Crown Court - No Spoiling (1973) - video Dailymotion

Jezza

Crown Court: the gripping courtroom drama from the 1970s and 1980s.  A stressed mother is accused of attempting to murder her 14-month-old son after he is admitted to Fulchester General Hospital with life-threatening injuries.  Caroline John, perhaps best known as Liz Shaw in Doctor Who, stars as the defendant. Stephanie Turner, who will be known for her roles in The Sweeney and Juliet Bravo, also appears.

Transcript

00:00:00The End

00:00:01Late on the afternoon of September the 3rd,

00:00:1514-month-old Peter Ian Smithson was admitted to Fullchester General Hospital

00:00:19with multiple injuries to the head and body.

00:00:22Subsequent police investigations centred on 25-year-old mother of three,

00:00:26Mrs Sheena Smithson.

00:00:27Although she claims Peter's injuries were caused accidentally,

00:00:31Sheena today faces trial in Fullchester Crown Court

00:00:33on the charge of attempting to murder her baby son.

00:00:37Sergeant Harcourt, when the accused first made this statement that you've just read to the court,

00:01:02how would you describe her attitude?

00:01:04Well, she was anxious, of course.

00:01:05Could you tell why this was so?

00:01:07Because of the condition of the injured child, sir.

00:01:10Do you know if there were any other reasons for her anxiety?

00:01:13Madam?

00:01:13Well, she was giving you an account detailing the infliction of horrendous and near-fatal injuries on her baby son.

00:01:20Now, what tone did she use to deliver the statement?

00:01:24Ah.

00:01:24Well, she was quiet and collected, I suppose.

00:01:27And did she remain like this throughout her time with you?

00:01:29No, madam.

00:01:30When she was actually charged and told she couldn't go home, she began to cry.

00:01:34How did she behave then?

00:01:36Rather the same as when I first asked her to come down to the station.

00:01:38What way was that?

00:01:40Well, she was very upset.

00:01:41She said she was concerned about her two daughters.

00:01:44In what way?

00:01:45Well, she said she didn't want her mother-in-law to look after them.

00:01:47She didn't want that at all.

00:01:48She had to be forcibly restrained.

00:01:51You mean she became violent?

00:01:52Briefly, yes.

00:01:53Certainly hysterical.

00:01:55Thank you, Sergeant.

00:01:57Sergeant Harcourt, the injuries were so severe that they could only have been caused

00:02:02either by the child tumbling down the concrete stairs, as Mrs. Smithson says,

00:02:07or alternatively by the use of a blunt instrument.

00:02:10So I understand, sir, yes.

00:02:12Well, no such instrument has been found, has it?

00:02:15A number of items were found in the flat which could have been used, sir.

00:02:17Oh, yes. Such as?

00:02:19Well, an electric iron, rolling pin, heavy saucepan, carpenter's mallet,

00:02:23some heavy kiddies' building blocks that were in a corner.

00:02:27And these potentially lethal objects, are they being produced in evidence?

00:02:32No, sir.

00:02:33Why not?

00:02:35Oh, shall I tell you why, Sergeant?

00:02:36It's because on not one of them was there found any trace of skin, blood, hair,

00:02:41nothing to indicate they had been so used.

00:02:43No proof at all.

00:02:45No, but there would have been ample time to clean any instrument used in such an assault

00:02:48so that such a search would be unlikely to produce any satisfactory evidence.

00:02:52Just as there would have been ample time, 18 hours no less,

00:02:55for the stairs to have been cleaned before they could be examined.

00:02:58Quite so, sir, yes.

00:02:59You must have found this delay somewhat odd.

00:03:03An alleged assault of the most brutal nature,

00:03:05and yet it was the middle of the next morning

00:03:07before anyone bothered to notify the police?

00:03:09That's not so unusual in cases of child assault.

00:03:12Oh, you deal frequently with such cases?

00:03:14Far too frequently for my liking.

00:03:16Rather prevalent amongst the mothers at Fulterstow, is it?

00:03:18A certain class of mothers, sir, yes.

00:03:20Certain class?

00:03:21What class?

00:03:22Usually young.

00:03:24Yes.

00:03:25From the lower income range.

00:03:27Mm-hmm.

00:03:27Usually with several other kiddies in the family.

00:03:30I see, sir.

00:03:30When you were called in to investigate the Smithson incident,

00:03:33you recognised the pattern.

00:03:35Ah, you said to yourself,

00:03:36a small council flat,

00:03:38overcrowded,

00:03:40several kids,

00:03:40young mother,

00:03:42nasty,

00:03:42yet another child basher.

00:03:43My lord, I...

00:03:44No, Mr. Lotterby.

00:03:45Just stick to asking and not telling, eh?

00:03:48Lord.

00:03:50Sergeant,

00:03:51these cases,

00:03:52they must be very distressing for you.

00:03:54They are.

00:03:55Signs of malnutrition,

00:03:57general retardation,

00:03:59squalid domestic circumstances,

00:04:01and I believe cigarette burns

00:04:03are a not uncommon characteristic.

00:04:05I have known it, sir, yes.

00:04:07So in these respects,

00:04:08the defendant's case was entirely untypical.

00:04:12I suppose so.

00:04:12A bright, neat, clean home.

00:04:16Two little girls,

00:04:17immaculately cared for.

00:04:19Baby Peter,

00:04:20anything but undernourished,

00:04:21let alone tattooed with cigarette burns.

00:04:24Correct?

00:04:26Near enough.

00:04:27Yes.

00:04:28Yes, thank you, Sergeant.

00:04:31Thank you, Sergeant Harcourt.

00:04:32You may stand out.

00:04:34I call Jack Percival Smithson, my lord.

00:04:37Jack Percival Smithson, please.

00:04:41This way, sir.

00:04:42So, Mr. Smithson,

00:04:50you did in fact say that you

00:04:51contacted the police very soon

00:04:53after your arrival home

00:04:54on the morning of the 4th.

00:04:56I could see there was an out-of-else for it.

00:04:58But you were reluctant to do so.

00:04:59Well, of course I were reluctant.

00:05:01Well, Sheena's my wife.

00:05:02It's just that when it's a question of safety first

00:05:07and protecting innocent children from,

00:05:10well, you know, something harmful.

00:05:14And you consider your wife to be just that?

00:05:16Potentially harmful to the children?

00:05:18Oh, not to the two girls, mine.

00:05:19Not to Jean and Fiona.

00:05:20But to Peter?

00:05:22Aye, with a lad she's different.

00:05:23Always has been.

00:05:25It's almost...

00:05:26Almost as though she's got a down on him.

00:05:29Oh, aye, that.

00:05:30Certainly that.

00:05:32Poor little bloke.

00:05:34Now, Mr. Smithson,

00:05:34have you ever, to your certain knowledge,

00:05:36seen your wife strike, Peter?

00:05:39Strike?

00:05:39Well, you see,

00:05:41what you've got to understand with Sheena,

00:05:43it was a difficult birth.

00:05:45Peter's was.

00:05:47Breach,

00:05:48cesarean,

00:05:49premature,

00:05:51well, you name it.

00:05:53And it was that that gave her these moods.

00:05:56Moods?

00:05:57Aye, like depressions.

00:05:59Oh, I know that to be expected

00:06:01when it's difficult with feeding

00:06:04and treatment and things.

00:06:06And, of course,

00:06:07I did my best

00:06:09and me mam too

00:06:11when she'd let her.

00:06:13But it...

00:06:13It was as if she was...

00:06:15Well, changed.

00:06:16You mean a personality change?

00:06:18Well, she'd always had this thing

00:06:20about keeping them clean all the time.

00:06:21Oh, spotless.

00:06:23Well, that were easy enough

00:06:24when it was just the two girls.

00:06:27But...

00:06:28Our Petey's got this delicate tum.

00:06:31Ten minutes after his bottle and...

00:06:34Up it all comes.

00:06:37All over the shop.

00:06:40Well, of course,

00:06:40that would never do.

00:06:42Not for madam.

00:06:43I see.

00:06:44And then there was his other end.

00:06:46Almost as often.

00:06:48Well, it...

00:06:48It just used to drive her up the wall sometimes.

00:06:51And it was on these occasions

00:06:52that she'd strike him.

00:06:54Well, um...

00:06:55Honest to God,

00:06:58it's as if she didn't know what she were on.

00:07:01Beside herself.

00:07:02And all the time,

00:07:03this clean, bloody clean.

00:07:06Now, Mrs Smithson,

00:07:07you say you came back from a sales trip to Wigan

00:07:09and then you heard about what had happened.

00:07:12Now, why did you report the whole matter to the police

00:07:14instead of accepting that it was just an accident?

00:07:16Well, because it wasn't no accident.

00:07:19Well, I mean, there was a door.

00:07:21What about the door?

00:07:22Well, it would never have been open.

00:07:24Not the way she says it was.

00:07:25Not for our Pete to crawl out.

00:07:28Keep slip chain on.

00:07:29The old time she does.

00:07:31Because of our two girls.

00:07:33You mean like the cleaning?

00:07:34The door is another one of her things.

00:07:36Aye.

00:07:37Well, it was the reason why she went to housing people

00:07:40to get a place on ground floor.

00:07:43Somewhere up near the new Kenlow estate, she fancies.

00:07:46You know, with a bit of a yard like...

00:07:48Well, that's reasonable enough.

00:07:49Aye.

00:07:50Well, you try telling counsel.

00:07:51As I believe she has done on numerous occasions.

00:07:54Aye.

00:07:54Too numerous for my way of thinking.

00:07:57You can push that sort of person too hard.

00:08:00Yes.

00:08:01Now, then, you say that before Peter's birth,

00:08:04your wife was perfectly normal.

00:08:06A good wife and mother.

00:08:07No complaints.

00:08:08And your relationship with her?

00:08:09Were you happy together?

00:08:11Like a couple of love births.

00:08:13Then there was this difficult birth and a difficult baby.

00:08:16A year ago.

00:08:17Well, a bit more.

00:08:18Aye, that's all it is.

00:08:19And, er...

00:08:21Spiky.

00:08:23Moody all the time.

00:08:24Always working herself up into a state.

00:08:26About what sort of things?

00:08:27Oh, about all sorts of things.

00:08:30About money.

00:08:31About, um...

00:08:33My mum.

