‘Is she fully briefed on all the issues?’ Harry asked.
‘As briefed as I am, but I’m hoping you may have more information?’
Ignoring her question for the moment, Vinnie asked, ‘Is she match fit to deal with such sensitive issues?’ It would sound an unprofessional question to some, he knew. But he also knew that many barristers were not totally au fait with the issues relating to informants. Some tended to concentrate on the evidential issues.
‘She’s the brief chosen by your special ops department, if that answers your question,’ Jill said. And it did. Special ops was the secretive unit that deployed undercover operatives, and the issues at hand were of a similar nature. It was a relief.
‘Well?’ Jill asked.
‘Sorry, yes, we have some new evidence to assist the judge. Just put me under oath in there. No time to brief you now,’ Vinnie said. And before Jill could answer, a black-robed usher walked in. Probably a retired cop, Vinnie thought, many were.
‘Sorry to interrupt, but His Honour will see you now,’ the usher said.
‘There you go again,’ Harry whispered to Vinnie, as they both followed Jill out of the room.
‘It sort of just slipped out,’ Vinnie replied.
‘No out-and-out porkies this time, Vinnie, and I mean it,’ Harry said.
Vinnie new he was right, he’d got away with lying to the judge last time, or at least said something that now turned out to have not been a lie, but he couldn’t risk a second go. He could give his account under oath rather than just through the barrister, which would afford the words a greater weight, even if most of it would be hearsay. He’d just have to think of a new way of putting it across; one that would add value. He just wasn’t sure exactly what that would be. He’d have to think fast.
They were shown into the judge’s private office at the rear of court 10, which was where this judge usually presided. It was the same room in which they had initially briefed the judge on Sadiq. A large room, with two chairs in front of the judge’s large mahogany desk, but this time it had two further chairs set to one side at right angles. Harry and Vinnie took these. The barrister, Mrs De Marco, was already seated and was joined by Jill, who was carrying an inordinate amount of paper of which she was struggling to control. The judge was seated without his robes or wig, but was wearing the usual attire of white shirt and neckerchief.
‘Please, Mrs De Marco, remove your wig, we don’t need to stand on ceremony in here,’ the judge said.
‘Thank you, Your Honour,’ she replied.
‘And please, all stay seated.’
‘Sir.’
‘So, where are we up to with the defendant, Sadiq?’ the judge asked.
Mrs De Marco cleared her throat and succinctly brought the judge up to speed, as Jill had obviously briefed her. Jill looked over at Harry and Vinnie, and Vinnie nodded that her brief was accurate. She’d summarized all that had happened and the fact that Sadiq was willing to give evidence for the Crown in any future proceedings against Babik, Grady and Fletcher.
‘As I see it, we have two issues to consider here. One, whether Sadiq has been of any real and quantifiable assistance to the police and two, should any of the information now in the hands of the prosecution be disclosed to the defence?’ the judge said.
Just hearing the judge say the words ‘disclosed to the defence’ sent a surge of fear through Vinnie’s heart.
‘I intend to deal with matters in chronological order. Firstly, I can see no quantifiable evidence thus far that is of assistance to the police. Notwithstanding any offer by the defendant to give Queen’s evidence in the future. That future has yet to occur, and being fully cognisant of the fact that any such future evidence by Sadiq may provide grounds for him to seek leave to appeal any sentence imposed by this court, I have to procced on facts as they are known.’
‘Your Honour, I would expect no less,’ Mrs De Marco said.
‘Don’t get me wrong, no judge enjoys seeing an appeal adjudge differently to their original decision, but in this case I would willingly accept such future deliberations in confidence that we can only act now on what we see. I’ll even put a note on the file to that effect. I am also aware that no text under R v Piggott has been produced, unless you know different?’
Mrs De Marco turned to Jill, who in turn turned to Vinnie and Harry. Even in here there is a pecking order, Vinnie thought. Harry, as the senior officer, spoke.
