by Peter Murphy
Gareth nodded. ‘I do not persist with it for now,’ he replied. ‘But I may return to it at a later stage, and no doubt we can take advantage of a time when the jury is absent to discuss the law. I have no further questions for this witness.’
‘I have no questions,’ Ben said, but he had the impression that almost nobody was listening to him.
36
‘My Lord, I now call Alan Siddell,’ Jamie announced.
Alan Siddell, a short, precise-looking man in his early forties, wearing a grey three-piece suit, a light blue shirt with a dark blue tie, and spectacles with clear plastic frames, climbed nimbly into the witness box, took the oath, and gave the court his full name.
‘Mr Siddell, please tell his Lordship and the jury what you do for a living.’
‘I am a senior administrative officer in the office of the Building Surveyor for Wales. The Surveyor’s office is a sub-department of the Ministry of Public Building and Works. We are based in the Central Office for Wales in Cardiff.’
‘What responsibilities, if any, did the Building Surveyor have for the Castle in connection with the Investiture?’
‘The Surveyor was responsible to the Project Manager for almost everything relating to making the Castle ready and installing necessary equipment. This included seating stands for the guests, extra flagpoles, facilities for the television and radio personnel and the press, platforms for the military bands and other musicians. Everything, really, down to making sure that the grass was in perfect condition on the lawns. Obviously, we weren’t doing all this ourselves. We had contractors who did the actual work, but we were in overall charge. You name it, we were involved in it.’
‘What about security? Were you responsible for security in and around the Castle?’
Siddell thought for a moment. ‘Partly. We had overall responsibility for the site, which did include security. But our job was to implement the security measures rather than decide what measures should be taken. The Chief Constable was in charge of that, and we took our lead from him.’
‘What security measures were in place generally, in the period leading up to 1 July?’
‘Well, first of all, you must understand that the conditions were very different from what they would be in normal circumstances.’
‘In what way?’
‘Well, for a start, the Castle was closed to the public for five months before the big day. We closed it on 1 February, and it remained closed until just after the Investiture. That had nothing to do with security. It was just that we needed the place to ourselves to get all the work done. We could never have done it with visitors roaming all over the place, and in any case it would have been too dangerous. It was like a building site in many ways. There were a lot of hazards.’
‘What impact did that have on security?’
‘It decreased the risk from members of the public, and it focused our attention on people working for contractors, sub-contractors, and different Government departments, the Earl Marshal’s office, the Constable’s office, the local authority. We issued passes of various kinds to allow those who needed access to the Castle to have access, and hopefully keep any others out. We issued about 600 passes in all during the project, so it was a complicated operation.’
‘Did you have security guards in place?’
‘Of course. Always. The day time security was provided by the Custodians of Ancient Monuments. At night, we had our own watchmen, who we employed specially. We also had police officers keeping an eye on the perimeter and the streets around the Castle.’
‘Who was responsible for checking the passes of people who had reason to enter the Castle during this period?’
‘The security staff on duty. They were given some training and they should have been very familiar with each kind of pass. Of course, as time went by they got to know the people who were coming in and out regularly.’
‘Did the night watchmen you employed have written contracts of employment?’
‘Yes, they did. We had to have their photographs on file, and all personal details, full name, date of birth, nationality, address, and so on.’
‘Yes. If the usher would be so kind… Mr Siddell, I would like you to look at the document I’m going to give you, and tell me whether you recognise it.’
Siddell took the two-page document from Geoffey and studied it for some moments.
‘Yes. This is a contract of employment issued to one of our night watchmen.’
‘Thank you. Exhibit 5, my Lord, please.’
‘Yes,’ the judge replied.
‘There are copies for the jury. Mr Siddell, who is the man referred to in this contract?’
‘Caradog Prys-Jones.’
‘The jury will see that his photograph is there, his date of birth and address are given. I assume you cannot recognise the signature?’
‘No.’
‘But has the contract been signed on behalf of the Surveyor’s office?’
‘Yes it has, and it is within my knowledge that Mr Prys-Jones was employed with effect from 1 February, as the contract states.’
‘Leaving aside the salary and so on, which we can see is marked as declined…’
‘Mr Prys-Jones was a permanent salaried employee of the Office of the Inspector of Ancient Monuments for Wales, and so continued to be paid by that office. We had one or two watchmen who came from other departments. It was a good thing for us because they had experience which might have been useful if some problem relating to the building itself cropped up during a night shift. Of course, as they were already receiving a salary, they were asked to decline any additional payments.’
‘Thank you. Leaving that aside, what were Mr Prys-Jones’s duties in terms of days and hours of work?’
‘All the night watchmen worked four nights on, three nights off. They took over from day security at 10 o’clock at night, and the new day shift relieved them at 6 o’clock the following morning.’
‘How many watchmen were on duty on any given night?’
