- 16 hours ago
Crown Court: the gripping courtroom drama from the 1970s and 1980s.
"A 15-year-old schoolgirl has given birth to an illegitimate baby. Within a week of the birth, the body of the baby had been found buried in the girl's back garden by police acting on a tip-off. The schoolgirl's father (the baby's grandfather) has been charged with the murder of the baby after it was discovered that the infant had been strangled." - IMDB
"A 15-year-old schoolgirl has given birth to an illegitimate baby. Within a week of the birth, the body of the baby had been found buried in the girl's back garden by police acting on a tip-off. The schoolgirl's father (the baby's grandfather) has been charged with the murder of the baby after it was discovered that the infant had been strangled." - IMDB
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00:00On October the 28th last, 15-year-old Mary Collins gave birth to an illegitimate and premature baby.
00:00:17A few days later, the police exhumed the body of a baby boy from the back garden of this house.
00:00:23The Home Office pathologist, Professor Stone, revealed that prior to burial, the child had been strangled.
00:00:28Two days later, Dominic Collins, Mary's father, was arrested and charged with murdering the child.
00:00:35His trial by jury begins today in Fulchester Crown Court before Mr Justice Bragg.
00:00:40Changes in the child's lungs, changes in the child's heart and circulatory system, the presence of food in the stomach, and changes in the umbilicus which occurred 24 to 36 hours after birth.
00:01:05And from your examination, Professor, what did you deduce?
00:01:08The child was born live.
00:01:09So Mary Collins gave birth to a live child.
00:01:12That is so, ma'am.
00:01:13If you wish, I can enumerate the various tests I undertook on the body of the child.
00:01:17No, I don't think that will be necessary, Professor.
00:01:19I'm in favour of keeping the evidence as simple as possible.
00:01:21Miss Tate?
00:01:22Oh, like you, my lord, I believe in keeping things simple.
00:01:25Mr Fry?
00:01:26No, I can't promise that I won't have to go into detail, my lord.
00:01:29Very well, Mr Fry. Continue, Miss Tate.
00:01:31What sex was the child?
00:01:33It was male.
00:01:34A little boy.
00:01:35Were you able to determine the cause of his death?
00:01:38Yes.
00:01:39The body had been wrapped in a piece of blanket, but I was able to establish that the buried child had been asphyxiated almost certainly by strangulation.
00:01:47What indications were there, Professor Stone, which suggested strangulation?
00:01:50There were a number of fingertip bruises and nail imprints found on the neck.
00:01:54The nail imprints are recognised by their crescent shape.
00:01:57Now, as far as you were able to tell from the post-mortem, was the baby otherwise healthy and normal?
00:02:03Yes.
00:02:04It wasn't deformed in any way?
00:02:06No.
00:02:06A perfectly normal birth?
00:02:08Yes.
00:02:09Now, after the body of the little boy was exhumed, you examined the mother, Mary Collins, did you not?
00:02:15I did.
00:02:15Now, it may be part of the defence's case that Mary Collins, who is 15 years of age and still at school, successfully disguised her pregnancy from her parents.
00:02:26Now, Professor Stone, in your opinion, is this possible?
00:02:29I should have thought not, certainly in the intimacy of the normal family circle.
00:02:33Thank you, Professor.
00:02:34Professor, there have been many, many reports, have there not, of cases of disguised pregnancy, even of cases where the mother herself was unaware until the last moment that she was pregnant.
00:02:46Yes, but most of such cases have involved obese, overweight women, whereas Mary Collins is a slimly built small girl of 15.
00:02:55Now, you said that the indications were that the body had been asphyxiated by strangulation.
00:03:00That is correct.
00:03:01And that it had been buried in the Collins' back garden for about six days.
00:03:05Yes, six days.
00:03:06Had there been any decomposition of the body whilst buried, which might have made the results of your examination less precise?
00:03:12No, there was hardly any decomposition at all.
00:03:14The bitterly cold weather at the time would have prevented any rapid decomposition.
00:03:18It would take longer than six days in that cold.
00:03:21Very well, Professor. Let us return to the details of the asphyxiation.
00:03:25Now, you say that there were fingertip bruises and nail imprints on the neck of the child.
00:03:29Yes.
00:03:30Is it not correct that marks very similar to these are produced following a mother's attempt at self-delivery?
00:03:36Yes, that is possible, but on the other hand, when one...
00:03:40A few moments ago, you told the court that, in your opinion, the child had been strangled.
00:03:44Now, we hear that the evidence you relied on could have been interpreted in another way.
00:03:47Come now, Professor, please make up your mind. We are not playing lucky dip.
00:03:50Mr. Fry, you do not have to remind me that we're in a courtroom and not a fairground.
00:03:55If you would kindly permit me to finish what I'm saying...
00:03:57Mr. Fry, I'm quite sure that Professor Stone does not regard this trial as a lucky dip.
00:04:01A lot.
00:04:02Continue, Professor.
00:04:03The point is that there are always a number of factors to take into account when assessing cause of death.
00:04:07Well, in this case, Professor...
00:04:07Apart from the markings on the neck, I found the following.
00:04:10Intense congestion of veins, innumerable petechial haemorrhages, pinpoint blood spots over the skin, heart and lungs,
00:04:18and lastly, frothed fluid in the air passages.
00:04:21Now, these factors, together with the markings on the neck, led me almost without doubt to just one conclusion.
00:04:27And what was that, Professor?
00:04:29Asphyxiation by manual strangulation.
00:04:31You're very positive about that.
00:04:32Yes, I am.
00:04:33As positive as you were in an article you wrote for the Catholic Doctor, a medical publication, on the 4th of January 1971.
00:04:42You are a Catholic, Professor.
00:04:43Yes.
00:04:44I would like, with the court's permission, to read a couple of brief extracts from this article, my lord.
00:04:47My lord, Professor Stone wrote this article two years ago.
00:04:50What possible relevance can it have today?
00:04:53The background and attitude of any witness, particularly an expert witness, can be of great importance, Miss Tate.
00:04:59You may read your extracts, Mr. Fryman.
00:05:01Thank you, my lord.
00:05:02Professor, is it not true that you wrote an article in the Catholic Doctor on infanticide?
00:05:07Yes.
00:05:08In which you said, and I quote,
00:05:09Infanticide is an evil crime which man by his laws forgives more easily than does God.
00:05:15Did you write that?
00:05:15Yes.
00:05:16In the same article you said,
00:05:17It is a crime peculiarly abhorrent to the Catholic, representing as it does the destruction of an innocent human being.
00:05:24You went on to advocate sterner penalties for infanticide, did you not?
00:05:27That is correct.
00:05:28Do you still hold those beliefs, Professor?
00:05:30Yes.
00:05:30Can you honestly swear that your religious beliefs would never influence your evidence?
00:05:34No, sir.
00:05:35Of course I cannot.
00:05:36But in this case, the facts are clear.
00:05:38But with respect, Professor, your evidence also contained opinion.
00:05:42For example, you said that it was possible that the bruises on the child's neck were caused by the mother's desperate attempt at self-delivery.
00:05:48Now you opt for a different conclusion.
00:05:49Mr. Fry, your lordship, my opinion, as you call it, is based on years of experience and study.
00:05:56It is true that I'm a Catholic, but I'm also a forensic pathologist.
00:06:00I submit to two disciplines, and I've never yet known the demands of my church or of my profession to conflict.
00:06:06A final question, Professor.
00:06:08Would it require great strength to strangle a premature child?
00:06:11No, not great strength.
00:06:13Could any person of average strength, man, woman, or child, have strangled this baby?
00:06:19Yes.
00:06:22You may stand down, Professor.
00:06:23My next witness is Mrs. Elaine Hill.
00:06:30Mrs. Elaine Hill, please.
00:06:41Take the testament in your right hand and read aloud the words on the card.
00:06:45I swear by Almighty God that the evidence I shall give should be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
00:06:50Are you Mrs. Elaine Hill of 36 Tenniel Crescent, Fulchester?
00:06:55Yes.
00:06:55You live next door to the Collins?
00:06:57That's right.
00:06:57They live in number 34.
00:06:59On the 3rd of November last, did you go to the police?
00:07:02Yes.
00:07:02Why?
00:07:03Well, I thought it was my duty.
00:07:05You see, it was obvious that Mary Collins had been pregnant, and now suddenly she wasn't.
00:07:10So what had happened to the child?
00:07:12You were worried about the child?
00:07:13Yes.
00:07:14Rightly, as it seems, Mrs. Hill.
00:07:16Now, what made you think that Mary Collins was pregnant?
00:07:19Well, you only had to use your eyes.
00:07:21Mind you, I will say she disguised it well.
00:07:24How?
00:07:25Well, she goes to one of those comprehensive schools where they don't wear school uniform,
00:07:29and for several months she'd worn smocks.
00:07:31That is, when she went to school, she was away a lot of the time.
00:07:35Did you ever have conversation with Mr. Collins or his wife about their daughter's absenteeism?
00:07:40Yes, I asked Mrs. Collins if Mary was ill.
00:07:42And what did she say?
00:07:43She said, no, she wasn't ill.
00:07:44It was something to do with the religious instruction at the school.
00:07:48I believe Mr. Collins is very religious.
00:07:50But you say it was obvious to you that Mary was pregnant?
00:07:53Yes.
00:07:54You must remember I've known Mary ever since the Collins moved into 34.
00:07:58How long is that?
00:07:5911 years.
00:08:00Mary was four when they came.
00:08:02So you know the family well by now?
00:08:04No.
00:08:05Not after 11 years?
00:08:07Well, I don't think anyone can claim to know the Collins well.
00:08:10Why is that?
