CASE NUMBER 14-10-13RD
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN
V.
ROBERT DARREN DONOVAN
CROSS-EXAMINATION OF TINA MCINTYRE
BEFORE THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE JOHN G. DAVIES
and a JURY on October 10th, 2014
HONOURABLE JUSTICE DAVIES: Miss Jones, your witness.
DEFENCE BARRISTER: Thank you, Your Honour. I must say, Miss McIntyre, that's quite the love story between Mr. Barlow and yourself.
Witness: It is, yes.
DEFENCE BARRISTER: Though not entirely accurate, is it?
Witness: How'd you mean?
DEFENCE BARRISTER: For starters, Mr. Barlow is still married to his wife.
Witness: That's out of a sense of duty.
DEFENCE BARRISTER: I'm sorry, duty?
Witness: He didn't feel it was the right time to end their marriage after everything that happened.
DEFENCE BARRISTER: Yet, this is the same man who felt that his wedding night was the right time to kiss the babysitter slash barmaid while his bride was asleep upstairs. The same man who felt it the right time to engage in an affair with said babysitter slash barmaid, even while his wife was pregnant.
[The witness does not respond.]
DEFENCE BARRISTER: Perhaps, Miss McIntyre, this isn't quite the 'star-crossed lovers' scenario that you've been fantasizing it to be.
Witness: He loves me.
DEFENCE BARRISTER: And yet he remains with his wife, whom he claims—
[Defence Barrister picks up a paper from the desk. Reads from it]
— and I quote, "There was never any choice. I was never going to leave Carla. I love her. It's only ever been Carla."
[Witness shakes head but does not respond]
DEFENCE BARRISTER: Did you ever consider the possibility, Miss McIntyre, that perhaps you cared more for Mr. Barlow than he did for you?
Witness: No.
DEFENCE BARRISTER: That maybe you were merely an ego boost for a man who, in his own words, had a rather emasculating year?
Witness: No. He loves me, and we were going to be together —
DEFENCE BARRISTER: Losing his business, having to have his girlfriend take the brunt of the finances? A man who felt he didn't quite measure up to the woman he actually loved. The woman he married—
CROWN PROSECUTOR: Objection your honour. Is this trial about the victim's affair with Peter Barlow?
DEFENCE BARRISTER: Your honour, I can assure counsel that this line of questioning is relevant.
HONOURABLE JUSTICE DAVIES: Overruled. But I caution you, Miss Davies, to proceed to the relevance sooner rather than later.
DEFENCE BARRISTER: Yes, Your Honour. Miss McIntyre, did Mr. Barlow and yourself ever have a conversation wherein he explained that he never had any intention of leaving his wife?
Witness: No.
DEFENCE BARRISTER: Are you sure?
Witness: Yes.
DEFENCE BARRISTER: Miss McIntyre, according to the medical records regarding the injuries you sustained from the night of May 24th, 2014, you did not acquire any significant brain damage or amnesia of any kind.
Witness: Yes.
DEFENCE BARRISTER: So, fair to say, that your memory has not been in any way, shape, or form, altered as a result of these injuries. Would you agree?
CROWN PROSECUTOR: Objection your honour! Counsel is leading.
HONOURABLE JUSTICE DAVIES: Overruled. The witness will please answer.
Witness: Yes, I would agree.
DEFENCE BARRISTER: You see, I find that rather peculiar, Miss McIntyre. That your brain function and memory recognition is functioning at normal levels, and yet you do not agree that Mr. Barlow did not see you as anything more than a distraction and that he had no intention of leaving his wife.
Witness: Well, why would I agree to something that isn't true?
DEFENCE BARRISTER: Not even when —according to the police interviews of Mr. Barlow, Mr. MacDonald, and Mr. Donovan — Peter Barlow had told you this himself in the back garden of the Rovers Return, on the afternoon of Mr. Donovan and Miss Barlow's engagement party.
