Crown Court - Wise Child (1973) - video Dailymotion

Jezza

Crown Court: the gripping courtroom drama from the 1970s and 1980s.  Not all uploads are visible from the UK: either use a VPN or go to @ jezthorpe on my Daily Motion channel. 🙂👍 A construction company building a suspension bridge is being sued for compensation by the wife of a workman who has been badly injured in a fall from the bridge. Some Doctor Who alumni here: Richard Leech, who plays the defendant, was in The Sunmakers; Windsor Davies was in Evil of the Daleks and would go on to find fame in It Ain't Half Hot Mum; Tony Selby would appear as Sabalom Glitz in the Trial of a Timelord and Dragonfire.

Transcript

00:00:00A massive coronary last year robbed British industry of one of its most colourful figures,

00:00:18Sir Tom Crittenden. Knighted in 1966 for his services to industry, Sir Tom laid the foundations

00:00:24of his fortune mining for copper in the Belgian Congo. His will left half his assets to his

00:00:30wife, Lady Dorothy, the other half to be divided equally between his children, Bernard and Kate.

00:00:37But in the December following his death, a young man turned up in London, also claiming

00:00:42to be Sir Tom's son by an early marriage in Africa. Today, however, in Fulchester Crown Court,

00:00:48that same young man, Raoul Lapointe, stands accused of obtaining money by deception.

00:00:54Miss Helen Tate, prosecuting, is attempting to show that he is an imposter, who set out

00:00:59to derive financial benefit by representing himself as Sir Tom's son.

00:01:24You are Wilfred Bowers, senior partner in the firm Bowers-Hartley & Bowers Solicitors, and you live at Overton House

00:01:29in Fulchester. Yes.

00:01:31Were you connected with the late Sir Tom Crittenden, Mr Bowers?

00:01:34I was.

00:01:35For over twenty years, my firm had the privilege of acting as family solicitors to Sir Tom.

00:01:40And do you still maintain connections with the Crittenden family?

00:01:43I do. After Sir Tom's death, Lady Dorothy asked me to represent her interests.

00:01:48From time to time, Mr Bernard is good enough to approach me for advice, too. And I'm also

00:01:54an executive of Sir Tom's estate.

00:01:56Mr Bowers, have you ever met the accused in this case, Raoul Lapointe?

00:02:00I have. Oh, yes, indeed. On the 10th of December last, that would be about a month after Sir Tom's death,

00:02:08I received a letter from Mr Lapointe saying that he had just arrived in London from Kinshasa

00:02:13and had something of the greatest urgency to discuss with me. He said it concerned Sir Tom Crittenden

00:02:19and the matter of his will.

00:02:21Kinshasa being the Congolese town formerly known as, um, Leopoldville before independence?

00:02:26That's right. Mr Bowers, before we go any further, I wonder if you could tell me the

00:02:30value of Sir Tom Crittenden's estate. I have a feeling it would be of great help to us.

00:02:35Why, we're still trying to clear things up, my lord. Even so long after the event, Sir

00:02:40Tom's interests were greatly diversified, you understand?

00:02:43An approximation would do, Mr Bowers.

00:02:46Then in round figures, I should say Sir Tom was worth twelve million pounds when he died,

00:02:51before duty, that's to say.

00:02:52And how did the will dispose of these assets?

00:02:55Oh, in the simplest manner, there were certain bequests, then half to Lady Dorothy outright,

00:03:01the other half to be divided equally between his living legitimate offspring.

00:03:05His living legitimate offspring. Those were the terms of the will.

00:03:10Yes.

00:03:11I see. So it means, in fact, that with duty paid, the living legitimate offspring, whoever

00:03:16they might be, could look forward to something like five million pounds to be shared among them.

00:03:23Yes.

00:03:24That is a considerable sum of money, Mr Bowers.

00:03:26Quite, my lord.

00:03:27Hmm. Very well.

00:03:29Mr Bowers, did Raoul Le Point come to see you in your chambers after his initial approach to you by letter?

00:03:34Yes. Yes, he did. Exactly a week later, it was, on December the 17th.

00:03:40What did he tell you on that occasion?

00:03:42Well, he said, he said that he was the son of an early marriage between Sir Tom Crittenden and an African woman in the Katanga district of the Congo.

00:03:53He said the marriage had ended in divorce and that his mother was now dead, but that he was the legitimate son of his father, and therefore, under the terms of the will, entitled to a share of the estate.

00:04:02And what was your response to that, Mr Bowers?

00:04:05Well, in the first place, I was simply astounded. I wondered if I might not be in the presence of a dangerous lunatic. Sir Tom had never on any occasion said anything to me about a youthful marriage, let alone a child of it.

00:04:17Never on any occasion?

00:04:18No.

00:04:19No.

00:04:20Had Mr Le Point anything to support his claim at that time?

00:04:24In a sense. He had a couple of documents. The first was a marriage certificate naming the parties as one Mary Caballo of St. Puey Katanga and Thomas Alfred Crittenden of Birmingham, England.

00:04:39The officiating minister and acting registrar had subscribed to himself the Reverend Auguste Van Helm, Baptist Mission St. Puey.

00:04:48The date on this certificate was March 21st, 1946.

00:04:52And the other document?

00:04:53That was a birth certificate, dated May 2nd, 1947.

00:04:58It recorded the birth of a male child, Raoul Edward, and gave the names of the mother and father, just as on the marriage certificate.

00:05:07Again, the acting registrar was Auguste Van Helm.

00:05:11After the names Raoul Edward on the certificate, however, the surname La Pointe had been entered in brackets in what seemed to me to be a different hand.

00:05:21Mr Bowers, will you look at these documents, please?

00:05:27Are these the documents shown to you by La Pointe?

00:05:32Yes.

00:05:33My Lord, may these documents be entered as exhibits.

00:05:36The marriage certificate as exhibit one, and the birth certificate as exhibit two.

00:05:40Yes, indeed.

00:05:41But to one of these documents, some kind of investigative report seems to be attached.

00:05:46That is so, my Lord.

00:05:47It is an agreed document.

00:05:48I'll come to it in due course.

00:05:50I see.

00:05:51Thank you, Miss Tate.

00:05:52So, Mr Bowers, what did you do about these documents?

00:05:55I got in touch with the Attorney General's Department of the Zaire Legation in London.

00:06:00The Zaire is the modern name for the Congo.

00:06:03I asked for expert help, sent off the documents, and by the end of January, I had an official reply on my desk.

00:06:10Which stated?

00:06:11Why, that as far as the Zaire authorities could discover, both documents were completely genuine.

00:06:17As far as the Zaire authorities could discover?

00:06:20Well, things were difficult, by all accounts.

00:06:23Their country had been through several major upheavals since the date's concerned.

00:06:27And particularly in the case of Katanga, things still remained in a critical state of disorganisation.

00:06:33It was plain there had been a marriage anyway, if only because the divorce files still existed in Kinshasa.

00:06:39I was sent a photo stat of it.

00:06:42The date of the decree was January the 14th, 1947.

00:06:48What was that date again?

00:06:50January the 14th, 1947, my lord.

00:06:52But that is only ten months after the date of marriage.

00:06:55Yes, my lord.

00:06:56I see.

00:06:58Mr Bowers, were you reasonably satisfied that Raoul Le Point was what he said he was?

00:07:03A son of the late Sir Tom Crittenden by an earlier marriage in Africa?

00:07:07Oh, no. I wasn't satisfied in the least about that.

00:07:10Why not?

00:07:11Well, whatever the truth of the marriage, it was simply impossible to check anything regarding the birth of the child Raoul Edward, you see.

00:07:20The Baptist mission at St Poet had long ceased to exist, put to the torch during the tribal fighting, and all records destroyed, so far as we could discover.

00:07:29Then again, even if the statement had been true about there being a birth certificate, how on earth were we to know if the man who had turned up calling himself Raoul Le Point was actually the individual concerned?

00:07:42Did the accused attempt to explain his difference in surname, at the same time claiming to be the son of Sir Tom Crittenden?

00:07:50Yes, he said that Sir Tom had made a generous settlement on his mother at the time of the divorce, but only on condition that she agreed his child would never bear his name publicly.

00:08:01The bracketed name La Point on the birth certificate was therefore in the mother's hand, evidence of her compliance with this demand.

00:08:08I see. And what was the next development, Mr. Bowers?

00:08:13Oh, I informed Lady Dorothy of Mr. La Point's advent.

00:08:17In mid-January, I invited her to my office to meet even quite informally, and she brought her children Bernard and Kate.

00:08:24What was discussed at this meeting?

00:08:26Oh, very little. I told La Point that I was still waiting to hear from the Zaia authorities.

00:08:32Lady Dorothy requested simply that there should be no publicity until matters was settled one way or the other, when she might choose to make an announcement herself.

00:08:41Did you see La Point again after that?

00:08:43Yes. Mr. La Point called on me again and said he was critically short of money and could I advance him some.

00:08:50Did you do that, Mr. Bowers?

00:08:52Yes. On February the 9th, I let him have £1,000.

00:08:55And that was the end of it?

00:08:57No. Three weeks later, he called on me again. This time, he said he needed the deposit on a flat to set himself up in reasonable style pending his settlement,

00:09:06which in the absence of any unexpected opposition was still more and more secure.

00:09:12Therefore, on the 28th of February, I advanced him a further £5,000.

00:09:18Making £6,000 in all?

00:09:20£6,000 in all.

00:09:21Was this money belonging to the estate, Mr. Bowers?

00:09:24Oh, good gracious, no. No, I mentioned it to Lady Dorothy and she authorised us to make the payment on her behalf.

00:09:31Thank you, Mr. Bowers.

00:09:34Mr. Bowers, did you carry on with your enquiries after you'd advanced money to my client?

00:09:40No.

00:09:41Why not?

00:09:42Mr. Bernard asked if he might have La Point's certificates for forensic tests.

00:09:46And you let Mr. Bernard have the certificates?

00:09:48Yes.

00:09:49When was that, please?

00:09:50About February the 3rd.

00:09:53And he kept them until when?

00:09:55Early March.

00:09:56When everything changed again.

00:09:58Quite.

00:10:00You didn't think of carrying on with your enquiries without the certificates. Why not?

00:10:04Well, Lady Dorothy suggested that Mr. Bernard's enquiries might render further work unnecessary.

00:10:09And I thought she was obviously right.

00:10:11I see.

00:10:12Mr. Bowers, if you had pursued your enquiries into Raoul La Point, by sending representatives to West Africa, what form would these enquiries have taken, precisely?

00:10:23Well, I thought it might be of advantage to establish the fate of the Baptist mission at St. Pouet, if that were possible.

00:10:30And particularly what had happened to the old missionary, old August van Helm.

00:10:37I thought if he was still alive, he might be able to help us a good deal.

00:10:40Oh, in what way?

00:10:41Well, Mr. La Point said that the mission had educated him up to the age of 16.

