?

00:02:38Well, they were pretty vague, really, when you came down

00:02:40to it. Fiona seemed to think

00:02:42that Rick didn't pay her enough attention.

00:02:44He left her alone too often.

00:02:46Neglected her.

00:02:47It was mostly nonsense,

00:02:49I think. But Fiona

00:02:51used even to say that one day

00:02:53she'd make Rick pay for it all.

00:02:55One day she'd make Rick pay

00:02:57for it all? Yes.

00:02:59Mrs. Helder, did you have any contact with the accused

00:03:01outside of your respective homes?

00:03:03Yes. At one time

00:03:05I got the notion that part

00:03:07of what ailed Fiona was the fact that she

00:03:09spent too much time at home alone with her kids.

00:03:11She never bestirred herself to go out.

00:03:13So I made a determined effort to

00:03:16try and interest her in things that went on

00:03:19around the district.

00:03:19The bridge circle.

00:03:21The art group.

00:03:22And what was the result of that,

00:03:23Mrs. Helder?

00:03:24Well, introducing her to the bridge circle

00:03:27was a major error of strategy,

00:03:29as it turned out.

00:03:30The echoes still reverberate around the neighbourhood.

00:03:34And as for the art group,

00:03:36well, we all know what happened there,

00:03:38don't we?

00:03:38I do, Mrs. Helder.

00:03:39They're being divorced, aren't they?

00:03:42The greys.

00:03:43I take it that's a direct result

00:03:45of Fiona's activities at the art group.

00:03:47My lord, the witness has no right

00:03:48to make a comment like that.

00:03:49I quite agree, Miss Tate.

00:03:51You will ignore that last remark

00:03:53of the witness.

00:03:54But is it, in fact,

00:03:55true, Miss Tate,

00:03:57that the accused and her husband

00:03:58are at the moment seeking a divorce?

00:04:00Yes, my lord.

00:04:01The position is that some three weeks

00:04:03after the burning down of the property,

00:04:05Richard Grey filed suit for divorce

00:04:07against his wife.

00:04:08Indeed, I see.

00:04:09Carry on, Mr. Lord.

00:04:10Thank you, my lord.

00:04:11Mrs. Helder, were you at home

00:04:12on the evening of June 28th,

00:04:14last at about 7pm?

00:04:16Yes, I was.

00:04:17I was expecting my husband

00:04:18and I was in the kitchen getting a meal.

00:04:21Our kitchen overlooked the garage

00:04:23of number 7, Adelaide.

00:04:25And the garage adjoined number 7, did it?

00:04:27Yes.

00:04:29And did you see something going on

00:04:30in the garage that evening

00:04:31that caught your attention?

00:04:33Yes, well, it was still broad daylight

00:04:35and the distance involved

00:04:37was only about 30 yards.

00:04:38Fiona seemed to be hurrying in and out of the garage,

00:04:43getting armfuls of packing-case straw and wood

00:04:46from somewhere around the corner

00:04:47and taking them back inside the garage.

00:04:50She was moving deliberately.

00:04:52This struck you as being strange, did it?

00:04:55Well, it was the way she moved as much as anything.

00:04:58Quickly, jerkily even,

00:05:00but as if with a definite sense of purpose.

00:05:03There'd been a row earlier in the day.

00:05:06I hadn't heard what was said precisely.

00:05:09But, you know, things hurled after Rick

00:05:11because he left for work in the morning.

00:05:14And so all day long I'd known that something was wrong.

00:05:16And then, when I saw the flames...

00:05:18Now, they started from within the garage, did they?

00:05:20Yes.

00:05:22It was extraordinarily sudden.

00:05:24Just a huge crackle and then a vast sheet of flame.

00:05:30I got the most terrible shock.

00:05:32What did you do, Mrs. Helder?

00:05:34For the moment, I just stood there,

00:05:36rooted to the spot.

00:05:38And then...

00:05:39And then it at once occurred to me

00:05:40that maybe Fiona was still in the garage

00:05:42in the midst of this dreadful blaze.

00:05:45But I saw no-no.

00:05:46She was standing some way from it,

00:05:48towards our fence, in fact,

00:05:50just staring at the flames.

00:05:51Simply staring at them.

00:05:53Yes.

00:05:54I came to, I raced outside,

00:05:57and other people were beginning to emerge by this time.

00:06:01John Ferris from across the close

00:06:03shouted that he'd already called the fire brigade,

00:06:05and other people were rushing up.

00:06:07I rushed over to Fiona.

00:06:09Fiona, I said, Fiona, where are the children?

00:06:11What made you think of the children, Mrs. Helder?

00:06:13Well, they simply weren't in evidence.

00:06:14I see.

00:06:15And did Mrs. Grey reply to you?

00:06:16Yes.

00:06:18Yes, what she said was,

00:06:19they aren't my children, Bobby.

00:06:22They're his.

00:06:23Now, let us be quite clear of the words here, please.

00:06:25They aren't my children, Bobby.

00:06:27They're his.

00:06:28Yes.

00:06:29Anything else?

00:06:31No, just that,

00:06:32and staring blankly at the flames.

00:06:35So, I said to some of the men,

00:06:37I think the children are still inside,

00:06:40so some of them raced round the back and burst in.

00:06:43The fire was still mainly confined to the garage.

00:06:45However, they found the children in bed.

00:06:48Terence was reading, and Adrian was asleep.

00:06:50And they brought them out?

00:06:51Yes.

00:06:52And how did Mrs. Grey react

00:06:53when she saw her children, Mrs. Helder?

00:06:55Oh, well, then, she went to pieces.

00:06:59She broke down entirely.

00:07:01Well, you see, it was only just in time

00:07:03that the boys had been saved, really,

00:07:05because barely five minutes later,

00:07:07there was another huge crackle,

00:07:08and all the whole building seemed to be engulfed in flames.

00:07:13That was just as the fire brigade arrived, actually,

00:07:15and, of course, by this time,

00:07:16there was very little they could do

00:07:17except try and keep the fire under control

00:07:19and protect other people's property.

00:07:21Yes, I see.

00:07:22Now, did Mrs. Grey say anything else to you that evening

00:07:24that you particularly recall?

00:07:25Yes, well, Rick arrived home from work

00:07:32just as the fire brigade was going into action,

00:07:35and everything then got very confused and hysterical.

00:07:38So Angela Blaney said that she would take the boys,

00:07:41and I persuaded Fiona to come back to our place and rest.

00:07:45She started to mumble something

00:07:47just as I was getting her something to drink.

00:07:50I heard her say,

00:07:51Now he'll never love me again.

00:07:54Never again.

00:07:55I've destroyed his precious house,

00:07:58and so he'll punish me.

00:08:00And how did Mrs. Grey say that exactly?

00:08:01To herself, or not very clearly?

00:08:03Well, loudly enough,

00:08:04though I'm still not sure if it was intended for my ears or not.

00:08:08Her tone was remorseful,

00:08:11like a person confessing guilt.

00:08:13Thank you, Mrs. Helder.

00:08:14Will you wait there, please?

00:08:16Mrs. Cade?

00:08:17Mrs. Helder, you tell us that when you and your husband

00:08:20first got to know Rick and Fiona Grey,

00:08:22you were puzzled by the accusations levelled against her husband,

00:08:25by Mrs. Grey,

00:08:26namely, not paying enough attention to her

00:08:29and leaving her alone too often.

00:08:31Yes.

00:08:32Now, why were you so bothered?

00:08:33Didn't these accusations bear any relation to reality?

00:08:36Well, no.

00:08:37None whatsoever,

00:08:38as far as I'm aware,

00:08:40Miss Tate.

00:08:41Rick was attentive enough to his wife.

00:08:43He would take her out for an evening every so often.

00:08:46In fact, he was a very home-loving person

00:08:49who seldom stayed out much at nights at all,

00:08:51unless business demanded it.

00:08:52You never treated Mrs. Grey's accusations as normal, then, did you?

00:08:56I'm sorry?

00:08:56As the accusations of a completely normal woman, Mrs. Helder.

00:09:01Oh, well, as to that,

00:09:02I thought them unjustified.

00:09:05Now, you tell us again

00:09:06that when you introduced her to the Bridge Circle,

00:09:08it was a major error of strategy.

00:09:11Now, why was that?

00:09:11What happened?

00:09:13Well, Fiona happened

00:09:15to the Bridge Circle.

00:09:18I can't remember all the ins and outs exactly now,

00:09:20but, well, it seemed that in a remarkably short space of time,

00:09:23half the members of the club were at each other's throats.

00:09:27Fiona had started making accusations,

00:09:30just as with Rick,

00:09:31stirring up a hornet's nest.

00:09:33What sort of accusations?

00:09:35Oh, wasting time,

00:09:37not taking life seriously,

00:09:39sitting around playing cards

00:09:40instead of doing something useful.

00:09:42Did the accusations have any foundation, in fact?

00:09:45No, of course not.

00:09:47We're all very busy people,

00:09:48but, oh, we are entitled to a little relaxation

00:09:50from time to time, shall we?

00:09:51Again, not the accusations

00:09:53of a completely normal woman, Mrs. Helder.

00:09:57Miss Tate,

00:09:59Fiona Grey has always struck me

00:10:00as a perfectly normal person.

00:10:02It's just that she refused to control her tongue.

00:10:06She was hypercritical towards other people

00:10:08and she simply didn't care what she said.

00:10:12It's the way some women are.

00:10:13A matter of character, then.

00:10:15Inborn and unavoidable?

00:10:17Yes.

00:10:19Now, you also introduced Mrs. Grey

00:10:21to the Coldwater Valley Arts Society, didn't you?

00:10:24Yes.

00:10:26And was the tutor at that society

00:10:27the certain Mr. Gilbert Brinsley?

00:10:30Yes, he was.

00:10:31And did you notice that from the first time

00:10:33Mrs. Grey attended the society

00:10:34that Mr. Brinsley was attracted to her?

00:10:36I noticed something mutual, I'd prefer to say.

00:10:40That's not what I asked you, Mrs. Helder.

00:10:41I said, did you notice that Mr. Brinsley

00:10:44was attracted to Mrs. Grey?

00:10:47Oh, yes.

00:10:48He danced attendance on her a little, I suppose.

00:10:51None of the rest of us were completely sure why.

00:10:55Now, let's come to the evening

00:10:57that Number 7 Adelaide Close burned down, shall we?

00:11:00Would you have said that on that occasion

00:11:02Fiona Grey was in a perfectly normal condition?

00:11:04Miss Tate, I hadn't seen Fiona all of that day

00:11:08and when finally I did speak to her,

00:11:10her house was in flames.