[Witness does not respond]
DEFENCE BARRISTER: All three men also claimed that you made several threats to Mr. Barlow after he told you in no uncertain terms that you and he were nothing more than a fling. Telling him that he needs to 'brace himself.'
[Witness does not respond]
DEFENCE BARRISTER: In fact, you had gone around making several threats towards my client's sister, Carla Barlow, that day...
June 5th, 2014
"Here. Pasty," Roy pushed a small plate towards Carla.
"I'll take your word for that," Carla grimaced as the smells of the beef and potato puff pastry, causing her stomach to churn.
"When Hayley died, people were constantly trying to get me to eat against my will." He offered her a small smile, silently assuring her it was okay to say no to the food he provided.
"I guess I'm just not a pasty kind of girl, Roy, sorry," she nudged the plate away from her and glanced around the cafe, "anyway, I can't be hiding in here all day. I've got plenty to do over the factory."
"I'm sorry I suggested the pub last night."
"Oh no, don't be daft. It's not the first time I've had people gossiping about me, it certainly won't be the last, will it?"
"Did the police ask anything else?" Roy moved the pasty from in front of Carla, his keen eye noting her unusual paleness.
"Same as before," she sighed, "They're convinced I was behind Rob going to see Tina that night. I told them it was nowt to do with me, and that I've got nothing to hide. Anyway, then my solicitor turned up and told me to clam up, and that was the end of that, really."
"Yeah, well, yo-you need to take care of yourself for the sake of the baby."
She smiled despite the trembles that had overtaken her body, "This baby is the only thing that's keeping me going."
Roy nodded, unable to disguise the concern in his eyes for the woman he'd grown to care for so deeply, "per-perhaps, you should go upstairs for a lie-down. You look exhausted, Carla."
"No, no, I'll be fine," she sniffed and hugged her bag a little closer to herself, "been through worse. We both have, right?" she gently placed her hand on top of Roy's, patting it encouragingly before shifting, "Right, I better get going, I can't sit here all day. The factory lot will be wondering what's happening."
Roy rose to his feet and headed behind the counter, "I've put in the usual selection," he tapped the two white boxes and handed them to her.
"Thanks, Roy," Carla adjusted her purse on her shoulder, "I reckon the shock of me actually doing the cake run will have them speculating all afternoon, anyway." She attempted a chuckle, but she physically shrunk under Roy's scrutinizing gaze.
'Nothing gets past him,' she thought as she nodded her appreciation and left the cafe.
She walked in a daze, pushing down the nausea and dizziness that had overpowered her since the day before, when she heard a voice shout,
"Carla!"
"Oh, hey Nick," she turned and waited for him as he jogged up next to her.
"Heading into work?"
"Yeah, for the first time today."
"Fancy some company?"
"On a two-minute stroll?" She raised an eyebrow at him when he shrugged in response, "suit yourself."
Nick smiled as they fell into step together before quickly swiping the boxes from Carla's hands.
"Hey! I'm not some invalid, you know? I am capable of carrying two cake boxes, Nick!" She huffed, reaching for them only to have them held out of her reach.
"Never implied you couldn't. But that doesn't mean you should have to," he smiled, "besides, how will you ever feel obligated to offer me a cake when we get to the factory, otherwise?"
"Oh, I see," she chuckled and shook her head, "got this all worked out, have ya?"
"Hmm, Mmm," he tapped his head playfully, "you see, as luck would have it, the part of my brain that loves pastries, still 100% intact."
"Every cloud, eh?" She adjusted her shoulder bag, "so you headed into work, yourself?"
Nick shook his head as they turned the corner, side by side, onto Coronation Street, "No, it's my day off. Just about to pop into Dev's for a few odds and ends. But umm, I noticed the police were around again this morning. And I just wanted to see if you were alright," he peered at the woman next to him, his curious eye scanning her from head to foot, noting how unusually exhausted she looked, "So are you? You know, alright?"
