The Heirs of Owain Glyndwr

by Peter Murphy

  ‘My Lord, I have a few witness statements to read to the jury,’ Jamie said, ‘dealing with evidence which is not in dispute and which my learned friends have agreed may be read. After that, I will invite your Lordship to rise until after lunch to begin the point of law which arises.’

  The judge turned to the jury.

  ‘Members of the jury, as you may have gathered, I have to deal with a point of law. It is my job to deal with questions of law; you are not concerned with that. I am told it may take some time, so rather than keep you waiting unnecessarily, I will release you for the day after the agreed witness statements have been read. I will ask you to be back tomorrow morning at 10.30 to resume then.’

  38

  ‘My Lord, before I call DCI Grainger,’ Evan Roberts began, after the court assembled at 2 o’clock without the jury, ‘may I hand up a new English translation of the statement under caution made by Caradog Prys-Jones?’

  Geoffrey took it from him and passed it up to the judge.

  ‘My learned friends already have copies. It was prepared overnight by PC Watkins, as my learned friend Mr Morgan-Davies suggested. It does make one or two changes to the translation we have been working with up to this point.’

  Mr Justice Overton looked at Gareth.

  ‘Does this help, Mr Morgan-Davies?’

  ‘Yes, my Lord. In addition to correcting a number of points of detail, it replaces the passage about blood flowing through the streets of London for generations to come, with the somewhat more restrained statement that ignoring the Welsh problem might lead to acts of violence – which has the advantage of being what Prys-Jones actually said in the Welsh original. I am very grateful to PC Watkins for his efforts.’

  ‘The Court is also grateful,’ the judge said, looking at Watkins, who nodded politely.

  ‘I now call DCI Grainger,’ Evan Roberts said.

  Grainger was a large, broad-shouldered man with a menacing demeanour, only partially mitigated by the fact that he was carrying a bit too much weight. He was dressed in a dark three-piece suit which must have been made to measure for a slightly slimmer version of the man, a white shirt, and a dark blue tie. He took the oath in a deep, gruff bass voice.

  ‘Steven Grainger, Detective Chief Inspector currently attached to the Metropolitan Police Special Branch, my Lord.’

  ‘Chief Inspector, I am going to ask you certain questions in the absence of the jury about the statements made during interview by the defendant Dafydd Prosser. I am doing this because his Lordship has to decide whether or not to admit those statements in evidence. You understand that?’

  ‘Yes, sir.’

  ‘Thank you. By way of background, is it right that you had been assigned to duty in Caernarfon during the three months leading up to the Investiture, as head of a team of Special Branch officers?’

  ‘That is correct, sir.’

  ‘What was the purpose of the team’s deployment?’

  ‘To work with local police, the Ministry of Defence, and other bodies to ensure the security of the Investiture, and of Caernarfon Castle, and to assist in the investigation of any serious offences which might be committed, linked to the Investiture.’

  ‘And – I think there is no dispute about it – in the early morning of 1 July were you on duty in plain clothes commanding a team of officers in the light of certain information you received?’

  ‘Yes, sir.’

  ‘Were you involved in the arrest of these three defendants at a location near the town square and the Castle, and in evacuating the immediate area when an explosive device was found in Mrs Hughes’ car?’

  ‘I was, sir. I also called in the bomb squad, who were able to assess the device, and who found that it had not been armed.’

  ‘Yes. We have other evidence about those matters, and I am not concerned with them for now. Let me take you back to the time when that had been done. Was it by then after 2 o’clock in the morning?’

  ‘It was after 2 o’clock by the time the device was finally declared to be harmless, as I recall.’

  ‘What did you do next?’

  ‘My immediate concern at that point was to ascertain whether there was a continuing threat. We had failed to arrest one suspect, Trevor Hughes, who remained at large, and I was concerned that there might be one or more further devices out there that we didn’t know about.’

  ‘How did you go about making further inquiries?’

