- 2 days ago
Crown Court: the gripping courtroom drama from the 1970s and 1980s.
An estranged wife has accused her husband of rape. The husband denies the charge and claims that his wife made up the allegation in anger after he refused to increase her maintenance payments.
Derek Newark, star of many shows, including Doctor Who (An Unearthly Child and Inferno), appears as the defendant. Peter Copley also appears.
An estranged wife has accused her husband of rape. The husband denies the charge and claims that his wife made up the allegation in anger after he refused to increase her maintenance payments.
Derek Newark, star of many shows, including Doctor Who (An Unearthly Child and Inferno), appears as the defendant. Peter Copley also appears.
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TVTranscript
00:00I have been probing about in my memory for a case similar to this one and I really don't
00:26think I have personal experience of one. I mean a case where a husband is charged with
00:32in effect kidnapping and raping his own wife.
00:56We married in 1968. We separated in December 1971 and I saw him four times after that.
01:03The last time was in July of last year.
01:06When you and the defendant separated in December 1971 did either of you obtain a legal separation?
01:11No.
01:12Miss Cutforth why did you go to Elm Court the marital home on that night?
01:17To talk about my maintenance. I'd written to him and he hadn't answered.
01:21So when I saw him that night I thought it would be a good opportunity to ask him about it.
01:26He said come down to Sheppingham and we'll talk about it in the morning.
01:29That was the only reason that you went there to talk about maintenance?
01:32Yes.
01:33Now you've told us that you arrived there at the house at 2.30 in the morning.
01:37What happened when you got there?
01:38All the servants had gone to bed. I went up to my old rooms.
01:42Now did you sleep alone? Naturally.
01:44Was this something that you were agreed about?
01:46There was no question of agreeing or disagreeing. I made that perfectly plain to him.
01:50What occurred the following morning?
01:53I woke up at about midday to find him in my room.
01:57Pulling at my bed clothes.
01:59Yes. Then what happened?
02:01I asked him what he was doing.
02:02What did he say?
02:04He said he just wanted to look at me.
02:06I pushed him away and sat up.
02:09Then what happened?
02:10I got up and rang for the maid.
02:12Did she come?
02:13No.
02:15He said no one would come because he told them not to answer the bell.
02:20He said that if I told him what I wanted he'd bring me breakfast.
02:23What did you do?
02:24I said he could countermand his orders to the servants.
02:27I also told him what I wanted and he went out.
02:30Did your husband bring any breakfast?
02:32Yes. He brought me a tray.
02:34But he didn't give it to me. He put it on the floor.
02:37Then he sat on my bed again and tried to kiss me.
02:41What happened when your husband tried to kiss you?
02:43I told him to behave himself and to ring for the maid so that I could get dressed.
02:48What did he say?
02:50He said that he wanted to look after me himself.
02:53I asked him to go so that I could get dressed in peace.
02:55Did he reply?
02:56He said that I could get dressed if I wanted but that I wasn't going anywhere.
03:01He said that the door was locked and he showed me the key.
03:04Yes. Which door?
03:06The door onto the landing from the reception.
03:08So what did you do?
03:10I asked him what he meant by it and he made some sort of impassioned plea about wanting me.
03:18And then he said he wasn't letting me go until he'd made love to me.
03:22Had you any doubt about what he meant by that?
03:24None whatever. He meant intercourse.
03:26What did you do when he said that?
03:29I took a shower.
03:30Forgive me. Why?
03:32I always do when I get up.
03:33You didn't answer him?
03:35No. I thought the best thing to do was to keep calm and take no notice of him.
03:38Yes ma'am.
03:39Well when you'd had your shower and returned to the bedroom was your husband still there?
03:43Yes.
03:45I was wearing a bathrobe.
03:47He came up to me and tried to pull me to him. I pushed him away.
03:51And then?
03:52Then he said he really meant it.
03:55It was horrible. He was quite serious.
03:58I was frightened.
04:00Then he went out and locked the door.
04:02How did you know that he'd locked the door?
04:04I tried it. I banged on it.
04:06But none of the servants came.
04:08Did you consider any way of escaping?
04:11Yes. I thought of the windows.
04:13You say you thought of the windows.
04:15But you said earlier that there was a 12 or 15 foot drop to the ground.
04:19Were you as desperate as that?
04:21Yes my lord.
04:23I knew he meant it and I hadn't told anyone I was going to Elm Court.
04:27How long was it before your husband came back?
04:30He came back at about 6 o'clock.
04:33He asked me if I was hungry and I said I wasn't.
04:36Then he poured himself a drink from the cocktail cabinet.
04:39There was a cocktail cabinet in your bedroom?
04:42No my lord in the reception.
04:45Did you ask him to let you go?
04:47Yes.
04:48I told him to stop being a fool and let me go.
04:51And he said?
04:52Fair deals.
04:53You give me what I want.
04:54I'll let you go.
04:56He said fair deals.
04:57You give me what I want.
04:58I'll let you go.
05:00And did you give him what he wanted?
05:03No not then.
05:04But you did at some time.
05:06When?
05:07The following day.
05:08The next afternoon.
05:10But did you see him before that in the morning?
05:12Yes.
05:13He brought me breakfast again.
05:15I begged him to let me go.
05:17I'd hardly slept all that night.
05:19I looked affright.
05:20Were you upset?
05:21Very.
05:22You cried?
05:24Yes.
05:25Yes I did.
05:26What did he say?
05:28He said you're costing me seven grand a year.
05:32Grand?
05:33Yes my lord it means a thousand.
05:35He always used that word.
05:37I see.
05:39Your aunties.