"I'm coping. Think I'll just have to get used to being questioned at the police station for the next little while, won't I?"
"But surely this is going overboard! I mean, is there really a need for them to keep dragging you down there? They can't be so daft to not realize that this puts a lot of undue stress on you and the baby."
Carla nodded, "I don't think they really care to be honest. Now that Tina's awake, they're more determined than ever to get this as an attempted murder charge instead of a lesser assault one. And if they can make me out to be an accessory or conspirator or summat, it's the icing on the cake for them, no matter what the cost. But considering everything, I'm holding it together," she looked up at him in concern, "Anyway, how about you?"
"What about me?"
"How are you bearing up?"
"You mean after finding out that my wife has been sleeping with Kal Nazir, my personal trainer? Oh yeah. Fantastic," they paused at the loading bay of the factory, and turned to face each other, "here," Nick held out the boxes towards Carla.
"What are you doing?"
'Is that a trick question?' Nick furrowed his brow as he mulled over her question in his mind
"Giving you your cakes back?" he responded slowly.
"Nick, come on. How can I offer you a cake and a cuppa and an ear to bend, if you don't carry them all the way in?"
"You sure? You're not too busy?"
Carla chuckled, linking elbows with him and guiding him up the loading bay, "Nick, I spent all morning and some of the afternoon at the police station and left Sally in charge. Of course, I'm busy," he laughed along with her, "But to be honest, I could really use the distraction."
"Do I get my choice of cake?"
"You'll get an iced finger, and you'll like it."
DEFENCE BARRISTER: So, in your mind, Peter Barlow was hanging onto his marriage out of a sense of duty: it was you he really loved, but his loyalty to Mrs. Barlow was not allowing him to properly acknowledge his true feelings.
Witness: Something like that.
DEFENCE BARRISTER: So Mrs. Barlow was in the way.
Witness: Well, I wouldn't say—
DEFENCE BARRISTER: Mrs. Barlow was the obstacle standing between you and your lover's happily ever after.
Witness: Well, yeah sort of, I guess.
DEFENCE BARRISTER: Oh, I don't think there's any guessing involved here, Miss McIntyre. You wanted to wound Mrs. Barlow, didn't you? Wanted to remove the obstacle, so to speak.
Witness: No.
DEFENCE BARRISTER: You wanted her to feel as hurt as you did. You wanted her to be the one that Peter Barlow spurned. And so, you went into the Rovers the night of Mr. Donovan's and Miss Tracy Barlow's engagement party, with the sole purpose of humiliating Carla Barlow in front of her family, and neighbours. If nothing else, you just wanted to ensure that she wouldn't think about getting back together with her husband.
Witness: No, that's not—no—
DEFENCE BARRISTER: Except it didn't quite go to plan, did it? Because, as you testified earlier, you walked in to find everyone toasting the news that Mrs. Barlow was pregnant. Is that correct?
Witness: Yes.
DEFENCE BARRISTER: And how did that make you feel?
Witness: Sick. I were in shock. I had no idea she was pregnant. I thought she was making it up to try to win him back.
DEFENCE BARRISTER: And when you found out she wasn't making it up, how did you react?
Witness: I left the pub.
DEFENCE BARRISTER: And where did you go?
[Witness does not respond. Takes a sip of water from glass]
DEFENCE BARRISTER: Miss McIntyre, where did you go when you left the Rovers Return?
Witness: The ginnel.
DEFENCE BARRISTER: Why the ginnel?
Witness: I knew Peter would most likely come out for a cig, and I wanted to have it out with him.
DEFENCE BARRISTER: Have what out with him?
Witness: Why he kept the baby a secret from me.
DEFENCE BARRISTER: But surely, as you testified earlier, he'd already answered that. In the pub, in front of several witnesses.
Witness: No he was lying then. I wanted the truth! Not what he was saying because it was what she wanted to hear.