00:10:46After his mother, there was no one he trusted more than van Helm.

00:10:51In 1962, however, there came the Katanga riots and his mother was killed.

00:10:56European missionary foundations were especially at risk.

00:10:59Mr. La Point simply had to flee to Kinshasa.

00:11:02He never heard of St. Pouet or August van Helm again.

00:11:06Mr. Bowers, were you personally responsible for drawing up Sir Tom Crittenden's will?

00:11:12Sir Tom and I drew it up together, yes.

00:11:15Was it Sir Tom's idea, then, to describe his children merely as living legitimate offspring?

00:11:22Yes.

00:11:23Yes, as I recall, he insisted on that wording.

00:11:26Why?

00:11:27Wouldn't you say that was a strange wording?

00:11:30Seeming to imply that there might be illegitimate children, perhaps.

00:11:34Or even other legitimate children who might in due time arise and lay claim to an inheritance.

00:11:39Nonsense!

00:11:40Sir Tom wasn't a devious man

00:11:42in referring to his children as living legitimate offspring.

00:11:46He was no doubt simply indulging his well-known passion for clarity and accuracy.

00:11:51Long years in the business world had taught him the importance of clear definition.

00:11:55You're convinced, then, that if Sir Tom had fathered a son by an early marriage in Africa,

00:12:00he would have acknowledged the fact cheerfully

00:12:03and even made open provision in his will for the boy?

00:12:06Of course. Why not?

00:12:08He would have had nothing to be ashamed of.

00:12:10Sir Tom was an honorable man.

00:12:12I see, Mr. Bowers. Thank you.

00:12:14Thank you, Mr. Bowers.

00:12:16You may leave the box, Mr. Bowers.

00:12:19I call Lady Dorothy Crittenden, my lord.

00:12:22Lady Dorothy Crittenden, please.

00:12:25Lady Dorothy Crittenden, of 84 Court Street, Fulchester.

00:12:27And also of the Penningtons, Burton Cross, Somerset.

00:12:31What is your religion?

00:12:38Church of England.

00:12:39Take the book in your right hand and read aloud the words on the card.

00:12:42I swear by almighty God that the evidence I shall give

00:12:45shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

00:12:49Your Lady Dorothy Crittenden of 84 Court Street, Fulchester

00:12:52and also of the Penningtons, Burton Cross, Somerset.

00:12:55That's correct.

00:12:56Lady Dorothy, in December of last year

00:13:00you were approached by your solicitor, Wilfred Bowers

00:13:02with information which might be described as a novel character.

00:13:07I was.

00:13:07Mr. Bowers called on me to say he'd been contacted

00:13:10by a young man called Raoul Lapuante

00:13:12who claimed to be the son of my late husband, Sir Tom Crittenden

00:13:16by an earlier marriage to an African woman in the Congo.

00:13:20And did you subsequently meet Raoul Lapuante, the accused

00:13:23and in his presence did you give Mr. Bowers certain instructions?

00:13:27I did.

00:13:27I told him he was to investigate the young man's claim

00:13:30fully and fairly without prejudice.

00:13:33That's how much of a fool I was.

00:13:36That young man is an imposter and a fraud.

00:13:39He deserves no consideration from decent people or from this court.

00:13:43Raoul Lapuante is a liar and a thief.

00:13:45Lady Dorothy, you did not believe Lapuante's story, then?

00:14:08No, I didn't.

00:14:10But I did know about the marriage to the Katangan woman.

00:14:12In fact, I had good reason to know all about that.

00:14:15Could you expand on that a little for us, please?

00:14:17Yes, of course.

00:14:19I'd known Tom since 1942.

00:14:23Our families were very close and, well, I suppose it was always taken for granted

00:14:27that we'd get married someday.

00:14:28But after the war, Tom felt the need to prove himself before settling down, so he was sent

00:14:36out to West Africa, where there were tremendous possibilities in the mining industry at that

00:14:41time.

00:14:43We began to hear that he was doing very well, and then phenomenally well.

00:14:47And then, in the spring of 1946, I had a strange letter.

00:14:53A letter, Lady Dorothy?

00:14:55Yes, it really was very strange.

00:14:57It was disjointed, incoherent, most unlike Tom.

00:15:02In it, he said he hoped I'd understand what he had to tell me, because it was very difficult

00:15:07to write.

00:15:07He'd now decided that his future lay in the Congo with the Katangan people, whom he'd come

00:15:14to admire wholeheartedly.

00:15:16And in order to demonstrate his closeness to them, he'd taken a wife from among his

00:15:22new friends.

00:15:24A tribal woman.

00:15:25This letter presumably caused you great distress, Lady Dorothy.

00:15:30Well, I tried not to think of myself.

00:15:33There were other, greater considerations.

00:15:36But I felt there was something very wrong, that Tom needed help.

00:15:39My father agreed with me, and he and Tom's father flew out to the Congo to see what was

00:15:43going on.

00:15:45Then, the truth came out, and I saw how right I'd been to worry.

00:15:51The truth?

00:15:52And what was that, Lady Dorothy?

00:15:53Why, that Tom was desperately ill.

00:15:58And the Katangan woman had, well, I suppose seduced is too strong a word, but, well, had

00:16:05seen an excellent opportunity for herself and grasped it without hesitation.

00:16:11Tom had gone up to a remote area called Saint-Pouet.

00:16:15He'd been taken ill with fever.

00:16:18It was a dreadful bout, apparently.

00:16:19And he was looked after by an old Belgian missionary from the Saint-Pouet hospital, assisted by the

00:16:27Katangan woman, who was something of a nurse.

00:16:31Now, to be fair, I don't think she was a particularly grasping sort of woman.

00:16:35It was just that, well, Tom imagined he was in love with her, and she encouraged that.

00:16:41Even to consenting when, in a fit of near delirium, as we found out later, he proposed marriage

00:16:49to her.

00:16:51Of course, the attitude of the old missionary remains odd.

00:16:55Well, I mean, he married them.

00:16:57Well, one would think that any European, however long he'd been in the wilds, would think...

00:17:01Is your client not well, Mr. Harvestier?

00:17:08If he might be, give me some water, my lord.

00:17:10Oh, by all means.

00:17:11Thank you, my lord.

00:17:17Mr. Lapointe apologizes for the interruption, my lord.

00:17:19He was just momentarily overcome.

00:17:21Very well.

00:17:22Continue, please, Miss Dade.

00:17:24My lord.

00:17:24So, Lady Dorothy, it was discovered that the young Tom Crittenden had contracted a marriage

00:17:30with a Katangan woman, while suffering the effects of fever.

00:17:33Yes.

00:17:35Tom was brought back to civilization.

00:17:37Leopoldville, that is.

00:17:39And I went out to meet him.

00:17:41The arrangements for the divorce were put in train immediately, and, well, Tom seemed pitifully

00:17:46grateful.

00:17:48He quite realized that he'd been in an unreal state of mind.

00:17:54A remarkably generous settlement was arranged for the Katangan woman.

00:17:58Ten thousand pounds, I think.

00:17:59A fortune for her.

00:18:00You were concerned in the divorce arrangements, were you, Lady Dorothy?

00:18:04Well, I was there at the time.

00:18:06I looked after Tom in an hotel, while our father saw to the legal details.

00:18:11Now, was there, at this time, the mention of a child of the marriage that Tom had contracted?

00:18:15No.

00:18:16Never.

00:18:17Or the likelihood of a pregnancy on the part of Marie Caballo?

00:18:20No.

00:18:21At any time during your subsequent marriage to Sir Tom Crittenden, did he ever say that

00:18:26there had been offspring, or the possibility of offspring, of this earlier union?

00:18:31No.

00:18:32He never even referred to the marriage again.

00:18:34It was buried deep in a forgotten past.

00:18:38Now, Lady Dorothy, you gave instructions for money to be advanced to Mr. LaPointe.

00:18:42Why did you do that?

00:18:43Did you believe that he might well be your late husband's son?

00:18:46Well, I never believed it.

00:18:49It began to bother me, and I couldn't sleep at night.

00:18:51So I sent for Raoul LaPointe, and I said that as there were areas of doubt, he should have

00:18:55some money for the time being.

00:18:56And what was LaPointe's response to that, Lady Dorothy?

00:18:59Very favorable.

00:19:01He even thanked me for my understanding.

00:19:04It was only later, as he was leaving the house, that I...

00:19:07Yes?

00:19:08Well, I overheard him talking to my daughter, Kate, and this surprised me, because I wasn't

00:19:13aware that they were familiar.

00:19:15He was saying,

00:19:17That was easy.

00:19:19That was just too easy.

00:19:22If the rest is half as easy, I shall make out I'm twins.

00:19:26Whoever put it around that honesty was the best policy.

00:19:30And they laughed.

00:19:32He said all this to your daughter, Kate?

00:19:35Yes.

00:19:36I see.

00:19:37Thank you, Lady Dorothy.

00:19:41Lady Dorothy, wasn't the real reason that you advanced money to my client that you hoped

00:19:45he would drop his guard and give you room to manoeuvre?

00:19:50A young man, I don't know what you're talking about.

00:19:53Very well, Lady Dorothy.

00:19:54Let me ask you something which I trust you will understand.

00:19:57Mr. Bowers was anxious to find out if the old missionary, Mr. Van Helm, was still alive.

00:20:02Shouldn't he have been encouraged in that enterprise?

00:20:04Why?

00:20:05It seemed to be most unlikely that the old man could still be alive.

00:20:07Apparently, he was advanced in years when he married them.

00:20:11Lady Dorothy, would you really have wanted his testimony in the matter if, in fact, the old man was still alive?

00:20:17My lord, must I be subjected to such pointless and offensive questions?

00:20:21You are perhaps being somewhat aggressive, Mr. Harvesty.

00:20:25But, Lady Dorothy, the motivation of witnesses, including your own, are of vital importance to us here, and I think you should make every effort to answer the question.

00:20:34Very well.

00:20:37Naturally, I had no reason for not wanting Van Helm to be found, if he was still alive.

00:20:42A moment, Mr. Harvesty.

00:20:43Have we any way, in fact, of finding out if Mr. August Van Helm is alive or dead?

00:20:48My lord, the defence has tried very hard to find him, but unfortunately without success.

00:20:53I see. Thank you.

00:20:54Lady Dorothy, tell me, what was the reaction of your children to the news that a young African was claiming to be their half-brother?

00:21:03Well, my son Bernard was shocked and alarmed.

00:21:06He'd always loved and respected his father, and this tale of some former marriage of a child, well, he found it quite incredible.

00:21:15My daughter, on the other hand, Kate, chose to be amused.

00:21:22I see. Did that cause division in the family?

00:21:25You could put it like that.

00:21:28Now, you've told us that you overheard a conversation between your daughter and Mr. Lapointe, which you thought was both sinister and significant.

00:21:38Did you later on discuss that conversation with your daughter?

00:21:41I tried to, but Kate refused to speak to me.

