Crown Court - South Tower (1974) - video Dailymotion

Jezza

The south tower of a new shopping centre collapsed, resulting in the deaths of eight people. Was this a tragic accident or the responsibility of site agent Joe Carney? Milton Johns stars as the defendant.

Transcript

00:00:00On September the 14th last, one of the retaining columns of the newly opened Penderdome shopping

00:00:20precinct in Fulchester collapsed and eight people were killed. As a result of the report

00:00:25of the official inquiry into the disaster, Joseph Carney, site agent at the Penderdome shopping

00:00:30centre at the time of its construction, is accused of murder or manslaughter.

00:00:40Mr O'Connor appears for the defence and Mr Lloyd appears for the prosecution. The case

00:00:47involving as it does questions of modern architectural techniques and public building generally is

00:00:53attracting wide attention. Currently in the witness box is Mr Ramsay Bellenden, chairman

00:00:58of the committee which reported on the accident. Mr Justice Campbell presides in the case of

00:01:04the Queen against Carney.

00:01:11Yes, thank you Mr Bellenden, no further questions.

00:01:21Mr Bellenden, you tell us that your investigation revealed that the principal retaining column

00:01:27in the south tower of the Penderdome shopping centre shifted from position because it had

00:01:34been improperly secured at the time of construction.

00:01:38Yes, that is correct.

00:01:40Where was the column situated exactly?

00:01:42Well, if you could show us on the model please.

00:01:55The three towers were referred to as west, east and south. The column in question, known

00:02:01as column A, was situated inside the south tower here. It was one of three columns which gave

00:02:09main support to the dome. I see. Now how is it you can say it with such confidence that

00:02:14this column had been improperly secured at the time of construction?

00:02:19Well, the column came down to a square plate at the base. Four giant anchor bolts were meant

00:02:25to tie it to the foundation pad. Well, the anchoring simply hadn't been carried out correctly.

00:02:30The bolts tore out as though they were matchsticks.

00:02:32Might the effect arguably have been the same if the column had simply buckled in position?

00:02:36There was never any question of the column buckling.

00:02:38And that's beyond all question too, is it?

00:02:41I'm afraid I don't quite understand what you're trying to say.

00:02:43Well, I'm putting it to you, Mr. Bellenden, that had the column been properly secured and then buckled,

00:02:48you would still have observed that the bolts tore out like matchsticks.

00:02:53Well...

00:02:54Yes or no, if you please.

00:02:56It's not quite as simple as that.

00:02:58Is it not, Mr. Bellenden?

00:03:00And it's very hard to see how the bolts tore out at all.

00:03:03Unless there had been a failure to secure the nuts which gave it the right tension.

00:03:10And always granted that the plate had been correctly levelled.

00:03:14However, if the column had been properly secured and then buckled as you suggest,

00:03:18one would have thought that the break would occur at the stress point.

00:03:21The column would snap.

00:03:23Yet it could happen that the bolts would tear out.

00:03:26It'd be a freak effect.

00:03:27But it could happen.

00:03:31Now, this column that was at fault then, what was it made of? Steel?

00:03:37No, not steel, not exactly.

00:03:39Not exactly, Mr. Bellenden.

00:03:41Well, steel was the matrix.

00:03:43A complex of inorganic fibres had been added to the steel, however,

00:03:47to form a new compound of outstanding mechanical strength.

00:03:50And this was called?

00:03:52Well, I could give you a complicated chemical formula.

00:03:55It was known as the trade as KK9.

00:03:58A King Kong muscle to many builders.

00:04:01It's a comparatively new material.

00:04:03Only been available commercially for the last two or three years.

00:04:06It had a support power twelve times that of conventional steel.

00:04:12That's your opinion, is it, Mr. Bellenden?

00:04:14It's more than my opinion.

00:04:15Tests have been made at the building research establishment

00:04:17and there were specifications as laid down in the agreement board certificate.

00:04:21Mr. O'Connor, Mr. Lloyd, if there is to be some question as to the precise efficacy of this King Kong muscle,

00:04:28should we not have the documents to which the witness has just referred?

00:04:32Yes, with respect, my lord, we already have them.

00:04:35Yes, they're in the bundle of agreed documents.

00:04:38Ah, ah, yes, of course.

00:04:41Then, Mr. O'Connor, you agree the agreement board tests and specifications.

00:04:46That means you do not dispute them.

00:04:48We agree, my lord, that the agreement board conducted tests and issued specification for King Kong muscle.

00:04:53Whether it was acting wisely or unguardedly or giddily, even.

00:04:58It's, of course, another matter altogether.

00:05:00Giddily?

00:05:02I see.

00:05:03So you have faith in King Kong muscle?

00:05:06I have no reason not to.

00:05:08Mr. Bellenden, to your knowledge, has any King Kong muscle marketed been found to be substandard?

00:05:15No, I've never heard of a case.

00:05:17Well, if such a case had occurred, would your attitude to King Kong muscle be different?

00:05:22That is a hypothetical question. I'd have to look at the facts.

00:05:26Yes.

00:05:27Only, er, one more question as it happens, Mr. Bellenden.

00:05:30As an expert in the construction field, can you tell us why, if King Kong muscle possesses all the virtues which you claim for it,

00:05:37it's not more widely used in building work across the country?

00:05:41I have no information as to how widely or restrictedly King Kong muscle is actually used.

00:05:46Of course, it's very expensive to produce.

00:05:49Thank you, Mr. Bellenden. No further questions.

00:05:52Er, no re-examination, my lord.

00:05:54I call John Vincent Claudius.

00:06:00John Vincent Claudius, please.

00:06:13What is your religion?

00:06:14I would prefer to affirm.

00:06:16Read aloud the words on this card.

00:06:18I do solemnly, sincerely, and truly declare and affirm

00:06:21that the evidence I shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

00:06:25You are John Vincent Claudius of...

00:06:27Excuse me, Claudius.

00:06:29Oh, I see. I'm sorry.

00:06:30You are John Vincent Claudius of 4 Lavarock Muse London, NW3.

00:06:34That is correct.

00:06:35What is your profession, please?

00:06:36Architect, graduate Lund University, registered in this country.

00:06:40Senior partner, Claudius International Associates.

00:06:43I see.

00:06:44Now, have you a connection with the Penderdome Shopping Centre?

00:06:46Yes.

00:06:47I designed the Penderdome Shopping Centre.

00:06:49About five years ago now, Fulchester Council organised a competition among selected architects for a project of this nature.

00:06:57I was invited to submit a design, and this design was chosen.

00:07:02I see.

00:07:03Would you please come forward to the model of the Penderdome, please, Mr. Claudius?

00:07:15Now, are you acquainted with the accused in this case?

00:07:17I am, yes.

00:07:18On January the 10th, did you visit the construction site, January the 10th last year?

00:07:23Yes, yes.

00:07:24That was the date that column A was being set into position.

00:07:26That's this column here.

00:07:27I should point out that column A is one of the columns that was to take the main weight of the dome when that also was put into position.

00:07:33Yes?

00:07:34Yes.

00:07:35Now, could it in any sense have been said, then, that on January the 10th, Joseph Carney, a site agent, was faced with any particularly complex constructional problems?

00:07:43Oh, no.

00:07:44No.

00:07:45You see, the thing you have to bear in mind when you talk about the Penderdome shopping centre is that the techniques involved were kept deliberately, well, you could almost say dogmatically simple.

00:07:55It was like an exercise in the first principles of construction, really, just the classical pendentive of basic architecture taken through to a logical conclusion.

00:08:03Yes.

00:08:04Now, did you speak to Joseph Carney at the building site on that day, Mr. Claudius?

00:08:07Yes, I did, yes.

00:08:08Will you tell us of that conversation, please?

00:08:10Well, it was about 11 o'clock in the morning.

00:08:15I was taking a walk past the south tower of the dome here, and I noticed they were just about to winch column A into position, and, of course, Joe Carney was overseeing this work.

00:08:25I happened to remark quite casually, I asked him if everything was going all right, and he said that no, it wasn't.

00:08:32No, it wasn't.

00:08:34Yes, yes, he seemed upset about something, agitated, yes?

00:08:40Yes.

00:08:41At one point he looked at his watch and ran off into his hut to make a telephone call, as it turned out.

00:08:46I could just make out his voice as he spoke on the line, set at a higher pitch than was normal, angry.

00:08:52Yes, did you actually hear what Mr. Carney was saying on the telephone, Mr. Claudius?

00:08:56Well, not with all the noise that was going on around, it was difficult, I just made out the odd phrase, something about, well, where is she?

00:09:04I must talk to her, I can't do anything else until I have.

00:09:08Well, where is she? I must talk to her, and I can't do anything else until I have.

00:09:13Yeah.

00:09:14Go on, please, what happened next?

00:09:16Well, Joe came back out of the hut, he was, well, he was trembling by this time.

00:09:21For something to say, I said, you know, Joe, we are making architectural history here today.

00:09:26Ten years ago this would have been thought impossible, building a main support column as simply as this.

00:09:31I see, and did Mr. Carney make any comment on this?

00:09:34Comment?

00:09:36I do feel I should point out here that nothing that was said was necessarily meant.

00:09:40The man was in obviously very bad state of mind.

00:09:42Yes, but please, Mr. Claudius, just what Carney said to you.

00:09:46Well, he sounded off, yes, yes, I think that's the way you would describe it.

00:09:53He said...

00:09:54Yes, what did he say?

00:09:56He said...

00:09:57And that's progress, is it?

00:09:59That's your damned socialism, most like.

00:10:02I call it a bloody waste of the ratepayers' money myself.

00:10:05If I had half a chance, I would save the country...

00:10:07If I had half a chance, I'd save the country what it's all costing.

00:10:11I'd do for it!

00:10:26That's your damned socialism.

00:10:33I call it a bloody waste of ratepayers' money myself.

00:10:37Those are the exact words that Joseph Carney used to you on the morning of January the 10th,

00:10:42at about the time the A column of the South Tower was being placed in position, Mr. Claudius.

00:10:46Yes, as far as it's possible to remember exact words, of course.

00:10:49And were there features of the Pentadome which had given rise to great expense?

00:10:53Well, there was the question of the exact nature of the light beneath the dome.

00:10:59The enduring greyness of the British climate doesn't exactly make for a gay, colourful market atmosphere,

00:11:05so I decided to use angled and tinted acrylic in the dome in order to create a sense of warm glow permanently beneath.