05:40He said you're costing me seven grand a year.
05:42What am I getting for it?
05:44You're not getting out of here without...
05:47You know what?
05:48Meaning intercourse.
05:50Yes my lord.
05:51What did you say?
05:52I told him to go to hell.
05:54And he left the room?
05:55Yes.
05:56You said you thought of it trying to escape through the windows.
05:59Did you try to do so?
06:00Yes.
06:01When?
06:02The following morning after he'd gone out.
06:04Was there any reason apart from the 12 or 15 foot drop why you couldn't escape?
06:09Yes the windows were screwed up.
06:11Screwed up?
06:12Yes.
06:13Whilst you were locked in did you try to ring the bell at all?
06:16Yes no one came.
06:17Was there no telephone in your rooms?
06:19No.
06:20When I lived there I had the telephone removed.
06:22So.
06:23On the second morning that you were at Elm Court you begged to be allowed to go.
06:27And he refused.
06:29Now what happened in the afternoon?
06:34When he came back at about 4 o'clock I said it would be alright if he promised to let me go afterwards.
06:42Then what happened?
06:44He got very excited.
06:46Drew the curtains.
06:48Put a record on the record player.
06:51Got some champagne out of the fridge.
06:53Fridge?
06:54Do you have a refrigerator in your bedroom?
06:56No my lord in the sitting room.
06:59What did you do?
07:01I...
07:02I got undressed and lay on the bed.
07:06And did you make love?
07:08Love is hardly the word my lord.
07:11Did you act willingly?
07:12No.
07:13Why did you permit him?
07:15Because he promised to let me go.
07:17I've already told you that my lord.
07:19What happened afterwards?
07:21I just lay there I felt humiliated.
07:28Then he got up and went out.
07:31I suppose finally I must have fallen asleep because when I woke up it was 9 o'clock at night.
07:35Yes what did you do when you woke up?
07:37I tried the door.
07:38And what did you find?
07:40It was still locked.
07:42Did he come back to your room?
07:44Yes he came back sometime in the evening.
07:47He woke me up again.
07:48He seemed changed at first.
07:49He apologized.
07:50He said he couldn't control himself.
07:52That he loved me.
07:54How were you feeling at this time Miss Cutforth?
07:57Very strange.
07:59Dizzy.
08:00I'd hardly eaten all that time.
08:02I was very confused.
08:04Yes.
08:05And what did you do?
08:07Miss Cutforth I appreciate how difficult this is for you.
08:11But will you please try to go on?
08:14Because I believed him I let him do it again.
08:20Why did you believe him when he'd already gone back on his word once?
08:25He seemed so pitiful.
08:28And I suppose I felt sorry for him.
08:31And did your husband honor his word this time and let you go?
08:35No.
08:36No.
08:37So then?
08:39Then I told him what I really thought of him.
08:43When I finished he...
08:44He hit me several times in the face.
08:47He hit you several times in the face.
08:50Yes.
08:52And then?
08:53He called me names.
08:55I'd prefer not to repeat them.
08:58Then suddenly he threw the key at me and told me to get out.
09:01And what did you do?
09:02I unlocked the door of the reception room and ran onto the landing where I found Beamish.
09:07Beamish?
09:08The butler my lord.
09:09What was he doing there?
09:10I've no idea my lord.
09:12Did your husband thereafter allow you to leave Elm Court?
09:16Yes.
09:17I went to my father's.
09:18I told him what had happened.
09:19Thank you Miss Cutforth.
09:20Will you just wait there please?
09:22Oh.
09:23Why do you call yourself by your maiden name instead of by your married name?
09:30Mrs. Scard.
09:32We're separated.
09:33I'd prefer not to use his name.
09:35When did you stop using his name then?
09:40Well, Mrs. Scard?
09:42I've never used it.
09:43Exactly.
09:44So I will call you Miss Cutforth.
09:46But the interesting question is why you've never used it?
09:51We're living in the 1970s.
09:53You know there's no law about it.
09:55It's not a professional name then?
09:56No.
09:57I thought not because I noticed you didn't tell us what your profession is.
10:01Is that a question?
10:03If you would like to tell us what your profession is, yes.
10:06I don't have one.
10:07Then what do you live on?
10:09Maintenance from my husband.
10:11How much does he pay you?
10:12Seven thousand pounds a year.
10:14Before or after tax?
10:15After tax.
10:16Seven thousand pounds a year.
10:18Spending money.
10:20Since your husband never failed to pay you that money,
10:23what was there to discuss about it then?
10:26The amount.
10:28It wasn't enough.
10:37Miss Cutforth, do you love your husband?
10:51I despise him.
10:53Indeed.
10:54And you always did, didn't you?
10:55Even before you married him.
10:57No, but I would have done if I knew what he was capable of.
11:00But you didn't love him when you married him, did you?
11:03I believed I did.
11:04And you despised his friends and everything he stood for except his money.
11:09That's not true.
11:10Well, let's see now.
11:12During the years you lived together, how many friends visited Elm Court?
11:17I've no idea.
11:19Hundreds.
11:20Your friends?
11:21Certainly.
11:23How many of those were your husbands?
11:26Well, there were streams of business contacts, of course.
11:28Oh, I mean friends, Miss Cutforth.
11:31Five or six, perhaps.
11:33So few out of those hundreds?
11:36They felt out of place.
11:38They knew it.
11:39He had three special friends, didn't he, from his childhood.
11:43Alfie and Clive Jones and Sid Barnett, whom he'd made directors of some of his companies.
11:50They only went to Elm Court once during your marriage,
11:53because you told your husband you didn't want to see them there again, didn't you?
