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Angus Radford and Kenna Downing arrive through a different door. They are handcuffed, wearing prison-issue clothes, being escorted by guards. Radford has a swagger about him, like he’s walking onto a stage, but Downing seems more nervous and keeps checking to see if he’s putting his feet in the right place.
The court usher announces the arrival of Judge Prior, a small, birdlike woman, with gentle eyes and bound black hair. She has a soft spot for her court staff, calling the clerk by his first name. She asks Radford and Downing to take a seat while she deals with several other matters for mention. The prosecutor, Mr Holder, makes an application for a hearing date extension and seeks to change reporting conditions for a defendant.
Finally, Judge Prior asks Radford and Downing to stand. ‘Do you have legal representation?’
Before they can answer, a door swings opens and a man enters, striding into the courtroom like he’s making a last-minute intervention.
‘Your Honour, may it please the court, my name is Philip Welbeck, KC. I represent Mr Radford and Mr Downing.’
A young woman trails after him, carrying a briefcase under one arm, and a stack of box files that she can barely see over. Welbeck has reached the bar table, where he nudges a chair back with his foot, as though worried it might be germ-ridden. Without pausing to wait for his colleague, he begins, ‘I wish to register my complaint against my clients’ treatment in police custody and the denial of their rights.’
‘What rights have been denied?’ asks the crown prosecutor.
‘They were denied legal representation upon their arrest.’
‘A solicitor was present at every interview.’
‘They were in custody for four hours before I was notified.’
‘Because your clients refused to give their names or addresses.’
‘They gave the police my phone number.’
‘Yet couldn’t remember their own names.’
The sarcasm irritates Welbeck, who begins to argue, but is cut off by the judge.
‘Keep it in your pants, gentlemen.’ The comment prompts laughter. Judge Prior moves on quickly. ‘What are we dealing with, Mr Holder?’
The prosecutor takes a sheet of paper from the table.
‘Angus Fraser Radford and Kenna Andrew Downing are charged with seventeen counts of gross negligence manslaughter, as well as resisting arrest, assault and destroying evidence.’
‘Allegations that will be strenuously denied,’ says Welbeck.
‘You’ll get your chance,’ says the judge, shutting him down.
Holder continues. ‘The prosecution will allege that in the early hours of August twenty-sixth the trawler New Victory deliberately rammed and sank a rigid-hulled inflatable boat with twenty people on board, sixteen miles north-east of Skegness in the North Sea. New Victory was sailing without lights or radar reflectors; and the automatic identification beacon had been disabled.’
‘Objection. Speculation,’ says the barrister.
‘This is not the trial, Mr Welbeck,’ says Judge Prior, signalling for the prosecutor to go on.
Holder gives Welbeck a smug smile. ‘Eyewitness testimony and satellite imagery will show the trawler earlier stopped the RHIB and tried to force it into turning back to France, using water cannons and ropes. When those on board refused the demands, the trawler rammed the RHIB, which overturned, throwing the occupants into the sea.’
‘Ridiculous,’ mutters Welbeck.
Holder ignores him. ‘According to forensic evidence, the trawler collided with the RHIB at least three times and the crew made no attempt to rescue the people in the water. Given the serious nature of the alleged offences, and the likelihood of further charges being laid, the Crown asks that bail be refused and the defendants be remanded in custody.’
‘Your turn, Mr Welbeck,’ says Judge Prior.
The barrister gets to his feet and buttons his charcoal-grey suit, tugging down the sleeves and smoothing the creases on his thighs. Throat cleared, eyebrows knitted, he begins. ‘My clients are fishermen. Mr Radford was born to the sea, a fourth-generation trawlerman; and Mr Downing has worked on boats since he was eighteen. They have no knowledge of any collision and, if one did occur, they insist it was accidental.
‘Let me offer you a different, more credible, version of events. My clients were transferring the trawler to Scotland after an engine refit, which is why it had only two crew. The AIS had not been reactivated – an oversight not a deliberate act. On the morning in question, Mr Downing was on watch. He left the wheelhouse for several minutes to check on an oil pressure light and to make himself a cup of tea. Mr Radford was sleeping. The navigation lights were on. The trawler was on autopilot and nothing showed on the ship’s radar.
‘It was during this time that New Victory struck something in the water which damaged the propeller shaft. Both men came on deck and searched for what the trawler might have hit. They saw no evidence of a RHIB or people in the water. They assumed it was most likely a sunken shipping container or some other flotsam or jetsam.’
Mr Holder hasn’t bothered sitting down. ‘We have radar images that capture the moment of collision. They also show the trawler circling back to finish the job.’
