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Crown Court: the gripping courtroom drama from the 1970s and 1980s.
A retired lawyer decides to defend himself in court after he is charged with shoplifting. Roland Culver stars as the defendant.
This is a stand-alone episode lasting only 25 minutes!
A retired lawyer decides to defend himself in court after he is charged with shoplifting. Roland Culver stars as the defendant.
This is a stand-alone episode lasting only 25 minutes!
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TVTranscript
00:00.
00:18Alfred Burton, a retired Colonel, put a number of articles in his shopping bag.
00:22Regrettably, he didn't produce them at the cash desk and left the supermarket without paying for them.
00:28But the best-laid plans sometimes go awry, and unfortunately for Colonel Burton,
00:32he'd been observed by the manageress and an assistant who followed him into the street and stopped him.
00:38The Colonel was requested to go with the manageress to her office, and he did this willingly.
00:42When it was suggested that he hadn't paid for all the goods, the Colonel agreed,
00:46and went on to say that he'd no intention of paying for them.
00:49The police were called, and now the Colonel, who long ago practiced for a year or two in the Far East as a lawyer,
00:55is defending himself on a charge of shoplifting.
00:57The prosecution case is already underway.
01:00Constable, you are David John Donaldson.
01:06Yes, sir.
01:07Constable, you are David John Donaldson.
01:22Yes, sir.
01:23Your service number is D444, and you are at present attached to Fullchester Police Station.
01:27Yes, sir.
01:28Were you on duty on Monday the 18th of December 1972?
01:31On Monday the 18th of December 1972, as a result of information received, I went to Busby's Supermarket High Street.
01:37I see that the officer is reading from his notebook.
01:41Yes, Colonel.
01:42Mr Harvesty.
01:43Mr Harvesty, will you ask him about his notes, please?
01:45Very well, my lord.
01:46Constable, when did you make these notes, please?
01:49When I got back to the police station about half an hour after the events recorded.
01:52Please continue.
01:53On Monday the 18th of December 1972, as a result of information received, I went to Busby's...
01:58I beg your pardon, my lord.
01:59What is it now, Colonel?
02:00But the witness cannot simply read from his note.
02:03He can use it to refresh his memory, and if the note doesn't bring back his original recollection,
02:09he can't give any evidence at all.
02:11At the very least, he must be asked if his memory has been refreshed.
02:14You do not seem to have forgotten the law, Colonel.
02:17You are quite right.
02:18Officer, when you read your note, does it refresh your memory?
02:21Does it bring the events recorded in your note back to your mind?
02:26Yes, my lord.
02:28Will you please go on?
02:29My lord, on Monday the 18th of December 1972, as a result of information received, I went to Busby's supermarket...
02:34Colonel!
02:35What is the matter now?
02:36I beg your pardon, my lord.
02:38I wasn't going to interrupt again.
02:39My bio has run out.
02:41Mr Harvesty, would you please give the Colonel something with which he can write?
02:44My lord, I'm afraid I have nothing I can spare.
02:47Usher, would you please give the Colonel this?
02:52I much obliged, my lord.
02:54Let us try again, Officer.
02:56My lord, on Monday the 18th of December 1972, as a result of information received, I went to Busby's supermarket, High Street Forchester.
03:02I arrived at about 1645 hours.
03:04There, I met the manageress of the store, Mrs Arkell.
03:07She took me to her office, where she introduced me to Alfred Horatio Burton.
03:10Officer, do you see that man in court today?
03:12Yes, he's sitting there beside you.
03:14Please go on.
03:15The following interview took place in the presence of the accused.
03:18Mrs Arkell said, this shopping bag contains items which this man took from the shelves and did not pay for.
03:23I watched him at the cash desk and he did not pay for them, although he did pay for certain other items.
03:28I cautioned the accused and asked him if he wished to say anything.
03:30He said, take out your notebook, officer, and write this down.
03:34He then dictated to me the following words.