11:57No.
11:58They felt out of place.
11:59I invited them, but they didn't come.
12:02Your husband wanted children, didn't he?
12:06We both did.
12:07Yet you had none.
12:09You say you wanted them too?
12:11Yes.
12:12I have to suggest to you, Miss Cutforth, that you constantly stated you didn't want children,
12:16and took unilateral precautions not to have them.
12:19That's not true.
12:20I told you I wanted children.
12:22Very well.
12:23I can't take that any further.
12:26When did you first meet your husband?
12:28About the end of 1966.
12:30Could it have been as early as September?
12:32Yes, I think it was.
12:33Now, Miss Cutforth, I want to deal with the financial aspect of your marriage.
12:38Your father, Sir Peter Cutforth, manages the family business, doesn't he?
12:41Cutforth's the private bank.
12:43And at about the end of 1966, the bank got into difficulties, didn't it?
12:48I wouldn't know about that.
12:49Oh, yes you would, because it was you who saved the family bank, wasn't it?
12:54By doing a deal with Mr. Scard, that if he loaned your father enough money to tide him over,
12:59you would marry him?
13:01That is a monstrous suggestion.
13:03You deny it?
13:04Every word, it's a lie.
13:06And a special feature of the deal was that your father was not to know anything about it, wasn't it?
13:12It's all nonsense.
13:13So you arranged that if Mr. Scard loaned half the money,
13:16you would announce the engagement six months later,
13:19and after that, if he loaned the rest of the money, you would then marry him.
13:23He told you all that.
13:25He's an animal.
13:27You deny it?
13:28Emphatically.
13:31After your stay at Elm Court, you went to the police, didn't you?
13:35Yes.
13:36And made a complaint to them, but they would have nothing to do with it, would they?
13:39They said it was a private matter.
13:41So you chose to bring a prosecution of your own.
13:43This is a private prosecution, isn't it?
13:45Brought and paid for by you?
13:47Yes, it is.
13:48Why didn't you bring a civil action for assault and imprisonment and claim damages?
13:53I'm not interested in money.
13:55Oh?
13:56I thought you were.
13:58So you're bringing a private prosecution so as to hurt Robert Scard as badly as you can.
14:05What he did was criminal, that's why.
14:08You told us you went to Elm Court because you wanted more money.
14:12Yes.
14:13More maintenance.
14:14I've already told you that.
14:15But it wasn't expressed like that, was it?
14:17Your husband suggested a reconciliation and you played along because you wanted more money.
14:22He knew there could be no possibility of a reconciliation ever.
14:25But one of your terms for this fresh start was not that you should just be financially independent
14:31but an enormously rich woman in your own right and when you couldn't get your own way
14:35you threatened to bring a charge of rape against him and to get him off the boards of all his companies.
14:40That's the first I've heard of.
14:42And that's just what you're doing, isn't it?
14:44Carrying out your threat.
14:46I have no re-examination my lord.
14:50Very well.
14:51Thank you Miss Cutforth.
14:56I call Sir Peter Cutforth.
15:01You are the father of Miss Cutforth the complainant?
15:04Yes.
15:05Did you see your daughter in October of last year?
15:07Yes several times but I expect you want to know about October the 7th.
15:11Yes.
15:12I was woken up a little before one in the morning by the doorbell.
15:16I found Serena outside.
15:18She asked if she could stay the night.
15:20She looked exhausted and extremely upset about something.
15:23You noticed her appearance?
15:25Well what caught my attention was that she had no makeup on.
15:29Now will you just answer this question yes or no?
15:32Did she say if anything was the matter?
15:34I asked and at first she wouldn't say a word.
15:37However when I'd cooked her something to eat made up a bed for her
15:40it all came out.
15:41So she did say what was the matter?
15:43Yes.
15:44It was a complaint against someone?
15:45Yes.
15:46What sort of state was she in when she told you this?
15:47She was crying.
15:49Next day at my insistence we went round to the local police station to make a complaint.
15:55But for some reason best known to them
15:57they advised her to take up the matter with her solicitors.
16:01Have you seen your daughter upset before?
16:03I mean in the way in which she was upset that night?
16:05Of course when she was a little girl but not since she's grown up.
16:09She's really a very self-possessed young woman.
16:12Yes.
16:14We might as well have it out in the open.
16:15What did your daughter tell you that night?
16:19She said that Robert had kept her locked up and had taken her against her will.
16:27Now Sir Peter, you have worked in the city for many years?
16:31Yes.
16:32That's correct, yes.
16:33And it's right, isn't it, that Mr Scard enjoys the highest reputation in the city
16:37both for his ability and his integrity.
16:40Oh yes, indeed.
16:41He's not one of the new pack of compulsive asset strippers.
16:44Quite.
16:45And it's right also that you have done business with Mr Scard.
16:48Cutforth's bank you mean, yes.
16:50Would you like to tell the court about it?
16:52It was towards the end of 1966.
16:56The bank had a slight liquidity problem.
16:58We needed a bridging loan.
17:00You're a slight liquidity problem.
17:02A shortage of hard cash.
17:04Yes.
17:06How much was the loan you wanted?
17:08Five million pounds.
17:09We had ample security.
17:10And that was when you approached Robert Scard.
17:13As a matter of fact we approached a number of people.
17:15But we approached the Bow Investment Trust, that's Mr Scard's,
17:18about the beginning of December, 66.
17:21First he wasn't interested.
17:22But in January 67 he came back and the loan was agreed.
17:27In two parts.
17:28Two million to be paid in February
17:30and a further three million the following September.
17:33I may add that we've all done very well out of this piece of mutual cooperation.
