- 3 days ago
1977 COURTROOM DRAMA "Unemployed plasterer Frank Hanlon stands accused of burgling at night a shop called The Jewel Box and stealing a watch and a ring. He was arrested in the company of a young woman with whom he was having an affair." IMDB Starring John Woodnutt, Keith Barron, David Robb, Peter Armitage, Steven Beard, Avis Bunnage, Diana Davies, John Quarmby, Barbara Waddington
Episodes aired Feb 15-17, 1977
Episodes aired Feb 15-17, 1977
Category
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TVTranscript
00:00:04The
00:00:36At Fulchester Crown Court this week,
00:00:38the jury selected from eligible citizens on the electoral register
00:00:41is trying a case of burglary.
00:00:43Did the prisoner, Frank Hanlon, enter the shop premises
00:00:46known as the jewel box in Fulchester
00:00:48and steal a ring and a watch?
00:00:50Hanlon says he didn't.
00:00:51The police will say he did.
00:00:56And all these three women will support Hanlon's story.
00:01:00The case of the Queen against Frank Hanlon has already started
00:01:02and at the moment, prosecution counsel is examining his first witness,
00:01:06the owner of the jewel box, Harry Cross.
00:01:09After you found the door had been forced open, what did you do?
00:01:12Well, I did a stop check, didn't I? What a job.
00:01:15And what did you find?
00:01:16Well, first thing I found was a ring missing.
00:01:18Can you be shown the ring, please?
00:01:23Is that the missing ring, Mr Cross?
00:01:26Definitely.
00:01:27You're absolutely positive it's from your shop.
00:01:29I couldn't have come from anywhere else, Your Honour.
00:01:32Beautiful piece of jewellery. Beautiful.
00:01:34I'd like to introduce it as exhibit one, Your Honour.
00:01:37What value do you put on the ring, Mr Cross?
00:01:39Well, I retailed them for £11.50.
00:01:43One of me more expensive lines, Your Honour, but what a bargain, eh?
00:01:46You specialise in rings, I understand, Mr Cross.
00:01:49Yeah.
00:02:00Did you find anything else was missing?
00:02:02A watch, eventually.
00:02:05I mean, doing a stock check in my shop is like trying to count how many draughts there are in
00:02:09a castle.
00:02:10Can you be shown the watch, please?
00:02:14Is that the missing watch?
00:02:17No doubt about it.
00:02:18One of mine.
00:02:19Been a marvellous seller as this watch, Your Honour.
00:02:22Marvellous.
00:02:22Can't get enough of it.
00:02:23I'd like to introduce it as exhibit two, Your Honour.
00:02:26What value do you put on the watch?
00:02:28Would you believe it?
00:02:29Only £5.50.
00:02:31How cheap can you get, eh?
00:02:36I hope the kids are all right with Mrs Evans.
00:02:40Now, you say you're positive, dear Mr Cross.
00:02:42That ring, Exhibit 1, is the ring missing from your shop.
00:02:45Do me a favour.
00:02:46Of course I'm positive, no doubt about it.
00:02:48You did a stock check and found a ring was missing.
00:02:51That's right.
00:02:51That's right.
00:02:52Now, how many rings like that did you have in stock on the night of the alleged offence?
00:02:5725.
00:02:58All similar.
00:02:59Like Chinaman.
00:03:01When had you done a stock check previously, Mr Cross, before your shop was brought into?
00:03:05About three months before.
00:03:07So, the missing ring could actually have disappeared at any time during those three months, could it?
00:03:13Could have.
00:03:15Do you get more shoplifting?
00:03:17Who doesn't?
00:03:18What's the total over the whole country?
00:03:19400 million quid.
00:03:20So, all you're really telling the jury, Mr Cross, is that a ring was missing from your shop.
00:03:24A ring which could have gone missing at any time over a period of three months.
00:03:27But you can't be sure that that's the ring.
00:03:31I am sure.
00:03:32How?
00:03:33Because my merchandise is exclusive, that's how.
00:03:37Very exclusive, Your Honour.
00:03:38You can't buy another ring like that to anyone else in the whole country.
00:03:41Exclusive.
00:03:42Would you have a look at this ring, Mr Cross?
00:03:44I will be introducing it at a later stage, Your Honour.
00:03:51Had a good look at it, Mr Cross?
00:03:53Yeah, I could examine it better if I had my glass.
00:03:56Well, I shouldn't worry, Mr Cross.
00:03:57It's not from Cartier's.
00:03:58Now, isn't it identical to the ring you say is from your shop, Exhibit 1?
00:04:03Compare them if you like.
00:04:04Can he see Exhibit 1 again, please?
00:04:10What do you say, Mr Cross?
00:04:13Er, well...
00:04:13Is it identical to the ring you say came from your shop, Exhibit 1?
00:04:18I suppose it is.
00:04:19Well, nearly identical.
00:04:21Well, either it is or it isn't, Mr Cross.
00:04:25It is.
00:04:26Where did you, er...
00:04:27And what about these rings, Mr Cross?
00:04:32Similarly, I will be introducing them at a later stage, Your Honour.
00:04:38Now, then.
00:04:39Are they identical to Exhibit 1?
00:04:43They do look the same, yeah.
00:04:45You've been, er, tapping up my wholesaler, have you?
00:04:48Well, you must have.
00:04:49There's no way you could get rings like that, that quality.
00:04:51All those four rings have been bought from shops in and around Fulchester during this past week, Mr Cross.
00:04:57Hey, you're joking.
00:04:59I don't believe that, Your Honour.
00:05:01I mean, they're exclusive to me, these rings.
00:05:04They're specially imported from Amsterdam.
00:05:06Well, I shall prove it, Mr Cross.
00:05:07Oh, by the way, how much did you say you sold those rings for?
00:05:10£11.50.
00:05:11A ridiculous price.
00:05:13£11.50.
00:05:14Now, those four rings I've just shown you were all bought locally for between £4 and £5, Mr Cross.
00:05:20What?
00:05:21I can't buy them for £4!
00:05:23Well, we do, Mr Cross.
00:05:24Now, I'd like to ask you, if I may, about the watch.
00:05:27Can I be shown Exhibit 2, please?
00:05:33Now, are you sure?
00:05:34Positive again, are you, Mr Cross?
00:05:35That watch is the watch missing from your shop.
00:05:38Yep.
00:05:38Similarly, you did a stock check on the watches.
00:05:40That's right.
00:05:41And similarly, it was three months before you'd done one previously.
00:05:45Yep.
00:05:46How many watches had you in stock on the night of the break-in?
00:05:49Well, I should have had 11, but when I checked, there were only 10.
00:05:52So, again, what you're really saying is that a watch was missing, which could have gone missing at any time
00:05:55during three months.
00:05:57Oh, no.
00:05:58Not the watch.
00:05:59No chance.
00:05:59Oh?
00:06:00Why not?
00:06:01Well, I'd sold one, you see, a few days before I was done.
00:06:04And I remember thinking, if I'd got down below a dozen, I'd better be ordering some more.
00:06:09Like I said, Your Honour, they go like hotcakes, do them watches?
00:06:11Like hotcakes!
00:06:12I'll, er, amend my question.
00:06:14What you're really saying is that a watch was missing, which could have gone missing at any time over a
00:06:19period of a few days.
00:06:21But you can't be certain that that's the missing watch.
00:06:24I can.
00:06:25Well, you're surely not claiming the watch is exclusive, too, are you, Mr. Cross?
00:06:30They're only from Basel, Switzerland, that's all.
00:06:35At some lovely Portuguese onyx reading lamps in from the same wholesaler only yesterday.
00:06:42It's like Aladdin's cave, my shop, Your Honour, nearly a thousand different lines, from earrings to chandeliers.
00:06:49You want to bring your wife in one day, Your Honour?
00:06:51Would you, er, would you have a look at this watch, Mr. Cross?
00:06:57Now, then, what do you say about that and Exhibit 2?
00:07:01Are they identical?
00:07:03Very similar.
00:07:04Are they identical?
00:07:06Yeah.
00:07:07Where did you get this?
00:07:08As a matter of fact, it was being offered as a prize at a fairground, Mr. Cross.
00:07:13On the hoopla stall.
00:07:19That's her, isn't it?
00:07:24So much for the exclusivity of your watches, Mr. Cross.
00:07:27I won't embarrass you again by comparing prices.
00:07:29I think the source of my watch speaks for itself.
00:07:33Thank you, Mr. Cross.
00:07:34Oh, sorry, there's just one more question.
00:07:36Now, Exhibit 2 is a man's watch, isn't it?
00:07:39Yeah.
00:07:39But aren't men's watches bisexual these days?
00:07:41I mean, women wear them as much as men do.
00:07:45I wouldn't know about that.
00:07:47It's all sex these days.
00:07:49I'll tell you something, though, Your Honour.
00:07:50I'm going to be asking certain people some very awkward questions.
00:07:53Believe me.
00:07:54The bloke who sells me the rings has a Dutch accent.
00:07:56Who can you trust these days?
00:07:57I ask you.
00:07:58Does Your Honour have any questions?
00:08:01Thank you, Mr. Cross.
00:08:03Though I'm tempted to ask Mr. Cross where he buys his chandeliers.
00:08:07Witness, Your Honour.
00:08:10Call Police Constable Lomas.
00:08:15You need a steel ass to sit on this seat comfortable, don't you?
00:08:20The whole truth and nothing but the truth.
00:08:26Give your evidence, please, Officer.
00:08:30PC131 Lomas, Fullchester Central, Your Honour.
00:08:34On October the 24th last year, I was on duty in Queen's Road, Fullchester,
00:08:38when I saw the accused leaving the premises number 26, Queen's Road.
00:08:42That's a business trading as the jewel box and owned by the previous witness, Mr. Harry Cross.
00:08:47Yes.