00:11:11Yet she did seem to be behaving rather oddly, don't you think?

00:11:14Just standing there, staring at the flames,

00:11:16quite unaware that her children were inside.

00:11:18Well, hypnotised more than likely,

00:11:20that sheet of flames shooting out of the garage door

00:11:23was really frightening.

00:11:24Yet the effect of your testimony, Mrs. Helder,

00:11:26is that Fiona Grey started the fire.

00:11:28Now, are you now telling us that she did that

00:11:30knowing full well that her children were in the house

00:11:32and quite heedless of their fate

00:11:34and that that is normal?

00:11:36It is all extremely weird in its way,

00:11:38I will grant you that.

00:11:40But, well, think of that strange remark she made to me.

00:11:44They're not my children, Bobby, they're his.

00:11:46Oh, yes, that remark.

00:11:47Now, what did you take that to mean exactly?

00:11:50Well, just what it says, I suppose,

00:11:51that she'd come to think of Terence Nadine

00:11:54as not her children, but as Rick's.

00:11:55And that later remarked, the mumbled one in the house,

00:11:58um, now he'll never love me, never again.

00:12:01I've destroyed his precious house,

00:12:03and so he'll punish me.

00:12:05Well, yes, that's more mysterious, of course.

00:12:07But, um, some sort of reference to Rick, I suppose?

00:12:10His precious house.

00:12:11Now, was Mr. Grey particularly house-proud,

00:12:13do you happen to know?

00:12:15No.

00:12:15No, not particularly.

00:12:17He'll punish me.

00:12:19Was Mr. Grey in the habit of chastising his wife, perhaps?

00:12:22What do you mean by that?

00:12:23Disciplining her, beating her, even.

00:12:26I mean, it's such a strange expression to use, punish me.

00:12:29Fiona was upset, obviously.

00:12:31And, well, she was speaking in a heightened fashion.

00:12:34Not normally, in other words.

00:12:38Miss Tate, I really can't tell you

00:12:40whether Fiona Grey was normal or abnormal

00:12:43on the night that she burned her house down.

00:12:44Oh, come, Mrs. Helder, I'm perfectly sure you can.

00:12:47You knew Mrs. Grey well.

00:12:49I'm asking you whether she seemed to be acting normally that night

00:12:52when, knowing full well that her children were in the house,

00:12:55she lit that fire.

00:13:00Yes.

00:13:01But,

00:13:02she wasn't a devoted mother, you know.

00:13:06Not in the least.

00:13:09Things were really very bad between her and Rick.

00:13:11And Fiona simply despised the whole set-up.

00:13:16Once, in a moment of confidence,

00:13:18she even told me that

00:13:19she thought she hated her children.

00:13:22You're Richard Francis Grey,

00:13:36presently of 14 Chatterton Avenue,

00:13:38Fulchester.

00:13:38Yes, I am.

00:13:39It's a temporary address.

00:13:41It's my mother's place,

00:13:42where I've been living with my two sons

00:13:44ever since my own house was destroyed by fire.

00:13:46What is your relationship to the accused, please?

00:13:48I've instituted divorce proceedings against her,

00:13:50but she's my wife.

00:13:51Exactly, Mr. Grey.

00:13:52And since the accused is still your wife,

00:13:54I must make quite sure you understand

00:13:56you are in no way obliged to testify against her.

00:13:59Thank you, my lord.

00:13:59I do understand that.

00:14:00You come here today of your own free will

00:14:02to give your testimony.

00:14:03Completely of my own free will, yes.

00:14:04Good, thank you.

00:14:05Right, carry on, Mr. Lorne.

00:14:06Mr. Grey,

00:14:06what's the relationship between you and your wife

00:14:08been like over the last few years?

00:14:10Happy?

00:14:11No, very bad.

00:14:11Growing steadily worse.

00:14:12What was the main reason for this?

00:14:15Difficult to say, precisely.

00:14:17All I know for sure is

00:14:18that it's been very difficult to live with my wife

00:14:20over the last few years.

00:14:21Her criticisms have almost driven me out of my mind

00:14:23and her demands have been insupportable.

00:14:24What demands, exactly?

00:14:26The demands on my time, my presence.

00:14:28I had to punch clocks for her, if you see what I mean.

00:14:31Well, for example,

00:14:31if I was five minutes late home from work in the evening,

00:14:33then I was neglecting her.

00:14:34And if I refused to cooperate with her whim of the moment,

00:14:37say, shifting the furniture,

00:14:38and she was a great shifter of furniture in certain moods,

00:14:40then I was being obstructive

00:14:42and unsympathetic towards her problems.

00:14:44And was this different from the original relationship

00:14:46the two of you had enjoyed?

00:14:47Oh, yes, yes, completely different.

00:14:49Yet I hadn't changed as far as I was aware.

00:14:51I did everything to show my concern for Fiona.

00:14:54I tried to love her,

00:14:55and everything was as right as rain

00:14:57until after Adrian was born.

00:14:58That was about five years ago.

00:14:59And then there was a slow turning against me.

00:15:02I see.

00:15:02Well, I now have some rather more intimate questions

00:15:04to ask you, Mr. Gray.

00:15:06How long is it, please,

00:15:06since you and Mrs. Gray lived together as husband and wife?

00:15:11Up until the time of the fire.

00:15:13We'd been strangers under the same roof

00:15:15for the best part of a year.

00:15:17After a particularly nasty scene,

00:15:19my wife made it obvious to me

00:15:21that she wanted nothing more to do with me in that way.

00:15:24We still went out together.

00:15:24We kept up appearances, but nothing more.

00:15:27It was your wife who rejected you.

00:15:28You did not reject her.

00:15:30There's no argument about that at all.

00:15:31I did my best, in fact,

00:15:33to bring about a reconciliation

00:15:34to get a new understanding going.

00:15:37I didn't like the situation the way it was,

00:15:38and I hope I was patient.

00:15:41So through a difficult year,

00:15:42you adopted a policy of toleration and of hope.

00:15:45Yes, that's right.

00:15:45Did your wife do something of the same?

00:15:48No.

00:15:49On the morning of June 28th last,

00:15:51just as I was leaving for work,

00:15:53my wife announced to me

00:15:54that for the past three months or so

00:15:55she'd had a lover,

00:15:57a man called Brinsley, it appears,

00:15:59Gilbert Brinsley.

00:16:00He was a tutor at a local art group.

00:16:02How did you react to this information, Mr. Gray?

00:16:06Well, it took me completely by surprise.

00:16:08I was astonished,

00:16:10and then I was deeply angry.

00:16:11I told my wife that

00:16:12this meant the finish between us,

00:16:14after all I'd put up with

00:16:15over the last few years,

00:16:16that this was too much.

00:16:17I said I would start divorce proceedings

00:16:19that same day

00:16:20and that I would see my lawyer then.

00:16:22I would also make arrangements

00:16:23for the two boys to come and live with me

00:16:25and my mothers,

00:16:25with my mothers in the meantime.

00:16:26Why that, Mr. Gray?

00:16:27Why did you want to take the boys with you?

00:16:29Well, it seemed right under the circumstances.

00:16:31I mean, the home could hardly be considered

00:16:33to be the most improving atmosphere anymore.

00:16:34Did your wife object in any way?

00:16:36Yes, but only to make the right noises,

00:16:39I think.

00:16:39She was more concerned with herself

00:16:40than for the children.

00:16:41In general, Mr. Gray,

00:16:42what was your wife's attitude

00:16:43towards these children?

00:16:46I think she disliked them.

00:16:47It was a growing attitude,

00:16:49turning to hate.

00:16:49I think she resented their existence

00:16:51because in her mind...

00:16:51Just one moment, Mr. Gray.

00:16:53Members of the jury,

00:16:53you must disregard that last remark

00:16:55of Mr. Gray's.

00:16:58What he thinks about his wife's view

00:17:00of her children is not evidence.

00:17:01Now, when you returned home from work

00:17:05on the evening of June 28th last year,

00:17:06Mr. Gray,

00:17:07your house was in flames

00:17:08and the fire brigade was fighting the fire.

00:17:10Is that correct?

00:17:10Yes.

00:17:11What did you do, please?

00:17:12Well, at first,

00:17:13I couldn't believe it.

00:17:14I just stood there,

00:17:16staring at the flames.

00:17:18Then I saw the two boys

00:17:19being hurried out of the gate

00:17:20by Mrs. Blaney and Abia.

00:17:21They were frightened

00:17:22and they were crying.

00:17:24Fiona was there

00:17:25and she was crying too

00:17:26and I just rushed at her

00:17:28and I shouted at her,

00:17:29what have you done now?

00:17:30What now?

00:17:31And she came straight back at me

00:17:33with,

00:17:33it's what you've always wanted,

00:17:35isn't it?

00:17:36The finish between us.

00:17:38Well, now I've done you a favour.

00:17:40The next question

00:17:41is very important, Mr. Gray.

00:17:42What state was your wife in

00:17:43at this time?

00:17:45State?

00:17:46I'm not sure I know what you mean.

00:17:46Well, did she recognise you

00:17:48the moment you arrived,

00:17:48for instance?

00:17:50Yes, recognised me.

00:17:50Yes, she did.

00:17:51Did she hear what you said?

00:17:52Did she understand you?

00:17:53Yes.

00:17:54There was no confusion,

00:17:55in other words.

00:17:55She didn't seem dazed

00:17:57or unaware of her surroundings.

00:17:58No, not at all.

00:17:59No, I had to ask

00:18:00Mrs. Helder from next door

00:18:02to take her away

00:18:02and look after her

00:18:03while I tried to get

00:18:04other things sorted out.

00:18:05Mr. Gray,

00:18:05why precisely did you shout,

00:18:07what have you done now

00:18:08to your wife?

00:18:09It's as though

00:18:09you immediately took it

00:18:10for granted.

00:18:10She must have had

00:18:11something to do with the fire.

00:18:13My lord,

00:18:13I knew straight away

00:18:14that Fiona had everything

00:18:16to do with the fire.

00:18:17Oh, indeed?

00:18:17Why was that?

00:18:19Because it's what

00:18:19she's always threatened to do.

00:18:21Time and again

00:18:21when we'd argue

00:18:22she'd finish up with,

00:18:23anyway,

00:18:24I hate this house.

00:18:25It's your house,

00:18:26it's not my house

00:18:26and for two pins

00:18:27I could set a match to it.

00:18:29Thank you, Mr. Gray.

00:18:30No further questions.

00:18:33Mr. Gray?