17:38Now one of the terms for this agreement was that Mr Scard could nominate a director
17:42to the board of Cutforce Bank and he did that, didn't he?
17:45Yes.
17:46And that director is still with you as Mr Scard's nominee?
17:50Yes.
17:51Alfie Jones.
17:52Now you first met Mr Scard at the end of 1966.
17:56Yes.
17:57Well that's right.
17:58I hadn't met him before.
18:00But your daughter announced her engagement in July 1967.
18:06Did that come as a surprise to you?
18:09Yes, it did.
18:10Why was that now?
18:11Well for one thing she'd been more or less unofficially engaged to another chap for some time
18:16and so far as I knew that was still going on.
18:19And I didn't know that she even knew Robert.
18:22I suppose you asked her when she met him?
18:24Yes, I gathered that they met in July of 67 at a house party at Hydra in Greece.
18:29A swift engagement then?
18:31Yes.
18:32But not a shotgun marriage.
18:34No, of course not.
18:35No children at all.
18:36I suppose you saw a lot of Mr Scard after the engagement?
18:40Of course.
18:41I came to respect him as much as she did.
18:44She respected him?
18:48Oh yes.
18:49He was after all 15 years her senior.
18:52Do you think he loved her?
18:54Oh I don't think anybody could doubt that.
18:57He was absolutely mad about her.
18:59He'd have done anything for her.
19:00And did you have a close relationship with your daughter?
19:04Yes, we were always extremely close.
19:07Ever since her mother died when Serena was seven.
19:11I would do anything for her.
19:14And she for you?
19:17Yes.
19:18I believe so.
19:19Thank you, Sir Peter.
19:20Sir Peter, I want you to take your time and answer this question carefully.
19:25Is there any truth whatsoever in the suggestion that your daughter agreed to marry Mr Scard
19:31as a condition for the bridging loan of five million pounds?
19:34Mr Harvesty, I don't think that's...
19:35I don't understand.
19:36How could anybody suggest such a thing?
19:37Oh it isn't I but the defence who have been suggesting it throughout your cross-examination.
19:39But it's impossible!
19:40She hadn't even met him until after the loan was agreed.
19:43Her evidence is that she had.
19:45Now don't worry, Sir Peter.
19:47Mr Harvesty, it has never been suggested that this witness was a party to the supposed deal
19:52or that he even knew about it.
19:54So you cannot ask him about it.
19:57Very well, my lord.
19:58I have no further questions.
20:00Thank you, Sir Peter.
20:01You may go.
20:05I call Harold Arthur Beamish.
20:10You are Mr Scard's butler and have been, I believe, for eight years.
20:13Yes, sir.
20:14You are still employed by Mr Scard?
20:16Yes, my lord.
20:17Do you come here of your own free will?
20:19I have been subpoenaed, my lord.
20:22Were you at Elm Court on the 5th, 6th and 7th of October of last year?
20:26Yes, sir, I was.
20:27Tell the court, please, what happened.
20:29Mr Scard came home rather late, about 2.30 in the morning.
20:32I had waited up for him in case he should want anything.
20:35Madam was with him, sir.
20:37Did that surprise you?
20:38Yes.
20:39They had been separated for almost a year, sir.
20:42Then what happened?
20:43Then we all retired to our respective beds.
20:46The next morning I saw Mr Scard, he said that Madam was very tired and would be resting for a couple of days.
20:53He said that he would take her meals and that none of the servants was to go near her rooms.
20:57Were you surprised by that?
20:59Yes.
21:00Mr Scard never gave orders at Elm Court.
21:02He gave orders?
21:03Who ran the household, fixed the time of meals and so on?
21:06Madam did, my lord.
21:07But she wasn't there for the first four years of your service, nor the last year.
21:12When she wasn't there, who ran the house?
21:15I did, my lord.
21:18Did you see Mr Scard take up food to his wife's rooms?
21:22Yes, sir.
21:23Did he also take up food for himself?
21:25No, sir.
21:26I served him in his study downstairs.
21:28When did you next see Mrs Scard?
21:30On the 7th, sir, at about 9pm.
21:33I was on the landing just passing Madam's rooms when quite suddenly she burst out of the door.
21:39Did you notice anything about her appearance?
21:41Oh, yes, sir.
21:42She was breathing heavily and seemed very frightened.
21:45Her nightdress was torn and there was blood about her mouth.
21:49Did she say anything?
21:50Not at once.
21:51Mr Scard came out the door after her, shouting.
21:54Shouting?
21:55What?
21:56He was swearing at her, sir.
21:57He said, a gangbang would be too good for you.
22:01Madam said, he's mad.
22:04I then suggested that Madam should go to my room and then I borrowed some clothes for her from one of the maids.
22:10Why did you suggest that she should go to your room? To protect her from Mr Scard?
22:14Oh, no, sir.
22:15Mr Scard did not offer her any violence in my presence.
22:18But Madam's nightdress...
22:20Madam's nightdress was of a rather revealing nature.
22:24It did not conceal as much as some nightdresses do.
22:29Might have...
22:30You mean it was transparent?
22:33Yes, my lord.
22:35And also, when Madam asked if she might go back into her rooms to collect her clothes, Mr Scard replied, no, you effing cannot.
22:44Then he went back into her rooms, locking Madam out, sir.
22:48Did you subsequently do some detective work?
22:51Yes, sir.
22:52The day after Madam left, I went into her rooms.
22:56I found that the windows had been screwed up and that the bell was not working.
23:00Oh, and I also found that the wire had been cut under the carpet.
23:03Do you know when the windows had been screwed up?
23:06No, sir.