03:36It is true that I took all these things which this good lady says that I took, and I did not pay for them, and I did not intend to pay for them.
03:42I have had nothing to eat for five days.
03:44My money was stolen, I have nothing at home, and I've got no money.
03:48Unlike Camel's, old-age pensioners don't have humps.
03:51I cautioned the accused and then took him to Fortchester Police Station.
03:54Mr Harvesty, what would be the attitude of the prosecuting authority if this were true?
03:58I mean that the Colonel was indeed penniless and in need.
04:02My Lord, if it were true, and you will hear evidence that it is not, I would say that it would be no answer to the charge.
04:08In my submission, necessity is no defence to a criminal charge.
04:12I see. And you say that there will be evidence to show that the Colonel was not penniless and not in need?
04:18Yes, indeed, my Lord.
04:20Officer, do you produce the shopping bag and the articles found in it?
04:28Yes, this is the bag.
04:30Will you show us the contents, please?
04:33One orange,
04:35one packet of dates,
04:38a packet of rice,
04:40a tin of curry powder,
04:42and half a pound of minced beef.
04:44Goods to the value of 64 pence, is that right, officer?
04:47Yes, it is.
04:48I should say that this wasn't all that was in the bag at the time.
04:51What else was in the bag?
04:52A kitten, my Lord.
04:54A live kitten?
04:55A live kitten, my Lord.
04:57I see.
04:58Mr Harvesty,
04:59the shopping bag is exhibit number one,
05:01the orange is exhibit number two,
05:03the dates are exhibit three,
05:04the rice four,
05:05the curry powder five,
05:06and the mincemeat six.
05:07Yes, my Lord.
05:08See that they are marked.
05:10The kitten, I take it, is not an exhibit?
05:13No, my Lord, it was released.
05:15On bail, I suppose.
05:19Hardly what you would call the necessities of life, officer.
05:21More like a Christmas feast, if you ask me.
05:23That was very naughty of Mr Harvesty.
05:25Yes, Colonel, that was out of order.
05:27Mr Harvesty, will you please stick to the evidence?
05:30A lot.
05:31Will you go on, officer?
05:33At 1745, I asked him if I could go to his residence,
05:35and he said yes.
05:36I went with him to flat 5A Homewood House, Mill Lane, Fulchester.
05:40Is that an old people's home?
05:41Oh, not as such, my Lord.
05:42It's a big house where a lot of old people live,
05:44quite independently.
05:45I don't think it's an organised home of any sort.
05:47It belongs to a Mr Patel, a foreign gentleman.
05:50I see, thank God.
05:51We went to his flat, and he showed me the kitchen at my request.
05:54Did you see any food there?
05:55Yes, there was bread, cheese, tea, sugar, in the fridge,
05:59some milk and eggs.
06:00Now, officer, the Colonel told you that his money had been stolen.
06:04Did you ask him about that?
06:05Yes, I said, where was your money stolen from?
06:07He said, from my retreat.
06:09I said, did you inform the police?
06:11He said, no.
06:12I said, was your room broken into?
06:14He replied, no.
06:15I said, does someone else have a key apart from you?
06:17He said, yes, Mr Patel and Mrs Mates.
06:20Did you search the Colonel?
06:21Yes.
06:22Did he have any money on him?
06:23Yes, he had one two-pence piece in his left-hand trouser pocket
06:26and four one-pound notes pinned with a safety pin inside the flap of his hat.
06:30That was in a deerstalker hat?
06:31Yes.
06:32Do you produce the hat with the money?
06:39Yes, this is it.
06:40Exhibit seven, my lord.
06:41And yet he'd earlier said, I have had nothing to eat for five days.
06:45I have nothing at home, and I've got no money.
06:48That's right, sir.
06:49Did you ask him about this money?
06:50Yes, I cautioned him and said, you said you had no money.
06:53He replied, it's my money.
06:55I then cautioned him and formally charged him with shoplifting.
06:57Thank you, officer.