DEFENCE BARRISTER: So when Mr. Barlow eventually came out for his cigarette, without his wife or an audience, did his answer change?
Witness: No, but—
DEFENCE BARRISTER: So, he had no intention of abandoning his wife and unborn child to be with you. Well, that must have hurt.
Witness: Yeah.
DEFENCE BARRISTER: Hurt so much that you physically lashed out at him?
[Witness does not answer]
DEFENCE BARRISTER: The crown has already submitted the CCTV footage from the ginnel into evidence, Miss McIntyre. Are you in need of a reminder?
Witness: Look, I was angry, alright? I was angry that he was lying about wanting to have this baby with her when he told me he didn't want any. And for keeping the pregnancy a secret from me. I just wanted him to stop the lies. So I lost my temper and I accidentally scratched him.
DEFENCE BARRISTER: [holds up a photo of Mr. Barlow for the jury to see] I'd say purposely clawed is probably more appropriate-
CROWN PROSECUTOR: Objection, Your Honour!
DEFENCE BARRISTER: Withdrawn. Where did you go, Miss McIntyre, after your altercation with Mr. Barlow in the ginnel?
Witness: I went home. To my flat. Rob came by shortly afterwards.
DEFENCE BARRISTER: Where he, according to your testimony, [picks up notepad], threatened to silence you.
Witness: Yes.
DEFENCE BARRISTER: What was he trying to silence you from saying?
Witness: From telling his sister everything.
DEFENCE BARRISTER: I'm sorry, Miss McIntyre, but I'm confused. Surely, Mrs. Barlow already knew of the affair, isn't that right?
Witness: Yes
DEFENCE BARRISTER: By your own account, she found out on April 21st, while her husband was in rehab.
Witness: That's correct.
DEFENCE BARRISTER: So, what else could you have possibly told her that would have led Mr. Donovan to try to stop you from speaking to her?
[The witness does not respond.]
DEFENCE BARRISTER: Miss McIntyre?
Witness: She didn't know that Peter told me he loved me.
DEFENCE BARRISTER: That's it?
Witness: Well, it's a pretty life-altering fact, don't you think?
DEFENCE BARRISTER: More life-altering than finding out that this all started on her wedding night?
Witness: No, it's-
DEFENCE BARRISTER: Or that it escalated from a kiss into sex the night she was comforting her dying friend?
Witness: You're not list-
DEFENCE BARRISTER: Or that this affair continued while she was pregnant? Well, excuse me, Miss McIntyre, I'm still not understanding how— after all those facts—these words, were going to somehow have such a significant impact, that Mrs. Barlow's brother decided to push you off a balcony to protect her—
Witness: [shouts] It's because she was pregnant, and she'd already a scare!
[noise from courtroom gallery as public reacts to witness' statement. Honourable Justice Davies raps gavel twice and calls for silence in the court.]
DEFENCE BARRISTER: And how, Miss McIntyre, did you know about this scare?
Witness: Rob told me. That night, in my flat.
DEFENCE BARRISTER: So, just to be clear: you knew that Mrs. Barlow had had a rather frightening hospital visit, the evening prior, I believe?
Witness: Yes
DEFENCE BARRISTER: And yet you were still willing to knowingly put her and her baby's life in danger, all for the sake of getting your own back?
CROWN PROSECUTOR: Objection Your Honour, counsel, is leading
HONOURABLE JUSTICE DAVIES: Sustained. Alter your question, counselor.
DEFENCE BARRISTER: Miss McIntyre, after Mr. Donovan informed you of the scare Mrs. Barlow had with the baby the evening before, did you still threaten to go and speak to his sister?
[The witness does not respond.]
HONOURABLE JUSTICE DAVIES: Miss McIntyre, you will answer the question, please.
Witness: Yes.
June 5th, 2014
"Peter, would you just drop it, please?" Carla sighed in exasperation. Her body slumped back weakly against the booth in the pub as she took a sip of her lime and soda.