00:08:35About getting a better place to live.

00:08:37About going down south.

00:08:38What about where I'd been and who I've been with.

00:08:42You mean, your wife suspected you of infidelity.

00:08:45Oh, aye.

00:08:46That and all.

00:08:48Reckons I'm at it all the time like a rabbit, she does.

00:08:50Mr. Smithson, I'm sorry to have to ask you this, but have you ever given your wife grounds for these accusations?

00:08:56Grounds?

00:08:57Aye.

00:08:58Plenty.

00:08:59Well, I'm...

00:09:00I'm a sinner, you see.

00:09:01I don't say me prayers.

00:09:04I swear from time to time.

00:09:07Take the odd jar.

00:09:09Well, part of the great permissive society, that's me.

00:09:13Well, no, that's grounds enough for her, you know.

00:09:16I see.

00:09:17Mind you, I'm not saying I'm the...

00:09:18I'm the perfect husband.

00:09:20I've got me cash worries like everybody else.

00:09:26Inflation.

00:09:27HP, me mam to support.

00:09:29But nothing you weren't able to manage as long as your wife could cope with things in the home.

00:09:33Exactly.

00:09:34Well, it's as if after that birth, it left her a bit, you know.

00:09:41A bit what, Mr. Smithson?

00:09:43Well, I'm a bit touched.

00:09:46You didn't know, with these moods, what she would do next.

00:09:50Well, what she might do.

00:09:53Thank you, Mr. Smithson.

00:10:12Oh, Mrs. Smithson, you are convinced that your wife wanted to murder your son.

00:10:21This is in character, is it, with your nearest and dearest,

00:10:24with whom, until only a year or so ago, you were like lovebirds.

00:10:28Well, it's not up to me to say what she's charged with.

00:10:31Maybe not, but it's your evidence that could convict her of it.

00:10:34Have you thought about that?

00:10:35Of course I've bloody thought about it.

00:10:37It's my wife.

00:10:38It's just that, like I said before, it's for the kids, for Pete, his safety.

00:10:48Mr. Smithson, you may be a confectioner's salesman,

00:10:51but kindly don't dispose of your products whilst giving evidence in this court.

00:10:56I'm sorry, Your Worship.

00:10:57Very well.

00:10:59Now, Mr. Lottaby.

00:11:01I'm sure we can all appreciate your anxiety in this situation, Mr. Smithson.

00:11:05So, now then, you're telling us that your prime concern in all of this

00:11:10is for your baby son, Peter.

00:11:12Your wife, you say, has a down on him?

00:11:14She picks on him?

00:11:15That's right.

00:11:16They do not, at times, accuse her of trying to get at you through the child?

00:11:21Well, I...

00:11:22Oh, wasn't this the favourite theme of yours, in the rows you're always having?

00:11:25Well, so what it were true.

00:11:27This was why she picked on him, as a means of getting at you?

00:11:30Sometimes, aye.

00:11:32She knew you cared for him because he was a boy, your only son and heir,

00:11:35so she used him as a weapon against you.

00:11:38Right.

00:11:38Well, since you bring it up, right.

00:11:40Nasty.

00:11:41Aye.

00:11:42And do you know what else she used to say?

00:11:44Well, I'll tell you.

00:11:45We must be firm, she'd say.

00:11:48No spoiling.

00:11:49No spoiling, Elsie.

00:11:50He grew up like his dad,

00:11:52as if I was some sort of...

00:11:54law of animal life.

00:11:56And that's how she used to go on.

00:12:02Smithson!

00:12:05I'm sorry, sir.

00:12:07Kindly hand those sweets to the usher.

00:12:17Your wife's sister in Perth.

00:12:20Now, she was deserted by her husband some years ago, was she not?

00:12:23Yes.

00:12:24Deserted with four children to support and no home of her own?

00:12:27So?

00:12:28Well, isn't it true that because of this,

00:12:29your wife harbours acute fears of desertion?

00:12:33What happened?

00:12:34Yes.

00:12:34And isn't it also true that at times you've taunted her with this threat?

00:12:37No!

00:12:39Haven't you, in fact, told her to expect you home from the sales trip

00:12:42on the evening of the 2nd?

00:12:45Ah, well, I would held up.

00:12:47Really?

00:12:48Well, I put it to you, sir, that you were not held up.

00:12:50That you never expected to return home before the 4th,

00:12:53but you told her the 2nd so as to provoke her anxiety

00:12:56to aggravate her fears of desertion.

00:12:58No, it's not true.

00:13:00Did you make any attempt to contact her to explain?

00:13:04Oh, but not on the phone!

00:13:05Telegram?

00:13:06But...

00:13:07But she knew!

00:13:08She knew I might get held up.

00:13:10So you say.

00:13:11I do!

00:13:12I see.

00:13:13Well, it does seem that a rather different image

00:13:15is beginning to emerge, wouldn't you say?

00:13:18Not so much lovebirds

00:13:19as adversaries locked in a war of attrition.

00:13:23A war which culminated in the tragic accident on the stairs.

00:13:26You are.

00:13:27Do you deny the moment you came home that evening

00:13:29and heard what had happened,

00:13:30you saw it as the perfect chance

00:13:32of defeating your wife once and for all?

00:13:33My lord, I protest this steamrolling tactic.

00:13:36Could my witness at least be allowed the opportunity

00:13:38to answer for himself?

00:13:39But don't steamroll, Mr. Lutterby.

00:13:42My lord.

00:13:43Do you, in fact, have any answers to give us, Mr. Smithson?

00:13:47Aye, it's a lot of bloody nonsense.

00:13:49Ah!

00:13:50And let us guard our language.

00:13:52Sir.

00:13:53Now, let's see if we can find any more

00:13:54illustrations of battle, shall we?

00:13:58Yes.

00:13:59Now, at the committal proceedings,

00:14:00did you hear your wife plead not to be kept in custody?

00:14:06Was she not desperately anxious about the little girls?

00:14:08And did you not hear the chairman of the bench

00:14:12indicate that he might release her on bail?

00:14:16And didn't the police say they had no objection to this?

00:14:20Well, Mr. Smithson.

00:14:21And yet, no one could be found to stand surety for her, could they?

00:14:28No one.

00:14:30Not her parents.

00:14:31They're dead.

00:14:32Not her sister.

00:14:33She's destitute.

00:14:34Her mother-in-law, maybe.

00:14:36Her husband.

00:14:37She'd half-killed kid.

00:14:39We couldn't trust her.

00:14:41The kid was away in hospital,

00:14:42and as for the two little girls,

00:14:43you've already said she was all right with them.

00:14:45Well, she'd flipped.

00:14:47She'd done it once.

00:14:49We couldn't trust her.

00:14:51I see.

00:14:52And is this why you've not once taken the little girls to see her?

00:14:55Not once.

00:14:57How could we?

00:14:58In prison?

00:15:00Their mother in prison?

00:15:03Sick?

00:15:04That's what we had to tell them.

00:15:06Your ma'am's ill with an infectious disease.

00:15:10Ill is precisely what she's become,

00:15:12thanks to your depriving her of all sight and sound of her children

00:15:15for the last six weeks,

00:15:16as I fancy the jury can see for themselves.

00:15:19But this is a war you've been fighting, isn't it, Mr. Smithson?

00:15:23A bitter, vicious, vindictive little war.

00:15:27I have no further questions.

00:15:30You may stand down.

00:15:32Now, you are released,

00:15:34so you may stay for the rest of the proceedings,

00:15:36or depart as you wish.

00:15:37Thank you, sir.

00:15:39I call Violet Ann Smithson, my lord.

00:15:41Yes, sir.

00:15:42Violet Ann Smithson, please.

00:15:44You can come this way.

00:15:49And when you arrived in the flat that evening,

00:15:51what happened?

00:15:52Well, she...

00:15:55That's her there.

00:15:56Sheena.

00:15:57She wouldn't let me in.

00:15:58She had door on chain.

00:15:59Were you able to persuade her to open up?

00:16:02No.

00:16:02No, you couldn't reason with her.

00:16:04All she would say was,

00:16:05is how little Petey had been hurt.

00:16:07So I said I'd go for doctor,

00:16:09but she said,

00:16:09no, get ambulance.

00:16:10So I went down to the box on the corner,

00:16:12and I telephoned the hospital,

00:16:14and then I come back up again,

00:16:15and I tried to get in.

00:16:16But she kept me waiting outside,

00:16:18until the ambulance man came.

00:16:19You must have found this rather odd,

00:16:21under the circumstances.

00:16:23Well, no.

00:16:23No, not exactly.

00:16:25Oh?

00:16:25Well, you see,

00:16:26I could see the signs.

00:16:27I could tell.

00:16:28Now, did she eventually open up the door

00:16:30for the ambulance men?

00:16:31Why?

00:16:32And what did you see inside the flat,

00:16:34Mrs. Smithson?

00:16:35Well,

00:16:35me first thoughts were for little Petey.

00:16:38And she had him lying on the settee,

00:16:40all pale and cold.

00:16:42Dead, I thought.

00:16:44She's gone and done for him this time.

00:16:46But how would you describe the inside of the flat?

00:16:49Oh,

00:16:50oh,

00:16:50it were in a terrible mess.

00:16:52Kitchen were worse,

00:16:53there were water everywhere,

00:16:55and dirty washing line all around.

00:16:57And was this usual?

00:16:58Oh,

00:16:58no.

00:16:59No,

00:17:00all right,

00:17:00fussy she is.

00:17:02Close the door,

00:17:03no smoking,

00:17:03don't touch that,

00:17:04don't move that.

00:17:06Not that I'm faulting her for that.

00:17:08Oh,

00:17:08no.

00:17:09If she likes to live in a chapel,

00:17:11well,

00:17:11that's her look out.

00:17:13But it's not my idea of an home.

00:17:15Now,

00:17:16your daughter-in-law,

00:17:16Mrs. Smithson,

00:17:17how would you describe her condition?

00:17:20She'd gone,

00:17:21well,

00:17:22all sort of quiet-like.

00:17:25Dazed,

00:17:25almost.

00:17:27Honest,

00:17:27you know,

00:17:28I don't think she'd know what she'd done.

00:17:30It's these moods of hers.

00:17:31It's like a disease.

00:17:33Now,

00:17:33I think it's right that you then all went to the hospital.

