Part Eighty-Two

"Come on. Court's starting in three minutes time." Karen firmly pronounced to the others as she checked her watch. She was the first to stub her cigarette out

Helen grinned at Karen's air of command which threw up, in sharp relief, the way her years as a psychologist had mellowed her and bluntened that need to take command of a situation. She gestured to Karen to lead the way and, by collective response, the others followed in behind her. Imperceptibly, a heightened feeling of anticipation crept in amongst the group of five women as they passed into the foyer

Bodybag had walked into the foyer of the Old Bailey, her head held high in the air with that sniffish look of disdain more pronounced than normal. She had appeared in court before and the one thought sustained her was that she was the expert on prisoners. She had looked after them for fifteen years and she knew their ways and in particular that Hunt woman whose card she'd marked years before. She'd seen prisoners come and go and return again and the years of experience had told her that, once a con, always a con or else you never went to prison in the first place. No matter how snooty those two women barristers she'd be up against, there was no substitute for experience and, this time, she would speak her mind no matter what that well meaning man was nagging her about all the time to be careful what she said. He did go on at her, she sighed to herself. He was a typical man , a bit like her Bobby, who would prefer not to let her handle these situations. When she entered the foyer, she blinked at the dim light inside and was confused by the sense of hurly burly of criss crossing people. It took her a little while to feel her way forward through the crowd when , from behind her back, grated that hated voice.
"Hey, Bodybag, glad you've dropped in"
She turned round on her heel to gape as Yvonne appeared out of nowhere. Next to her, Helen was rooted to the spot, her face set rigid. Further to the right, Karen's expression was impassive but hardly welcoming. Together with two other troublemakers, this was all she needed.
"I'm only doing my job, Atkins. Somebody's got to." Bodybag said pompously "So were the SS." Came the whiplash retort from a smaller blond haired woman to Yvonne's left while Roisin laughed boldly at her face. "So, I'm stuck with some ex cons and their bosom buddy. Nothing changes"
"Sylvia, for your own good, you had better take yourself elsewhere now because I won't be answerable for the consequences if you don't"
Even while Helen glared at Bodybag, Karen's crack of authority in her voice got through to her that perhaps she would feel safer somewhere else but she couldn't resist trying to have the last word.
"You'll never change her. You should know that you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear"
It was as much as Karen could do to stop herself smacking the stupid malicious woman across the face but instead, with a supreme force of will, she put her hand in front of the others. She could feel the solid wall of loathing flame up alongside her. A coldly analytical corner of her mind told her that there was no need to exact private vengeance, as she knew that Jo and George would make mincemeat out of her. "I just hope you're still sure about why you're doing this, because you're sure as hell about to find out."

At that, Karen stormed off, leading the others in the direction of the staircase to the visitor's gallery while Bodybag gaped in astonishment. What Madam had said was as clear as a cloud to her because, as far as she was concerned, she was going to tell the court everything she knew and she would settle old scores once and for all. Fate preserved her from further trouble as the solicitor anxiously gestured her to come to the entrance of the court. Eager to be there on time, she scuttled along.

"If she'd have stayed there one minute longer, I'd have killed her." Hissed Helen under her breath as she clattered up the staircase.
"You can get banged up for doing things like killing people," Laughed Yvonne at Helen of all people vowing death to that stupid waste of space. She was starting to calm down a bit as she recalled the way that George had outsmarted that very sharp witted and attractive doctor of theirs. Bodybag would be a pushover in comparison. "Never mind her, she'll get what's coming to her, Helen." She added. Behind his half closed eyelids, John looked watchfully round at the courtroom as Bodybag took her place. He took the measure at her air of self-importance and remembered that utterly reactionary prison officer at Larkhall prison. It felt utterly incongruous to see her out of her normal context and invading his instead. He ran his eye round the visitor's gallery and intoned the formula to start proceedings. Brian Cantwell looked fairly smug with himself as he was readying himself to lead off his questioning.
"Mrs. Hollamby, can you tell the court your occupation"
"I am a prison officer at Her Majesty's Prison Larkhall." "And how long have you worked in the prison service"
Bodybag hesitated and looked vague for a second as she ran her mental calendar backwards in time. It all seemed a long time ago since she had first started work. "Let me think, I think it is now fifteen years"
"And what was your previous occupation"
"I was a traffic warden."