00:18:34Mr. Gray,

00:18:34perhaps in the first place

00:18:35you'd better tell us

00:18:36why you chose

00:18:36to give evidence

00:18:37against your wife today.

00:18:39I don't have a choice anymore.

00:18:41Valuable property

00:18:42has been destroyed.

00:18:43Life has been placed

00:18:44in jeopardy.

00:18:44I don't mean

00:18:45only the lives

00:18:45of my own two sons

00:18:46who were in the house

00:18:47when it was fired,

00:18:48but, well, other lives,

00:18:49the whole neighbourhood

00:18:50could have been destroyed.

00:18:51Mr. Gray,

00:18:51did you really

00:18:52take your wife seriously

00:18:53on any occasion

00:18:54when she said

00:18:55that she hated your house

00:18:56and for two pins

00:18:57she'd burn it down?

00:18:59In the event

00:19:00she did burn it down.

00:19:00Nevertheless,

00:19:01if you had taken

00:19:02your wife seriously,

00:19:03then wouldn't you

00:19:03have taken some steps

00:19:04to make sure

00:19:05she hadn't the chance

00:19:06to burn it down?

00:19:07I'm not sure

00:19:09what those steps

00:19:10would be.

00:19:12Anyway,

00:19:12it was rather

00:19:13a case of a boy

00:19:13who cried wolf

00:19:14in the end.

00:19:14Fiona just threatened

00:19:16and threatened

00:19:16and I just ceased

00:19:17to bother about it.

00:19:18Now, you and your wife

00:19:19have been married

00:19:20how many years,

00:19:20did you say?

00:19:21Eight years,

00:19:22nearly nine.

00:19:22Your eldest son,

00:19:23Terence, is seven

00:19:23and Adrian,

00:19:24I think you told us,

00:19:25is nearly five.

00:19:26Yes, sir.

00:19:26And things were

00:19:27as right as rain

00:19:28between you and your wife

00:19:28until after Adrian was born.

00:19:30So that leaves

00:19:31approximately four years

00:19:33in which this relationship

00:19:34seems to have deteriorated.

00:19:36Now, surely there must

00:19:37have been some reason

00:19:38for this?

00:19:39I suppose so,

00:19:40but as far as I was concerned,

00:19:41Fiona just turned against me,

00:19:43that's all.

00:19:43Started to criticise

00:19:44and make excessive

00:19:45demands on you?

00:19:46Yes.

00:19:47Didn't you ever ask yourself

00:19:49why this might be,

00:19:50Mr. Bray?

00:19:51Yes, of course I did,

00:19:51but I couldn't come up

00:19:52with an answer then

00:19:53and I still can't.

00:19:53It didn't seem to you

00:19:54that perhaps some critical change

00:19:56was taking place

00:19:57in your wife?

00:19:58Change?

00:19:58What change?

00:19:59Well, how had she been

00:20:00before this turning

00:20:02against you began?

00:20:04Oh, reasonable,

00:20:05agreeable,

00:20:06affectionate,

00:20:06concerned for me.

00:20:07Malleable?

00:20:08What?

00:20:08Had your wife

00:20:09always gone along

00:20:10with whatever you said

00:20:11perhaps,

00:20:11without complaint?

00:20:13Yes, yes, of course.

00:20:14She never questioned

00:20:15your decisions?

00:20:17Fiona didn't like

00:20:18making decisions

00:20:19for herself.

00:20:21Even the simplest

00:20:22domestic ones

00:20:22could throw her

00:20:23into a terrible state

00:20:24sometime.

00:20:25Anyway,

00:20:25she knew that I

00:20:26always acted

00:20:27in her best interests.

00:20:28In her best interests,

00:20:29of course.

00:20:30And it was in her best interest

00:20:31that you retained

00:20:32number seven Adelaide close

00:20:33as your exclusive property,

00:20:34did it, Mr. Gray?

00:20:35Sorry?

00:20:36Well, could your wife

00:20:37in any real sense

00:20:38be called a part owner

00:20:39of her family home?

00:20:40I don't know what that means.

00:20:41We were husband and wife

00:20:42and it was our home.

00:20:43Yet your wife did ask you

00:20:44if you would put the property

00:20:45in her name

00:20:46as well as your own

00:20:47and you refused.

00:20:47My lord,

00:20:48I'm not sure

00:20:48what esoteric purpose

00:20:49in the defence's grand design

00:20:51these last few questions

00:20:52are meant to serve,

00:20:53but to me

00:20:53they seem plainly irrelevant.

00:20:54Yes, Miss Tate,

00:20:55I too would like to know

00:20:56where this line of interrogation

00:20:57is leading you.

00:20:58As far as I'm aware,

00:21:00the witness could never

00:21:01have been under

00:21:01any obligation

00:21:03to put the family home

00:21:04in his wife's name

00:21:04as well as his own.

00:21:06The fact that he did not do so

00:21:07even though she requested it

00:21:09is nothing to do with the case.

00:21:11With respect, my lord,

00:21:13I'm suggesting that

00:21:14this matter assumed

00:21:15exaggerated importance

00:21:16in my client's mind

00:21:17and consequently led her

00:21:18to extravagant action.

00:21:20Oh, dear me, Miss Tate,

00:21:21I do hope we're not in for a deal

00:21:22of psychological digging

00:21:23in this case.

00:21:24Now, you know as well as I do

00:21:25that any plea

00:21:26of diminished responsibility

00:21:28is quite out of the question here.

00:21:30If you do not contest

00:21:31that the accused

00:21:32built the fire

00:21:33and struck the match

00:21:34which destroyed

00:21:35the family home,

00:21:36then all you can do

00:21:36is try to show

00:21:37that she didn't know

00:21:38what she was doing

00:21:39when she performed those actions.

00:21:40And that, my lord,

00:21:41is precisely what I'm trying to show,

00:21:43that my client acted

00:21:44automatically

00:21:45without true consciousness

00:21:46when she burned down the home.

00:21:47Miss Tate,

00:21:48you will not do that

00:21:49by arguing about

00:21:50who held the deeds

00:21:51to the property

00:21:51and whether or not

00:21:52it was a good thing.

00:21:53They may be arguments

00:21:54for a meeting

00:21:55of the Women's Rights Association,

00:21:57but certainly not

00:21:58for this court.

00:22:00Yes, of course, my lord.

00:22:03Mr. Brady,

00:22:04did you hate your wife?

00:22:06Hate her?

00:22:07Yes.

00:22:08Of course not.

00:22:08I did everything

00:22:09to prove that I loved her.

00:22:10And yet you thought

00:22:10her attitude towards the children

00:22:12altogether deficient.

00:22:13And for something like

00:22:1412 months prior

00:22:15to the burning of the house,

00:22:16there was no sexual contact

00:22:18between you.

00:22:18That was her idea,

00:22:19not mine.

00:22:19Oh, but you didn't let her

00:22:20get away with it, surely?

00:22:21What?

00:22:21Well, I say that, um,

00:22:23as a sensitive man,

00:22:24you must have realized

00:22:25that your wife,

00:22:25in behaving as she did,

00:22:26was behaving neurotically.

00:22:28Now, surely you treated her

00:22:29with some particular consideration?

00:22:31Powers of persuasion, even?

00:22:33I don't know what that means.

00:22:34What are you suggesting

00:22:35I should have done

00:22:35in such a situation?

00:22:36Rape her?

00:22:38I mean,

00:22:38what can a man do

00:22:39in a situation like that?

00:22:40When a woman says no,

00:22:41she says no.

00:22:41Oh, perhaps.

00:22:42And anyway,

00:22:42there's always plenty of fish

00:22:43in the sea,

00:22:44as far as...

00:22:44Lord!

00:22:44That type of offensive remark

00:22:47is precisely what we should

00:22:48try to avoid

00:22:49in this case, surely.

00:22:50With respect, my lord,

00:22:51the point is that

00:22:52the witness himself

00:22:53may not realize yet

00:22:54he did neglect his wife,

00:22:56so that when she joined

00:22:57this art society,

00:22:58she was more or less

00:22:59forced into her affair

00:23:00with Gilbert Brinsley.

00:23:01She was not forced

00:23:02into her affair

00:23:02with Gilbert Brinsley.

00:23:03She went into it

00:23:04coldly and deliberately

00:23:05as a rejection of me.

00:23:06Following what could

00:23:07only be interpreted

00:23:08as a similar rejection

00:23:09by you, Mr. Gray.

00:23:09All right, perhaps I did

00:23:11come to hate Fiona

00:23:12in a way, to reject her.

00:23:14But it was very difficult,

00:23:16you see, she...

00:23:17You couldn't depend

00:23:19on Fiona for adult responses.

00:23:21You had to see to her

00:23:22constantly.

00:23:25Well, that's it.

00:23:25Being married to Fiona

00:23:26was like being married

00:23:27to a demanding child,

00:23:29to a little girl

00:23:30who refused to grow up.

00:23:39The case of the Queen

00:23:58against Grey

00:23:58will be resumed tomorrow

00:24:00in the Crown Court.

00:24:01Thank you very much.

00:24:31On June the 28th, Rick Gray returned home

00:24:38to find his luxury house in flames.

00:24:41His wife, Fiona, and their two children,

00:24:42Terence and Adrian, were safe,

00:24:44but it seemed the fire had been started deliberately.

00:24:47Further investigations have resulted in a charge of arson

00:24:50against his wife, Fiona Gray.

00:24:52Evidence so far presented in the Crown Court

00:24:55would seem to suggest that Mrs Gray had,

00:24:57on more than one occasion,

00:24:59threatened to burn the family home down.

00:25:01Mr Gray, who is in the process of divorcing his wife,

00:25:04has just finished saying that life with her

00:25:06was like living with a demanding child

00:25:08who refused to grow up.

00:25:10Now, I have only a few more questions, Mr Gray.

00:25:13On the morning of June the 28th,

00:25:15just as you were leaving for work,

00:25:17your wife told you of her affair with Gilbert Brinsley,

00:25:19is that right?

00:25:19Yes, that's right.

00:25:20Now, how did she tell you this precisely?

00:25:23Proudly? Defiantly?

00:25:25Well, no, she was rather subdued about it.

00:25:28Indifferent, then? Ashamed?

00:25:29No, no, no. It's difficult to recall exactly.

00:25:31She was very upset, I remember that.

00:25:33Crying, you mean?

00:25:34Well, yes.

00:25:35More ashamed than anything else?

00:25:37Possibly, yes.

00:25:38And you tried to find out the whys and wherefores of the matter, did you?

00:25:41Sorry?

00:25:41Well, since your wife had freely confessed to this affair,

00:25:45you were obviously concerned to know what had led her to it.