00:17:36That's right.

00:17:37Now,

00:17:37why did you all go?

00:17:39Well,

00:17:39so that I could take little Jean and Fiona back home with me afterwards.

00:17:43But,

00:17:43oh,

00:17:44no,

00:17:45I wasn't good enough,

00:17:45was I?

00:17:46the grand's not to be trusted.

00:17:48The grand might let him stay up late watching telly or something wicked like that.

00:17:54Oh,

00:17:54not that I fault her for that,

00:17:56though.

00:17:57It's the way she's been brought up.

00:17:59Oh,

00:17:59the airs they give her.

00:18:02And there was another reason why she didn't want me alone with them.

00:18:05That evening,

00:18:06she was afraid.

00:18:07She was afraid of what Fiona might tell me.

00:18:10I'm sorry,

00:18:11Mrs. Smith.

00:18:11All the way in the ambulance,

00:18:13she never took her eyes off that child.

00:18:15And when we got to the hospital,

00:18:16she made quiet sure that I didn't get no time alone with her.

00:18:21I see.

00:18:22And you see why,

00:18:23don't you?

00:18:25You've only got to ask Fiona what went on in that flat that night.

00:18:29How the mother were laying into that poor little boy.

00:18:32Members of the jury,

00:18:35you will kindly ignore the witness's last statement.

00:18:44Mrs. Smithson,

00:18:45your daughter-in-law doesn't trust you?

00:18:49Says you spoil the children?

00:18:51The only time I get to see them is when I jack's home at weekends.

00:18:55There is,

00:18:56in fact,

00:18:56considerable ill-feeling between you,

00:18:58is there?

00:19:00I've tried to help her.

00:19:01Especially since Petey were born.

00:19:04Oh,

00:19:04he were a difficult child.

00:19:06But she rejects your help,

00:19:08does she?

00:19:08Oh,

00:19:08she'd rather go outside.

00:19:10Oh,

00:19:10she'd rather go to welfare than turn to me.

00:19:12And you feel she puts on airs?

00:19:15She's brought it on herself.

00:19:17She's got no friends.

00:19:18She don't know anybody in the street.

00:19:21Far too good for them.

00:19:22She's too grand.

00:19:23But she does have the welfare authorities.

00:19:25Oh,

00:19:25yes,

00:19:26that Miss James.

00:19:28University.

00:19:29She'd have her in to tea,

00:19:30but as for asking family in,

00:19:32oh.

00:19:32So,

00:19:33it's not unusual for her to greet you with the chain on the door?

00:19:37Regular.

00:19:39So,

00:19:39in fact,

00:19:39her behaviour on the evening of the third was not inconsistent with what you would normally expect?

00:19:45Aye.

00:19:46And as I told you,

00:19:47I could see the signs.

00:19:51Her behaviour was perfectly normal,

00:19:54but you could see the signs.

00:19:58I see.

00:19:59Have you any other family apart from your son Jack?

00:20:03None.

00:20:04Husband?

00:20:05Gone this 25 year.

00:20:06So you draw a widow's pension,

00:20:08and I believe you do occasional domestic work.

00:20:10Is that correct?

00:20:11Aye,

00:20:11aye,

00:20:11that's right.

00:20:12Except when,

00:20:13when my back's playing me up.

00:20:15So you manage on your own.

00:20:17Your son,

00:20:17he doesn't have to support you.

00:20:19Oh no,

00:20:20to the way round more like.

00:20:22What with the money she spends.

00:20:24Oh,

00:20:25you regard your daughter-in-law as extravagant.

00:20:27Oh,

00:20:28now,

00:20:28but best's good enough for her.

00:20:30It's a wonder our Jack's got output by.

00:20:33You don't like your daughter-in-law too much,

00:20:36do you,

00:20:36Mrs. Smith?

00:20:36Well,

00:20:37like I said,

00:20:38it's the kook you've got to blame,

00:20:40not the puddin'.

00:20:42Ah yes,

00:20:42nevertheless,

00:20:43this particular puddin'

00:20:45was not to your taste.

00:20:46Well,

00:20:47now you mention it,

00:20:48no.

00:20:49You've never got on,

00:20:50have you?

00:20:50Never,

00:20:50never accepted her?

00:20:52I've tried.

00:20:54Have you?

00:20:55I wonder,

00:20:56you see,

00:20:56I'm going to put it to you

00:20:57that you've never accepted her.

00:21:00You've always criticised

00:21:01and resented her at every turn.

00:21:04Her airs,

00:21:05as you call them,

00:21:05her background,

00:21:07her chapel,

00:21:08her high standards of childcare,

00:21:10you've criticised

00:21:11and fought her at every turn.

00:21:14No,

00:21:14why?

00:21:16I mean,

00:21:16why would I go on like that?

00:21:17No.

00:21:19Well,

00:21:19because,

00:21:19Mrs. Smithson,

00:21:20you're jealous of the girl

00:21:21who took your only son away from you.

00:21:23My lord,

00:21:23it's all right,

00:21:24miss,

00:21:24it's all right.

00:21:25Now,

00:21:25you listen,

00:21:26you don't know what I've gone through

00:21:27with that,

00:21:27Sheena.

00:21:27You don't know what I've put up with her,

00:21:29the efforts I've made.

00:21:31Do you deny it was you

00:21:32who persuaded your son

00:21:33to go to the police?

00:21:34He what?

00:21:34Do you deny you waited two hours

00:21:37outside their flat

00:21:38the following morning

00:21:39so as to catch him

00:21:40the moment he got home?

00:21:42What if I did?

00:21:44If I did anything like that,

00:21:45it was for our Petey's sake,

00:21:47to protect him against her.

00:21:49Oh,

00:21:49it strikes me,

00:21:50our Jack's much too loyal.

00:21:51Any other man

00:21:52would have divorced her be now

00:21:53and up and now he will divorce her

00:21:55and the tragedy is

00:21:56it's taken her

00:21:57half killing that poor little baby

00:21:59to show him for himself,

00:22:01to show her what she really's like.

00:22:03And just what is she,

00:22:04madam?

00:22:06Your rival for his affections.

00:22:09No further questions?

00:22:13Did you ever actually see

00:22:15the accused mistreat the little boy?

00:22:17Well,

00:22:18it depends what you mean,

00:22:18my...

00:22:18Yes or no,

00:22:19madam?

00:22:21Not in anger.

00:22:23You may stand down.

00:22:24You may sit over there

00:22:25with your son

00:22:26if you wish to stay in

00:22:27for the rest of the proceedings.

00:22:28I call Archibald Webster,

00:22:31my lord.

00:22:32Yes.

00:22:34Archibald Webster,

00:22:34please.

00:22:36Here he comes,

00:22:36yes.

00:22:39Director of Social Services

00:22:40in Fulchester.

00:22:41I am.

00:22:42Now,

00:22:42in May of this year

00:22:43were you visited in your office

00:22:44by the accused,

00:22:45in this case,

00:22:45Mrs Sheena Smithson,

00:22:46with an appeal for help?

00:22:48You could call it an appeal.

00:22:50How would you normally respond

00:22:51when young mothers come to you

00:22:52saying they can't cope?

00:22:53Normally,

00:22:54we'd have to refer them

00:22:55to the infant's clinic,

00:22:56see if they couldn't get

00:22:56a health visitor

00:22:57or a home help of some kind.

00:22:59Your staff are highly qualified

00:23:00in infant care?

00:23:01The ones we've got are,

00:23:02but we're desperately

00:23:03short of people.

00:23:04Nevertheless,

00:23:05in this case,

00:23:05you did respond

00:23:06and you assigned

00:23:07a fully qualified social worker

00:23:09to a series of home visits.

00:23:10Yes.

00:23:11Would you tell the court why?

00:23:12It was the way

00:23:13that Mrs Smithson phrased her appeal.

00:23:16What way was that?

00:23:17She said that she couldn't cope,

00:23:18that the little boy

00:23:19was an extremely difficult child

00:23:21and that if she didn't get help,

00:23:22she couldn't be held responsible

00:23:23for what she might do to him.

00:23:26She couldn't be held responsible

00:23:27for what she might do to him.

00:23:29Now,

00:23:29was this phrased

00:23:30as a threat?

00:23:31No.

00:23:32You see,

00:23:32she was in quite a state about it.

00:23:34She said that she was terrified

00:23:35of what she might do to him

00:23:36and then when I asked her why,

00:23:38she said...

00:23:39Yes,

00:23:40what did she say?

00:23:41Well,

00:23:41that a couple of times already

00:23:43she'd lost all self-control

00:23:44with the child

00:23:45and that next time

00:23:46it could be disastrous.

00:23:47She could do him

00:23:48some permanent injury.

00:24:11The case of the Queen against Smithson

00:24:14will be resumed tomorrow

00:24:15in the Crown Court.

00:24:36Today in Fullchester Crown Court,

00:24:39Sheena Smithson stands accused

00:24:40of attempting to murder

00:24:41her baby son, Peter.

00:24:43Her husband and his mother

00:24:44have both given evidence

00:24:46against Sheena,

00:24:47claiming that she changed

00:24:48after Peter's birth,

00:24:49developing impulsive

00:24:50and dangerous moods.

00:24:52The witness currently giving evidence

00:24:54is the director

00:24:54of the local social services.

00:24:56At the close of yesterday's proceedings,

00:24:58he told how the accused

00:24:59had come to him

00:25:00pleading for help

00:25:01and had confessed

00:25:02to two prior assaults

00:25:04on Peter.

00:25:25Yes, I see.

00:25:26And you say this meeting

00:25:27was in May?

00:25:28On the 7th.

00:25:29Now, was this your first

00:25:30such interview

00:25:30with the defendant?

00:25:31It was.

00:25:32Nevertheless, isn't it true

00:25:33she had been seeking help

00:25:35from your department

00:25:35for over a month?

00:25:36Yes, I believe she had

00:25:38and one of my assistants

00:25:39referred her

00:25:40to the infant's clinic.

00:25:41To which she had already been.

00:25:43It was you she wanted to see

00:25:44but this privilege

00:25:45was denied her.

00:25:46I am director

00:25:47of an extremely busy department.

00:25:49Oh, yes, extremely busy.

00:25:51And also this particular woman

00:25:52had a reputation

00:25:53for being something

00:25:53of a nuisance.