00:08:49How far away from the accused were you when you first saw him?
00:08:52About 20 yards.
00:08:54What time was that?
00:08:56Approximately 15 minutes to midnight, Your Honour.
00:08:59Was it dark?
00:09:00Yes.
00:09:01Did you have any difficulty in seeing the accused?
00:09:03No.
00:09:05Why not?
00:09:07Oh, the streetlighting is very good in Queen's Road.
00:09:10It's a main road.
00:09:11So you had a perfectly clear view of him?
00:09:13Yes.
00:09:14Go on, Officer.
00:09:17I kept the prisoner under observation
00:09:20and saw him join a woman further down the road.
00:09:24By this time, I was abreast of the premises, number 26, myself
00:09:28and noticed that the door was ajar.
00:09:30And what did you do?
00:09:33I caught up with the accused and asked him what he'd been doing in the shop.
00:09:36And what did he reply?
00:09:38He said,
00:09:39What shop?
00:09:40I said,
00:09:41You know very well what shop.
00:09:42The jewel box.
00:09:44Well, what did he say to that?
00:09:47He said,
00:09:51Grow up, sunshine.
00:09:53We were only in the doorway.
00:09:54We were trying to have it off, weren't we?
00:09:56Till you showed up in your bleeding size 12s.
00:10:06You can tell what she is just by looking at her.
00:10:25I told him I was not satisfied with his explanation
00:10:27and that I was taking him to the police station.
00:10:30Did he demur?
00:10:32Sir?
00:10:32Did he object?
00:10:34He said,
00:10:36Sod that for a game of soldiers.
00:10:39I'm taking this bird home.
00:10:40I'm on a cert here, mate.
00:10:42What happened then?
00:10:43At that moment, a police vehicle arrived,
00:10:46driven by PC 158 Riding.
00:10:48And the defendant was taken to the police station?
00:10:50Yes.
00:10:51Was he searched?
00:10:52Yes.
00:10:52What did you find?
00:10:53Among his possessions, I found a watch.
00:10:56May he be shown Exhibit 2, please, Your Honour?
00:10:59Do you recognise that watch?
00:11:01That's the watch I found in the accused's possession, Your Honour.
00:11:05Where in his possession?
00:11:06In his jacket pocket.
00:11:08Did you find anything else?
00:11:09I found a screwdriver.
00:11:10Can he be shown the screwdriver, please?
00:11:14Can you identify that screwdriver?
00:11:16That's the screwdriver I found in the accused's possession, Your Honour.
00:11:19Where in his possession?
00:11:21In his left-hand trouser pocket.
00:11:23I'd like to introduce it as Exhibit 3, Your Honour.
00:11:26Subsequently, did you return to the premises 26 Queen's Road
00:11:29and did you examine the door of those premises?
00:11:31Yes.
00:11:32And what did you find?
00:11:33I found the door had been forced
00:11:35and there were marks on the edge of the door and the door frame
00:11:38which suggested an implement had been used.
00:11:41What sort of implement?
00:11:43Such as a screwdriver.
00:11:46Did you then return to the police station?
00:11:48Yes.
00:11:49Did you ask the accused about the damage to the shop door?
00:11:51Yes.
00:11:52And what did he say?
00:11:53He said,
00:11:55It's news to me.
00:11:57There's a lot of villains about, you know.
00:12:00Did he offer any explanation
00:12:02for having the screwdriver in his possession?
00:12:04Oh, before you answer that, officer,
00:12:05how was he dressed?
00:12:06What was he wearing?
00:12:08Dressed?
00:12:09Like he was dressed like he is now.
00:12:15Hardly recommended by the tailor and cutter,
00:12:17would you agree?
00:12:18Sir?
00:12:19To be carrying a large screwdriver around
00:12:21in the trouser pocket of a nice smart suit like that.
00:12:23Not very usual.
00:12:24Not very normal.
00:12:26No, sir.
00:12:28Well, did the defendant offer any explanation
00:12:30for having the screwdriver in his trouser pocket?
00:12:32He said,
00:12:34I've been doing a couple of jobs
00:12:36round at me mam's, haven't I?
00:12:37His mam's?
00:12:38His mother's, sir.
00:12:40It's not mine.
00:12:49Oh, face, little bitch.
00:12:52Can you tell the court where you found that ring, officer?
00:12:55On the finger of Marion King.
00:12:57Did you ask the accused about the ring?
00:13:00Yes.
00:13:01And what did he say?
00:13:03When I told him,
00:13:04I had reason to believe
00:13:05he'd stolen it from the premises,
00:13:0726 Queens Road.
00:13:09He said,
00:13:10Marion will tell you different, mate.
00:13:12I bought it her last week.
00:13:13She thinks we're engaged.
00:13:15Marion being Marion King, presumably.
00:13:17Yes.
00:13:19What about the watch you found on the exhibit too?
00:13:22What did he have to say about that?
00:13:23When I told him,
00:13:24I had reason to believe
00:13:25he'd stolen that from the premises,
00:13:27number 26 Queens Road.
00:13:28He said,
00:13:30Bollocks.
00:13:31I got it off this bloke in the Vic.
00:13:33It's for the wife's birthday, isn't it?
00:13:35The Vic?
00:13:36The Victoria Hotel.
00:13:38Oh.
00:13:39Exhibit two is a man's watch, of course.
00:13:42Yes.
00:13:44So you subsequently cautioned him
00:13:46and charged him with burglary?
00:13:48Yes.
00:13:49Did he reply?
00:13:50He said,
00:13:52You're way off beam, mate.
00:13:54We were just snogging in that shop doorway.
00:13:56Asked Marion.
00:13:57Somebody else must have jemmied it.
00:14:00When you first saw the accused officer,
00:14:02you said he was just leaving the jewel box doorway.
00:14:05Yes.
00:14:06What was Marion King doing?
00:14:09She was further down the road.
00:14:11How much further?
00:14:13About 20 yards, I suppose.
00:14:16Was she walking?
00:14:18Waiting? Running what?
00:14:20Walking, I suppose.
00:14:21Towards the shop or away from it?
00:14:23Away from it.
00:14:24Did you see her in the jewel box doorway?
00:14:28No.
00:14:29Leaving it?
00:14:30No.
00:14:31Did you see her snogging with the accused?
00:14:34No.
00:14:35In fact, did you ever see anybody snogging?
00:14:37No.
00:14:37What exactly is snogging?
00:14:39It's a word I've heard and seen,
00:14:41but I'm not exactly clear what it means.
00:14:43Kissing, Your Honor.
00:14:45Embracing.
00:14:45What used to be called in my younger day,
00:14:47necking or petting.
00:14:49Or even spooning, Your Honor.
00:14:50I'm not that old, Mr. Lawton.
00:14:53I shall define snogging as kissing,
00:14:56if you don't mind.
00:14:57I'm sure that will suit members of the jury, too.
00:15:00I'm obliged, Your Honor.
00:15:02Did you ever see anybody kissing, officer?
00:15:06No.
00:15:08Except...
00:15:08Yes?
00:15:10When the accused joined the woman, Marion King,
00:15:14he put his arm around her.
00:15:16Thank you, officer.
00:15:20You say Mr. Hanlon put his arm around Marion King?
00:15:23Yes.
00:15:25Around where exactly?
00:15:26Around her waist, I think.
00:15:28Affectionately?
00:15:30Yes, I suppose so.
00:15:33Did he do anything else?
00:15:35No.
00:15:37Didn't he nuggle her?
00:15:39I'm afraid you've lost me there, Mr. Dorney.
00:15:41And I don't...
00:15:42Is that English?
00:15:43It is my client's word, Your Honor.
00:15:44Now, loosely, it means he put his face against hers.
00:15:47Really?
00:15:48You learn something new every day.
00:15:50Even here.
00:15:52Did Mr. Hanlon do that, officer?
00:15:54I didn't see him.
00:15:56But he did put his arm around her waist?
00:15:58Yes.
00:15:59As a man might do if he wanted to reassure her.
00:16:02Particularly a lady who'd been caught in the act of kissing him.
00:16:06He did put his arm around her.
00:16:09Now, you say Miss King was wearing the ring,
00:16:10Exhibit One, on a finger.
00:16:12Which finger?
00:16:14But I can't remember.
00:16:15Or was it the third finger left hand?
00:16:17The engagement finger?
00:16:19Can't remember.
00:16:19Try to remember.
00:16:21It might have been.
00:16:22It might have been the third finger left hand,
00:16:24which is, in fact, the engagement finger.
00:16:27Yes, I suppose so.
00:16:29Where did you say you found the watch?
00:16:31In the accused pocket.
00:16:33Er, jacket pocket.
00:16:35And you say you found the screwdriver, Exhibit Three,
00:16:37in his trouser pocket?
00:16:39Yes.
00:16:40Not concealed in any way?
00:16:42I don't understand.
00:16:43Well, was it just in his pocket?
00:16:46I mean, it wasn't wrapped up in anything.
00:16:47A handkerchief or paper or...
00:16:49No.
00:16:51Now, if one had to carry a screwdriver of that size,
00:16:53isn't a trouser pocket the best place to carry it,
00:16:56being deeper and a better shape than a jacket pocket?
00:16:59Officer.
00:17:01I don't know.
00:17:01I've never carried a screwdriver.
00:17:04When you asked Mr Hanlon about the screwdriver,
00:17:08he said he'd been doing some jobs at his mother's.
00:17:11Yes.
00:17:11Now, did he enlarge on that?
00:17:12Did he say what jobs?
00:17:14Did he?
00:17:16I think he said he'd been re-hanging a door or something.
00:17:19Did he say that or didn't he?
00:17:21Yes.
00:17:22Now, you would need a fairly large screwdriver for a job like that,
00:17:24wouldn't you?
00:17:26Yes, I suppose so.
00:17:28Would he or wouldn't he?
