Crown Court - A Man with Everything. Kenneth Eden is indicted with theft and indecent assault on a minor.
Another great story here with powerful performances. Lots of known actors here, especially from the world of Doctor Who!
Peter Copley, playing the Judge, was in "Pyramids of Mars". Geoffrey Palmer, playing the accused, was in "The Silurians" and others. Anne Reid, here as Florence Davenport, was in the "Curse of Fenric". Prosecuting Counsel, played by Vernon Dobtcheff, appeared in "The War Games" and Jacqueline Hill (as the wife of the accused) was Barbara Wright, one of the first companions to William Hartnell's Doctor. Director Richard Martin also worked on early Doctor Who adventures.
Tony Caunter was also in Doctor Who in "Colony in Space" but will be probably be best known as Roy in EastEnders, as was Lizzie Power (Defence Counsel) who played Arthur Fowler's romantic interest, Christine.
Another great story here with powerful performances. Lots of known actors here, especially from the world of Doctor Who!
Peter Copley, playing the Judge, was in "Pyramids of Mars". Geoffrey Palmer, playing the accused, was in "The Silurians" and others. Anne Reid, here as Florence Davenport, was in the "Curse of Fenric". Prosecuting Counsel, played by Vernon Dobtcheff, appeared in "The War Games" and Jacqueline Hill (as the wife of the accused) was Barbara Wright, one of the first companions to William Hartnell's Doctor. Director Richard Martin also worked on early Doctor Who adventures.
Tony Caunter was also in Doctor Who in "Colony in Space" but will be probably be best known as Roy in EastEnders, as was Lizzie Power (Defence Counsel) who played Arthur Fowler's romantic interest, Christine.
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TVTranscript
00:00:00The case you're about to see is fictional, but the procedure is legally accurate.
00:00:14The characters are played by actors, but the jury is selected from members of the public.
00:00:23Kenneth Edward Eden, you stand indicted on two counts.
00:00:28On the first, you are charged with theft, contrary to Section 1 of the Theft Act 1968,
00:00:32and the particulars are that on the 25th day of June last, at Acres High, Barrow Green,
00:00:38in the county of Fulchester, you did steal a silver necklet and pendant, value £7, the
00:00:43property of Barbara Mary Brown.
00:00:46How say you?
00:00:47Are you guilty or not guilty?
00:00:49Not guilty.
00:00:51And on the second count, Kenneth Edward Eden, you are charged that on the 25th day of June
00:00:56last, at Acres High, Barrow Green, you did indecently assault Barbara Mary Brown, a minor,
00:01:03contrary to Section 14, subsection 1 of the Sexual Offences Act 1956.
00:01:08Are you guilty or not guilty?
00:01:10Emphatically not guilty.
00:01:12Please sit down, Mr. Eden.
00:01:18It won't be long now, love.
00:01:20Are you all right?
00:01:24Do you want to go to the, um, I mean, before you...
00:01:28In this case, I appear for the prosecution, and my learned friend Miss, um, Travers appears
00:01:34for the accused.
00:01:38Members of the jury, as you have heard, there are two separate and quite different charges.
00:01:44One of theft of a silver necklet and pendant belonging to a young girl named Barbara Brown,
00:01:50and the other of indecent assault upon that same young girl.
00:01:54Since the two events occurred more or less at the same time and in the same place, I
00:01:58shall treat them as conjoined.
00:02:00Did you say conjoined, Mr. Maitland-Wilson?
00:02:03Your Honour?
00:02:04Meaning related, associated, loosely joined together.
00:02:09I say that for the jury's benefit.
00:02:12I'm obliged to, Your Honour.
00:02:14I'll begin by sketching the background for the charges.
00:02:18The accused is a man of some substance.
00:02:21He and his wife live in a substantial bungalow called Acres High on the outskirts of a village
00:02:27named Barrow Green, which, as you may know, is one of the more desirable rural localities
00:02:34of the county.
00:02:35Mr. and Mrs. Eden-Arne have been, for several years, what is known as unofficial uncle and
00:02:40aunt to two or three children at Broom Lodge, which, as you may also know, is a local authority
00:02:47home for children.
00:02:49It usually has some 12 children resident there, one of whom is Barbara Brown, the victim of
00:02:56both the allegations against the accused.
00:03:00She is 14 and a half, and she has been resident at Broom Lodge in the care of the local authorities
00:03:07since she was six, and I must make it clear to you at the outset that, unlike some children
00:03:13taken into care, Barbara is not and never has been in any kind of trouble with the law
00:03:18whatsoever.
00:03:19Now, as I say, Mr. and Mrs. Eden-Arne have been, for some years, an unofficial uncle
00:03:26and aunt to two or three of the children at Broom Lodge.
00:03:31What that has involved is no more than occasionally having a child to tea or taking them out for
00:03:37the day or something like that.
00:03:39It is voluntary work performed all over the country by hundreds, indeed thousands, of
00:03:44people for no other motive than the innate kindness of their hearts.
00:03:48Now, doubtless that was initially the motive of Mr. Eden, but you will hear evidence which,
00:03:55I suggest, may lead you to believe that in the course of time, over a period of time,
00:04:01with regard to this particular young person, Mr. Eden's motives underwent change.
00:04:08Now, members of the jury, children in care are particularly susceptible to being regarded
00:04:17as unstable and unreliable by very reason of their being in care.
00:04:22Well, you are going to have to choose, in this case, between the word of a young person
00:04:28in care and that of a man of substance and position.
00:04:34Of course, the accused stands to lose a great deal in personal repute, if no other way at
00:04:39least, if he is found guilty.
00:04:41But do not let that deter you.
00:04:44All I ask is that you hear the prosecution's evidence and then form your judgment based
00:04:50on the word of whom you do believe.
00:04:55I call the first witness, please, Police Inspector Charles Cripps.
00:04:59Police Inspector Charles Cripps.
00:05:07Oh, here comes Miss Lawton now, then.
00:05:10Hello, Miss Lawton.
00:05:12Hello, Mrs. Davenport.
00:05:16Barbara.
00:05:17Hello.
00:05:21I swear by a mighty God that the evidence I shall give shall be the truth, the whole
00:05:24truth and nothing but the truth.