07:01Now, officer, first of all, I want to say that throughout this sorry business,
07:05you and your colleagues have treated me with the utmost fairness and courtesy.
07:11And, to cap it all, you gave me an excellent meal at the police station.
07:15Thank you, sir.
07:17Now, officer, did you see anything in that flat to suggest that someone else lived there apart from me?
07:23Yes.
07:24My lord, the flat consists of a bedroom on the landing and then a suite of rooms consisting of a living room,
07:29a kitchen and another bedroom.
07:30I believe there's a bathroom on another landing.
07:32Well, the other bedroom looked as though it belonged to a lady.
07:35Exactly.
07:36In other words, it isn't my flat at all.
07:38It's someone else's.
07:39Whose?
07:40Irene's.
07:41And who is Irene?
07:42Ah, Mrs. Irene Makepeace.
07:46So you have a part of her flat.
07:48Is that what you're saying?
07:49I have a little room off the landing, which I rent from Mr. Patel.
07:54But Mrs. Makepeace allows me to use her kitchen.
07:57I see, thank you.
07:58Would you go on, please?
08:00Now, officer, this is very important.
08:03You didn't ask me, did you, officer, who the food in the flat belonged to, not that you're to be blamed?
08:11No, I didn't, sir.
08:12And you've no idea who it did belong to?
08:16I suppose not, no.
08:18Now, officer, I believe you have taken the trouble to inquire into my past record.
08:25Yes, sir, I've prepared some antecedents.
08:27Would you be so good as to tell the members of the jury of my past record, my antecedents, as you put it?
08:36A moment, Colonel.
08:37Mr. Harvesty, before the Colonel puts his character in as evidence, let me say that I'm relying upon you to tell me whether or not I should warn him of the possible disadvantages.
08:46My Lord, I can safely say that in this case there would be no disadvantages to the accused.
08:51Very well.
08:52Alfred Horatio Burton was born on the 3rd of September, 1894.
08:55So you are now 78?
08:58Oh, yes, my Lord.
09:00At Battleby Hall in Yorkshire.
09:02He has no near relatives.
09:03His wife and only child died in a Japanese concentration camp in China during the Second World War.
09:08He was educated at rugby school.
09:10You know, Colonel, you're not entitled to put all this in as evidence at this stage.
09:14It's not really relevant, but, well, if it won't take long, Colonel, I will allow it.
09:20Please go on, officer.
09:22Between 1923 and 1927, he practiced as a lawyer in Hong Kong.
09:26Between 1927 and 1947, he lived in China.
09:29But you weren't in a concentration camp?
09:32No, my Lord.
09:33You see, I was in the North when the Japanese came.
09:37My wife and boy were in this house.
09:40In 1947, after the Communists took over, he went to live in Uganda, where he remained until 1971 when he returned to England.
09:46He's been living in Forchester ever since.
09:48And during the whole of that time, officer, there hasn't been the smallest blot on my copybook?
09:54No, sir.
09:55No.
09:56Now, officer, did you see anything in my little room that anyone would have wanted to buy?
10:03I can't say I did, sir.
10:05Well, there's certainly nothing there that I'd want to buy.
10:07What was there in the room?
10:08Oh, a bed.
10:09Some bedclothes and a few photographs hanging on the wall.
10:11That's all, as far as I can remember, my Lord.
10:13A carpet?
10:14No, my Lord.
10:15Just liner.
10:16No wardrobe?
10:17Where did you hang your clothes?
10:19On my body, my Lord.
10:21Ah, I see.
10:23I suppose the bed must have been worth something.
10:26Oh, I don't really think so, my Lord.
10:28It had broken springs.
10:29Ah, I see.
10:33Now, officer, I'm coming to a question that gives me great pain because I have to suggest that you are wrong on a point of detail.
10:45Yes, sir.
10:46But I would stress, members of the jury, that it is only a point of detail that anyone could get wrong.
10:51Colonel, what is the point?