  ‘My view was that the person most likely to provide the information we needed was Dafydd Prosser. He was suspected of having built the device we had recovered. He had been arrested by DC Owen, and was still at the scene, and he had offered to assist by demonstrating to the bomb squad officers that the device was safe.’

  ‘What steps did you take?’

  ‘We immediately conveyed Prosser to Caernarfon Police Station. He was booked into custody and placed in a cell. This had to be done before I could interview him.’

  ‘Did you interview him alone, or with any other officers?’

  ‘DS Scripps was with me.’

  Evan paused. ‘In connection with what happened next, have you made any notes, and do you wish to refer to them?’

  ‘Yes please, sir.’

  ‘I don’t know whether there is any objection?’

  With a glance at Ben, Gareth stood.

  ‘The answer to that is the same as it was in relation to a previous witness, my Lord. My learned friend should please ask the appropriate questions. There may or may not be an objection, depending on the answers the Chief Inspector gives.’

  ‘Well, I will take it shortly,’ Evan said, with some show of irritation.

  ‘It would be better if you took it properly, Mr Roberts,’ the judge intervened before Gareth could say any more. Gareth quietly resumed his seat.

  For a moment, Evan seemed disposed to argue, but bit his lip and continued.

  ‘As your Lordship pleases. Chief Inspector, at what time did you make your notes?’

  ‘It was later that morning, a little after 8 o’clock, in the canteen in the police station.’

  ‘Was that the first practicable opportunity you had to make notes?’

  ‘It was the first opportunity of any kind I had to make notes. After interviewing Mr Prosser, I had to follow events at the Castle and elsewhere in the town. I was also directing the ongoing search for Trevor Hughes, which in the event was unsuccessful, but nonetheless took some considerable time.’

  ‘Was anyone with you when you made your notes?’

  ‘Yes, sir. DS Scripps was with me. Following the usual practice, we made our notes together, and pooled our recollections.’

  ‘And does it follow that DS Scripps’ notebook would be identical to yours?’

  ‘I can’t speak for DS Scripps, sir, and I have not looked at his notebook, but I would expect his evidence of these events to be substantially the same as mine.’

  ‘Quite so. Then, with his Lordship’s leave…’

  ‘No objection,’ Gareth said. ‘I may wish to inspect the Chief Inspector’s notebook at a later stage.’

  ‘Very well,’ Mr Justice Overton said. ‘Chief Inspector, you may refresh your memory from your notebook if you wish.’

  The Chief Inspector took out his notebook and laid it before him on the edge of the witness box. ‘Thank you, my Lord.’

  ‘Refreshing your memory as you need to, Chief Inspector, please tell us what happened.’

  ‘I entered Prosser’s cell with DS Scripps at about 2.50, sir. I cautioned him again, and told him that I proposed to ask him certain questions to ascertain whether he and his fellow suspects posed any continuing threat. DS Scripps then took him to an interview room. Prosser sat on one side of the table, and we sat on the other.’

  ‘Was one of you making notes at the time?’

  ‘Yes, sir. DS Scripps made a
contemporaneous note. It wasn’t totally complete because it all moved rather quickly, but it provided us with an aid to our memory when we made our notes later.’

  Gareth stood. ‘Exact words, from this point on, please.’

  ‘Yes, sir. I said to Prosser: “Look, Dafydd, you don’t strike me as such a bad bloke. I know the bomb wasn’t armed, and you helped the bomb squad boys by showing them how it worked.”’

  ‘At this point, Prosser intervened and said: “It was never armed. You arrested us before I could arm it. I told them that.”’

  ‘I said: “All right, fair enough. But what we need to know now is, how many other devices are out there? We want to know how many, where they are, and when they are set to explode.”’

  ‘How did Prosser respond to that?’

  ‘He said: “There aren’t any more.”’

  ‘I said: “I’m not sure I believe you, Dafydd. See, the problem is that we don’t know what you were up to earlier in the evening, and we don’t know where Trevor Hughes is now. Perhaps you would like to start by telling me where we can find Trevor?”’

  ‘His answer?’