00:11:12Oh, this was costly.

00:11:14Oh, well, it had to be paid for.

00:11:15Are we supposed to be discussing the budget here today?

00:11:17In general terms, Mr. Claudius.

00:11:18I'm afraid I don't...

00:11:19Were there not also what you might call integrist socialist ideas behind the concept of the Pentadome shopping centre?

00:11:25My lord, these questions seem to me to be entirely irrelevant.

00:11:28What earthly difference could it make whether the ideas behind the concept of the Pentadome were integrist socialist or outer Mongolian nationalist?

00:11:37My lord, I'm anxious to show that when he said what he did to Mr. Claudius, the accused was making a comment upon a real and not an illusory situation.

00:11:46There were integrist and socialist ideas behind the Pentadome shopping centre, and my client both perceived and disliked them, hence his outburst.

00:11:54Yet can a building express a political philosophy, Mr. O'Connor?

00:11:59I must confess that I wouldn't have thought so, but no doubt that is my Philistinism.

00:12:05Oh, not necessarily, my lord.

00:12:08I beg your pardon.

00:12:09What I mean to say is it's sometimes quite difficult to explain what a building is precisely trying to say.

00:12:14I agree.

00:12:15But in the case of the Pentadome, I would have thought it was obvious.

00:12:17Of course it's socialist architecture.

00:12:19I share the socialist convictions of the council who employed me to do the work and quite naturally involve these in the Pentadome.

00:12:24My congratulations, Mr. Claudius.

00:12:28But since this point has assumed some importance, perhaps you could tell the court what in the Pentadome is so specifically socialist that the accused both perceived and became agitated by it.

00:12:43Well, the keynotes of socialist architecture might be taken to be universality of function and simplicity of form.

00:12:51Now, when I say this, I mean that a building has to be a building for everybody, not just the aristocratic, as in an extravaganza like the Palace of Versailles, for example, or necessarily uniquely the religious, as in your own St. Paul's Cathedral.

00:13:08And then the form should follow this function, no unnecessary frills or ornamentation.

00:13:14The materials used should be the simplest, suitable for the job, all expressing the basic notion of power residing with the people, so to say.

00:13:21Like the King Kong muscle in the Pentadome, perhaps?

00:13:23Well, as it happens, you've chosen almost a perfect example there.

00:13:25Yes, you see, in old forms of architecture they would have erected ponderous bastions to support the weight of a dome such as this.

00:13:33Castle keeps. Quite the wrong symbolism.

00:13:37With our concepts, we managed to cut the supports down to functional struts, simple power, plain and obvious for all to see.

00:13:44The King Kong muscle in the Pentadome was deliberately used then to make an ideological point, was it, Mr. Claudius?

00:13:50If you so wish, yes.

00:13:51Despite the fact that it was inexcusably expensive, couldn't absolutely be said to suit the structure better than bastions or castle keeps,

00:13:58and to say the least was an experimental material to use in such a manner.

00:14:03What did you say?

00:14:04Well, you don't deny the use of King Kong muscle in the Pentadome increased the costs enormously, Mr. Claudius, without much justification.

00:14:10We have very special problems here, we have to solve them.

00:14:12Special ideological requirements, you've said.

00:14:15You also don't deny that before the Pentadome, no building had depended exclusively on King Kong muscle for its main support?

00:14:21But don't you see? This was entirely the point we were trying to make to use.

00:14:23You still retain absolute confidence in King Kong muscle as a main support material, do you?

00:14:27Yes, yes, of course. I don't understand the question. What are you talking about?

00:14:29Well, simply that a building designed by you, constructed to depend exclusively on King Kong muscle,

00:14:34collapsed only four months after completion, killing eight people.

00:14:39But this had absolutely nothing to do with KK9.

00:14:42Look, the simple reason has to be that the main support column was wrongly constructed at the time the dome was put up,

00:14:48and later this moved, causing the collapse.

00:14:50Yet you have told us, Mr. Claudius, as a site agent, the accused hadn't a really difficult job installing that column on that day.

00:14:57Yes, this is true.

00:14:58Well, then how then could he have failed to secure it properly?

00:15:02Have you asked yourself that?

00:15:03I don't have to ask myself that. Look, the bolts holding the base plate in position tore away, yes?

00:15:08Okay, this can only mean one thing, that the nuts beneath had been improperly adjusted.

00:15:12Carney's responsibility.

00:15:13There are other interpretations.

00:15:15Not that KK9 was to blame.

00:15:17Yeah, King Kong muscle still isn't widely used in the construction industry, is it, Mr. Claudius?

00:15:20Oh, I don't know. I don't have...

00:15:21You admit that it isn't widely used.

00:15:23Well, perhaps not. People don't move with the times.

00:15:25People like you, Mr. Claudius.

00:15:27Why, in fact, is it that you yourself haven't used King Kong muscle, nor prescribed its use in any work undertaken since the Pendidome?

00:15:40Or is my information wrong on that point?

00:15:43Mr. Claudius?

00:15:46Very well.

00:15:52In describing the Pendidome for us earlier, you stressed its simplicity of form and said it was just the classical pendentive of basic architecture taken to its logical conclusion.

00:16:02Yes, yes, this is true.

00:16:04Well, I'm sorry. What is the classical pendentive of basic architecture?

00:16:10Well, not to be too technical about it. It is, in fact, the skeleton or framework upon which, under some circumstances, a dome might be constructed.

00:16:19Would you draw it for us, please?

00:16:21It's important to your case, Mr. O'Connor.

00:16:25I believe the jury should have the fullest understanding possible of these matters, my lord.

00:16:31I've arranged for the necessary apparatus.

00:16:34Very well, if you would be so kind, Mr. Claudius.

00:16:55Sorry, John.

00:17:11Right up.

00:17:14Never mind, it's time to run over the other's irgendwo tava.

00:17:18waiting for them...

00:17:19Don't mess about with this nonsense, get him to say why he's...

00:17:24We're just biding our time, Mr Carney.

00:17:25Do your job properly and ask him...

00:17:27Would you keep quiet, please?

00:18:00Now, as I see it, the dome there rests on a massive thick base,

00:18:05which in turn rests on heavy piers below.

00:18:08Yes, that's the way it was in Roman and Byzantine architecture.

00:18:11All that support was thought necessary to hold the dome up, in other words.

00:18:14Well, of course, in those days they didn't have the technique...

00:18:16Claudius, would you now draw your adaptation of the classical bendentive

00:18:19as you applied it to the pendidome, please?

00:18:21I don't have to draw this adaptation there. It is in front of you.

00:18:24Would you draw it for us, please?

00:18:42Oh, yes.

00:18:43The massive quality is gone and there are no piers below.

00:18:48You're not asking the jury to believe that that structure will support the same weight of dome, are you?

00:18:53Yes, of course I am. I hope I'm not here to defend first principles in architecture.

00:18:57Bulk is only necessary where you have no integral strength of material.

00:19:00For God's sake, William Lejeni was proving this in Chicago as late ago as the 90s of the last century.

00:19:05Well, the integral strength of the new and untried material known as King Kong muscle

00:19:11becomes extremely important to our case, then, doesn't it, Mr. Claudius?

00:19:13You can't restore the winter, don't you understand?

00:19:16KK9 had its agreement specification.

00:19:18I used it because it was the perfect material for my dome and I would use it again.

00:19:22But in fact, you're not using it again, are you, Mr. Claudius?

00:19:26Or would you now answer the question I put to you a few minutes earlier?

00:19:29Well, I don't understand the question.

00:19:31Mr. Claudius, have you used King Kong muscle since the collapse of the Penderdome?

00:19:37No. The occasion has not arisen.

00:19:41Mr. Claudius, is it the fact that at a point after it was too late to replace the King Kong muscle in the Penderdome,

00:19:47you and certain others involved began to have doubts about its reliability?

00:19:52And then when something disastrous happened, you and certain others needed someone to blame for a bad mistake?

00:19:57No, Lord, this is an outrageous accusation.

00:19:58I think that Mr. Claudius understands.

00:20:02Joseph Carney, with his unsympathetic ideas,

00:20:05he's drawing attention to the amount of money that was being spent to produce an ideological synthetic,

00:20:10and then, of course, his most convenient outburst on the day the A column was being placed in position.

00:20:16He makes a marvellous scapegoat, doesn't he?

00:20:19A curious alternative would seem to be to convince the jury

00:20:23that those spindly structures could ever be composed of materials strong enough to support a huge dome.

00:20:28Do you really think the jury will believe that, Mr. Claudius?

00:20:33Claudius!

00:20:34Do you really believe it yourself any more?

00:20:36You're Ambrose Foster Sefton, and you live at 71 Albertson Avenue, Fulchester.

00:20:48That is so.

00:20:49What is your occupation, please?

00:20:51I have my own business consultancy firm.

00:20:54I have been, in addition, for many years associated with local government.

00:20:57For the past six years, I have been chairman of the Greater Forchester Development Committee.

00:21:01Yes.

00:21:02Now, in that latter capacity, were you concerned with the Penderdome Shopping Centre?

00:21:06Yes.

00:21:06My committee authorised its construction.

00:21:09Now, as chairman of the Greater Forchester Development Committee,

00:21:11did you give evidence at the Bellenden Public Inquiry, which was held into the collapse?

00:21:15I did.

00:21:16It was not in any way suggested by that inquiry that you'd taken unnecessary risks

00:21:21by choosing a daring architectural design, or by employing novel materials, or indeed anything like that?

00:21:28No, certainly not.

00:21:30Yes, thank you.

00:21:30I want to come to the date of January the 10th last year, when the Penderdome was still in the course of construction.

00:21:36Now, did you have occasion to visit the construction site on that day?

00:21:39Yes.

00:21:40Now, January the 10th was the date of one of my regular tours of inspection, as was my normal habit on these occasions.

00:21:46I had lunch with Mrs. Jean Ryder before being taken around to be shown how work was progressing.

00:21:50Yes, Mrs. Jean Ryder being...

00:21:52The managing director of Helleby's, the construction people.

00:21:56Yes, I see.

00:21:56Please go on.

00:21:57Well, I was a bit annoyed with Mrs. Ryder on this occasion.

00:22:03For some time, I hadn't felt that work on the Penderdome was going as fast as it might.

00:22:10But when I brought up the subject over lunch, she didn't seem anxious to discuss the matter.