‘Usually four, but we also had two on call in case we needed back-up. Of course, we could also call the police if we needed them.’
‘In addition to looking at the passes of anyone who might want to enter the Castle, what else would the night watchmen be expected to do?’
‘There would not usually be many visitors at night, so their main duties were to keep their eyes open for anything that didn’t look right, anything suspicious, to make regular patrols of the interior of the Castle, and to join in patrols of the perimeter with police officers.’
‘Do you know whether or not Mr Prys-Jones worked in accordance with his contract?’
‘Yes, he did. Each watchman had to sign in and out, and we have Mr Prys-Jones’s signature on the logs for each night he was expected to work.’
Jamie produced a file of documents with copies for the jury.
‘Exhibit 6, please, my Lord.’ He waited for the usher to distribute them. ‘Are these the logs?’
‘They are.’
‘We needn’t go through them all. But, for example, on page twelve does Mr Prys-Jones’s name appear as one of those on duty on 18 June, and is there a signature logging in and out for that night?’
‘Yes.’
‘And we can see, turning over the pages quickly, that the records continue, four nights on, three nights off, as you said.’
‘Yes.’
‘And turning to the very end of the document, dealing with 30 June, the night before the Investiture, does the log show whether Mr Prys-Jones was at work on that night?’
‘He was working. The record shows that he signed in, but there is no record of his signing out.’
‘Were night watchmen free to come and go, to leave the Castle and return, during the night?’
‘They were not supposed to absent themselves after signing in. N
o.’
‘No. But might there be a reason why a watchman would leave during his shift?’
‘As I said, some watchmen would go out on patrol around the perimeter, but with that exception, there would be no reason to go out. There would be nowhere open to buy anything to eat and drink at that time. They were expected to bring whatever they needed with them from home. If they did leave for any reason, they were expected to inform the shift supervisor. If they were missed, and were absent without leave, we would want to know why, and the man concerned would be in danger of being dismissed unless he had a good explanation.’
‘Would Mr Prys-Jones’s employment have ended on 30 June, apart from his arrest?’
‘Apart from his arrest, no, probably not immediately. Even though the Castle re-opened to the public after the Investiture, there was an enormous amount of work to do to restore it to the condition it was in before – apart from the permanent improvements, of course – so we needed additional staff for some time.’
‘Thank you. Lastly, Mr Siddell, we know that a thorough search of the Castle was carried out in the wake of the arrest of Caradog Prys-Jones and the other defendants in this case.’
‘Yes.’
‘No explosive devices or weapons were found, but I believe your attention was drawn to a large stone which had been displaced in the corridor leading from the Black Tower to the Chamberlain Tower. Is that correct?’
‘Yes.’
‘And did you inspect the site yourself?’
‘I did. I was alerted by messages sent by Superintendent Rees, and made my way to the Castle as soon as I could. The immediate area had been sealed off, and two soldiers were guarding it.’
‘What time was this?’
‘Slightly after 3 o’clock in the morning, if I remember correctly.’
‘Would you describe what you saw?’
‘A large stone, or slab, more accurately, in the floor of the corridor, at the front wall, was loose and was resting in place, but in such a way that it could be lifted up.’
‘When you say “loose and resting in place”, would the slab usually have been held in place in some way?’
‘Oh, yes. You must understand that, although parts of the Castle are original and very old, it has been altered, repaired, maintained and so on over the years, certainly during the last century and this century. The walls still have some of their original construction, but the floor stones are now held in place by modern materials. Apart from anything else, that is a safety issue.’
‘What conclusion did you come to about why this stone was loose?’
‘It had undoubtedly been loosened deliberately. It couldn’t have lost all its bonding material all at once, and certainly not without someone noticing. My first thought was that it had been done during the installation of electrical cables for TV filming. Most of the broadcasting was taking place in that area. The commentators were given space in the Black Tower, where their control room was, and in temporary booths between the Black Tower and the Chamberlain Tower. But I couldn’t find any reason for this particular slab to have been moved in connection with that. The cables were running well back from the front wall.’
‘What did you do?’
‘The first thing I did was to check whether we had anything on the closed circuit television. We had installed closed circuit television to cover parts of the seating stands, but there was nothing covering the area I was interested in. I then called in a police photographer to take photographs of the slab in place, and the space underneath.’
‘Exhibit 7, please. Usher, if you would…’
Jamie waited for the blue-covered bundles of photographs bearing the arms of the Gwynedd Constabulary to be distributed.
‘Are these the photographs you referred to?’
‘Yes.’
‘The first picture shows the slab in place. Very helpfully, some measurements have been added in ink. They indicate that the slab is three feet four inches in length, and two feet nine inches across. Is that right?’
‘Yes.’
‘As the slab appears to be lying flat, is it immediately obvious that there is nothing holding it in place?’