10:53It is only a point of detail, my Lord.
10:55Ah, officer, do you think you may have been mistaken in saying that I told you that the four-pound notes were mine?
11:06No, sir.
11:09We were standing in my little bedroom off the landing on the second floor of Holmwood House.
11:15Yes, sir.
11:16And upstairs, someone was playing the gramophone.
11:20A record player? I remember that, sir, yes.
11:22Yes, it was a record of those wartime speeches of that noble and great man, Sir Winston Churchill, and they were being played very loud.
11:29Well, I'm not sure what the record was, sir.
11:31Yes, well, I am, because when we heard those speeches during the war, we didn't forget them.
11:36And the fellow upstairs plays them several times a day.
11:39But the important thing is, officer...
11:43Yes, sir.
11:44When you asked me about the four-pound notes...
11:47Yes, sir.
11:49...you had to ask me twice before you got a reply.
11:53Well, yes, I believe that's right, sir.
11:56And the reason why you didn't get a reply in the first place was because there was so much noise, I didn't hear you the first time.
12:05If you say so, sir.
12:07And when you asked me about the four-pound notes the second time, what I actually said was,
12:14It's not mine.
12:17But you didn't hear it all because of the gramophone.
12:19Well, yes, that is possible, sir, yes.
12:22In addition, officer, while you were asking that question, something distracting happened.
12:31I'm not quite sure what you're referring to, sir.
12:34Well, it was an indelicate distraction.
12:39Oh, yes.
12:40My lord, the kitten made a mess in the corner.
12:52Colonel, when did you come to live in Fulchester?
13:07In 1971, my lord, when I was thrown out of Uganda.
13:12I came to live with Mrs Makepeace, who is the widow of an old friend of mine who served with me in Mesopotamia.
13:17It is her flat?
13:18Yes, my lord.
13:19But I rent the little room off the landing from the landlord, Mr Patel.
13:24You mean your bedroom on the landing?
13:27Yes, my lord.
13:28And are the contents of the flat hers?
13:30Yes, my lord.
13:31But the contents of my little room are mine.
13:33And the food which Constable Donaldson saw in the larder?
13:36Irene is.
13:37I see, thank you.
13:39I suppose that you've been living on the old-age pension?
13:42No, my lord, I don't qualify for that.
13:44I receive a supplementary benefit.
13:46And what happened to the benefit that you drew last week?
13:49Well, I drew it on Wednesday and put it behind a photograph in my retreat.
13:54When I went to look for it on Thursday morning, it wasn't there.
13:58Are you saying it was stolen?
13:59Well, I suppose it must have been, unless it was one of those new floating pound notes.
14:07And you say that you had nothing to eat for five days?
14:12Nothing between 1900 hours on Wednesday and 1800 hours on Monday when I, as I told you, I had that excellent meal at the police station.
14:20And whose are the four pound notes and the other money that you tendered at the cash desk for the goods for which you did pay?
14:27The four pound notes were Irene's to pay the coal bill.
14:31The other goods that I pay for were with Irene's money.
14:35I see. Now, is there anything else you wish to say to me, Colonel?
14:39I don't think so, my lord.
14:43As I understand it, Colonel, you're saying that you didn't intend to pay for those articles.
14:48It's not a question of your forgetting.
14:50No, young man, I didn't intend to pay for them because I had no money.
14:54And you're saying that you took these things of necessity and this affords you a defense in law?
15:00I couldn't have put it better myself, if I may say so.
15:04And the kitten belongs to you?
15:06Yes, sir.
15:07You say that the food in the flat was Mrs Makepeace's?
15:10Yes, sir.
15:11You kept your larders separate?
15:13Well, to start with, we used to pool our resources, but it didn't work.
15:17You mean someone said someone was eating too much?
15:21Oh, with respect, sir. All I said was that it didn't work.
15:25Did you ask Mrs Makepeace for food?
15:28No.
15:29Why not?