‘No, Your Honour, there has been no request for a text from the defendant, and even if there had, it would contain no information.’
The judge nodded and then said, ‘Very well, I therefore order that I shall sentence the defendant tomorrow within the current sentencing guidelines, taking into account all facts of the case, the impact the offences have had on the victims, the public interest, and balancing it against any mitigation put forward by counsel for the defence. Now, on to the trickier second issue. Mrs De Marco.’
Mrs De Marco then explained in detail that Sadiq had alleged his wife had been kidnapped and was being held hostage by Babik — his former employer — to ensure that Sadiq gave no assistance to the police.
‘Any actual evidence of this?’ the judge asked.
‘Police enquiries have failed to locate Mrs Sadiq and she has not been seen by any of her neighbours, friends or relatives,’ Mrs De Marco said.
‘She may just be a private person, going about her private lawful business,’ the judge said.
Mrs De Marco then called for one of the officers to take the oath. Vinnie did so, and then Mrs De Marco asked him if there was any evidence.
‘Yes, Your Honour, when officers attended the Sadiq home address, they found the premises insecure at the rear. A mobile phone belonging to Mrs Amal Sadiq was found, lying on the floor near the rear door, and her handbag, purse and other personal effects were all found inside the premises. The lights were on as was the television in the front room,’ Vinnie said. He dared not look at Harry. He’d absolutely no idea about the lights or the TV, but nor would anyone else.
‘Ah, I see, thank you Inspector. That changes things. I am reassured therefore that Mrs Amal Sadiq has come to harm and I appreciate the police’s legal duty of care to do all they can in order to secure her safe return. I find the information supporting this, from DS Grady, unreliable and of little value, and hearsay as things stand. Regardless of its, or her, value as a potential witness, there is an issue. That issue being, that although I find nothing that would undermine the prosecution case that the defence should be made aware of, I do find that DS Grady is a probable witness, and as a witness, she may have evidence — however unreliable — that the defence are entitled to consider.’
Vinnie hadn’t seen this coming, but could see where it was coming from. As a potential witness, the defence were entitled to make enquires of Grady, even if she was a prosecution witness — which technically she wasn’t, because she had not yet provided a formal written statement. Which made matters even worse; technically she was available to be used as a defence witness, unlikely as that was.
So, the defence were entitled to be made aware of her existence, so they too could decide if she was reliable or not, and whether she could be a witness for them.
Mrs De Marco was straight back in. ‘But Your Honour, the identity, and even the presence, of police undercover officers, is almost always protected by the courts.’
‘Agreed,’ the judge said, then added, ‘but I have not been shown any evidence that confirms that DS Grady is an authorised undercover officer. Rogue or otherwise. We only have her word for that. Unless you know different, Mrs De Marco?’
Mrs De Marco shook her head.
The judge continued. ‘However, taking into account the evidence on oath by Detective Inspector Palmer, I am satisfied that in the absence of evidence to the contrary, Mrs Amal Sadiq’s life is in real danger. I come to this decision due to the circumstances police discovered at her empty home address, and the passage of time since then. She has not just n
ipped out, several days have now elapsed. Therefore, it is in the public interest that the information the prosecution wish to withhold is not disclosed to the defence, the greater public interest is thus served. I will keep this decision under constant review during sentencing, and if anything is said in court that causes me to revisit it, I will.’
Vinnie couldn’t believe it: he had thought disaster was looming, but they had got what they needed.
‘I will, of course, expect to hear immediately if Mrs Amal Sadiq is found, and then I will revisit.’
‘What, may I ask, Your Honour, is the defence to be told?’
‘Counsel for the defence will be told that there has been a public interest immunity hearing. That there is nothing that undermines your case, or would assist theirs, in the event of any further disclosure. Therefore, there will be no disclosure. I will instruct said counsel in chambers that they are not to inform Grant Fletcher, or any agent of his, that there has been a hearing. Thank you all, I think we are done.’