‘No, not unless you step on it and make it move, or you get quite close to it. It fits the space exactly, and it is partly in the shadow of the front wall. The soldier who found it trod on it, I believe, while searching that area. But otherwise you would have to get almost on top of it and look closely at it. At night, of course, it would be especially hard to see.’
‘The second picture is of the space underneath, with the slab removed entirely. Again, measurements have been added, which indicate that the space is about a foot deep. Is that what you would expect?’
‘No, that would be unusually deep. I would expect an inch or two at most.’
‘What conclusion would you draw from that?’
‘I would conclude that someone excavated under the slab to the depth of one foot.’
‘Yes. Finally, Mr Siddell, please look at this. Exhibit 8, please, my Lord… can you tell me what this is?’
‘Yes. This is a plan drawn by members of my office. It shows the location of the temporary stands erected for assigned seating for the Investiture ceremony.’
‘And do we see from this, blocks A, B and C, which are actually on the lawn behind the Royal dais itself?’
‘Yes.’
‘Then we have blocks D, E, F and G, which are immediately in front of the Black Tower and the corridor, continuing almost to the Chamberlain Tower?’
‘Yes.’
‘And we can see other blocks, spaces for the choir and orchestra and so on, at different points in the Castle?’
‘Yes.’
‘How far were blocks D, E, F and G from the loose slab?’
‘A matter of a few feet.’
‘How many people were accommodated in those four blocks? An approximate number will do.’
‘I can tell you exactly,’ Siddell replied. ‘If you look at the plan, bottom right corner, there is a breakdown of seating by blocks. Doing a little quick addition, there would have been…60 plus 114 plus 175 plus 176, which if my arithmetic is correct, makes 525 people in all.’
‘The jury may be interested to know how many people were in the Castle at the time of the ceremony?’
‘The total number of guests was 4045, including the Royal Family. Then, when you add in the choirs, musicians and so on, you arrive at 4478. Then, of course you have the press, police, military and so on, who are not counted as guests or performers. A large number, obviously.’
‘What route was taken by the Royal Family to reach the dais?’
‘The Queen entered the Castle through the Royal entrance by the Eagle Tower, where she was met by the Constable, Lord Snowdon, and the Mayor of Caernarfon, and was formally presented with the keys to the Castle. Then, after returning the keys to the Constable, she processed to the dais with the Duke of Edinburgh and other members of the Royal Party.’
‘So they were walking almost the entire length of the Castle?’
‘Yes. But Prince Charles was accommodated separately. He had a robing room in the Chamberlain Tower, and walked from there to the dais.’
‘Right in front of stands D, E, F and G, and right past the loose slab?’
‘Indeed.’
37
John Stevenson had been the shift supervisor at the Castle on the night of 30 June. He remembered Caradog Prys-Jones signing in for work as usual at 10 o’clock, after which nothing unusual occurred until all hell broke loose some time between 1.30 and 2 o’clock, as reports started to come in of a bomb found not far from the Castle walls. At that point, Stevenson said, no one knew what was going on, and people were running around like headless chickens. Eventually, a senior police officer restored some semblance of order and organised them into search parties, and when mo
re police officers and soldiers arrived, the situation started to look more under control. He was involved in the floor-by-floor search of the Eagle Tower, and knew nothing of the loose slab in the Black Tower corridor until much later.
‘I want to ask you two further things,’ Jamie Broderick said. ‘First, you had worked with Caradog Prys-Jones a number of times before this night, had you not?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Did you notice whether he used to bring anything particular with him to work?’
‘Yes. Caradog always carried the same duffle bag with red, yellow and black markings.’
‘The usher will show you a duffle bag. My Lord, this is Exhibit 4. Can you say whether this is similar or dissimilar to the one Caradog Prys-Jones used to carry?’
The witness looked closely at the duffle bag Geoffrey presented to him.
‘It is very similar,’ he replied. ‘I can’t say whether or not it is his or not, but…’
‘No, of course…’
‘It is certainly very similar.’
‘Secondly, Mr Stevenson, did you have occasion to speak to Caradog Prys-Jones at any time during the night of 30 June, after he had signed in?’
‘Yes. Caradog was down to do a patrol of the perimeter including the Slate Quay at 12.30 with whichever police officer or officers were in that area at the time. He was supposed to leave the Castle at 12.25 to rendezvous with the officers, conduct the patrol, and be back by 1.15 to 1.20, depending on how it all went.’
‘Did you see him leave the Castle?’
‘No. I may have been dealing with someone else when he left. I didn’t see him around anywhere in the Castle, so I assumed he had gone on the patrol, and I thought no more about it.’
‘Did you receive any report from the police officers he was supposed to be with?’
‘No. As far as I knew, the patrol had taken place as planned.’
‘But with one difference. Caradog didn’t come back, did he?’
Stevenson shook his head sadly.
‘No, sir. He didn’t.’
There was no cross-examination.