00:05:26Charles Cripps, Inspector, Fulchester County Police, Z Division.
00:05:30Your Honour.
00:05:31Inspector Cripps, may we immediately establish something at the outset, please?
00:05:35You know the accused, Kenneth Eden, quite well, do you not?
00:05:38Yes, Your Honour.
00:05:39We both live in the same village, Burrow Green.
00:05:42His bungalow is almost opposite my own house.
00:05:45We quite often have a Sunday drink together.
00:05:47You are, in fact, personal friends.
00:05:49Yes, we have been for several years now.
00:05:52Inspector, could you tell the court, please, in your own words, what happened between you
00:05:55and the accused on the afternoon of Saturday, June the 25th last?
00:06:00Yes, Your Honour.
00:06:02Sure.
00:06:08I saw the accused at his home at 5pm on June 25th last.
00:06:12This was an official visit, are you saying, Inspector?
00:06:14You had gone there in the course of duty.
00:06:16Yes, Your Honour, and I was in uniform.
00:06:18Aye.
00:06:19I told him I was there as a result of a complaint which had been made from Broom Lodge Children's Community Home
00:06:24and that charges were to be made.
00:06:26I then cautioned and charged him.
00:06:28He said, I want to say something.
00:06:31I again told him that he was not obliged to say anything,
00:06:34but if he did, it would be written down and given in evidence.
00:06:37He said, oh, look, Charlie, for God's sake, let's talk about this man-to-man,
00:06:43sit down and have a drink.
00:06:45I said, I can't do that, I'm here officially.
00:06:48He put his face in his hands, remaining seated and silent, and I left shortly afterwards.
00:06:53Did anything else transpire between you of any kind, however trivial?
00:06:57Well, as I said, he was sitting with his face in his hands and I offered him a cigarette
00:07:02and when he took it, I let it for him.
00:07:04He didn't say anything else, nor you to him?
00:07:07No.
00:07:08You sound uncertain, Inspector.
00:07:10Well, it is possible, Your Honour, that when I proffered the cigarette,
00:07:14I might have said something like, have one, Ken, something like that.
00:07:18Come on, Ken, have one, perhaps.
00:07:21Now, Inspector, where was it that this took place?
00:07:23At Acres High, his bungalow, his home.
00:07:26Yes, I mean, whereabouts at his home?
00:07:28Outside, in the garden, by the side of the swimming pool.
00:07:31Was anyone else there?
00:07:33Not by the swimming pool, no.
00:07:35Did you see anyone else there, either outdoors or inside whilst you were there?
00:07:39No, I did not, but it is possible that his wife could have been resting,
00:07:42asleep, perhaps, and not heard the bell.
00:07:45Yes, well, that's very fair of you.
00:07:46Now, when you got round to the garden at the back of the bungalow,
00:07:49where did you see the accused?
00:07:51He was sitting by the side of the pool.
00:07:53Can you describe his immediate surroundings?
00:07:56Yes, there was a sort of a large, fringed, sun-shade umbrella
00:08:01with a white metal circular table beneath,
00:08:04three folding-type outdoor chairs,
00:08:07a reclining chair of the sun lounger type.
00:08:11There was a trolley for drinks with the glasses, bottles, a soda siphon,
00:08:17and, I believe, an ice bucket on it.
00:08:20On the circular table, there was a large-sized portable radio with a telescopic aerial.
00:08:25The accused was sitting on one of the chairs with his feet up on the edge of the sun lounger.
00:08:30What was he doing?
00:08:32He was holding a glass in his hand,
00:08:35sitting back, apparently relaxing in the sun.
00:08:37I believe the radio was on at a low volume.
00:08:40What did he say when you appeared?
00:08:43Nothing. He merely raised his glass slightly, like that, towards me.
00:08:49Will you tell us what he was wearing?
00:08:52Yes.
00:08:56Dark brown cotton shorts and sandals,
00:08:59a short, toweling bathrobe, purplish in colour, and sunglasses.
00:09:04Yes. Anything else?
00:09:07Well, I didn't see it at first, but after a while,
00:09:11I observed that around his neck there was a thin chain
00:09:14with a silver pendant like an acorn on it.
00:09:17May the witness be shown Exhibit 1, please?
00:09:22Is that the one?
00:09:24Yes, or one very similar.
00:09:27Thank you. I have no more questions. Thank you, Inspector.
00:09:32Now, Inspector, as you told us,
00:09:35you were on duty at the police station on that Saturday afternoon
00:09:38when the complaint came in from Broome Lodge.
00:09:41I was in charge of the station, yes.
00:09:43The complaint was in what form? How did you first hear about it?
00:09:47Well, I believe someone from the home.
00:09:50I think it was Mrs Davenport, the house mother.
00:09:53She telephoned, giving the grounds of the complaint.
00:09:55And I sent a woman police constable round to the home,
00:09:58and she questioned,
00:10:00and later took a statement from the complainant, Barbara Broome.
00:10:03When the statement came back,
00:10:05I decided that two charges should be made.
00:10:08Oh! That was your decision?
00:10:10I had no option.
00:10:12Well, these were, or one would have thought they were,
00:10:15almost ordinary routine accusations and charges, were they not?
00:10:19I didn't consider them so.
00:10:21Why? Because they were being made against someone you knew?
00:10:24A friend of yours?
00:10:26It may have had some effect upon me, yes.
00:10:28Oh, what effect?
00:10:31It upset me.
00:10:35Rather than handed it to one of your subordinates to deal with?
00:10:38Not entirely, no.
00:10:40Well, what do you mean, please, not entirely?
00:10:43Well, not only was I upset, I knew that he would be too, and...
00:10:49Well, I thought that if, um...
00:10:51Well, yes, go on, insist.
00:10:53Well, to be honest, I thought somehow that if it was me
00:10:56that went round to charge him,
00:10:58well, somehow it might be less embarrassing for him.
00:11:00But yet, when he said, let's talk about it,
00:11:02you gave him no opportunity to do so.
00:11:05It was too late. I'd already charged him.
00:11:07Without any questions or preamble of any kind?
00:11:10I gave him the necessary formal caution first.
00:11:12And a cigarette afterwards?
00:11:14And said something like, have one, Ken, or come on?