They all trooped out of the judge’s office, except Mrs De Marco. Vinnie still dared not look Harry in the eye as they both thanked Jill for a job well done. They were just about to leave when Mrs De Marco popped her head around the door and beckoned Vinnie back inside. She asked Harry to wait outside, which didn’t go down well.
Vinnie walked back inside and as soon as the door shut, the judge spoke.
‘Court is no longer in session, Inspector.’ Vinnie nodded. The judge continued. ‘I find it highly distasteful that there is even the slightest prospect Fletcher is corrupt, but I expect you to do all that is in your lawful power to bring him to trial, if he is.’ He didn’t invite a reply, just looked down at paperwork on his desk, so Vinnie took the hint and didn’t answer. He followed Mrs De Marco out into the corridor, where he saw Harry waiting for him. He was a nice ruddy colour.
‘Thank you, Mrs De Marco,’ Vinnie said, as he could see that she was about to head off in the opposite direction.
‘My pleasure,’ she said, before leaning closer to Vinnie and whispering, ‘I thought your observations about the lights and TV were excellent.’ She half-grinned before turning and walking away.
Vinnie wasn’t sure exactly how to take her remark. But turning back to face Harry, he knew that his next words would be far less ambiguous.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Christine tried to remember some of what Vinnie had told her previously. She knew not to get too close to the van, so was happy to be five cars behind. That was, until the van turned left at a mini roundabout and three of the cars in between didn’t. She followed the van through a major T-junction controlled by traffic lights and lost another cover car. She hoped that having only one vehicle between them would be enough. She’d connected her phone to the car’s Bluetooth and tried Vinnie’s number, noting that it was now after 3 pm. No answer, it went straight to voicemail. She thought about what to say but decided just to let him know that she was in Preston and hoped that they could meet up later. She decided not to say what she was actually doing, until she knew more. It wasn’t information suitable for a voicemail message..
She was grateful that the rep’s vehicle was a van, as it would have limited rear view assistance for the driver. She knew a lot of modern vehicles now had rear view cameras, but this van didn’t look sufficiently up-to-date. At a further set of lights it turned right, into a major dual carriageway urban thoroughfare, which she noted was called Blackpool Road. The van was heading back towards Preston’s centre. Fortunately, although this was a major road, the speed limit was 30, so she didn’t feel too obvious driving slowly behind the lumbering van. A couple more cars joined the convoy from minor roads: thanks to the height of the van, Christine could see it easily, but doubted that the driver could see her.
She settled down into the follow, on what was a direct and straightforward road. Things could get trickier as and when the van turned into a minor road, but she’d deal with that when she had to. The road narrowed to a normal two-way single carriageway and passed a large urban park to her right. She got a glimpse of a large football ground, which she took to be Preston North End, before they passed a large retail park a few minutes later. They eventually came to a roundabout, where the van turned right towards the city centre. The area looked far more run down now, and before long the van had turned again. She was starting to feel more and more exposed. She hung back as far as she dared, and eventually saw the vehicle make a series of turns into small side streets, in an area surrounded by retail outlets that had once probably been terraced housing and textile mills. She lost sight of the vehicle and when she approached a T junction from which it had turned right, the van was nowhere to be seen. Damn.
She spent the next ten minutes surveying the many side streets in the area, passing many industrial units, some obviously old mills and some more recently built prefabricated single-storey affairs. She was conscious that she was getting ever further away from where she had last seen the van, and was about to turn back, when she passed an area of rough land set back from the road. It was wide enough for three or four vehicles and it held one white van and two cars, all parked head first and side by side. The van looked exactly like the one she had been following, but it was only now that she realised she had not taken note of the registration number. Maybe she wasn’t as good at this surveillance malarkey, after all. In truth, she realised that it could be any van, and even if it was the right one, there were no buildings immediately surrounding the makeshift car park. But 30 metres away, there were buildings in all directions. The driver could be anywhere.