00:21:47I don't understand, Kate, in this matter.

00:21:49From the beginning, she seemed to think it was some sort of an achievement to have a ble...

00:21:53African half-brother.

00:21:56Lady Dorothy, does the name Lapointe have some special significance for you?

00:22:02I don't understand.

00:22:04Oh, I think you do, Lady Dorothy.

00:22:06Haven't you heard the name Lapointe a little closer to home, shall we say?

00:22:12Oh, very well.

00:22:15As it happens, Lapointe was the maiden name of my late husband's mother.

00:22:22They were a Jersey family.

00:22:24But this doesn't prove anything.

00:22:25Merely that Mr. Lapointe organised his defences very carefully before visiting this disgusting hoax on me and my family.

00:22:32Lady Dorothy, that is not an acceptable observation at this point.

00:22:36Please, my lord, can't we have the truth at last?

00:22:38I have nothing more to tell this court.

00:22:40Of course, Lapointe is a liar, only after money.

00:22:44He isn't even remotely what he pretends to be.

00:22:47Even that birth certificate he presented to Mr. Bowers is a fraud.

00:22:50A blatant forgery.

00:22:51It's been proved.

00:22:55The case of the Queen against Lapointe will be resumed tomorrow in the Crown Court.

00:23:25The death of Sir Tom Crittenden, millionaire and leading industrialist,

00:23:41has given rise to a strange and contradictory case in Fulchester Crown Court.

00:23:46Sir Tom's will left half his assets to his wife, Lady Dorothy,

00:23:49and half to be divided equally between his living legitimate offspring.

00:23:52It was thought that the beneficiaries here could be only Sir Tom's son Bernard and his daughter Kate.

00:23:59But two months after Sir Tom's death, a young man turned up in London,

00:24:03claiming to be the industrialist's son by an early marriage to one Mari Kabalo

00:24:08in the Katanga district of the Congo,

00:24:10where Sir Tom had spent a period of his early life and laid the foundations of his fortune.

00:24:14Raoul Lapointe, who pressed his claim with the Crittenden family solicitor, Wilfred Bowers,

00:24:20and received £6,000 pending settlement, is now charged with obtaining money by deception.

00:24:27Giving evidence, Lady Dorothy Crittenden has admitted that the name Lapointe,

00:24:31which appears in brackets on a birth certificate the accused has presented as part proof of identity,

00:24:36is in fact the maiden name of Sir Tom's mother.

00:24:39Lady Dorothy further accused Lapointe of being a liar,

00:24:43and claims his birth certificate to be a blatant forgery.

00:24:46I have only one or two more questions, Lady Dorothy.

00:25:09In 1946, when Sir Tom Crittenden wished to be free of his marriage to Mari Kabalo,

00:25:15did he ever say why he didn't seek an annulment rather than a divorce?

00:25:19Can you tell us?

00:25:20I beg your pardon?

00:25:22You were there with him in Leopoldville when the arrangements were made, you told us.

00:25:26You've also told us that he was desperately ill when he contracted the marriage.

00:25:31That would seem to suggest that he wasn't in possession of his faculties.

00:25:36Wouldn't it have been simpler for him to seek an annulment?

00:25:39A simple declaration that a true marriage had never taken place.

00:25:42Well, yes.

00:25:45That was the course that my father suggested, but Tom refused.

00:25:50Why, Lady Dorothy?

00:25:51I've no idea.

00:25:53Your father's dead now, isn't he?

00:25:55Yes.

00:25:56And Sir Tom's father?

00:25:57Yes.

00:25:58Then we've only got you to ask about it, haven't we?

00:26:01Didn't Sir Tom give you a single reason for seeking a divorce rather than an annulment?

00:26:07Very well.

00:26:09Tom insisted on a divorce.

00:26:11He said it would be more honourable.

00:26:13More honourable?

00:26:14Yes.

00:26:15He said he had to think of the Katangan woman.

00:26:18If he sought an annulment and succeeded, she, being a simple soul, would feel she'd never been really married to him.

00:26:24And he was most anxious that she should feel she'd been married to him, wasn't he?

00:26:28Well, that was just how he felt at the time.

00:26:30He was still sick, you know.

00:26:31We had to humour him.

00:26:32He just wanted the Katangan woman to know that however brief their liaison, it had been lawful and meaningful in his eyes.

00:26:39So that as a consequence, any possible offspring of the marriage might be considered legitimate.

00:26:44I object, my lord.

00:26:45Yes, Mr Harvesty, there doesn't seem to me at all a proper question to put to the witness.

00:26:50I apologise, my lord.

00:26:53Lady Dorothy, were you acquainted with the terms of your husband's will before he died?

00:26:57Oh yes, sir.

00:26:58Tom always liked me to know about those things.

00:27:00We discussed it just before he settled the final form.

00:27:04You knew then that your children had been described in it as living legitimate offspring, did you?

00:27:09Yes.

00:27:10Didn't that strike you as strange wording?

00:27:13Formal to the point of absurdity.

00:27:15No.

00:27:16It was just Tom's way.

00:27:18He loved the precise phrase.

00:27:21It was only with the greatest difficulty I could persuade him not to refer to me throughout the document as his relict.

00:27:28Now you've testified, Lady Dorothy, that shortly after you'd advanced money to my client, you heard him say something sinister.

00:27:40Do you say that it was then that you became opposed actively towards him?

00:27:44Yes, that's right.

00:27:45And you'd really have us believe that before that you were approaching him with an open mind?

00:27:51Yes, I was.

00:27:51I suggest you never had an open mind at all, did you?

00:27:54You had deep reasons for not having an open mind.

00:27:57You do say the most offensive things, young lady.

00:27:59Lady Dorothy, wasn't there one reason above all others that was calculated to make you permanently hostile to Raoul Lapuant?

00:28:06A reason that nobody has dared to breathe so far in this court?

00:28:09This is ridiculous.

00:28:10And didn't that reason ensure that even through your period of supposed tolerance towards this intruder,

00:28:17you would continue to work against him powerfully and deviously?

00:28:20Mr. Harvey, Harvesty, excuse me.

00:28:24You seem to have lost me completely.

00:28:27I wonder what reason it is that you're referring to.

00:28:32No further questions.

00:28:35Thank you, Lady Dorothy.

00:28:37You may stand down, Lady Dorothy.

00:28:41I call Mr. Bernard Crittenden, my lord.

00:28:45Bernard Crittenden, please.

00:28:50You're Bernard Crittenden, son of the late Sir Tom?

00:29:06I am.

00:29:07What is your address?

00:29:0884 Court Street, Fulchester.

00:29:10And your occupation?

00:29:11I'm in journalism on the staff of the Daily Clarion,

00:29:14training for an editorial position.

00:29:15I see.

00:29:16Mr. Crittenden, have you ever met the accused in this case, Raoul Lapuant?

00:29:20Yes.

00:29:21Mr. Lapuant claims to be the son of my late father

00:29:23by an early marriage he made in the Belgian Congo.

00:29:27His claim was conveyed to me and my family by our solicitor, Mr. Wilfred Bowers.

00:29:31I have certain proof to put before the court.

00:29:33I shall demonstrate that the birth certificate is a forged document.

00:29:36I now refer your lordship to Exhibit 2,

00:29:39the birth certificate and the attached report.

00:29:42The report proceeds from the firm Weatherby and Clark,

00:29:44private investigators and experts in the field of counterfeit and forgery.

00:29:47Yes, Miss Tate, yes.

00:29:49I see.

00:29:51May I ask you, Miss Tate, why you are not calling expert testimony?

00:29:55This report, in fact, merely confirms discoveries made about the document

00:29:59by Mr. Crittenden himself, my lord.

00:30:01And it is an agreed document.

00:30:03This witness initially made the discoveries?

00:30:06Yes, my lord.

00:30:07He has a certain skill in these matters?

00:30:09Your lordship McEatta thinks so.

00:30:11I ask you to remember that throughout his investigation,

00:30:14Mr. Crittenden had at his disposal

00:30:15the facilities of a great newspaper.

00:30:18In particular, the photo analysis section.

00:30:22With the court's permission,

00:30:23we shall require some particular photographic blow-ups

00:30:25which have been prepared.

00:30:27Very well, Miss Tate.

00:30:29You may leave the box, Mr. Crittenden,

00:30:32if it will make it easier for you.

00:30:33Thank you, my lord.

00:30:36Now, this is the birth certificate

00:30:50as Raoul LaPunt presented it to Mr. Bowers.

00:30:54You will observe the date,

00:30:55May 2nd, 1947.

00:30:58Here are the names of the child, Raoul Edouard.

00:31:00Here are the names of the parents.

00:31:02Also, the signature of the acting registrar,

00:31:03Auguste Van Helm, some permission.

00:31:06The name LaPunt has been added after the child's names.

00:31:09I don't think there can be any doubt

00:31:10that this is in a different hand,

00:31:12not that of the Reverend Van Helm, in other words.

00:31:15The folds and creases of the document,

00:31:18as also the character of the paper itself,

00:31:20would seem to indicate that it is old,

00:31:22of original issue, in fact.

00:31:23But I invite you to look a little more closely

00:31:25at one of these folds.

00:31:27There's a strange effect of splitting

00:31:29or expansion of the surface.

00:31:31This, as the report from Weatherby and Clark entirely agrees,

00:31:33is significant with the paper

00:31:35having been gently heated at some stage

00:31:37to produce discoloration and consequent effect of age.

00:31:40Of course, that doesn't indicate a great deal in itself.

00:31:43Such effects could conceivably be caused by an accident.

00:31:46But a still closer look

00:31:47at the top right-hand corner of the document, however,

00:31:50gives us this.

00:31:51The watermark.

00:31:53Now, this is something of a curiosity.

00:31:55It is, in fact, the registered mark

00:31:56of the Rawlinson paper mills,

00:31:58Swyford, Lancashire.

00:31:59Now, you'll say there's nothing strange

00:32:00about a British May paper

00:32:02turning up in the depths of the Belgian Congo.

00:32:04Well, no, there isn't.

00:32:05But in point of fact,

00:32:06as I can demonstrate to the court if required,

00:32:08the other certificate,

00:32:09the marriage document,

00:32:10was printed on Belgian paper.

00:32:12And Rawlinson's claim

00:32:13never to have done any trade

00:32:14with that part of Africa.

00:32:16They couldn't possibly have supplied the paper

00:32:17for the certificate dated 1947 anyway.

00:32:20The simple fact is,

00:32:21they didn't start up in business until 1955.

00:32:25In support of that last statement, my lord,

00:32:27I need only refer you to the investigatory report.

00:32:29I see. Thank you, Miss Date.

00:32:31Mr. Quittenden,

00:32:33when you discovered

00:32:33that the birth certificate was a forgery,

00:32:35what did you do exactly?

00:32:37I arranged for Weatherby and Clark

00:32:38to make a similar examination,

00:32:40and when I found their conclusions were the same,

00:32:41I went straight to the police.