00:17:30Yes.
00:17:30One as large as that one?
00:17:32Yes.
00:17:34Now, there was no question of Mr Hanlon refusing to go back
00:17:39to the police station with you, was there?
00:17:41No, well, PC Riding arrived.
00:17:42But, I mean, he hadn't tried to run away or anything like that?
00:17:45No.
00:17:46Now, there was no struggle of any kind before or even after
00:17:49police constable Riding arrived?
00:17:51No.
00:17:52He went with you quite peacefully?
00:17:54Yes.
00:17:55And when you asked him what he'd been doing in the shop,
00:17:57he immediately said,
00:17:59er, grow up, sunshine, we were only in the doorway,
00:18:01we were trying to have it off, weren't we,
00:18:03till you showed up in your bleeding size 12s?
00:18:06No.
00:18:07Not straight away, he didn't.
00:18:09Oh, well, according to your evidence-in-chief,
00:18:11you caught up with him and asked him what he'd been doing in the shop,
00:18:13then he made the reply I've just quoted,
00:18:14grow up, sunshine, et cetera, et cetera.
00:18:16Yes, but not straight away.
00:18:17He asked me what shop first.
00:18:19Oh, I didn't realise we were splitting hairs, officer.
00:18:22Did he make the reply I've just quoted immediately after that, then?
00:18:26No.
00:18:27How long afterwards, then?
00:18:29Er, about a minute, I suppose.
00:18:32Now, what was he doing during that minute?
00:18:34Well, was he thinking, in a daze,
00:18:38standing on his head at what?
00:18:40He asked me why I wanted to know.
00:18:42Did you tell him?
00:18:44I suppose I did.
00:18:45Then he made the reply, grow up, sunshine, et cetera, et cetera.
00:18:49Yes, I suppose so.
00:18:50I wish you wouldn't suppose quite so much, officer.
00:18:53Now, I suggest the reason Mr Hanlon did not reply immediately
00:18:56is that you didn't let him reply.
00:18:58Didn't let him?
00:18:59Were you shouting?
00:19:00No.
00:19:00Raving?
00:19:01No.
00:19:01Jumping up and down?
00:19:02No.
00:19:03Did you push him up against this shop window?
00:19:04No.
00:19:04Prod him in the chest?
00:19:05No.
00:19:06Did you say you'd actually seen him break into the jaw box?
00:19:09No.
00:19:11Now, you did know, Mr Hanlon, didn't you?
00:19:14You had met him before, in the past.
00:19:16Yes.
00:19:17In what circumstances?
00:19:19When I was making inquiries about another incident.
00:19:22Inquiries which came to nothing?
00:19:24Yes.
00:19:26Well, it's not unusual, is it,
00:19:27for couples to use shop doorways for romantic purposes?
00:19:32I don't know.
00:19:34Oh.
00:19:34Well, are you saying you've never happened across such a thing?
00:19:37Such a couple?
00:19:38I mean, I don't necessarily mean while you've been on duty, officer.
00:19:42One or two.
00:19:44Only one or two, officer.
00:19:45Well, you must have led a very sheltered life.
00:19:47I don't happen across many couples kissing in doorways either, Mr Dorney.
00:19:52And please don't make the obvious comment.
00:19:54Er, no, Your Honour.
00:19:57Now, you took both Mr Hanlon and Miss King back to the station in the police car, didn't you?
00:20:02Yes.
00:20:02You and Police Constable Riding together?
00:20:05Yes.
00:20:06How did you feel?
00:20:08Pardon?
00:20:10How did you feel?
00:20:12I mean, you hadn't been in the force very long, had you, on October the 24th?
00:20:15How long?
00:20:17About...
00:20:18About five months, that's...
00:20:20About five months.
00:20:21Five months.
00:20:22And here you were, making an arrest.
00:20:25How did you feel?
00:20:27Pleased?
00:20:28Well, yes.
00:20:30Elated, even?
00:20:32Pleased.
00:20:33In fact, didn't you say to Police Constable Riding,
00:20:36Er, I've nicked one at last, Bill.
00:20:38This'll wipe the smile off a few bloody faces.
00:20:40I don't think so.
00:20:41Now, I suggest you did.
00:20:42I don't remember saying it.
00:20:43Is Police Constable Riding called, Bill?
00:20:45Yes.
00:20:46Was this your first arrest?
00:20:48Was it?
00:20:50Yes.
00:20:52Well, it's rather a milestone for a young officer, a first arrest.
00:20:55An achievement.
00:20:58I...
00:20:58I suppose so.
00:21:00A feather in your helmet?
00:21:02Yes.
00:21:04And it has taken you, rather longer than most, to achieve it, hasn't it?
00:21:09A bit longer.
00:21:11Have you made any arrests since?
00:21:13Have you, officer?
00:21:16One.
00:21:17One.
00:21:18So that's two arrests.
00:21:21One.
00:21:21Seven months now.
00:21:24Is it a fact, officer, that some of your colleagues call you trapper?
00:21:27Oh, really, Mr. Dorney, is this relevant?
00:21:29I don't mind council-pressing police officers,
00:21:34but I'd rather they weren't put on the rack unnecessarily.
00:21:37I'm obliged, Your Honour.
00:21:39Now, when you saw Miss Annan leaving the shop doorway,
00:21:42was he, er, was he walking or what?
00:21:45Walking?
00:21:46Normally.
00:21:47Not hurrying.
00:21:48Hurrying a bit, I suppose.
00:21:49You suppose.
00:21:51And when you passed the shop doorway,
00:21:54you saw that the shop door was open?
00:21:57Yes.
00:21:58How much open?
00:22:00A jar.
00:22:01Not wide open?
00:22:02No.
00:22:03How much a jar?
00:22:05About a foot.
00:22:07More than a foot, less than a foot?
00:22:08I can't remember.
00:22:09So, in fact, it could have been less than a foot.
00:22:12It could have been.
00:22:12So, if Mr. Hanlon had been standing in that doorway,
00:22:15he might not have even noticed that the door was a jar.
00:22:18I noticed it.
00:22:19Are you sure that it was the jewel box shop doorway officer you saw Mr. Hanlon leaving?
00:22:25Yes.
00:22:25You were how far away?
00:22:27About ten yards.
00:22:29You said twenty yards to my learned friend.
00:22:31Ten to twenty.
00:22:33Now, the jewel box and the next shop to it,
00:22:36their doorways are joint, don't they?
00:22:39Yes.
00:22:40Are they similar doorways?
00:22:43I suppose so.
00:22:45More supposes.
00:22:47Are they officer?
00:22:48Yes.
00:22:49So, how can you be positive it was number twenty-six
00:22:52he was leaving if you were ten to twenty yards away
00:22:55and looking down the street, straight along the building line?
00:22:58Now, it was virtually impossible, wasn't it,
00:23:00to differentiate between two similar adjoining doorways
00:23:04from that position and at that distance.
00:23:06And we might not have been leaving number...
00:23:08number twenty-eight, a baby linen shop,
00:23:11and not number twenty-six, the jewel box.
00:23:14No.
00:23:15Why not?
00:23:17I wasn't looking along the building line.
00:23:19I was across on the other side of the street
00:23:21when I first saw him, looking diagonally,
00:23:22and positively came out of the jewel box.
00:23:24Oh, you were across the street?
00:23:26Yes.
00:23:27Then how could you possibly have seen
00:23:29that the door was ajar?
00:23:31Less than a foot open.
00:23:33Like I said,
00:23:34the lighting is very good in Queen's Road.
00:23:36It's like daylight.
00:23:37I could see everything.
00:23:38Amen.
00:23:38Why not?
00:24:05Let us know.
00:24:07What do we have seen?
00:24:08We'll see you next time.
00:24:08The cases in Fulchester are fictitious.
00:24:11Join us again tomorrow when the Queen against Hanlon
00:24:13will be resumed in the Crown Court.
00:24:52In the case at Fulchester Crown Court of the Queen against Frank Hanlon,
00:24:56who is denying a charge of burglary,
00:24:57Hanlon is about to give evidence himself.
00:25:00The jury have already heard from the prosecution
00:25:02how a policeman saw him leaving a gift shop called the Jewel Box late at night.
00:25:06The door had been forced open and a watch and ring were missing.
00:25:11Hanlon, a married man, told the policeman he knew nothing about the break-in.
00:25:15He had merely been kissing in the doorway of the shop
00:25:17with a woman called Marion King.
00:25:27Thanks.
00:25:29She's a little tart, you can tell.
00:25:33Takes two to tango, Mother.
00:25:35What is your name?
00:25:38Francis Hanlon.
00:25:39And you live at number 14 Crawford Court with your wife and three children?
00:25:44Yeah.
00:25:45What's your job, Mr. Hanlon?
00:25:47I'm a plasterer by trade.
00:25:49Work?
00:25:50No, there's not much doing at the present.
00:25:52Because of the present economic situation?
00:25:54Yeah, nobody's got any money for much building work.
00:25:56Or for anything else.
00:25:58So you're what, on the dole, Social Security?
00:26:01Social Security.
00:26:03Now, can you remember the night of October the 24th last year?
00:26:07I'll never forget it.
00:26:09Why is that?
00:26:09Well, it was the night I was Nick, wasn't it, for this job?
00:26:12Before we get to your arrest that night, Mr. Hanlon,
00:26:14can you tell the court where you've been, say, from 7 o'clock onwards?
00:26:19I've been to a couple of boozes.
00:26:21Public houses?
00:26:21Yeah.
00:26:22Do you remember their names?
00:26:24The Vic.
00:26:25That's the Victoria Hotel and the Bluebell.
00:26:27The Victoria Hotel is a favourite aunt of yours, isn't it, Mr. Hanlon?
00:26:30Yeah, and it used to be my local till we moved out to the new estate.
