3 weeks later
Smithy and Mickey pulled up outside of the court and hurriedly made their way inside. Today was the day of the trial and hopefully the day Anna Campbell would finally see some justice. They entered the foyer in an apprehensive state both of them hoping for Joshua to be put away for a long time. They were met on the foyer of the court house by a barrister who greeted them warmly
"I'm William Foster and I'll be the prosecution barrister for this case"
"I'm Sergeant Smithy and this is DC Webb" the men all shook hands
"Excellent" William said as he led them up the stairs "Now we have a strong case against Mr Malley and it's almost certain he will get a prison sentence but how long all depends on the depth of the witness statements"
"When we took Anna's statement she was still suffering the effects of the blow to the head she received, she really couldn't remember all that much" Smithy said looking concerned
"Don't worry the judge and jury have all been informed of Miss Campbell's current state of health and this will be taken into consideration" William assured the officers
He led Smithy towards the witness holding area so he could sit with Anna until she was called. William had thought this would relax Anna since Smithy had been the one most involved in the case from the start. As Smithy entered the room he saw Anna sitting there looking nervous. But as soon as she saw him her face broke into a smile.
"Hey" she said in cheerful voice
"Hi Anna, how're you feeling?" Smithy asked sitting down on the chair next to her
"Better thanks" she said "The Doctor said my collar bone healed up nicely so now all I've got to do is wait until the rest heals"
Smithy looked at Anna and still felt a pang of sympathy for her although the cuts and bruises were healing the rest of her still looked pretty battered. Under her black trousers Smithy could see the outline of the cast that encased her leg. Her arm had been re-plastered into a bulky cast which was strapped up in a sling from shoulder to her knuckles and Smithy was concerned about this.
"It could have been worse" Anna reassured him and Smithy raised an eyebrow
"Anna he broke your leg in three places and your arm in five…"
"Well ok fair point but if you hadn't found me in time…" her sentence trailed off and Smithy quickly changed the subject
"How long are you in plaster for then?"
"My leg about 8 weeks and my arm about 12 but the doctor put me in a walking cast which means I'm not as dependent on those things" she nodded to a pair of crutches propped up against a chair near her
"You've been so brave Anna" Smithy said after a moments silence between the pair
"I guess it all comes down to this" she sighed
"Are you ready?"
"As I'll ever be but I have to face him one day, I need some closure on this" and Smithy nodded
At that point a steward came in and told them that Anna would be called to the stand now. Smithy helped her into her crutches and the pair of them slowly made their way to the court room. Smithy then left Anna to go and take his place inside whilst Anna was led through a different door.
As she was taken in she could hear the murmurs of the jury as they saw the extent of her injuries. She swore the oath and then prepared to give her witness account.
"The court have seen the evidence and heard from one witness but now I have called Anna Campbell to the stand to give her eye witness account" William addressed to the court "Anna would you please tell the court of what you remember of the night of the attack"
Anna looked around the court trying to calm herself before she spoke, she could see Joshua standing there with a smirk on his face and that made her feel sick. But out of the corner of her eye she could see Smithy giving her an encouraging smile. She summoned up all the courage she had, took a deep breath and then began"
"I was coming home from a night out; I had just broken up with my boyfriend and just needed some time to relax. I got inside my house and a couple of minutes later the doorbell rang. I answered it and then someone pushed their way into my house"
"And who was this person?" William asked
"Joshua Malley" Anna said, her voice quivering with emotion
"And you are sure of this?"
"Yes I remember his voice. He told me that he way going to make me pay"
There were further murmurings from the jury but Anna continued bravely
"After that I remember pain and not a lot else, I could feel him beating me with something. I remember feeling the bones crack in my leg as I feel. I remember someone repeatedly kicking me and going for my arm. Then I felt a blow to my head, after that I heard the attacker leave. I was drifting in and out of consciousness but I tried to grab my phone and call for help but the pain and blood loss was too much" Anna said her voice breaking with emotion as she remembered the events "The next thing I remember was waking up in hospital and the Doctor telling me to relax" Anna finished and took a deep breath trying to control her emotions
"Thank you Miss Campbell" William said nodding his head with gratitude "I would like to draw the courts attention to a number of issues. Firstly the depth of detail that the witness can go into. No doubt you have been informed of the head injury she received, this meant that she had to be put in an induced coma for several hours and the blow meant that she suffered temporary amnesia on events. From doctors reports there is further evidence of the brutality of the attack. Whilst being treated Miss Campbell had to be put in an ventilator because of her increasingly unstable condition, the internal injuries were severe with bruising to at least 3 major organs. As you can also see there were fractures to her collar bone, leg and arm. With this statements from the doctor, two witness accounts and the police accounts there is overwhelming evidence that Mr Malley brutally attacked Miss Campbell over an issue that occurred in their childhood without shoeing any remorse"
The judge nodded "Court is adjourned whilst the jury make their decision"
…………………………………………………………………………………………
Smithy and Mickey met up with Anna and Jake in the foyer. Jake was comforting Anna who looked close to tears
"I'm sorry you had to go through that again Anna" Mickey said gently
"It's fine" she said sniffing back tears "I know it was necessary"
"We have a strong case; he's going to go down for quite some time and Alison too"
Anna nodded "Thank you for all your help" she smiled at Mickey and Smithy
Just then William rushed towards them with a smile on his face "We've been clled back in"
"That was quick" Smithy said looking shocked
"Well apparently it was a clear verdict" William said leading them back to the court room
…………………………………………………………………………………………
"Mr Malley" the judge began "We have taken into account your guilty plea but yet we have to consider the brutality of the attack, what have the jury decided?"
One member stood up "We have found Joshua Malley guilty"
"Joshua Malley I hereby sentence you to 5 years imprisonment for GBH which intent to cause serious harm"
Smithy looked across at the expression on Anna and Jake's face and he knew he would never forget the look of relief on their faces as they knew that their terror was finally over.
…………………………………………………………………………………………..
1 year later
Smithy was at the hospital waiting to take a statement from another resident of Canley when he looked up and saw something that made him smile.
There was Anna back at work doing what she loved best; she was back working as a nurse. She looked up from the patient's notes she was holding and smiled when she saw Smithy
"Back at work then?" he grinned
"The smell of sick never smelt so good" she laughed
"I'm happy for you"
"Thank you for all you did Smithy, you and the rest of your officers. Jake and I are eternally grateful"
Smithy nodded "Just promise me one thing?"
"What's that?"
"That you and Jake will talk to each other, no more secrets"
"No more secrets" she agreed
And from that moment on Smithy knew that he had played a small part in re-building the life of one person who tried to hide so much from the world and he couldn't be happier for Jake or Anna.