00:25:49I didn't ask any questions, if that's what you mean.

00:25:51Not then, or at any other time.

00:25:52No.

00:25:53Yet you did consider it extraordinary behaviour, Mr Gray.

00:25:56Well, she'd never done anything like it before, to the best of my knowledge.

00:25:59And she was in tears and asking you to forgive her?

00:26:01No, she never said anything like that.

00:26:03Well, a woman doesn't always have to say it, Mr Gray,

00:26:05only to be known someone understands.

00:26:07Miss Tate, I'd just taken too much over the years.

00:26:11It was just one damned thing after another,

00:26:14and adultery just seemed to me to be, well, to be the last straw.

00:26:18So on the morning of June the 28th,

00:26:20you simply left Mrs Gray to the consequences of her remorse,

00:26:23whatever they might be, and you went to work.

00:26:24Well, I honestly couldn't think...

00:26:25Is that true, Mr Gray?

00:26:27Yes, yes, that's true.

00:26:28Now, you tell us that when, on that same morning,

00:26:31you told her that you were taking the boys to your mother's house,

00:26:34she protested only by way of making the right noises.

00:26:38Yes.

00:26:38So when she protested about you having the custody of the children,

00:26:42you told her she didn't really want them,

00:26:43and she was only making the right noises.

00:26:46Yes.

00:26:48Thank you. No further questions?

00:26:50No re-examination.

00:26:51You may stand down, Mr Gray.

00:26:55I call Gilbert Brinsley.

00:26:58Gilbert Edward Brinsley, please.

00:27:04What is your religion?

00:27:17Church of England.

00:27:18Take the testament in your right hand,

00:27:20and read aloud the words on this card.

00:27:23I swear by Almighty God that the evidence I shall give

00:27:25shall be the truth, and all truth is nothing but the truth.

00:27:28You are Gilbert Edward Brinsley,

00:27:29and you live at 43 Otterton Street, Fulchester.

00:27:32That's right.

00:27:32Until August of last year,

00:27:35you were in part-time employment as tutor

00:27:36to an amateur painting group

00:27:38known as the Coldwater Valley Arts Society.

00:27:40I was, yes.

00:27:41What qualified you for that work exactly?

00:27:44I'm an art teacher by profession.

00:27:45The Coldwater Society was one of several that I actually did as tutor to.

00:27:49I run a session there in the village hall on Thursdays,

00:27:52Thursday morning.

00:27:53Mr Brinsley, why did you terminate this employment?

00:27:55It is over, I believe.

00:27:56Yes, there was an embarrassment that I was involved in.

00:28:01I thought it best for all concerned if I resigned.

00:28:04I see.

00:28:05Now, can you tell us something of the composition of the Coldwater Valley Arts Society?

00:28:09What kind of people attended it?

00:28:10How many?

00:28:11It was an ad hoc group like most of these things.

00:28:14The ladies of the village, one old gentleman.

00:28:17I had a hard core of 15 members.

00:28:21Other people dropped in from time to time as the fancy took them.

00:28:24It was fairly informal.

00:28:25Do you know the accused, Fiona Gray?

00:28:28Yes, yes, I do.

00:28:30Mrs Gray was one of my regular pupils.

00:28:34She'd been attending the sessions from December onwards.

00:28:37She'd been introduced by another society member, Mrs Helders.

00:28:40Were you associated with the accused in a rather more intimate way than this, Mr Brinsley?

00:28:44You must answer, you know, Mr Brinsley.

00:28:48We can't avoid this issue.

00:28:50But I object, my lord.

00:28:51I didn't want to come here.

00:28:52I don't see this as anything to do with me.

00:28:54Mr Brinsley.

00:28:54I don't think I should be asked questions like this.

00:28:56Mr Brinsley, this is a court of law and you are here to give evidence.

00:29:00Now, counsel has asked, were you associated with the accused in a rather more intimate way than you have yet indicated?

00:29:06Please answer that question.

00:29:08From April to June last, Fiona Gray and I were lovers.

00:29:11To coin a phrase.

00:29:12What does to coin a phrase mean?

00:29:14Well, it wasn't exactly a grand tempestuous affair, you know.

00:29:18On the contrary, it was very tentative, very, very foolish.

00:29:24It was just at the time I was as lonely as Mrs Gray was desperate.

00:29:28As lonely as she was desperate?

00:29:31Perhaps you'd better tell us about it in detail.

00:29:33Well, it began with my pointing out that her line drawings were rather weak.

00:29:40She agreed that they were.

00:29:42She asked if I'd give her some individual tuition.

00:29:45So I told her to wait behind for half an hour after the session.

00:29:49Well, there was a tenseness about her that I found attractive.

00:29:55It seems that she and her husband were in difficulties.

00:29:58They didn't get on.

00:30:03It got on her mind.

00:30:05Got on her mind, Mr Brinsley?

00:30:08Yes, it aggravated her, irritated her.

00:30:10She seemed to want to get back at her husband.

00:30:12Did she say that to you, that she wanted to get back at her husband?

00:30:15Yes, yes, from time to time.

00:30:17Through an affair with you?

00:30:19Yes, I suppose that's what it came down to.

00:30:22Look, I'm bound to say, though, that from the beginning it was more her idea than mine.

00:30:26If it had been left to me, I don't think I would have followed my inclinations.

00:30:34Look, I don't consider myself a promiscuous sort of person.

00:30:38It's just that I've never been one to form lasting relationships.

00:30:42You see, for most of my adult life, I've had to cope with an invalid mother.

00:30:47So it's meant that marriage has been out of the question.

00:30:50So I've responded to the situation as it presented itself.

00:30:53In any event, Mrs Gray provided you with the encouragement to have an affair with her.

00:30:59Yes.

00:31:00Now, was there anything else that happened during the course of your relationship

00:31:03that persuaded you that Mrs Gray was anxious to use you to injure her husband?

00:31:08Well, you can't always be certain of such things.

00:31:12Fiona was a very tense and anxious woman.

00:31:13She didn't always say what she thought.

00:31:15Please, Mr Brinsley, was there anything else?

00:31:19Again, I must insist that you answer, Mr Brinsley.

00:31:22You know, really, you gain nothing at all by hesitating in this deliberately bashful manner.

00:31:27It isn't bashfulness, my lord.

00:31:28One day in June, when we were alone together, Fiona...

00:31:33Fiona said that she wanted to really hurt her husband.

00:31:38She wanted me to help her.

00:31:39She had a plan.

00:31:41One Sunday, she was going to get her husband and the children out of the house

00:31:44and I was to set fire to the place.

00:31:48He would come home and find the charred embers.

00:31:52I see.

00:31:53And how did you respond to this suggestion, Mr Brinsley?

00:31:56Naturally, I didn't take it seriously for a minute.

00:31:59I told her not to be so stupid.

00:32:02But then, as we know, a fortnight later, there was a fire.

00:32:05Now, after the conversation in which you refused to have anything to do with her plan to set fire to the house,

00:32:09did you see Mrs Gray again?

00:32:11No.

00:32:12Did you try to?

00:32:14Yes, I telephoned her.

00:32:16She said she didn't want anything more to do with me.

00:32:19It was all over.

00:32:19Thank you, Mr Brinsley.

00:32:22Mr Tate?

00:32:23Mr Brinsley, did Mrs Gray often talk stupidly in your presence?

00:32:27I beg your pardon?

00:32:28Well, you've just told us of a pretty alarming suggestion she made to you about her husband's house,

00:32:33but you seem not to have been particularly bothered by it.

00:32:35You merely dismissed it as talking stupidly.

00:32:38Well, Fiona didn't always think before she spoke.

00:32:40Well, how then to be certain what she truly meant and what she didn't about anything?

00:32:46Yes.

00:32:46Can you swear that when she turned to you for love, it was only to get back at her husband?

00:32:52Well, she said she wanted to get back at him.

00:32:54I suppose it came down to that.

00:32:56Your own easy charm had nothing to do with it.

00:32:58Oh, what sort of a question is that?

00:33:00I don't think that...

00:33:00Well, wasn't it obvious to you that she was a woman deprived of love, starved of it even,

00:33:05and that that was why she turned to you?

00:33:07Well, there was something of that in it.

00:33:09I don't deny it.

00:33:09Oh, really, Miss Tate, you must be more particular with your questions.

00:33:12Now, Mr Brinsley, did she ever say to you that she needed love or affection or anything like that?

00:33:17Yes, yes, sometimes she did say things like that.

00:33:22Now, you've told us that when it came to the act of love between you and Mrs Gray,

00:33:26it was more her idea than yours.

00:33:29Yes.

00:33:29Can you amplify that remark, please?

00:33:32Do you mean give details?

00:33:34Really, Mr Brinsley, for a man who can distinguish so well between what it is to be promiscuous

00:33:38and what to respond to a situation, you are remarkably reticent.

00:33:43But I'll put the question in another way.

00:33:46Did you seduce Fiona Gray or did she seduce you?

00:33:50Look, it wasn't like that.

00:33:52Look, I've told you, it was very reluctant and shy.

00:33:54You've no right to put it in those terms.

00:33:57Because, as I recall, it began when I touched her hand.

00:34:00I was trying to show her how a line should go.

00:34:03But I knew the moment I touched her hand that that's what she wanted.

00:34:07She was trembling.

00:34:10She looked at me.

00:34:11I just knew.

00:34:12And this brazen absence of restraint on the part of a married woman

00:34:16was enough to make the whole affair more her idea than yours?

00:34:19You don't understand.

00:34:20Oh, I think I do understand, Mr Brinsley.

00:34:22I understand very well.

00:34:24Now, what sort of person did you find Fiona Gray to be in that brief period that you were lovers?

00:34:28Was she a confident person, independent-minded?

00:34:31No, no.

00:34:32Quite the contrary.

00:34:33Insecure, then?

00:34:34In need of constant reassurance and encouragement?

00:34:37Yes, basically.

00:34:38A child, in fact.

00:34:40Well...

00:34:40A just yes or no, Mr Brinsley?

00:34:43Well, yes, but let's get one thing straight.

00:34:46Fiona Gray had her own subtle way of controlling a situation.

00:34:50I mean, though she tried very hard to convince you she was all desperately helpless,

00:34:54in a strange way, she was the stronger.

00:34:56I mean, she wanted me to burn her husband's house down.

00:34:58And if I'd been a tiny bit more under a spell, I might even have done it.

00:35:03Look, she could manipulate people.

00:35:05She could bewitch them.

00:35:07Do you know, Mr Brinsley, I don't suppose that excuse has been used in a court of law since the 17th century?