00:26:33But you still go there quite a lot.
00:26:35Two or three times a week.
00:26:36It's like going home.
00:26:38Were you with anybody on the night of the 24th?
00:26:41A companion?
00:26:43Marion.
00:26:43Marion King.
00:26:45And what's your relationship with her?
00:26:46Well, she was my bird.
00:26:49Your bird?
00:26:50Girlfriend.
00:26:51Was?
00:26:53Isn't she now?
00:26:54Not since this business.
00:26:55Why's that?
00:26:56Well, since it got out, I was knocking her down with her.
00:26:59It got a bit embarrassing, didn't it?
00:27:01Well, I'm married, aren't I?
00:27:02Did she stop seeing you or vice versa?
00:27:05No, we both stopped seeing one another.
00:27:07So it was a mutual agreement?
00:27:09You could say that, yeah.
00:27:10But on October the 24th last year, she was quite definitely your girlfriend.
00:27:15Oh, yeah.
00:27:16I've been seeing her a lot since the summer.
00:27:18I met her at the swimming baths.
00:27:20I've dived on top of her one afternoon.
00:27:23Spoils of the long haul summer.
00:27:28So, that night, Mr. Hanlon, the night of October the 24th,
00:27:31you and Marion King had visited the Victoria and the Bluebell Hotels.
00:27:36The Bluebell Inn?
00:27:37Pardon?
00:27:38It's not called the Bluebell Hotel, it's called the Bluebell Inn.
00:27:40The Victoria and the Bluebell Inn, then.
00:27:43Now, which did you leave last?
00:27:45The Vic.
00:27:46At what time?
00:27:48Eleven or just after.
00:27:49Throwing out time.
00:27:50And then what did you do?
00:27:51Well, we started to walk home.
00:27:53Well, to Marion's home.
00:27:54And did that take you along, Queen's Road?
00:27:56Yeah.
00:27:57And as you were walking down Queen's Road, what happened?
00:28:02Well, you know it is when you're walking a bird home.
00:28:04Well, I may know, Mr. Hanlon, but I must be sure that the jury know too.
00:28:08And not forgetting me, Mr. Dornick.
00:28:11I'm sorry, Your Honor.
00:28:14So, uh, would you just enlighten everybody, please?
00:28:17Well, we were walking along.
00:28:19I had my arm round it, I think.
00:28:21We'd been kissing and that.
00:28:23And we must have wandered into this shop doorway.
00:28:25Wandered?
00:28:26Now, how do you mean exactly?
00:28:27Well, you know, drifted in without knowing what we were doing.
00:28:30It was not a blind lead in the blind.
00:28:31Which shop doorway had you wandered into?
00:28:34Well, the copper reckoned it was the jewel box doorway.
00:28:36What do you reckon?
00:28:37Well, I don't know.
00:28:38I mean, to me, it was just a doorway.
00:28:39The andiest doorway for...
00:28:41Yes?
00:28:42Well, for what we had in mind, if you see what I mean.
00:28:45And, uh, what had you in mind?
00:28:47Well, do I have to say?
00:28:50You didn't display this, uh, kind of reticence with the police officer, Mr. Hanlon.
00:28:56Well, it was just me and him then, you know, two blokes.
00:28:58Answer the question, please, Mr. Hanlon.
00:29:00What had you and marrying King in mind?
00:29:03Well, sex.
00:29:05We had sex in mind.
00:29:06And what happened?
00:29:08Well, nothing.
00:29:10We'd only been there a couple of seconds when she, that's...
00:29:13That's Marion.
00:29:14She thinks she hears somebody coming.
00:29:16And was there?
00:29:17Well, I could hear a few faint footsteps up the street, yeah.
00:29:20What did you do?
00:29:21Well, nothing.
00:29:23I mean, it was our business, wasn't it?
00:29:25It wasn't as if we were stood in the middle of the street or anything like that.
00:29:28But Marion, she's off out of the doorway and down the street like a whippet.
00:29:32What did you do then?
00:29:33I went after her.
00:29:35Now, did you see anybody in the road apart from Miss King?
00:29:39I don't think I noticed I was more interested in catching her marrying up.
00:29:42Why?
00:29:43To take up where I'd just left off.
00:29:44To, er...
00:29:46To reassure her?
00:29:47He could put it like that, yeah.
00:29:50Did you catch her up?
00:29:52Er, no.
00:29:53This copper came up, didn't he?
00:29:55Er, and then what did you do?
00:29:58But before the policeman arrived, now, how'd you put your arm around Miss King?
00:30:03Around her waist, I think, yeah.
00:30:04Did you do anything else?
00:30:06Oh, yeah, I nuggled her.
00:30:07Which I've already explained to the court means that, er, you put your face close to hers.
00:30:11Well, more like putting me nose in her ear.
00:30:14A much more graphic definition of nuggle than yours, Mr. Dornier.
00:30:19Indeed, Your Honour.
00:30:21Now, you're about to tell the court what happened when the policeman arrived, presumably from behind.
00:30:27Oh, yeah.
00:30:27He came from behind, all right, like a boat out of the blue.
00:30:30He'd have been booked on a football pitch.
00:30:31What did he do?
00:30:33Well, he started throwing his weight about.
00:30:35Er, how did he throw his weight about?
00:30:38Well, you know, he went a bit berserk.
00:30:40Potty, you know.
00:30:41In what way?
00:30:42Well, he said something like, stop where you are.
00:30:45Don't move another step.
00:30:46And don't think I'm on my own, cos I'm not.
00:30:48And then what's happened?
00:30:50Well, then he started raving about seeing me do the jewel box.
00:30:53He said he'd seen you break in.
00:30:56Yeah.
00:30:56He said, I've been watching you, Hanlon.
00:30:58I saw it all.
00:30:59I saw you going and come out, I saw everything.
00:31:01You're nicked.
00:31:02He called you Hanlon, did he?
00:31:04He knew you then?
00:31:05Oh, yeah, we had met.
00:31:07In what circumstances?
00:31:08Well, he came round about me driving while disqualified.
00:31:11I was in London the night he reckoned he saw me in Fulchester.
00:31:14Typical.
00:31:15Why had you been disqualified from driving?
00:31:17I had three speeding offences on the truck.
00:31:20Every one radar.
00:31:21So, the officer's general demeanour was what?
00:31:26Eh?
00:31:27Well, was he calm, angry?
00:31:30Well, like I said, I thought he'd gone potty.
00:31:32He was shouting and his face was all red.
00:31:34What did you say to him?
00:31:35Well, I think I said something like,
00:31:37look, mate, I'm just taking this bird home.
00:31:41I don't know anything about her breaking.
00:31:43Leave off, will you?
00:31:44You were trying to calm the officer down?
00:31:47Yeah.
00:31:49What was Marion King doing during all this?
00:31:53She was just standing there, frightened to death.
00:31:57So she saw and heard all this?
00:31:59Oh, yeah.
00:32:00Then what happened?
00:32:02Well, then this police car came up.
00:32:04We were bundled into it and whipped off to the police.
00:32:06Now, did Police Constable Lomas say anything to the officer driving the car?
00:32:11Oh, yeah.
00:32:11He said a lot.
00:32:12Tell the court what he said.
00:32:14Stan, then?
00:32:16Well, when the policeman got out of the car,
00:32:18the one that was talking to me said to him,
00:32:21caught him red-handed.
00:32:22No danger.
00:32:23He's just done the jewel box.
00:32:24Now, did you respond?
00:32:25Make any reply?
00:32:26Yeah.
00:32:27I told the other copper I thought he was potty.
00:32:29And what did he say?
00:32:30He told me to shut up.
00:32:31Did you?
00:32:32Well, I thought it best.
00:32:33I mean, by this time, Marion was yelling.
00:32:36Yelling?
00:32:36Yeah, crying her eyes out.
00:32:39Did Police Constable Lomas, the one who had stopped you, say anything else?
00:32:43Not then.
00:32:44He just kept repeating how he'd see me do the jewel box.
00:32:47Did he say anything later?
00:32:48Well, it was in the car.
00:32:49What did he say in the car?
00:32:51He said to the one that was driving,
00:32:53he said, Nick won at last, Bill.
00:32:55This will wipe the smile off a few bloody faces.
00:32:57Now, did you know what he meant by that?
00:32:58No.
00:33:00What was his mood, his attitude then?
00:33:04Well, like I said, he was excited, like he was on drugs.
00:33:09Shaking, he was.
00:33:11Is it true, when you were charged with the offence,
00:33:12you replied, we were just snogging in that doorway,
00:33:16asked Marion, somebody else must have gemmed it?
00:33:19Well, something like that.
00:33:20I mean, they never get what you say exactly like, do they?
00:33:22But that's what you were doing?
00:33:24Snogging, kissing?
00:33:25Yeah.
00:33:26And nothing else?
00:33:27No.
00:33:29May it be shown Exhibit 3, please?
00:33:34Now, what about that screwdriver, Mr. Hanlon?
00:33:37Were you carrying it in your pocket?
00:33:38Yeah.
00:33:39Why?
00:33:41Well, like I told the policeman,
00:33:42I'd been doing some jobs with it round at my mum's.
00:33:44That day?
00:33:45That tea time.
00:33:46What jobs?
00:33:47Well, I'd been rehanging the kitchen door.
00:33:49It had got so it wouldn't close.
00:33:51You know, it's an old house she lives in.
00:33:52Do you often do jobs for your mother?
00:33:54All the time.
00:33:56You're a handyman?
00:33:57Yeah, I could say that, yeah.
00:33:59Why were you actually carrying the screwdriver?
00:34:03Well, I was going to take it home, but I never went home, you see.
00:34:06I was late leaving my mum, so I went straight to meet Marion.
00:34:08In other words, you hadn't got time to take it home?
00:34:11Well, if I had, I'd have been at least half an hour late,
00:34:13and she didn't like to be kept waiting.