Yvonne couldn't resist sniggering under her breath.
"Hey, Karen, you never told us that one"
"I don't like looking in Sylvia's personnel file more than I have to. Would you have done if you didn't have to, Helen"
"You might have found all the juicy bits and told us all. You're a real spoilsport, miss"
"This is Sylvia you are talking about, Yvonne." retorted Karen with raised eyebrow. "More bungling incompetence than I care to read about but no lurid sexual scandals. That woman hasn't lived." Helen's lips curved slightly at the air of smugness with which Karen delivered her final judgment and they studiously ignored the air of priggish disapproval from Laurence James and the venomous glares from Greg and Amanda.

"Why did you choose to move to the prison service?" Brian Cantwell continued. "It was my Bobby, my late husband who used to work for the prison service. He kept on telling me 'Sylvia, your talents are simply wasted plodding the beat and sticking tickets on careless drivers who are too lazy to find the nearest car park. The prison service is simply crying out for people with the necessary firmness and dedication to make sure that the criminal fraternity are properly dealt with, people with eyes in the back of their head.' He was right too. I had got fed up of being rained on in the winter and getting abuse in doing a thankless job and I thought I'd take myself to an occupation to where my talents are better appreciated."

"I've always thought that Bodybag was a Martian." Whispered Cassie.
"Her husband had a lot to answer for. Just think of it, if only he hadn't stuck his oar in she'd have been left to terrorise some poor unfortunate driver instead." Put in Helen.

Unfortunately, Helen had never mastered the knack of keeping her voice down and the acoustics of the hard stone court chamber projected her words to perfection. Her 'stage whisper' could be heard by the jury who grinned and also by John at the far end of the courtroom. His gaze had been focused away from George who was smiling scornfully, veered sharply and homed in on Helen. She only smiled sweetly and disarmingly back at John while Brian Cantwell kept his face straight and stuck to his batting order of questions. "What was your first impression on meeting Barbara Mills"
"She gave the impression of being very saintly and too good to be true. I know her type from a lifetime of experience. For that reason, I decided to keep my eye on her." "What have you observed to be her usual behaviour whilst on remand"
"I found it very strange for someone with her Christian background and what she was accused of." Bodybag proclaimed with infinite smugness causing a collective wince at her heavy-handed emphasis on the word 'Christian.' "She got very pally with the more hardened criminals. There was never anything I could pin on her but it was obvious that she was one of those prisoners who kept her head down but schemed away to her heart's content." "How has she behaved to you in particular?" Brian Cantwell said patiently, eager to pin this woman down to specifics and bolster up her case." "With total disrespect. She always questioned the slightest order I gave her and was always ready with backchat. It was almost as if she would disagree for disagreeing's sake. She was at her worst when her 'friends' were around. I think she enjoyed playing to the gallery. Her educated background only made her a worse troublemaker than nature made her"
"Hear hear." Greg instantly loudly proclaimed in ringing tones as the mood in the gallery was instantly polarized. "This is a court of law and not the bear pit of the House of Commons on a particularly bad night." John fired back curtly. "Kindly hold your tongue or you will be forcibly removed"
Sir Ian and Lawrence James glared at John for his unfortunate choice of words while Monty looked stonily back at them.
"I have done nothing wrong." Greg persisted while Amanda pulled at the sleeve of her hot-tempered brother.
"It is we on the bench who are the best judge of that. We have both right and power to remove anyone, and I mean anyone, whose behaviour does not show respect for the court." Growled Monty whose own anger smouldered and his gaze was fixed on Sir Ian and Lawrence James. "Keep schtum, everyone." Whispered Yvonne out of the side of her mouth. She was boiling over with rage to hear the crass way that that evil cow badmouthed Julies and Denny but felt that the iron determination from the bench was fully determined to strike down even those stuck up civil servants behind her. She knew that they weren't kidding. "It's our turn now."