00:35:12So now, Fiona Gray is a witch who compelled a virtuous man to her bed by the black arts.

00:35:18You found an insecure, emotionally deprived woman, and you used her for your own purposes, Mr Brinsley.

00:35:26You did not respond to a situation, but you merely acted selfishly and without principles.

00:35:31It was not a case of her starting an affair and trying to use you,

00:35:35but of you acting as an old-fashioned seducer of an insecure and unstable woman.

00:35:40My lord, I intend to call only two witnesses for the defence,

00:35:55the accused herself and Dr Lavinia Coey.

00:35:58Now, as the evidence of the accused may be a prolonged affair,

00:36:02and Dr Coey is a professional woman who is already in court,

00:36:05I wondered if we could hear her evidence first.

00:36:07Well, that would depend, Miss Tate. Mr Lloyd, do you have any objection to this?

00:36:11Am I to understand that Dr Coey is being called to give expert evidence and for no other reason?

00:36:15That is so, my lord.

00:36:16Then I don't think I have any reasonable objection.

00:36:17Then you may proceed, Miss Tate.

00:36:20Thank you, my lord.

00:36:21Call Dr Lavinia Coey.

00:36:24Dr Lavinia Coey, please.

00:36:25What is your religion?

00:36:38I'm Jewish.

00:36:39Place your right hand on the testament and read aloud the words on this card.

00:36:43I swear by almighty God that the evidence I shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

00:36:48You are Lavinia Coey MB and you live at 114 Bright Street, Fulchester.

00:36:52Yes.

00:36:53And you're the holder of the Diploma of Clinical Psychology,

00:36:56and at present you're working in the psychiatric department of the Fulchester South Hospital.

00:37:00That is correct.

00:37:01Dr Coey, would it be true to say that persons with psychological disorders can be walking about and doing things

00:37:07and yet be unaware of what they're doing, almost like sleepwalkers?

00:37:11Yes, that is quite true.

00:37:12Is this state known as automatism?

00:37:14Yes, it is.

00:37:15Now, Dr Coey, are you acquainted with the accused in this case, Mrs Fiona Gray?

00:37:20I am.

00:37:21Mrs Gray came to see me in September last on the recommendation of her GP.

00:37:26She was in a highly distraught condition.

00:37:28Her doctor was very worried about her.

00:37:30Did you see Mrs Gray on this one occasion in September, or were there other encounters?

00:37:34I saw Mrs Gray three times in all, the last session being in mid-October.

00:37:38I would have liked to have continued to treat her, but Mrs Gray chose otherwise.

00:37:43Chose otherwise?

00:37:44Well, yes, unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, who can say?

00:37:48You see, in my branch of medicine, you can't compel the sick person.

00:37:51It isn't like a casualty where, say to someone, they've got a broken leg,

00:37:55you must keep the leg in plaster for a month.

00:37:57You have to have the free consent of the person to be treated.

00:38:01But you had no doubt in your mind, Dr Coey, that Mrs Gray was a sick woman who needed treatment.

00:38:05I felt she needed help.

00:38:08There's a distinction?

00:38:09Oh, yes.

00:38:10Yes, indeed.

00:38:11You see, Mrs Gray first came to see me three months after the burning down of her house.

00:38:17She was not in a state of crisis then, but she was extremely reticent.

00:38:23In fact, all that emerged was that she was deeply upset and distraught,

00:38:28and it was really difficult to make a totally satisfactory diagnosis.

00:38:32Now, in saying that Mrs Gray was reticent, do you mean that she refused to speak to you about certain things, Dr Coey?

00:38:37Well, yes, yes, there were blocks.

00:38:39For instance, towards the end of the first session, I asked her the usual questions about her background, childhood, and so on.

00:38:45Well, she evaded these, and I got the impression that she was annoyed with me.

00:38:49Then, when she arrived for the next appointment, she had a very determined expression on her face.

00:38:54She said she had something to tell me.

00:38:57She said that she'd made up her mind that she did not want to discuss her childhood at all.

00:39:02It had been a happy and luminous time for her, and she didn't want it spoiled by my questions.

00:39:08She was quite blunt, uncompromised.

00:39:11How did you react to that, Dr Coey?

00:39:12Well, I was surprised at first, but then I realised that she needed to believe that.

00:39:18You see, Mrs Gray had been all her life a person who had depended on others for her emotional security.

00:39:26Depended excessively, I mean.

00:39:28For instance, her demands on her husband were extraordinary, apparently.

00:39:33But all that that meant was that she needed his strength so much

00:39:38that she had to make him go on proving that he possessed it.

00:39:42I see.

00:39:43And would you call that a normal human condition, Dr Coey?

00:39:46Or a neurotic one?

00:39:47Oh, it's neurotic, of course.

00:39:49But on the other hand, it doesn't automatically mean it's disabling.

00:39:53I mean, lots of people lead lives of critical emotional dependence

00:39:57and don't fail to be useful human beings for all that, particularly women.

00:40:01Women, Dr Coey?

00:40:02Oh, yes.

00:40:03Well, down the centuries, women have been kept in a subservient position.

00:40:08And, of course, this tends to make them more emotionally dependent than men.

00:40:13Their husbands and fathers prefer it that way, I'm afraid.

00:40:16Even in our enlightened age.

00:40:19And would you say that something of this syndrome existed in Mrs Gray?

00:40:23Oh, unquestionably.

00:40:24You see, her education, for instance, hadn't been at all adequate to her intellect.

00:40:29There'd been the early marriage, effectively transferring her directly from her father's care to her husband's,

00:40:35and then pregnancy, restrictive domestic ties almost at once.

00:40:39Now, in April of last year, Mrs Gray took a lover, the tutor of the art group that she attended.

00:40:44Did she tell you anything of this?

00:40:45Yes.

00:40:46Yes.

00:40:46Yes, it interested me very much because, well, from what I could discover about her,

00:40:51it was an utterly uncharacteristic action.

00:40:55Uncharacteristic action?

00:40:56It didn't seem to fit in at all with Mrs Gray's scale of values.

00:41:01She obviously felt a great deal of remorse about it.

00:41:04Well, then I found out that the reason that she'd taken up with the art tutor was

00:41:09because she had wanted her husband to put the family home in her name, as well as his own,

00:41:16and that after a great deal of argument, he'd refused.

00:41:20Something of an overreaction on Mrs Gray's part, surely?

00:41:23Well, it apparently meant a great deal to her to be the joint owner of the house she lived in.

00:41:29Well, it struck me as a sudden assertion of an independent personality,

00:41:34a symbol of an awakening maturity.

00:41:37Maturity?

00:41:38Well, yes.

00:41:40Women forced all their lives to be emotionally dependent, as Mrs Gray seems to have been,

00:41:45well, they are condemned to a sort of prolonged childhood.

00:41:49Although they become grown women, they really remain little girls.

00:41:52With the husband taking over the responsibility from where the father left off.

00:41:58Well, that's quite all right, as long as they actually don't start to grow up.

00:42:01But if the maturing process begins, well, there can be fireworks.

00:42:07Miss Tate, this is all very interesting, but when shall we come to the point?

00:42:10I won't be long, my lord.

00:42:12Very well.

00:42:13What do you mean by fireworks exactly, Dr Coey?

00:42:15What happens?

00:42:17Well, obviously that varies with individual cases,

00:42:19but, you see, when there's a waking up to the fact that the personality is in chains,

00:42:25only half free, so to speak,

00:42:27well, there can be vast upsets.

00:42:29These can take the outward form of complaints and accusations.

00:42:34Against the husband?

00:42:35Well, yes, and then the tension becomes unbearable,

00:42:37and then there has to be a positive, resolving action.

00:42:42Now, are you saying, Dr Coey,

00:42:43that Mrs Gray entered into her affair with Gilbert Brinsley

00:42:47as what might be described as an assertion of her growing maturity?

00:42:52No, no, no.

00:42:53Well, nothing is quite as simple as that,

00:42:55but what I am saying is that after the rejection by her husband

00:42:59over the matter of the house,

00:43:00she needed desperately to do something

00:43:03to convince herself that she was a person in her own right

00:43:06and not merely his shadow.

00:43:09Now, to come to the burning of the house, Dr Coey,

00:43:11you've told us that psychological disorders

00:43:13can affect a person's consciousness.

00:43:16Now, could Mrs Gray have been in a cloud

00:43:18at an unclear state of mind when she burned down the house?

00:43:21Oh, yes, almost necessarily, I should have said,

00:43:24in an even worse condition, in trauma.

00:43:27Like a sleepwalker?

00:43:28Yes.

00:43:28Thank you, Dr Coey.

00:43:32Lloyd?

00:43:33Dr Coey, did you ask Mrs Gray why she set fire to the house?

00:43:38Oh, yes, of course.

00:43:39She said she hadn't any idea at all.

00:43:42Did you believe that statement?

00:43:43Well, I had no reason not to.

00:43:46It certainly seemed a very odd thing for her to have done.

00:43:49Why odd?

00:43:50Well, it didn't measure up or equate with the stress,

00:43:55as we say in clinical terms.

00:43:57See, on the morning of the burning,

00:43:58being very much ashamed,

00:44:00Mrs Gray had told her husband of her affair with Gilbert Brinsley.

00:44:04She had hoped for forgiveness,

00:44:06but instead she received harshness.

00:44:09Her husband said he would have to seek a divorce.

00:44:11Well, that meant, you see,

00:44:13that perhaps childlike she would have to seek a revenge.

00:44:18But to burn down the house, no.

00:44:20No, that's altogether too extreme.

00:44:22Dr Coey, by your own admission,

00:44:24it was three months after she committed her act of arson,

00:44:27after she burnt down the house,

00:44:29that you first met Mrs Gray, wasn't it?

00:44:31Yes.

00:44:31Then you can't possibly know the state of her mind on the night of June the 28th, can you?

00:44:35Well, I can reason it out with a fair degree of probability from what she told me.

00:44:39After all, that's part of my job.

00:44:41Yes, but we do have evidence before the court that suggests quite clearly

00:44:44she was not in a sleepwalking state on that night,

00:44:46but that she recognised people and answered their questions.

00:44:48Her neighbours she even addressed by name.

00:44:50They're not my children, Bobby, they're his.

00:44:52Mr Lloyd, there is the simple fact of the children being in the house.

00:44:57Well, surely you realise that no mother could consciously burn down the house

00:45:02in which her children were sleeping.

00:45:03It's ridiculous.

00:45:04Why is it?

00:45:04It may be even more calculated than we've yet allowed.

00:45:07Perhaps she reasoned that a sheet of flame in this populated area

00:45:11would quickly bring people and her children would be rescued.