00:08:10Well, they're not very approachable people, particularly him.
00:08:14And Mr. Collins?
00:08:15Yes.
00:08:16Would you explain that?
00:08:17Well, he has some very strange religious views.
00:08:20He started to explain them to me one day, but I wasn't very interested,
00:08:24so he never spoke to me again.
00:08:26I mean, literally.
00:08:28Not even good morning when I spoke to him first, which I didn't often do.
00:08:31But you were on speaking terms with Mary and Mrs. Collins?
00:08:35Oh, yes.
00:08:36Of course, if Mary was with her father, you never got a chance,
00:08:38but otherwise she was very friendly.
00:08:40And what about her mother?
00:08:42Oh, Evelyn was only too happy to talk to anyone, poor thing.
00:08:45Why poor thing?
00:08:46Well, she couldn't have had much of a life at home.
00:08:48Why not?
00:08:49Well, he treated her as if she didn't exist.
00:08:52I mean, she was left out of everything.
00:08:55I mean, if Mr. Collins went out, he took his daughter with him.
00:08:58He never took his wife.
00:08:59He thought the sun, moon and stars shone out of that child.
00:09:02Would you describe his affection for Mary as obsessive?
00:09:05Lord, quite apart from the fact that my friend is leading the witness,
00:09:08I fail to see what these questions have to do with the case.
00:09:10I will rephrase the question, my lord.
00:09:13Mrs. Hill, would you say that Mr. Collins was devoted to his daughter?
00:09:18Devoted?
00:09:19He was silly about her.
00:09:21I mean, nothing was too good for Mary.
00:09:24The money that was lavished on that child's clothes alone...
00:09:27What made you think that Mary had had the baby?
00:09:30Well, I hadn't seen her for about a week.
00:09:32And then when I did see her, she was obviously slimmer.
00:09:35I mean, she'd either been on the most incredible crash diet,
00:09:38or she'd had it, the child.
00:09:40Did you speak to Mrs. Collins?
00:09:42Yes, I saw her a few days later, and I asked how Mary was,
00:09:45and how she'd managed to lose so much weight all of a sudden.
00:09:49And what did Mrs. Collins say?
00:09:51She said something, did she?
00:09:52No, she didn't.
00:09:52She just ran off, which was very odd for Evelyn.
00:09:56I mean, she usually enjoyed a chat, particularly when he wasn't there.
00:10:00That's Mr. Collins.
00:10:01Yes, it was the only chance she ever got.
00:10:04Now, can you remember an incident taking place in the Collins house
00:10:07shortly before November the 3rd, when you went to the police?
00:10:11Oh, you mean the row?
00:10:14Yes, it was the night of October the 28th.
00:10:16There was a terrible row in the Collins house.
00:10:19A row?
00:10:19Oh, yes, shouting and screaming.
00:10:21You've never heard anything like it.
00:10:22It surprised you?
00:10:23Well, yes, because normally the Collins were as quiet as mice,
00:10:27but you could hear this the other end of the crescent.
00:10:29Did anything else happen?
00:10:31Yes, the morning after, that's after the row,
00:10:34I noticed a small patch of garden had been dug over.
00:10:38You were surprised?
00:10:39Yes.
00:10:40Why?
00:10:40Well, Mr. Collins wasn't a keen gardener at the best of times,
00:10:43and I remember noticing only the day before the state of that vegetable bed,
00:10:48and then suddenly there it was,
00:10:50a small patch of freshly dug garden.
00:10:52Well, I mean, it didn't make sense.
00:10:54Why not?
00:10:55Well, if he was going to dig the garden,
00:10:56he'd have dug the whole bed,
00:10:57not a small patch, four or five feet square.
00:11:00Did you immediately suspect what had happened?
00:11:03No, no, I didn't.
00:11:04To be honest, I didn't connect the row with the garden.
00:11:07When did you do this?
00:11:09Well, a few days later, I saw Mary,
00:11:11and I, well, I simply mentioned that her father had been doing some gardening.
00:11:15Did Mary react?
00:11:16Yes, in the most extraordinary manner.
00:11:19She screamed,
00:11:19Oh, it's all so awful,
00:11:21burst into tears and ran off.
00:11:23And then you went to the police?
00:11:24Well, I talked it over with a friend first,
00:11:26and then I went to the police, yes.
00:11:28Thank you, Mrs. Collins.
00:11:30Mrs. Hill.
00:11:31Wait there, please.
00:11:33Mrs. Hill,
00:11:34why did you wait for a week before you went to the police?
00:11:37Well, I wasn't absolutely sure.
00:11:39I wasn't imagining things.
00:11:41I mean, the only thing I really couldn't understand
00:11:43was how Mary could have got pregnant in the first place.
00:11:46Why?
00:11:46Well, her father never left her out of his sight,
00:11:49and she never went out with boys.
00:11:52In fact, she rarely went out at all.
00:11:54She didn't seem to have any friends come to the house,
00:11:57girls or boys.
00:11:58Well, suppose I'd been imagining it.
00:12:01Suppose Mr. Collins had merely been burying some rubbish in the garden.
00:12:05What made you change your mind?
00:12:06Well, my friend has a daughter who goes to the same school as Mary Collins,
00:12:10and she said there have been some complaints about Mary,
00:12:13that she couldn't leave the boys alone.
00:12:15No, it's a lie, a lie.
00:12:17She mustn't say it.
00:12:18Mr. Collins.
00:12:19My daughter's not a whore.
00:12:20Mr. Collins.
00:12:21She's not a whore.
00:12:22Mr. Collins,
00:12:40if an accused person's behaviour interferes with the course of a trial,
00:12:45then a judge has the power to have him removed
00:12:47and to proceed in his absence.
00:12:49You understand that?
00:12:52Are you ready to go on?
00:12:53Yes, I'm all right.
00:12:54Let's get on with it, please.
00:12:55I'm sorry, my lord.
00:12:56Very well.
00:12:57Mr. Fry.
00:12:58Thank you, my lord.
00:12:59Mrs. Hill,
00:13:00you said that your attention was attracted to the Collins household
00:13:03on October the 28th because of a row.
00:13:06Shouting and screaming, you called it.
00:13:08Yes.
00:13:09You could hear them at the other end of the crescent, you said.
00:13:11Yes.
00:13:13Who was shouting and screaming?
00:13:16Who?
00:13:16Yes, who?
00:13:17I don't know.
00:13:18Mr. Collins, Mrs. Collins, Mary Collins?
00:13:20I don't know.
00:13:21Why not?
00:13:22Well, I didn't hear exactly.
00:13:24Well, what were they shouting and screaming then?
00:13:27What?
00:13:27Surely you were able to distinguish the odd word.
00:13:30No.
00:13:31Well, perhaps if you'd gone out into the garden, you might have...
00:13:33I did go out into the garden.
00:13:35And you still couldn't hear anything?
00:13:37No.
00:13:37Perhaps this wasn't such a violent row after all.
00:13:39Perhaps there wasn't any screaming?
00:13:41There was.
00:13:42Loud enough to be heard at the other end of the crescent?
00:13:45Well, er...
00:13:46Did any of your neighbours complain about this violent row?
00:13:49I don't know.
00:13:50Did any of your neighbours later mention this row to you?
00:13:53Well, no.
00:13:54Oh.
00:13:54Well, perhaps we'd better turn to another point of your evidence, Mrs. Collins.
00:13:59Now, you said that it was obvious to you that Mary was pregnant.
00:14:03Yes.
00:14:04When did it become obvious?
00:14:05I don't remember.
00:14:06Well, was it in July?
00:14:09No.
00:14:10Earlier?
00:14:11Later?
00:14:13Oh, it was after July.
00:14:15August.
00:14:17September.
00:14:17October.
00:14:19October.
00:14:20At the end of September, I suppose.
00:14:22No more than three or four weeks before the birth of the child.
00:14:25I suppose so.
00:14:26Can you be sure of the date?
00:14:27No.
00:14:28You mean, it could have been only two or three weeks before October the 28th.
00:14:32Well, I think it was earlier than that.
00:14:35You've known Mary Collins for a long time.
00:14:37You've known her for 11 years.
00:14:39Yet, you didn't suspect that there might be anything wrong until three or four weeks before the child was born.
00:14:44She must have disguised the pregnancy very well.
00:14:47I've said she did.
00:14:48Well enough to keep the secret from her parents.
00:14:50My lord.
00:14:51Mr Fry, I don't see how the witness can possibly answer that question.
00:14:54As your lordship pleases.
00:14:55I withdraw the question.
00:14:58Now, Mrs Hill, I'm very interested in this argument you had with Mr Collins, after which she never spoke to you again.
00:15:05It was about religion, you said.
00:15:06That's right.
00:15:07Well, sort of.
00:15:09It wasn't about religion.
00:15:11Well, Mr Collins and I had always been very friendly.
00:15:14He always used to stop and chat with me in the street if ever we met.
00:15:18Well, one day he started to talk to me about religion.
00:15:21Well, I was in a hurry, and anyway, I'm not religious.
00:15:23And he does have some very strange ideas.
00:15:26Well, he must have seen I wasn't interested.
00:15:29Anyway, a little later, I was sunbathing in my garden in my bikini.
00:15:34And he suddenly leaned over the fence and started shouting.
00:15:37Shouting?
00:15:38Yes, something about Babylon and mystery.
00:15:41I didn't understand it all.
00:15:43Babylon, the mother of harlots and of the abomination of the earth?
00:15:46Yes, that's right.
00:15:47The Scarlet Woman, my lord.
00:15:49The revelation of St John the Divine.
00:15:52And on her forehead was a name written.
00:15:53Mystery.
00:15:54Babylon the Great, etc, etc.