00:25:54My lord.

00:25:55Oh, I'll withdraw that question.

00:25:56So, help was denied her

00:26:01in April.

00:26:02Oh, no, that is not

00:26:03quite the case.

00:26:04Sir, it was natural enough

00:26:05that going back again in May

00:26:06she'd have known

00:26:06a more extreme line

00:26:08was necessary

00:26:08if she was going to

00:26:09penetrate the red tape

00:26:10get some kind of response.

00:26:12She might have reacted

00:26:13in that way.

00:26:13She might.

00:26:14Well, this woman

00:26:15was at her wit's end.

00:26:17She felt utterly isolated.

00:26:19She was desperate

00:26:20to get her family

00:26:20into a new home

00:26:21and she knew

00:26:22that unless

00:26:23she came up

00:26:24with something

00:26:24completely out of the ordinary

00:26:25she'd be turned away

00:26:26yet again.

00:26:27The fact remains,

00:26:29Mr. Lotterby

00:26:29that she told me

00:26:30she twice lost

00:26:31all self-control

00:26:32and could no longer

00:26:33trust herself

00:26:34with the child.

00:26:35And of course

00:26:36with that sort of threat

00:26:37on record

00:26:38you could ignore her

00:26:39no longer.

00:26:42Your offices

00:26:43are in County Hall.

00:26:44Yes.

00:26:45Where also house

00:26:46the departments

00:26:46of Public Health,

00:26:47Education,

00:26:48Housing and so forth.

00:26:49Yes.

00:26:50So presumably

00:26:50you keep in close touch

00:26:51with these other departments.

00:26:53We enjoy

00:26:53a fair degree

00:26:54of liaison.

00:26:55And the defendant

00:26:56is, I believe,

00:26:57known not only

00:26:58to your department

00:26:59but to most

00:27:00of the other departments

00:27:01as well.

00:27:01She is indeed.

00:27:02She has over the years

00:27:03registered a variety

00:27:05of complaints

00:27:05covering such things

00:27:07as fly and rodent

00:27:08infestations,

00:27:10the traffic dangers

00:27:11from the road outside,

00:27:13a local hooliganism,

00:27:14noise,

00:27:15polluted water supplies.

00:27:16No, it's Mr. Lotterby.

00:27:17Are you asking the witness

00:27:18or telling the jury?

00:27:20Asking the witness.

00:27:20Well then,

00:27:21since his replies

00:27:22are bound to be based

00:27:23on hearsay,

00:27:24I suggest that you

00:27:24withdraw your question.

00:27:26His answers need

00:27:26unnecessarily be based

00:27:27on hearsay, my lord.

00:27:29Indeed?

00:27:29And how is that?

00:27:30For instance,

00:27:31her requests

00:27:31for alternative accommodation

00:27:33would be a matter

00:27:34for the housing authority.

00:27:36But whether or not

00:27:37the request was granted

00:27:38could depend

00:27:38on a recommendation

00:27:39from the Social Services

00:27:40Department

00:27:41from Mr. Webster.

00:27:42I don't see

00:27:43what this has to do

00:27:43with rats, flies

00:27:44and hooligans.

00:27:45With respect, my lord,

00:27:46I submit that

00:27:47all these complaints

00:27:48are relevant

00:27:48to the single issue

00:27:49of the family's accommodation

00:27:50and that they are matters

00:27:52which can properly

00:27:53be put to this witness.

00:27:57Did you at any time

00:27:58recommend a change

00:27:59of accommodation

00:27:59for the Smithson family?

00:28:01No, your lordship.

00:28:03Mr. Lotterby,

00:28:04you will withdraw

00:28:04your question.

00:28:05With respect, my lord,

00:28:06before I do so,

00:28:07I would seek

00:28:07the court's indulgence

00:28:08on this.

00:28:09Mr. Lotterby, you have heard

00:28:09my decision.

00:28:10The matter is concluded.

00:28:11Kindly continue

00:28:11with your cross-examination.

00:28:13As your lordship pleases.

00:28:16Mr. Webster,

00:28:17this social worker

00:28:18you assigned

00:28:19to the Smithson's house,

00:28:22who was she?

00:28:23Miss Alison James.

00:28:25Yes.

00:28:26Now, was Miss James

00:28:27transferred from your department

00:28:29in mid-July last?

00:28:30Yes.

00:28:30Why was that?

00:28:31I believe the reason

00:28:32stated in her application

00:28:34was that she,

00:28:34she felt that her views

00:28:36were no longer compatible

00:28:38with the policies

00:28:39of the department.

00:28:40And why were they

00:28:41no longer compatible?

00:28:42My lord, surely this is

00:28:43dragging us back again

00:28:44into the realms of Hersey.

00:28:45Quite.

00:28:46Mr. Lotterby?

00:28:47My lord, I shall be calling

00:28:48Miss James as a witness.

00:28:50So we shall be able

00:28:51to confirm it

00:28:52whether true reasons

00:28:54for the transfer.

00:28:57Well, perhaps I could

00:28:58put it to you this way.

00:29:00Mr. Webster,

00:29:01would I be right

00:29:02in saying that the reason

00:29:04Miss James left the department

00:29:06was because she disagreed

00:29:07with the department's view

00:29:08as to the proper housing

00:29:09for the family?

00:29:10It was one of the areas

00:29:12of disagreement,

00:29:13as I recall.

00:29:13There were plenty of others.

00:29:15But this was the crucial one.

00:29:17She wanted you to bring pressure

00:29:18on the, uh,

00:29:19on the, uh,

00:29:20housing authorities.

00:29:21You refused.

00:29:22There was a head-on clash,

00:29:23leaving her with no alternative

00:29:24but to seek a transfer.

00:29:26Somewhat over-dramatized.

00:29:28Really?

00:29:29Well, the jury will have a chance

00:29:30to, uh, decide that

00:29:31for themselves

00:29:32when Miss James gives evidence.

00:29:34Precisely, Mr. Lotterby.

00:29:35And until she does,

00:29:36let's stop anticipating it,

00:29:37shall we?

00:29:38Come on.

00:29:38Mr. Webster,

00:29:41I'm going to put it to you

00:29:42that Mrs. Sheena Smithson

00:29:44was indeed well-known

00:29:45to you and your colleagues

00:29:46at County Hall,

00:29:47known as a nuisance

00:29:49and a troublemaker.

00:29:50Now, when she came to you

00:29:51in May

00:29:51with these wild claims

00:29:52and threats,

00:29:53you could risk

00:29:54ignoring her no longer.

00:29:56So you assigned Miss James,

00:29:58the most junior of your staff,

00:29:59onto a series of visits.

00:30:00Oh, I must object

00:30:01to the image.

00:30:01Oh, let me finish, please.

00:30:03But when Miss James

00:30:03came back to you

00:30:04on the accommodation issue,

00:30:05you dug your toes in.

00:30:07There were limits.

00:30:08You'd already given in

00:30:09to the Smithson woman once

00:30:10by granting her

00:30:10a social worker,

00:30:11but as for allowing her

00:30:13to manipulate you

00:30:15into giving her

00:30:15a better flat,

00:30:16well, that was too much.

00:30:20Well, Mr. Webster?

00:30:22Not only over-dramatized,

00:30:24but distorted beyond all semblance

00:30:25of the true situation.

00:30:28Well, we shall see, Mr. Webster.

00:30:31No further questions, my Lord.

00:30:33You may stand down, Mr. Webster.

00:30:35That concludes the case

00:30:37for the prosecution, my Lord.

00:30:38Very well.

00:30:40Now,

00:30:42Mr. Lotterby.

00:30:43With your Lordship's permission,

00:30:45I should like to call

00:30:46as my first witness

00:30:46the doctor who has been

00:30:47treating Mrs. Smithson

00:30:48for some years.

00:30:50He has an urgent appointment

00:30:51this afternoon, my Lord.

00:30:52Have you any objection, Miss Tate?

00:30:54No, my Lord.

00:30:55Very well.

00:30:56I call

00:30:57Dr. William Park.

00:30:58Dr. William Park, please.

00:31:06He also treated baby Peter

00:31:07on his admission to hospital.

00:31:09That's right.

00:31:10They, of course,

00:31:11are consultant surgeons

00:31:12before me actual craniotomy.

00:31:13Now, doctor,

00:31:14certain witnesses

00:31:15have referred to Peter's birth,

00:31:17and the suggestion is

00:31:18that it in some way

00:31:18induced a personality change

00:31:20in the defendant.

00:31:21Now, would you agree

00:31:22with that suggestion?

00:31:24Well, a temporary reaction may be,

00:31:25but nothing permanent

00:31:26to Mrs. Smithson.

00:31:28There was postnatal depression,

00:31:30but that was only to be expected.

00:31:31Why was that?

00:31:33Well, to begin with,

00:31:34labor was started prematurely.

00:31:36Was there a specific reason for that?

00:31:39Well, according to Mrs. Smithson,

00:31:40she'd had a row with her husband,

00:31:41and he'd assaulted her.

00:31:44There was bruising

00:31:44on several places on her body.

00:31:46And this assault

00:31:47caused her to go into labor?

00:31:49About three weeks prematurely.

00:31:50The fetus was not properly aligned.

00:31:52A breach situation developed.

00:31:54We were left no alternative,

00:31:55but it's caesarean section.

00:31:57I think I'm right in saying

00:31:58that the baby was put

00:31:59into an oxygen tent.

00:32:00Yes.

00:32:01And as can sometimes happen,

00:32:02this led to a certain alienation

00:32:03on the part of the mother.

00:32:04You mean because of the operation, doctor?

00:32:06No, sir.

00:32:07It's more that the infant

00:32:08isn't available

00:32:09when the mother

00:32:09recovers consciousness.

00:32:11The normal maternal instincts

00:32:12aren't triggered.

00:32:13Lactation's affected.

00:32:15There's a whole lot of

00:32:16hormonal confusion,

00:32:17you could say.

00:32:19And what effect

00:32:20might that have had

00:32:21on the defendant?

00:32:22It could cause

00:32:23postnatal depression.

00:32:24And this, in turn,

00:32:26could affect

00:32:27the infant emotionally.

00:32:29A sort of vicious circle,

00:32:30if you like.

00:32:31There's no doubt

00:32:32she had a lot of difficulty

00:32:33with Peter.