00:32:43I see. Thank you.

00:32:44You may return to the witness box.

00:32:51Mr. Quittenden,

00:32:55when exactly did you carry out

00:32:57your investigations into the certificates,

00:33:00which led to this dramatic discovery?

00:33:03At about the beginning of February last.

00:33:05I had the documents a month

00:33:06before I was satisfied

00:33:07that the birth certificate was a forgery.

00:33:09I see.

00:33:11But Mr. La Pointe had come to England

00:33:13and begun to press his claim

00:33:15in the previous December, hadn't he?

00:33:17Yes.

00:33:18It was quite a time, Mr. Quittenden,

00:33:19before it crossed your mind

00:33:20that the documents might be forged.

00:33:23We were concerned

00:33:23with other lines of investigation at first.

00:33:26The judgment of the Zaire Legation Authority,

00:33:28that took a little time to get.

00:33:29And in the event,

00:33:30proved entirely positive?

00:33:31Oh, yes.

00:33:32That's a bit odd, too, isn't it, Mr. Quittenden?

00:33:33No, not really.

00:33:35I've no doubt it's a very good forgery.

00:33:37I don't take La Pointe for a fool.

00:33:39Coming from where he does,

00:33:40with intimate knowledge of the requirements,

00:33:42well, he'd obviously see to it

00:33:43that the thing looked right, wouldn't he?

00:33:44Then you don't doubt

00:33:45that my client actually comes

00:33:47from where he says he does

00:33:48and knows some way and so on?

00:33:50No.

00:33:51My guess is he's a lad from the mission, all right.

00:33:53Just as he says.

00:33:54And grew up on this extraordinary story

00:33:56about a nurse,

00:33:57Marie Caballo,

00:33:57who once married an Englishman

00:33:58and then one day saw a way

00:34:00in which he could turn it into profit for himself.

00:34:03As you say,

00:34:04your guess,

00:34:05quite.

00:34:07Anyway,

00:34:07you let some weeks roll by

00:34:09before you wondered

00:34:10if the documents might be forgeries.

00:34:12Not let some weeks roll by.

00:34:14That sounds dilatory.

00:34:15Merely marked time.

00:34:17We had to proceed with great care after all.

00:34:20My mother's panic fear,

00:34:21lest it should have...

00:34:22I'm sorry, Mr Crittenden,

00:34:24what was that?

00:34:26Panic fear?

00:34:28I'm...

00:34:28I'm simply saying that

00:34:30my mother could never really believe

00:34:32La Pumpe was actually my father's child.

00:34:34Never at any time.

00:34:35So naturally she was afraid.

00:34:37We had to explore one avenue at a time,

00:34:40meticulously,

00:34:40if we were ever going to disprove

00:34:42this absurd contention.

00:34:44Yet why was it such an absurd contention?

00:34:47Why shouldn't Raoul La Pointe

00:34:49have been your father's son?

00:34:51Because my father wasn't such an ass.

00:34:53I beg your pardon?

00:34:55Alone,

00:34:56cut off from civilization,

00:34:58far from well,

00:34:59he took an African wife.

00:35:01That sort of thing's happened before, you know.

00:35:03But no matter what condition he was in,

00:35:05he certainly would have seemed to it

00:35:06there wasn't...

00:35:07Yes, Mr Crittenden,

00:35:09that there wasn't what?

00:35:11It's of no importance.

00:35:13You were going to say a child,

00:35:15weren't you?

00:35:16A coloured child.

00:35:18And that was your worry,

00:35:20and the reason for your mother's panic fear,

00:35:23the idea of having a black in the family.

00:35:27I've no further questions.

00:35:29I've no further questions.

00:35:37Mr La Pointe,

00:35:49I should like you to summarize

00:35:50your background for us, please,

00:35:52just in your own words.

00:35:53Yes, sir, I hope I can.

00:35:55I was born in that year,

00:35:56in Katanga,

00:35:57in 1947.

00:35:59I was born in the Mission,

00:36:01in a little village called St Poet.

00:36:03My mother was a nurse at that place.

00:36:05Yes, your mother.

00:36:05Now, what was her name?

00:36:07Marie Caballo.

00:36:08Your father?

00:36:10I never knew my father, sir.

00:36:11He was divorced with my mother

00:36:13before I was born.

00:36:14But he was a white man,

00:36:15and not of my mother's race.

00:36:17What languages did you speak as a child?

00:36:20I spoke the dialect of my mother's tribe,

00:36:22and also French.

00:36:24Would you feel happier

00:36:25giving your evidence in French now,

00:36:27Mr La Pointe?

00:36:28No, no, no.

00:36:29It is all right.

00:36:30I speak English pretty good.

00:36:31My mother was anxious for me to speak English,

00:36:34so she got the missionary at St Poet,

00:36:36Mr Van Elm,

00:36:37to teach me.

00:36:38Why was she so anxious for you to speak English?

00:36:41Because she told me my father was an English man,

00:36:44and that one day I would have the chance to meet him.

00:36:47Did she ever tell you his name?

00:36:49Oh, yes.

00:36:50From when I was a little boy,

00:36:52she told me his name was Tom Cuitenden.

00:36:54She also gave me two certificates.

00:36:56One certificate to say

00:36:58she was married with Tom Cuitenden,

00:37:01and the other certificate to say

00:37:02I was born with him from my father.

00:37:05Are those the certificates

00:37:06which you presented to Mr Bowers, the solicitor,

00:37:09when you came to England last December?

00:37:11That's so, sir, yes.

00:37:12And are they the certificates

00:37:13which have been introduced in evidence in court today?

00:37:17No, sir.

00:37:18I'm not so sure about that.

00:37:20I beg your pardon?

00:37:22I think the marriage certificate

00:37:23I showed to Mr Bowers is the one all right,

00:37:26but the other one, no.

00:37:28Yes, well, we shall return to that in due course.

00:37:31Did your mother ever tell you

00:37:32that your father knew of your existence?

00:37:35I'm sorry, sir.

00:37:37You've explained that

00:37:39your mother and father were divorced

00:37:41before you were born,

00:37:42but did she ever say to you

00:37:44that he knew there had been a child

00:37:46of their marriage?

00:37:47Oh, yes, yes, yes.

00:37:48She told me he had given her money

00:37:50so that I could be brought up right.

00:37:52It was most particular

00:37:53that I should not be without anything

00:37:55I truly needed.

00:37:56Did your mother then speak of the divorce ever?

00:37:58How it happened?

00:37:59Why?

00:37:59No, not much.

00:38:01I think it was pretty sad for her.

00:38:03When I was older,

00:38:04I asked her many times

00:38:05and she told me finally

00:38:08it was because

00:38:08some people came from my father's country

00:38:11and were deeply shocked at the marriage

00:38:12and they said it had to be ended.

00:38:15But my father really didn't want it that way.

00:38:18And these people,

00:38:19they talked and talked to him

00:38:20until finally he gave in.

00:38:22He cried

00:38:23when he told my mother

00:38:24the marriage had to be ended

00:38:25and that he had to leave her.

00:38:28Yes, I see.

00:38:30Mr. Lapointe,

00:38:31how did your mother die?

00:38:33When was it?

00:38:36I was 16 at the time.

00:38:40Mr. Van Elm was still teaching me

00:38:41and then there was trouble fighting.

00:38:45The Katangan riots?

00:38:47Yes, yes.

00:38:48It was something to do with the tribes

00:38:50and a new government in Leopoldville.

00:38:52But I did not know much about this

00:38:54because I was small.

00:38:56But my mother and I

00:38:58were living in the Mission

00:39:00and for the tribes,

00:39:02this meant we were the same as Belgians.

00:39:04They came just one night.

00:39:06There was no warning.

00:39:08I was asleep on the veranda

00:39:10of my mother's hut

00:39:10and then I heard noises

00:39:13from inside,

00:39:15screaming.

00:39:16My mother was screaming

00:39:17for me to run away.

00:39:19It was terrible.

00:39:21Everything was on fire,

00:39:22the houses,

00:39:23the hospital.

00:39:23I could not find

00:39:24Mr. Van Elm or anyone.

00:39:26And then,

00:39:27they started to come for me.

00:39:29So I just had to run

00:39:31for my life into the bush.

00:39:33And I stayed there the whole night

00:39:34and the next day too

00:39:35while the killing

00:39:37and the screaming

00:39:38and the burning went on.

00:39:41And then,

00:39:42when it was quiet,

00:39:43I went back

00:39:44and my mother was dead.

00:39:47Murdered.

00:39:49It seemed like

00:39:49everyone was dead.

00:39:51There was nothing.

00:39:51Nobody.

00:39:53Only the dead.

00:39:54So what did you do?

00:39:55I did not know what to do.

00:39:58I had no family,

00:40:00no money.

00:40:01So eventually,

00:40:02I went to Leopoldville,

00:40:04Kinshasa,

00:40:05they call it now.

00:40:06And I worked there

00:40:06for seven years,

00:40:07saving my money

00:40:08and learning to speak English better

00:40:10so that one day

00:40:11I could see my father in England.

00:40:12And in the event,

00:40:13that's what you did,

00:40:14is it?

00:40:15Yes, sir.

00:40:15It took a long time.

00:40:17My wages were not so good.

00:40:19But last November,

00:40:20I had enough money

00:40:21to come to London

00:40:21and so I came.

00:40:24And then,

00:40:24when I get here,

00:40:25I find my father had died.

00:40:27There were things in the papers.

00:40:30He was an important man.

00:40:32They made him a sir.

00:40:34Knighted him, yes.

00:40:36And then I went to see the lawyers

00:40:37the papers talked about,

00:40:38Mr. Bowers,

00:40:40and I told him who I was

00:40:41and I showed him

00:40:43the certificate to prove it.

00:40:44And as we know,

00:40:46Mr. Bowers submitted

00:40:47the certificates

00:40:47to the Zaire authorities

00:40:49who pronounced them genuine.

00:40:51Yes.

00:40:51Mr. Lapuant,

00:40:53did you then ask

00:40:54Mr. Bowers for money?

00:40:56Oh, yes, I did.

00:40:57Why was that, please?

00:40:59I was the son of Sir Tom Crittenden.

00:41:00I had some right

00:41:01to some of the money.

00:41:03I was poor.

00:41:04It is difficult

00:41:05to get work in England.

00:41:06So I asked Mr. Bowers

00:41:07for some money to live on

00:41:09and then I asked him

00:41:11for some money

00:41:11to get a place to stay.

00:41:12During these various negotiations

00:41:14with Mr. Bowers,

00:41:16had you met

00:41:16with Lady Dorothy Crittenden

00:41:18and with her children,

00:41:19Bernard and Kate?

00:41:20Yes, I met them.

00:41:22I met Lady Dorothy twice.

00:41:24The first time

00:41:25was at Mr. Bowers' office

00:41:27and she came with

00:41:27her children,

00:41:28Bernard and Kate.

