The fact was her so-called friends virtually railroaded her into reporting him to the police; she was just stupid enough to have gone through with it rather than risk her friends calling her a slut. To Peter, the real culprit was the Crown Prosecution Service allowing the whole sorry incident to progress to a full trial. It was only lucky that Lindi managed to track Stevie Williams down and extract a confession from her; the charges of rape and actual bodily harm went away the very next day. He was sure the girl had learned her lesson. The trouble was, the police didn't see it that way, and they had charged her with perverting the course of justice. Ironically, it was the very same Crown Prosecution Service that was now taking Stevie Williams to court.
"You ready?" Lindi asked as she took Peter's hand and gave it a friendly squeeze.
"I guess." Peter replied, "I know it should be Stevie who should be the nervous one, but I just can't help it."
"It'll all be fine. You shouldn't let yourself get so worked up." Lindi said as she put on her seatbelt, "Look, realistically it's a first offence - the worst that can happen to her is six months in jail, but since it's a first offence she'll most likely get a suspended sentence, so she won't go to jail and won't have her precious career ruined."
"I know I should be feeling so logical about it." Peter retorted, "But I can't help it. I don't want to be a part of something that might ruin her life."
"
SHE
is the one responsible for ruining her own life!" Lindi scoffed, "And
you're
not the one bringing the prosecution; the police and the CPS are. All you can do is heed your summons, and tell the truth. Her life and her career are in the judge's hands, not yours."
"Where would I be without your Vulcan-esque logic Lindi?" Peter mused as he pulled out into the road.
Monday, July 5th 2010 - 1:07pm
After stopping in Swanborough to pick up Clive, the three of them arrived at Nottingham Crown Court. The trial wasn't scheduled to begin until 2 o'clock so they decided to take lunch in a nearby pub.
"I thought I'd seen the back of this damned place." Peter muttered as he sipped his glass of mineral water after having ordered a steak and ale pie for lunch, "Hopefully after today I shall never have to visit Nottingham again. I mean, don't get me wrong. I don't have anything against the city itself, it's just that what happened to me here is something I'd like to forget about!"
"I can sympathise with you there, mate." Clive said as he set down his pint of lager, "When I got divorced from my wife and had to go through the family court In Bristol - because that's where the bitch had run off to once she left me for her toy-boy - in order to get access to my daughter, I vowed it'd be a cold day in hell before I'd set foot in the place again. Lo and behold, the following week I had to meet a supplier there to discuss a contract for supplying my business with developing fluid. It's basic Sod's law isn't it!"
"Look, once today is over and done with you may never have to come here again." Lindi said.
"I hope you're right." Peter replied, knowing he was giving Lindi a chance to air her favourite little witty rejoinder.
"I'm a woman - I'm
always
right, remember?!" She said with a wry smile.
Monday, July 5th 2010 - 2:04pm
Peter, Lindi and Clive had taken their seats in the public gallery of Court no. 3 of Nottingham Crown Court. Below them, the courtroom itself consisted of the witness box to their right and the jury bench to their left. Opposite them faced the judge's chair of sumptuous red leather set below a large gold leaf and vibrantly painted plaster relief of the Royal coat of arms with its familiar inscription '
Dieu et mon droit'.
Located in front of and below the public gallery stood the dock where the accused Stevie Williams would soon be seated, either side of which where the separate benches for the defence counsel and the prosecution.
Peter caught the eye of the prosecuting QC Mrs Eversley, whom he met with a couple of weeks earlier. With a professional manner she acknowledged him with a simple nod of the head and a brief smile before returning her attention to setting out her notes and all her papers before her - one of which was the Victim Impact Statement he had dictated and which she would read out as part of the prosecution's case. The defending QC also busied himself setting out all his paperwork. The members of the jury, which consisted of five men and seven women, had already taken their place.
Peter felt a distinct lump in his throat as he saw Stevie being led into the dock by the court usher and a female police constable - it was the first time he had set eyes on her since that fateful night in his hotel room. The last time he saw her she was naked in his bed after they had just had sex together, an incident that had such unforeseen and far-reaching ramifications and had led to this whole sorry debacle. She was dressed smartly in a light grey suit consisting of a tailored jacket, a straight skirt and a light turquoise silk blouse. Her blonde hair was worn up in a business-like style and her only jewellery was a pair of simple gold ear studs. Despite her confident attire she looked terrified as she took her seat in the dock, taking a brief moment to seek out the comforting presence of her parents who had sat at the other end of the public gallery from where Peter was sitting.
All of a sudden the clerk of the court entered the room dressed in the traditional courtroom attire of a black tailcoat, a white shirt with a starched white cravat and short white horsehair wig.