00:32:34Always restless and colicky,

00:32:35prone to minor infections,

00:32:36rashes, the lot.

00:32:37Would the depressions

00:32:38have lasted long?

00:32:40Not usually.

00:32:41But then, well,

00:32:42she did have two other

00:32:43young children already.

00:32:44And then Peter,

00:32:45with all these problems,

00:32:46she's been inclined

00:32:47to get over-anxious,

00:32:49chronically short of sleep

00:32:49and so on.

00:32:50Would these matters

00:32:51amount to a personality

00:32:52change, Doctor,

00:32:53or cause her mental condition

00:32:55to be described

00:32:56medically as abnormal?

00:32:57Certainly not.

00:32:58I come into contact

00:32:59with scores of young mothers

00:33:00in the same boat.

00:33:01Worse, a lot of them.

00:33:02When you examined

00:33:03Peter's condition

00:33:04in September,

00:33:05what were your conclusions

00:33:06as to the cause

00:33:07of his injury?

00:33:08Well, I must say

00:33:09that I did not feel

00:33:10that they resulted

00:33:10from an assault

00:33:11by the defendant,

00:33:12since the injury

00:33:13seemed perfectly consistent

00:33:14with her explanation.

00:33:15And that was?

00:33:16That he had tumbled down

00:33:17some concrete steps.

00:33:18Did you know

00:33:19the forensic experts

00:33:20were unable

00:33:21to confirm her story?

00:33:22Not until you tell me.

00:33:24Yes.

00:33:25But from the injuries

00:33:26you treated,

00:33:27would you expect

00:33:28there to be any blood

00:33:30there on the stairs

00:33:30for them to find?

00:33:31Minimal.

00:33:32Assuming it was the stairs,

00:33:34then the head

00:33:35must have struck

00:33:35on the flats

00:33:36and not the edges.

00:33:37Otherwise,

00:33:37the skin would have

00:33:38been severely split.

00:33:39Doctor,

00:33:40were you surprised

00:33:41when you heard

00:33:41the police suspected

00:33:42this as a case of assault?

00:33:44I was, rather,

00:33:45because it was so unlike

00:33:46the usual baby-bashing case.

00:33:47Oh, dear me.

00:33:48Baby-bashing,

00:33:49I suppose you mean

00:33:50child assault.

00:33:51Yes, sir.

00:33:51But if I could just explain

00:33:52the usual sort of pattern

00:33:53we watch out for.

00:33:55For one thing,

00:33:56careful study of the bruises

00:33:58often shows finger patterns

00:33:59where the child's been grasped.

00:34:01I notice none on Peter.

00:34:03Then again,

00:34:04there'll often be lacerations

00:34:05on the aura mucosa.

00:34:07What?

00:34:07The gums and lips, sir.

00:34:08Due to forcible feeding

00:34:10by the mother.

00:34:11None on Peter.

00:34:12Then again,

00:34:14ocular injuries to the eyes.

00:34:15They're very common.

00:34:16And another thing

00:34:17we often come across

00:34:18are cigarette burns.

00:34:21But I notice none on Peter.

00:34:22Was there anything

00:34:23to lead you to conclude

00:34:25that this was a case of assault?

00:34:27Nothing at all.

00:34:29Thank you, Doctor.

00:34:31Doctor Park,

00:34:32if I may say so,

00:34:33you'll give the impression

00:34:34of a young professional man

00:34:35most anxious

00:34:36to justify his actions.

00:34:38Oh, God.

00:34:38I really don't see

00:34:39what you mean.

00:34:40Well, as a doctor,

00:34:40is it not your duty

00:34:41to report a suspected case

00:34:43of assault to the police?

00:34:44If I suspect it, yes.

00:34:46However,

00:34:46isn't it also true

00:34:47to say that you're

00:34:48generally reluctant to do so

00:34:49unless you're absolutely certain

00:34:52that there has been abuse?

00:34:54I wouldn't say that.

00:34:55Well, surely the need

00:34:55to keep on good terms

00:34:57with the parents

00:34:58to avoid alienating them

00:34:59with your accusations

00:35:02of brutality.

00:35:03Now, surely this influences you?

00:35:05They don't have to know.

00:35:07We can always inform

00:35:07the children's officer

00:35:08or put the NSPCC onto it.

00:35:10Oh, but even so,

00:35:11the parents are bound

00:35:12to find out

00:35:13who starts the witch hunting.

00:35:14Not necessarily.

00:35:15Come on, Doctor.

00:35:15In any event, as I say,

00:35:17I was perfectly satisfied

00:35:18that Peter's injuries

00:35:18were accidental.

00:35:19Ah, yes,

00:35:20and that his mother

00:35:20was not the usual

00:35:21baby-bashing type.

00:35:24Doctor Park,

00:35:24isn't Mrs. Smithson's

00:35:25a very familiar face

00:35:27in your waiting room?

00:35:27Maybe,

00:35:28but not because of injuries

00:35:29to our children.

00:35:30No, but because of all sorts

00:35:31of minor ailments.

00:35:33Suspected deficiencies,

00:35:35ear and eyesight checks,

00:35:36So she's over-anxious.

00:35:37And not least about herself.

00:35:39Maybe, but as I said,

00:35:40we've loads of mothers

00:35:41who are worse.

00:35:42But she is over-anxious.

00:35:44Neurotic, even.

00:35:45I wouldn't call her neurotic.

00:35:47Well, one more question,

00:35:48Doctor Park.

00:35:49You're still treating

00:35:49young Peter, I take it?

00:35:51Yes.

00:35:51Would you tell us

00:35:52of his current condition, please?

00:35:55Er, he's still critical.

00:35:56Still in intensive care

00:35:57after six weeks?

00:35:59Yes.

00:35:59Is further brain surgery

00:36:00anticipated?

00:36:02It may be necessary.

00:36:04Thank you, Doctor.

00:36:06Thanks, Doctor.

00:36:07Thanks, Doctor.

00:36:08I won't.

00:36:14Drinkin'

00:36:26What is your religion?

00:36:40Church of Scotland.

00:36:41Take the book in your right hand and read the words from the card.

00:36:46I swear by almighty God that the evidence I shall give

00:36:48shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

00:36:51Mrs. Sheena Smithson of flat 421 Kringle House, Fulchester.

00:36:57Yes.

00:36:58Now Mrs. Smithson you are accused of attempting to murder your son Peter

00:37:02on the evening of the 3rd of September last.

00:37:05Now would you tell the court why you plead not guilty to that charge?

00:37:09He was hurt by an accident.

00:37:12Now will you tell us how this accident occurred?

00:37:15He managed to get out of the flat without my knowing it.

00:37:18He got along the balcony to the stairhead and tumbled down.

00:37:23Will you tell us just how it was he was able to get out of the flat, as you say?

00:37:26Well, see, see it was a terrible day.

00:37:29Everything going wrong.

00:37:31The two girls, Fiona and Jean, had colds.

00:37:34A right sad wee couple they were.

00:37:36Peter was sickening for it, of course.

00:37:38Not so much snuffling yet, but upset in his stomach.

00:37:41It was raining outside, so we couldn't get out.

00:37:43Not to the shops or for a walk.

00:37:46And then the telly was on the blink.

00:37:48The picture coming and going.

00:37:50Not for me, you understand, but for the babes.

00:37:53I mean, when they're sick, the telly's a gay blessing.

00:37:56Just plonk them down there and, well, it keeps them occupied.

00:37:59But this day, it was all the time, on and off.

00:38:02And each time I had to go in and...

00:38:04You had to adjust it.

00:38:05Thump it.

00:38:06Fiddle with the knob.

00:38:07Oh, I'd gladly have burnt the thing.

00:38:09So this, along with the children's illness, the rain and so on,

00:38:11what it was, as you say, just one of those days.

00:38:14Terrible.

00:38:14Now, will you please tell the poor...

00:38:16If I could just work it out as it went.

00:38:18Yes, yes, please.

00:38:19I've not long changed Peter into a fresh romper suit.

00:38:23See, he burped up all over the other before I could catch him.

00:38:26I got a load of nappies and the like into the washing machine and set it to fill.

00:38:30It was just then that I heard the car outside, the door slamming like,

00:38:33and I thought it might be Jack.

00:38:35You had, in fact, reason to be anxious about your husband.

00:38:37It was like you said earlier.

00:38:39He was a day late home from his trip.

00:38:41I've been in and out several times in the afternoon to look out for him.

00:38:44So you heard the car door slam?

00:38:46I'm not long out there to look.

00:38:47When Fiona's at the door to tell me there's water all over,

00:38:50I ran back in and, of course, it's the washer.

00:38:51The washing machine, was it faulty?

00:38:53Yes and no, it's just you have to watch it the while.

00:38:56Anyway, there was a right mess and me and Fiona,

00:38:58we just started cleaning it up when I remembered the door.

00:39:00In my rush, I'd only pushed it two, you see.

00:39:02So I ran back through to check and I found it wide open.

00:39:06I ran out onto the balcony and there's wee Peter at the far end.

00:39:09He's not...

00:39:10He'd not long passed the crawling stage.

00:39:13Still had to hold on when he toddled along.

00:39:16Well, it was stupid of me, I suppose, but there it was.

00:39:19I called out to him, started along.

00:39:22He looked round and somehow his wee foot went over the top step.

00:39:26And he fell.

00:39:29And then?

00:39:29I fetched him up.

00:39:34He was knocked unconscious.

00:39:38I took him back in, laid him on the settee.

00:39:41I suppose I panicked there for a bit.

00:39:43I remember trying to give him the kiss of life,

00:39:46fetching a cold compress for his head.

00:39:49The girls must have caught my fright because they started greeting and carrying on like there was a terrible deal.

00:39:53I didn't know what to do.

00:39:53What happened next?

00:39:55My mother-in-law arrives.

00:39:58I never thought I'd ever be so glad to see her.

00:40:01And yet you didn't let her in.

00:40:02I knew if she did, if I let her in, she'd start fussing in that.

00:40:05I knew the quickest way to get her off with the ambulance was to keep her at the door.

00:40:09As in fact seems to have happened, she went immediately.

00:40:11Aye.

00:40:11And when she came back, what did you do?

00:40:13I felt I couldn't cope with her.

00:40:16Not on top of all the rest.