00:41:30I think she was shocked

00:41:31to see me.

00:41:33Shocked?

00:41:34Yes.

00:41:34She would not speak

00:41:35to me direct,

00:41:36only through Mr. Bowers.

00:41:38She would not listen.

00:41:39She only talked.

00:41:41Bernard was the same.

00:41:43Only Kate wanted to listen

00:41:44to what I had to say.

00:41:46I think she even

00:41:47liked me a little bit.

00:41:48And the second time,

00:41:49Mr. Lapuante?

00:41:50That was at Lady Dorothy's house.

00:41:53That was very strange.

00:41:54She told me

00:41:55there had been areas of doubt

00:41:57and that I was to have

00:41:58some money for the time being.

00:42:00But she still was not

00:42:01very friendly, you know.

00:42:02She would not talk to me.

00:42:03She kept looking out

00:42:04of the window, you know.

00:42:05Lady Dorothy has testified

00:42:07that on the occasion

00:42:07of that second visit,

00:42:08she overheard a conversation

00:42:10between you and her daughter

00:42:12in which you said,

00:42:16that was easy.

00:42:17That was just too easy.

00:42:19If the rest of it

00:42:20is half as easy,

00:42:22I'll make out I'm twins.

00:42:24Whoever put it around honesty

00:42:26was the best policy.

00:42:28No, I never said

00:42:29those things, sir.

00:42:30Are you quite sure

00:42:31that you didn't, Mr. Lapuante?

00:42:32Oh, I made some joke

00:42:34to Kate about

00:42:35what if I were twins, yes.

00:42:37And I also said

00:42:38talking to her mother

00:42:40had been a lot easier

00:42:40than I thought,

00:42:41but I never said

00:42:42those things about honesty

00:42:43and such the like, no.

00:42:44You're suggesting then

00:42:45that Lady Dorothy's memory

00:42:47of that conversation

00:42:47may be a little at fault?

00:42:50Well, else she's telling lies.

00:42:52Oh, come.

00:42:52That's a little bit strong,

00:42:53isn't it?

00:42:54Well, I don't know, sir.

00:42:56There are strange things

00:42:56about Lady Dorothy and Bernard.

00:42:59This birth certificate,

00:43:00my birth certificate

00:43:01is supposed to be

00:43:02that we saw a while ago,

00:43:03the blow-up.

00:43:06I say that

00:43:07that is not the certificate

00:43:08I showed to Mr. Bowers

00:43:09and had all my life.

00:43:10It isn't the certificate?

00:43:11No, sir.

00:43:12How can you be so sure of that?

00:43:14Well, after my Christian name,

00:43:16Raoul Edward,

00:43:17the name Lapuante

00:43:18was put on the certificate

00:43:19afterwards by my mother.

00:43:20Only when she was writing

00:43:22the name Lapuante,

00:43:22she made a mistake

00:43:23and she spilled

00:43:24some ink on the paper.

00:43:25So where is the sign there

00:43:26that she rubbed out the mess

00:43:28and wrote the name again?

00:43:30Even though it looks like

00:43:31my mother's handwriting,

00:43:32I know that was never

00:43:33my certificate.

00:43:34Are you saying, then,

00:43:35that this forged document

00:43:37was substituted

00:43:38for the one

00:43:38which you presented

00:43:39to Mr. Bowers?

00:43:40Yes, sir.

00:43:41The first time

00:43:42my certificate

00:43:43was investigated,

00:43:45the Zaire allegation

00:43:45found it genuine.

00:43:47I should think

00:43:47these people should know.

00:43:49The second time,

00:43:50Bernard does it

00:43:51and it comes back a fraud.

00:43:52Let me be quite clear

00:43:56about this,

00:43:57Mr. Lapuante.

00:43:57You are maintaining

00:43:58that the birth certificate

00:44:00entered in evidence here

00:44:01is not the one

00:44:03that you entrusted

00:44:04to Mr. Bowers

00:44:04and, in fact,

00:44:06that a substitution

00:44:07would seem to have been made

00:44:09while that document

00:44:10was in the possession

00:44:11of Bernard Crittenden.

00:44:12Yes, my lord,

00:44:13that is correct.

00:44:14I see.

00:44:16Thank you, Mr. Lapuante.

00:44:17I have no further questions.

00:44:18Well, really,

00:44:23Mr. Lapuante,

00:44:24one hardly knows

00:44:24where to begin with you.

00:44:26Not only in your submission

00:44:28has Lady Dorothy Crittenden

00:44:30lied under oath,

00:44:31but now you say

00:44:31that Bernard Crittenden

00:44:33is a forger

00:44:34and a trickster.

00:44:35That birth certificate

00:44:36is not the one

00:44:37I showed to Mr. Bowers,

00:44:38Madam.

00:44:38I know it.

00:44:39Well, naturally,

00:44:39you'd have to say

00:44:40something like that

00:44:41now that it's been

00:44:41proved a forgery.

00:44:42No, Madam.

00:44:43Well, let's just stick

00:44:44to the things

00:44:44we can substantiate,

00:44:46shall we?

00:44:46Now, there's only

00:44:47one real issue

00:44:48in this case,

00:44:49and that is

00:44:49whether you actually are

00:44:51or sincerely believed

00:44:52yourself to be

00:44:53the true son

00:44:54of Sir Tom Crittenden.

00:44:56Now, you do realise,

00:44:57don't you,

00:44:58that however many documents

00:44:59you can present

00:45:00to us here today,

00:45:02that doesn't prove

00:45:03that you are his son.

00:45:05However,

00:45:05curiously enough,

00:45:07the production

00:45:08of a forged document

00:45:09does rather suggest

00:45:10that you are not,

00:45:12for it suggests

00:45:13an intention of deceit.

00:45:15I didn't...

00:45:16I didn't forge

00:45:17any birth certificates.

00:45:18I didn't.

00:45:18Bernard Crittenden

00:45:19did, however.

00:45:20Well, I can't be sure

00:45:21of that.

00:45:22Mr. Lapointe,

00:45:23you say that your mother

00:45:24told you your father

00:45:25insisted you should bear

00:45:26the name Lapointe

00:45:27rather than his own name.

00:45:28Yes.

00:45:29Now, isn't this

00:45:30a rather strange

00:45:31condition for a man

00:45:32to make who,

00:45:33if we can believe

00:45:34all we're told,

00:45:35was anxious at all times

00:45:37to recognise you

00:45:38as his legitimate son?

00:45:40Well, it was forced

00:45:41on him maybe

00:45:42by the people

00:45:42that disagreed

00:45:44with the marriage.

00:45:46Lapointe is the family

00:45:46name of Sir Tom.

00:45:47How would I even have that

00:45:48if it was not given by him?

00:45:50Oh, come, Mr. Lapointe,

00:45:51you do yourself

00:45:52an injustice.

00:45:52That wouldn't be

00:45:53a difficult piece

00:45:54of information

00:45:54for an ambitious

00:45:56young fortune hunter

00:45:57like yourself

00:45:58to ferret out,

00:45:59would it?

00:46:00You've got no right

00:46:01to talk to me like this.

00:46:02Well, we've only got

00:46:02your word for it

00:46:03that the name

00:46:04Lapointe

00:46:04on the certificate

00:46:05was ever in

00:46:05your mother's hand.

00:46:07It could well have been

00:46:07in your own

00:46:08assumed hand

00:46:09like the rest

00:46:10of the writing.

00:46:10No, it's lies.

00:46:11All lies.

00:46:12Is it, Mr. Lapointe?

00:46:13Is it really?

00:46:14Well, then you'll

00:46:14just have to tell us

00:46:15something we find

00:46:16a little easier

00:46:16to believe,

00:46:17won't you?

00:46:18Do you realise

00:46:19you said nothing,

00:46:20not one single word

00:46:21that would convince

00:46:22any rational person

00:46:23that you are indeed

00:46:24the son of Sir Tom Crittenden,

00:46:26industrialist,

00:46:27respected Britisher,

00:46:29millionaire?

00:46:29Oh, right.

00:46:31All right.

00:46:33You will please

00:46:33listen to me.

00:46:35My father ran away

00:46:36from this country

00:46:36when he was 13 years old.

00:46:38He ran away

00:46:39because he wanted

00:46:39to raise horses,

00:46:41but his father

00:46:41wouldn't let him.

00:46:42He was only found again

00:46:43because he fell

00:46:44from a train

00:46:45and got a bad injury

00:46:46to his leg.

00:46:47He cried that scar

00:46:48for the rest of his life

00:46:49that was four centimetres long

00:46:51and was just below

00:46:52the right knee.

00:46:53He also had a burst mark

00:46:54on his right shoulder blade.

00:46:57The saddest thing

00:46:58that ever happened

00:46:58to my father

00:46:59when he was a boy

00:46:59was a pet goat dying.

00:47:03The name of that goat

00:47:03was Caddy.

00:47:05You want more, madame,

00:47:06or is that enough for now?

00:47:08How would I know

00:47:08these things

00:47:09if they were not told

00:47:10to me by my mother,

00:47:10Marie Caballo?

00:47:12I am Raoul Edward Lapointe,

00:47:13son of Sarton.

00:47:39The case of the Queen

00:47:41against Lapointe

00:47:42will be resumed tomorrow

00:47:44in the Crown Court.

00:47:58Raoul Lapointe,

00:47:59who claims to be the son

00:48:00of the late Sir Tom Crittenden,

00:48:02industrialist and millionaire,

00:48:04by his brief marriage

00:48:05to a tribal woman

00:48:06in the Katanga district

00:48:07of the Congo,

00:48:07is accused of obtaining money

00:48:09by deception.

00:48:11The prosecution,

00:48:12depending heavily on evidence

00:48:13from Lady Dorothy Crittenden,

00:48:15Sir Tom's widow,

00:48:16and her son Bernard,

00:48:17has established

00:48:17that the birth certificate,

00:48:19Raoul Lapointe presented

00:48:20as part proof of his identity,

00:48:22is in fact a forgery.

00:48:24Lapointe has countered

00:48:25by claiming

00:48:26it's not the same certificate

00:48:27as was taken away

00:48:28by Bernard Crittenden

00:48:29for analysis,

00:48:30and that therefore

00:48:31a substitution has been made.

00:48:33Lapointe has also shown

00:48:35such a remarkable knowledge

00:48:36of intimate details

00:48:37about the late Sir Tom

00:48:39that, it's suggested,

00:48:40he could only have obtained

00:48:41from Mari Caballo,

00:48:43the nurse from the Sampway mission

00:48:45whom Sir Tom married,

00:48:46and who is arguably

00:48:47Lapointe's mother.

00:48:49Now, Mr Stephen Harvesty,

00:48:50appearing for the accused,

00:48:51has called to the witness box

00:48:53Mr Antoine Umbula,

00:48:55of the legal department

00:48:56of the diplomatic mission

00:48:57of the Republic of Zaire.