00:15:56Your biblical erudition is impressive, Mr Fry.
00:16:00I come from a long line of clergymen, my lord.
00:16:02Ah.
00:16:02I think Mr Collins was protesting about the brevity of your bikini, Mrs Hill.
00:16:08Yes, I'd gathered that.
00:16:10And after this incident, he never spoke to you again?
00:16:13Not even if you spoke to him first?
00:16:15No.
00:16:16So from that time onwards, your relations with the family were never the same again?
00:16:19Well, not with Mr Collins, certainly.
00:16:21And this occurred some time ago?
00:16:23About six years ago.
00:16:25And nor with Mary and Mrs Collins, apparently.
00:16:27Well, after a while, Mrs Collins and I started to talk again.
00:16:31With the old degree of intimacy?
00:16:33I don't know really.
00:16:34It's hard to say.
00:16:35Well, did you ever visit each other's homes again?
00:16:37Not often.
00:16:38Did you ever visit the Collins household when Mr Collins was present?
00:16:41No.
00:16:42So your evidence about the relations between the Collins family,
00:16:45between Mr and Mrs Collins and their daughter,
00:16:47is at least six years old, isn't it?
00:16:48Well, I wouldn't say that.
00:16:50This has now turned to another matter.
00:16:53It would seem that in spite of your study of Mary Collins,
00:16:55you were never quite sure that she had been pregnant.
00:16:58No, I wasn't.
00:16:59But the one thing that convinced you, wasn't it,
00:17:01was this story of your friend about Mary Collins and the boys at school.
00:17:04Yes.
00:17:05Now, why should this convince you?
00:17:07Well, Mary didn't seem to see any boys.
00:17:10I mean, I just didn't see how she could have become pregnant,
00:17:13unless it was a virgin birth.
00:17:16Blasphemer!
00:17:16Mr Collins, I warned you.
00:17:18I'm sorry, my lord.
00:17:19It is blasphemy.
00:17:21Mrs Hill, I think your choice of words was unfortunate.
00:17:24Well, I'm sorry.
00:17:25Sorry, Your Honour.
00:17:25I didn't mean to give offence.
00:17:28A final point, Mrs Hill.
00:17:31You said that when you met Mary in the street
00:17:33and mentioned that somebody seemed to have been digging in her father's garden,
00:17:36she screamed,
00:17:37oh, it's all so awful, and ran off.
00:17:39Yes.
00:17:40What did you presume her to mean by that?
00:17:42Well, that her father had buried the baby there.
00:17:45But why?
00:17:46It was obvious.
00:17:48You didn't see Mr Collins burying anything, did you?
00:17:51No.
00:17:52In fact, you don't know which member of the Collins family buried the child.
00:17:55No.
00:17:56Or indeed, if it was any member of the Collins family at all.
00:17:59Well, it couldn't have been anybody else, could it?
00:18:01That is for the jury to decide, Mrs Hill.
00:18:08I would just like to clarify two small points, my lord.
00:18:12Mrs Hill, although you never saw the Collins family en masse in their own home,
00:18:16was there any reason at all for you to presume that Mr Collins had had a change of heart with regard to his daughter?
00:18:22No, quite the reverse.
00:18:23You're saying that he became more possessive?
00:18:26Yes.
00:18:27You see, by that time, Mary was old enough to be taken out.
00:18:30Did he take his daughter out as much as his wife?
00:18:32Oh, much more.
00:18:33As far as I could see.
00:18:35Now, regarding the question of burial,
00:18:38you saw no one digging in the Collins garden?
00:18:41No.
00:18:41Did you see any strangers in the area?
00:18:43No.
00:18:45Thank you, Mrs Hill.
00:18:46Well, that concludes the case for the prosecution, my lord.
00:18:49You may stand down, Mrs Hill.
00:18:53I call the defendant, Dominic Edgar Collins.
00:19:08What is your religion?
00:19:10Christian.
00:19:11Take the testament in your right hand and read aloud the words on the card.
00:19:14I swear by almighty God
00:19:18that the evidence I shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth,
00:19:22and nothing but the truth.
00:19:26You are Dominic Edgar Collins of 34 Tenniel Crescent, Fulchester.
00:19:32I am.
00:19:33What is your occupation, Mr Collins?
00:19:35I am a senior quality control officer of computer components at Tennyson Computers.
00:19:40You've been described as a religious man.
00:19:43Would you agree with that?
00:19:44I try to be.
00:19:46You've taken an oath to tell the truth.
00:19:48You have sworn on the Bible.
00:19:50I'm aware of that.
00:19:51Do you regard the Bible as a holy book?
00:19:53The Bible is the only book in which there is any truth.
00:19:57Would you break an oath which you had sworn on the Bible?
00:20:00I couldn't.
00:20:02Did you strangle your daughter's newly born child on the evening of October the 28th?
00:20:06I did not.
00:20:08Did you know that your daughter was pregnant?
00:20:10No.
00:20:11Are you sure of that?
00:20:13I know it sounds stupid.
00:20:15I can't think why I didn't notice.
00:20:16But it just never occurred to me that Mary might...
00:20:18I thought she was putting on a lot of weight.
00:20:23You saw your daughter every day?
00:20:24Yes.
00:20:25But it never occurred to you that she might be pregnant?
00:20:27No.
00:20:28You see I kept her pure.
00:20:30At least I thought I did.
00:20:32She had no boyfriends.
00:20:33Wherever she wanted to go I went with her.
00:20:36I thought she was not like other girls of her age.
00:20:40Foolish.
00:20:42Sensual.
00:20:44I tried to keep her pure.
00:20:46But you failed.
00:20:48I was proud of my daughter's purity.
00:20:51I was punished for it.
00:20:54When did you first discover that Mary was pregnant?
00:20:57When I found her.
00:20:58Could you tell us what has happened in the weeks preceding that?
00:21:01Mary had been off school for about ten days.
00:21:04Why?
00:21:05She said she wasn't well.
00:21:06Didn't you call a doctor?
00:21:07She said it wasn't serious.
00:21:09A normal ailment of women.
00:21:12If a woman have an issue and her issue in her flesh be blood
00:21:16she shall be set apart seven days.
00:21:19Leviticus.
00:21:19Yes.
00:21:21Mary said that seeing the doctor about it would embarrass her.
00:21:24I understood.
00:21:26I thought it was because she was pure.
00:21:28I thought that talking to a stranger about a thing like that might...
00:21:33I could see it would embarrass her.
00:21:37And what happened on that day the 28th of October?
00:21:40Mary was upstairs in her room lying down.
00:21:43My wife and I heard her cry out several times.
00:21:47My wife went up to see her.
00:21:50She didn't come down.
00:21:52After a bit I went up.
00:21:54My wife was in the bathroom trying to wash some of the bedding.
00:22:02I went into my daughter's room.
00:22:06I found her lying there.
00:22:09There was blood.
00:22:11Beside her lay this abomination.
00:22:15Abomination.
00:22:18Abomination.
00:22:22Did you touch the child?
00:22:23No I couldn't.
00:22:24I couldn't touch.
00:22:26All I could think was my daughter was defiled.
00:22:31Was the child alive when you entered the bedroom?
00:22:34It didn't seem to be.
00:22:37When did you first realize that it was dead?
00:22:39A little later.
00:22:40My wife was trying to help Mary.
00:22:44And I realized the child hadn't cried out.
00:22:47It was silent.
00:22:49I picked it up finally.
00:22:51And it seemed to be dead.
00:22:53What did you do then?
00:22:55I couldn't believe it at first.
00:22:57I thought I must be dreaming or I'd gone mad.
00:23:01And what did you do?
00:23:05Did you take it from the room?
00:23:07No.
00:23:07It was such a small thing.
00:23:11I knew I ought to tell the police.
00:23:13But I couldn't because of Mary.
00:23:16She's only 15.
00:23:19And then?
00:23:21My wife found a piece of blanket.
00:23:24I wrapped the child in it.
00:23:27I went out into the garden.
00:23:30Got a spade.
00:23:32Dug a hole.
00:23:34I.
00:23:35I.
00:23:36I.
00:23:37I don't, I don't know.
00:23:41I suppose I.
00:23:43Put the bundle into the hole.
00:23:46And covered it up.
00:23:49I don't see I.
00:23:51Could have done anything else.
00:23:53Do you?
00:23:54Do you?
00:23:54I.
00:24:06I.
00:24:12I.
00:24:12A 15-year-old schoolgirl, Mary Collins, gave birth to an illegitimate and premature baby in her bedroom at home.
00:24:31Within a few hours of birth, the child was strangled and later buried in the garden of number 34, Tenniel Crescent, Fulchester.
00:24:38The police arrested Mary's father, Dominic Collins, for the murder of the child.
00:24:43And today, his trial continues at the Fulchester Crown Court.
00:24:59Mr Collins, I must remind you that you're still under oath.
00:25:02Yes, my lord.
00:25:03Mr Collins, yesterday my learned friend went to considerable lengths to establish that you're a religious man.
00:25:10Therefore, so runs the argument, because you have sworn an oath upon the Holy Bible, you are somehow magically incapable of telling a lie.
00:25:18I have told no lies in this court.
00:25:21Oh come, Mr Collins, you have lied, haven't you, about the death of that baby boy?
00:25:24No, I told the truth.
00:25:26Well, let us see.
00:25:28Firstly, you said you didn't know your daughter was pregnant.
00:25:31That is so.
00:25:32But you knew quite well she was.
00:25:33No.
00:25:34You said she'd been away from school for ten days prior to the birth.
00:25:38A normal ailment of women were the words you used, I believe.
00:25:41Yes.
00:25:42Your daughter is 15 years of age.