00:40:19I just waited for the ambulance, kept her outside.

00:40:22I'd have been out to the foe myself just then, mind, if she'd nay come.

00:40:26At this point about there being no blood on the stairs, how do you account for that?

00:40:31I don't see how there could have been.

00:40:33I managed to get a hold of him before he reached the bottom.

00:40:35Now, you've heard the views expressed by your husband and your mother-in-law

00:40:41that you've been subject to moods since Peter's birth.

00:40:44The inference is that you lose control during these moods

00:40:47and you can't be held responsible for what you do.

00:40:50What do you say to this?

00:40:52I do get awful tired sometimes.

00:40:55Awful down.

00:40:56And then, like he says, the littlest thing seems to upset me.

00:41:00I get these black feelings of hatred.

00:41:03I hate Violet.

00:41:04I hate Jack, hate myself, hate that flat.

00:41:07Most of all, I hate that flat.

00:41:09The noise, the neighbourhood, the trouble to the bins.

00:41:11But you don't lose control over your children.

00:41:12Do let the witness finish telling us for herself.

00:41:16It's true, I do get them, sir.

00:41:18But I don't hate the three bins.

00:41:20You see, those three, they're my whole life.

00:41:22The only thing that makes any sense for me, any reason.

00:41:26You're saying that you couldn't lose control ever to that extent?

00:41:29No, no, I'm sure not.

00:41:30And yet, listening to the evidence, I have gained the impression

00:41:33that you used to strike, Peter.

00:41:35Yes, yes, I would.

00:41:36But not in anger.

00:41:37Oh?

00:41:38I'd smack him if he's naughty.

00:41:40And believe me, he can be.

00:41:42With his feeding.

00:41:44With wanting things from his sisters.

00:41:46Very willful.

00:41:47A right boy.

00:41:48Maybe I have been firmer with him sometimes, sir.

00:41:52Firmer than with the girls.

00:41:53Maybe it is because I see his father in him.

00:41:56Because I see that and I want to keep him from being selfish and spoilt and that.

00:42:00But that's firmness, sir.

00:42:02That's discipline.

00:42:03Never anger, sir.

00:42:04Never.

00:42:08Mr. Lotterby.

00:42:08Sheena, these things you said to Mr. Webster last May,

00:42:13that you twice lost all control over your child

00:42:15and that you couldn't be held responsible for what you might do in the future,

00:42:19that's hardly consistent with what you just told his lawyer.

00:42:22It was like you said to Mr. Webster about the accommodation.

00:42:27That flat's a terrible place.

00:42:29Four flights up, no facilities, a right death trap for kiddies.

00:42:32I mean, what right have they to condemn a family of five to a place like that?

00:42:35You were asked about your remarks to Mr. Webster.

00:42:38Well, that's the way it was, sir.

00:42:39I want to go to that place.

00:42:40And for all the rights we had on our side,

00:42:42I couldn't get any action.

00:42:43Nothing but promises, promises.

00:42:45So?

00:42:46So I was getting frantic by this time.

00:42:48I'd met Alison James the first time I was around there in April

00:42:51and she said I'd never get any backing from this Webster

00:42:54unless he thought I was on the point of suicide

00:42:56or something dreadful like that.

00:42:59So that's what I told him.

00:43:01You invented it.

00:43:02That is what you are telling us.

00:43:04That's right, sir.

00:43:05Thank you, Sheena.

00:43:08Just about the most damning thing you could have invented, Mrs. Smithson,

00:43:11the way things have turned out.

00:43:12Yes, I can see that.

00:43:14Ironic.

00:43:14Yes.

00:43:15But then everything seems to have conspired against you, doesn't it?

00:43:19Your husband always away,

00:43:21an interfering mother-in-law,

00:43:23uncaring local authorities.

00:43:25You married beneath yourself, didn't you?

00:43:27I wouldn't see that.

00:43:29Well, your father was a civil servant in Stirling.

00:43:31Yes.

00:43:31God-fearing parents who brought you up in the ways of the church.

00:43:34Yes.

00:43:35Set you standards of conduct, hygiene and morality that you are determined to sustain.

00:43:39Yes, and why not?

00:43:40Because standards that you find somewhat lacking in your husband and his mother.

00:43:43Well, sometimes I suppose...

00:43:44And also in the people in the vicinity of Crindle House.

00:43:47Not all of them.

00:43:48Not all of them.

00:43:49You haven't isolated yourself from them, then.

00:43:52Mrs. Smithson, are you not rather a snob?

00:43:55Just because I aim at certain standards for my children, doesn't mean I'm a snob.

00:43:58And what about your relationship with your husband,

00:44:00this monster, this brute who beats you when you're eight months pregnant?

00:44:04He did.

00:44:05Maybe.

00:44:06But then was there not some provocation?

00:44:09A wife who's become a compulsive nagger, forever blaming him as a failure, as an adulterer.

00:44:15I don't say I'm any good as a wife.

00:44:18I'm not.

00:44:19I realised that years ago.

00:44:21But as a mother...

00:44:22Ah, yes.

00:44:22As a mother, you have standards.

00:44:24But then are you really such a competent mother?

00:44:26What do you mean?

00:44:27Well, a competent mother, knowing that she was getting worn out and getting these black

00:44:31moods of hate that you've admitted to, a competent mother would have done something about it.

00:44:35But I went to the doctor.

00:44:36But then there are other people to talk to.

00:44:38Such as?

00:44:39Well, the neighbours can help if given half a chance.

00:44:42And a granny can ease the burden somewhat if you'll only let her try.

00:44:45And what about the crèche?

00:44:46What use did you use of...

00:44:48Well, you should just see it.

00:44:49Not clean enough for you?

00:44:50Too crowded?

00:44:52And the local nursery school now, Fiona is five years old.

00:44:54Why did you not send her there?

00:44:55It's not compulsory.

00:44:56No, but it's a tremendous help, Mrs. Smithson.

00:45:00Assuming, of course, that you don't mind your child mixing with the hoi polloi.

00:45:03My lord, I don't see where all this is leading us.

00:45:05No.

00:45:07And all this continual bickering at the local authority as if you're some sort of special case.

00:45:13Meriting some privileged attention over your other neighbours from whom you've isolated yourself.

00:45:17I never saw anything but our rights.

00:45:18Your rights, Mrs. Smithson, yes.

00:45:20Well, it's a pity you didn't think about your rights on the afternoon of September the 3rd.

00:45:24What do you mean?

00:45:24You were worrying yourself sick for fear that your husband had finally deserted you.

00:45:29What does that got to do with my rights?

00:45:30With my rights?

00:45:31The television and the washing machine all going wrong.

00:45:34The children all ill and playing up.

00:45:35You were at your wits' end.

00:45:36It all got on top of you.

00:45:39Isolated, distraught.

00:45:41These black moods of hate.

00:45:42Now, what really happened, Mrs. Smithson?

00:45:45The baby did have a tummy trouble, as you say, and he vomited his tea all over himself and over the living room floor.

00:45:52No.

00:45:52It was too much.

00:45:53It was the last straw.

00:45:54No.

00:45:54You lost control and you hit him again and again.

00:45:56I didn't.

00:45:57It's a pity you didn't think about your rights then, Mrs.

00:45:59What rights?

00:45:59The rights of a mother to her child.

00:46:01The rights you may well lose because of the spontaneous adverse.

00:46:04No!

00:46:05Leave me alone, you're stupid mate!

00:46:07Leave me alone!

00:46:08Restrain the prisoner.

00:46:13Cancel, sir, hold up.

00:46:22The case of the Queen against Smithson will be resumed tomorrow in the Crown Court.

00:46:52Today, in Fullchester Crown Court, proceedings continue against Mrs. Sheena Smithson, charged with attempting to murder her 14-month-old son.

00:47:22Central to the prosecution's case is the claim that she is given to moods of uncontrollable passion.

00:47:27The defence has brought medical evidence to dispute this.

00:47:30But yesterday, proceedings had to be abruptly adjourned because Sheena broke down under cross-examination and tried to run from the court.

00:47:37And I think that last remark was quite uncalled for, Miss Tate.

00:48:00Members of the jury, innocent or guilty, the accused inevitably is bound to have certain apprehensions about the possible consequences of this case.

00:48:11And I refer to the threat to her parental rights.

00:48:16And she is the mother of three children.

00:48:19Now, no doubt the prosecution will want to hold up yesterday's incident as an example of the accused's potential for violence.

00:48:25And it is up to you to make up your own minds whether or not you agree with that.

00:48:29But I will not tolerate any more displays such as necessitated yesterday's adjournment.

00:48:35Is that understood, Miss Tate?

00:48:36I apologise, my lord.

00:48:38Very well.

00:48:38Now, let's get on.

00:48:39Now, Mrs. Smithson, whilst heeding his lordship's observations of your conduct in court yesterday, I still feel I must question you on your behaviour whilst on remand.

00:48:50Yes.

00:48:51How would you describe your relationship with the prison officers whilst you were on remand?

00:48:56All right, but they didn't understand...

00:48:57All right, were you not put under sedation as a result of a quarrel with the prison officer?

00:49:02She should never have said that...

00:49:04And did you not then try to abscond from the prison?

00:49:07Yes.

00:49:08Speak up, please.

00:49:08Yes.

00:49:09And do you not agree that this incident could be construed as yet another example of your tendency to lose control under pressure and resort to violence?

00:49:18My lord, as has already emerged in evidence, the defendant was under the most unreasonable stress in prison.

00:49:23No one forthcoming with a surety for bail, consistently denied all contact with her children.

00:49:29Miss Tate?

00:49:30Perhaps so, my lord.

00:49:31But then surely the jury should be allowed to know of the incident so that, as his lordship said regarding Mrs. Smithson,

00:49:38leaving the court yesterday, they may be allowed to judge for themselves.

00:49:42Yes, but they must...

00:49:43Very well.

00:49:44And now, since the jury has heard both your points of view, let's leave it at that, your way.

00:49:51Mrs. Smithson, if we could go over your version of how Peter's injuries occurred.

00:49:55Now, you say that things were pretty chaotic that afternoon.

00:49:57Yes.

00:49:57And amongst other things, the television set was faulty.

00:50:00Yes.

00:50:00In what way?

00:50:01The picture kept coming and going.