00:22:15I therefore determined, when going round the site, to find out if I could from some other officials

00:22:19why there seemed to be a certain tardiness.

00:22:24Yes, did you visit the work on the south tower of the Penderdome on that day, Mr. Sefton?

00:22:28Yes, they had the A column in position as I came up.

00:22:31It was resting firmly on its plate.

00:22:33They were beginning to tension the bolts.

00:22:36Yes, I see.

00:22:36At what time was this?

00:22:37Do you remember?

00:22:382.45, 3 o'clock.

00:22:402.45, 3 o'clock.

00:22:41Go on, please.

00:22:43Well, just at this moment, Mrs. Ryder was called away on urgent business.

00:22:47It seemed a heaven-sent opportunity.

00:22:49So I put my query about the pace of work, in general, to the site agent, who happened

00:22:56at that moment to be standing next to me.

00:22:57Do you see that same individual in this court today, Mr. Sefton?

00:23:01Yes, he is the accused, Joseph Carney.

00:23:03Please continue.

00:23:04Well, he didn't respond too courteously to my polite inquiry.

00:23:12That's putting it very mildly.

00:23:15I even got the impression...

00:23:18Yes, Mr. Sefton?

00:23:20Well, I have to say, I smelt drink on his breath.

00:23:23Tomorrow, we return to the Crown Court, as the hearing continues in the case of the Queen

00:23:46against Carney.

00:23:47Joseph Carney, site agent of the South Tower of the Pentadome Shopping Centre at the time

00:24:13of its construction, is accused of murder or manslaughter.

00:24:17Counsel for his defence is Mr. Martin O'Connor, and for the prosecution, Mr. John Lloyd.

00:24:22In the course of Mr. Lloyd's case, the court has heard how, on September the 14th, the huge

00:24:27dome, supported only by three slender towers, constructed out of the new super-strong material

00:24:33known as King Kong muscle, collapsed, killing eight people.

00:24:36An inquiry, chaired by Mr. Ramsey Bellenden, found that the cause was the A column, which

00:24:43had claimed slipped from position, because Carney had not done his job properly securing

00:24:47it in the first place.

00:24:49Architect John Claudius has rejected as absurd suggestions by the defence that the King Kong

00:24:55muscle itself could have been at fault.

00:24:57Now in the witness box is Ambrose Sefton, chairman of the Forchester Development Committee,

00:25:01which authorised the building of the Pentadome, and has testified that on January the 10th,

00:25:06the day the A column was installed, he was on a tour of inspection of the building site

00:25:10and spoke to Carney.

00:25:12Carney seemed to have been drinking.

00:25:26Mr. Sefton, you mean Carney was drunk?

00:25:29No, I smelt drink.

00:25:30He told me that he wasn't at all surprised that a man like me should find work on the

00:25:37Pentadome too slow.

00:25:39He said it all went to show what a politically motivated job it all was.

00:25:43He said it already cost him his wife, and that nothing else was really important to him.

00:25:49Cost him his wife?

00:25:51Yes.

00:25:52Now what do you think he meant by that, Mr. Sefton?

00:25:54I've no idea.

00:25:56Mr. Sefton, is it possible for you to give us the exact words?

00:25:58It helps very much to the understanding of reported conversation.

00:26:04Well, I do recall the last thing that Carney said to me very clearly.

00:26:08Oh, yes.

00:26:10He suddenly says,

00:26:11you're the sort of character who's selling this country out, aren't you?

00:26:16Destroying what's left.

00:26:18A chap who cares about such things should put a stop to what you're doing here.

00:26:23Sabotage this bloody project.

00:26:25Sabotage it.

00:26:27Sabotage it?

00:26:28Thank you, Mr. Sefton.

00:26:35Curious words you've just reported there, Mr. Sefton.

00:26:38Disturbing words.

00:26:40In view of what happened later, yes, I'm afraid so.

00:26:43You do appreciate this changes things considerably, don't you, Mr. Sefton?

00:26:47Or could do.

00:26:48Really?

00:26:49The accused, that is.

00:26:50In what way?

00:26:51Well, the suggestion so far has been that for various reasons, which still remain obscure,

00:26:57the accused was so grossly negligent in performing his duties on January the 10th

00:27:01that he might be considered to have contracted the guilt of manslaughter.

00:27:04Now you're raising a suggestion that he deliberately sabotaged this building.

00:27:09I'm simply reporting what was said to me.

00:27:11You tell us all Carney had been drinking on January the 10th, too.

00:27:16You can't tell us how much, can you?

00:27:17No, of course I can't do that.

00:27:19You seem to be saying that if he wasn't positively contemplating criminal action,

00:27:22he was at least in no state to behave responsibly.

00:27:25You and certain others are determined to get him convicted one way or another, aren't you, Mr. Sefton?

00:27:30Lord, if my learned friend means to continue with these allegations of conspiracy and corruption,

00:27:35he must surely make these allegations explicitly and not in this deliberately indirect manner.

00:27:40I'll come back to it, my lord.

00:27:42Mr. Sefton, would you describe the political bias of the Fulchester Borough Council,

00:27:46of which your development committee was a subsidiary, as leftist?

00:27:51Well, it was a council elected by the people, put in place by the people.

00:27:55I shouldn't have thought there were any dark secrets about its political affiliations.

00:28:00Leftist.

00:28:01At the time of the construction of the Penderdome, the council was coming up for re-election.

00:28:05Was it not thought that progress on such a splendid example of socialist architecture

00:28:11could act as a vote-catcher?

00:28:13What terms you put things in.

00:28:15Just answer my questions, Mr. Sefton.

00:28:17When any elected body acts in the name of the people,

00:28:21it is concerned to see its provisions implemented naturally.

00:28:24So up to a point, increased effort on the Penderdome was, for you, a political imperative.

00:28:30Very well, in a sense.

00:28:33You weren't likely to take kindly, then, to any suggestion which might seem to delay,

00:28:38rather than accelerate, construction of the Penderdome.

00:28:40What suggestion?

00:28:41Well, Mr. Sefton, you've told us that on the day in question,

00:28:44you lunched with Mrs. Jean Ryder.

00:28:46Yes.

00:28:47At a certain point during that lunch, did not the lady inform you

00:28:50that a consignment of King Kong muscle she'd received two days previously

00:28:53had been recalled by the manufacturers for a suspected fault?

00:28:57Why on earth should you bring up a...

00:28:59Yes or no, if you please.

00:29:01Yes, yes, you did say something like that, that's true.

00:29:04But it turned out to be a great nonsense, nothing to it.

00:29:06The consignment was returned within a week, past A1-OK.

00:29:10It didn't occur to you that it might have been a wise precaution,

00:29:13since a question of faults in King Kong muscle seemed to have been raised.

00:29:17Also to return for inspection the material received earlier,

00:29:21among which, of course, was the A column of the South Tower that day being erected.

00:29:25No, it did not.

00:29:27For why, the manufacturer didn't ask for anything of the sort.

00:29:30Oh, did Mrs. Ryder, Mr. Sefton.

00:29:34If you please, Mr. Sefton, did Mrs. Ryder.

00:29:37Now look here.

00:29:38That request by the manufacturer was pure routine.

00:29:42A double-check to satisfy their own requirements.

00:29:44There was no suggestion in the world

00:29:45there was any possibility of previous consignment of King Kong muscle

00:29:49being in any way suspect.

00:29:51Mrs. Ryder may have wished to observe every precaution,

00:29:57but in my view, she was being too scrupulous,

00:30:01over-reacting.

00:30:03Oh, yes, it would certainly have wasted time.

00:30:05One can see that.

00:30:06Did you know this?

00:30:07Well, there was some rumour.

00:30:09The inquiry should have been told.

00:30:10What was, Mr. Sefton?

00:30:11Did you tell the Bellington inquiry about the materials that have been recalled?

00:30:15No.

00:30:16Well, it wasn't my province.

00:30:18I'm not an engineer, you know.

00:30:20Thank you, Mr. Sefton.

00:30:24I have no further questions for this witness, Merlant.

00:30:27Mr. Sefton, I'm sorry,

00:30:29but I must put a question to you,

00:30:30which you'll no doubt find a very peculiar one.

00:30:32But unfortunate, obscure insinuations have arisen in this case,

00:30:36which we must at once dispose of.

00:30:38So, have you, at any time,

00:30:42whether alone or in the company of others,

00:30:44entered into a plot, whether leftist or otherwise,

00:30:48to incriminate the accused, Joseph Carney?

00:30:52No, no, that's manifest nonsense anyone would know.

00:30:55And you take your oath on that, do you?

00:30:58I'm under oath, yes.

00:30:59Yes.

00:31:00Thank you, Mr. Sefton.

00:31:02Does your Lordship have any questions?

00:31:04No, thank you.

00:31:05Very well, Mr. Sefton.

00:31:07I call Wilfred Minto.

00:31:11Wilfred Minto, please.

00:31:18You are Wilfred Minto of 14 Gilby Terrace, Fulchester.

00:31:22I am.

00:31:23What is your occupation, please?

00:31:25I'm production manager at Bewley & Sons,

00:31:27the manufacturers of the composite known as King Kong Muscle.

00:31:30Yes, I see, thank you.

00:31:31Now, my Lord, in view of certain indirect allegations

00:31:34made by my learned friend,

00:31:36I've had Mr. Minto brought here.

00:31:38Now, I wish to avoid doing so.

00:31:40This trial will be quite long enough as it is.

00:31:42But in the circumstances, this course has been forced upon me.

00:31:46So I therefore tender, Mr. Minto, for cross-examination.

00:31:49Yes, I see.

00:31:51Oh, Mr. O'Connor.

00:31:52Mr. Minto, are you and your firm selling a lot of King Kong Muscle at the present time?

00:32:02I don't follow.

00:32:03Well, I believe I'm right in saying that the Pendidome was the first major structure

00:32:08to use King Kong Muscle exclusively for the main support.

00:32:13Is that not so?

00:32:13Oh, yes.

00:32:15As it happens, it was.

00:32:16Well, after what happened there,

00:32:18do you find your order books full?

00:32:20What happened at the Pendidome

00:32:22has nothing to do with King Kong Muscle.

00:32:25It's selling briskly, then.

00:32:26Well, just at the moment, there isn't quite the demand one might have expected.

00:32:29No, but then it's really much more expensive

00:32:31than other support materials and structural materials.