The icy silence seemed to hang on the air and Bodybag smiled to herself in immense self-satisfaction. She felt that she had done a good job in subtly undermining the image that Barbara presented of being the poor hard done by victim and placed her hands on the bars of the witness stand in self satisfaction. Jo rose to her feet, fully prepared to dispense with polite preliminaries in asking her first question. "Taking your fifteen years experience into account, why haven't you ever been promoted?" This question confused Bodybag as she wasn't expecting it. "I, erm, I'm not the ambitious go getting type. I've brought up three children and my husband's career came first. I'm happy just to work on the coal face, as it were"
"………And badmouth everyone and skive." Muttered Karen under her breath.
"In all your long experience, has a prisoner in your charge, ever managed to get the better of you?" came the casually delivered question from the taller of the two women with a slight smile on her lips.
"Not that I can remember"
To Bodybag's surprise, her questioner promptly sat down and the smaller of the two women moved to the side of the long bench, edging forward with a hard menacing smile on her lips.
"Are you absolutely sure about that?" "Of course I am"
"However, you were in fact demoted, were you not. Please would you enlighten the court, as to the circumstances of your demotion"
"I'm not sure why you're asking me this question. It's got nothing to do with Mrs. Hunt, I mean Mills"
"Let me put it another way. Would you like to tell the court, about the night that Sharon Wiley and Daniella Blood locked you in their cell? Is it really true that you had to hand over your keys in order for them to let you out?" "It was just an unfortunate accident. I got tricked by two particularly cunning and malicious prisoners into being locked into their cell. I had been working a lot of extra shifts to cover absences and I was tired and a bit slow. I didn't realize what they were doing at first……" stammered Bodybag.
"……..Despite the eyes in the back of your head." murmured George just loudly enough.
"…….they were on the outside and the only way I could deal with the situation quickly was get them to agree to hand over the keys so that they could unlock me. They let me out a bit later after they had disappeared for a bit. It was totally unfair as all I was trying to do was to do my job properly and investigate some suspicious goings on by two prisoners whom I'd had my eye on"
"Three cheers for Denny, eh" grinned Yvonne.
With great satisfaction, John placed the vivid memories of that long ago conversation with Denny next to the event so dispassionately recorded. "Just how long were the two prisoners away from your cell, Mrs. Hollamby?" George's voice arched up and down the scales in malicious pleasure while Brian Cantwell stood, stony faced. This idiot woman had never told him about this prison version of a Whitehall farce despite his persistent questions. "An hour or so." Mumbled Bodybag under her breath. "This was all a very long time ago and I can't be expected to remember every little last detail of my working life. It might have been less than that"
George's wide and sweeping theatrical gesture to the jury smile milked the implausibility of Bodybag's over eager protestations while five women looked down at her from the gallery in mixed amusement and contempt.
"Let's move on to another incident in your long and distinguished career. Just out of pure interest, how did it come about that you were reinstated?" "Well, I was able to resolve a difficult problem at work as the POA representative"
"For the benefit of the jury, can you explain what the initials stand for, Mrs. Hollamby," John broke in, just beating George to the question by a fraction of a second. He had been dying to say something for ages and gave way to that irresistible temptation. "I apologise, my Lord. The POA is a union and stands for the Prison Officer's Association. I hope I have made myself clear"
"Carry on, Mrs Hollamby." "It all started when a particularly violent criminal had stabbed a long standing, well respected pillar of the prison service." Bodybag started to say very slowly, feeling for the right words and noticing Helen's and Karen's intense stare at her, which was about to turn to total fury. "The powers that be had been let her off very lightly with a slap on the wrist when she was as guilty as sin. All the prison officers felt strongly about it and I could certainly see their point of view so we went on strike as a protest until she was properly dealt with"
"Go on." John urged to George's theatrical sigh and Jo's flash of irritation.
"John," muttered Monty, leaning over towards him." You must let council carry on with the cross examination and not take over from them"
John blinked with surprise as if Monty had made the most blindingly obvious suggestion.
"Of course, Monty"
"Well, tempers were high, I can tell you. It wasn't till later when things had cooled down a bit when Mr. Stubberfield came to talk to me as the POA representative. We came to an understanding and he agreed that I had been discriminated against and that reinstating me to my proper rank would be a gesture of appreciation"
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Hollamby, you've completely lost me and I suspect, the jury also. For a start, what happened to the prisoner? Was she suitably chastised and punished by the prison authorities?" "Er, I don't remember." Bodybag stammered.
"How very convenient. So can you explain what possible connection is there between the supposed lenient treatment of a prisoner for a serious crime , your reinstatement and the strike being called off ? The three simply don't go together"
"All I can say is that Shell Dockley made sure she kept her head down and stopped bragging about the stabbing and that my reinstatement cooled feelings down." John suddenly sat up bolt upright in his throne as a series of mental images rushed back in front of his waking eyes of when she had broken into Karen's flat and he had helplessly watched from the sidelines while Karen patiently negotiated for his safety. He seemed to stare at something infinitely far away.
"So it was the case of a you scratch the governor's back and he'll scratch yours, Mrs. Hollamby"
"I beg your pardon"
"After all, Mrs. Hollamby, you were the spokesman of the strikers and not the instigator, were you not"
"John," murmured Monty, leaning over to him to seek his intervention against George's leading question. He was surprised that the normally alert John was frozen, unresponsive and therefore intervened on his own account.
"I think Ms.Channing that you are asking a leading question. You know that you should not be doing that." "I apologise, my Lord." George responded graciously with perfect poise. "I shall rephrase my question in more acceptable terms. How can you account for the fact that you alone benefited from this deal with Mr. Stubberfield with nothing else gained while you claim to have only represented your fellow prison officers and had no vested interests?" "Believe what you want,"Bodybag retorted with more spirit than Karen would have credited her with. "I can only say that I saw what I saw." "I'm sure the jury understands very well exactly what has happened." George retorted in her most crushingly sarcastic tones, turning to the jury who exchanged meaningful glances and stepping backwards for Jo to take up the attack.