00:11:18Yes.
00:11:20Inspector, I suggest you recall some of your words,
00:11:23but not how you used them.
00:11:25I suggest that because of previous conversations
00:11:28you had had with the accused,
00:11:30between you as men and friends,
00:11:33in which he had told you certain things about himself,
00:11:37I suggest that what you actually said to him was,
00:11:40it had to come, Ken.
00:11:44Oh, no.
00:11:47Oh, no.
00:11:49No, no, no.
00:11:51No.
00:11:58Mrs Davenport?
00:12:00Well, I heard her come in and run straight upstairs to her room.
00:12:04And I went into the hall and called up to her.
00:12:07I'd just made a cup of tea, and would she like one?
00:12:10She didn't answer, so in a while I went up to her room
00:12:13just to see that she was all right.
00:12:15And she was lying on the bed crying.
00:12:17So I thought, oh, well, I'll leave her to it.
00:12:20You know, she'll tell me if she wants to or not, as the case may be.
00:12:24Then just as you were about to go away out of the room,
00:12:27did you notice something?
00:12:29Her blouse, yes. It was torn.
00:12:31About down to here, by this shoulder.
00:12:33Anything else besides that? Any other damage to her clothing?
00:12:36Her bra strap was broken.
00:12:38I couldn't see that at first, cos it was down inside her blouse.
00:12:41Did you ask her how this damage to her clothing had occurred?
00:12:44I can't say I did. Not specifically like that, no.
00:12:48It just more or less came out in conversation.
00:12:50What did you say to her? Do you remember?
00:12:52Well, not very much at first.
00:12:54I just put my arms round her and gave her a bit of cuddling
00:12:57and waited for her to tell me what had upset her,
00:12:59if she wanted to, when she wanted to.
00:13:01Which, in time, she did. Yes.
00:13:03Mrs Davenport, I'm not going to ask you what Barbara told you in detail,
00:13:06but I would like to ask you this.
00:13:08Had you given her permission to go to Acres High,
00:13:11the Edens house, that afternoon?
00:13:14No-one at Broomlodge has to ask my permission for things.
00:13:17It's not a prison. No, of course not.
00:13:19Not that I mean to suggest it was. Let me put it another way.
00:13:22Did you know, in advance, beforehand, that she was going?
00:13:25Oh, no, I did not. Would you have tried to dissuade her if you had?
00:13:28Well, I should certainly have tried to talk to her about it at some length, yes.
00:13:32With a view to dissuading her?
00:13:34Yes. Mr Maitland-Wilson, I feel you've gone far enough, you know.
00:13:38Your Honour.
00:13:40Now, finally, Mrs Davenport,
00:13:42as a result of what Barbara Brown told you,
00:13:45did you then take a certain course of action?
00:13:48Yes. I phoned the police station,
00:13:51and I asked them how long it was going to be
00:13:53before they did something about that man, Kenneth Eden.
00:13:56I don't wish to say things like that, please, Mrs Davenport.
00:13:58However, you telephoned the police,
00:14:00and what happened as a result?
00:14:03A woman policeman came to take a statement from Barbara.
00:14:06Were you present when that statement was taken?
00:14:08Yes, I was.
00:14:09Now, did it in any way vary in substance or important detail
00:14:13from what Barbara Brown told you herself?
00:14:15No. Not in the slightest, no.
00:14:18Now, Mrs Davenport, how long have you known Barbara?
00:14:21Ever since she came into care at Broom Lodge when she was six.
00:14:25And what is your opinion of her trustworthiness, her honesty?
00:14:29She is completely trustworthy and honest.
00:14:32I would take her word against anyone else's any day.
00:14:35Thank you, Mrs Davenport.
00:14:41Mrs Davenport, you're a widow. Your husband died two years ago?
00:14:44Yes.
00:14:46What was his occupation?
00:14:48He was a landscape gardener.
00:14:50Until his death?
00:14:52No, until about a year before.
00:14:54He lost his job. He was made redundant.
00:14:56When the firm he worked for was bought by
00:14:58and amalgamated into a large construction engineering group?
00:15:02Yes.
00:15:03Of which Kenneth Eden is the managing director.
00:15:06So I've been told recently. I didn't know it before.
00:15:10Before? Before what?
00:15:12When Barbara first started going to the Edens, I didn't know who he was.
00:15:17Well, how well do you now know Mr Eden?
00:15:19Not very.
00:15:21He and his wife have been to Broom Lodge once or twice
00:15:24when they brought Barbara back in the car.
00:15:26Well now, Mrs Davenport,
00:15:28when you were answering questions in examination a little earlier,
00:15:31you made a remark which my learned friend,
00:15:34counsel for the prosecution, said was the sort he did not wish you to make.
00:15:38Because, of course, it very clearly revealed your animosity towards Mr Eden.
00:15:43Now, you said that you telephoned the police and asked them,
00:15:46I think I noted this correctly,
00:15:48how long it was going to be before they did something about him.
00:15:52Now, what did you mean by that?
00:15:54Did something about him? In what way?
00:15:57Nothing particular.
00:15:59Oh, come now, Mrs Davenport.
00:16:01It meant get him into trouble,
00:16:03or at the very least put him in an awkward situation of some sort, did it not?
00:16:06Well, yes, I suppose so, but really it was just a sort of phrase.
00:16:09Well, why did you want him to be got into trouble? For what reason?
00:16:12Because I didn't like the way he'd been carrying on.
00:16:15Carrying on?
00:16:17Would you like to be a little more specific?
00:16:20He's old enough to be her father.
00:16:23Her father? A man of his age taking advantage of the feelings of a girl as young as that?
00:16:27Mrs Davenport, it has not yet been proved at all that he has taken advantage of her.
00:16:31This is so far merely your supposition.
00:16:34Yes, well, we'll see.
00:16:36Yes, we shall indeed.
00:16:38But we've already established one thing very clearly without any doubt at all, haven't we?
00:16:42That long before this case is concluded, there is no doubt in your mind as to his guilt.
00:16:47It was you, Mrs Davenport, wasn't it, and no one else but you,
00:16:50who set in motion the events which led to Mr Eden's being here in this court today
00:16:54by your phone call to the police, wasn't it?