00:32:34And the construction industry is notoriously conservative in such matters.

00:32:39Of course.

00:32:41Now, I'm right in saying that on January the 10th last year,

00:32:46you recalled a particular consignment of this material

00:32:49which had been delivered to the Pendidome site two days earlier.

00:32:52Yes.

00:32:53Why did you recall that material, Mr. Minto?

00:32:56Well, King Kong Muscle is more or less new material.

00:33:01And because of that, we'd like to be absolutely sure

00:33:03it's in absolutely top condition when we issue it.

00:33:06As you may know,

00:33:07it's formed by the addition of certain inorganic fibres to a steel matrix.

00:33:11Yes, Mr. Minto, we appreciate that the matters under consideration

00:33:13are highly technical and complicated,

00:33:16and we need as much clarification as possible.

00:33:19Why, my lord, the actual making of King Kong Muscle

00:33:21is an industrial secret.

00:33:23I hope I may not be required to divulge that here.

00:33:25I shouldn't have thought it was necessary to state the precise formula, no.

00:33:29But outstanding mechanical strength is claim for these new compounds.

00:33:34Indeed, we have here the agreement specification

00:33:36allowing just that for King Kong Muscle,

00:33:39and I think it would at least be helpful

00:33:41to know how that strength was obtained.

00:33:44Well, the use of inorganic fibres

00:33:48to reinforce existing materials and give them super strength

00:33:51is something really pretty new.

00:33:54It began when it was discovered that the fibres concerned

00:33:56could be produced by spinning viscose rayon

00:33:58with certain inorganic oxides,

00:34:00such as silica or alumina,

00:34:04or simply by growing them as monocrystals

00:34:07out of gas or liquid phases.

00:34:09This process is the method we use for King Kong Muscle.

00:34:12Then the fibres must be fused into the matrix

00:34:16under intense heat,

00:34:17and a new super-strong compound is the result.

00:34:20Yes.

00:34:24What did you suspect was wrong with the King Kong Muscle

00:34:27you recalled on January the 10th, Mr. Minto?

00:34:30Shortly after we dispatched that particular consignment

00:34:32to King Kong Muscle,

00:34:33we were testing some more

00:34:34made with fibres produced at precisely the same time,

00:34:37and under test,

00:34:39the specimen...

00:34:40Yes, Mr. Minto?

00:34:43The specimen

00:34:44failed to register required strength.

00:34:47Before we adjourn for lunch, Mr. Minto,

00:35:07you told us that some King Kong Muscle

00:35:08produced at the same time as the consignment you recalled

00:35:12failed to register to required strength.

00:35:15Well, what do you mean by that?

00:35:16It broke, buckled...

00:35:18No, no, it...

00:35:19Well, it gave evidence

00:35:22of not being able to make the test pressure.

00:35:25Yielded.

00:35:26Mr. Minto,

00:35:27what sort of pressure was involved under test?

00:35:30Oh, very high, my lord.

00:35:31Much greater than the material

00:35:32we'll ever have to sustain in reality.

00:35:34And as it turned out,

00:35:36in the King Kong Muscle we recalled,

00:35:37not the least fault was discernible.

00:35:39We subjected all of it

00:35:40to prolonged pressures

00:35:41right up to the maximum.

00:35:42And it gave no evidence whatever of yielding.

00:35:45So, in the case of the specimen of King Kong Muscle

00:35:47that did yield,

00:35:48you would say that you experienced a freak effect?

00:35:52Yes, you could put it like that, I suppose.

00:35:54Which could be repeated, arbitrarily.

00:35:57I beg your pardon?

00:35:59Well, it's the nature of a freak effect,

00:36:01surely, Mr. Minto,

00:36:02to recur at random.

00:36:03You never know when it's going to crop up again.

00:36:05No, that doesn't follow in this context.

00:36:09Yet you still recall the large consignment.

00:36:11I see.

00:36:13Now, Mr. Minto,

00:36:14were you called to the Bellenden Inquiry

00:36:16into the collapse of the Pentadome?

00:36:18Yes, yes, I was.

00:36:19To give a report on the materials employed?

00:36:21Yes.

00:36:22Did you report this incident

00:36:23we've just been talking about,

00:36:24the freak effect you on one occasion

00:36:26observed in a specimen of King Kong Muscle

00:36:28to that inquiry?

00:36:30No, I didn't do that.

00:36:32Why was that, Mr. Minto?

00:36:33Well, it had nothing whatever to do with the case.

00:36:37The consignment of King Kong Muscle,

00:36:39which contained the A column of the South Tower,

00:36:42wasn't in question.

00:36:44That had all been past day one, okay.

00:36:48I see, Mr. Minto.

00:36:52Mr. Minto, let's just clear this up.

00:36:54This freak effect

00:36:55that you observed on this single occasion

00:36:57was completely isolated then.

00:37:00Oh, yes.

00:37:01Oh, good heavens,

00:37:02I've been trying to explain.

00:37:04The tests all King Kong Muscle produced

00:37:06has to undergo.

00:37:08Simulate conditions of stress

00:37:10far in excess of anything

00:37:11the material would ever have to bear in reality.

00:37:14And if there's any weakness

00:37:15or freak effect present,

00:37:17it's got to show at that time.

00:37:20It can't be otherwise.

00:37:22Yes.

00:37:23Thank you, Mr. Minto.

00:37:24Does your Lordship have any questions?

00:37:26No, thank you.

00:37:28You may go, Mr. Minto.

00:37:30Thank you, my Lord.

00:37:30That is the case of the prosecution, my Lord.

00:37:35Mr. O'Connor,

00:37:36are you calling your client now?

00:37:38Oh, my Lord,

00:37:39with your permission,

00:37:40I wish first not to call my client,

00:37:42but another witness

00:37:43who is not available

00:37:44to give evidence tomorrow, I'm afraid.

00:37:46Hmm.

00:37:47Mr. Lloyd?

00:37:48No, no, no objection to that at all, my Lord.

00:37:50I call Brenda Carney.

00:37:52Brenda Carney, please.

00:37:53What is your religion?

00:38:06Church of England.

00:38:07Take the Bible in your right hand

00:38:09and read aloud the words on the card.

00:38:10I swear by almighty God

00:38:14that the evidence I shall give

00:38:16shall be the truth,

00:38:17the whole truth

00:38:18and nothing but the truth.

00:38:20You are Brenda Carney

00:38:22of 42 Grove Buildings, Fulchester?

00:38:25Yes.

00:38:26And you are the wife of the defendant?

00:38:29You are Joseph Carney's wife?

00:38:31Yes.

00:38:33I believe it's right

00:38:34that you and your husband

00:38:34are no longer living together.

00:38:36No, no, I'm separated.

00:38:38How did that happen exactly?

00:38:40Well, I left him, didn't I?

00:38:41Left him?

00:38:42Yes.

00:38:43And when precisely

00:38:44did you leave your husband, Mrs. Carney?

00:38:47On January 10th last year

00:38:48at eight o'clock in the morning.

00:38:54Well, I remember it so well, you see,

00:38:56because that day I had to start work

00:38:57at half-past.

00:38:59Well, since I was going out on my own,

00:39:01I couldn't afford to lose a day's pay,

00:39:03could I?

00:39:04Obviously not a hasty decision

00:39:05on your part, Mrs. Carney.

00:39:07No.

00:39:08Did your husband try

00:39:09and stop you leaving him?

00:39:11Yes.

00:39:12Yes, he did.

00:39:13There was quite a bit of trouble.

00:39:17Surprised me, in a way.

00:39:18I mean, I would have thought

00:39:18he knew it was on the cards by then.

00:39:20But he acted as though

00:39:21it was a complete surprise.

00:39:24Well, for a moment there,

00:39:25he was even violent.

00:39:27Shouted, knocked things about.

00:39:30In the end, I reckoned

00:39:31I was lucky to get out the door

00:39:32in one piece.

00:39:33So I'd be fair to say

00:39:34that he was upset himself

00:39:36when he went to work

00:39:37on January the 10th.

00:39:38Oh, I'll say.

00:39:39Thank you, Mrs. Carney.

00:39:40Nothing more for the moment.

00:39:53Well, Mrs. Carney,

00:39:56that's so, is it?

00:39:58What?

00:40:00Ah, well, perhaps, um...

00:40:02Yes, well, tell us exactly

00:40:02how it was that you

00:40:03came to leave your husband.

00:40:05Well, things had been bad

00:40:08between us for a long while.

00:40:10I suppose we'd never been suited

00:40:11right from the beginning,

00:40:12him and his half-baked ideas.

00:40:14Half-baked ideas?

00:40:15Yes, in the end,

00:40:16I reckoned I left him over there

00:40:17more than anything else.

00:40:19Oh, you've no idea.

00:40:21On and on for five long years

00:40:23of my life.

00:40:25How they were nationalising everything

00:40:26and turning the place

00:40:27into little Russia.

00:40:29Well, when there was nothing else

00:40:30to have a go at,

00:40:30it'd start on the local council.

00:40:33The way he talked about them,

00:40:34you'd think there were

00:40:35Hitler and the Nazis.

00:40:36You didn't have a great deal

00:40:37of sympathy for your husband's

00:40:38ideas there, Mrs. Carney.

00:40:40Well, it was the hold

00:40:41they had on him.

00:40:42I mean, sometimes it seemed

00:40:43to talk about nothing else.

00:40:46But, er, he was a clever enough

00:40:48man in his own way.

00:40:50Oh, I don't know.

00:40:52After he went to work

00:40:53and that pendidrome,

00:40:55well, it all got too much.

00:40:58I made up my mind

00:40:59I'd have to get three of them,

00:41:00clear out and get a divorce.

00:41:02Yes, now you've told us

00:41:03that your husband tried

00:41:03to stop you leaving

00:41:05on January the 10th,

00:41:06but you got out of the door

00:41:07in one piece.

00:41:08Now, was that the last of it

00:41:09or did you hear from him again?

00:41:11That same day, do you mean?

00:41:13Yes.

00:41:15Well, er,

00:41:17kept ringing up work,

00:41:18asking to speak to me

00:41:19over and over.

00:41:20Did you take any

00:41:21of those many calls?

00:41:22No, would have been silly.

00:41:24I'd quite made up my mind,

00:41:26about things, I mean.

00:41:27But, er,

00:41:29when dinner time came,

00:41:31well, there's a pub near where I work,

00:41:33a go-to sometimes,

00:41:34and, well, that day I was feeling

00:41:35the need of a drink

00:41:36one way or another.