23:08The last occasion I had to open the windows, which would be some three months before, there were no screws then.
23:15In fact, the windows opened very easily.
23:17I see. Thank you.
23:19I have no cross-examination, my lord.
23:22That is the case for the prosecution, my lord.
23:25My lord, I have a submission to make.
23:28Yes, Mr Cross, what is it?
23:30My lord, my submission is that in law, a husband cannot be charged with the imprisonment or the rape of his wife.
23:38That is, where they are not legally separated.
23:42Therefore, I submit there is no case to answer, my lord.
23:49The case of the Queen against Skar,
24:18the Queen against Skar will be resumed tomorrow in the Crown Court.
24:48Yesterday, in Forchester Crown Court, Robert Skard, a self-made multimillionaire, was charged with kidnapping and raping his wife Serena.
24:57After hearing evidence from his wife, Sir Peter Cutforth, Serena's father, and Skard's butler Beamish, the defence counsel, Mr Cross, rose to make a startling submission to the court.
25:07Mr Cross, you have a submission to make.
25:12Yes, my lord.
25:13As I indicated last night, my submission is that a husband cannot be charged with the unlawful imprisonment or the rape of his wife, at least where there is no legal separation.
25:23And as the prosecution evidence shows that neither Miss Cutforth nor her husband, Mr Skard, are either divorced or legally separated, consequently there is no case to answer, my lord.
25:35Yes, I will take some persuading that that proposition of the law is correct. What do you say is the principle behind it?
25:41A unity, my lord. The doctrine that the bond between husband and wife is such that the wife is bound to cohabit with her husband and bound to have intercourse with him.
25:52Are you saying that in this day and age a woman cannot refuse to have intercourse with her husband?
25:57I am, my lord, where there is no legal separation.
26:00Oh, no, no, no, Mr Cross, that is no good. The law is not as primitive as that. And besides, there is a recent decision against you so far as unlawful imprisonment is concerned, the case of Reid is against you.
26:11Well, I accept that, my lord, but the case of Miller is for me as far as rape is concerned.
26:15I have it here, Mr Cross. And in my opinion, that decision was a bad one when it was made 20 years ago, and I think it is even worse now, and I will not follow it.
26:26Oh, my lord, you are bound by the decision. The decision was that of a high court judge on a size, and, of course, you are a high court judge, but are merely sitting in the crowd.
26:37Mr Cross, I am perfectly well aware of who I am and where I am without you telling me, and I will not follow that decision. It is a monster.
26:46And it is no good you trying to bully me into submission by citing a lot of authorities. You are wasting your time.
26:51Very well, my lord. I see that I can take the matter no further.
26:54No further.
26:55No, you cannot. I am sorry if I appear abrupt, but I think it is a very silly decision, and I mean the one in the case of Regina versus Miller, not mine.
27:05Very well, my lord. I call the accused.
27:08What is your religion?
27:18Church of England.
27:19Take the book in your right hand and read aloud the words on the card.
27:21I swear by Almighty God that the evidence I shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
27:26Mr Scard, what is your full name?
27:28Robert John Scard.
27:29And where do you live?
27:30Most of the time I live at Elm Court, Sheppingham.
27:33You were married to Serena Cutforth in the spring of 1968.
27:36Would you tell the court how that marriage came about?
27:39Well, we met in the autumn of 1966, September-like.
27:43I thought she was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.
27:46Not that I thought any more of it at the time, seeing what she was and what I was.
27:49So you didn't think of inviting her out or anything?
27:52Never crossed my mind, no more than inviting Bridget Bardot out.
27:56Because you thought she was a different class from you.
27:59Well, that and look in the way she does.
28:01Did you see her again at the end of 1966?
28:04Yes, we kept bumping into each other in odd places like charity dues and so on.
28:09She seemed to take a bit more interest in me and in the end I fell for her.
28:13And how did the engagement come about?
28:15Well, I'd been taking her out a bit and then she brought up this business about a loan to her dad.
28:21Well, she knew I wouldn't agree.
28:24So we made a deal. I know I must have been mad at the time.
28:27The deal was two million to her father's bank in February 1967.
28:32The engagement to be announced five months later in July.
28:35Another three million to dad in September.
28:37And marriage in the spring of 1968.
28:40Did her father know?
28:41Not on your life.
28:42That's why all the delays were built in like,
28:44so it wouldn't look like me coughing up the money had anything to do with the marriage.
28:47Tell me, Mr. Scard, was it a good investment?
28:49Oh, yes, it's gone all right, my lord.
28:51I put my mate Alfred Jones on the board and cut forces as right as rain.
28:55It's the fastest expanding merchant bank in the city now.
28:58I see, thank you.
28:59Mr. Scard, you separated in December 1971.
29:02How did that separation come about?
29:04Oh, things have been difficult for a long time.
29:07And I just, I wanted to go on, but I just wanted to be given a chance, that's all.
29:12But I must admit, things were pretty bad.
29:15Well, anyway, one day she came to me and she said,
29:18Let's face it, Robert.
29:19It won't work, will it?
29:20We're incompatible.
29:21So, I had to admit that things were pretty bad.
29:26They couldn't go on as they were.
29:27So, she said she couldn't go on and that was that.
29:29Afterwards, I found out she had a fancy man.
29:32That's why she left.
29:33You say you discovered she was having an affair?
29:35After she'd left, I found out.
29:37Tell us what had been wrong with the marriage, Mr. Scard.
29:40Everything.
29:41She weren't interested in me.
29:43I didn't know that at the time, but she just weren't interested in me at all.
29:46Did you and she share the same friends?
29:48No.