00:34:14So you just put it in your pocket?
00:34:16Yeah.
00:34:16In your trouser pocket?
00:34:17Well, it didn't show much there.
00:34:20I wonder if you could just show the court
00:34:21just how much it did show, Mr. Hanlon.
00:34:23Could you please hand him the screwdriver?
00:34:25Put it in your trouser pocket, Mr. Hanlon, please.
00:34:28You left one.
00:34:29It was found in.
00:34:32I'm afraid you'll have to step down
00:34:33if the jury are going to say anything at all, Mr. Hanlon.
00:34:38Ah.
00:34:39There's sadly a bulge even.
00:34:41Not much.
00:34:43Thank you, Mr. Hanlon.
00:34:43You can return to the box.
00:34:46It is, in fact, your own screwdriver, isn't it, Mr. Hanlon?
00:34:50Yeah, I've had it yonks.
00:34:51Yonks?
00:34:52Yes.
00:34:53Maybe show an exhibit one, please.
00:34:58Where did that ring come from, Mr. Hanlon?
00:35:00The ring Miss King was wearing.
00:35:02I gave it.
00:35:03Where did you get it from?
00:35:05From a peddler.
00:35:06A street trader?
00:35:07Yeah, he gets in the Vic.
00:35:08That's the Victorian hotel, a lot.
00:35:10Which night?
00:35:12A few nights before all this happened.
00:35:14How much did you pay for it?
00:35:16Four quid.
00:35:18Rubbish.
00:35:18When did you give the ring to Miss King?
00:35:21The same night all this happened.
00:35:23Now, if you bought it two days before,
00:35:25why hadn't you given it to her already?
00:35:27Well, she'd been ill, hadn't she, with her cold.
00:35:29I hadn't seen her.
00:35:30Why did you give marrying King the ring, Mr. Hanlon?
00:35:34Well, because she was getting a bit difficult.
00:35:36Difficult?
00:35:36In what way?
00:35:37Well, you know, asking didn't I love her in that.
00:35:41And why didn't we get engaged like a pal had?
00:35:43You know how women are.
00:35:43She didn't know that you were married already?
00:35:45No.
00:35:47And you bought her the ring to, er...
00:35:49Keep her quiet.
00:35:50I mean, I didn't propose to her not like that.
00:35:53I'm not that stupid.
00:35:54I just bought her the ring.
00:35:55She put it on her engagement finger.
00:35:57Well, it was no skin off my nose.
00:36:03Don't keep staring at her, Mother.
00:36:05Yeah, I bought this watch off this peddler, too.
00:36:07At the same time as the ring?
00:36:09Yeah.
00:36:09How much did you pay for it?
00:36:11A couple of quid.
00:36:12You told the police offer it was a birthday present for your wife.
00:36:17Yeah, it was a birthday present.
00:36:19And that's true.
00:36:19But why buy a man's watch, Mr. Hanlon?
00:36:21Why didn't you buy her a lady's watch?
00:36:23Well, that's all this peddler had were man's watches.
00:36:25Men's watches.
00:36:27Er, I mean, I know that women do wear men's watches these days.
00:36:31And I thought she wouldn't mind that.
00:36:32When was her birthday?
00:36:34The day after.
00:36:35On the 25th?
00:36:36Yeah.
00:36:37So you were keeping it in your pocket till then, were you?
00:36:39Till the day of her birthday.
00:36:41Yeah, it was going to be a surprise for her.
00:36:43Did you break into the shop known as a jewel box, Mr. Hanlon,
00:36:46and steal that ring and that watch?
00:36:48No, I only stood in the doorway.
00:36:49If, in fact, you even did that,
00:36:51are you even sure that it was the jewel box doorway
00:36:54that you and Marion King were kissing in?
00:36:56No.
00:36:57I mean, it could have been next door, for all I know.
00:36:59I mean, er, I had other things on my mind, didn't I?
00:37:01Indeed, Mr. Hanlon.
00:37:25This peddler you say you bought the ring and the watch from,
00:37:30did you know him?
00:37:30I'd seen him before.
00:37:31Have you seen him since?
00:37:33No, he's not local.
00:37:36I suggest he doesn't exist.
00:37:39Oh, yeah.
00:37:40Chippo Dave's his name.
00:37:41He's got very dark hair and skin.
00:37:43He gets in the Vic a lot.
00:37:44Everybody knows him.
00:37:46You do admit you did emerge from a shop doorway
00:37:49in Queen's Road that night, do you, Mr. Hanlon?
00:37:52Oh, yeah, definitely.
00:37:53Oh, well, that's something.
00:37:55I suggest the doorway was indeed the jewel box doorway.
00:37:59Well, I'm not sure about that.
00:38:02I suggest it was.
00:38:04I suggest that you were emerging after forcing open the shop door,
00:38:07going in and stealing that watch and that ring.
00:38:10No, no way.
00:38:12And if you hadn't been disturbed by the arrival of the police officer,
00:38:15you would probably have stolen considerably more property.
00:38:18I never even saw the copper.
00:38:20But had Marion King seen him?
00:38:23Well, she only heard him, I think.
00:38:24I suggest she saw him.
00:38:26I don't think so.
00:38:28Wasn't it her job to see him?
00:38:30Eh?
00:38:31Rather than just being a partner in a romantic interlude,
00:38:34was not her real function to keep a lookout while you broke into the shop
00:38:38and was not the ring her reward?
00:38:40I really must protest, Your Honor,
00:38:41there hasn't been even the slightest evidence or even a suggestion that this was so.
00:38:45And if it had been so,
00:38:46isn't it likely that Miss King would be in the dock with Mr. Allen?
00:38:50Mr. Dorn is right, Mr. Hanlon.
00:38:52There hasn't been a hint of this from the prosecution before.
00:38:54You really mustn't just conjure it out of thin air.
00:38:57I'm obliged, Your Honor.
00:39:01You would agree, would you, Mr. Hanlon,
00:39:02you're a pretty smart dresser?
00:39:05I like to look smart, yeah.
00:39:07You like to cut a dash?
00:39:08I like to look smart. Who doesn't?
00:39:10A great many people these days,
00:39:12denim being the universal uniform practically,
00:39:15but liking to look smart, as you obviously do,
00:39:17you still set out that night to meet your girlfriend
00:39:19carrying a large screwdriver in your trouser pocket.
00:39:22Yeah, but like you've just seen, it didn't show much.
00:39:24That is a matter of opinion.
00:39:27Wasn't it a nuisance when you were snogging with Miss King?
00:39:31No.
00:39:32Why didn't you just leave it at home?
00:39:35Well, like I said, I needed it the next day.
00:39:37What for?
00:39:38I had a few jobs to do at home around the house.
00:39:40Well, I had plenty of time.
00:39:41You say you're unemployed at the moment.
00:39:42Were you not also unemployed then?
00:39:43Yeah, I think I was.
00:39:46But you were re-hanging more doors?
00:39:48No, as a matter of fact,
00:39:49I think I was putting up some kitchen units.
00:39:51Oh, kitchen units?
00:39:52You are a handyman.
00:39:55Yeah, I'm quite good with me hands, yeah.
00:39:57Well, it keeps the other wife happy as well.
00:39:59Something of a model husband, in fact.
00:40:02Well, I have my faults. Who doesn't?
00:40:05When were you last in work, Mr Hanlon?
00:40:08Oh, it's a while since now.
00:40:10How long since?
00:40:12Beginning last year, I think.
00:40:13Things have been very tight in the building game.
00:40:15Yes, I know they have, Mr Hanlon,
00:40:17but I would have thought a man with your talents
00:40:18would have been able to find a job somewhere.
00:40:21Well, I haven't.
00:40:22What do you live off?
00:40:23Social security.
00:40:24And your family?
00:40:25Yeah.
00:40:27Then how do you manage to be able to afford to dress so well?
00:40:31How did you afford that suit you're wearing now, for instance?
00:40:33It's fairly new, isn't it?
00:40:35Fairly.
00:40:36How much did you pay for it?
00:40:38About 30.
00:40:3930 pounds?
00:40:40Yeah.
00:40:41Did social security pay for it?
00:40:43No, as a matter of fact,
00:40:44I think you had a win on the horses.
00:40:46But social security paid for the bet?
00:40:48Well, a man's entitled to some pleasure.
00:40:50You seem to manage rather a lot of pleasure, Mr Hanlon.
00:40:54Tell me, have you had many girlfriends since you were married?
00:40:58No, not many.
00:40:59How many?
00:41:00One or two.
00:41:00Did you keep them from your wife, too?
00:41:02Of course I did.
00:41:04Did you give them rings and pretend you were engaged?
00:41:07No.
00:41:07Just Miss King?
00:41:08Well, yeah.
00:41:09I mean, the only one I bought the other ones,
00:41:10a box of chocolates or something.
00:41:11You know you do.
00:41:15How much did you say you paid for the ring?
00:41:18Only four quid.
00:41:19Social security again or another win on the horses?
00:41:21Well, four quid's not a fortune, is it?
00:41:23Not in this day and age.
00:41:24What with inflation and that?
00:41:26Well, coupled with a new suit and a watch for your wife's birthday,
00:41:29it mounts up.
00:41:30How much did you say you paid for the watch?
00:41:32Only a couple of quid.
00:41:33A ring, a watch, a new suit, all on social security.
00:41:39Well, you do make the taxpayer's money go a long way, Mr Hanlon.
00:41:43I don't smoke.
00:41:44It would be a miracle if you could.
00:41:49Tell me, when did you have a car?
00:41:51Beginning of last year.
00:41:53While you were out of work?
00:41:55I got it when I had a job.
00:41:57But you continued to run it while you were unemployed?
00:42:00It was only a mini.
00:42:01So you were running a car on social security as well?