00:41:39But, er,

00:41:40in the saloon,

00:41:41there was Joel,

00:41:42and he'd already had a couple.

00:41:44He'd already had a couple,

00:41:46and he'd come in search of you,

00:41:47did you think?

00:41:48Yes.

00:41:49It made me nervous for a start,

00:41:52and then I saw that he was,

00:41:54well,

00:41:55in a different sort of mood,

00:41:57not violent any more.

00:41:59He just looked at me for a bit,

00:42:01and then he said,

00:42:03it's the end, is it, Brenda?

00:42:06You sure?

00:42:08And I said,

00:42:08I'm not taking any more, Joey,

00:42:09you've got to realise that.

00:42:11Did your husband say anything?

00:42:14Well, for a bit,

00:42:15he didn't say anything at all,

00:42:16just stared down

00:42:17into the glass he was holding.

00:42:19And when he did speak,

00:42:20I couldn't make out

00:42:20whether he's speaking to me

00:42:21or to somebody else.

00:42:23What did he say, Mrs Carney?

00:42:24Well, he said,

00:42:26so that's another score, is it?

00:42:28Well, I'll have to get

00:42:29my own back on them,

00:42:30and I know just how.

00:42:31I'll have to get

00:42:32my own back on them,

00:42:34and I know just how.

00:42:37Yes, thank you, Mrs Carney.

00:42:39Just one or two matters

00:42:41arising, my lord.

00:42:42Mrs Carney,

00:42:43it's not perfectly true

00:42:44to say you left your husband

00:42:45because you couldn't stand

00:42:46his half-baked ideas

00:42:48any longer, is it?

00:42:49Yes, it is.

00:42:50Yes, you should have

00:42:51had to live with them

00:42:51day in, day out.

00:42:53I nearly went nuts.

00:42:54Did you know that he held

00:42:55reactionary views

00:42:56at the time you married him?

00:42:57Well, yes, in a way.

00:42:59What I didn't understand,

00:43:00though, was how strongly.

00:43:02And you, yes,

00:43:03you've told the court

00:43:04just a moment ago

00:43:04you thought him

00:43:05a clever enough man

00:43:06in his own way.

00:43:08Yes.

00:43:09Yes, in relation

00:43:10to his worker meant that.

00:43:11He built himself up

00:43:13from nothing, you know,

00:43:13to be construction

00:43:14superintendent at Ellaby's.

00:43:16Well, that was good.

00:43:17Conscientious worker, then.

00:43:20Reliable and dedicated.

00:43:23Your husband is somewhat

00:43:24older than you,

00:43:25isn't he, Mrs Carney?

00:43:26By a few years, yes.

00:43:27How many years?

00:43:29Well, ten.

00:43:31Any children of a marriage?

00:43:32No, no children.

00:43:34Now, you mentioned

00:43:35the possibility of divorce.

00:43:36Have proceedings commenced

00:43:38and who started them, please?

00:43:39My lord, once again,

00:43:41this is a matter

00:43:41unrelated to this case

00:43:43and is quite irrelevant.

00:43:44Oh, Mr Lloyd,

00:43:46it was you yourself

00:43:46who raised the issue

00:43:47of why she left her husband.

00:43:50Have divorce proceedings

00:43:51begun yet, Mrs Carney?

00:43:54Well, yes.

00:43:55Then I think you can answer

00:43:56the other part of the question.

00:44:00Who is bringing the divorce,

00:44:02Mrs Carney?

00:44:04My husband.

00:44:06Well, now,

00:44:07your husband is suing you

00:44:08for divorce.

00:44:10Yes.

00:44:10Oh, very well, then.

00:44:13I suppose it's got to be said

00:44:15sooner or later.

00:44:17I, well, you see,

00:44:19there was this fella.

00:44:20You mean you had a lover?

00:44:23Yes.

00:44:24Is it the man that you're living

00:44:25with at the present time?

00:44:26Yes.

00:44:27At the time...

00:44:27Well, I was driven to it, though.

00:44:29At the time that you left your husband,

00:44:31was he aware

00:44:31that you were being unfaithful to him?

00:44:34What?

00:44:34Well, you were being unfaithful

00:44:36to him at that point,

00:44:37weren't you?

00:44:37Oh, yes.

00:44:39And did your husband know

00:44:40that this was at least part

00:44:41of the reason for your going?

00:44:42Well...

00:44:43Well, did he or didn't he?

00:44:44No.

00:44:45No? What?

00:44:45No, he didn't know that just then.

00:44:47Did you enlighten him, Mrs Carney?

00:44:54Very well.

00:44:55Let's talk of the same day

00:44:57in the pub.

00:44:58That lunchtime

00:44:59that you've mentioned,

00:45:00did you at any stage then

00:45:02tell your husband

00:45:03about your lover?

00:45:03No.

00:45:05No.

00:45:08Well,

00:45:10suddenly I felt sorry for him, see?

00:45:14Sitting there,

00:45:15staring down into his glass.

00:45:18So I did tell him yes,

00:45:20because it come over me

00:45:21he had a right to know.

00:45:22Oh.

00:45:23You were remorseful.

00:45:25Not like that.

00:45:27You don't understand.

00:45:28You never knew

00:45:30where you were with him

00:45:31when he had his moods on him.

00:45:33I mean,

00:45:33you never knew

00:45:34whether he'd heard

00:45:34what you said or not.

00:45:36I don't think

00:45:37he noticed me

00:45:38half the time.

00:45:39The other half

00:45:40he could be bloody hard.

00:45:41He practically

00:45:42would have chained me up

00:45:43if he had his way.

00:45:44Chained me up and let you...

00:45:45Did you tell your husband

00:45:46of your lover

00:45:46before he said to you,

00:45:48so that's another score?

00:45:50Well,

00:45:51I'll have to get

00:45:52my own back on them

00:45:52and so on.

00:45:55Yes.

00:45:55Rather takes away

00:45:57the fearful portent

00:45:58of those words,

00:45:59doesn't it?

00:46:02Thank you,

00:46:02Mrs Carney.

00:46:03No further questions.

00:46:06May the...

00:46:25Tomorrow,

00:46:29our cameras return

00:46:29to the Crown Court

00:46:30for the final day's hearing

00:46:31in the case

00:46:32of the Queen

00:46:33against Carney.

00:46:33Joseph Carney,

00:46:55site agent

00:46:56on the south tower

00:46:57of the Penderdome shopping centre

00:46:59on the day

00:46:59the main support column

00:47:01was installed,

00:47:01is accused of murder

00:47:03or manslaughter.

00:47:04An official inquiry,

00:47:05chaired by Ramsey Bellenden,

00:47:07has found that the collapse

00:47:08of the Penderdome

00:47:09on September the 14th

00:47:11in which eight people

00:47:11were killed

00:47:12was due to the faulty

00:47:13installation of the A column.

00:47:15For the prosecution,

00:47:17Mr Lloyd has attempted

00:47:18to show that on the day

00:47:19of the installation,

00:47:20Carney was in a bad

00:47:21state of mind,

00:47:22not only because his wife

00:47:23had left him,

00:47:24but because he believed

00:47:25the building itself

00:47:26to be misconceived

00:47:27and a waste of public money.

00:47:29Mr Martin O'Connor

00:47:30for the defence

00:47:31has now called Carney

00:47:32to the witness box

00:47:33for the final day's hearing

00:47:35in the case

00:47:35of the Queen

00:47:36against Carney.

00:47:37You are Joseph Carney

00:47:52of 80

00:47:53Wester Springs Road,

00:47:54Fulchester.

00:47:55I am.

00:47:56What is your present occupation?

00:47:58I'm out of a job

00:47:59at the moment,

00:48:00but until mid-September last

00:48:01I was employed

00:48:02as a site agent

00:48:03by Hellebys,

00:48:04the building constructors.

00:48:06Did you resign

00:48:07from this job

00:48:08or were you discharged,

00:48:09Mr Carney?

00:48:09No, sir,

00:48:10I was discharged.

00:48:12Why was that, please?

00:48:13In October last,

00:48:15the Belladon inquiry

00:48:16said that the

00:48:17Pentadrome shopping centre

00:48:19had collapsed

00:48:19because a column

00:48:20in the south tower

00:48:21known as the A column

00:48:22had been improperly constructed.

00:48:25I'd been responsible

00:48:26for that installation,

00:48:27I was therefore

00:48:27held to blame.

00:48:28Did you accept

00:48:29your discharge

00:48:30from Hellebys

00:48:31as a just consequence

00:48:32of professional ineptitude

00:48:34on your part,

00:48:34Mr Carney?

00:48:35No, sir,

00:48:36I did not.

00:48:37I protested in writing

00:48:39to Mrs Jean Ryder,

00:48:41the general manager

00:48:41of Hellebys.

00:48:42I stated that the inquiry

00:48:44was wrong in its findings

00:48:45and that on January 10th,

00:48:47the day of the installation

00:48:48of the column,

00:48:49I carried out

00:48:49all the necessary checks

00:48:51as a story of my report

00:48:53will show.

00:48:54I see.

00:48:55Now,

00:48:55to come to your attitude

00:48:56towards the Pentadome

00:48:57was a project then.

00:48:59We've heard

00:48:59how you hated it.

00:49:01Why did you hate it so?

00:49:03Well,

00:49:03I don't know

00:49:05that I did

00:49:06to begin with.

00:49:08Well,

00:49:09I mean,

00:49:09a shopping centre

00:49:10was needed

00:49:11in that part

00:49:12of Fulchester.

00:49:14But it was when

00:49:14I saw how things

00:49:15were developing

00:49:16and more to the point

00:49:17how much they were costing.

00:49:18Part of your objection

00:49:19to the Pentadome

00:49:20was the amount

00:49:21of public money

00:49:21it was consuming then.

00:49:23Yes,

00:49:23it was.

00:49:24Well,

00:49:25they kept changing

00:49:25their mind about things.

00:49:27You see,

00:49:27you could read all about it

00:49:28in the newspapers

00:49:28at the time.

00:49:30The budget kept

00:49:31going up and up

00:49:32as they thought

00:49:32of one new

00:49:33airy-fairy feature

00:49:34after another

00:49:35and all to achieve

00:49:36political ends

00:49:37as far as I could see.