00:16:56Well, somebody had to do something.
00:16:58Why? Because Barbara wouldn't have done anything if it had been left up to her?
00:17:02Oh, really, Mrs Davenport.
00:17:07Barbara Mary Brown.
00:17:14Barbara.
00:17:16It'll be OK. Good luck.
00:17:33It's Linda, isn't it? Hey.
00:17:35If you don't remember me, I'm Rachel Norton from the social services department.
00:17:38What are you doing here, then?
00:17:40They said for me not to talk to anyone. Anyone at all, right?
00:17:43Right. Sure. Right. Yes.
00:17:47Barbara, I'm sure this is not going to be easy for you,
00:17:51but unfortunately it is necessary.
00:17:53However, I will do the best I can not to make it too unpleasant or upsetting for you.
00:17:58Yes.
00:18:00Will you please, first of all, tell us what happened round about lunchtime
00:18:04on that day in question, Saturday 25th of June last?
00:18:07Did you mean the phone call?
00:18:09There was a phone call to the Children's Home Broom Lodge, was there?
00:18:13Who took the call? Who answered the phone?
00:18:15I did. And who was it from?
00:18:18Yes. Will you say, please?
00:18:20Him. Mr Eden. What did he say?
00:18:22He said, would I like to go to his house this afternoon?
00:18:25How did he phrase it? Do you remember his words?
00:18:27I think it was something like,
00:18:29would you like to come and have tea with me and Margaret this afternoon?
00:18:31He did specifically mention Margaret. That's his wife, Mrs Eden, did he?
00:18:35Yes. And when you got there and found that she wasn't there,
00:18:39did he say where she was?
00:18:41He said she'd had to go out, but she'd be back before long.
00:18:43He gave you no indication at all of what the true situation was,
00:18:46that she had gone to her mother's and she wouldn't be back that day or that night?
00:18:50No. He said she'd be back before long.
00:18:52Yes. And so...
00:18:55Well, however, when you got to the bungalow, what time was that?
00:18:58About three o'clock. A couple of half past two, bus from the marketplace.
00:19:02Yes. Now, will you tell us, as well as you can, please,
00:19:05in your own words, what transpired subsequently?
00:19:07Sorry?
00:19:09What happened?
00:19:11Well, it was a nice day, and he, Ken, Mr Eden,
00:19:15he said all he was going to do was sit in the sun by the swimming pool
00:19:18and just sort of, well, sunbathe.
00:19:20He said, would that be all right? Would I like to do that, too?
00:19:22Did he say what he meant by that?
00:19:24Sunbathe. Well, just sort of sunbathe, that's all.
00:19:27Did he, for instance, suggest that you took any clothes off?
00:19:31No. Well, I made it. I only got some of my blouse, skirt and sandals on.
00:19:34There's really no need to take anything off.
00:19:36May the witness be shown Exhibits 2, 3 and 4, please.
00:19:42Are those the blouse, skirt and sandals?
00:19:44Yes.
00:19:47And what else were you wearing, Barbara?
00:19:49Nothing. Well, I mean just bra and pants.
00:19:51Exhibit 5 and 6, please.
00:19:54Are those they?
00:19:56Yes. I think so, yes.
00:19:58And were you wearing anything else?
00:20:00No, I don't mean clothing, but there was one other thing you were wearing, wasn't there?
00:20:04Oh, the chair with the little silver acorn on it, around my neck.
00:20:07Exhibit 1.
00:20:09Yes, that. Hans Flow gave me that for my birthday in May.
00:20:12Aunty Flow being Mrs Davenport, the house mother.
00:20:15And what was he wearing, Mr Eden?
00:20:18Swimming trunks. You know, shorts and a sort of purple bathrobe thing.
00:20:22Yes. Now, you went by the side of the swimming pool on a chair, did you sit or where?
00:20:27He sat on one of the chairs.
00:20:30I learned that sort of long thing you stretch out on, like a sort of camp bed.
00:20:34A sun lounger. And did you talk to each other?
00:20:37A bit at first, just chatted and things.
00:20:39Yes, well, will you go on, please? In your own way, in your own words.
00:20:42Oh, I got a bit dizzy in the sun.
00:20:45I think I was asleep soon. I don't really know.
00:20:48He was saying something about the silver acorn thing on the chain.
00:20:51He'd not probably seen it and could have a closer look.
00:20:54He took it off the chain, I mean, and fastened it, and then, well...
00:20:59Yes, well, don't hurry, don't distress yourself.
00:21:02Well, a bit later on, I don't know, perhaps I've been sleeping in between,
00:21:06but I realised he hadn't had my blouse.
00:21:09He was fiddling with my bra, trying to get his hand in.
00:21:12Now, where was he then, on the sun lounger by you, standing, leaning over you, or where?
00:21:18He was sort of kneeling down by the side of me.
00:21:21He was kissing my hair, could smell the smell of drink when he breathed.
00:21:24Now, when, as you say, half asleep, you felt that's what he was doing
00:21:28and realised that he was trying to take advantage of you, what happened?
00:21:31I jumped up. I woke up with a shock.
00:21:34I told him I was a dirty old man and I'd tell his wife.
00:21:36Immediately, as soon as you were aware that he was touching you,
00:21:39that's what you said and that's what you did?
00:21:41Yes, straight away. That's how my bra strap got broke,
00:21:44cos his hand was caught in it and it tore my blouse too.
00:21:46And when you did that, what did he do?
00:21:48He was more or less on his hands and knees.
00:21:50He started to cry and told me he loved me and things like that
00:21:53and please not to tell anyone.
00:21:55And what did you say?
00:21:56I don't think he said anything.
00:21:58Just ran round to the front and out of the garden.
00:22:00I hoped there'd be a bus back, but there wasn't.
00:22:02So I went back to Broomrodge the long way round through the woods
00:22:05cos I didn't want anyone to see me with my blouse torn and things.
00:22:07Now, Barbara, I want you to think very hard before you answer this, please.
00:22:10Did you in any way, either by what you said or what you did beforehand,
00:22:16give him any reason at all to think that he, that you,
00:22:20might welcome an advance of that kind from him?
00:22:23No, I didn't. No. No. Well, I...
00:22:27Yes?