15:30Well, she's an old age pensioner like myself and has neither food nor money to spare, I wouldn't beg from my friends.
15:35How much money did you collect on Wednesday?
15:39Ten pounds.
15:40And you put it behind a photograph in your room?
15:42Yes.
15:43And it was stolen?
15:44Hmm.
15:47All of it?
15:49Yes.
15:51Who stole it?
15:53I don't know.
15:55Was your room broken into?
15:56No.
15:57Is your room usually locked?
15:58Yes.
15:59Then if the room was not broken into, how could the money have been stolen?
16:04Other people have a key.
16:06Who?
16:08The landlord, Mr Patel, and Mrs Makepeace.
16:11You're saying all your money for the week was stolen and you didn't report it to the police?
16:15That is what I am saying.
16:17Why not?
16:18Because I didn't know who had done it.
16:20Well, you're saying that if you had known who had taken it, you would have reported it?
16:25Well, that depends who had taken it.
16:27Ah.
16:28So your explanation for not having reported it is that you were protecting the thief?
16:32Yes, Mr Harvesty, as I understand it, that is his explanation.
16:37Who do you say that you were protecting?
16:40Mrs Makepeace?
16:42No, I won't answer that question.
16:43You must.
16:44I won't.
16:45You must.
16:46My lord, if I may say something.
16:47You may not sit down.
16:48It's just that Mrs Makepeace has a suspended sentence for shoplifting.
16:51Sit down.
16:54Is that true, Colonel?
16:57Yes, I'm afraid it is.
16:59And the four pounds, that was hers?
17:02Yes.
17:04To buy the coal, to pay the coal bill.
17:06Now, Colonel, this is a silly story, isn't it?
17:08It is not.
17:09Your money was not stolen at all, was it?
17:11And the money which was found on you when you were arrested, that was yours?
17:14I have already answered these questions.
17:17Have you not been able to save anything since you returned to this country?
17:21Young man, I receive ten pounds a week.
17:24My rent is six pounds.
17:26I allow myself fifty pence for gas, thirty pence for electricity, and twenty pence for cleaning.
17:34That leaves me three pounds for food and clothing.
17:39Six pounds a week seems rather a high rent, doesn't it?
17:41No, Mr Harvesty, not in this area.
17:43I don't know if you've done any landlord and tenant cases,
17:46but I can assure you that in Fulchester, as in many other parts of the country,
17:49there's an acute housing shortage and the price of accommodation is high.
17:55Why didn't you borrow money from your friends?
17:58My friends are all old fossils like myself and haven't got any money.
18:02And I wouldn't borrow from them.
18:05Do you have a bank account?
18:06I thought you'd ask me that.
18:08I brought along my bank statement.
18:21My lord, he has an overdraft of twelve pounds.
18:24Did you ask the bank to lend you some more money?
18:27Yes, I went to the manager.
18:29What did he say?
18:31He's a businessman.
18:32He said he couldn't lend me money without security,
18:34as he didn't know how I could pay it back,
18:35which is exactly what I expected him to say.
18:39Did you know that in emergencies,
18:40you can obtain a special single payment from Social Security?
18:45Yes, I did know that.
18:46Well, didn't you go for help?
18:47I did.
18:48Didn't they give it?
18:49No.
18:50Why not?
18:51Because they said they didn't believe me when I said my money had been stolen.
18:55Have you any idea why?
18:57No, my lord.
18:58But my relations with the department have been somewhat strained,
19:03since they tried to reduce payments to Irene on myself
19:08on the grounds that we were cohabiting as man and wife.
19:12I was extremely angry.
19:14Indeed, I use language that can only be described as unbecoming to an officer and a gentleman.
19:20But the sir on the lady's name, the widow of my old friend,
19:24the provocation was outrageous.
19:26Did they reduce the payments?
19:29They did. And I appealed and won my appeal.
19:32Colonel, are you really trying to tell us that this food,
19:35these dates, the orange, the rice, the curry powder and mincemeat,
19:39were all the necessities of life?