00:49:38There was that dome,

00:49:39you know,

00:49:40especially and expensively

00:49:42designed to produce

00:49:43some kind of fancy

00:49:44light in effect.

00:49:45Yes,

00:49:45and the King Kong mussel.

00:49:46Now,

00:49:47here's a point

00:49:47I'd like to make.

00:49:48No one's made it so far.

00:49:49King Kong mussel

00:49:50is three times

00:49:51as expensive

00:49:52as steel

00:49:52and reinforced concrete.

00:49:54That's a waste of money.

00:49:55It's a waste

00:49:55of ratepayers' money.

00:49:56Do you know

00:49:57we've had an 80% increase

00:49:58in Forchester rates

00:49:59even without that?

00:50:03Your views,

00:50:04however,

00:50:04are not so strongly held

00:50:05that they could

00:50:06conceivably lead you

00:50:07into anything

00:50:08resembling criminal action,

00:50:09though.

00:50:10How do you mean?

00:50:11Well,

00:50:12have you ever in the past

00:50:13had any trouble

00:50:13with the law,

00:50:14Mr Carney?

00:50:15No,

00:50:16of course not.

00:50:17No convictions

00:50:18of any sort?

00:50:18Yeah.

00:50:19Charges?

00:50:20No,

00:50:21this is a set-up,

00:50:22isn't it?

00:50:23I've done nothing wrong.

00:50:24I was not careless

00:50:25about that column

00:50:26on the Pentadome.

00:50:26I know that.

00:50:29It's a set-up job,

00:50:30isn't it?

00:50:31I'm here as a whipping boy

00:50:32for somebody else's mistakes.

00:50:33Now,

00:50:34you said that

00:50:35the Bellenden inquiry

00:50:35was wrong in its findings,

00:50:37Mr Carney.

00:50:38What grounds

00:50:39do you have

00:50:39for that exactly?

00:50:42Well,

00:50:43none,

00:50:44really.

00:50:46I mean,

00:50:46what I meant

00:50:47was that

00:50:48it seemed to me

00:50:49that

00:50:49they hadn't done

00:50:51their job properly.

00:50:53Why?

00:50:53Well,

00:50:56look,

00:50:56I've been in the

00:50:57construction business

00:50:59for something like

00:51:0015 years.

00:51:02I built myself up

00:51:03from nothing,

00:51:04from a brickie.

00:51:06And I knew

00:51:06from just

00:51:07working with it,

00:51:09you know,

00:51:09from just using it,

00:51:11that,

00:51:12well,

00:51:12King Kong muscle

00:51:13would never support

00:51:14the weight of dome

00:51:15it was supposed to.

00:51:17That's a bold statement,

00:51:18Mr Carney.

00:51:19Yes,

00:51:19I know.

00:51:20I can't help that.

00:51:22You know,

00:51:22people on the other side

00:51:23of our business,

00:51:24the architects

00:51:25and executives,

00:51:26they don't know

00:51:27about stuff

00:51:27the men who

00:51:28work with the materials

00:51:30do.

00:51:31You know,

00:51:31you get a feel

00:51:33for the stuff,

00:51:33new stuff especially,

00:51:35and you understand

00:51:36what it's capable of.

00:51:37So you're saying

00:51:38that being on site

00:51:39all day,

00:51:40actually handling

00:51:40the material,

00:51:41you're probably

00:51:42in a better position

00:51:43to get the feel of it

00:51:44than people

00:51:45who only see it

00:51:46on a drawing board.

00:51:47Stands to reason,

00:51:48doesn't it?

00:51:49I mean,

00:51:49architects and people

00:51:51like that,

00:51:51they don't have to

00:51:52handle the stuff,

00:51:52do they?

00:51:53They don't have to

00:51:54put it in place,

00:51:55do some of them

00:51:55good to find out

00:51:56the hard way,

00:51:57you know,

00:51:57come up the hard way,

00:51:58you know what I mean?

00:51:58Mr Carney,

00:51:59we have here in evidence

00:52:00a specification

00:52:01for King Kong muscle

00:52:02claiming for it

00:52:04exactly the super strength

00:52:05it is alleged to have.

00:52:07Well,

00:52:07in that case,

00:52:08my lord,

00:52:08I don't agree

00:52:09with the agreement

00:52:10specification.

00:52:12And I don't have

00:52:12to tell you

00:52:13it wouldn't be

00:52:13the first time

00:52:14that boards like that

00:52:14have been wrong.

00:52:15Mr Carney,

00:52:16it's been stated

00:52:17that on January the 10th

00:52:18you were in a bad

00:52:18emotional condition,

00:52:20upset.

00:52:22Yes,

00:52:22I was,

00:52:22yes,

00:52:23yes,

00:52:23I was.

00:52:24Well,

00:52:25will you tell the court

00:52:25why,

00:52:26please?

00:52:27Well,

00:52:28you've heard why,

00:52:28my wife had left me,

00:52:29haven't she?

00:52:31And this was the reason

00:52:32for the distress

00:52:33that was observed in you

00:52:34during the day

00:52:35that followed,

00:52:35was it?

00:52:36Well,

00:52:36I should think it was,

00:52:37what else?

00:52:39Yes,

00:52:39the jury might also

00:52:40have noticed

00:52:41that Mrs Carney

00:52:42decided to

00:52:42absent herself

00:52:44from her husband's

00:52:44trial today.

00:52:46Did you,

00:52:47as a result

00:52:48of your distress,

00:52:49say things

00:52:50to other persons

00:52:51that were perhaps

00:52:52ill-judged,

00:52:54not entirely meant?

00:52:56Yes,

00:52:56yes,

00:52:56I did,

00:52:57yes.

00:52:57there were

00:52:59several incidents

00:53:01like that

00:53:01during the day.

00:53:04Well,

00:53:04it had hit me

00:53:05for six,

00:53:06you know,

00:53:07Brenda going off

00:53:08like that.

00:53:10I mean,

00:53:10I knew things

00:53:12weren't too good

00:53:13between us,

00:53:14but I didn't think

00:53:15she'd actually

00:53:15leave,

00:53:17you know.

00:53:18And I,

00:53:20well,

00:53:20I didn't know then

00:53:21about that fancy man

00:53:22of hers,

00:53:22you know.

00:53:23Well,

00:53:24I was in a terrible state.

00:53:25I didn't know

00:53:26what to do.

00:53:28I thought at first

00:53:29that I wouldn't be able

00:53:30to go to work,

00:53:32you know,

00:53:32but,

00:53:33well,

00:53:33then I realised

00:53:34I had to,

00:53:35to give me

00:53:36something to do.

00:53:39I think,

00:53:40looking back on it,

00:53:42that I was a bit

00:53:43out of me head

00:53:44for a while

00:53:45that day.

00:53:47I think I was

00:53:48a bit free

00:53:49in what I said

00:53:51to Mr Cloudy

00:53:51of St Mr Sefton,

00:53:53you know.

00:53:54Could be maintained,

00:53:55of course,

00:53:56that being a bit

00:53:57out of your head

00:53:58for a while

00:53:58that day

00:53:59caused you

00:54:00to become careless,

00:54:01not pay due

00:54:02attention to your work.

00:54:03No, sir,

00:54:04that's not true.

00:54:05Cut corners.

00:54:05No, sir,

00:54:06my reports

00:54:07show that I carried

00:54:09out all the necessary

00:54:10checks and inspections.

00:54:11And I'd like

00:54:12to make this point.

00:54:13In all my years

00:54:14in the building trade,

00:54:15there's never been

00:54:16one complaint.

00:54:17Not one,

00:54:18against my standard

00:54:19of work.

00:54:19You know,

00:54:21this inquiry,

00:54:21they don't know

00:54:22what they're talking about.

00:54:23I mean,

00:54:23Mr Belladon got up

00:54:25and he said

00:54:25something like

00:54:26he thought maybe

00:54:27the nuts that held

00:54:28the bolts that held

00:54:29the A column down

00:54:31hadn't been applied

00:54:32to the right tension.

00:54:33De-da-de-da-de-da.

00:54:34You know,

00:54:34it's daft.

00:54:35It's just daft.

00:54:36You firmly maintain,

00:54:37then,

00:54:38that you, in fact,

00:54:38made no error

00:54:39on January the 10th

00:54:40and were in no state

00:54:41of mind that might

00:54:42have made you prone

00:54:43to error.

00:54:44Yes, that's right, sir.

00:54:45Thank you,

00:54:46Mr Carney.

00:54:47Thank you, sir.

00:54:48I've no further

00:54:48questions, my lord.

00:54:50It looks as though

00:54:51it's finished

00:54:51his examination.

00:54:52You can slip

00:54:52into the public gallery.

00:54:57So, Mr Carney,

00:54:58you tell us

00:54:59that you're convinced

00:55:00you made no error

00:55:01in installing the A column

00:55:02on January the 10th.

00:55:04Yes.

00:55:04Well, how long

00:55:05did the whole job take,

00:55:06Mr Carney?

00:55:09I'm sorry.

00:55:09What period of time

00:55:12did installing the column

00:55:13occupy?

00:55:15Most of the day.

00:55:16That's morning

00:55:17and afternoon,

00:55:18you mean,

00:55:18both before the lunch break

00:55:20and after it.

00:55:21Yes, that's generally

00:55:22what's meant by

00:55:22most of the day,

00:55:23yes.

00:55:24And the men you were

00:55:25working with,

00:55:26were they the same men

00:55:27all day?

00:55:29How do you mean?

00:55:31Well, it's not that

00:55:31difficult to understand.

00:55:32Surely,

00:55:33was your workforce

00:55:34throughout the day

00:55:35composed of the same

00:55:36individuals

00:55:37or did it change

00:55:38from time to time?

00:55:39You probably don't know,

00:55:41sir,

00:55:41that on a building site

00:55:42there are lots of things

00:55:43to be done.

00:55:44I mean,

00:55:45a fella can be working

00:55:46on one job one minute

00:55:47and get called away

00:55:47to another.

00:55:48Yes, it changed,

00:55:49in other words.

00:55:50Oh, yes.

00:55:51Considerably,

00:55:52Mr Carney.

00:55:52How should I know?

00:55:53Ah,

00:55:54you don't know.

00:55:55Well,

00:55:55then you couldn't say

00:55:56then with any confidence

00:55:57which men were working

00:55:58with you

00:55:59at any given point

00:56:00in the day

00:56:00and which men were not.