00:22:28Well, once before, I mean, another time,
00:22:31he sort of, well, touched me accidentally and I jumped away.
00:22:34I told him I hated it. I hated anybody touching me.
00:22:37And on this occasion, when he did that, how did you feel?
00:22:40Did you feel very frightened?
00:22:41No. I wasn't frightened.
00:22:43I was... I was more disgusted, I suppose, than anything mainly.
00:22:47Yes.
00:22:48Would it be too much to say that you had always, well, really,
00:22:52looked up to Mr Eden?
00:22:54I'd always thought of him, well, like a second father to me, really.
00:22:59I always hoped he would be that.
00:23:01Yes.
00:23:04Thank you, Barbara.
00:23:13Are you all right?
00:23:14Yes, thank you.
00:23:15Would you like a glass of water?
00:23:17No, thank you.
00:23:19Well, now, Barbara, at the beginning of his questioning of you,
00:23:23my learned friend, counsel for the prosecution,
00:23:26said that he would do his best not to make things too unpleasant for you.
00:23:30Well, I am not going to give you that promise, I do sincerely assure you.
00:23:43THE END
00:24:14MUSIC
00:24:25Kenneth Eden, as pleaded not guilty to indecently assaulting Barbara Brown,
00:24:29was now being questioned by counsel for the defence.
00:24:32Said that he would do his best not to make things too unpleasant for you.
00:24:36Well, I am not going to give you that promise, I do sincerely assure you.
00:24:40Barbara, do you always dress like that?
00:24:42It's my school uniform.
00:24:44I didn't ask you that. I said, do you always dress like that?
00:24:48Yeah, sometimes, yeah.
00:24:50No, well, sometimes isn't by any mean always, is it?
00:24:53So I'll take it your answer is no, shall I?
00:24:55Whose idea was it, for instance,
00:24:57that you should come here today dressed like that?
00:24:59Well, I didn't want to come dressed like this.
00:25:01It was Aunty Flo, Mrs Davenport. She said I'd got to.
00:25:04Thank you, Barbara.
00:25:06Now, tell me, Mr and Mrs Eden,
00:25:09have been your unofficial uncle and aunt for how long now, is it?
00:25:12Nearly four years?
00:25:14About that time, yeah.
00:25:16And, of course, in that time, they have both naturally become very fond of you.
00:25:20Well, they have, and I'm quite sure that you know it.
00:25:23Now, first of all,
00:25:25I want to make it absolutely plain to you
00:25:28that it is not going to be Mr Eden's defence against these charges
00:25:32that when you went to his home, Acres High,
00:25:35on that Saturday afternoon, June 25th last,
00:25:38that you yourself in any way encouraged him
00:25:41or egged him on, as the saying is.
00:25:43Now, is that clear to you?
00:25:44Yes, because I didn't.
00:25:45No, no, no. Just a minute, please.
00:25:47Just answer the question as I say, yes or no.
00:25:51And it isn't going to be his defence either
00:25:54that on that afternoon he had had somewhat too much to drink
00:25:57and therefore didn't properly know what he was doing.
00:26:00Is that clear to you also?
00:26:02Yes.
00:26:04And next and thirdly,
00:26:06it is not going to be Mr Eden's defence
00:26:08that he did in some perfectly innocent way
00:26:11come into contact with you or touch you
00:26:13and that you unfortunately completely misunderstood
00:26:16what it was that he was trying to do.
00:26:18Is that clear to you also?
00:26:20Yes.
00:26:21Good.
00:26:22And nor, finally, is it going to be his defence
00:26:26that some slight physical contact
00:26:28of a very faintly sexual nature did in fact occur
00:26:32and that unfortunately you yourself exaggerated it
00:26:35out of all proportion completely.
00:26:37Do I make it plain about that?
00:26:38Yes.
00:26:39Good.
00:26:40Well, now you see, Barbara,
00:26:43Mr Eden's defence is going to be
00:26:47that he never in any way laid hands on you at any time at all
00:26:52during your visit to his house that afternoon
00:26:55and that even your story about the chain and pendant is incorrect.
00:26:59He did not ask to see it,
00:27:01let alone unfasten it and take it from around your neck.
00:27:04I repeat, he will say in no way at any time anywhere
00:27:09did he touch you at all.
00:27:12Now, is that quite, quite clear to you?
00:27:14Yes.
00:27:15Good.
00:27:17So that it follows then, doesn't it,
00:27:19that if what Mr Eden says in his defence is true
00:27:23that you yourself are therefore a total out-and-out liar.
00:27:28Well, are you?
00:27:30What?
00:27:31Oh, no. No, no, I'm not. He is.
00:27:33Yes, well, we shall see.
00:27:36Let's begin, shall we, with that telephone call you say you had on the day in question.
00:27:40I think you said it was round about lunchtime on the Saturday.
00:27:43Where is the telephone in Broom Lodge?
00:27:46Down by the side at the bottom of the stairs in the hall.
00:27:48An astounding coincidence, wasn't it, wouldn't you say,
00:27:51that it just happened to be ringing as you were passing?
00:27:54And you answered it, and lo and behold,
00:27:56who should it be but Mr Eden ringing up to speak to you?
00:28:00Well?
00:28:02Yes, it must have been just pure luck it happened like that.
00:28:04Yes, it must indeed.
00:28:06And did you tell any of the other children about it?
00:28:08I mean, before you went to Mr Eden's house,
00:28:10did you tell any of the other children or young people at Broom Lodge?
00:28:14No.
00:28:16And Mrs Davenport, the house mother, did you tell her?
00:28:19No.
00:28:21Why not?
00:28:22Why should I?
00:28:23And you didn't even tell Mrs Davenport either that you were going out?
00:28:26Or where you were going?
00:28:28No. We'd have to tell her everything.
00:28:30It's not a prison.
00:28:32There is a reason for your not mentioning it to Mrs Davenport, isn't there?
00:28:36Might it not be that you didn't do so
00:28:38because you knew that she wouldn't approve of your going there,
00:28:41two acres high, to Mr Eden's house?
00:28:43And so you didn't want her to know where you were going.
00:28:46Is that so? Is that why you didn't tell her?
00:28:49Well, I don't think... I mean...