"Carla, I want to look after you. Simon does and all."
"Peter," she placed her glass firmly on the table, "What are you not understanding? I can't be in that flat anymore."
"Well, we'll move then."
"Oh, you're not getting it," She pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Okay, well, if you don't want us living together, then at least let me come back to the factory. You shouldn't be running it on your own, not after everything you've been through."
"Peter, please understand," she pleaded with him, "I need to be on my own for a while before I can even think of us reconciling again."
Peter furrowed his brow, "but, I thought—"
"Thought what, Peter? That I would forget everything that happened the night of the engagement party?"
"No, of course—"
"That I would push aside the fact that you told Tina you didn't want children, after convincing me that you wanted our baby?"
"I do—"
"But, you blamed me for you falling off the wagon because of the pressure of the baby that you convinced me you wanted?" She grimaced as a pain shot through her lower abdomen.
"Carla?" Peter's voice croaked as he watched her place a hand on her abdomen. His panic rising further when she squeezed her eyes shut and groaned in pain.
"Car," He slid off his seat and crouched next to her, placing his hand on top of hers, "you're scaring me, baby. Just breathe, okay— Michelle!" He shouted over his shoulder.
"No, no, no, no, no..." Carla's eyes filled with tears as another sharp pain, each one somehow worse than the last, flashed across her abdomen, and she cried out in pain.
"Oh my God, Carla!" Michelle sprinted around the bar, sliding into the booth next to her best friend, "we need to get her to hospital, Peter!"
"Sean, call an ambulance!" Peter ordered as he rose to his feet.
"No, Peter, come on, we'll take my cab. It'll be faster!" Steve hurried around the bar and headed for the main doors, "I'll bring the car around!"
"Come on, love," Peter swallowed shakily, "we're going to get you to the hospital, okay?"
"I'll call ahead to A and E and let them know we're on our way!"
"No, maternity, maternity," Carla clenched her jaw as another sharp stab of pain sliced through her pelvis, "Peter, I'm - I'm losing it..."
"No, baby," Peter sniffed, "don't think like that, okay, it could just be another false alarm, alright? Come on, use me arm and pull yourself up, love..."
"Is there nothing we can do?" Rita questioned to the punters around her, "I feel awful just sitting here, gawping."
"I-I don't think we should go anywhere until Carla leaves," Norris replied, watching as Michelle and Peter helped a sobbing Carla to her feet out of the booth.
"Worried you might miss something?" Dennis sneered
"Here, steady, steady, steady," Michelle coaxed Carla slowly to the main doors, before turning back to the bar, "Please can someone let Liz know where we've gone when she gets back; we were meant to be going to Amy's show."
"Don't worry, I'll tell her," Rita assured her.
"Thanks. Come on darling,"
"An-and good luck!" Norris called after them as they exited the pub.
Hours later, Peter paced the stretch of the maternity ward, his eyes fixed on the doors at the end of the hallway.
"Peter, would you stop pacing you're doing me head in!" Michelle huffed, yanking on his coat sleeve and pulling him into the seat between her and Steve.
"What's taking so long?" He snapped irritably, "She's been in that radiology department for over half an hour now!"
"Peter, I know it's frustrating but—, oh, there she is!" the three rose to their feet as an orderly wheeled a sombre looking Carla back into her room.
"Mr. Barlow?" the nurse who had followed closely behind the gurney beckoned him to her.
"Is she okay? Is the baby okay?" Peter questioned hastily.
The nurse held up her hands, "I'm afraid I can't answer anything at the moment, but if you — and just you for the time being — would like to head into your wife's room, please? The doctor will be in momentarily."
"Go on, Peter. We'll be waiting right here, alright?" Steve wrapped an arm around Michelle's shoulders as Peter took a shaky breath and entered the room.
"Hey, love," he cautiously approached the bed where his wife was reclined, her eyes unmoving from the wall ahead as he reached out to tuck her hair behind her ear.