00:56:01Now, look,

00:56:02I'm...

00:56:02And were these skilled men,

00:56:03Mr Carney?

00:56:04They all knew their job, sir,

00:56:05if that's what you mean.

00:56:07Some of them

00:56:07had been on building sites

00:56:08for years.

00:56:09You don't get taken on

00:56:10these days,

00:56:10you know.

00:56:10Now,

00:56:11what I did mean

00:56:12was were they tradesmen

00:56:14or were they labourers?

00:56:15Well...

00:56:16Yes?

00:56:18Well,

00:56:18labourers for the most part.

00:56:21Labourers

00:56:21for the most part.

00:56:22So then,

00:56:23there was nobody

00:56:23but you to know

00:56:25when in fact

00:56:26each stage

00:56:27of the installation

00:56:27of that column

00:56:28had been satisfaction

00:56:30actually completed

00:56:30on January the 10th.

00:56:32I suppose not.

00:56:33Then after all,

00:56:34that's what a site agent's for,

00:56:36isn't it?

00:56:36And nobody but you to know

00:56:38when the nuts

00:56:39holding down

00:56:40the securing bolts

00:56:41had been applied

00:56:43to the right tension.

00:56:44Look,

00:56:45I thought of that job properly.

00:56:46I know I did.

00:56:48I may have been a bit upset

00:56:49but I did nothing

00:56:49to sabotage

00:56:50the Pentadome project

00:56:51and I didn't make

00:56:52any damn full mistakes either.

00:56:54Your wife had left you

00:56:55without warning,

00:56:57your marriage

00:56:57was in ruins

00:56:58and you were only a bit

00:57:00upset?

00:57:01I had things under control.

00:57:02You were agitated.

00:57:03Mr. Claudius

00:57:04has remarked on that fact

00:57:05and you kept continually

00:57:07rushing off to telephone.

00:57:08No,

00:57:08I didn't.

00:57:09Well,

00:57:09Mr. Claudius

00:57:10has testified

00:57:10that you raced away

00:57:11to make one call

00:57:12even as he was talking

00:57:14to you

00:57:14and your wife

00:57:15has told us

00:57:15you were trying

00:57:16to reach her

00:57:16at work all the morning.

00:57:17I made perhaps

00:57:19three phone calls

00:57:21and four maybe

00:57:22but it did not

00:57:23take my mind

00:57:24off the job.

00:57:25Then at lunchtime

00:57:26you went out

00:57:27and you started

00:57:27to drink.

00:57:28No.

00:57:29Oh,

00:57:29you deny

00:57:30you were drinking

00:57:31in the lunch break

00:57:32on January the 10th?

00:57:33Look,

00:57:33I had a couple

00:57:34of whiskies,

00:57:35that's all.

00:57:36Yes,

00:57:36well perhaps

00:57:36you have a bad head

00:57:37for alcohol,

00:57:39Mr. Tarley.

00:57:39There's nothing wrong

00:57:39with my head,

00:57:40sir,

00:57:40thank you.

00:57:41Well,

00:57:41you've certainly

00:57:41had enough

00:57:42to drink

00:57:42for it to be

00:57:43quite obvious

00:57:44to Mr. Sefton

00:57:45when he spoke

00:57:45to you a full hour

00:57:46or an hour

00:57:47and a half later.

00:57:48No,

00:57:48I didn't.

00:57:48And here's

00:57:48the interesting thing

00:57:49you see,

00:57:50your threats,

00:57:51your inferences

00:57:52of possible

00:57:53criminal action,

00:57:54of sabotage,

00:57:55etc.

00:57:56They're all made

00:57:57after you'd been drinking.

00:57:59Now that doesn't

00:58:00mean anything.

00:58:01I explained

00:58:02to the other

00:58:02gentleman about that.

00:58:03I was just upset

00:58:04about everything.

00:58:05I was talking wild.

00:58:07Yet with a remarkably

00:58:08single-minded purpose.

00:58:10I was blowing me top.

00:58:10You did in fact

00:58:11fail to apply

00:58:12those nuts

00:58:13on the securing bolts

00:58:14to the right tension

00:58:15on January the 10th,

00:58:17didn't you,

00:58:17Mr. Carney?

00:58:18That's a lie.

00:58:18You can't prove it

00:58:19and you know it.

00:58:20Then what else

00:58:20makes sense?

00:58:21Well,

00:58:21it was that damn

00:58:22King Kong muscle.

00:58:24It's no good

00:58:25talking to you.

00:58:26You don't understand

00:58:26what I'm talking about,

00:58:27do you?

00:58:29That pentadone,

00:58:31pentadone.

00:58:32Yes,

00:58:32that's a lovely word,

00:58:33isn't it?

00:58:33That's your socialist

00:58:34architecture for you.

00:58:36Well,

00:58:36I'll tell you something.

00:58:37I hate it

00:58:37and all it stands for.

00:58:39All my life,

00:58:40I've gone it alone.

00:58:41I built myself up

00:58:42from nothing

00:58:42without any help

00:58:43from anybody.

00:58:44And what have you

00:58:45got today?

00:58:46Go on,

00:58:46have a look.

00:58:47What have you got?

00:58:48You've got a handout

00:58:49society,

00:58:50haven't you?

00:58:51There's no need

00:58:51to put your back

00:58:52into anything

00:58:52if you don't want to.

00:58:53Just lays and loaf around

00:58:54and everything's done

00:58:55for you,

00:58:55right down to the

00:58:56last bloody thing.

00:58:58And if you want

00:58:59to do a good day's work,

00:59:00what happens?

00:59:01I'll tell you.

00:59:02Nothing.

00:59:03Put his laugh

00:59:04in your face.

00:59:05Call you a fascist

00:59:05to your face.

00:59:06Well,

00:59:06I'll tell you something.

00:59:07Nothing special

00:59:07has ever been done

00:59:08for me.

00:59:13Nothing.

00:59:15Ever.

00:59:22Yes.

00:59:23Thank you,

00:59:23Mr Carney.

00:59:24No further questions.

00:59:25I swear by almighty God

00:59:43that the evidence I shall give

00:59:45shall be the truth,

00:59:46the whole truth,

00:59:46and nothing but the truth.

00:59:47You are Jean Catherine Ryder

00:59:52and you live at

00:59:53Underedge Hall,

00:59:54Pressbury,

00:59:55Cheshire.

00:59:56That's right.

00:59:57You are also

00:59:58general manager of

00:59:59Helleby's The Building Contractors.

01:00:01I am.

01:00:03Might be remarked

01:00:04that you have

01:00:04rather an unusual job

01:00:05for a woman,

01:00:06Mrs Ryder.

01:00:07Might be answered

01:00:08that women possess

01:00:08just as much executive ability

01:00:10as men.

01:00:11Not to mention

01:00:12feminine intuition.

01:00:14At all events,

01:00:15your firm was awarded

01:00:16the contract

01:00:16for the building

01:00:17of the Penderdome section

01:00:18of the new

01:00:19Fulchester Shopping Centre.

01:00:20Yes.

01:00:21Mrs Ryder,

01:00:22we have heard

01:00:23that on January 10th

01:00:24last year,

01:00:24you told Mr Sefton

01:00:26a consignment

01:00:26of King Kong muscle

01:00:27you received

01:00:28a day or two earlier

01:00:29had been recalled

01:00:30by the manufacturers

01:00:31for a cheque

01:00:32and you recommended

01:00:33that material received

01:00:34before that

01:00:35should go back too.

01:00:36Is that correct?

01:00:37Yes, it is.

01:00:38Now,

01:00:38will you tell us

01:00:39why you made

01:00:39that recommendation,

01:00:40Mrs Ryder?

01:00:41And why did I suggest

01:00:42that all the King Kong muscle

01:00:43should go back,

01:00:44do you mean?

01:00:44Yes.

01:00:46Well,

01:00:47as it happens,

01:00:48I didn't much care

01:00:48for the attitude

01:00:49of the manufacturers

01:00:50in the matter.

01:00:52They were quite evasive

01:00:53about why they wanted

01:00:54the latest consignment back.

01:00:56Something very obscure

01:00:57about hardening processes

01:00:58and a possibility

01:00:59of an individual section

01:01:00being faulty.

01:01:02I inquired,

01:01:03was this something

01:01:04that could be expected

01:01:04to occur

01:01:05with King Kong muscle?

01:01:07The manufacturers

01:01:08claimed not,

01:01:09but then went on

01:01:11to say

01:01:11that since they were

01:01:12dealing with

01:01:12a new material,

01:01:13they had to take

01:01:13every care.

01:01:15Was Mr Sefton

01:01:16putting pressure on you

01:01:17to get on with

01:01:17the construction

01:01:18of the Pendedome?

01:01:19We were a little

01:01:20behind schedule,

01:01:21it's true.

01:01:22Did Mr Sefton,

01:01:23in fact,

01:01:23forbid you to return

01:01:24the whole of the

01:01:25King Kong muscle

01:01:25for further checks,

01:01:27as was your instinct?

01:01:28He didn't forbid me,

01:01:29no,

01:01:29he didn't have the authority

01:01:30to do that.

01:01:31He did, however,

01:01:32impress on me

01:01:33that such a complete

01:01:34check as I had in mind

01:01:35would,

01:01:36if its nature,

01:01:36take a lot of time

01:01:37and would almost

01:01:38infallibly prove

01:01:39to have been unnecessary.

01:01:41And that swayed you,

01:01:42did it?

01:01:43I decided to have a word

01:01:45with some of the men

01:01:45who were working

01:01:46with King Kong muscle

01:01:47before finally

01:01:48making up my mind.

01:01:51There was the site agent

01:01:52who was that very day

01:01:53installing the A column

01:01:54of the South Tower,

01:01:55Joe Carney,

01:01:56the defendant.

01:01:58Why did you decide that,

01:01:59Mrs Ryder?

01:02:00Sometimes the men

01:02:01on the job

01:02:02can help clear your mind

01:02:04when you're in doubts.

01:02:05They see aspects

01:02:06of matters that you miss.

01:02:08So you spoke to

01:02:09Mr Carney,

01:02:10did you?

01:02:10Yes.

01:02:11And what did he say?

01:02:13Well, regarding that,

01:02:13he said at once

01:02:14that all the King Kong muscle

01:02:15should go back.

01:02:17He said he hadn't

01:02:18taken to it

01:02:19from the start

01:02:20and he didn't believe

01:02:21it really had the strength

01:02:23to support the dome.