00:25:44When did she first menstruate?
00:25:46What?
00:25:4711, 12, 13.
00:25:48I don't...
00:25:48You don't know.
00:25:49She was 12, I think.
00:25:52Are you really saying that for three years you remained in complete ignorance of your daughter's normal biological processes?
00:25:58Well, I...
00:25:59How long have you been married?
00:26:0118 years.
00:26:02And you're seriously asking us to believe that after 18 years of marriage, the female anatomy still remains a mystery to you?
00:26:08No, of course not.
00:26:09Very well, Mr Collins.
00:26:11Well, let's consider the scene you described so graphically in court yesterday.
00:26:15On October the 28th, your daughter was in her room.
00:26:19She cried out.
00:26:20Your wife went up to her.
00:26:22You followed later.
00:26:25You found your daughter on her bed with this abomination beside her.
00:26:30Yes.
00:26:30What did you say when you saw your daughter with her baby?
00:26:33I...
00:26:33I can't remember.
00:26:35Oh, come now, Mr Collins, you're on oath.
00:26:37You've sworn on the Holy Bible the only book in which there is any truth, remember?
00:26:41Yes.
00:26:41You surely didn't remain silent.
00:26:43I don't know.
00:26:45You must have addressed some comment to someone, to the baby, to your wife, your daughter, your God.
00:26:50I think I said,
00:26:51My God, why hast thou forsaken me?
00:26:56That was to your God.
00:26:58Now, what did you say to your wife and your daughter?
00:27:01I can't remember.
00:27:05After a while, you picked up the baby.
00:27:08Yes.
00:27:08But it was dead.
00:27:10Yes.
00:27:10How did you know?
00:27:11Well, it wasn't breathing.
00:27:13It was silent.
00:27:14It didn't seem to be breathing.
00:27:16Were there any marks of strangulation on the baby's neck?
00:27:19I don't know.
00:27:20There may have been.
00:27:20I can't remember.
00:27:22You must have examined the baby fairly closely.
00:27:24Yes, I suppose so.
00:27:24Did you examine it in your daughter's bedroom?
00:27:26Yes.
00:27:27Did you examine it later when you took him downstairs?
00:27:29Yes.
00:27:30You were positive he was dead?
00:27:31Yes.
00:27:31You held him in your arms and you examined him?
00:27:34Yes.
00:27:34Were you alone?
00:27:35Alone?
00:27:35Was anyone else in the room when you held this abomination in your hand?
00:27:39Yes.
00:27:40Eventually.
00:27:41But you were alone for a time with the child.
00:27:43I suppose so.
00:27:44Did you strangle the abomination then?
00:27:46No.
00:27:47No.
00:27:47I didn't harm it.
00:27:48It was dead.
00:27:49I told you.
00:27:49I find your choice of words very strange, Mr. Collins.
00:27:54I mean, you call this baby an abomination.
00:27:58It.
00:27:59As though the child were a thing.
00:28:01The child was your grandson.
00:28:05Do you think I don't know that?
00:28:07Then why use such words?
00:28:10Unless you find it difficult to live with the reality that you murdered your own flesh and blood.
00:28:16I did not kill the baby.
00:28:19Now, it's right, isn't it, that you made a statement to the police?
00:28:24Yes, I did.
00:28:25Will you look at that document?
00:28:31Is it the statement you made?
00:28:34Yes, it is.
00:28:35It is in your handwriting, isn't it?
00:28:37Yes.
00:28:37Would you read it for us, please?
00:28:39On the 28th of October in the evening, I was downstairs with my wife.
00:28:44We heard a noise and she went upstairs.
00:28:46After she had been gone a few minutes, I went upstairs to my daughter's bedroom.
00:28:52There was a newborn baby in the bed.
00:28:56I picked it up and took it downstairs.
00:29:01It was alive when I picked it up.
00:29:06Later, I buried it in the garden.
00:29:08And that is the truth, isn't it, Mr. Collins?
00:29:13Not what you've been telling the court today.
00:29:15No, the baby was dead when I went into the room.
00:29:19Will you read the end of the statement?
00:29:20This statement, consisting of one page signed by me, is true to the best of my knowledge and belief,
00:29:30and I make it knowing that if it is tended in evidence, I shall be liable to prosecution
00:29:36if I have willfully stated in it anything which I know to be false.
00:29:42If what you're saying now is true, that the baby was dead when you went into the room,
00:29:50then it means that you are saying that either your wife or your daughter killed it, doesn't it?
00:29:54No, I am not saying that.
00:29:56That's why I made the statement.
00:29:57Mr. Collins, would it be true to say that the Bible has been the prime source of inspiration in your life?
00:30:09Yes.
00:30:10It's a book much given to hyperbole, isn't it?
00:30:14I don't understand you.
00:30:15Well, that is to a somewhat exaggerated phraseology.
00:30:19For example,
00:30:20And behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns upon his heads,
00:30:26and his tail pulled the third part of the stars of heaven and did throw them on the earth.
00:30:32Poetic rather than a precise image.
00:30:34It has a meaning.
00:30:36Oh, yes, but it doesn't mean that a great red dragon pulled one third of the stars, pulsars, quasars,
00:30:41and other stellar curiosities of the universe and threw them down into this globe it will live on, does it?
00:30:45It's not to be taken literally, no.
00:30:47Precisely.
00:30:48Therefore, when you use such terms as abomination, purity, defilement, and so on,
00:30:54do you use those terms in a biblical sense?
00:30:57Yes.
00:30:58Are you saying that the words are meant by you in a biblical rather than in a colloquial sense?
00:31:03Yes.
00:31:05Now, when you entered your daughter's bedroom on the 28th of October,
00:31:10did you know what you would find?
00:31:12No.
00:31:13Were you shocked?
00:31:14I can't describe it.
00:31:18It was like the end of the world.
00:31:21You made a statement of the police that the baby was alive when you entered the bedroom.
00:31:26Yes.
00:31:27Was that statement true?
00:31:29No.
00:31:30Why, then, did you make it?
00:31:32I feared they might suspect my daughter of humming it.
00:31:36Now, you've told the court that the baby was dead when you entered the bedroom.
00:31:39Yes.
00:31:39This contradicts your earlier statement.
00:31:41Why have you changed your evidence?
00:31:44I have sworn on the Bible.
00:31:46Therefore, you have now no choice but to tell the truth whatever the consequences.
00:31:51Yes.
00:31:52And so the baby was dead when you entered the bedroom?
00:31:55Yes.
00:31:56There can be no mistake about that.
00:31:59None.
00:32:01Thank you, Mr. Collins.
00:32:02That is all.
00:32:03Can you return to the dock, Mr. Collins?
00:32:06I call Mrs. Evelyn Collins.
00:32:14Mrs. Evelyn Collins, please.
00:32:32What is your religion?
00:32:34Church of Ireland.
00:32:35Take the testament in your right hand and read aloud the words on this card.
00:32:40I swear by almighty God
00:32:42that the evidence I shall be the truth.
00:32:46That the evidence I shall give
00:32:48shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
00:32:54You are Mrs. Evelyn Collins,
00:32:57wife of the accused and mother of Mary Collins.
00:33:00What?
00:33:01Yes, yes.
00:33:02Mrs. Collins, first of all,
00:33:05I'd like to ask you something about your relations with your daughter.
00:33:09I don't understand.
00:33:10Well, sometimes parents and children don't hit it off together.
00:33:14It isn't anybody's fault, but it happens.
00:33:16What are your relations with your daughter?
00:33:18Are you close?
00:33:20Well, not what you'd call close.
00:33:22Mary's always favoured her father,
00:33:24since she was a little girl.
00:33:25She doesn't confide in you?
00:33:27No.
00:33:27But father and daughter are close.
00:33:29Oh, yes.
00:33:30Does she confide in her father, then?
00:33:32Sometimes.
00:33:33Not always.
00:33:34She keeps things for herself.
00:33:36She always has.
00:33:38A secretive girl.
00:33:39Yes.
00:33:40Not mischievously, but she's a quiet girl, shy.
00:33:43Did she tell you that she was pregnant?
00:33:45No.
00:33:46Are you sure of that?
00:33:47Oh, yes.
00:33:48If she had, would you have told your husband?
00:33:51No.
00:33:52I don't know.
00:33:53I don't think so.
00:33:54Why not?
00:33:56Well, Dominic worshipped Mary.
00:33:59It would have broken his heart.
00:34:01Now, your husband has said in evidence
00:34:02that you and he were downstairs
00:34:03and Mary was in her bedroom when you heard a cry out.
00:34:06That's right.
00:34:07What did you do then?
00:34:08I went up the stairs to see what was wrong.
00:34:11Did your husband go up with you?
00:34:12No, he stayed down.
00:34:13But he came up later?
00:34:15Quite a bit later.
00:34:16What did you find when you went into your daughter's bedroom?
00:34:20Mary was lying on the bed.
00:34:23Everything was a terrible mess.
00:34:25And there was the baby.
00:34:27Did you call for your husband to come up?
00:34:28No, I prayed he wouldn't come up.
00:34:30What did you do?
00:34:32Well, I went over to see if she was all right and...
00:34:35Yes?
00:34:37I don't know.
00:34:38I thought if I could clean everything up, Dominic, he'd never know.
00:34:43So you started to clean up?
00:34:45Yes, I did what I could for her.
00:34:47Was Mary conscious?
00:34:48And then I took the bedclothes into the bathroom.
00:34:51Was she conscious?
00:34:52Yes.
00:34:53Did she say anything to you?
00:34:55She said,
00:34:55Please don't tell Dad.
00:34:57Over and over again.
00:34:59It was the first secret we'd ever had from Dominic.