"I couldn't hear anything," she whispered, "I couldn't hear a heartbeat..."
"Oh love, that doesn't necessarily mean something bad, okay," Peter swallowed the lump in his throat as he stroked her hair, "Maybe they just didn't have the sound on for these tests—"
"Then why won't they tell me anything..."
"Mrs. Barlow?"
Peter turned to see the doctor standing at the door, clutching a clipboard to her chest, her eyes locking onto the frightened eyes of the woman in the bed
"No..." Carla sobbed
DEFENCE BARRISTER: Here's what I believe happened, Miss McIntyre. Mr. Donovan came to your flat the night of May 24th following the confrontation in the pub between yourself, and Mr. and Mrs. Barlow, in an attempt to appeal to your empathetic side. He confided in you that his sister had a frightening scare with the baby the evening before, and pleaded with you to leave his sister alone as she was told by the doctor to avoid stress as much as possible. Am I correct in that so far?
Witness: He came to threaten me.
DEFENCE BARRISTER: Allegedly, threaten, Miss McIntyre. But you refused to comply. And so, on the balcony of your flat, you and Mr. Donovan had a physical altercation. You tried to push past him, he blocked your exit and pushed you away from the door. Only he inadvertently pushed so hard, that you fell over the scaffolding and onto the ground below.
[witness shakes head but does not respond]
DEFENCE BARRISTER: After his shock at what had just happened wore off, he then rushed down, mobile out and ready to call an ambulance. But you started to come round. Only now, you were much angrier than you had been before and you started issuing more threats; not only towards his sister but towards him as well. Alleging that the fall wasn't an accident but that he pushed you on purpose.
Witness: No, that's not how it happened.
DEFENCE BARRISTER: I'm sorry, are we meant to believe the word of a scorned mistress who would so callously put an innocent woman and her unborn baby in danger in order to get some semblance of revenge on her lover?
CROWN PROSECUTOR: Objection, Your Honour.
HONOURABLE JUSTICE DAVIES: Overruled.
Witness: No. Rob tried to kill me.
DEFENCE BARRISTER: Did he? Because we have the recording of his call to emergency services requesting an ambulance. Why would he do that when he could have just left you to die on that street? I mean, where you were lying, the odds of any finding you until the morning was pretty slim. Why would he risk you recovering in hospital and pointing the finger at him if he did it?
[Witness does not respond]
DEFENCE BARRISTER: I think you threatened him that night and I think you threatened his sister. And yet after your accidental fall, Mr. Donovan stepped away to call you an ambulance.
Witness: Oh, so I tried to bash my own skull, did I?
DEFENCE BARRISTER: Well you tell us, Miss McIntyre. Because you see, I don't think you were short of enemies around Weatherfield. And I think, while my client was calling emergency services, someone else decided to take revenge on you with a metal pipe. And when you pulled through, instead of telling the truth of who attacked you, you instead saw the perfect opportunity to falsely accuse my client of trying to kill you.
Witness: No, you're wrong.
DEFENCE BARRISTER: But you didn't accuse him of trying to kill you until almost a week later, Miss McIntyre. And if you were, as you testified, so certain it was my client, why not tell that to the police during your first interview after your recovery?
[Witness does not respond]
DEFENCE BARRISTER: Because it wasn't until after you returned home from the hospital and heard the news about Mrs. Barlow, that you conjured up this perfect plan for revenge. You knew you couldn't go after Mrs. Barlow directly. Not after what happened. But you could still inflict pain on her indirectly. And what better way than by framing her brother.
Witness: Why? If it was Peter I was angry with, why would I want revenge on Carla?
DEFENCE BARRISTER: Because you were jealous, Miss McIntyre! Jealous that Mrs. Barlow still had her husband, the man you wanted for yourself, but now she had something else that you didn't have. Because Mrs. Barlow is still very much pregnant with Peter Barlow's baby.