00:28:52Oh, Barbara!
00:28:54I suspect that you're quite deliberately trying to make out
00:28:56that you're, what shall we say, a bit slow on the uptake.
00:28:59And that that is a transparent pretense.
00:29:02You're putting it on!
00:29:04Now, I'll ask you the question again.
00:29:08And before you answer, remember, please,
00:29:10that we've already had Mrs Davenport's own evidence on this subject.
00:29:14So be very careful what you say.
00:29:17Now, I'll ask you once more.
00:29:20If you received that phone call as you allege that you did from Mr Eden,
00:29:25then a possible reason for your not telling Mrs Davenport about it
00:29:29was that you knew if you did tell her,
00:29:31she would try and talk you out of going.
00:29:33Now, is that right? Is that why you didn't tell her?
00:29:36I suppose so, if you like, yeah.
00:29:38Well, what does that mean?
00:29:40If it means yes, will you say yes, please?
00:29:43Yes. It means yes.
00:29:44But why on earth should Mrs Davenport talk you out of going to?
00:29:47Or want to? Or try to?
00:29:49Because she didn't like him.
00:29:50Who? She didn't like whom?
00:29:52Mr Eden.
00:29:53And Mrs Eden? She didn't like her either?
00:29:56Mrs Eden wasn't going to be there.
00:30:00Well now, Barbara.
00:30:03That's a very interesting answer, isn't it?
00:30:06Because, you see, how on earth would Mrs Davenport know
00:30:09that Mrs Eden wasn't going to be there
00:30:11when you have already told us that you yourself didn't know?
00:30:15You said earlier, didn't you,
00:30:17that Mr Eden had told you quite plainly that she was going to be there.
00:30:21He asked you to come for tea with him and his wife Margaret, didn't you?
00:30:25Isn't that what you said?
00:30:27Yes. No. That's right. No. Mrs Davenport couldn't have known. No.
00:30:30Barbara, it is quite clearly obvious to everyone, isn't it,
00:30:33that you've made all this up.
00:30:35And that is why you've got yourself into such a terrible tangle now.
00:30:38There was no phone call, was there?
00:30:40Oh, yes, there was.
00:30:42Well, I'm afraid you'll find it very hard now to convince anyone of that.
00:30:45However, let's go on with the rest of your story, shall we?
00:30:50Now, you've told us, haven't you,
00:30:52that when you got to the bungalow before very long,
00:30:54Mr Eden made it clear to you that his wife was not there, did he not?
00:30:58Yes.
00:30:59And when you found out that his wife wasn't there,
00:31:01that didn't in any way alarm you, though, did it?
00:31:03The knowledge that you were there with him on your own?
00:31:06No.
00:31:08And you and he sat and chatted, you say,
00:31:10for a while by the side of the swimming pool?
00:31:12Yes.
00:31:13What about?
00:31:14Nothing particular. You noticed this and that.
00:31:17No, I don't know.
00:31:19Tell me what you did chat about, one thing.
00:31:21I can't remember.
00:31:23Nothing? Not a single thing?
00:31:25No. Well, you don't.
00:31:28You remember with great clarity
00:31:30every single detail of subsequent events.
00:31:33Are you seriously suggesting...
00:31:35I think... Yes, that's right. Yes.
00:31:37He said it was getting more like his Miranda every time he saw me.
00:31:40Miranda?
00:31:42His daughter. Her over there.
00:31:44I think it was that time, but it could have been some time else.
00:31:47What did he mean, you were getting more and more like Miranda?
00:31:50In what way? In looks?
00:31:53I don't know what he meant.
00:31:55Well, however, in fact, you say very soon,
00:31:58after a bit of chat about this and that,
00:32:00you lay down on the sun lounger
00:32:02and then you dozed off, almost asleep.
00:32:04Yes.
00:32:06With, of course, no fear whatsoever
00:32:08that to use my learned friend's somewhat old-fashioned expression
00:32:11these days, that Mr Eden might try to take advantage of you.
00:32:14Never even crossed your mind that he might.
00:32:16Am I right? Yes, that's right.
00:32:18Barbara, do you know what the word fantasy means?
00:32:22I think so. Sort of.
00:32:24Well, I'd like to make quite sure that you do,
00:32:27in view of what I am going to say.
00:32:29A fantasy is a sort of dream, you know?
00:32:33And sometimes, if we make up a fantasy
00:32:35and we keep on thinking about it,
00:32:37that fantasy becomes so real
00:32:39that we end up believing in it completely ourselves.
00:32:43And you've had a fantasy, haven't you?
00:32:46You've built it up and up in your own mind
00:32:48for a long, long time now.
00:32:50And it was that Mr Eden was in love with you.
00:32:54He really fancied you, as the saying is.
00:32:57Isn't that so, Barbara? No, no, it's not.
00:32:59You mean you've never, never in your imagination
00:33:02played a little game about it?
00:33:04Never in your imagination played a little game about him?
00:33:07Pretended some incident, for instance,
00:33:09in which he told you that he loved you?
00:33:11No, never. I never have.
00:33:13Barbara, I really don't want to be unkind,
00:33:16but are you or were you at least yourself in love with him?
00:33:19No, of course not. That's stupid.
00:33:22Well, did you send him a card in a box
00:33:25on St Valentine's Day last year?
00:33:28It wasn't signed, but where it was printed on it from,
00:33:31you had printed, guess who?
00:33:34Barbara, nobody likes putting you through this,
00:33:37but Mr Eden's whole name and reputation is at stake,
00:33:40so will you please answer?
00:33:42Did you send him that Valentine card last year?
00:33:44It was a joke, a silly, stupid, bloody stupid joke.
00:33:47You were in love with Mr Eden
00:33:49and you hoped to use an everyday expression
00:33:51that sometime he would feel the same about you
00:33:54and make a pass at you. Isn't that correct?
00:33:56No. But he didn't.
00:33:58He didn't, and time went by, and he still didn't.
00:34:01And that hurt and disappointed you,
00:34:03and so one day when you'd been there at his house with him
00:34:06and nobody else was there
00:34:08to prove that what you said wasn't true,
00:34:11you made up this story to get your own back on him
00:34:14and hurt him in return.