00:50:03Well, there was nothing wrong with the sound.

00:50:04No.

00:50:05Now, you see, I find this very strange, that if the sound was functioning correctly, as you say,

00:50:10you could still hear the closing of a car door.

00:50:13A car way down the street and four stories down.

00:50:17What?

00:50:17It was raining, so presumably the windows were closed.

00:50:21Oh, well, no, you see, the kitchen looks out over the balcony, so the windows are sheltered.

00:50:26I was able to have them open.

00:50:27Oh, how fortunate.

00:50:28And the door through to the living room was closed, so I could hear the car outside.

00:50:33I see.

00:50:34So you were filling the washing machine, and then you went out onto the balcony and looked

00:50:38over.

00:50:38Yes.

00:50:38And no sooner had you got out there than your eldest daughter, Fiona, who moments before you'd

00:50:43left, shot in the living room with the television set on, Fiona came out to you and told you

00:50:50that the kitchen was flooded.

00:50:52Oh, I think...

00:50:53I don't remember for sure.

00:50:56Maybe it was the television she came about.

00:50:58You don't remember?

00:50:59I was.

00:50:59It was the telly.

00:51:00The television and not the flooding that you described to us earlier.

00:51:03Aye.

00:51:03So, in fact, when you went back in to adjust the television set, as you now tell us, you

00:51:08wouldn't have had this rush, this sense of urgency that you described to us before.

00:51:13Well, you see, the kitchen opens out onto the front hall, so as I came back into the

00:51:18telly, I was able to see the mess.

00:51:20In the kitchen?

00:51:21Aye.

00:51:21So you're coming in and seeing the mess in the kitchen, that was what made you forget

00:51:25to close the door.

00:51:25Now, that's the new version that you're telling us now.

00:51:28That's how it was.

00:51:29You're sure?

00:51:30Yes.

00:51:30Well, I put it to you, madam, that that is not how it was at all.

00:51:33Oh?

00:51:34Mrs. Smithson, you say that you panicked when you saw young Peter falling down the stairs,

00:51:38and yet with an unconscious baby in your arms and two very upset little girls, you were

00:51:43still able to shut the door and chain it as you returned into the flat.

00:51:47It was chained when your mother-in-law arrived a few moments later.

00:51:51Mrs. Smithson, you never heard a car door slam, and you never went on to the balcony.

00:51:54I did so?

00:51:55It had been a terrible day, and you were at your wits' end.

00:51:58You were filling the washing machine when suddenly the television set lost its picture,

00:52:02and the children started screaming.

00:52:04You dashed in to see what was wrong and adjust the set, but no sooner had you done this than

00:52:08to return to the kitchen than you saw that that was flooded with water.

00:52:12No.

00:52:12You were furious.

00:52:13But before you could clear it up, the children were shouting again.

00:52:16You went back in, and there was young Peter, who had vomited all over himself and the living

00:52:21room floor.

00:52:21No.

00:52:21It was too much.

00:52:22You lost control.

00:52:23I didn't.

00:52:24And the next thing you knew, young Peter was lying on the floor unconscious.

00:52:27He was unconscious, Mrs. Smithson, and in your hand was one of the heavy building blocks

00:52:31from the corner, or a heavy kitchen implement.

00:52:36Are you all right?

00:52:39If I could just take some water, please.

00:52:56I'm fine now.

00:52:57Very well.

00:52:58Miss Tate.

00:52:59I know what.

00:53:00Well, Mrs. Smithson, do you deny that's how it really happened?

00:53:03I do.

00:53:04You're still clinging to your tattered version of car door slamming and all that.

00:53:08You'd really think a mother could lose control, like you said.

00:53:10Strike her own baby.

00:53:12Well, that's what I'm saying, Mrs. Smithson.

00:53:13You're not a mother yourself, are you?

00:53:16Are you?

00:53:17Mrs. Smithson, you will confine yourself to answering questions.

00:53:20It's just if she was.

00:53:20If she'd ever been a mother with love for her children, she'd know.

00:53:23Know what?

00:53:24That you gained some sort of miraculous forbearance?

00:53:26You'd know the feeling of having a life grow inside of you, the wonder of it.

00:53:30But you, being in a profession, a career of your own, you couldn't know.

00:53:33But when you're just a housewife, when you've had your marriage fail, then the one thing

00:53:38that you do still have are your babes.

00:53:40Their limbs are right.

00:53:41They haven't turned out mongols or subnormals.

00:53:44They're whole and perfect and lovely.

00:53:47The one thing that hasn't failed.

00:53:50You don't ever hurt them, Miss Tate.

00:53:53That's the last thing.

00:53:55The very last.

00:53:55Well, if we could just return to the case again, Mrs. Smithson, you do have moods.

00:54:02Yes.

00:54:02Black moods of hate when you hate even yourself.

00:54:04But never them.

00:54:05Mrs. Smithson, I put it to you that you acted on an impulse of uncontrollable passion.

00:54:11A passion of which an obsessive personality such as you have displayed for us would be

00:54:16fully capable.

00:54:17No.

00:54:17No further questions.

00:54:19Mr. Lutterby, do you wish to re-examine?

00:54:21No, my lord.

00:54:22You may return to the dock.

00:54:26My last witness, my lord, is the social worker, Miss Allison James.

00:54:32Allison James, please.

00:54:34Will you come this way?

00:54:41Miss James, it was you who interviewed the defendant on her first visit to the social

00:54:45services department in April.

00:54:48Yes, it was.

00:54:48Would you tell us about it, please?

00:54:50She explained to me how things were at home.

00:54:53How cut off she felt.

00:54:54The grotty place they were in.

00:54:55The trouble with her husband and his mother and so on.

00:54:58Well, at first I wasn't too sure how we could help.

00:55:00So I asked her to wait while I checked with the director.

00:55:02And Mr. Webster?

00:55:03Yes.

00:55:04Do you know what he did?

00:55:05Yes.

00:55:05He told me to tell her to get in touch with the infant's clinic.

00:55:08And did you do that?

00:55:10Well, yes.

00:55:11How did she respond?

00:55:12She was pretty fed up.

00:55:14Well, naturally.

00:55:15As far as I remember, we exchanged some remarks about the great welfare state, the lack of

00:55:19facilities and so on.

00:55:21Nothing else?

00:55:22I think I said if she wanted any help from us, she'd be better to come in and throw a fit

00:55:25or something, start rolling on the floor, threaten suicide.

00:55:28I was pretty bitter, I suppose.

00:55:30And then what happened?

00:55:31Well, the next thing was about a month later.

00:55:33Mr. Webster called me and asked me to start home visits with the family.

00:55:36Did he tell you why his attitude had changed?

00:55:38That she'd been getting violent with the youngest child, yes.

00:55:41Did this surprise you?

00:55:42Well, yes, at first, very much.

00:55:44But then when I started the visits, I thought it was something she'd just made up to get

00:55:49some action.

00:55:50Something she'd just made up to get some action.

00:55:53I see.

00:55:54Now, how many of these visits did you actually make?

00:55:57About ten.

00:55:58Usually for a couple of hours or so, unless the husband was at home.

00:56:01Oh, what happened then?

00:56:02Well, then I was in and out of the place in about ten minutes.

00:56:05He resented my being there.

00:56:07I see.

00:56:08And during the course of these visits, what conclusions did you make concerning Sheena Smithson?

00:56:12That she was an intelligent woman with a disastrous marriage.

00:56:17And as a mother?

00:56:18Devoted.

00:56:19Dedicated.

00:56:20She'd obviously decided to compensate for the marital mess by making something of the

00:56:24children.

00:56:25And you respected her for this?

00:56:26Oh, yes.

00:56:27It was all loaded against her.

00:56:29Her husband, his dreadful mother, a council flat, totally unsuited for a family with three

00:56:33young children.

00:56:34So then what did you do?

00:56:36Well, I went to Mr. Webster and I asked him to put pressure on the housing people.

00:56:39It was the only possible way we could help, really.

00:56:41And how did he respond?

00:56:43He refused, point blank.

00:56:45We had a hell of a row about it.

00:56:47And then?

00:56:48I told him I wanted a transfer.

00:56:49I see.

00:56:49There were other issues, of course, but that was the one that brought it to a head.

00:56:53Now, Miss James, when you heard that Sheena Smithson was being charged with attempting to murder

00:56:57her son, what did you do?

00:56:58Well, I was absolutely staggered, of course.

00:57:01And then naturally, as soon as I could, I went and visited her in prison.

00:57:05Of course, I realised all along how there was a lot of jealousy, hatred even on the

00:57:10part of the mother-in-law.

00:57:11And then when I saw Sheena in prison and heard all the circumstances, well, it seemed obvious.

00:57:15It was her, the mother-in-law, who'd pointed the finger and started this witch hunt against

00:57:20Sheena.

00:57:21Miss James, you developed a lot of sympathy for the accused during your visits to her

00:57:40last summer.

00:57:41I liked her, yes.

00:57:42You became very involved with her case.

00:57:44No more than the other cases I was handling.

00:57:46Oh, come now, it was not over the other cases that you demanded a transfer.

00:57:49No, but there were...

00:57:50You worked so deeply that you had an argument with your director about it.

00:57:53Even so...

00:57:54An argument that could seriously jeopardise your career in the service.

00:57:58Isn't that true?

00:57:59I suppose so.

00:58:00Just as you're coming here to court today and giving evidence in the manner that you

00:58:04are doing, just as that could jeopardise your future.

00:58:07Look, if it's a question of my career or justice for Sheena, you don't think that I'm

00:58:11going to stand back and...

00:58:11It's just that I wonder if there isn't something a little less noble than justice that's motivated

00:58:16your coming here today.

00:58:17My lord, you're prepared to justify that, of course.

00:58:20I fully expect to do so, my lord.

00:58:23Miss James, you say that you concluded that Mrs. Smithson's prior confessions of violence

00:58:28against baby Peter were invalid because it was something she'd just made up.

00:58:32Yes.

00:58:33Well, why did you not report it then to the director?

00:58:35Well, obviously I wasn't going to.

00:58:37It simply had scrapped the visits.

00:58:38Because it'd have realised that the whole thing was a trick to get better accommodation.

00:58:41Well, I wouldn't say...

00:58:43So it was a trick.