00:35:02He'd only stayed downstairs.
00:35:04It would all have been all right.
00:35:06But your husband came upstairs?
00:35:08Yes.
00:35:09Now, Mrs Collins, my next question is very important.
00:35:13Was the baby alive when your husband came into the bedroom?
00:35:17No.
00:35:17Are you sure of that?
00:35:19Yes.
00:35:20Did your husband touch the child?
00:35:23Finally.
00:35:24Did he harm it in any way?
00:35:26No.
00:35:27Did he strangle the child?
00:35:28No.
00:35:30Was the baby alive when you went into the bedroom?
00:35:35Yes.
00:35:38Would you repeat that, Mrs Collins?
00:35:40Yes.
00:35:42Mrs Collins, did you understand that question?
00:35:44Yes.
00:35:44I think I'd better ask you this question again, Mrs Collins.
00:35:49Was the baby alive when you went into the bedroom?
00:35:53It was.
00:35:56Thank you, Mrs Collins.
00:35:59Mrs Collins, I want to deal just with the condition of the child
00:36:03when your husband entered the room.
00:36:05Now, you say it was dead.
00:36:06Yes.
00:36:06You examined it?
00:36:07Yes.
00:36:08Closely?
00:36:08Yes.
00:36:09But you've just said that you were busy doing what you could for your daughter
00:36:11and clearing up.
00:36:12Well, it must have been a desperate moment for you.
00:36:14Oh, yes, it was.
00:36:15You must have worked frantically trying to clean up that room
00:36:18so your husband wouldn't know.
00:36:19Yes.
00:36:20And yet, in the midst of this frenzy,
00:36:22you're asking us to believe that you'd time to examine the baby.
00:36:25Yes, that's true.
00:36:26Mrs Collins,
00:36:27when your husband came into that room,
00:36:30you didn't know if the baby was alive or dead, did you?
00:36:32It was dead.
00:36:33How can you be so sure?
00:36:35Don't you understand?
00:36:36I knew it was dead because I killed it.
00:36:38Mrs Collins,
00:37:00do you realize what you have just said?
00:37:02Yes, my lord.
00:37:03You have just confessed to the murder of your child's your daughter's baby.
00:37:07I know, my lord.
00:37:08I must remind you that you are on oath to tell the truth.
00:37:11I know.
00:37:12And the law takes a very grave view of people who lie.
00:37:16It isn't a lie.
00:37:18Very well.
00:37:19Now, I must warn you that you needn't answer any questions that may incriminate you.
00:37:23You have a privilege not to answer such questions.
00:37:31I killed the child.
00:37:34Now, Mrs Collins,
00:37:36it's right, isn't it, that you made a statement to the police?
00:37:39Yes, yes, I did.
00:37:40An oral statement to Inspector Goodland.
00:37:42Yes, I told him the child was alive when my husband came into the room,
00:37:46but that wasn't true.
00:37:47Then why did you say it?
00:37:48I was confused.
00:37:49I didn't know what I was saying.
00:37:50I was frightened, frightened for us all.
00:37:52You were frightened for you all, you say.
00:37:54Not for yourself, as you would have been had you killed the baby.
00:37:56For us all, I myself.
00:37:58Very well, Mrs Collins.
00:38:00Well, let us look at this confession of yours.
00:38:03When did you kill the child?
00:38:04You don't have to answer that question, Mrs Collins.
00:38:08As soon as I went into the room.
00:38:09That was the first thing you did?
00:38:11Yes.
00:38:11Where was the baby?
00:38:12Lying on the bed beside Mary.
00:38:14Mary is your daughter, 15 years old.
00:38:17Your worst fears have been confirmed.
00:38:19She's just produced a child.
00:38:20She could be dead.
00:38:21She could be in pain.
00:38:22There could be complications.
00:38:23And you are asking us to believe that the first thing you did was strangle the child?
00:38:28Well...
00:38:28You didn't look to see how Mary was?
00:38:30Yes, of course.
00:38:30You didn't look to see if she was still alive?
00:38:32Yes.
00:38:32Well, when did you do it?
00:38:33That was the first thing I did.
00:38:35So, you attended Mary first?
00:38:39Yes.
00:38:39And then what did you do?
00:38:42What I said.
00:38:43But what about the bed covers?
00:38:45What?
00:38:46Well, your husband has said in evidence that when he came into the bedroom, you were in
00:38:50the bathroom washing bed covers.
00:38:52Yes.
00:38:52And you yourself have said that you took off the covers hoping to clear up the mess so
00:38:56that your husband need never know.
00:38:58Yes.
00:38:59Did you do this after or before you killed the child?
00:39:01After.
00:39:02Sure.
00:39:05How did you kill the baby?
00:39:08I strangled him.
00:39:10How?
00:39:11With me hands.
00:39:13With one hand or with two?
00:39:15I don't understand.
00:39:21I should have thought the question was very clear, Mrs. Collins.
00:39:24Did you put one hand round the child's throat or two hands?
00:39:29I, uh...
00:39:31I don't...
00:39:32I don't remember.
00:39:33Well, let me put it another way.
00:39:35Did you hold it in your arms while you killed it?
00:39:39I think I put both hands round its throat.
00:39:42Both hands.
00:39:43Well, let me see what Professor Stone, the forensic pathologist, says.
00:39:47Professor Stone is of the opinion that the child was definitely strandled with one hand.
00:39:53He's wrong.
00:39:53Professor is a home office pathologist of great experience.
00:39:55He could be wrong.
00:39:56He could be mistaken.
00:39:57No, Mrs. Collins, he could not.
00:39:58I don't know what you mean.
00:40:00Now, it has been said that Mary only ever went out with your husband, that he took her
00:40:04wherever she wanted to go.
00:40:06Yes.
00:40:07Yes, he'd have done anything for Mary.
00:40:09Did you go with them?
00:40:10Yes, often.
00:40:11All the time.
00:40:11Isn't it true, Mrs. Collins, that your husband paid you little or no attention, and that
00:40:17he lavished all his love and affection upon Mary?
00:40:20No.
00:40:21And that this confession is your attempt to save him?
00:40:24No.
00:40:24How long were you alone in the room with Mary before your husband came in?
00:40:31Oh, I don't know.
00:40:32Not long.
00:40:33Five minutes.
00:40:35You were confused during this time, finding your daughter like that, being frightened your
00:40:39husband might...
00:40:39Yes, of course I was.
00:40:40Did you and your husband want to have more than one child?
00:40:43I wanted more.
00:40:47Dominic didn't.
00:40:48You're fond of children.
00:40:49Yes.
00:40:50And you're saying, are you, Mrs. Collins, that you, who are fond of children, arrived in
00:40:56that room, and although you were confused, you managed to ascertain your daughter's condition
00:41:00to coolly kill that child, and then start cleaning up in that short space of time?
00:41:04Is that what you're saying?
00:41:06Yes, it's true.
00:41:07You're trying to save your husband, aren't you?
00:41:11My lord, I see no purpose in continuing the cross-examination of this witness.
00:41:16Very well, Miss Tate.
00:41:17Mr. Frye?
00:41:18I have no further questions, my lord.
00:41:20You may stand down, Mrs. Collins.
00:41:23No.
00:41:24No, please, listen to me.
00:41:27No.
00:41:28Mrs. Collins, you must stand down.
00:41:34No, I'm sorry, Dominic.
00:41:48Forgive me.
00:41:59The last witness for the Defence Lord is Mary Collins.
00:42:02Miss Mary Collins, please.
00:42:17What is your religion?
00:42:18Christian.
00:42:19Take the testament in your right hand and read aloud the words on the card.
00:42:23I swear by Almighty God that the evidence I shall give shall be the truth,
00:42:27the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
00:42:28Now, Mary Collins, you are 15 years old.
00:42:3616 the day after tomorrow, my lord.
00:42:38I'm sure you're old enough and intelligent enough
00:42:42to realise that the importance of the oath that you've just sworn to on the Bible.
00:42:47I must tell the truth.
00:42:48The whole truth as you know it, without evasion or lying.
00:42:51I understand, my lord.
00:42:52Now, I realise that this must be very distressing for you, a very great ordeal.
00:42:59I'm not frightened, my lord.
00:43:00Ah, good.
00:43:03Mr. Pryde.
00:43:05Thank you, my lord.
00:43:07You are Mary Collins of 34 Tannehill Crescent, Fulchester.
00:43:10Yes, sir.
00:43:12Mary, on the 28th of October, you gave birth to a baby.
00:43:15Yes.
00:43:16How long had you known that you were pregnant?
00:43:18About six months.
00:43:20Did you tell anybody about your condition?
00:43:22Who would I tell?
00:43:23Your mother, your father.
00:43:25No.
00:43:26Why not?
00:43:26They're your parents.
00:43:27Mother would only get into a state and end up making a mess of everything.
00:43:31And your father?
00:43:32Why, I couldn't tell him.
00:43:34Why not?
00:43:35I just couldn't.
00:43:37You're very fond of your father, aren't you?
00:43:39Yes.
00:43:40Did you confide in anybody at school?
00:43:43I'm not a confider.
00:43:44Do you mean you don't have any friends at school?
00:43:46Oh, I have friends.
00:43:47I just don't confide, that's all.
00:43:49Did anybody at school guess that you were pregnant?
00:43:51I don't think so.
00:43:53Are you sure of that?
00:43:54Well, if they had known, they'd have told me or let me know they knew.
00:43:58You know what girls are like.
00:44:00You sound somewhat bitter.
00:44:02Aren't you happy at school?
00:44:03I'm quite happy.
00:44:04I'm just trying to tell the truth.
00:44:06It's what I'm supposed to do, isn't it?