00:45:14Her main concern was to perpetrate a gross and irresponsible act of revenge on her husband.

00:45:19what used at one time to be called a vicious deed.

00:45:22Yes, well, perhaps, but I don't happen to accept those glib 19th century categories.

00:45:28Any more than this court necessarily accepts your glib, up-to-date categories, Doctor?

00:45:33If you really don't think that people are capable of being malicious, wicked and evil,

00:45:37then your experience is very different from that of men of the law.

00:45:41We are not here to find excuses for the actions of the accused.

00:45:45We are here to judge her impartially

00:45:47and to see if those actions have resulted in a crime.

00:45:50It really is very important for us to understand the state of mind of Mrs Gray

00:45:54at the time of the fire, Doctor Coey.

00:45:56Now, you've spoken of a traumatic condition,

00:45:59and yet you say you find the burning down of the house

00:46:01is altogether too extreme a reaction to the stress under which Mrs Gray was laboring.

00:46:06Yes. Yes, I do.

00:46:07Well, you see, there remains an area of doubt, doesn't there?

00:46:10And unless you can resolve that for us, we're really very little advanced.

00:46:14Thank you, my lord.

00:46:16So, Dr Coey, you don't think that the accused would be capable of consciously setting fire to a house

00:46:21in which her children were sleeping?

00:46:22No.

00:46:23No normal mother would consciously do such a thing.

00:46:26Any more than she would consciously commit adultery?

00:46:30I beg your pardon?

00:46:31Yes, another glib 19th century category, Doctor.

00:46:34Doctor, it seems to me that in your book, the accused can do no wrong.

00:46:38Because her husband refuses to put the house in her name as well as his own,

00:46:42she quite rightly goes and has an affair with Gilbert Brinsley.

00:46:45And because her monster husband then asks for a divorce,

00:46:48she quite rightly goes and burns his house down.

00:46:50You can make a cheap joke of anything if you put your mind to it.

00:46:53Perhaps if you understood the pain that psychologically disturbed persons suffer,

00:46:58you wouldn't be quite so witty.

00:47:00Doctor, is everything that psychologically disturbed persons do a compulsive action?

00:47:04I don't understand.

00:47:05Well, if I, as a psychologically disturbed person, go out and rob a bank,

00:47:09is that ipso facto an act to which I am driven,

00:47:11or may it not also be a willful and criminal act?

00:47:14Well, of course it may.

00:47:16The kind of actions to which psychologically disturbed persons are driven

00:47:19will be within the terms of their particular neurosis.

00:47:22Actions which are therefore explicable, at least by an expert.

00:47:25Yes.

00:47:26Well, my dear doctor, in this case you are the expert,

00:47:30and you have failed to give us an explanation of the accused actions.

00:47:34You have told his lordship that you don't know why she burnt the house down.

00:47:39No, it is true that I don't.

00:47:41But Mrs. Grey would not permit deep analysis when she came to see me.

00:47:45A reason would have emerged from that.

00:47:47I have no doubt of it.

00:47:48A reason emerges now, doctor, clear as a crystal.

00:47:51It's just that you refuse to admit it.

00:47:53It was a deliberate act.

00:47:55It was an act of revenge directed against her husband,

00:47:59just as the adultery was such an act.

00:48:01Mrs. Grey is not a psychologically disturbed person, doctor.

00:48:05She's simply an old-fashioned, faithless wife.

00:48:08And before this court, she is a criminal.

00:48:10And before this court, she is a criminal.

00:48:40The case of the Queen against Grey will be resumed tomorrow in the Crown Court.

00:48:46The End

00:48:51THE END

00:49:21THE EXCLUSIVE COLD WATER VALLEY

00:49:23OUTSIDE FULCHESTER

00:49:24TODAY ENTERS ITS FINAL STAGES

00:49:27THE DEFENSE SO FAR HAS CONCENTRATED

00:49:30ON MRS GRAY'S STATE OF MIND

00:49:31AT THE TIME SHE FIRED THE BUNGALOW

00:49:33AND HAS TRIED TO SHOW

00:49:34THAT SHE WAS IN A CONDITION OF AUTOMATISM

00:49:37THAT IS TO SAY

00:49:38UNAWARE OF WHAT SHE WAS ACTUALLY DOING

00:49:40AND THEREFORE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR IT

00:49:42UNDER CROSS-EXAMINATION

00:49:45A PSYCHIATRIST WHO TREATED MRS GRAY

00:49:47HAS HAD TO ADMIT

00:49:48THAT BOTH MRS GRAY'S ADULTRY

00:49:50WITH GILBERT BRINSLEY

00:49:51AN ART TUTOR

00:49:52AND THE FIRING OF THE HOUSE

00:49:53WERE EXTREME REACTIONS

00:49:55TO STRESSES IMPOSED ON HER

00:49:57BY HER LIFE

00:49:58AS AN IMMATURE WIFE AND MOTHER

00:50:00CONDEMNED

00:50:01TO A KIND OF

00:50:02ENDURING CHILDHOOD

00:50:03HOWEVER

00:50:05THE ACCUSED

00:50:06FIONA MARGARET GRAY

00:50:07HAS NOW BEEN CALLED

00:50:09TO GIVE EVIDENCE

00:50:10WHAT IS YOUR RELIGION?

00:50:12CHURCH OF INGLEMENT

00:50:13TAKE THE TESTAMENT IN YOUR RIGHT HAND

00:50:15AND READ ALOUD

00:50:15THE WORDS ON THE CARD

00:50:16I SWEAR BY ALL MIGHTY GOD

00:50:19THAT THE EVIDENCE I GIVE

00:50:20SHALL BE THE TRUTH

00:50:21THE WHOLE TRUTH

00:50:21AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH

00:50:22YOU ARE FIONA MARGARET GRAY

00:50:24AND AT PRESENT YOU'RE LIVING

00:50:25WITH YOUR SISTER

00:50:26AT 23 ARGYLE STREET FOLCHESTER

00:50:29YES

00:50:29NOW DON'T BE AFRAID

00:50:31TO SPEAK UP MRS GRAY

00:50:32THE JURY WANTS TO HEAR

00:50:33EVERYTHING YOU HAVE TO SAY

00:50:34YES

00:50:35YES I'M SORRY

00:50:37NOW MRS GRAY

00:50:38YOU'RE ACCUSED OF HAVING

00:50:39BURNED DOWN YOUR HOME

00:50:40AT NUMBER 7 ADELAID CLOSE

00:50:41WHERE YOU LIVED

00:50:42WITH YOUR HUSBAND

00:50:43AND TWO CHILDREN

00:50:43NOW CAN YOU TELL US

00:50:45IS THERE ANY TRUTH

00:50:46IN THESE ACCUSATIONS?

00:50:48I SUPPOSE THERE MUST BE

00:50:50NOW WHAT DOES THAT MEAN EXACTLY?

00:50:52YES

00:50:53IT'S JUST

00:50:54PEOPLE SAY I DID IT

00:50:56DON'T THEY

00:50:56BOBBY SAYS SHE SAW ME DO IT

00:50:58BOBBY FROM NEXT DOOR

00:51:00RICK'S IN NO DOUBT

00:51:01SO I SUPPOSE I MUST HAVE DONE

00:51:03SO YOU'RE NOT REALLY VERY CLEAR

00:51:05IN YOUR MIND ABOUT IT

00:51:06EVEN NOW

00:51:06YOU'RE STILL CONFUSED

00:51:10I TRIED TO SAY IT

00:51:11TO DR. COHE WHEN I SAW HER

00:51:13IF I BURNED RICK'S HOUSE DOWN

00:51:15I'VE JUST NO IDEA WHY

00:51:17NOW RICK'S HOUSE

00:51:18YOU ALWAYS REGARDED THE BUNGALOW

00:51:20AS RICK'S EXCLUSIVE PROPERTY

00:51:22DID YOU

00:51:22MISSES GRAY CAN YOU REMEMBER

00:51:25ANYTHING OF WHAT HAPPENED

00:51:26ON JUNE THE 28TH?

00:51:28I REMEMBER RICK WAS LATE

00:51:31YES

00:51:32IT HAD BEEN AN AWFUL DAY

00:51:34REALLY

00:51:34BECAUSE JUST THAT MORNING

00:51:36I'D TOLD RICK OF

00:51:37WELL A VERY STUPID MISTAKE I'D MADE

00:51:40AND HE'D THREATENED

00:51:41AND HE'D THREATENED DIVORCE

00:51:41I DIDN'T KNOW WHETHER HE WAS SERIOUS

00:51:43OR IF IT WAS JUST ANOTHER ROW

00:51:44WE'D HAD A LOT OF ROWS

00:51:46ABOUT THAT TIME

00:51:47BELIEVING

00:51:51Rick wouldn't consider me, you see.

00:51:53Not properly.

00:51:54He'd neglect me, then expect me still to be a nice little wife to him.

00:51:59It was his marriage, not mine.

00:52:01Mrs. Gray, this stupid mistake you said you made, what was that?

00:52:06Oh, that was my affair with Gilbert Brinsley, the art tutor.

00:52:10Yes, I can't remember exactly why it happened now.

00:52:13Was it a love affair, Mrs. Gray?

00:52:16Did you love Gilbert Brinsley?

00:52:17No. Oh, no.

00:52:20That's what makes it so extraordinary.

00:52:22We had practically nothing in common.

00:52:23Had you ever been unfaithful to your husband before, Mrs. Gray?

00:52:26No, never in my life.

00:52:28Then why this time?

00:52:29Surely there must have been some particular reason.

00:52:32Well, I can't remember exactly.

00:52:35I was in a pretty bad state of mind when it happened.

00:52:38I remember even when it did happen, it seemed unreal.

00:52:41And afterwards I couldn't, well, get it in perspective.

00:52:46But then Gilbert expected things of me and I had to go on.

00:52:49You were seduced, in other words, were you, Mrs. Gray?

00:52:52A man who was attracted to you took advantage of your depressed mental condition.

00:52:58Yes.

00:52:59Did you feel guilty about the affair?

00:53:02Oh, yes, very guilty.

00:53:03It got to be a pressure, in fact, building up inside me.

00:53:07You see, the reason I'd been depressed in the first place was because I asked Rick to put

00:53:12the family home in my name as well as his, and he refused.

00:53:16That hurt me very much.

00:53:18But why, Mrs. Gray?

00:53:19Why hurt you?

00:53:20Why precisely was it so important to you to have the family house in your name as well

00:53:25as your husband's?

00:53:26I'm not sure now.

00:53:28The house, well, it's the center of your life, isn't it?