00:48:58So, Mr Umbula,

00:49:15is that the same birth certificate

00:49:17as was sent to you

00:49:18by Mr Wilfred Bowers

00:49:19and which you scrutinized

00:49:21at your legation office?

00:49:23Very difficult to say, I'm afraid.

00:49:24Yes, it's also extremely important.

00:49:27This certificate

00:49:28has been branded a forgery,

00:49:29yet you pronounced

00:49:30the one that was sent to you

00:49:32to be genuine, didn't you?

00:49:33I'm certain the one

00:49:34sent to me was genuine.

00:49:35Why so certain, Mr Umbula?

00:49:37Because it was very hard

00:49:38making a judgment about it.

00:49:39I consulted my assistants

00:49:40and we examined it separately.

00:49:42Yet in the end,

00:49:43we came to the conclusion

00:49:44that it was right.

00:49:44Then, can the birth certificate,

00:49:46which you have there in your hand,

00:49:47actually be the one

00:49:48that was sent to you?

00:49:50No, no, I think not.

00:49:52The one we saw was genuine.

00:49:55Now, you say it was very hard

00:49:57making a judgment

00:49:58about that certificate.

00:50:00Why was it so hard, Mr. Wilfred?

00:50:01You must remember

00:50:02that until very recently,

00:50:04we never had the kind

00:50:04of comprehensive system

00:50:05in Africa that you enjoy in Europe.

00:50:07The old Congo, in fact,

00:50:09is not too much to say

00:50:10was by guessing by God.

00:50:12In the contrary,

00:50:12we almost entirely depended

00:50:14on the missions

00:50:14and the records they kept.

00:50:16But then, ironically enough,

00:50:17it was the missions

00:50:18that were destroyed

00:50:19in the riots

00:50:19before independence.

00:50:20Yes, quite.

00:50:22Now, before he left

00:50:23Kinshasa for London,

00:50:24Raoul Lapointe

00:50:25was issued with a passport,

00:50:27was he not?

00:50:27Yes, obviously.

00:50:28Well, that would mean, then,

00:50:29that the local authorities

00:50:31in Kinshasa

00:50:31must have been entirely satisfied

00:50:33with his birth certificate.

00:50:34Of course.

00:50:35And you and your authorities

00:50:37in London

00:50:37were perfectly satisfied

00:50:39with it then.

00:50:40Yes.

00:50:42Mr. Mbulo,

00:50:43when you received

00:50:43the birth certificate

00:50:44from Mr. Bowers,

00:50:45you immediately suspected

00:50:46that it might be a forgery,

00:50:47did you,

00:50:48and submitted it

00:50:48to the appropriate tests?

00:50:50I beg your pardon.

00:50:51Well, I say that

00:50:52you took into consideration

00:50:53the fact that it might

00:50:54well be a forgery

00:50:55and consequently tested it

00:50:57for age, authenticity,

00:50:59type of paper used, etc.

00:51:00No, we didn't do

00:51:01any tests like that.

00:51:02Really?

00:51:03Well, what sort of tests

00:51:05did you do then?

00:51:06We just wanted to make sure

00:51:07it was the kind of document

00:51:08that could have come out

00:51:09of the area somewhere

00:51:10at the time it said.

00:51:12We made some comparisons

00:51:13as far as we could.

00:51:14Eventually, we got a hold

00:51:15of some writings

00:51:16by the missionary Van Ham.

00:51:18The handwriting seemed the same.

00:51:20Naturally.

00:51:21No one's suggesting

00:51:22it's anything less

00:51:23than a clever forgery.

00:51:25Now, were there

00:51:26any distinguishing marks

00:51:27on it that you recall,

00:51:29Mr. Mumbula?

00:51:30Distinguishing marks?

00:51:31Anything unusual.

00:51:33Anything you remember.

00:51:35Mistakes in the writing.

00:51:36Sign of erasures, perhaps.

00:51:39No, I don't remember

00:51:40anything like that.

00:51:41Nothing at all?

00:51:42Nothing.

00:51:43Thank you, Mr. Mumbula.

00:51:45May this witness

00:51:46be released, my lord.

00:51:47It certainly may leave now

00:51:49if you so wish, Mr. Mumbula.

00:51:56For my next witness, my lord,

00:51:57I call Miss Kate Crittenden.

00:52:00Kate Crittenden, please.

00:52:02You are Kate Crittenden,

00:52:14daughter of the late Sir Tom?

00:52:16I am.

00:52:17And is your permanent address

00:52:18the same as your mother's?

00:52:19It is.

00:52:20What is your occupation, please?

00:52:22I'm a student at Cambridge.

00:52:23I should like you to tell the court,

00:52:26if you would, Miss Crittenden,

00:52:27whether or not you know

00:52:29the accused, Raoul Lapointe,

00:52:31and if so,

00:52:32what precisely is your connection with him?

00:52:34Oh, yes, I know Raoul, all right.

00:52:36And my connection with him

00:52:38is a blood connection.

00:52:39He's my half-brother.

00:52:41You say that with great conviction,

00:52:43Miss Crittenden.

00:52:44Why shouldn't I?

00:52:45Well, it's been suggested in court

00:52:47that Raoul Lapointe

00:52:48is not what he says he is,

00:52:50the son of Marie Caballo

00:52:52and Tom Crittenden.

00:52:54Oh, yes.

00:52:55That would be the business

00:52:56of the birth certificate, no doubt,

00:52:58which my brother Bernard

00:52:59had analysed

00:53:00and gleefully pronounced a forgery.

00:53:03But I'm not concerned

00:53:04in things like that.

00:53:05It never occurred to me, in fact,

00:53:06that Raoul's case could stand awful

00:53:08on a piece of paper.

00:53:10My mother and Bernard

00:53:11simply didn't want

00:53:13a black man as a relative.

00:53:14It was as uncomplicated as that.

00:53:17They found the whole idea

00:53:18of Raoul inconvenient.

00:53:20Therefore, they worked consciously

00:53:21and deliberately to discredit him.

00:53:24What convinces you of that, Miss Crittenden?

00:53:26Well, one night after my mother

00:53:28had told Raoul

00:53:28she didn't mean to oppose him any longer,

00:53:31I was in the library of our house

00:53:32looking for a book.

00:53:34Bernard and my mother came

00:53:36and they were in mid-conversation

00:53:37and unaware I was there.

00:53:39And Bernard said to my mother,

00:53:40well, I've asked for his certificates again.

00:53:42That's the first step.

00:53:43And my mother answered,

00:53:45are you sure we're acting

00:53:47in the right way?

00:53:48Will it succeed?

00:53:49And Bernard said,

00:53:50I know what I'm doing.

00:53:52By the time I finish

00:53:53with Raoul of Point now,

00:53:54he won't have a leg to stand on.

00:53:57Well, then there were some remarks

00:53:58I couldn't quite hear.

00:53:59But eventually, my mother said,

00:54:02well, what about the money?

00:54:03Was I wise in letting him have it?

00:54:06And Bernard said, it's better.

00:54:07It means we'll get him

00:54:08on a charge in the end.

00:54:09Thank you, Miss Crittenden.

00:54:13Miss Crittenden,

00:54:13you've suggested from the very beginning

00:54:15that your mother and your brother Bernard

00:54:17were distressed by the idea

00:54:18of having to accept a colored man

00:54:20as a member of the family.

00:54:21Yes, I'm convinced that's true.

00:54:22And you, on the other hand,

00:54:23were overjoyed by the prospect,

00:54:25weren't you?

00:54:26I'm sorry, I don't follow that.

00:54:27Well, it's very simple.

00:54:28I'm simply drawing attention

00:54:30to the difference in ideology

00:54:31between you and...

00:54:31Oh, ideology doesn't come into this, you know.

00:54:33No, there aren't two points of view

00:54:35about the racial question.

00:54:36There can't be.

00:54:37We're all equal and human beings

00:54:39and that's the end of it.

00:54:40Oh, please, I'm not staring up controversy,

00:54:42merely clarifying attitudes

00:54:43as far as possible.

00:54:45Now, to put it crudely,

00:54:47the first reaction of your mother

00:54:48and your brother Bernard

00:54:50was to get Raoul Lapointe

00:54:51out of the family,

00:54:53whereas your first reaction

00:54:54was to get him in.

00:54:56Very well, but what does that prove?

00:54:58Why, simply that your judgments throughout

00:54:59are likely to be influenced

00:55:01by that basic approach.

00:55:03Furthermore, this conversation

00:55:04that you overheard in the library,

00:55:07what conclusions exactly

00:55:08do you expect us here today

00:55:10to draw from that?

00:55:11Conclusions?

00:55:12Yes.

00:55:13You see, it's been shown

00:55:14that the birth certificate

00:55:15before the court is a forgery.

00:55:17Now, um,

00:55:19the really relevant question

00:55:21is who perpetrated the forgery?

00:55:23Are you suggesting

00:55:23that your mother, Lady Dorothy,

00:55:25and your brother Bernard did?

00:55:27I'm merely reporting what I heard.

00:55:29It certainly indicates

00:55:30some sort of plot

00:55:31of what I should have thought.

00:55:32But a nefarious plot,

00:55:33Miss Crittenden.

00:55:34You see, when we consider

00:55:36the actual words

00:55:37that you report,

00:55:38they only seem to say

00:55:39that Bernard had asked

00:55:40for Raoul Lapointe's certificates again,

00:55:42possibly to examine them

00:55:43a little more closely,

00:55:45that both he and your mother

00:55:47still seemed to think

00:55:48that Lapointe was a fraud,

00:55:50and that Lady Dorothy was nervous.

00:55:53There's also the remark

00:55:54about Raoul getting money

00:55:55so that they could get him

00:55:56on a charge in the end,

00:55:58isn't there?

00:55:59That's hardly so innocent.

00:56:00Well, obviously,

00:56:01if Lapointe was a fraud,

00:56:02then criminal charges

00:56:03would follow.

00:56:04On the other hand,

00:56:05if he had established

00:56:06himself as genuine,

00:56:08then no one could complain

00:56:09that money had been withheld.

00:56:10You're twisting everything

00:56:11to suit your own case now.

00:56:12Just as you, Miss Crittenden,

00:56:13are twisting everything

00:56:14to suit your ideology.

00:56:17Now, why is it,

00:56:18if it's not sheer awkward-mindedness,

00:56:19that you state so categorically

00:56:21that Raoul Lapointe

00:56:22is your half-brother?

00:56:23He had attitudes,

00:56:24attitudes, ways,

00:56:25that reminded me of my father

00:56:27right from the start,

00:56:28and then he seemed

00:56:29to know so much

00:56:30about the scar my father

00:56:33carried on his leg

00:56:33and how it got there,

00:56:34his birthmark and so on.

00:56:35Well, surely those

00:56:36would not be difficult things

00:56:37for a confident strictster

00:56:40to find out?