00:44:07Yes, of course, Mary.
00:44:08So then, it's true to say that, as far as you are aware,
00:44:13no one knew that you were pregnant.
00:44:15No one.
00:44:16You must have been under a very great strain.
00:44:19Why?
00:44:20Well, were you not worried about your condition?
00:44:23Not really.
00:44:24You weren't worried?
00:44:26Well, yes, a bit at first.
00:44:28I mean, it was awful being sick and all that
00:44:30and not being able to say anything,
00:44:31but it was fun in a kind of way.
00:44:34Fun?
00:44:34Well, you don't really mean that.
00:44:36Well, it was a secret.
00:44:38Something that I knew that nobody else knew.
00:44:41Kind of a game, almost.
00:44:44You were away from school for ten days prior to the birth.
00:44:47Yes.
00:44:47What reason did you give your parents for this?
00:44:49I told my mother I wasn't feeling well.
00:44:52I told father much the same thing.
00:44:55Oh, and I also said we had a new R.I. teacher.
00:44:57R.I.?
00:44:58Religious instruction.
00:45:00I told him she had some very modern views on the Bible.
00:45:02Why did you tell your father that?
00:45:03Because I knew he wouldn't send me to school then.
00:45:06Why wouldn't he?
00:45:07He disapproves of anyone that has different views on the Bible from himself.
00:45:11He kicked up an awful fuss when I started human biology.
00:45:15But, Mary, were you afraid that it was beginning to be obvious that you were pregnant?
00:45:20I thought somebody would be bound to notice sooner or later.
00:45:23Did it worry you?
00:45:24A bit.
00:45:25Did anyone say anything?
00:45:26No.
00:45:27It was funny, really.
00:45:28I wouldn't have thought it were possible, but nobody said a thing.
00:45:30Well, except my mother, who said she thought I was putting on a lot of weight.
00:45:34What about your father?
00:45:36He said it wasn't healthy to get too fat.
00:45:39So I said I'd give up bread and potatoes.
00:45:41I did, too.
00:45:42The baby was born on October the 28th.
00:45:47It was premature.
00:45:49Yes.
00:45:49Well, I'd calculated from some medical books I had about another month.
00:45:53It never occurred to me to be premature.
00:45:55I expect you were very frightened.
00:45:57Frightened?
00:45:59Yes.
00:46:00I didn't know what it'd be like.
00:46:02The books don't tell you what to expect.
00:46:04I promised myself I wouldn't cry out, no matter what happened.
00:46:07But I did.
00:46:09Mother came up.
00:46:10And what did she say?
00:46:11Well, she got into a state.
00:46:13And she always does.
00:46:14She gets into states over everything.
00:46:16Well, I told her what to do.
00:46:17You told her?
00:46:19Yes.
00:46:20Well, I'd read all the medical books.
00:46:21I knew exactly what had to be done.
00:46:24Mary, you are under oath, you know.
00:46:27I know that, my lord.
00:46:29That's why I'm trying to tell you exactly what happened.
00:46:32Do you mean to say that you swatted up on birth?
00:46:36Yes, of course.
00:46:37Seemed the most sensible thing to do.
00:46:42You say that you'd promised yourself not to cry out, but you did.
00:46:46Yes.
00:46:47I don't suppose you really knew what was happening, did you?
00:46:49Yes, I did.
00:46:49I had to.
00:46:53Was the baby alive when it was born?
00:46:55Yes.
00:46:56It cried a little.
00:46:57It sounded strange.
00:46:59In what way strange?
00:47:01It snuffled a bit, like a puppy.
00:47:04And what did your mother do?
00:47:05Well, I told her to take the bedclothes and wash them.
00:47:09Why?
00:47:10Well, I thought if she could clean the mess up, I didn't see why father should ever know about it.
00:47:13Well, what about the baby?
00:47:15You could hardly conceal that.
00:47:17No.
00:47:19Now, did your mother touch the baby?
00:47:22I'm not sure.
00:47:23I don't think so.
00:47:25Did she kill the child?
00:47:26Well, how can you be so sure?
00:47:29You'd just produced a baby.
00:47:31You were surely in no state to be observant.
00:47:32Well, I wasn't unconscious.
00:47:34Did your father come into the room?
00:47:36Yes.
00:47:38What did he do?
00:47:38Oh, it was awful.
00:47:39He was out of his mind.
00:47:41I thought he'd collapse.
00:47:43Did he touch the baby?
00:47:45Yes, after a bit he took it downstairs.
00:47:47Mary, was the baby alive when he took it away?
00:47:51Oh, no.
00:47:51It was dead by then.
00:47:53How can you be sure of that?
00:47:55Because I'd strangled it as soon as I was able to.
00:47:58It's what I'd always planned to do.
00:48:00The case of the Queen versus Collins will be resumed tomorrow in the Crown Court.
00:48:30Schoolgirl Mary Collins gave birth secretly at home to an illegitimate and premature baby.
00:48:38The same day, the child was strangled.
00:48:41The police arrested Mary's father, Dominic Collins, and charged him with the murder.
00:48:46But this morning, in the Crown Court, Mrs Collins, Mary's mother, confessed to killing the child.
00:48:52Later, so did Mary herself.
00:49:00Miss Collins, you have confessed under oath to the murder of your child.
00:49:19Yes, my lord.
00:49:20This is the second confession to the crime that we've had in the course of this trial.
00:49:25Your mother made a confession.
00:49:27Now you've made a confession.
00:49:28You were questioned by the police, but you said nothing of this.
00:49:34I was scared.
00:49:35Of the police?
00:49:36Well, I didn't know what had happened.
00:49:38But you're not scared now.
00:49:40I'm still scared, but if I don't own up, you might find my father guilty.
00:49:44That is for the jury to decide.
00:49:46Now, under law, I am required to remind you of your rights in this matter.
00:49:51And I must warn you that you're not required to answer any questions which might incriminate you.
00:49:56I would advise you most strongly not to put yourself in the position where you can be charged with the crime to which you have confessed.
00:50:05I understand. Thank you.
00:50:08Miss Collins, this so-called confession of yours.
00:50:11It's all true.
00:50:12Is it?
00:50:13I'm under oath. I wouldn't have said it if it weren't.
00:50:15Oh, yes.
00:50:16After every spectacular murder, there's always a flock of unstable, hysterical people wanting to confess.
00:50:21But I'm not unstable or hysterical, Miss Tate.
00:50:24Oh, no, I grant you that, Miss Collins.
00:50:27In fact, I'd go further.
00:50:28I'd say you're a remarkably cool, clever little liar.
00:50:33But I'm not lying. Why should I lie?
00:50:34To get your father off a murder charge.
00:50:37But I risk being charged myself.
00:50:39Oh, I'm sure you've calculated the odds very carefully.
00:50:42You're a clever and resourceful girl.
00:50:44You prepared for the pain of childbirth by reading medital books, you say?
00:50:48Yes.
00:50:48Did you prepare for the anguish of this trial by reading law books?
00:50:53There's nothing wrong with being prepared.
00:50:55Well, that depends on what you're preparing for.
00:50:58Did your researches take you as far as the Infanticide Act?
00:51:02You did read the law about infanticide.
00:51:06At school, they encourage us to research things for ourselves.
00:51:09Then you did research the law.
00:51:11Yes.
00:51:11So you no doubt noted that there is a special defence against infanticide available to a mother who kills her baby in some circumstances.
00:51:19You knew that.
00:51:20Yes, it reduces murder to manslaughter.
00:51:22And you think that that defence is available to you?
00:51:24Yes.
00:51:27You're very fond of your father.
00:51:29Yes.
00:51:30He took you everywhere.
00:51:31You were constantly in each other's company.
00:51:33Except when I went to school.
00:51:35Do you have many friends?
00:51:37Yes.
00:51:38Are these friends who come to your house, whose houses you visit?
00:51:43Well, father's very strict about people coming to our house.
00:51:46Did any of your girlfriends or boyfriends ever call at the house?
00:51:51Not very often.
00:51:52Well, they made welcome if they did come.
00:51:54Not very.
00:51:55So most of your friends are the people that you see at school?
00:51:59Yes.
00:52:01Do you ever go to coffee bars or dances like other teenagers?
00:52:06Not very often.
00:52:08Have many of the girls in your class got boyfriends?
00:52:11Yes.
00:52:12So you decided that you weren't going to be left out?
00:52:14Well, I wanted boyfriends like the other girls, yes.
00:52:18Is that how you became pregnant?
00:52:21Well, if boys can't take you out in the evenings or at weekends,
00:52:24well, you have to do something to keep them, don't you?
00:52:27Have intercourse with them.
00:52:29It's a horrible word.
00:52:32Did you have intercourse with any of the boys at school?
00:52:34Well, you must answer the question.
00:52:41Sometimes I did.
00:52:44Who's the father of your child?
00:52:47I'm not sure.
00:52:48Why aren't you sure?
00:52:51Now, why aren't you sure?
00:52:52Could it be one of any number?
00:52:54Stop it! Stop it!
00:52:55Leave the child alone!
00:52:56She doesn't know what she's saying!
00:52:57I realise that this is very disturbing for you,
00:53:00but I think it is important.
00:53:02But she doesn't know what she's saying!
00:53:03Your daughter has confessed to a very serious crime,
00:53:05a crime with which you have been charged.
00:53:08I want to get to the bottom of it.
00:53:10I want to get to the background of all this.
00:53:12Now, are you not sure who the father was?
00:53:16Because it could have been one of any number.
00:53:18No, not any number.
00:53:20Well, then how many?
00:53:22Three.
00:53:23So any one of three boys could be the father of your child?
00:53:27That's what I said.
00:53:28Have you any particular boyfriend?