00:53:33You've got to feel it's yours.

00:53:35Or you hate it.

00:53:36Mrs. Gray, at a certain stage in your affair with Gilbert Brinsley, you put a certain suggestion

00:53:44to him concerning your husband's house.

00:53:47Yes.

00:53:48Yes.

00:53:48At some time in June, I asked him if he'd help me destroy it by fire.

00:53:52Now, why, Mrs. Gray?

00:53:53Why destroy it and why by fire?

00:53:57Mrs. Gray, it would help your case considerably if you could answer those two questions.

00:54:01You see, throughout this hearing, these two things have puzzled me.

00:54:05Why, no matter what your state of mind, you should have conceived the idea of destroying

00:54:09your husband's property, and then why you should want to do it by burning it down?

00:54:15Now, can you tell us anything at all that will help us?

00:54:21Very well, Mrs. Gray.

00:54:22Let's consider something else, shall we?

00:54:24Your children were in the house when you lit that fire.

00:54:27Were you aware of that?

00:54:29I don't know.

00:54:30I can't remember.

00:54:32Well, you'd apparently just put them to bed before you lit the fire because Terrence

00:54:35was still reading.

00:54:37Now, you don't recollect anything about that?

00:54:39No.

00:54:40As the flames shot out of the garage door, your neighbour, Mrs. Helder, asked you about

00:54:45the boys, and you apparently said to her,

00:54:48they're not my children, Bobby, they're his.

00:54:50Yes.

00:54:51Yes, that's right.

00:54:52You do remember saying those words?

00:54:55No.

00:54:55What I mean is, I understand how I could have said such a thing.

00:54:59It seems it was the way my mind had been going for a long time.

00:55:02You'd really come to the conclusion that the children were more your husbands than your

00:55:06own, you mean?

00:55:06It wasn't quite like that.

00:55:08Well, how was it, Mrs. Gray?

00:55:09Well, I'd come to believe they'd simply be better off as his.

00:55:14I wasn't reliable anymore, you see.

00:55:16I seemed to be such a mess.

00:55:19And that was what you were implying when you said to Mrs. Helder, they're not my children,

00:55:23Bobby, they're his?

00:55:26Where are the boys now, incidentally, Mrs. Gray?

00:55:29Oh, they're with my husband for the time being, at his mother's place.

00:55:34Do you see them?

00:55:35Yes.

00:55:36Oh, yes, whenever I want to.

00:55:38Why aren't they with you, Mrs. Gray?

00:55:40I didn't want that just now.

00:55:43Why not?

00:55:45I thought all this should be cleared up first.

00:55:48I mean, I am a mess, aren't I?

00:55:51I didn't know what mightn't happen.

00:55:54I might even try to hurt them again.

00:55:57By all accounts, I as good as killed them that night.

00:56:00Mrs. Gray, when your neighbour, Mrs. Helder, took you into her house that night, she heard

00:56:09you say, now he'll never love me, never again.

00:56:13I've destroyed his precious house and he'll punish me.

00:56:17Now, do you recall using words like that?

00:56:20No.

00:56:21No, I don't.

00:56:23Mrs. Gray, what do you think you might have meant by those words, if it were impressed

00:56:27upon you that you did use them?

00:56:28I really haven't the faintest idea.

00:56:33Mrs. Gray, could those words refer to your husband?

00:56:36Did he punish you?

00:56:38Were you expecting your husband to strike you, Mrs. Gray?

00:56:44No answer.

00:56:46Well, Miss Tate?

00:56:48No further questions, my lord.

00:56:51Deloitte.

00:56:52Well, Mrs. Gray, you seem to have answered some of the questions my friend has put to

00:56:56you, but then, of course, she has left out the important ones.

00:57:00I want to ask you a few questions about your relationship with your husband.

00:57:04When was it you ceased loving him, precisely?

00:57:06What?

00:57:07I said, when was it you ceased loving your husband?

00:57:10Plainly, there was a time after your marriage when you were in love, and then later...

00:57:13But I never stopped loving Rick, never.

00:57:16Well, it has been testified that you used to criticise him publicly, and make excessive

00:57:20demands on him, and we've even heard from Mr. Gray himself that at a certain point you

00:57:24made it quite clear you wanted nothing more to do with him in a sexual way.

00:57:29Is that true, Mrs. Gray?

00:57:31Well, I didn't say as much, if that's what you mean.

00:57:33It just happened that way.

00:57:35Why?

00:57:35Sometimes in life, you realise the way things have to be.

00:57:40I didn't hate Rick.

00:57:42I didn't even turn against him, as he's saying now.

00:57:45I simply knew that sort of relationship didn't make sense for us any more.

00:57:50That still isn't a reason, Mrs. Gray.

00:57:52Well, then, there isn't one.

00:57:54Goodness, I don't have to stand here answering ridiculous questions like this, do I?

00:57:59Any more than I had to answer that doctor's ridiculous questions about my childhood.

00:58:03My childhood was a marvellous time.

00:58:05By and large, I had a good marriage with Rick, too.

00:58:08If he thought I was cold, then it was his business to do something about it, wasn't it?

00:58:12That's a husband's duty, to cherish his wife.

00:58:15A wife has to respect her husband.

00:58:18Respect, Mrs. Gray?

00:58:19Yes.

00:58:20I always respected Rick.

00:58:21He can't deny it.

00:58:23And I worked hard, looking after his family.

00:58:25What more did he want?

00:58:26Well, then, can you tell the court why it was you got Gilbert Brinsley to try and burn your

00:58:30husband's house down?

00:58:31Why?

00:58:31Yes, we've heard a great deal of endless vague talk about whether you knew

00:58:35what you were doing when you burnt down the house yourself.

00:58:37But nothing about why, at an earlier point, you attempted to co-opt a partner in this crime.

00:58:42I can't remember exactly.

00:58:45I was in a pretty bad state of mind.

00:58:48I suppose I wasn't very serious about it.

00:58:49You were serious enough to form a comprehensive plan.

00:58:52I'm sorry?

00:58:53Mr. Brinsley has testified that the notion was that you would get your husband and children

00:58:56out of the house on Sunday, and that he would then set fire to it on your behalf.

00:59:01Well...

00:59:01Who would be guilty of arson then, Mrs. Gray?

00:59:03You or Mr. Brinsley?

00:59:04Look, it's absurd.

00:59:05It's a good thing that Mr. Brinsley thought it was absurd, as he'd have found himself in

00:59:09the dock today instead of you.

00:59:11Was it not in order to get him to burn the house down that you seduced him?

00:59:15I didn't seduce him.

00:59:18Now, another thing.

00:59:19You tell us that when you said to Mrs. Helder, they're not my children, Bobby, they're his,

00:59:23what you meant was that you'd come to look on yourself as unable to act responsibly as

00:59:27their mother any longer.

00:59:28Yes.

00:59:28Yes, that's true.

00:59:29I would have meant something like that.

00:59:31Ah, yes, of course, would have meant.

00:59:32You don't remember very clearly, do you?

00:59:34You were acting automatically at the time.

00:59:37I suppose I must have been, yes.

00:59:38Yet you recognise Mrs. Helder.

00:59:40You called her Bobby.

00:59:41You recognise your husband moments later, and to his question,

00:59:44what have you done now?

00:59:46You replied, it's what you wanted, isn't it?

00:59:48The finish between us.

00:59:49I've done you a favour.

00:59:50And that was clearly a reference back to your argument of earlier that morning, which

00:59:54you'd remembered there in the middle of your blind, unconscious state.

00:59:58Perhaps, perhaps I was coming back to normal then.

01:00:01You can't tell after...

01:00:02Oh, please.

01:00:02I...

01:00:03The fact is you weren't in a trauma at all, were you, Mrs. Grey?

01:00:06You hated your husband for stating he was seeking a divorce, and you set fire to the

01:00:11house to be revenged on him.

01:00:12No!

01:00:13Well, what else?

01:00:13Just as earlier, you'd have tempted to get Gilbert Brinsley to do the same thing for

01:00:17you.

01:00:17That is a declaration of intent, Mrs. Grey.

01:00:19It is a declaration of intent.

01:00:21That's a dreadful accusation to make.

01:00:23I wouldn't put my children at risk.

01:00:25No woman would.

01:00:25Your children?

01:00:26Your husband's children?

01:00:28I've explained about that.

01:00:29No, you haven't.

01:00:30You actually once told Mrs. Helder that you thought you hated them.

01:00:33Oh, you don't understand.

01:00:34Nobody does.

01:00:35Nobody does.

01:00:36Why do you go on at me?

01:00:40He...

01:00:40He was a hard man.

01:00:44So severe.

01:00:45I tried to make him love me, but it was no use.

01:00:50And that day...

01:00:51That day he found me with the matches.

01:00:53He was so cruel.

01:00:55For my own good, he said.

01:00:57My own good.

01:00:59But he was cruel.

01:01:01Savage.

01:01:16Do you feel well enough now to continue, Mrs. Grey?

01:01:19Yes, my lord.

01:01:20I'm very sorry.

01:01:21Mr. Lloyd?

01:01:23Mrs. Grey, at the time when you were going to see Dr. Coey,

01:01:26why did you refuse to talk about your childhood?

01:01:28I beg your pardon?

01:01:31I said...

01:01:32Look, didn't you hear the question, Mrs. Grey?

01:01:34I'm sorry.

01:01:35I don't think...

01:01:36I'm asking you why, when you went to see Dr. Coey,

01:01:38you refused to talk about your childhood.

01:01:40My childhood?

01:01:41Yes.

01:01:42Well, why should I talk about my childhood?

01:01:44To Dr. Coey or anyone else?

01:01:47There's too much of this prying into people's pasts these days.

01:01:51One's childhood is one's own business.

01:01:53It was a period of considerable distress for you then, was it?

01:01:55No.

01:01:56No, not at all.

01:01:57My childhood was a marvellous period.

01:02:00I was blissfully happy as a child.

01:02:02Tell me about your family.

01:02:04My family?

01:02:05Yes.

01:02:06What about them?

01:02:07Well, anything you like.

01:02:08How many brothers and sisters, your mother, your father?

01:02:10Oh, there were only my sister and myself.

01:02:14My older sister, Dilys.

01:02:15My mother was a gentle, quiet woman whom I never knew very well.

01:02:19She died when I was only eight.

01:02:21And your father?

01:02:22Oh, my father was a wonderful man.

01:02:25He was conscientious and strong-minded.

01:02:28Though I don't think my sister Dilys quite appreciated that.

01:02:31What does that mean, Mrs. Gray?