29:49After the marriage, I started losing my friends one by one.
29:52Except those that were in business with me.
29:54She just never made them welcome.
29:56The house was always full of her kind of folk.
29:59I was only good enough to pay the bloody bills.
30:02And what was her attitude to having children?
30:04She wouldn't.
30:06Did that upset you very much?
30:08Yes.
30:09I should explain that my dad was killed in the war
30:12and my mother died when I was quite young.
30:14I've always wanted a family, some relatives.
30:16Why did you invite your wife to Elm Court that night,
30:19the night of October the 5th?
30:21Well, I was that in love with her. I wanted her to come back.
30:24You wanted to try a reconciliation after all that had happened?
30:27Yes.
30:28And your wife agreed to discuss it with you?
30:31Yes, I said to come to Sheppingham for a couple of days
30:35and we'll talk it over.
30:36Why did you keep the servants away from her
30:38and take food to her yourself?
30:41Well, because I'm soft, I suppose you could say.
30:43But I wanted to do something personal for her
30:45besides writing out cheques.
30:47To be alone with her.
30:48To show that two people could be happy together without servants.
30:51Did you discuss the reconciliation?
30:53Yes, when I took her breakfast on the morning of the 6th.
30:57I said to her, how about it lass, let's make a go of it.
31:01And she asked me what I was going to do about it
31:03because it took two people to make a marriage go.
31:05Yes, go on.
31:07Well, then she said she was tired and she wanted to sleep some more
31:10and I should wake her up that evening.
31:12And did you?
31:13Yes, and we talked some more.
31:15And then she said that I didn't love her
31:18that she was just my status symbol.
31:21I tried to convince her
31:23but she said that if I really loved her
31:25I wouldn't be so mean.
31:27She was always carping on about money.
31:29Lord knows I gave it enough.
31:30And then what happened?
31:34Well, then I asked her if I could get into bed with her
31:37and she said she wasn't interested and to go away.
31:40And did you?
31:41Yes.
31:42Did you lock her in?
31:44No.
31:45At any time?
31:46No, my lord.
31:47What did you do then?
31:49Well, I had some jewellery in the flat in London
31:51which I knew she liked.
31:52She'd seen it when we were married and I'd bought it
31:54and before I had a chance to give it till we'd broken up.
31:57So I drove to London to get it.
31:58Drove to London?
31:59That's a three-hour drive each way.
32:02Yes, my lord.
32:03And you got the jewellery.
32:04May Mr Scard see Exhibits 1 and 2, please?
32:08Let's just look at Exhibit 1, shall we?
32:11Would you open that, Mr Scard?
32:15Is that one of the things you fetched?
32:17Yes.
32:18And did you give it to her?
32:19Yes, I did on the morning of the 7th.
32:21And was she pleased?
32:23Yes, she seemed to be.
32:24She kissed me and...
32:26I tried to get into bed with her
32:28and she said not until after lunch.
32:30Did you make love to her after lunch?
32:31Yes.
32:32And did you spend the afternoon with her?
32:34Yes.
32:35Did you make love to her again?
32:36Yes.
32:37Did you give her anything else?
32:39Yes, a bracelet.
32:40May Mr Scard see Exhibit 2, please?
32:45Is that the bracelet?
32:46Yes, it is.
32:47Did you give it to her before or after you've made love to her?
32:50Before.
32:52Now, after you'd finished making love, what happened?
32:55Well, she went to sleep for a while
32:57and then we talked about the reconciliation.
32:59Please go on, Mr Scard.
33:02Well, she said that she didn't always want to be asking me for money
33:06and that she would only come back if I gave her shares
33:10and made her independent.
33:11Did she say how much she needed to be independent?
33:14Yes, my lord. She said she wanted a million pounds.
33:17That's when we started quarrelling.
33:19I wanted to be strong for once. I wouldn't agree.
33:22We argued all afternoon.
33:24In the end, I said I wasn't interested in giving her that kind of money
33:27that she was selling herself.
33:28And how did it all end?
33:30Well, she explained to me very carefully
33:31that if I didn't give her the money, she would have me charged with rape
33:34and kick me when it hurt me most by getting me off the boards of all my companies.
33:37Would you like to tell the court how that could come about?
33:41Well, it's very simple, really.
33:42The articles of association of most of my large companies
33:45forbid anyone with a criminal record from being a director.
33:49She's got a very good brain, Serena.
33:51So that if you are convicted, you can no longer take part in the management of your companies?
33:56Yes, my lord.
33:57And what was your answer to this threat?
33:59Well, I said I wouldn't agree to such a thing.
34:01Then I was brought up to be decent.
34:04And what happened then is the only part of her evidence
34:06which was true.
34:09She said to me that I had no conception of what the word decency meant.
34:14That I disgusted her because I was an animal.
34:18And she used the word animal over and over again.
34:21You would disagree with that description, Mr. Scarl?
34:23I'm rough in my manners, my lord.
34:25My wife is a well-brought-up, cultured woman, I've always been told.
34:29There's nothing more I can say.
34:30And how did the quarrel end?
34:32I hit her and told her to get out for good.
34:34One more question, Mr. Scarl?
34:37Do you still love your wife?
34:40Yes.
34:44Mr. Scarl, you told us that your wife married you as part of a business deal,
34:50that she treated you badly throughout the marriage,
34:53and then left you for another man.
34:54Are you now trying to tell us that you were seeking a reconciliation?
34:57It's true.
34:58Oh, come now, Mr. Scarl.
35:00You invited her to Elm Court because you wanted sex with her, come what may.
35:04And as a pretext for getting her there,
35:06you said you'd discuss maintenance with her, didn't you?