"What is your general approach to gaining a prisoner's trust?" Jo asked in the mildest possible fashion.
"I beg your pardon"
"I was making a general enquiry for the benefit of the jury as to your approach to prisoners in how you set about gaining their trust if you don't mind me asking"
"Hmmh. They have to gain my trust first before I'll trust them. For example, if they get the privilege of making the tea and spring-cleaning the PO's room, spring comes every day of the year and I'm very fussy about the milk and sugar. If they do that correctly, then they're in a different class than the run of the mill cons"
"So what type of prisoner do you find easiest to deal with"
"Well, I suppose I find that those prisoners who do as I say and don't ask awkward questions will get my favour"
Brian Cantwell cringed at the connotations of patronage by grace and favour but Jo surprisingly ignored the obvious opening and politely carried on. "Has Barbara Mills ever caused you any direct trouble during her stay in prison?" "Not exactly." "Is that a yes or a no, and please bear in mind that you are under oath, and that I do have in front of me, Barbara's prison record." "Well, nothing that I could definitely pin on her"
"So taking into account that you generally prefer those prisoners who don't cause you any problems, would you like to tell the court why, you admitted a known very violent inmate, onto an open accommodation wing, whilst assuming she was in fact my client?" George jumped in, the edge of steel in her voice springing the trap that Jo had set up.

John was struck by the diamond sharp precision in the way that Jo and George shifted positions and the way that their different styles meshed together to constantly shift the focus of attack. It gave John the perfect excuse to stick his oar in.
"Is this a case of good guy and bad guy?" "No my Lord. We just work together well as a team." The sheer smugness with which Jo came out with this line and the broad grin on George's face made John slightly smile to himself in contrast to the way that at one time they fought tooth and nail. John admired very much the teamwork that they enjoyed and, even in the tense cut and thrust of the trial, it occurred to him to recall that outside the court and in bed, the pleasure they had enjoyed when he had joined in with them. "So how did yet another incident in your very badly spotted record come to take place?" George pursued relentlessly.
"That was an accident." Stammered Bodybag, visibly sweating. "Some fool from Newby prison didn't send the papers with the two prisoners, Barbara Hunt and Tessa Spall. I mean one of them was kicking up a dickens of a row and we didn't know that Barbara Hunt suffered from claustrophobia. It was easy for Tessa Spall, the violent inmate, to deceive us in being as meek as a lamb and to get the two prisoners mixed up. Anyone would have done it." "So, considering your own evidence of your performance as a prison officer over the years, do you consider that you have an expert opinion, when it comes to the assessment of the prisoners in your charge"
"If I get the paperwork on time, yes." Bodybag snapped back defiantly. "How professional would you say your considered opinion really was, on the night that Carol Byatt told you she needed a doctor?" George slid in smoothly.
"What do you mean"
"If I understand it correctly, she called out to you that she was bleeding and yet you deliberately ignored her so that she miscarried in the night"
"She never did. She was tired and didn't want to leave her cell but bleeding? She never told me that. In any case, she had a bad reputation for time wasting." Helen's temper flamed uncontrollably and with the full force of her lungs, hurled her accusation right into Bodybag's face. Her eyes focused on nothing else but that hated woman and her mind froze on that first emotionally scarring crisis at Larkhall and demanded that she should say at last what had been left unsaid. "You're telling a complete pack of lies, Sylvia. You left that woman because you couldn't be bothered and thanks to you, she nearly bled to death." Bodybag's face turned white as those words echoed down the years from another hated trouble maker who now outranked her. "Do you want to spend the night in the local remand prison?" John enquired of Helen, staring intently at her.
Helen blinked her eyes as John's quiet words had been like a bucketful of water thrown in her face. She remembered who and where she was and that agile mind of a psychologist came to her rescue. Conscious of her friends around her and with the most innocent smile that she could summon up ,Helen retorted to the accompaniment of laughter from the other women. "Not really, judge. The room service isn't up to much"
John smiled at that rare moment of lightheartedness and indulgently permitted a brief burst of laughter from the other women. It gave the court just enough time to settle down before Jo resumed, switching her point of attack yet again. "Let's consider the charges laid against my client of taking the life of her husband, Henry Mills, who was dearest to her heart and whose death may have caused her, in your words, to 'keep her head down', perhaps out of grief at her loss. In this so called professional opinion of yours, what makes you so certain, that my client is guilty?"