01:02:24Did he advance

01:02:25any cogent reason

01:02:26for this view?

01:02:27No, my lord,

01:02:28he said it was just

01:02:29the way he felt.

01:02:31So although you've told us

01:02:32you spoke to Carney

01:02:33to clear your mind,

01:02:35you didn't take

01:02:36any notice of him?

01:02:37Other site agents

01:02:39on the job

01:02:39didn't think

01:02:41as Joe did.

01:02:43Anyway,

01:02:43we were dealing

01:02:44in imponderables,

01:02:45hunches.

01:02:45You can't really run

01:02:47a business efficiently

01:02:48on hunches.

01:02:50Looking back now,

01:02:51Mrs Ryder,

01:02:52do you wish perhaps

01:02:53in this case

01:02:54you had taken heed

01:02:55of Joe Carney's hunch?

01:02:58To that I must

01:03:00answer yes.

01:03:03My own feelings

01:03:05were originally

01:03:05quite imprecise,

01:03:06but I was naturally

01:03:07prepared to accept

01:03:07the architect's

01:03:08specifications,

01:03:09but I don't care

01:03:11what that inquiry

01:03:11found.

01:03:12I take Joe Carney's

01:03:13view now.

01:03:14I believe there is

01:03:15some undiscovered

01:03:16weakness in King Kong

01:03:17muscle.

01:03:18I believe it is

01:03:19that weakness

01:03:20that was responsible

01:03:21for the collapse

01:03:21of the Pendidome

01:03:22and for the deaths

01:03:24of eight people.

01:03:28Mrs Ryder,

01:03:30let's just get

01:03:30one thing clear

01:03:31that Council

01:03:32for the Defence

01:03:32has conveniently

01:03:33managed to obscure.

01:03:35Now,

01:03:36after the Bellenden

01:03:36inquiry discovered

01:03:37that the Pendidome

01:03:38collapsed because

01:03:39the A column

01:03:40of the South Tower

01:03:41had been improperly

01:03:42secured,

01:03:43you discharged

01:03:44Joseph Carney

01:03:45from your employ,

01:03:46didn't you?

01:03:47Yes,

01:03:47I did.

01:03:48Well,

01:03:48you must then

01:03:49have believed

01:03:49in the inquiry's

01:03:50findings.

01:03:51There were pressures

01:03:52on me after

01:03:53that finding,

01:03:54obviously.

01:03:55I had to take

01:03:56positive action.

01:03:57Yes,

01:03:57but having now

01:03:58apparently come

01:03:59to the conclusion

01:04:00that the inquiry

01:04:01was wrong,

01:04:02you still haven't

01:04:03bothered to reinstate

01:04:04Mr Carney.

01:04:06Well,

01:04:06you know.

01:04:08You see,

01:04:08I wasn't...

01:04:09Mrs Ryder,

01:04:09you do agree

01:04:10that there is

01:04:11no logical reason

01:04:12that you can put

01:04:13forward for doubting

01:04:15the inquiry's findings?

01:04:17I'm in the

01:04:18construction industry

01:04:19and perhaps that

01:04:20entitles me to make

01:04:21more general observations

01:04:23in that other

01:04:24construction firms

01:04:25aren't using

01:04:25King Kong Muscle

01:04:26extensively.

01:04:28There has to be

01:04:29a reason.

01:04:29Yes,

01:04:30but one that

01:04:30can't be demonstrated.

01:04:32I really can't.

01:04:34Well,

01:04:34Mrs Ryder,

01:04:36and of course

01:04:37it would suit

01:04:37your book

01:04:38if it came to be

01:04:38scientifically accepted

01:04:40that there was

01:04:40some undiscovered

01:04:41fault in King Kong

01:04:42Muscle,

01:04:43wouldn't it?

01:04:44What do you mean

01:04:44by that?

01:04:45Well,

01:04:45despite the fact

01:04:46that the evidence

01:04:47is such here today

01:04:48that a prima facie

01:04:49case may be made

01:04:50out against the accused,

01:04:51your firm

01:04:52is still very much

01:04:53involved,

01:04:54Mrs Ryder.

01:04:55It would make

01:04:55things considerably

01:04:56easier all round

01:04:58if it were to be

01:04:58thought that it was

01:04:59not your long-time

01:05:01employee,

01:05:02but the materials

01:05:03he used that were

01:05:04at fault,

01:05:04wouldn't it?

01:05:05Are you suggesting

01:05:06that I am deliberately

01:05:07trying to give

01:05:08King Kong Muscle

01:05:08a bad name

01:05:09in order to avoid

01:05:10responsibility?

01:05:11I did not say that.

01:05:12It may interest you

01:05:12to know that my firm

01:05:14is already involved

01:05:15in certain civil actions

01:05:16over this tragic business.

01:05:18Our conduct there

01:05:19will show plainly enough

01:05:20just what our attitude

01:05:21is.

01:05:24Now, incidentally,

01:05:25on January the 10th,

01:05:26when you had your

01:05:27little talk with Carney,

01:05:28did you notice

01:05:29that he'd been drinking?

01:05:30What?

01:05:31Was it obvious to you

01:05:32on that day

01:05:33that your sight agent

01:05:35wasn't entirely sober?

01:05:37He wasn't drunk,

01:05:38if that's what you mean.

01:05:40His wife had just left him.

01:05:41He was in a bad state

01:05:42of mind.

01:05:43There were all sorts

01:05:44of emotional pressures

01:05:45on him.

01:05:46He was upset.

01:05:47And busily installing

01:05:49a crucial main support

01:05:51column in a new building

01:05:53the while.

01:05:53I see.

01:05:54Thank you, Mrs. Ryder.

01:05:55He was all right.

01:05:57You have no reason

01:05:57to infer that he wasn't

01:05:59or to suggest

01:05:59that I was at fault either.

01:06:01I examined his reports,

01:06:03timesheets and so on.

01:06:04Everything was in order

01:06:05being done perfectly.

01:06:06Yes, but did you examine

01:06:07the actual construction

01:06:08work itself, Mrs. Ryder?

01:06:10Joe Carney was always

01:06:11completely reliable.

01:06:12I never had any reason

01:06:14to doubt his work.

01:06:15until you dismissed him,

01:06:17of course.

01:06:17Thank you, Mrs. Ryder.

01:06:19No further questions,

01:06:20Mrs. Ryder.

01:06:21Then you may leave the box.

01:06:23Thank you, Mrs. Ryder.

01:06:26Mr. O'Connor?

01:06:27That completes the case

01:06:28for the defence, my lord.

01:06:32Very well then, Mr. Lloyd.

01:06:36Members of the jury.

01:06:39Members of the jury.

01:06:40In this case,

01:06:41there are three possible verdicts.

01:06:44Not guilty,

01:06:45guilty of murder

01:06:46or guilty of manslaughter.

01:06:49Now, first,

01:06:51if you are not satisfied

01:06:52that the accused

01:06:53caused the collapse

01:06:54of that building,

01:06:56then, of course,

01:06:57your verdict will be one

01:06:58of not guilty.

01:07:00Second,

01:07:01if you are satisfied

01:07:02that the accused

01:07:03caused the collapse

01:07:04of the building

01:07:05and that he foresaw

01:07:07foresaw that some person

01:07:09or persons

01:07:10might suffer death

01:07:11or grievous bodily harm

01:07:13as a result of his actions,

01:07:16then your verdict

01:07:17will be one

01:07:18of guilty of murder.

01:07:20Third,

01:07:21if you are satisfied

01:07:23that the accused

01:07:24caused the collapse

01:07:25of this building,

01:07:26but through carelessness

01:07:27or, that is to say,

01:07:29gross neglect,

01:07:30then your verdict

01:07:31would be one

01:07:32of manslaughter,

01:07:33for killing

01:07:34by gross negligence

01:07:36is manslaughter.

01:07:39Now, members of the jury,

01:07:40you've heard

01:07:41all the evidence

01:07:41and it will be

01:07:43for you to decide.

01:07:45You must not

01:07:46let yourselves

01:07:47be swayed

01:07:48by the matter

01:07:49of Mr Carney's opinions.

01:07:52Consider only

01:07:52whether they were

01:07:53sufficiently intense

01:07:55as to influence

01:07:56his actions.

01:07:57Now, let me remind you

01:08:00once again,

01:08:00members of the jury,

01:08:01that it is

01:08:02for the prosecution

01:08:03to prove its case

01:08:04beyond reasonable doubt.

01:08:08Now, would you please retire

01:08:10to consider your verdict?

01:08:12All stand.

01:08:22Members of the jury,

01:08:23will your foreman

01:08:24please stand?

01:08:25Just answer this question,

01:08:27yes or no.

01:08:28Have you reached

01:08:28verdicts upon which

01:08:29you are all agreed?

01:08:30Yes.

01:08:32On the first count

01:08:33of murder,

01:08:34do you find the accused

01:08:35guilty or not guilty?

01:08:36Not guilty.

01:08:38On the second count

01:08:39of manslaughter,

01:08:41do you find the accused

01:08:42guilty or not guilty?

01:08:44Guilty.

01:08:45Is that the verdict

01:08:45of you all?

01:08:46Yes.

01:08:48Joseph Carney,

01:08:49you have been found

01:08:50guilty on the charge

01:08:51of manslaughter.

01:08:53As construction site agent,

01:08:56you held a position

01:08:56of high public responsibility

01:08:58and your betrayal

01:08:59of this responsibility

01:09:01by an act

01:09:02of gross neglect

01:09:03must attract

01:09:04a sentence

01:09:04of commensurate severity.

01:09:07Accordingly,

01:09:07I sentence you

01:09:08to four years

01:09:09imprisonment.

01:09:11Take him down.

01:09:13It only remains

01:09:14for me,

01:09:15members of the jury,

01:09:16to thank you

01:09:16for paying such

01:09:17close attention

01:09:18to these proceedings

01:09:19and to release you.

01:09:35Next week,

01:09:36you can join another jury

01:09:37in assessing the facts

01:09:38when our cameras return

01:09:39to watch a leading case

01:09:40in the Crown Court.

01:09:41宮森

01:09:43白鶏

01:09:47河

01:09:48有

01:09:53我

01:09:54有

01:09:55有

01:10:03有

01:10:04有

01:10:06有

01:10:07有

Crown Court - South Tower (1974)

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