"The court will rise." He announced.
Everyone in the room rose to their feet as a door opened beside the judge's position and the judge, a kindly-looking man in his mid 60's entered and took his seat. He wore the centuries-old traditional garb of a member of Her Majesty's Court of Justice, including the traditional long white horsehair wig that was supposedly meant to disguise the identity of the judge in historical times but was now merely an affectation of office. As soon as the trial judge sat down in his seat the rest of the court returned to their seats. There followed a brief pause while the judge took a few moments to set out his own paperwork on the table before him.
"This court is now in session, in the case of Regina versus Miss Stefanie Anne Williams. His honour, Judge Johnathan Richards presiding." The clerk announced.
"Will the accused please stand." Judge Richards said officiously.
Stevie nervously stood in the dock.
"Miss Williams, you are here before this court charged with perverting the course of justice. On Monday the 12th of April of this year you made an allegation of rape and actual bodily harm against a Mr Peter Adrian Swanmore of Westborough-on-sea, East Sussex. It was later determined that your allegations against Mr Swanmore were unfounded and of a malicious nature, and that you had wasted police time. How do you plead?"
This was it - if Stevie had any sense she'd simply plead guilty and most likely receive a suspended sentence. However...
"Not guilty." Stevie replied after a moment.
Peter groaned inwardly.
"Stupid girl." He muttered under his breath.
Now this would become a full-on trial with witnesses and cross-examinations and the whole sordid details of that fateful encounter would be dragged out and examined in close detail. And he would certainly be called to testify, and be cross-examined in the witness box.
He looked down at Mrs Eversley as though he might receive some form of guidance from the prosecuting QC, but all she did was to shuffle around some papers as though she had anticipated this turn of events all along. It was going to be a very long afternoon.
Monday, July 5th 2010 - 2:25pm
After the jury had been formally sworn in the trial began in earnest. Mrs Eversley QC - dressed in her own black and white court dress with white horsehair wig - took to her feet and proceeded to set out the prosecution's case against her. The main points of the Crown's case was that by reporting Peter to the police for committing an act of rape upon her - an allegation that she knew was false since she had consented and indeed had willed Peter to be rough with her - she had committed the crime of perverting the course of justice by wasting police time and resources in pursuing a case she knew to be a complete and utter falsehood.
She presented the evidence that Peter's lawyer Mr Acheson had gathered which comprehensively debunked the young woman's allegation and the police's case against Peter, the very centrepiece of which was the audio recording Lindi had made in which Stevie admitted that Peter had not raped her.
"If it pleases your honour, we have a victim impact statement from Ms William's alleged victim." Mrs Eversley said to the presiding judge.
"Very well." Judge Richards replied.
"In April of this year I met an attractive young lady, Ms Williams, in a busy city centre pub in Nottingham." Mrs Eversley began reading from Peter's statement, "She appeared to be having trouble getting the attention of the barman and so I offered to help. After I finally managed to get the barman to serve her, she offered to buy me a drink by way of thanks. Without going into too much detail, we ended up spending the rest of the evening together until closing time. I offered to take her to a club but, after pointing out that I wasn't exactly dressed for clubbing, she suggested we go back to my hotel. We ended up showering together and eventually we ended up having sex. I awoke the following morning to discover that she had left during the night - I had no contact details for her so I could not call to see if she was okay. I hoped that she might at least take the time to contact me at my hotel before I had to return home, but instead of a phone call I received a visit from two police officers who had come to arrest me for apparently raping Ms Williams. What followed was the single most horrifying and traumatising experience I had ever been through. I was strip searched at the police station, put through a physical examination during which photographs were taken of my genitalia and swabs taken from my penis, subjected to interrogation by the police who then charged me with rape and actual bodily harm, sent before a magistrate who believed everything the police alleged and was sent on remand to Nottingham Prison where I spent the most soul-destroying few weeks of my entire life and was even at one point threatened with rape myself by another inmate. The allegations brought against me by Ms Williams drove a nail right through my heart, nearly destroyed my life and my career and have left me wondering if I can ever trust a woman again. Despite my exoneration of the crime for which I was accused, the allegation of rape will hang over me for the rest of my life like a dark shadow from which I can never come out from. However, I would like it to be known that despite Ms William's actions I do not wish to see
her
life ruined because of nothing more than her own stupidity. I recognise that I have every right to demand the very harshest justice for what she did to me, even though the crime she stands accused of is a crime against the state rather than me personally, but I would ask this court to show leniency towards her as despite everything, she is simply a misguided young woman who made a mistake. I only ask of her that she thinks twice before making such an allegation in future."