00:42:04Well, I got disqualified, didn't I?
00:42:08I put it to you again, Mr Hanlon,
00:42:10that the police officer's version of what happened that night
00:42:12is the true one.
00:42:14You did break into the jewel box
00:42:15and you did steal that ring and that watch.
00:42:18The story of you being in the doorway with Miss King
00:42:20merely to snog is a total fabrication.
00:42:23It's the truth.
00:42:24Ask Marion.
00:42:26How old are you, Mr Hanlon?
00:42:2828.
00:42:29Getting a bit long in the tooth for snogging in shop doorways, aren't you?
00:42:32I'm young at heart.
00:42:33Do you always do your snogging in shop doorways?
00:42:35Depends on the weather.
00:42:39You like to think of yourself as something of a wag, don't you, Mr Hanlon?
00:42:42I like a laugh, yeah.
00:42:44Quick-witted as well as a sharp dresser.
00:42:46I'm no dummy.
00:42:48Quick-witted enough to invent stories, like this snogging one.
00:42:51I didn't invent it.
00:42:52And quick-witted enough to put words in the mouth of Police Constable Lomas,
00:42:55such as,
00:42:57I've nicked one at last, Bill.
00:42:58This'll wipe the smile off a few bloody faces.
00:43:01He said that, definitely.
00:43:02Police Constable Lomas denies saying it.
00:43:05Police Constable Riding, who was with you both in the car,
00:43:07has told this court he never heard him say it.
00:43:10Well, he's lying.
00:43:12It's only natural, isn't it?
00:43:13They do that for one of the coppers.
00:43:14And isn't it also natural for you to lie, Mr Hanlon,
00:43:18as you lied to Miss King about being engaged to her?
00:43:21Well, never. She just assumed it.
00:43:23Like you must have lied to her about your marital situation.
00:43:26Well, I never told her I wasn't married.
00:43:27Oh, she just assumed that as well, did she?
00:43:29Yeah.
00:43:30And what do you tell your wife
00:43:32when you're going out to meet your mistress's Mr Hanlon?
00:43:34More lies?
00:43:36She never asks.
00:43:37She knows better.
00:43:40Oh, you're also very sure of your women, aren't you?
00:43:44Well, they've got me into enough trouble in my time, haven't they?
00:43:47I mean, if I hadn't have been in that shop doorway that night with Marion King,
00:43:51I wouldn't be standing here now, would I?
00:43:54So you're really asking the jury to believe
00:43:57that you were only kissing in the jewel box doorway?
00:44:00We were, if it was at that doorway.
00:44:02In spite of all the evidence which has not been challenged,
00:44:05that the shop door had been forced, possibly by a screwdriver,
00:44:09and you were carrying a screwdriver.
00:44:11I told you I had that screwdriver.
00:44:13Yes, you'd been rehanging a door.
00:44:15I suggest you've been doing virtually the opposite,
00:44:18forcing one open, the jewel box door.
00:44:22No way.
00:44:23And isn't it an incredible coincidence
00:44:25that only two items were missing from the jewel box,
00:44:27and that one of those two items was found in your pocket,
00:44:30and the other adorning the finger of your mistress,
00:44:32the watch in your pocket and the ring on her finger?
00:44:35But not the same watch and not the same ring.
00:44:37In fact, your entire story is littered with coincidences.
00:44:41It just happened to be your wife's birthday on the 25th,
00:44:45the day after the break-in.
00:44:46It just was.
00:44:47You just happened to bump into Jippo...
00:44:49What was his name?
00:44:49Dave. Jippo Dave.
00:44:50A couple of days before.
00:44:52Well, he just bobs up. He gets in the vicar lock.
00:44:54Oh, is he going to bob up in this court?
00:44:56No, he's disappeared.
00:44:57He'll probably be in Ireland this time of the year.
00:44:59And he just happened not to have any ladies' watches.
00:45:04And the unfortunate coincidence,
00:45:06so far as you were concerned, Mr Handlen,
00:45:08the jewel box just happened to have been broken into
00:45:11the very night that you and Miss King
00:45:13required a shop doorway to snog in.
00:45:15I've had a very unlucky run just recently.
00:45:18Oh, really?
00:45:18What about the win on the horses that pay for that suit?
00:45:21That was last year.
00:45:23But wasn't your biggest slice of ill luck
00:45:25the fact that Police Constable Lomas
00:45:27suddenly appeared in that street that night
00:45:30and practically caught you on the job?
00:45:32And that's not meant to be funny, Mr Handlen.
00:45:34He couldn't catch a cold, that bloke.
00:45:35Really? I suggest he caught you, red-handed.
00:45:39Never.
00:45:40And with the stolen property in your possession
00:45:42and adorning your mistress.
00:45:43Wrong again.
00:45:44Didn't you perhaps push the ring onto her finger
00:45:47as the policeman came up behind you
00:45:48because that would be a good place to hide it?
00:45:50And again.
00:45:51Am I?
00:45:54Well, we shall see what the jury thinks.
00:45:59Regarding some of these facts,
00:46:02my Leonard friend calls coincidences, Mr Handlen.
00:46:06It was your wife's birthday on the 25th.
00:46:09I can show you a birth certificate.
00:46:11Ladies do wear men's watches.
00:46:13You see it all the time.
00:46:14The Victoria Hotel is your local.
00:46:17Used to be.
00:46:18Peddlers, street traders, they do exist.
00:46:20Yeah, and they do a bomb.
00:46:21No overheads.
00:46:24Have you any questions, Your Honour?
00:46:25No.
00:46:27Thank you, Mr Handlen.
00:46:29Call Marion King.
00:46:39How can she bloody help him, little tart?
00:47:14Join us again tomorrow when the Queen against Hanlon will be concluded in the Crown Court.
00:47:54Today is the final day of a case of burglary being tried at Forchester Crown Court.
00:47:59Francis Hanlon has denied stealing a ring and a watch from a shop known as the Jewel Box.
00:48:04The jury in this trial has been selected from members of the public who are eligible for jury service.
00:48:09They will reach their verdict on the basis of the evidence that they hear in court.
00:48:13A policeman told the jury that after seeing Hanlon leaving the shop late one night, he found the door had
00:48:19been forced.
00:48:20But Hanlon, a married man, said he was only snogging in the doorway with his girlfriend, Marion King, who's just
00:48:26started to give evidence for the defence.
00:48:28How long had you been going round with Mr Hanlon?
00:48:32A few months.
00:48:34A few months.
00:48:35You met him, I believe, in the swimming baths when he dived on top of you?
00:48:38Yeah.
00:48:39Rather, an unorthodox encounter.
00:48:44Where were you on the night of October the 24th, Miss King?
00:48:47When?
00:48:48The night all this happened.
00:48:50I was out with Frank.
00:48:51Mr Hanlon?
00:48:52Yeah.
00:48:54Where did you go?
00:48:55To the Vic.
00:48:56To the Victoria Hotel in Forchester?
00:48:59Yeah.
00:49:00And you went there with Mr Hanlon?
00:49:02Yeah.
00:49:03Did anything happen during the evening?
00:49:06A lot.
00:49:08In particular?
00:49:10How do you mean?
00:49:13Did Mr Hanlon give you anything?
00:49:15Yeah, he gave me a ring.
00:49:17Can Miss King be shown Exhibit One, please?
00:49:21Is that the ring Mr Hanlon gave you?
00:49:24Yeah, it looks like it.
00:49:26Aren't you sure?
00:49:28Yeah, it is.
00:49:29Could you speak up, please, Miss King?
00:49:31I'm having difficulty hearing you.
00:49:32I'm sure the jury must be too.
00:49:34Don't be nervous, Miss King.
00:49:35Nobody's going to eat you.
00:49:38Was there any significance to Mr Hanlon giving you that ring?
00:49:42Eh?
00:49:44Was it for any special reason?
00:49:47Well, it was to show we were engaged.
00:49:50Now, you didn't know that he was already married?
00:49:52No.
00:49:53When did you actually find out that he was married?
00:49:56When all this started.
00:49:58Were you upset?
00:50:01Yeah.
00:50:03What did you do with the ring Mr Hanlon gave you, Miss King?
00:50:06I wore it.
00:50:08Where?
00:50:09On my engagement finger.
00:50:11The third finger, left hand.
00:50:13Yeah.
00:50:14What did you do after you left the Victoria?
00:50:18Nothing.
00:50:20Where did you go?
00:50:22Nowhere.
00:50:23Well, the policeman stopped us, didn't he?
00:50:25Where were you when he stopped you?
00:50:28Walking.
00:50:30Where?
00:50:31Up Queen's Road.
00:50:32You and Mr Hanlon?
00:50:33Yeah.
00:50:34Now, before the policeman stopped you,
00:50:36had you and Mr Hanlon been doing anything else in Queen's Road?
00:50:41Had you, Miss King?
00:50:43We went in this shop doorway for a minute.
00:50:45Which shop doorway?
00:50:46The jewel box.
00:50:49Now, did you know that it was the jewel box at the time?
00:50:52No.
00:50:53Why?
00:50:54I didn't notice.
00:50:56So, it might not have been the jewel box.
00:50:59The policeman said it were.
00:51:00But you yourself didn't notice?
00:51:02No.
00:51:04What were you doing in the shop doorway?
00:51:07I was with Frank.
00:51:10But what were you doing with Frank?
00:51:12Nothing.
00:51:14Why did you go into the doorway then?
00:51:16Well, you know, to kiss and that.
00:51:20Could you, uh, could you speak up please, Miss King?
00:51:23To kiss and that!
00:51:26To snark?
00:51:27To use Mr Hanlon's face?
00:51:29Yeah.
00:51:30Then what happened?
00:51:32This policeman come up.
00:51:33While you were in the doorway?
00:51:36No, we'd come out of the doorway and gone up the street.