00:34:16And you made up this story about him doing just that
00:34:18and telling you it was because he loved you.
00:34:21Isn't that so, Barbara?
00:34:23No, no, he did it! He did! He did it!
00:34:25Barbara, once and for all, will you admit the truth?
00:34:28He did. I always hated women during surgery.
00:34:31All of them. I thought he wasn't like that.
00:34:33That's what I thought.
00:34:35I have no more questions to ask you, Barbara.
00:34:44Do you wish to re-examine your witness, Mr Maitland-Wilson?
00:34:48Oh, no, thank you, Your Honour. No.
00:34:51I see.
00:34:53Well, then, in that case, thank you, Miss...
00:34:56Miss Brown.
00:34:58You may leave the witness box. Thank you.
00:35:21Rachel Horton, 5 Kingscourt, Barncroft Avenue, Fulchester.
00:35:25And are you a senior social worker
00:35:27employed in the Local Authority Social Services Department?
00:35:31And is one of your particular responsibilities
00:35:33a group of three children's community homes in the area?
00:35:36Yes, it is. One of them being Broom Lodge?
00:35:38Yes. You're not resident there,
00:35:40but you visit there in a supervisory capacity, is that right?
00:35:42Yes, I visit it about three or four times a week.
00:35:44And it is part of your job, I think I'm right in saying, isn't it,
00:35:47to get to know the children and young people who are there?
00:35:50Yes, as well as supporting the staff.
00:35:52And Mr and Mrs Eden, Barbara's unofficial uncle and aunt,
00:35:54as I believe they're called, you know them.
00:35:56Mr Eden, I've met several times over the past two years
00:35:59since I came to this area.
00:36:01Mrs Eden, I've only met once very briefly when she came to the office.
00:36:04You visited Eden's home, Acres High, their bungalow at Barrow Green?
00:36:07Yes, once on one occasion I was passing
00:36:09and went to collect Barbara from there and give her a lift back to Broom Lodge.
00:36:12Now, Miss Horton, did you, some six months ago,
00:36:15after several conversations you had had with Barbara,
00:36:18feel it was incumbent upon you to advise Mrs Davenport,
00:36:21the house mother at Broom Lodge,
00:36:24if not actively to dissuade Barbara
00:36:27from continuing to go to the Eden's house,
00:36:29then at least to try to discourage her from doing so?
00:36:31Yes, I did. I'd had...
00:36:33Because it... I'm sorry, yes, please go on.
00:36:35I was going to say that I'd had lengthy discussions with my superiors.
00:36:38I didn't just take the decision on my own.
00:36:40Yes, thank you.
00:36:42Because it was your considered opinion, was it,
00:36:45as a highly qualified social worker,
00:36:47that the relationship was one which should not be encouraged to develop?
00:36:50Yes.
00:36:52Thank you. Now, finally, Miss Horton,
00:36:54and I think it's better to be perfectly open about this,
00:36:57would you be prepared to say
00:36:59what sort of terms you and Mr Eden are on?
00:37:03Well, we're not on any sort of terms at all now,
00:37:06but in the past, last year, for instance,
00:37:08we were openly on very bad ones.
00:37:10Now, Mr Eden did at that time, I believe, did he not,
00:37:14within a short space of time,
00:37:16write two letters to the social services department
00:37:19complaining about you
00:37:21and saying he thought you were a most unsuitable person
00:37:23to be doing the job you were doing. Isn't that so?
00:37:25Yes.
00:37:27Yes. Thank you, Miss Horton.
00:37:36Miss Horton, how many children are there in community homes,
00:37:39that is, in residential care, in this area?
00:37:4239.
00:37:44And how many people are there who hold these positions
00:37:46of voluntary aunt or uncle to some of them?
00:37:4911.
00:37:51And how many of them do you approve of?
00:37:53I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean by approve of.
00:37:56They're all approved by the social services department,
00:37:58if that's what you're referring to.
00:38:00No, it isn't, because I believe you yourself have certain views,
00:38:03don't you, of a very definite nature
00:38:05about what sort of people are suitable
00:38:07for children in care to come into contact with
00:38:09and what sort of people are not.
00:38:11Well, I'm not sure I'm very different
00:38:13from anybody else in that respect.
00:38:15Well, you've made it quite clear that you don't think
00:38:17the Edens are really very suitable
00:38:19for official aunt and uncle.
00:38:21Are you going to enlighten us in any way at all as to why?
00:38:25I'm never very happy to see very wealthy people
00:38:27indulging in patronising benevolence
00:38:29towards those who are denied a fair share of society's wealth.
00:38:33And the gratitude they think they deserve for it
00:38:35I find very distasteful.
00:38:37Miss Horton, please don't regard this courtroom
00:38:39as providing you with a platform for making political speeches.
00:38:43Now, you are, I believe, are you not,
00:38:46a member of something called WASP?
00:38:49That's right, yes, I am.
00:38:51Would you tell us, please, what these initials WASP stand for?
00:38:54The Workers' Anarcho-Syndicalist Party.
00:38:56An extreme left-wing organisation?
00:38:58Oh, I'm sorry, clichés like left-wing and right-wing
00:39:01are completely meaningless as far as I'm concerned.
00:39:03Well, however, this party you belong to is, as its name suggests,
00:39:06among other things, anarchist, is it not so?
00:39:09It has some similarity, only some, with orthodox anarchism.
00:39:13Well, forgive me, Miss Horton,
00:39:15if I'm unable to tell the difference
00:39:17between that and extreme left-wingism.
00:39:19However, it is your membership of that very extremist party
00:39:23that Mr Eden regards as making you an unsuitable person.
00:39:26For your job, someone who is and will always
00:39:29take every opportunity to be unsettling,
00:39:32not to say a disruptive influence
00:39:34on the children and the young people.
00:39:36Well?
00:39:38I'm sorry, was that a question?
00:39:40I was under the impression it was a political speech.
00:39:43Miss Horton, please don't be rude and impolite.
00:39:46Oh, is that entirely your prerogative?
00:39:48Miss Horton, it's very wrong of you
00:39:51to answer learned counsel in that fashion,
00:39:53and you will kindly desist from doing so.
00:39:56Yes, your... I tender my apologies.