00:53:30No.
00:53:30Miss Collins, I'm rather surprised that somebody who seems to prepare so carefully for everything
00:53:39as you do, should have allowed herself to become pregnant at all.
00:53:43Well, the boys didn't always take precautions, and I couldn't get the pill.
00:53:47Why not?
00:53:48Our doctor threatened to tell my mother.
00:53:49So you approached your doctor?
00:53:51Yes.
00:53:52But he didn't tell your mother?
00:53:53No.
00:53:55Why not?
00:53:55He made me promise not to have intercourse anymore.
00:54:01But you didn't keep your promise.
00:54:03Well, it wasn't fair.
00:54:03He made me promise.
00:54:05Hmm.
00:54:07Excuse the interruption, Miss Tate.
00:54:08I do think the background of all this may help the jury.
00:54:12Please continue.
00:54:13Don't you believe in keeping promises?
00:54:16Depends on the promise.
00:54:17Surely it depends on how much you want to do a thing.
00:54:19You're twisting my word.
00:54:20Another thing you promised was to tell the truth in this court.
00:54:23I have.
00:54:23Is that another promise you're dispensing with?
00:54:26I've told the truth.
00:54:27Well, if it is the truth, why did you not tell the police before, instead of lying to them?
00:54:31I didn't actually tell any lies.
00:54:33You just didn't mention killing your own child.
00:54:37No.
00:54:37Why not?
00:54:38I was scared.
00:54:39I didn't know what had happened.
00:54:41And then, you read about the defense of infanticide, the killing of a baby by its mother,
00:54:45and you saw an opportunity to get your father off and escape yourself.
00:54:50No!
00:54:50You have read about infanticide since your father was arrested by the police?
00:54:54I've told the truth.
00:54:55Have you?
00:54:56Well, you must admit it's a very convenient confession for your father.
00:54:59I can't help that.
00:55:00Would you have confessed had your father not been in danger?
00:55:04I don't know.
00:55:07Let's look at this confession of yours, Miss Collins.
00:55:09You say you strangle the child with one hand or with two hands.
00:55:13Now, Miss Collins, I've already advised you that you need not answer questions
00:55:16if those questions would tend to show that you had committed a crime.
00:55:20And I want also to tell you this,
00:55:22that the defense of infanticide only applies where a woman kills her newborn child,
00:55:28and at that time, the balance of her mind was disturbed
00:55:32by reason of her not having fully recovered from the effect of giving birth to the child,
00:55:37or by reason of the effect of lactation consequent upon the birth of the child.
00:55:41Do you understand that?
00:55:43May I answer the question now?
00:55:45Yes.
00:55:46I strangled the baby with one hand.
00:55:51Where was the baby?
00:55:53On the bed beside me.
00:55:54Did you hold it in one arm and strangle it with the other hand?
00:55:57Yes.
00:55:58Where was your thumb?
00:56:00Thumb?
00:56:01On the baby's neck, so, or pressing on the Adam's apple?
00:56:04I can't really remember.
00:56:05I just closed my eyes and squeezed.
00:56:07I didn't look to see what I was doing.
00:56:08Why not?
00:56:10Well, I hadn't killed anything before.
00:56:12I wasn't sure I could do it.
00:56:14Did you find it came easily?
00:56:16No.
00:56:18Now, after this alleged murder, did you look at the baby to see if it was dead?
00:56:21I looked.
00:56:23Wasn't making a noise.
00:56:24It didn't seem to be breathing.
00:56:25But I wasn't sure...
00:56:27That's the really hard part.
00:56:29What?
00:56:30Knowing if it was dead or not.
00:56:32So you cannot be absolutely certain that you succeeded?
00:56:35The child was dead.
00:56:36I ask you again, can you be absolutely sure of that?
00:56:40Yes.
00:56:40How?
00:56:41You yourself said you weren't sure that that was the hardest part.
00:56:44I know, but...
00:56:44You're in your bed at home, alone, unprepared.
00:56:48Except, of course, for reading a couple of medical books under the blankets when no one's looking.
00:56:53Suddenly, you start to have this child prematurely.
00:56:56You are on your own.
00:56:57You can't cry out.
00:56:58You promised you won't, remember?
00:56:59I didn't.
00:57:00I didn't till later.
00:57:01Are you really saying that you kept calm and collected throughout this time?
00:57:05I didn't panic.
00:57:06That child was premature.
00:57:08You had no anaesthetic.
00:57:10You must have been in considerable pain.
00:57:12It must have come as a most ghastly surprise when you started to have that baby.
00:57:17I knew I was pregnant.
00:57:18But you've got it all worked out exactly when you were having it.
00:57:21It just came early, that's all.
00:57:23That's all.
00:57:25That must be the understatement of the century.
00:57:28Mary Collins, you are 15 years old.
00:57:30You lay on your bed, exhausted, horrified, possibly half-conscious.
00:57:35You had to direct your mother in what to do.
00:57:38Why was that?
00:57:40Because you were physically unable to handle the aftermath of the birth yourself.
00:57:44I'd read books.
00:57:46I suppose you'd taken a course in midwifery as well.
00:57:48No, of course not.
00:57:49Well, what books had you read?
00:57:51Well, there's a copy of Home Doctor in the house.
00:57:53The Home Doctor?
00:57:54I'd read other books as well in the public library.
00:57:56Every girl's book on how to deliver her own baby, I suppose.
00:57:59No, proper medical books.
00:58:01It's a medical library.
00:58:02No.
00:58:04When you'd had that baby, you were so weak, so shocked, you cried for your mother.
00:58:08No.
00:58:09You said in evidence that you cried out.
00:58:11Well, maybe I did cry out.
00:58:12You were in such a state, physically and mentally, that you were incapable of killing a baby.
00:58:17I suggest that that thought never occurred to you at that time.
00:58:20It may have done later, but not at that precise time.
00:58:25I killed my baby!
00:58:26No, Mary Collins, it was beyond you.
00:58:28I did!
00:58:29It was beyond you because you're not really the cold, calculating monster you'd have us all believe.
00:58:35I killed the baby!
00:58:36I did!
00:58:38Honestly!
00:58:42No further questions, my lord.
00:58:45My lord, there are one or two points I would like to clarify.
00:58:48A point which my learned friend's dramatics may have obscured.
00:58:54Mary, did you kill your baby?
00:58:57Now, Miss Collins, don't answer that question for the moment.
00:58:59I want to stress again that you need not answer questions if those questions would tend to show
00:59:04that you had killed your child.
00:59:05You understand that?
00:59:06You have what we call a privilege against self-incrimination, so you needn't answer that question.
00:59:12I want...
00:59:12You understand?
00:59:12Mm-hmm.
00:59:13Mm-hmm.
00:59:14Very well, Miss Collins.
00:59:15No.
00:59:16Did you kill your baby?
00:59:17Yes.
00:59:18Why did you do so?
00:59:20So father wouldn't find out.
00:59:22When you killed your baby, were you...
00:59:24What were the words my learned friend used?
00:59:26Half conscious with pain and shock.
00:59:28You need not answer.
00:59:30I want to.
00:59:31I was feeling rather tired and weak and a bit sore.
00:59:37But conscious?
00:59:38You need not answer.
00:59:39Yes.
00:59:40Conscious enough to know what I had to do.
00:59:43Were you strong enough to strangle the child?
00:59:44You need not answer.
00:59:45Yes.
00:59:47You don't have to be very strong, actually.
00:59:49So you're sure the child was dead?
00:59:52As sure as I can be.
00:59:53I think that must be why I cried out, why my mother came up.
00:59:57So when your father entered the bedroom, the child was unquestionably dead?
01:00:01Yes.
01:00:03Did your father touch the child?
01:00:06Yes.
01:00:06Did he, so far as you can remember, at any time, hold the child around the throat?
01:00:11No.
01:00:12Anyway, it wouldn't have mattered.
01:00:14It was dead.
01:00:15Now, these books you read on childbirth.
01:00:18About how many did you read?
01:00:20About 15 or 20.
01:00:22I suppose some of them were pretty detailed and technical.
01:00:24No, they all were.
01:00:26There's not much point in writing a book on childbirth unless you go into some detail.
01:00:30No, indeed.
01:00:31And what about the home doctor?
01:00:32I found that very useful.
01:00:33It's very detailed.
01:00:34Has a lot of illustrations.
01:00:35Now, Verena, you've been in the witness box giving evidence for what must seem like ours.
01:00:41Have you lied during any of your evidence?
01:00:44No.
01:00:45Was your confession a deliberate ploy designed to discredit the prosecution's case against your father?
01:00:51No.
01:00:52Thank you, Miss Collins.
01:00:54That concludes the case for the defence, Merlant.
01:00:56Miss Tate?
01:01:24Members of the jury.
01:01:25There can be no doubt, and it is not disputed in this court, that the child was born alive.
01:01:32Nor has it been suggested that the child died from natural causes.
01:01:37Now, only three people had the opportunity to kill this baby.
01:01:42Dominic Collins, Evelyn Collins, and Mary Collins.
01:01:45We have heard confessions from two women dominated by this one man, the accused.
01:01:51Let us first consider Mrs. Collins' confession.
01:01:57She admits that it contradicts the statement she made to Inspector Goodland,
01:02:01in which she says that the child was alive when her husband entered the room.
01:02:07Now, could this woman, who has said she is fond of children,
01:02:10wanted more of her own, in fact,
01:02:12be the sort of woman who could kill a newborn baby?
01:02:15Of course not.
01:02:18Her confession was a desperate attempt to shield the husband and daughter to whom she is instinctively loyal.
01:02:25Now, the mother of the child, Mary Collins, has confessed also to having murdered the baby.