00:51:39Now, did you both come out of the shop doorway together?
00:51:42Or did you leave first?
00:51:44Or did Mr Hanlon?
00:51:45I come out first.
00:51:47Why did you come out of the doorway?
00:51:49Well, I heard somebody come in.
00:51:51And anybody can see in that doorway.
00:51:53It's like daylight in Queen's Road.
00:51:55Oh, I see.
00:51:56So the doorways along Queen's Road are very well illuminated.
00:52:00By the, uh, by the streetlights, I suppose.
00:52:03Yeah.
00:52:04So you could hardly conceal yourself in there?
00:52:07Anybody can see you.
00:52:09So you'd left the doorway, Miss King.
00:52:12Then what did you do?
00:52:14Now, what did Mr Hanlon do?
00:52:17He'd come after me.
00:52:18Along Queen's Road?
00:52:20Yeah.
00:52:21What did you do then?
00:52:23He tried to get me to go back in the doorway.
00:52:25Tried to get you to go back into the doorway?
00:52:27How?
00:52:28Well, he put his arm round me and started...
00:52:31kissing me.
00:52:32He told the court he, uh, nuggled you.
00:52:36Yeah.
00:52:37Then the policeman arrived on the scene.
00:52:41This, uh, this rather romantic scene.
00:52:44Yeah.
00:52:45What did the policeman do when he came up to you?
00:52:48He started shouting at Frank.
00:52:49Immediately?
00:52:50Yeah.
00:52:51What did he shout at him?
00:52:52He said he'd seen him go in the jewel box and steal stuff.
00:52:54Now, you're sure he said that he'd seen him?
00:52:56Yeah.
00:52:57Had Mr Hanlon been into the jewel box and stolen anything?
00:52:59No.
00:53:00Are you sure about that?
00:53:01Yeah.
00:53:03What's happened next?
00:53:04Another policeman in a car came.
00:53:06What did he do?
00:53:07They took us to the police station.
00:53:09Now, did you hear the first policeman, the one who stopped you in the street, say anything
00:53:13to the policeman in the car?
00:53:15He said a lot of things.
00:53:16He was talking all the time, when he weren't shouting.
00:53:19Can you, uh, can you remember any of them?
00:53:22No.
00:53:23Well, it's weeks since.
00:53:25And I suppose you were frightened being stopped and shouted at by the policeman.
00:53:29Yeah.
00:53:31What happened to the ring you were wearing?
00:53:33They took it off me.
00:53:35Who did?
00:53:36The police.
00:53:37But you're absolutely sure, are you, Mr Hanlon had given you that ring in the Victoria Hotel
00:53:42earlier that evening?
00:53:43Yeah, he had.
00:53:45Thank you, Miss King.
00:53:51How old are you, Miss King?
00:53:53Eighteen.
00:53:54What's your job?
00:53:56I'm a packer.
00:53:57What do you pack?
00:53:58Elastic bands.
00:54:00You say you're going out with Mr Hanlon.
00:54:03Yeah.
00:54:04What does that mean, exactly?
00:54:06Going, going out together.
00:54:08Were you his mistress?
00:54:10Eh?
00:54:11Were you lovers?
00:54:13Were you having intercourse?
00:54:16Were you?
00:54:18Yeah.
00:54:21Had you had any experience with men before you met, Mr Hanlon?
00:54:26I don't know what you mean.
00:54:28Did you have any lovers before you met him?
00:54:32No.
00:54:34When he gave you that ring, you say you thought you were engaged.
00:54:38Yeah.
00:54:38Did he say you were?
00:54:39Yeah.
00:54:40Are you sure about that?
00:54:41Yeah.
00:54:42You see, he's told the court that he didn't say you were engaged.
00:54:47You just assumed it.
00:54:49He said we were.
00:54:50In so many words?
00:54:51Yeah.
00:54:54Well, it isn't an engagement ring, is it?
00:54:56It didn't matter.
00:54:57It were to me.
00:55:00What are your feelings for Mr Hanlon, Miss King?
00:55:03With Pactine?
00:55:04No, I didn't ask that.
00:55:05I asked what your feelings are for him now.
00:55:07I don't know.
00:55:10I suggest you're still very fond of him.
00:55:14Miss King?
00:55:15I don't know.
00:55:17Fond enough to lie for him, in fact?
00:55:20I'm not lying.
00:55:21Fond enough to lie for him, try and save his skin?
00:55:24Didn't Mr Hanlon really give you that ring when he rushed up the street, pursued by the policeman?
00:55:29No, he gave it me in the vic.
00:55:30And didn't he tell you to put it on your finger, or perhaps he even pushed it on your finger
00:55:34himself?
00:55:34It was already on me finger.
00:55:36Weren't you besotted by him?
00:55:39Pardon?
00:55:40Besotted by this smart, attractive, older man?
00:55:43He's not all that much older.
00:55:45He's ten years older.
00:55:47Besotted enough to do anything he asked you to do, like lie for him to the police.
00:55:51I've told you, I'm not lying.
00:55:53And lie for him here today.
00:55:55No!
00:55:55Because is it not the truth, Miss King, that you are still besotted by him?
00:56:00He's married.
00:56:03With three children.
00:56:09Do you have any questions, Your Honour?
00:56:11No, thank you, Mr Dolly.
00:56:13Thank you, Miss King.
00:56:16Call Joyce Hanlon.
00:56:19Joyce Hanlon.
00:56:36I swear by almighty God that the evidence I shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing
00:56:40but the truth.
00:56:41What is your name?
00:56:43Joyce Hanlon.
00:56:44And you are the wife of the accused, Frank Hanlon, and living with him at number 14 Crawford Court, Fulchester.
00:56:50That's right.
00:56:51How long have you been married, Miss Hanlon?
00:56:53Seven years.
00:56:55Children?
00:56:56Three.
00:56:56Two boys and a girl.
00:56:58How old are you, Mrs Hanlon?
00:57:0025.
00:57:02When's your birthday?
00:57:04What date?
00:57:06October 25th.
00:57:08Does your husband remember your birthday, Mrs Hanlon, or is he like the rest of us, and does he tend
00:57:11to forget?
00:57:12I always remember my wife's birthday, Mr Dolly.
00:57:15In fact, I hardly dare forget it.
00:57:16Now, could we please get on?
00:57:18What about your husband, Mrs Hanlon?
00:57:20He never forgets it.
00:57:21Never forgets it?
00:57:22No.
00:57:23He remembers all our birthdays, the kids, and his mam's, and anniversaries, like our wedding anniversary.
00:57:30He is exceptional.
00:57:32Does he give you anything when it's your birthday, a present?
00:57:35He never misses.
00:57:37What did he give you last year?
00:57:40He gave me this jumper.
00:57:42Would you have been surprised if he'd given you that watch?
00:57:45Can Mrs Hanlon see Exhibit 2, please?
00:57:48Would you have been surprised if he'd given you that watch this year?
00:57:51No. Not really, no.
00:57:53Does your husband do a lot of jobs in the house, Mrs Hanlon?
00:57:56Odd jobs. Is he, in fact, a very keen handyman?
00:57:59He's always working in the house. He's got it beautiful.
00:58:03He sounds to me to be a very good husband, Mrs Hanlon.
00:58:05He is.
00:58:07Thank you, Mrs Hanlon.
00:58:08Oh, would you, uh, would you just stay there for more, please?
00:58:13Your husband was unemployed when he was arrested, wasn't he?
00:58:16Yeah.
00:58:17You were living off social security, as indeed you are now.
00:58:19Yeah.
00:58:20So, financially, you couldn't have been all that well off?
00:58:24Not much money to spare after all the bills have been paid.
00:58:26Food, eating...
00:58:28We don't do so bad.
00:58:29You don't on social security when you've got three children, and you're careful.
00:58:33Well enough for your husband to buy you watches for your birthday and rings for his girlfriend.
00:58:37I don't know anything about that.
00:58:40You didn't know he had a girlfriend?
00:58:42No.
00:58:43Do you mind him having girlfriends?
00:58:46Of course I do.
00:58:48He's told the court that he was going out with her for some months.
00:58:51I don't know anything about that.
00:58:53Well, where did you think he was going, Mrs Hanlon, when he went out at night, dressed in that smart
00:58:58suit as he is now?
00:58:59I don't know.
00:59:00Didn't you ask him?
00:59:01No.
00:59:01Why not?
00:59:02I just didn't.
00:59:05You're not frightened of him, are you?
00:59:06No.
00:59:07Oh, really, Your Honour, there's been no suggestion that my client is a wife-beater.
00:59:10That's true, Mr Lawton.
00:59:12There haven't.
00:59:12My Lord, I...
00:59:13Your Honour, do you beg your pardon?
00:59:15I was trying to establish why Mrs Hanlon doesn't seem to have behaved as most wives would,
00:59:20whose husbands were going out at night, dressed to kill, and presumably returning home rather late.
00:59:25It was nearly midnight when the accused was arrested.
00:59:28That seems a fair point, Mr Dormin.
00:59:30I'm obliged, Your Honour.
00:59:33You say you're not afraid of your husband, Mrs Hanlon?
00:59:36No.
00:59:37Well, where did you think he might be going on these evenings?
00:59:40Out.
00:59:41For a drink.
00:59:42Did you never go for a drink with him?
00:59:44Sometimes.
00:59:45How often?
00:59:47Not very often.
00:59:48Why not?
00:59:50Well, I had the kids, didn't I?
00:59:54How old did you say you were, Mrs Hanlon?
00:59:5625.
00:59:57And married seven years ago, so you were only 18 when you got married?
01:00:00Yeah.
01:00:01Very young.
01:00:02Yeah.
01:00:04His girlfriend's only 18 now, did you know?
01:00:06I don't know about that.
01:00:09Did Mr Hanlon give you an engagement ring?
01:00:12No.