35:08I wanted to make love to her, yes.
35:10The same as I'd wanted to make love to her every night for the three years we were married.
35:13And it was just for that that you invited her there?
35:16I told you, I love my wife.
35:18That jewellery with which you say you bribed your wife to have sexual intercourse, when did you buy it?
35:22I can't remember the exact date.
35:25Oh, then perhaps you have receipts. That would help us to fix the date.
35:29I don't have them.
35:31Why not, Mr. Scarl?
35:33Your solicitors told your wife's solicitors that you had them and would produce them.
35:37I can't find them.
35:38Mr. Scarl, you didn't bring them because you knew that they'd show that you'd bought those jewels
35:43not just before the marriage broke up in December 1971,
35:47but in August of 1971 when you and your wife were still living together.
35:50No, that is not true.
35:51Because you did buy them in August of 1971 and you gave them to her then, didn't you?
35:56No, that is not true.
35:58You say you've lost those receipts?
36:00Yes, my lord.
36:02It's a fact, isn't it, that you didn't get on with your wife's friends?
36:06That's a fact.
36:08And your marriage broke down because you couldn't provide your wife with what she most needed,
36:12cultural, intelligent companionship. You had nothing in common, didn't you?
36:15My marriage broke down because she never loved me in the slightest,
36:18because she never had any interest in me or of making a go of it,
36:22and in the end she got a fancy man.
36:25Oh, come now, Mr. Scarl, that's absolute nonsense, isn't it?
36:28Have you ever caught her with another man?
36:30She's always with a group of friends, isn't she?
36:32She probably sleeps with all of them for all I know.
36:34You say that because she, like her friends, rejected you.
36:40She was the first thing you wanted which you couldn't get.
36:44I don't know what you're getting at.
36:46She was an obsession, wasn't she?
36:48You had to have her one way or the other.
36:50No, I told you I love her.
36:52So you lured her to Elm Court.
36:53I wanted her to live with me.
36:55You lured her to Elm Court on the pretext of discussing her maintenance with her,
36:59having first made sure that once she was there she couldn't escape,
37:02by screwing up the windows and cutting off the wires to the bells in the rooms.
37:06I cut the bells, yes.
37:07Why?
37:09Well, because I wanted to be alone with her,
37:11and not having her pressing the bell every five minutes,
37:13and having a servant carry a box of matches across the room.
37:15And the windows?
37:17I didn't do anything to the windows.
37:20Then who did?
37:39What is your occupation, Miss Atkins?
37:41I'm an housemaid.
37:43Were you employed at Elm Court in that capacity on October the 7th of last year?
37:48Yes, sir, I was.
37:49Now, I'd like you to think back and answer this question.
37:52Did you on that date notice anything which you would deem out of the ordinary?
37:56Yes, sir, I did.
37:58Would you like to tell the court what that was?
38:00Well, it happened while I was on in the evening.
38:02I was sorting out China in the kitchen when Beamish...
38:05Mr Beamish came in all breathless and said...
38:08Now, my lord!
38:09Not quite so, Mr Harbester.
38:11Miss Atkins, I'm afraid you are not allowed to tell us what Mr Beamish said.
38:16Did he say something had happened?
38:19Yes.
38:20I don't think my learned friend will object to this.
38:24He asked you to lend Madam some clothes?
38:26Yes, but he wouldn't say why.
38:28Go on.
38:29Well, we had a bit of an argument and I went upstairs.
38:31Mr Beamish insisted on coming with me to check the clothes.
38:35To make sure they were quite suitable for Madam to wear, he said.
38:39He wouldn't take the first things I got out.
38:42Finally we, or I should say he, chose a blouse, a sweater, a pair of my slacks and some sandals.
38:48Her feet were much larger than mine.
38:51Then we went upstairs to Mr Beamish's room.
38:53Well, you could have knocked me over with a feather duster when I found Madam in there, wearing one of those see-through things.
39:00Anyway, I gave her the clothes and she puts them on and floats off without even a word of thanks.
39:05A couple of minutes later I heard her car drive off.
39:08Did Mrs Scard say anything?
39:10Well, I said to her I was sorry because we were all hoping for a reconciliation.
39:14And she said,
39:16It's difficult to reconcile yourself to living with a beast.
39:19Now, are you quite sure she said that?
39:23Yes, sir.
39:25During the period between the early hours of October the 6th and the evening of the 7th,
39:29while Mrs Scard was still at Elm Court,
39:32did you notice anything or hear anything which would suggest to you that she was being ill-treated in any way?
39:38Only the bruise on her face.
39:40And her lip was bleeding a bit.
39:42One more question, Miss Atkins.
39:44Have your clothes been returned to you?
39:46No, not yet.
39:48I wouldn't want to wear them now anyway.
39:52A moment, Mr Harvesty, please.
39:54Miss Atkins, do you know who screwed up the windows in Mrs Scard's bedroom?
39:59Well, the only thing I can think of, Your Worship,
40:02is perhaps one of the burglar alarm men did it.
40:04What burglar alarm men?
40:05Well, at the time there was a lot of chewing and throwing about the burglar alarms,
40:09taking out the old system and putting a new one in.
40:12Several times they went before the job was finished.
40:15Don't you mean during the changeover someone may have screwed up the windows as a precaution
40:20and then forgotten to unscrew them?
40:23It's possible, yes, Your Worship.
40:25I see. Thank you.
40:27Did you at any time since these burglar alarm men, as you call them,
40:31came to the house observe any screws in any other windows?
40:34No.
40:35No.
40:36No.
40:37No, as I thought.