00:56:41They'd have been rather hard

00:56:42for him in my view,

00:56:43but then there were other things,

00:56:45things that only I knew

00:56:46about my father,

00:56:47and Raoul seemed to know

00:56:48about them too.

00:56:49Really, Miss Crittenden,

00:56:50what sort of other things?

00:56:52Well, I've got to go back a bit.

00:56:55You see,

00:56:55in the 12 months or so

00:56:57preceding his death,

00:56:58I got to know my father

00:56:59in a new way.

00:57:01He began to talk to me,

00:57:03really talk about his life,

00:57:05and he talked in particular

00:57:06about the Congo

00:57:07and about his marriage

00:57:08to Marie Caballo.

00:57:09That wasn't the way

00:57:10I thought it had been,

00:57:11the way anybody thought.

00:57:13It was love,

00:57:15true love.

00:57:16He wasn't as sick

00:57:17as they all try to make

00:57:18out afterwards.

00:57:20He told me, in fact,

00:57:21that loving Marie

00:57:22had been like a shaft

00:57:23of light in his life,

00:57:25and he had a favourite name

00:57:26for her,

00:57:26a term of endearment

00:57:27that's actually the name

00:57:28for bright red flower

00:57:29in Katanga.

00:57:31And when I first met Raoul,

00:57:32I asked him if he knew

00:57:34what Tom Crittenden

00:57:35called his wife Marie,

00:57:36and he said at once,

00:57:37Casa Dula Umbwe.

00:57:39Casa Dula Umbwe.

00:57:41That's the name

00:57:42of the flower?

00:57:43Yes.

00:57:44And you believed you,

00:57:45Miss Crittenden,

00:57:45that no one else

00:57:47but yourself

00:57:47and Marie Caballo's son

00:57:49would have known that?

00:57:50I'm sure no one else

00:57:51knew of it.

00:57:51My father told me

00:57:52that he'd never told

00:57:53anybody else about it

00:57:54in his whole life.

00:57:55Miss Crittenden,

00:57:56if your father

00:57:57was being so frank

00:57:58with you

00:57:58in these discussions

00:58:00he had in the last

00:58:01days of his life,

00:58:02then presumably

00:58:03he did tell you

00:58:04about the existence

00:58:06of Marie Caballo's child,

00:58:08that his name

00:58:09was Lapointe.

00:58:11Well,

00:58:12well, you see,

00:58:12when it came to things

00:58:13like that...

00:58:13Did he tell you

00:58:14or did he not?

00:58:15No, he didn't.

00:58:16Now, here's a remarkable thing.

00:58:18A man talking to his daughter

00:58:19about his early life

00:58:20mentions something

00:58:21as remote

00:58:22as the pet name

00:58:23by which he called

00:58:24his first wife

00:58:25and yet doesn't mention

00:58:27that she conceived

00:58:28and bore him a child.

00:58:30Perhaps he would have

00:58:31told me in time.

00:58:32He had a guilty conscience

00:58:33about it.

00:58:35I believe now

00:58:35he thought the time

00:58:36wasn't right

00:58:37to confide in me.

00:58:38No further questions,

00:58:39my lord.

00:58:41Mr Harvesty,

00:58:42is something the matter?

00:58:44My lord,

00:58:45I've just received news

00:58:45which is of the utmost

00:58:46importance to this trial.

00:58:48It seems that the old missionary

00:58:49Van Helm is still alive.

00:58:51He lives in retirement

00:58:52in Belgium

00:58:53but we have contacted him

00:58:54and we hope he'll be

00:58:55in court tomorrow.

00:59:15The Harvesty,

00:59:17are you ready

00:59:18to proceed now?

00:59:19Yes, my lord,

00:59:19I'm happy to say

00:59:20my next witness

00:59:21is in court.

00:59:21I call the reverend

00:59:23Auguste Van Helm.

00:59:25Reverend Auguste Van Helm,

00:59:27please.

00:59:31Maybe I shouldn't see you now.

00:59:51take the book in your right hand

00:59:54and read aloud

00:59:55the words on the card.

01:00:01I swear by almighty God

01:00:04that the evidence

01:00:05I shall give

01:00:06shall be the truth.

01:00:08The whole truth

01:00:08and nothing but the truth.

01:00:10You are Auguste Van Helm,

01:00:12Baptist minister and missionary

01:00:14presently of Charleroi, Belgium.

01:00:17Yes, yes,

01:00:17this is my name,

01:00:18Van Helm.

01:00:19One moment, please,

01:00:20Mr. Harvesty.

01:00:20Perhaps Mr. Van Helm

01:00:21would care to sit

01:00:23while he gives his evidence.

01:00:24Nurse, would you...

01:00:25No, no, no.

01:00:26I will not sit.

01:00:27A man should stand

01:00:28while he has his legs still.

01:00:30Yes, no, no.

01:00:31Van Helm will stand.

01:00:34Mr. Van Helm,

01:00:35until it was destroyed

01:00:36by rioters,

01:00:37were you in charge

01:00:38of the mission

01:00:39and hospital

01:00:40at Sampue in Katanga?

01:00:42Sampue, yes,

01:00:43yes, I remember Sampue.

01:00:4525, 30 years

01:00:46I am in Sampue.

01:00:47Sampue is troubled,

01:00:49fighting.

01:00:50Sampue is burned.

01:00:51Yes, yes,

01:00:52terrible time for you

01:00:53as we all know.

01:00:54But during that time there,

01:00:56did you by any chance

01:00:57know the accused

01:00:58in this case,

01:00:59Raoul Lapointe?

01:01:01Raoul Lapointe?

01:01:03Oh,

01:01:05there is a big

01:01:06fog in front of the eyes.

01:01:08It is impossible

01:01:09to see clearly

01:01:10with assurance.

01:01:11Nurse,

01:01:12what is he saying,

01:01:13please?

01:01:13He has said,

01:01:14Mr. Van Helm

01:01:15suffers very much

01:01:16with the eyes.

01:01:17He can no longer

01:01:18see the persons

01:01:19or the objects,

01:01:20only quite close.

01:01:21Well, I see.

01:01:22Well, in that case,

01:01:22Mr. Harvesty,

01:01:23I think it would be

01:01:23quite suitable

01:01:24if the accused

01:01:25were to leave the dock

01:01:26and approach the witness.

01:01:28I'm obliged, my lord.

01:01:29Do you remember

01:01:30Raoul Lapointe

01:01:32at Sampway,

01:01:34Mr. Van Helm?

01:01:36No,

01:01:36at Sampway,

01:01:38it,

01:01:40it,

01:01:41it,

01:01:41no,

01:01:42yes,

01:01:42it was at the school.

01:01:44The school.

01:01:45Oh, this is very sad.

01:01:46The school and the hospital too.

01:01:48There was more school.

01:01:50More school.

01:01:50Why then did they burn them?

01:01:53Can you identify

01:01:54this man for us,

01:01:55please, Mr. Van Helm?

01:01:56Identify Raoul.

01:02:00Raoul,

01:02:00c'est vrai,

01:02:01évidemment.

01:02:04C'est Raoul.

01:02:05Oh,

01:02:06comme vous êtes

01:02:07grand maintenant.

01:02:09Merci,

01:02:09merci.

01:02:10Je suis bien heureux

01:02:11de vous rencontrer encore.

01:02:13Oh,

01:02:13c'est incroyable.

01:02:15Non, monsieur,

01:02:16c'est moi, Raoul.

01:02:16This is unquestionably.

01:02:19Raoul Lapointe,

01:02:21whom you educated

01:02:22at the mission

01:02:22at Sampway,

01:02:23is it,

01:02:24Mr. Van Helm?

01:02:24There can be no possibility

01:02:26of a mistake.

01:02:27But of course

01:02:29this is Raoul,

01:02:30monsieur le juge.

01:02:31I know Raoul well.

01:02:34Can you tell us anything

01:02:35concerning his parenting?

01:02:37Choumont?

01:02:37Did you know his father?

01:02:40The father?

01:02:41Yes,

01:02:42exactly.

01:02:42Was his name

01:02:43Lapointe

01:02:44the same as his son's

01:02:45or was it something different?

01:02:46Can you tell us?

01:02:48My lord,

01:02:48perhaps it would be easier

01:02:50for Mr. Van Helm

01:02:51first of all

01:02:52to recall Raoul Lapointe's mother.

01:02:54After all,

01:02:54she did work as a nurse

01:02:55at the mission hospital.

01:02:57Mr. Van Helm

01:02:58can hardly have forgotten

01:02:58Marie Cabala.

01:02:59With respect,

01:03:00my lord,

01:03:00I really must object.

01:03:02The counsel for the defense

01:03:03is virtually putting the answers

01:03:04in the witness's mouth.

01:03:05My lonely friend

01:03:06might appreciate

01:03:06that Mr. Van Helm

01:03:07is a man greatly advanced

01:03:08in years,

01:03:09having difficulty

01:03:09with his memory.

01:03:10I'm merely wishing

01:03:11to assist him

01:03:11just a little.

01:03:12My lord,

01:03:13there is a profound difference

01:03:14between jogging

01:03:15the witness's memory

01:03:16and instructing him

01:03:17in things which he can

01:03:18hardly have forgotten.

01:03:19Thank you both.

01:03:20That will do.

01:03:22Your objection is noted,

01:03:23Miss Tate,

01:03:24but there are certain issues

01:03:25which must be cleared up

01:03:27in this case

01:03:27if humanly possible

01:03:28and it is my feeling

01:03:29that a certain latitude

01:03:31must be tolerated.

01:03:33Now,

01:03:34Mr. Van Helm,

01:03:34do you remember

01:03:35a marriage

01:03:36that you witnessed

01:03:37in Sampway

01:03:38in 1946

01:03:39between

01:03:40Marie Caballo

01:03:41and Thomas Crittenden,

01:03:43an Englishman?

01:03:45Marie Caballo,

01:03:46uh...

01:03:46Well,

01:03:47now we have here

01:03:47a certificate of marriage,

01:03:49Usher,

01:03:49would you?

01:03:50Your signature is on it,

01:03:51so presumably

01:03:51it is the one issued

01:03:53by you.

01:03:54Perhaps seeing it

01:03:55will help you.

01:03:55Merci, monsieur.

01:03:56It was a marriage

01:03:58between a white man

01:04:00and a colored woman,

01:04:01if that is of any help to you.

01:04:03You cannot have solemnized

01:04:05many such marriages

01:04:06during the course

01:04:07of your ministry.

01:04:09Oh,

01:04:11Marie Caballo,

01:04:12oh,

01:04:13c'est triste,

01:04:15la pauvre Marie.

01:04:16You recall the marriage,

01:04:18Mr. Van Helm?

01:04:20Marie,

01:04:20oh,

01:04:21so young,

01:04:22so brave.

01:04:23she was...

01:04:25Poor Marie.

01:04:27Poor,

01:04:27poor Marie.

