The Man Behind Closed Doors
Page 30
Due to a lack of concrete evidence against him, the jury was unable to make a judgement which they could uphold beyond reasonable doubt. It was accepted at the time that Michelle may have inflicted the injury upon herself, following many years of self-harming.
The daughter of the couple has been suffering with post-traumatic stress disorder and as a result, hadn’t spoken since the night of the attack. She broke her silence in September when brought face-to-face with Alana Elizabeth Noakes, Jackson’s accomplice.
The court heard Jackson, 37, admit that he had snapped, after years of living in a domestic abuse situation with his wife. He had plunged a knife into her chest after a furious row between the three of them, where his wife had threatened him first with the knife. He had wept whilst saying he had been unable to take anymore.
Noakes admitted being infatuated with Jackson, having worked with him for many years. She confessed to administering the final blow with the knife, by pushing it further into the victim. Whilst it is acknowledged that the killing was probably not premeditated, Judge Cole, in his closing comments, highlighted how Michelle had been left to die by Noakes.
It was accepted that Jackson had also suffered a degree of post-traumatic stress disorder, causing him to blank out in relation to the details and memory of what he had done. The grounds of provocation were acknowledged in sentencing. Jackson was sentenced to five years in prison, for which he has already spent four months on remand. This means he will be eligible for parole in nearly two years’ time.
Noakes was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter and for perverting the course of justice, and sentenced to seven years which will commence in a secure hospital where her mental health can be worked with. “You are a danger to others,” Judge Cole asserted in his final comments. “Your delusional thinking has ruined the lives of several people.”
Noakes’s husband, Lee Noakes, 39, was given a suspended sentence after being found guilty of perverting the course of justice. Judge Cole told him that “he lacked moral fibre and that his decision not to act sooner had made a terrible situation even worse.”
The mother of the deceased, Susan Duffy was outside court today. She said, “I always knew my daughter would not have taken her own life in this way. I am devastated at what has happened and my only concern now is looking after my granddaughter, who I feel is the biggest victim in all this. I can’t bring my daughter back but am relieved that at last, the people responsible are being punished for what they have done.”
David Jackson, the defendant’s brother, was also asked to give his reaction outside court. He said “My brother is not an evil man, he simply snapped with the stress of the conditions he was living in. He deserves sympathy and support, not a prison sentence. Had this case involved a woman, living within a domestic abuse situation instead of a man, the support and the outcome would probably have been very different. The system needs to change.”
The End
Before you go…
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If you want to read another of my psychological thrillers, follow this link to find out more about Left Hanging.
Reading Group Questions
1. Did the reference to ‘behind closed doors’ hold any significance for you? What has it come to mean in today’s society?
2. According to statistics, 1.9 million adults aged 16 to 59 are victims of domestic abuse. Of these, 700,000 are male. Do you think this is a true reflection of today’s society? Discuss whether and why you believe this figure is on the rise.
3. To what extent do you feel sympathetic towards Michelle?
4. How do the various forms of domestic abuse appear throughout the story?
5. Did the couple have a marriage worth saving? Is there anything that might have helped them?
6. The novel has occasionally used differing viewpoints for the duration of a chapter. How have you found this, as a reader?
7. What was the difference in tone and emotion when you compare the ‘past’ backstory to the unfolding ‘present’ story? How have they been linked together?
8. Who are the ‘victims’ and ‘villains’ in the novel? Where are the grey areas?
9. What are your thoughts in relation to ‘blacking out’ and ‘becoming mute’ in terms of memory retrieval?
10. How might the outcome have differed if Alana didn’t exist?
11. How does your own emotion connect you to the story?
12. Discuss the relationship between Michelle and her daughter, Emily.
13. What do you think will become of Paul next?
14. To what extent do you agree or disagree with David’s comments in the epilogue?
15. How can the effects of the trauma Emily has suffered be minimised as she grows older? What will she need?
16. How does society deal with the subject of self-harming? What do you think are the reasons behind it starting and continuing?
17. What could have happened within this story which could have brought about a happier ending?
Left Hanging - Prologue
(The next psychological thriller - out on Amazon now!)
Russ looks behind to make sure his ‘friend’ is still following. They tread silently along the thick carpet towards the room he booked that morning.
They only met an hour ago – but it’s long enough to be certain about what will soon take place. They’ve been planning it for over a week. Building tension. Creating anticipation. Russ slides the key card into the lock and smiles as he glances back at his companion again.
The door closes softly behind them. It’s the other man’s turn to smile as Russell empties the contents of his holdall onto the bed.
Available at Amazon
By the Same Author
Psychological Thrillers
Left Hanging: What price would you pay to save your marriage?
The Last Cuckoo: When ghosts live on in stepfamilies
The Yorkshire Dipper: What would you risk to bring the truth to the surface?
Hit and Run: He was dead before she really knew him
Memoir
Don’t Call me Mum! A mother’s story about being pushed to the brink
Poetry
Poetry for the Newly Married 40 Something: How to get from Tinder to altar
How-to Books for Writers
Write your Life Story in a Year
Write a Novel in a Year
Write a Collection of Poetry in a Year
Write a Collection of Short Stories in a Year
All available on Amazon
Afterword
I’d like to thank my wonderful husband, Michael, for all his help and the faith he has in my writing. He acts as first reader for my early drafts and is an amazing support.
I am so grateful to my book cover designer, Darran Holmes, who understood exactly how I wanted my cover to look, and to photographer, Sue Coates, who took my ‘author photo.’
Thanks to Martyn Bedford, the inspirational tutor who helped me shape this novel which I worked on throughout my MA in Creative Writing at Leeds Trinity University. Shortly after I graduated, ‘The Man Behind Closed Doors,’ was shortlisted for an international debut novelist prize, The Luke Bitmead Prize, which was hugely encouraging.
A special acknowledgement must go to my two beta readers, Jack Donovan and Jane Wing for early feedback on the s
tory and to Steve Whitaker, (Journalist for the Yorkshire Times) for the wonderful and detailed critique he took the huge amount of time to give me. Thanks also to my friends and family for continuing to support and believe in me.
The experiences I’ve known in my own past relationships have shaped me as a person and indirectly offered much of the emotion and material for my writing. At the time, it was difficult, but now I am grateful for the empathy and personal growth it offered
Lastly, and importantly, to you, the reader. Thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope you enjoyed it.
About the Author
The domestic thrillers I write shine a light into the darkness that can exist within marital and family relationships. I have been no stranger to turbulent times myself, and this has provided some of the raw material for my novels. I have a sign on my wall saying ‘careful or you’ll end up in my novel’ and this is definitely true!
I am a born ‘n’ bred Yorkshirewoman, and a mum of two grown up sons. I can offer living proof that life begins at the age of forty, as this is when I decided to escape my unhappy marriage. Shortly afterwards, I graduated from Leeds Trinity University with an MA in Creative Writing. Recently I have married again and have been able to find my own ‘happy ever after.’
This is not something you will find in my novels though! I think that we thriller writers are amongst the nicest people you could meet because we pour all our darkness into our books – it’s the romance writers you’ve got to watch…
I plan to release four novels per year and if you’d like to be kept in the loop about new books and special offers, join my ‘keep in touch list’ or visit www.autonomypress.co.uk. You will receive a free book as a thank you for joining!
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