  ‘Prosser said: “I can’t understand why you haven’t found him. He’s bound to be either at home or at the Tywysog book shop in Palace Street.”’

  ‘I said: “No. We’ve tried both those places, and there’s no sign of him.”’

  ‘He replied: “Well, he’s bound to be around somewhere. I’m sure you will find him. In any case, there are no other devices. I should know. I was the one who built this one.”’

  The Chief Inspector turned over another page in his notebook.

  ‘DS Scripps then said: “Even his wife says she doesn’t know where he is, but someone has to know. She had her little boy with her in the car, for God’s sake. Did any of you give any thought to him?”’

  ‘At this point, Prosser suddenly appeared to become highly agitated. He said: “Look, I keep telling you. The bomb was harmless. It wasn’t armed. I would never have exposed Arianwen and Harri to any risk.”’

  ‘DS Scripps said: “That’s all well and good, Dafydd, but the way the bomb squad boys tell it is that some of the materials you had in the device are quite unstable. In other words, they might explode at any time if they were wrongly handled.”’

  ‘Prosser replied: “That’s not true. It was all well assembled and insulated. There was no risk. In any case, Arianwen knows nothing about this. We never told her anything.”’

  He paused for a sip of water.

  ‘I then said: “Look, Dafydd, I’m going to tell the judge what you did in helping the bomb disposal boys, and that’s going to help you. But now, we have to talk about making the rest of Caernarfon safe. You don’t strike me as the kind of bloke who would really want to kill anyone or cause them injury. Nobody has been hurt yet. Let’s keep it that way. And it would look much better for you if you told us everything you know.”’

  ‘He replied: “I’ve told you everything I know. I don’t know where Trevor is, and there are no more devices that I know of. If there are, they are nothing we are involved with.”’

  ‘DS Scripps said: “It’s going to be very hard on Arianwen, losing contact with her son for so many years while she is in prison. If we could tell the judge she didn’t know about anything else that might be out there, that would help her.”’

  ‘Again, Prosser seemed to become very agitated. He said: “I’ve told you. She knew nothing. We kept her out of it from the beginning.”’

  ‘DS Scripps said: “Well, I’m not sure a jury would necessarily believe that, Dafydd. I mean, driving around at that hour of the morning with a bomb in the back of the car. Do you know what I’m saying?”’

  ‘Prosser was shaking his head violently. I said: “Look, Dafydd, help us out here. Tell us where we need to look, and I promise, I’ll put in a good word for both yourself and Arianwen.”’

  ‘Prosser said: “Look, I’ll tell you everything about what we did. But there is nothing more I can tell you about Trevor, or about any more devices, because there aren’t any.”’

  ‘DS Scripps said: “Well, that’s very unfortunate, Dafydd, for you and Arianwen, both, I would say.”’

  ‘What happened then?’ Evan asked.

  The Chief Inspector turned over another page. ‘At this point, sir, Prosser suddenly jumped up from his chair, ran around the table and assaulted DS Scripps by punching him in the face.’

  ‘Indeed? What did DS Scripps do?’

  ‘He didn’t do anything immediately, sir. We were both taken by surprise. DS Scripps lost his balance and almost fell backwards in his chair, but I was able to reach out and support the chair and return it to its upright position. As I did so, Prosser punched DS Scripps again several times, to the face and body, and I saw that he was bleeding from the nose.’

  ‘What did you do, Chief Inspector?’

  ‘I shouted at Prosser to stop it, jumped up and ran around DS Scripps’ chair as quickly as I could to restrain Prosser from attacking him any further. He was able to land one or two more blows before I could stop him, and when I reached him, Prosser assaulted me by punching me in the stomach and kneeing me in the groin.’

  ‘What happened then?’

  ‘I was in considerable pain as a result of his actions, sir, but I was able to punch Prosser in defence of myself and my colleague and, by that time, DS Scripps had recovered himself, and was able to get up and assist me. Together, we were able to restrain Prosser. We sat him back down, and cuffed his hands together behind the chair.’