Jo's question was phrased in restrained tones though with a slight resonance. It was her reference for Barbara's love for her late husband that hit a sensitive nerve in Bodybag, the memory that he once rejected her amorous advances in place of a con. Her face was suddenly distorted with rage as she totally lost control to the surprise of the court. "I know how guilty she is as she's done it before. I mean she murdered her second husband and still married to her first. I know she did it to get her hands on his millions and she was locked up in Larkhall before. That's why I know her so well"
"That's right, she killed our father," shouted out Greg. "She cannot be allowed to get away with it. My sister and I demand justice"
"You snotty nosed hypocrites and money grabbing bastards."Yelled Yvonne at the top of her voice. "You come over so high and mighty and the only thing Babs spent money on before you stole it was a half way house for some of the girls who get out with no homes to go to"
"All of you in the gallery will all shut up right now," thundered John, absolutely livid with rage. The uproar was all the more devastating as it had suddenly blown up from nowhere. Instinctively he knew that he had to quell the uproar from the balcony first before he could deal with the rest of the disorder in segments. "If any of you say one more word, I'll have you locked up for contempt of court and I'll throw away the key"
The sounds were snuffed out as if a candle was extinguished and the only faint sounds were the reverberating sounds of the ceiling lights. A sudden hush highlighted the bedlam of a few seconds before.
"Can the jury be cleared from court and you will wait in the jury room until you are called back." Growled Monty. "We have urgent business to dispose of."

"Thanks Monty." John whispered in an aside as the twelve of them shuffled out and were led away. While this happened, Karen seethed inwardly with rage at the way that Bodybag had let down the good name of the prison service and that she was compelled to keep quiet. Doesn't she care at the mayhem she's caused, Helen wondered inwardly? Jo and George shook their heads incredulously at what had been suddenly unleashed while Brian Cantwell felt as if he could sink through the floor in embarrassment.

"Mrs Hollamby, what I find myself at a loss to explain is whether your stupidity is greater than your sheer maliciousness. I would expect a public servant to have testified in court before to have a basic idea of what can or cannot be said in court and also someone who will have been guided by her council. Mr Cantwell," he added as he saw him about to stand up to extricate himself from any blame. "You have appeared before me on numerous occasions and while we haven't always seen eye to eye, I know you well enough just where to apportion blame in this particular case. Please believe me when I say that I know that you are entirely innocent of any involvement in this utter shambles. Mrs Hollamby, I am cutting short your testimony as I am of the firm belief that you have nothing left to contribute to this trial if indeed you ever had anything useful to say in the first place. On a personal note, I have to tell you that I don't like bigoted, prejudiced petty dictators who aren't fit to give evidence in a court of law. You will get out of this court and never dare set foot in this court while you appear before me or, I fancy any other judge. Just go"
Bodybag heard with horror the tones of the judge as it built up in intensity and encapsulated all her experiences of being on the receiving end of all the firm discipline she had advocated all through her life. She started to break down in tears and ran for the exit.
"You've lost this case for us." Brian Cantwell hissed at her as she scuttled past.

"And now, I want to see council in chambers immediately. The court is adjourned." John's tones of voice, though more subdued, was as firm and determined as anything he had said in his life. Everyone looked at each other in a dazed fashion. It felt as if a bomb had exploded and everyone felt totally numb as they picked up the pieces of themselves to put themselves together.