01:00:13Why?
01:00:14Well, we got married.
01:00:17Got married in a bit of a rush.
01:00:19You were pregnant, were you?
01:00:22Yeah.
01:00:24Mrs Hanlon, aren't you just trying to save your husband's skin?
01:00:29I don't know what you mean.
01:00:30Protect the family?
01:00:31No.
01:00:32Can you really say to me he's a good husband?
01:00:35He is to me and the children, yes.
01:00:36Isn't he a liar?
01:00:38And a ladies' man?
01:00:39He's good to me and the children.
01:00:46Do you have any questions, Your Honor?
01:00:48No.
01:00:50Thank you, Mrs Hanlon.
01:00:52Call Mrs Agnes Hanlon.
01:00:55Mr Douglas.
01:00:56Can you give me an estimate of how long you're likely to be, Mr Dornis?
01:01:00Well, this is my last witness, Your Honor.
01:01:02She'll be very short, unless my, my learned friend...
01:01:06I was hoping we might finish today.
01:01:09Me too, Your Honor.
01:01:13What is your name?
01:01:15Agnes Hanlon.
01:01:16And you are the mother of the accused, and you live at number 20, Carlisle Street, Fulchester.
01:01:20That's right.
01:01:21I've lived there for 30-odd years.
01:01:23Can Mrs Hanlon be shown the screwdriver, Exhibit 3, please?
01:01:27Now, do you recognise that screwdriver, Mrs Hanlon?
01:01:30It's Frank's.
01:01:31When did you last see it?
01:01:32Well, he had it with him in my house.
01:01:35When was that?
01:01:36When?
01:01:37Oh, I don't know the date.
01:01:39The day they said he'd broken into a dewbox.
01:01:41What part of the day did he have it with him at your house?
01:01:45Afternoon.
01:01:46Early afternoon?
01:01:47Late?
01:01:48Late?
01:01:49He stopped for his tea.
01:01:51What had he been doing with the screwdriver, Miss Hanlon?
01:01:53Re-hanging me kitchen door.
01:01:55It hadn't closed proper for months, and it was dragging the casing away from wall.
01:01:59Does he do a lot of jobs like that for you, Miss Hanlon?
01:02:02Course he does.
01:02:03Who else is there to do them?
01:02:05I'm a widow, aren't I?
01:02:07My husband was killed.
01:02:08In Korea.
01:02:10What did Miss Hanlon do with the screwdriver after he'd re-hung your kitchen door?
01:02:14He took it home with him.
01:02:16Why was that?
01:02:17Well, he said he wanted it to do a job there.
01:02:20He's always doing jobs around the house, isn't he?
01:02:22Oh, he's very clever with his hands.
01:02:24Different than his father.
01:02:26A lot's been made, Miss Hanlon, of the fact that your son was carrying that screwdriver
01:02:29in the trouser pocket of his smart suit.
01:02:32It has been suggested that that was a peculiar place to have a screwdriver.
01:02:36Oh, don't be taking him by that suit.
01:02:38That's just top show.
01:02:40He was as scruffy as a tomcat when he were little, and he still forgets.
01:02:44Only last week, I caught him with a bag of three-inch nails in his jacket pocket.
01:02:48So he wouldn't think twice about putting that screwdriver in his trouser pocket?
01:02:51He wouldn't know he'd done it.
01:02:53Thank you, Miss Hanlon.
01:03:19Thank you, Miss Hanlon.
01:03:24And he suggested that there was a close bond between you and your son.
01:03:28I've tried to do me best for him and bring him up proper.
01:03:32Not being easy, I can tell you.
01:03:33Being on me own.
01:03:35Yeah, it can't have been.
01:03:37But all you know about this case is that he had that screwdriver with him in your house
01:03:41on October the 24th, and he took it with him when he left.
01:03:44I know something else as well.
01:03:46Oh, what's that?
01:03:47He's a good lad to me.
01:03:51Mrs. Hanlon, has he always been fond of the ladies?
01:03:55It's not so much of him being fond of them.
01:03:58What do you mean exactly?
01:03:59Well, you only have to look at him, don't you?
01:04:01Good-looking chap, isn't he?
01:04:03Spitting image of his dad.
01:04:06Hey, like mice round a lump of cheese.
01:04:09From him being, what, ooh, 14.
01:04:11Women won't leave him alone.
01:04:27V Lawyers
01:04:38I hardly need to remind you of the facts in this case, members of the jury.
01:04:42They are very simple, yet very devastating.
01:04:46And they have not been challenged.
01:04:48The defendant was seen, leaving the jewel box late at night.
01:04:53The door had been forced open, possibly by a screwdriver, and a watch and a ring were missing from the
01:04:59shop.
01:05:00A screwdriver and the watch are subsequently found in his possession, and the ring in the possession of his girlfriend.
01:05:06Caught to rights, as they say.
01:05:09An open and shut case.
01:05:12And how does the accused try to explain away all these unpleasant, unchallenged facts?
01:05:19He invites you to believe a series of incredible coincidences.
01:05:25Firstly, he and his girlfriend merely went into the doorway of the jewel box to kiss, not knowing that the
01:05:31shop had been burgled.
01:05:33Secondly, the screwdriver bulging awkwardly in the trouser pocket of his best suit was just a tool that he had
01:05:39been using at his mother's house.
01:05:42Thirdly, the watch in his pocket had been bought two days previously from a peddler called Jippo Dave,
01:05:49who was apparently wandering blissfully around Ireland, unable to confirm the sale.
01:05:54And fourthly, he asks you to believe that that's where he got the missing ring to, from the itinerant Jippo
01:06:02Dave.
01:06:04Well, really, members of the jury, besides it all being incredibly coincidental, isn't it also just a little too pat,
01:06:12too clever, too smart, like Miss Nahandran's suit?
01:06:17Doesn't it all rather reek of a story concocted by a quick mind when he was caught napping by Police
01:06:23Constable Lomas that night?
01:06:28The events, which my learned friend likes to call coincidences, are facts, members of the jury, definite facts,
01:06:38and just as devastating as those he marshals to support the prosecution.
01:06:44It was Mrs. Hanland's birthday the day after his arrest.
01:06:48He was in the habit of giving her a present.
01:06:52The ring was found on Miss King's engagement finger.
01:06:56He had been rehanging a door at his mother's house.
01:07:00Peddler's street traders, call them what you will, they do exist.
01:07:03Several were fined at the Magistrates Court in this very city only last month.
01:07:07And they do sell cheap jewellery and watches.
01:07:12Police Constable Lomas, the arresting officer.
01:07:16He was very young and inordinately keen to effect his first arrest.
01:07:23Well, need I say more, members of the jury?
01:07:26As for the watch and the ring, well, it has not been proved conclusively that they were the ones stolen
01:07:32from the jewel box.
01:07:33Oh, the owner, Mr. Cross, said they were.
01:07:37But he also admitted, rather reluctantly, not to say petulantly, you may recall,
01:07:43that they were identical to the watches and the ring which were bought at several other shops in Fulchester.
01:07:50Now, another thing my learned friend has made rather a lot of is the way Mr. Hanland dresses, even the
01:07:56way he looks.
01:07:57A handsome, attractive man, you must admit.
01:07:59But he's not on trial here today because of that, because of the way he dresses or because he's good
01:08:05-looking and attractive to women.
01:08:06He is here accused of burglary, a charge he absolutely denies.
01:08:12What it really boils down to members of the jury is, who do you believe?
01:08:20There is no question that a burglary did take place at that shop.
01:08:26There is no question the accused was seen leaving that same shop doorway.
01:08:33And no, that is not quite true.
01:08:36There is a possibility that it could have been the adjoining doorway,
01:08:40though the accused himself cannot swear to that.
01:08:43There is also no dispute about where the screwdriver, the watch, and the ring were found.
01:08:53Although there is conflict about whether Exhibits 1 and 2 are, in fact, the missing ring and watch.
01:09:02Now, they are certainly identical.
01:09:04But the defendant has an explanation for all this.
01:09:09It was only his expression, snogging in the doorway, not breaking into the shop.
01:09:18If, in fact, it was the jewel box doorway.
01:09:21And if it was, he said he was quite unaware that it had been broken into.
01:09:28Now, he's also told you, he'd bought the ring and the watch previously.
01:09:36The one for his wife and the other for his girlfriend.
01:09:43A very practical man, you might think.
01:09:47Though, of course, he has failed to produce the man, Jippo Dave, he says he bought them from.
01:09:55Now, his girlfriend, Miss King, confirms most of that, and so does his wife, so far as she is able.
01:10:06And it can certainly be said that both these ladies, in very trying circumstances, are remarkably loyal to him.
01:10:14So, I repeat, you have seen them and him in the witness box giving their evidence.
01:10:25You must decide if you think what they say is true or not.
01:10:31If you think it is true, then you must acquit the accused.
01:10:37But, if you think it is not true, that their evidence has been coloured by their intimate association with him,
01:10:51then, on the facts, you have no alternative but to find him guilty.
01:10:59Will you now please retire and consider your verdict?
01:11:03All stand.
01:11:12The prisoner will stand.
01:11:15Members of the jury, will your foreman please stand?
01:11:19Have you reached a verdict on which you are all agreed?
01:11:22Please answer yes or no.
01:11:24No.
01:11:31Have at least ten of you agreed upon your verdict?
01:11:34Yes.
01:11:36What is your verdict?
01:11:38Please answer guilty or not guilty.
01:11:41Not guilty.
01:11:42Very well.
01:12:12The case is in Forchester.
01:12:13Forchester are fictitious.
01:12:14Can our cameras return to bring you another leading case in the Crown Court?
01:12:20ForEO
01:12:21Forchester
01:12:22Forchester
01:12:22Forchester
01:12:26Forchester
01:12:27By the
01:12:28Forchester
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