01:02:30But this differs from her original statement to the police,
01:02:34in which, in when she omitted this fact.
01:02:39Now, Mary would have us believe that she planned her every move,
01:02:43right up to the murder, immediately after the birth.
01:02:47But I ask you, members of the jury,
01:02:50could such a cold, calculating girl ever have got pregnant in the first place,
01:02:55or would she not have had an abortion to rid herself of this obviously unwanted baby?
01:03:01And yet, this girl, who is only 15 years of age,
01:03:09suddenly and terrifyingly gave birth to a premature baby.
01:03:14She would have us believe that she remained calm enough,
01:03:17strong enough, and determined enough at that particular time
01:03:21to then kill the baby,
01:03:24and then to direct her mother how to assist her and to clear up.
01:03:28Now, I would remind you, members of the jury,
01:03:31of Mrs. Collins telling us of Mary's frantic cries,
01:03:34begging her not to tell her father.
01:03:40Dominic Collins, members of the jury,
01:03:42is a man who called this baby an abomination,
01:03:47a defilement of his daughter's purity.
01:03:50He is a man who has revealed to this court
01:03:53a ferocious and obsessive passion
01:03:56for religious and sexual purity.
01:03:59When Mr. Collins found the daughter he loved,
01:04:01almost worshipped,
01:04:02had given birth to an illegitimate child,
01:04:05he was filled with a divine wrath,
01:04:07a rage so savage that it had to find an outlet.
01:04:10Now, we have heard of a row in the Collins house
01:04:12from the next-door neighbour, Mrs. Hill.
01:04:15Mr. Collins described the scene himself
01:04:17as being like the end of the world.
01:04:21A man of his convictions
01:04:22would feel no guilt in doing what he did.
01:04:26He strangled that child,
01:04:29wrapped it in a piece of blanket,
01:04:32and buried it in the garden.
01:04:36Members of the jury, in my submission,
01:04:37there is only one verdict in this case,
01:04:39the verdict of guilty.
01:04:41Mr. Fry.
01:04:47May it please, Your Lordship,
01:04:49members of the jury,
01:04:52emotional indignation makes for bad law
01:04:54and worse verdicts.
01:04:56We are here to consider facts,
01:04:58and to some extent to assess probability.
01:05:00So let us look at the facts first.
01:05:03A child has been strangled.
01:05:05Three people were in a position to have done it.
01:05:07Of these three,
01:05:09two have in evidence confessed to the crime,
01:05:11while the third, Dominic Collins,
01:05:12has denied it.
01:05:14And yet the prosecution has not produced
01:05:16one single piece of evidence
01:05:18that points conclusively
01:05:20towards any one of the three.
01:05:23The prosecution's entire case, in fact,
01:05:25appears to rest
01:05:25on the strength of the defendant's religious feelings.
01:05:29But, members of the jury,
01:05:30it is precisely these religious feelings
01:05:32which show Dominic Collins
01:05:34to be telling the truth.
01:05:35He is a fundamentalist.
01:05:39That is, he believes that the Bible
01:05:40is the prime source of all truth.
01:05:44Now, I submit
01:05:45that this is a sufficient explanation
01:05:48of his behaviour,
01:05:49and that his reaction
01:05:51towards what he considered
01:05:52to be his daughter's defilement
01:05:53explains what happened.
01:05:56That he hid the body
01:05:56not to conceal murder,
01:05:58but to hide what he thought
01:06:00to be his family's shame.
01:06:02However, if this seems to you
01:06:04to be too ready an assumption,
01:06:05I would ask you to consider a fact
01:06:07which the prosecution
01:06:08have chosen to ignore.
01:06:10The attention of Mrs. Collins,
01:06:12the attention of Mrs. Hill,
01:06:13the Collins' neighbour,
01:06:14was drawn to the burial patch
01:06:17because, in the middle of the night,
01:06:19Mr. Collins had dug up
01:06:20a part of his vegetable garden.
01:06:22In the morning there it was,
01:06:23four square feet of raw earth,
01:06:26clamouring to be noticed
01:06:27by the most casual of observers,
01:06:29by the most casual of passers-by.
01:06:31Now, members of the jury,
01:06:33would you do that
01:06:34if you wanted to hide a murder?
01:06:37Wouldn't you at least
01:06:37have dug over the whole of the garden
01:06:39and made it look as though
01:06:40some routine gardening work
01:06:42was going on?
01:06:43In other words,
01:06:44was not this the action
01:06:45of a man driven
01:06:46by his strange religious impulses
01:06:48rather than attempting
01:06:50to conceal a murder?
01:06:52As are the probabilities in the case,
01:06:54they are open
01:06:54to many possible interpretations.
01:06:56My lonely friend
01:06:57would have you discount
01:06:58the confessions
01:06:59of Mrs. Collins
01:07:00and her daughter.
01:07:01She says that Mrs. Collins
01:07:02is temperamentally
01:07:03incapable of murder
01:07:04and that Mary Collins
01:07:06would not have had the strength
01:07:07to strangle her child.
01:07:09But, members of the jury,
01:07:11in the law courts,
01:07:12we come to learn
01:07:12that nothing is impossible,
01:07:15that the most seemingly
01:07:16placid of beings
01:07:17are capable of
01:07:18violent action under stress.
01:07:20Who knows
01:07:21what Mrs. Collins
01:07:22and her daughter
01:07:22may have done
01:07:23when this illegitimate child
01:07:25made its sudden intrusion
01:07:26into their puritanical household.
01:07:28Did Mrs. Collins
01:07:29kill the child
01:07:30to save her daughter?
01:07:32Did Mary Collins
01:07:32kill the child
01:07:33as she says
01:07:34that she always intended to do
01:07:35to spare the feelings
01:07:36of the father
01:07:37who doted on her?
01:07:37These are but two
01:07:38of the possibilities.
01:07:40And since,
01:07:41on the evidence
01:07:42presented by the prosecution,
01:07:44you cannot be sure
01:07:45how the child died,
01:07:46since there is doubt,
01:07:49I submit
01:07:50that you have no choice
01:07:51but to bring in a verdict
01:07:53of not guilty.
01:07:59Members of the jury,
01:08:01the first thing
01:08:02I must explain
01:08:03is our two roles,
01:08:05yours and mine.
01:08:07Now, my role
01:08:07is to inform you
01:08:09of the law
01:08:09and to give you
01:08:10what guidance I can
01:08:11on the evidence.
01:08:13But it is your role
01:08:14to decide on the facts,
01:08:16to decide whose evidence
01:08:17you can believe
01:08:18and accept,
01:08:20whose evidence
01:08:21or what evidence
01:08:22you must reject.
01:08:25Now, next,
01:08:26the law requires
01:08:27that the prosecution
01:08:28prove its case
01:08:29beyond all reasonable doubt.
01:08:32Now, the prosecution case
01:08:33is that the accused
01:08:35Collins deliberately
01:08:37strangled his daughter's
01:08:38newborn baby.
01:08:40Now, they must prove that
01:08:42beyond all reasonable doubt
01:08:43so that if you have
01:08:45any doubt
01:08:46as to whether he did
01:08:47actually kill this child,
01:08:49then you must bring in
01:08:50a verdict of not guilty.
01:08:53Now, the issues
01:08:55members of the jury
01:08:56appear to be broadly these.
01:08:59Do you think
01:08:59that either
01:09:00of the two confessions
01:09:02which you have heard
01:09:03in the witness box
01:09:04can reasonably be true?
01:09:06or do you believe
01:09:08that beyond
01:09:09any reasonable doubt
01:09:10the accused's
01:09:12written confession
01:09:13to the police
01:09:13is true?
01:09:16Now, remember
01:09:16in assessing the truth
01:09:17of Mrs. Collins'
01:09:19confession
01:09:19that she now says
01:09:21that she killed
01:09:22the child
01:09:23before her husband
01:09:24entered the room,
01:09:26whereas she had
01:09:27previously told the police
01:09:28that the child
01:09:29was alive
01:09:30when her husband
01:09:31entered the room.
01:09:32So far as
01:09:35Mary Collins'
01:09:37remarkable story
01:09:38is concerned,
01:09:38ask yourselves
01:09:39whether she could
01:09:40really be as cool
01:09:41and calm
01:09:42and collected
01:09:44as she makes out to be.
01:09:46It's not impossible
01:09:47that she has confessed
01:09:49to killing her child
01:09:50because she was prepared
01:09:52to risk the charge
01:09:53of infanticide
01:09:54rather than see her father
01:09:56be convicted of murder.
01:10:01What you have to decide
01:10:02members of the jury
01:10:03is whether or not
01:10:06Mr. Collins
01:10:08kill this child.
01:10:11You will now retire
01:10:13and consider your verdict.
01:10:14All stand.
01:10:26All stand.
01:10:27All stand.
01:10:32The prisoner
01:10:37will remain standing.
01:10:41Members of the jury,
01:10:43will your foreman
01:10:43please stand?
01:10:45Just answer this question
01:10:47yes or no.
01:10:48Have you reached a verdict
01:10:49upon which you are
01:10:50all agreed?
01:10:50Yes.
01:10:51Do you find the prisoner
01:10:53Dominic Edgar Collins
01:10:54guilty or not guilty
01:10:56of murder?
01:10:57Not guilty.
01:10:57Dominic Edgar Collins
01:11:03you are free to go.
01:11:06Court will rise.
01:11:07you are free to看看
01:11:08and I am not guilty
01:11:22too.
01:11:23Emmanuel
01:11:24Phoebe
01:11:24whooped
01:11:25you are free to decide
01:11:28相互
01:11:29pa�
01:11:30no
01:11:30no
Be the first to comment