  ‘Chief Inspector, how many times was it necessary for you to strike Mr Prosser in the course of restraining him and making sure he could not cause either of you any further injury?’

  ‘Prosser continued to resist us, sir. I remember punching him at least twice more. I saw DS Scripps do so at least once, but then DS Scripps got him in a headlock, which was how we eventually got him back to his chair.’

  ‘What did you do once you had restrained him?’

  ‘I could see some marks around his eyes where we had punched him, and it was obvious that he had sustained some injury. Accordingly, I immediately left the interview room, found the duty sergeant, Sergeant Griffiths, and asked him to call the police surgeon to attend. DS Scripps indicated to me that he was fit to continue duty, and we remained with Prosser. It seemed pointless to continue to question Prosser further in the circumstances, and I decided to return him to his cell to await the police surgeon, and to make further inquiries elsewhere.’

  ‘But at that point, Prosser, who seemed to have calmed down, said: “I’ll tell you all about what we did. Give me something to write with.”’

  ‘I said: “Before we take the cuffs off, you are going to have to give me some assurance that you will not attempt to assault us further.”’

  ‘He replied: “I won’t do anything else.”’

  ‘I then released Prosser from the handcuffs, and provided him with a form to make a written statement under caution. I read the caution to him and ensured that he understood it. Prosser then made a written statement, which I produce, my Lord.’

  ‘Is the statement in English?’

  ‘It is, sir.’

  ‘Yes. Well as the jury are not here, I won’t trouble you to read it, Chief Inspector. His Lordship and my learned friends have copies. Can I just ask you this? Did Prosser offer any further violence towards either you or DS Scripps?’

  ‘No, sir. From that point he was completely cooperative.’

  ‘Did he in due course receive treatment from the police surgeon?’

  ‘Yes he did, sir.’

  ‘Can you say what injuries, if any, he had received?’

  ‘I don’t know that myself, sir. The police surgeon would have reported to the duty sergeant after examining him.’

  ‘And finally, is it fair to say that there is n
o evidence to suggest that Dafydd Prosser, or any of the defendants in this case, was involved with any explosive device other than the device recovered from Arianwen Hughes’ car?’

  ‘That is correct, sir.’

  ‘Yes, thank you, Chief Inspector. Wait there, please.’

  39

  Gareth stood.

  ‘So, am I to understand, Chief Inspector, that as you stand here today, you can’t tell us what injuries Dafydd Prosser sustained at the hands of yourself and DS Scripps?’

  ‘The police surgeon would have reported to the duty sergeant, Sergeant Griffiths.’

  ‘Yes, so you told my learned friend Mr Roberts. My question is whether you know what injuries he sustained?’

  ‘I have not seen the full report…’

  ‘Well, let me help you. I have seen the report, as has his Lordship.’ Gareth picked up a document from the pile in front of him. ‘It indicates that Mr Prosser suffered a number of lacerations around both eyes, the nose, and the right cheek, and on the back of the head. Do you understand the term “lacerations”?’

  ‘Yes, sir, I do.’

  ‘Good. Would those lacerations have been the result of his being punched in the face by yourself and DS Scripps?’

  ‘Yes, I would think so.’

  ‘Well, would there be any other way they might have been caused?’

  ‘Not that I can think of, no.’

  ‘No? They were not caused, for example, by any blows struck by the third man who was in the interview room with DS Scripps and yourself?’

  ‘A third man?’

  ‘Yes. There was such a man, wasn’t there? I suggest that he was tall, mid-to-late thirties, wearing a grey suit and a red tie, and that he was a Welsh-speaker with a South Wales accent.’

  ‘There was no one in the interview room except DS Scripps, Prosser and myself.’

  ‘Really? No one from the Security Services, for example? You were interviewing Prosser about a matter of high importance, as far as security was concerned, weren’t you?’

  Evan Roberts stood. ‘I would ask that my learned friend proceed with caution, my Lord,’ he said. ‘I am sure he is aware that the Crown has a privilege about such matters.’