00:58:44And that is why when Mr. Webster failed to fall for it, you felt no anxiety about asking

00:58:50for a transfer.

00:58:51Anxiety?

00:58:51Well, your transfer meant that you'd be leaving Mrs. Smithson to get on with it.

00:58:55Well, her one ally in this campaign of hers.

00:58:59And you were quite happy to pull out and leave her to it.

00:59:02She needed...

00:59:02Leave her to her disastrous marriage and her grotty flat.

00:59:07And then what happened?

00:59:08Within five weeks of your going, five weeks, Miss James, she had a comatose child and a

00:59:13charge of attempted murder against her.

00:59:15And that, I suggest, Miss James, is why you are here to plead her innocence.

00:59:19Your sense of guilt.

00:59:20No, not in the least.

00:59:21As I say, it was simply a question of...

00:59:22Do you deny that you have a reputation for siding with the mothers in these child abuse

00:59:26cases?

00:59:27I don't know what you mean.

00:59:28Well, isn't it true that you associate too closely with the mothers?

00:59:31You become over-involved.

00:59:33No.

00:59:33You are unable to admit that they are capable, even under dire stress, of these flashes

00:59:39of insane cruelty.

00:59:40Isn't that so?

00:59:41No.

00:59:41And that is the reason why you've asked for this transfer.

00:59:44You recognise your inability to cope with these cases, and so you are to be transferred

00:59:48to Liverpool, where you could deal almost entirely with juvenile delinquents and drug

00:59:53abuse cases, correct?

00:59:54It was the accommodation that was...

00:59:55No, Miss James, that was just incidental.

00:59:58That's what brought you to a head.

00:59:59You said that yourself.

01:00:00We can always recall Mr Webster and ask him, you know.

01:00:02Oh, he'll say so, no doubt.

01:00:04And your other colleagues?

01:00:05Look, I'm not denying that I'm better at dealing with teenagers, but that doesn't mean

01:00:09to say that I miss Judge Sheena.

01:00:11Well, I suggest that you did, Miss James.

01:00:13Miss James, and that you know it.

01:00:15You left her, and had you not done so, she may not be sitting in the box where she is

01:00:19today.

01:00:19No!

01:00:19And young Peter may not be in hospital, a possible vegetable, for the rest of his life.

01:00:23Oh, my Lord.

01:00:24Miss Tate, I suggest that you should be the last to talk about over-involvement.

01:00:28I apologise, my Lord.

01:00:29Have you any further questions to put to this witness?

01:00:33Miss James, have you any reply you would like to make to Council's observation?

01:00:37Oh, thank you, my Lord.

01:00:39It's just this, sir.

01:00:40If I do seem over-anxious about Sheena Smith, and it's nothing to do with guilt, it's because

01:00:45of the consequences if you find against her.

01:00:48I deal with delinquents, yes.

01:00:49And all I can say is, if you want to turn these Smiths and children into candidates for

01:00:53delinquency, then go ahead.

01:00:55Break up the family.

01:00:56Condemn them to institutions.

01:00:57Or even worse, into the care of that woman, their granny.

01:01:00Go ahead.

01:01:01It's your choice.

01:01:02Thank you, Miss James.

01:01:03No re-examination, Mr Lutterby?

01:01:05No, my Lord.

01:01:06Thank you, Miss James.

01:01:07You may stand down.

01:01:15That concludes the case for the defence, my Lord.

01:01:19Miss Tate.

01:01:20Members of the jury.

01:01:21It is hard to address you dispassionately in this case because the issues involved are

01:01:25so emotive and tragic, and on both sides.

01:01:29On the one hand, we have a young woman, a mother with evident love for her children, but

01:01:34she is the victim of dire domestic stressors, a disastrous marriage, inadequate accommodation,

01:01:41and a state of anxiety that she has admitted reduce her to these black moods of hate and

01:01:46despair.

01:01:47On the other hand, we have a 15-month-old child with appalling brain injuries, injuries he could

01:01:53well have suffered as a result of one of these moods.

01:01:55Now, she has denied this pleading instead that it was all a ghastly accident, but surely, under

01:02:02cross-examination, her account of the accident emerged as woefully contrived.

01:02:07For instance, the slam of this car door heard four stories below and over the sound of a television

01:02:14set, concrete stairs, on which no traces of blood could later be found, and then the child himself,

01:02:22with whom she had admitted being severe and twice losing control.

01:02:28Clearly, she is guilty.

01:02:30But in confirming this, do not imagine that you are subjecting her and her children to some form of

01:02:35Dickensian oppression.

01:02:36The process of our laws is now mercifully enlightened in dealing with cases such as these.

01:02:42You see, the object is not to punish the parent, as to empower the state to take remedial action.

01:02:49Now, some of you, parents yourself maybe, will feel great sympathy for this woman.

01:02:54But how will you feel if next year, if you decide to acquit her of the charge, how will you feel if you

01:03:01read in the newspapers that young Peter is dead, struck down with similar injuries incurred in a

01:03:08similar situation?

01:03:09What are your feelings then?

01:03:12Members of the jury, you have a duty in this case, and it is a merciful one, to find the accused

01:03:18guilty as charged.

01:03:23My Lord, members of the jury, let us be clear as to what the prosecution would have us believe.

01:03:28That the defendant is a monster, a brute, who, picking up some heavy instrument, struck her baby with

01:03:34such force, such ferocity, as to cause him serious brain injuries and put him in a coma.

01:03:42Now, can you believe this, of the woman you've come to know here in this courtroom?

01:03:46However distraught she may become, can you believe this mother, who so loves her children that they are to

01:03:52her, her whole life, can pick up some heavy object and smash her baby over the head?

01:04:00Can you believe she then wiped the heavy object clean so as to fool the police forensic experts?

01:04:09No, members of the jury, it simply won't do.

01:04:13Indeed, the prosecution has brought forward so little real evidence that you may well ask yourselves how this

01:04:18case ever came to court. Well, the answer to that is simple. Certain people took it upon

01:04:25themselves to go to the police. Oh, let's look at these people, shall we?

01:04:31The mother-in-law, who saw that here was a chance to discredit her son's wife and gain control over his

01:04:37family. The husband, a weak character who has been engaged in what can only be described as open

01:04:44warfare with his wife and Mr. Webster, the senior social worker, who had been led to believe that

01:04:51my client had twice lost control over her child. Now, the police did not check on these informants.

01:04:59They did not know of the hate and prejudice of the husband and the mother-in-law. They failed to

01:05:04unearth the ironic truth behind Mr. Webster's evidence that Sheena Smithson had said what she did

01:05:09as part of her desperate campaign to get her family into a better home.

01:05:18Members of the jury, mere accusation is not enough. Certainly not enough for you to separate this

01:05:25mother from her children. And I ask you to acquit her of this absurd and wicked charge.

01:05:31Now, about this charge of attempted murder. In order that that should be proved, the intent to

01:05:42murder has to be proved. And in my opinion, insufficient evidence has been advanced to support it. I

01:05:47therefore direct you to acquit on that charge. Miss Tate, do you wish to challenge that instruction?

01:05:53No, my lord.

01:05:54I wish you only to consider, therefore, the alternative charge of attempting to cause

01:05:59grievous bodily harm. Now, this has been for you at times a harrowing and emotionally charged case,

01:06:06not the least during the closing speeches. You heard references to brutes and monsters,

01:06:10to what your feelings might be should young Peter die next year. And it is my duty to urge you to put all

01:06:14these sentiments out of your mind and to look at the case from a purely dispassionate point of view,

01:06:20as the law requires of you. Now, all the evidence you have heard is circumstantial evidence. That is,

01:06:26you have no physical evidence such as fingerprints on a blood-stained weapon to prove guilt, any more

01:06:32than you have a blood-stained staircase to support innocence. Instead, a picture has emerged of the

01:06:39sad circumstances of the Smithson marriage. A sad picture of disputes, jealousies, tensions, sometimes

01:06:49violence. A picture all too familiar in this age of social tensions with its attendant problems of

01:06:56housing, inflation, and so forth. Indeed, you have heard the evidence of Dr Park, who has said that

01:07:02amongst his patients, he has many young mothers whose dilemmas are just as extreme, if not more so,

01:07:08than that of the defendant, Sheena Smithson. Now, she has admitted that these marital tensions

01:07:15drove her to moods of a dire nature, but she insists that the moods were never bad enough to drive her

01:07:21to the extremes of violence suggested by the prosecution.

01:07:27Then you have heard what you may well consider to be the most damning evidence of all, that of the

01:07:32the director of the Fulchester Social Services, who says that in May, the accused confessed to him prior

01:07:38assaults on baby Peter, saying that she could no longer trust herself with him. But this evidence was

01:07:44strongly challenged by the social worker, Miss James, who discounted these confessions as mere pretense in

01:07:51order to gain for the family better housing. And that brings us to the accused's explanation as to how

01:08:01the child's terrible injuries were incurred. Now, if you believe her story of hearing the car,

01:08:08seeing the washing machine, leaving the flat door ajar so that Peter could crawl out along the balcony for

01:08:15that fateful tumble down the stairs, if you accept this, then you must acquit. If, on the other hand,

01:08:22you feel that the prosecution was successful in discrediting this story, then it is your duty to

01:08:28find her guilty as charged. The members of the jury, you will now please withdraw and consider your verdict.

01:08:35All stand.

01:08:36Members of the jury, will your foreman please stand. Just answer this question, yes or no. Have you

01:08:48reached a verdict upon which you are all agreed? Yes. Do you find the prisoner Sheena Smithson guilty

01:08:54or not guilty of attempted murder? Not guilty. Do you find the prisoner Sheena Smithson guilty or not

01:08:59guilty of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm? Not guilty.

01:09:03No. You are discharged and may leave the court. The court will rise.

01:09:33A fortnight after the trial, Peter underwent further brain surgery,

01:09:40which proved so successful that he was allowed home from hospital within the month.

01:09:46Next week, a chance for you to join another jury in assessing the facts

01:09:49when our cameras return to watch a leading case in the Crown Court.

01:10:03Heel Rickataa.

01:10:05First week, is not exacerbating theunting of the trぶet of a leading case in the CELIS,

01:10:09but not an outsider, no are caused by the

01:10:09consequence!

01:10:11Is not charged with theibrating of Kill��

Crown Court - No Spoiling (1973)

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