01:02:32Well, I'm not telling tales.

01:02:36Dilys was just a natural-born rebel, I'm afraid.

01:02:38See, my father didn't believe in higher education for women.

01:02:41But Dilys wanted to go to university after school.

01:02:44In the end, she did, in spite of all my father's objections.

01:02:47Until you were married, did you always live with your father?

01:02:50Or did he send you away at any time?

01:02:52Send me away?

01:02:54Why should he send me away?

01:02:56Well, who knows?

01:02:57To school, perhaps.

01:02:58I always lived with him.

01:03:01Thank you, Mrs. Gray.

01:03:03Miss Tate?

01:03:04Your father didn't approve of higher education for women.

01:03:08No.

01:03:09Did that affect you, Mrs. Gray?

01:03:10Did you yourself desire to take up higher education after school?

01:03:13Mrs. Gray, you must attend to what I'm saying and answer the questions.

01:03:19Were you capable at school?

01:03:21Were you good at your work?

01:03:23Really, I don't know why you're going on about this.

01:03:25I've told you as much about my early life now

01:03:28as any reasonable person could expect to hear.

01:03:30Miss Tate, Mrs. Gray has just expressed a thought

01:03:33that was uppermost in my own mind.

01:03:35My lord, my friend has cross-examined my client about her childhood

01:03:39and I feel that I am entitled to re-examine her on that topic.

01:03:42Very well, Miss Tate.

01:03:43I must rely on your good sense to know when to stop.

01:03:46Well, what happened next, Mrs. Gray?

01:03:48Did you take a job?

01:03:49No.

01:03:50Various types of positions were suggested

01:03:52but somehow nothing entirely suitable ever seemed to turn up.

01:03:55Again, it was your father who made the decision?

01:03:58That's ridiculous.

01:03:59There were all sorts of other considerations by now.

01:04:02In any case, with Dillis gone, my father was quite alone in our home.

01:04:05I began to see it as my duty to look after him.

01:04:08And your father encouraged this point of view, no doubt.

01:04:10But he was a good man.

01:04:13He thought of me, not himself.

01:04:15He had a bad heart and was worried about what might happen.

01:04:18He said I should think of getting married.

01:04:20Did you want to marry Mrs. Gray?

01:04:21Well, I hadn't thought much about it.

01:04:23I was only 19.

01:04:25What concerned me more was, well,

01:04:28if my father were to die, say,

01:04:30what could I do?

01:04:32Where would I be then?

01:04:33You're saying that you were utterly dependent upon your father

01:04:37and that life without him seemed inconceivable?

01:04:43Now listen, Mrs. Gray, this is very important to your case.

01:04:47The court is being most indulgent in allowing me to question you in this way.

01:04:50I am trying to help you.

01:04:52Why did you marry Rick Gray?

01:04:56He came to the house one night.

01:04:59It was something to do with some advertising.

01:05:01His firm was arranging for my father.

01:05:03And Rick was the bright young man who was supposed to solve all the problems.

01:05:07It was evident my father liked him.

01:05:10It was evident Rick liked me.

01:05:13He came back often.

01:05:14My father made no objection when he asked to take me out.

01:05:17Have there been any other young man in your life?

01:05:19A couple?

01:05:20But my father did...

01:05:21Your father didn't approve?

01:05:23So in the end it was your father who chose a husband for you, was it?

01:05:27And very soon you woke up with two children by a man you didn't even like very much,

01:05:31only respected and depended upon utterly,

01:05:34just as you'd respected and depended upon your father before him.

01:05:38Mrs. Gray, did you hate your husband as cordially as you'd hated your father?

01:05:42I didn't hate my father.

01:05:44I loved him.

01:05:45My fa...

01:05:46My father was a fine man.

01:05:49But very stern.

01:05:51All my life he'd been strict.

01:05:54There...

01:05:55There was a cellar where I used to play from time to time.

01:06:00I was about ten, I think.

01:06:03It was a dark and cold place.

01:06:06I was in a black state after my mother died.

01:06:09Nobody knows what that's like for a child.

01:06:11I played a game in which I was surviving against odds in some barren, icy landscape.

01:06:20The Arctic, perhaps.

01:06:22The game involved little scraps of food, splinters of wood,

01:06:27because I used to light tiny fires to keep myself warm.

01:06:32One day...

01:06:33One day my father came into the cellar while I was preparing one of these games.

01:06:38He saw the little fire I'd built, the matches, the remains of other fires.

01:06:44Suddenly, suddenly he was monstrously angry.

01:06:48I didn't know anyone could be so angry.

01:06:50He said I was trying to destroy everything he'd built up in his whole life.

01:06:55He said I was trying to kill him.

01:06:57He punished me, then locked me up in my room for a day,

01:07:04while he said he was deciding whether I should stay with him,

01:07:08or shouldn't be put somewhere else.

01:07:13Nothing...

01:07:14Nothing I said made any difference.

01:07:17Then or later, he wasn't interested in me,

01:07:22only in my being a good little girl.

01:07:27Mrs. Gray,

01:07:30was all this in your mind on June the 28th last,

01:07:34the day you set fire to your husband's house?

01:07:37If...

01:07:38If only Rick

01:07:39had put the house in my name too,

01:07:42when I asked him to,

01:07:45that would have shown

01:07:46he saw me as his equal at least.

01:07:49Not like my father.

01:07:52Not the same.

01:07:57Very well, Mrs. Gray,

01:07:59you may return to the dock.

01:08:00That concludes the case for the defense.

01:08:10Mr. Lyon?

01:08:16Members of the jury,

01:08:18it is beyond doubt Fiona Gray has had a hard life.

01:08:20It is beyond doubt she was misunderstood as a child,

01:08:23and it is beyond doubt she is a neurotic woman

01:08:24who deserves our sympathy.

01:08:26But it is also beyond doubt

01:08:28that on the evening of June the 28th of last year,

01:08:30she set fire to and destroyed the house in which she lived,

01:08:33and setting fire to that house was arson,

01:08:35and that is a criminal act.

01:08:37As it is beyond doubt that she did set fire to the house,

01:08:39her only defense is that when she committed this criminal act,

01:08:42she was in a state of automatism

01:08:44and totally and utterly unaware of her actions.

01:08:46But I maintain that this defense does not stand for these reasons.

01:08:50Dr. Coey, called by the defense as an expert witness,

01:08:53has admitted that Mrs. Gray's actions on the night of June the 28th

01:08:57were not a direct result of her neurosis,

01:08:59and in fact did not remotely equate to the stresses on her.

01:09:03On the night of the fire,

01:09:04she plainly recognized and spoke to her neighbor,

01:09:06she plainly recognized and spoke to her husband,

01:09:09easily referring back to a conversation of earlier that morning.

01:09:12And whatever she meant by her strange remark,

01:09:14they're not my children, Bobby, they're his,

01:09:16she was by virtue of saying it,

01:09:18telling Mrs. Helder she was aware the children were in the house.

01:09:21And finally, if indeed she had been acting automatically on the night,

01:09:25why is it that her husband, her lover and her neighbor do not believe her?

01:09:30Setting fire to the house was an act

01:09:32which she had consciously discussed before,

01:09:34and I believe it was consciously committed on the night of June the 28th.

01:09:38And I must ask you, regardless of any personal sympathy

01:09:41you may well have for Mrs. Gray,

01:09:42to fulfill your lawful obligations as jurors,

01:09:45and on the evidence,

01:09:47find Fiona Gray guilty as she is charged.

01:09:53Members of the jury,

01:09:54I think it is very obvious to all in this court today

01:09:56that Fiona Gray is a sick woman in desperate need of help.

01:10:00She is also a woman very much alone.

01:10:02We've seen how her husband, her lover,

01:10:04and her neighbor have all given evidence against her,

01:10:07and we've heard that she's been separated from her children for several months now.

01:10:12Fiona Gray is a woman who did not receive the education

01:10:15to allow her to reach her full potential.

01:10:17All her life she has depended upon others,

01:10:19first her father and later her husband.

01:10:22But after the second child was born,

01:10:25then she ceased to be this quiet, submissive wife

01:10:28and suddenly began to want to establish herself as a person in her own right.

01:10:33Finally, when after confessing to her husband about the lover,

01:10:37he told her that he wanted a divorce,

01:10:39she completely went to pieces and acted the way she did.

01:10:42I put it to you, members of the jury,

01:10:44that Fiona Gray did not know what she was doing

01:10:46when she lit the fire in that garage.

01:10:48Her children were in the house as she saw the flames enveloping it.

01:10:52At this very moment, members of the jury,

01:10:54Mrs. Gray is keeping herself away from her children

01:10:56in fear that she might hurt them.

01:10:58Is that a woman who would have deliberately lit a fire in a house

01:11:02knowing her children to be in it?

01:11:05Dr. Cowie told us that she is a sick woman

01:11:07in desperate need of help

01:11:08and asking for the help in the only way she knows how.

01:11:12I do not believe that she was responsible

01:11:14for what she did on the night of June the 28th.

01:11:17And consequently, I ask you to find her not guilty of the charge of arson.

01:11:22Members of the jury, you have a difficult task before you.

01:11:25What you have now to decide, reduced to its simplest terms, is

01:11:29did Mrs. Gray know what she was doing when she acted in that manner?

01:11:35Now, there is little doubt that Mrs. Gray is a neurotic and unhappy woman.

01:11:40But unhappiness and desperation do not constitute a compulsion.

01:11:44Men and women who find their personal problems unbearable

01:11:48do frequently and in full consciousness commit crimes.

01:11:52And though we may sympathize with their circumstances,

01:11:54this in no way justifies their behavior.

01:11:59Automatism, however, is a condition

01:12:00in which a person ceases to be responsible for his actions.

01:12:05And it follows, therefore,

01:12:06that he cannot subsequently be held responsible for those actions.

01:12:11Members of the jury, it is for you to decide,

01:12:14did Mrs. Fiona Gray know what she was doing

01:12:16when on June the 28th she set fire to and destroyed her husband's home

01:12:21in that close.

01:12:25We will now retire and consider our verdict.

01:12:27All stand.

01:12:32Members of the jury, will your foreman please stand?

01:12:35Just answer this question, yes or no.

01:12:39Have you reached a verdict upon which you are all agreed?

01:12:41Yes.

01:12:42Do you find the prisoner Fiona Gray guilty or not guilty of arson?

01:12:47Guilty.

01:12:48Is that the verdict of you all?

01:12:49Yes.

01:12:50Next week, you can join another jury when our cameras return

01:13:04to watch a leading case in the Crown Court.

Crown Court - There was a Little Girl (1973)

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