01:04:29Now,

01:04:30Mr. Van Helm,

01:04:31my next question

01:04:32is of the first importance.

01:04:36Was there a child

01:04:37of that marriage

01:04:38between Marie Caballo

01:04:40and Thomas Crittenden?

01:04:42Poor Marie.

01:04:43She was alone.

01:04:45It was the end

01:04:45for her then.

01:04:48Yes,

01:04:49the tribe

01:04:49would not have her back

01:04:50now she had married

01:04:52to a white man.

01:04:53It was the end

01:04:54for her.

01:04:55Poor Marie.

01:04:57Poor Marie.

01:04:58Now,

01:04:59please,

01:04:59I will put the question again.

01:05:01Was there a child

01:05:02of that marriage?

01:05:05A child?

01:05:07You are saying,

01:05:08yes?

01:05:09Yes,

01:05:10that there was

01:05:11a child.

01:05:13What,

01:05:13what is this

01:05:14you are saying

01:05:15to me about a child?

01:05:16Do you not know,

01:05:17monsieur,

01:05:18that all the children

01:05:19in Swampway

01:05:20are dead?

01:05:21dead?

01:05:22Dead?

01:05:23The fire

01:05:24took them.

01:05:26The fire

01:05:26or the knives

01:05:28of all those devils.

01:05:29Mr. Van Helm.

01:05:32But it was

01:05:33terrible

01:05:34and the children,

01:05:35the children,

01:05:35there was nothing

01:05:36I could do

01:05:37for them, monsieur.

01:05:38Do you not know

01:05:39that their blood

01:05:40ran down

01:05:41upon my clothes?

01:05:43Their cries

01:05:43fell,

01:05:44rang in my head

01:05:46and I could

01:05:46only run away.

01:05:48My legs,

01:05:49my legs

01:05:50carried me

01:05:50many days

01:05:51into the bush.

01:05:53But why,

01:05:54why,

01:05:55why did you

01:05:56not know,

01:05:57did you not know

01:05:57that we only

01:05:58wanted to do good

01:05:59to you

01:06:00and your people?

01:06:01How could you

01:06:02give us back

01:06:03such evil?

01:06:03Inus,

01:06:04I think perhaps

01:06:04you'd better.

01:06:05Oh,

01:06:05black men,

01:06:07white men,

01:06:08I never cared

01:06:09for such things

01:06:10and that children,

01:06:12oh,

01:06:12les pauvres,

01:06:13les pauvres petits,

01:06:15les petits,

01:06:18les petits,

01:06:18les petits.

01:06:19We can only conclude

01:06:21that Mr. August van Helm

01:06:23will not be able

01:06:24to assist us.

01:06:26That means

01:06:26that we are still

01:06:27without positive

01:06:28identification

01:06:29of the accused

01:06:31as the son

01:06:32of the late

01:06:32Sir Thomas Crittenden.

01:06:35Mr. Lapoint,

01:06:36you may return

01:06:37to the dock.

01:06:39That is the case

01:06:41for the defence,

01:06:42my lord.

01:06:44The state,

01:06:45are you pursuing

01:06:46the suggestion

01:06:47that the accused

01:06:48obtained money

01:06:49by deception?

01:06:51To do so,

01:06:52the evidence

01:06:52must be

01:06:53that someone

01:06:53paid money over

01:06:55because they

01:06:56were deceived.

01:06:57My lord,

01:06:58I think I'm prepared

01:06:58to accept

01:06:59that neither

01:06:59Lady Dorothy

01:07:00nor her son

01:07:01nor Mr. Bowers

01:07:02believe the story.

01:07:03But it is still

01:07:04open for me

01:07:05to press

01:07:05and I do press

01:07:06the charge

01:07:07of attempting

01:07:08to obtain property

01:07:09by deception.

01:07:10Very well,

01:07:10Miss Tate.

01:07:11I think you're right

01:07:12to drop the full charge.

01:07:14I'm obliged,

01:07:14my lord.

01:07:18Members of the jury,

01:07:19there are two questions

01:07:20for you to consider

01:07:21in this case.

01:07:23Firstly,

01:07:25is Raoul Lapoint

01:07:26the son

01:07:26of Sir Thomas Crittenden

01:07:28or did he genuinely

01:07:30believe himself

01:07:31to be such

01:07:32when he so presented

01:07:33himself to Lady Crittenden

01:07:35and Mr. Bowers?

01:07:36It is my submission

01:07:37that the answer

01:07:39to both questions

01:07:39is no

01:07:40and that he is guilty

01:07:41of the charges

01:07:42against him.

01:07:43Now,

01:07:44a vital matter

01:07:44in this case,

01:07:45members of the jury,

01:07:46is the birth certificate.

01:07:48Mr. Bowers

01:07:49has testified

01:07:49that the document

01:07:50in court

01:07:51is the one

01:07:51shown to him

01:07:52by Mr. Lapoint.

01:07:54Mr. Rambulla

01:07:55tells us

01:07:55that he remembers

01:07:56no distinguishing marks

01:07:58when he saw it.

01:07:59But Mr. Lapoint

01:08:00suggests

01:08:01that Lady Dorothy Crittenden

01:08:03and her son

01:08:04have gone

01:08:04to the trouble

01:08:05of forming

01:08:05an elaborate forgery

01:08:07and introduced

01:08:08this supposedly

01:08:09new forgery

01:08:10to the court today.

01:08:12However,

01:08:13if what Mr. Lapoint

01:08:14says is true,

01:08:15then throughout his life

01:08:16Sir Thomas Crittenden

01:08:17must have been

01:08:18a venal,

01:08:19sanctimonious hypocrite

01:08:20who fathered

01:08:22a child

01:08:22in his early marriage

01:08:23fobbed off

01:08:24all responsibility

01:08:25with a payment

01:08:26very small

01:08:27by his standards

01:08:28to the mother,

01:08:29refused the child

01:08:30his name,

01:08:32never mentioned him

01:08:33to his second wife

01:08:34or daughter

01:08:34and yet,

01:08:35conveniently,

01:08:36left a loophole

01:08:37in the will

01:08:38for a claim

01:08:39by describing

01:08:40his children

01:08:41as living

01:08:42legitimate offspring.

01:08:44Is it not convenient,

01:08:45members of the jury,

01:08:45that Mr. Lapoint

01:08:46came to England

01:08:47to seek his father

01:08:48at the precise time

01:08:50that that will,

01:08:51with the particular phrasing

01:08:52living legitimate

01:08:53offspring

01:08:54was so well publicized?

01:08:56It is my submission,

01:08:57members of the jury,

01:08:58that Raoul Lapoint

01:08:59was a boy

01:09:00from the mission school

01:09:01at Sompuy,

01:09:02but not the son

01:09:03of Sir Thomas Crittenden,

01:09:05and as such

01:09:05is guilty

01:09:06of the charge

01:09:07against him.

01:09:11Members of the jury,

01:09:12my learned friend

01:09:13asks if you can really believe

01:09:15that Lady Dorothy Crittenden

01:09:16and her son Bernard

01:09:17have entered into

01:09:18an elaborate conspiracy

01:09:19against the accused.

01:09:21Well, I will not shrink

01:09:22from that suggestion.

01:09:23Indeed, I submit

01:09:24it is most obvious

01:09:26and justified.

01:09:27Firstly,

01:09:28the Zaire authorities

01:09:29in Kinshasa

01:09:30issued a passport

01:09:32to Raoul Lapoint

01:09:33on the evidence

01:09:34of his birth certificate.

01:09:35The Zaire legation authorities

01:09:39in London

01:09:40pronounced that same certificate

01:09:42to be genuine.

01:09:43Now it appears

01:09:44that same certificate

01:09:45is a forgery.

01:09:46Yet I invite you

01:09:47to consider

01:09:48that it was

01:09:48Mr. Bernard Crittenden

01:09:50who so dramatically

01:09:51discovered that fact.

01:09:53How remarkable

01:09:54and how convenient.

01:09:57Unhappily,

01:09:57Mr. Van Helm

01:09:58was unable

01:09:58to offer

01:09:59the positive identification

01:10:01of Raoul Lapoint,

01:10:02which the defence

01:10:02had hoped for.

01:10:04But you'll remember

01:10:04on the other hand

01:10:05that he was not unfamiliar

01:10:06with the name Lapoint.

01:10:08If,

01:10:08as the prosecution

01:10:09has suggested,

01:10:11Mr. Van Helm today

01:10:12simply recognised

01:10:14an orphan boy

01:10:15from his old mission,

01:10:17then how did that boy

01:10:18come by the name

01:10:19of Lapoint?

01:10:20Lapoint,

01:10:21which is the maiden name

01:10:22of Sir Tom Crittenden's mother.

01:10:25Let us not cry coincidence.

01:10:27No, ladies and gentlemen,

01:10:29the man you see

01:10:29in the dock today

01:10:30is the man

01:10:31that he believes himself to be,

01:10:33the son of Sir Tom Crittenden

01:10:34by his early marriage.

01:10:36He therefore committed

01:10:37no crime

01:10:39when he sought money

01:10:40from his father's estate

01:10:41as was his right

01:10:43so to do.

01:10:44He is not guilty

01:10:45and I ask you

01:10:47to record that fact

01:10:48with your verdict.

01:10:50Now, members of the jury,

01:10:51I must remind you

01:10:52that the burden of proof

01:10:53rests with the prosecution

01:10:54and they must therefore

01:10:56prove beyond

01:10:57all reasonable doubt

01:10:58that the accused's

01:11:00representation to be the son

01:11:01of the late

01:11:02Thomas Crittenden

01:11:02was false

01:11:03and that the accused

01:11:05knew it to be false.

01:11:07You've heard that

01:11:07the prosecution

01:11:08have dropped the full charge

01:11:09of obtaining money

01:11:10by deception

01:11:11because none of the prosecution

01:11:13witnesses said

01:11:14that they relied upon

01:11:15the representation

01:11:16when paying the money over.

01:11:18so the only charge

01:11:20is of attempting

01:11:22to obtain money

01:11:23by deception.

01:11:26Now, members of the jury,

01:11:27will you kindly retire

01:11:28and consider your verdict?

01:11:31All stand.

01:11:36Members of the jury,

01:11:37will your foreman

01:11:38please stand?

01:11:39Answer this question,

01:11:40yes or no.

01:11:41Have you reached a verdict

01:11:42on which you are all agreed?

01:11:44Yes.

01:11:44Do you find the defendant,

01:11:46Raoul Lapointe,

01:11:47guilty or not guilty

01:11:48of attempting

01:11:49to obtain money

01:11:50by deception?

01:11:51Not guilty.

01:12:07Next week,

01:12:08a chance for you to join

01:12:09another jury

01:12:10in assessing the facts

01:12:11when our cameras return

01:12:12to watch a leading case

01:12:13in the Crown Court.

01:12:14.

01:12:27.

Crown Court - Wise Child (1973)

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