*
Vinnie didn’t say anything and neither did Harry, as they walked the short distance back to the police station from the crown court. He just followed Harry, partly out of due deference to his seniority — especially given the current atmosphere — and partly because it helped to prevent any conversation. He was hoping that Harry’s temper and complexion would both have subsided by the time they reached their office.
Five minutes later, they arrived back at their desks and Vinnie closed the office door without having to be told.
‘What did I tell you about no porkies this time?’ Harry said, sitting down.
‘OK, I over-egged it a bit—’
‘A bit? Which part of the “lights and TV on” is only a bit?’
‘Look Harry, I panicked, it looked like the judge was going to order disclosure, and we both know what that could have led to,’ Vinnie said, as sheepishly as he could.
‘It’s still lying to a crown court judge!’
‘Exaggerating a tadge, but not an out-and-out lie. I mean, she has been abducted, without doubt. We just can’t prove it until we find her. A bit arse about face, evidentially.’
‘Granted, but you know as well as I do there was no mention of any lights or TV being on when the cops went there.’
‘The phone and the handbag bits were true.’
‘So you should have just said that, and trusted that the learned judge could draw sufficient value from that to reach the correct conclusion. It’s a slippery slope, Vinnie, once you start with little supporting porkies it’s the thin end of the proverbial,’ Harry said.
But before Vinnie could reply he was saved by the bell; the telephone bell. Harry’s desk phone was ringing.
‘Hello sir,’ Harry started, so Vinnie paid attention. It became obvious that the caller was the chief constable, Brian Darlington. It also became apparent that Darlington was not happy.
The call didn’t last long and Vinnie couldn’t tell what was being said as Harry’s responses were few, and mostly monosyllabic. When it did end, Harry turned to face Vinnie.
‘The chief?’ Vinnie asked.
‘Indeed, and not happy. He’s just come off the phone after speaking to the Director General of the National Crime Agency.’
‘Grady?’ Vinnie asked.
‘Indeed,’ Harry said again. Vinnie tensed himself for the shock. As much as Harry and he had come the conclusion tha
t Grady was bent, or had gone over to the dark side and was now in bed with Babik in more ways than one, he was praying that she had at least started as an authorised undercover officer. He knew that if she had at least started off as such, then there was nothing that they would have to tell Judge Wilkins, as nothing had fundamentally changed.
‘What did he say?’ Vinnie asked.
‘Initially, the DG refused to discuss things with the chief, said that it was not policy to talk about the existence of undercover officers with anyone, even a chief constable, for all the obvious reasons,’ Harry answered.
Vinnie felt some relief. It was a fair comment, and not knowing was actually better for them, until tomorrow that was. As soon as Sadiq was sentenced then the case would be over and they would be free from any further obligation to report back to the judge. ‘I can understand why the chief is upset then, but it’s not entirely unexpected,’ he started.
‘That wasn’t what upset him,’ Harry said.
Vinnie now expected the worst. That Grady wasn’t deployed as an undercover officer into Babik, authorised or otherwise.
‘If she wasn’t authorised, how the hell did she meet Babik? And what was she doing working in Preston CID in the first place?’ Vinnie said.
‘The chief asked the same questions, after he explained the situation to the DG. It was only when he put things into context that the DG agreed to continue the conversation.’
‘What answers did he receive?’ Vinnie asked.
‘Not what he was expecting, that’s for sure,’ Harry said.
‘Not authorised to operate as a UCO — undercover officer — into Babik?’ Vinnie asked.
‘Worse than that,’ Harry said.
‘Don’t tell me, Grady wasn’t even a trained UCO, let alone authorised?’
‘Worse.’
Worse, Vinnie thought, how could it get any worse? And he said as much.
‘The DG has denied having any officer named DS Grady on the NCA’s staff.’
The Badge & the Pen Thrillers Page 71