40:39Now you say that you heard Mrs Scard say
40:42it's difficult trying to reconcile yourself to living with a beast.
40:46You apparently are the only one who heard those words.
40:49Well, Mr Beamish couldn't, could he?
40:51He was standing outside in the passage, Madame being in her birthday suit and all.
40:54Tell me, when you heard these words spoken, did you attach any particular importance to them?
41:02No, why should I?
41:04Well, then how is it that after all this time you can remember them?
41:07Now think carefully, Miss Atkins, you are on oath.
41:10Are you absolutely certain in your own mind that she spoke those actual words?
41:13Yes, I am.
41:14Well, you see, Miss Cutforth's evidence is that she said no such thing to you.
41:20Well, I can't help that.
41:22Miss Atkins, another thing you said, that Mr Beamish, when he asked you first to lend your mistress some clothes,
41:29there was an argument. What was that argument about?
41:31Well, no one likes to lend other people their clothes, do they?
41:34Are you sure that's the only reason?
41:37Of course I am.
41:39It's true, isn't it, that you felt a dislike for Miss Cutforth as a person?
41:44Yes.
41:45A strong dislike.
41:46Yes, it's true.
41:47In fact, on many occasions you even said that you could have made Mr Scard a much better wife than she could.
41:52Isn't that right?
41:54Anyone could have made him a better wife than she did.
41:56Now that the marriage has broken down, someone will get that chance.
42:01I have no re-examination, my lord.
42:03Very well, Miss Atkins. You may go.
42:07Now that concludes the case for the defence, my lord.
42:10Very well.
42:11Mr Harvesty?
42:13Members of the jury, one thing at least is clear in this case.
42:18Robert Scard, in the context of his marriage, revealed himself to be a brute.
42:24The separation when it came in December of 1971 was hardly surprising.
42:27Indeed, what is surprising is that Miss Cutforth lived with that man for as long as she did.
42:32Ten months after the separation, Scard lured Miss Cutforth to his remote country house.
42:39There, he kept her under lock and key and induced her to have sexual intercourse with him twice, saying that she would not go free until she had done so.
42:49The law is that an apparent consent is not a real consent if it is given under duress.
42:56Miss Cutforth did not consent to sexual intercourse.
42:59She acquiesced under duress.
43:02That is rape.
43:04Scard says that she wasn't locked up, but her consent was given freely as part of some sordid bargain.
43:10He says, in effect, that Miss Cutforth prostituted herself.
43:15But members of the jury, the evidence, which was undisputed, was that the windows had been screwed up and the wires operating the bells in the rooms had been cut.
43:24But the truth is that Serena Cutforth went innocently to Elm Court on the night of the 5th and 6th of October and woke up the next morning to find herself in a cage.
43:34Oh, it was by all accounts a gilded cage, but the key was in the possession of a monster.
43:39Members of the jury, in my submission the evidence in this case allows no doubts as to the guilt of the accused and I ask you to return your verdict accordingly.
43:48Members of the jury, this case turns almost exclusively on the question, who do you believe?
43:58Do you believe Miss Cutforth's story that she married for love, separated through incompatibility,
44:05was lured back to Elm Court on the pretext of a discussion of maintenance,
44:10and there induced to intercourse under the threat of being locked up until she did?
44:16Or do you believe Robert Scard's story?
44:21He says he married Miss Cutforth as part of the bargain whereby he loaned money into her father's ailing private bank.
44:28Part of the bargain was that her father was not to know about it,
44:32and that the engagement was not to be announced until six months after the first payment of the loan.
44:37Now he sees that she never loved him, that she left him, as he subsequently learned, for another man,
44:45that they went to Elm Court to effect a reconciliation, that he never locked her up,
44:51and that sexual intercourse was consensual, induced not by force, but by gifts which she as good as demanded.
44:59Members of the jury, I submit that Robert Scard is neither a monster nor a beast,
45:07and that if someone has behaved badly, it is his wife, and I therefore ask you to return a verdict of not guilty.
45:12Now, members of the jury, there are two issues in this case.
45:17First, was Miss Cutforth locked up in those rooms as she says she was?
45:23Because if she was, then the accused is guilty of unlawful imprisonment.
45:27Second, did the acts of sexual intercourse, which it is agreed occurred,
45:34take place because she was told that she would not go free until she had submitted to them?
45:40Now, rape of a woman is sexual intercourse under duress.
45:45Usually this duress is actual physical violence, but any kind of duress will do.
45:50In this case, physical violence is not suggested in connection with the sexual intercourse.
45:58But if you believe, you may think, Miss Cutforth's story,
46:02you may think that there was sufficient violence to amount to duress.
46:07I do not propose to go over the evidence or counsel's arguments,
46:11but I do ask you to remember that the prosecution must prove their case beyond all reasonable doubt.
46:17And now, members of the jury, will you please retire to consider your verdict?
46:24All stand.
46:42All stand.
46:43All stand.
46:54Will the foreman please stand?
46:57Just answer this question, yes or no.
46:59Have you reached a verdict upon which you are all agreed?
47:01Yes.
47:03On the first count of unlawful imprisonment, do you find the accused guilty or not guilty?
47:07Not guilty.
47:09On the second count of rape, do you find the accused guilty or not guilty?
47:12Not guilty.
47:13Not guilty.
47:42Next week, our cameras return to watch another leading case in the Crown Court.
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47:44Next week, our cameras return to watch another leading case in the Crown Court.
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47:53Next week, our cameras return to watch another leading case in the Crown Court.
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47:59Next week, our cameras return to watch another leading case in the Crown Court.
48:00This isinar on an extraordinary basis.
48:01The
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