19:42Weren't you just laying in a few Christmas treats for yourself?
19:45I was not.
19:47They seem rather exotic necessities to me.
19:49Rice, my dear young man, is the staple diet of virtually the whole world.
19:55The orange was for vitamin C.
19:58The dates are very nutritious, as any Bedouin will confirm.
20:03As for the meat and curry powder,
20:06well in India I grow to live like the Indians,
20:09and that's the way I cook my meat.
20:11It can hardly be described as exotic.
20:14How did you keep that kitten alive during those five days?
20:18Well, I usually manage to find something in the dustbin,
20:24and Irene used to give the kitten milk.
20:27Are you saying that you were prepared to ask for milk for the kitten,
20:29but you didn't ask for food for yourself?
20:31No.
20:33Irene liked to give the kitty milk.
20:34She volunteered it, I didn't ask.
20:37You say you had nothing to sell.
20:40Would you mind then showing us that watch,
20:42which you have in your waistcoat pocket?
20:49The watch went months ago.
20:53The chain is worthless metal.
20:55Is there anything else you wish to say, Colonel?
21:01No, my lord.
21:02Then you may leave the witness box.
21:14Now, Colonel, you may of course address the jury,
21:17but before you do, I want some assistance as to the law.
21:21Mr. Harvesty will no doubt say, indeed he has already said so,
21:26that necessity, even if proved, is no defence to a charge of theft.
21:32And it does seem to me that the case of Dudley and Stevens is against you.
21:36Necessity was there held to be no defence, Colonel.
21:39Oh, my lord, in the case of Dudley and Mr. Stevens,
21:44they had killed a boy and eaten flesh,
21:48whereas I had eaten nothing.
21:51Yes, I suppose you will say that necessity is a defence to stealing,
21:56but not a defence to murder.
21:58So I'm sure I couldn't have put it as well myself, my lord.
22:03Mr. Harvesty, tell me, it's never been decided, has it,
22:07whether necessity and poverty is a defence to stealing?
22:10No, my lord.
22:12Then I shall have to decide,
22:14and no doubt the Colonel will make history once again.
22:18Now, Colonel, what do you say to all this?
22:21My lord, what is not otherwise lawful,
22:27necessity makes lawful.
22:30Hmm.
22:32Very well.
22:34Is there anything else you wish to say, Colonel?
22:36No, my lord.
22:38My members of the jury,
22:39it is for me to decide, as you've heard,
22:42whether necessity is a defence to the charge of theft.
22:47Well, I may be sticking my neck out,
22:49but in my view, the law is
22:52that where a man is in danger of death or illness through starvation
22:57and has not the means to buy food or drink,
23:00he cannot be held guilty of stealing
23:03if he steals only that which is absolutely necessary.
23:08Now, in other words, that means what I have called stealing
23:12becomes, in effect, something else,
23:15a civil wrong, perhaps, but not a crime.
23:19Now, as you know, it is for the prosecution
23:21to prove the case beyond all reasonable doubt.
23:24So, whether you are not sure
23:26whether the Colonel is telling the truth or not,
23:29then you must bring in a verdict of not guilty.
23:32On the other hand, if you think his story is a fake,
23:36but that he himself was not in extremity,
23:41then you must find him guilty.
23:43And now, members of the jury, will you kindly retire
23:47to consider your verdict?
23:50All stand.
23:58Will the foreman please stand?
24:00Just answer this question, yes or no.
24:02Have you reached a verdict upon which you are all agreed?
24:04Yes.
24:05Do you find the accused guilty or not guilty?
24:07Not guilty.
24:09Tomorrow, in the Crown Court, the trial begins of Mr Robert Scart,
24:21who faces charges of unlawfully imprisoning and raping his wife.
24:25Oh, I was.
24:30Thank you so much for watching.
24:32This is a good way.
24:34If you think there is going to be a good thing,
24:36you will be working.
24:38I don't know.
24:39You
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