00:39:59Well, Miss Horton, I will ask you again.
00:40:02It was because of your political affiliations and activities
00:40:06that Mr Eden felt you were an unsuitable person
00:40:09to be so closely involved with the children,
00:40:11and that was why he wrote, as he did, to your employers.
00:40:14I don't accept that was why he wrote.
00:40:17Oh, very well.
00:40:19Well, finally, may we go on now to a subject
00:40:21which we have heard, quite rightly, I'm sure you are,
00:40:24highly qualified to talk about?
00:40:26Would you agree that a young person
00:40:28from Barbara's sort of background
00:40:30would be more inclined than most
00:40:32to indulge in daydreams and fantasies?
00:40:35Do you mean sexual daydreams and fantasies?
00:40:38Well, I wasn't going to be quite so specific,
00:40:41but yes, if you like.
00:40:43No, I wouldn't. Quite the reverse.
00:40:45I think most psychiatrists would tell you
00:40:47that quite the most fervid imaginings
00:40:49of that kind among their patients
00:40:51comes from the so-called middle and upper classes,
00:40:53because they have easier access to the material
00:40:55to stimulate the imagination.
00:40:57Oh. I am most grateful to you for that lesson, Miss Lawton.
00:41:01Miss Lawton, since it was my learned friend
00:41:05who insisted on pursuing this subject,
00:41:07might I ask you a little more about what you were referring to
00:41:10when you said you didn't feel
00:41:12it was entirely your political activities
00:41:14that Mr Eden objected to
00:41:16when he wrote complaining about you to your employers?
00:41:19Yes, well, there was a certain amount
00:41:21of personal tension in the situation as well.
00:41:23Yes. Will you be more specific?
00:41:25About a year ago, his daughter Miranda and I
00:41:27started to share a flat together when she left college.
00:41:30I think he feels I'm a bad influence on her,
00:41:33not just politically.
00:41:35In one of his letters to my employers,
00:41:37he made personal accusations about my morals.
00:41:41Your morals, Miss Lawton?
00:41:43Yes.
00:41:45On one of the first occasions when I first met Mr Eden,
00:41:48he surreptitiously pinched my behind.
00:41:51I told him I didn't much care for middle-aged men
00:41:53who couldn't keep their hands to themselves.
00:41:55And ever since then, he's tried to bolster his ego
00:41:58by persuading himself that what that meant was
00:42:01that I didn't like any men.
00:42:04He was suggesting something of that nature, was he,
00:42:07in the letter he wrote to the Social Services Department?
00:42:10He wasn't just suggesting it.
00:42:12He actually said it.
00:42:14I see. Thank you, Miss Lawton.
00:42:17Oh, did Your Honour wish to...?
00:42:19Thank you, Miss Lawton. You may leave the witness box.
00:42:22I call Miss Linda Mason, please.
00:42:31Miss Linda Mason.
00:43:02And Linda... Miss Mason, that is. How old are you?
00:43:0518½.
00:43:07Up till six months ago, you were in the care of the local authority,
00:43:10is that right?
00:43:11Yeah. My mum died when I was 12.
00:43:13And until about a year and a half ago,
00:43:15in fact, you lived at Broom Lodge Community Home.
00:43:17Children's home, yeah. Off and on.
00:43:19Were you a particular friend of Barbara Brown's?
00:43:22No. She was too young for me when we were there.
00:43:24Now, at one time, during the time you were at Broom Lodge,
00:43:27when you were about 14 or 15,
00:43:29did you have someone who became what's called, I believe,
00:43:32unofficial uncle and aunt to you?
00:43:34Yeah. Him there and his wife.
00:43:36And do you see that person here in this courtroom here today?
00:43:38Yeah. Him there.
00:43:40Mr Eden?
00:43:41Yeah. Right. Yeah.
00:43:43And did you sometimes go to their house on visits,
00:43:46for tea, perhaps, or something like that?
00:43:48Yes, a lot.
00:43:50Well, for a bit, I went a lot. Two, three months, perhaps.
00:43:53However, after a time, after a few months, you said,
00:43:58you stopped going any more, did you, to the Eden's house?
00:44:01Yes, I did. Entirely of your own volition?
00:44:04Pardon?
00:44:05Or was it entirely your own idea not to go there any more?
00:44:08Yeah, right.
00:44:09And why didn't you want to go any more?
00:44:11Cos I got sick of him always trying to get me in a corner
00:44:14and paw me all the time.
00:44:15He tried to interfere with you. Is that what you're saying?
00:44:18Well, I wouldn't call it that. I'd call it something different.
00:44:22And if that's a legal name for it, well, that's what he tried to do, yeah.
00:44:25And have you ever, since that time,
00:44:27mentioned that particular subject of your experience to Barbara Brown?
00:44:33No. Like I say, I don't know Barbara Brown.
00:44:36I mean, I know her by sight. I've seen her once or twice.
00:44:39I know that's her there.
00:44:41But we're not friends. I go out together and things like that.
00:44:44Thank you, Miss Mason.
00:44:49Linda Sharon Mason, isn't it?
00:44:51Yes.
00:44:52Miss Mason, were you convicted some four months ago
00:44:55of three offences involving dishonesty?
00:44:57Don't know what you mean.
00:44:59Oh. You mean you don't know what dishonesty means?
00:45:02Two offences of handling stolen goods and one of dishonestly receiving them?
00:45:06Well, were you convicted of these offences or not?
00:45:10No. I was let off. I was put on probation.
00:45:13Oh, I see.
00:45:15You think being put on probation means being let off, do you?
00:45:19Well, that's, of course, a matter for your probation officer to enlighten you about.
00:45:23It's no concern of ours here today.
00:45:25However, what is our concern is, were you found guilty of those offences?
00:45:30I wasn't found guilty. I pleaded guilty.
00:45:33Which, presumably, you were.
00:45:35Well, yeah, I suppose so.
00:45:37Well, thank you, Miss Mason.
00:45:39Now, did I understand you to say earlier that you weren't a friend of Barbara Brown's?
00:45:44Never been out anywhere together? Never?
00:45:47No. Well, I mean, not on our own, we don't.
00:45:50I mean, a bit ago, with six or seven others once, we went to Electric Glow Worm, yeah.
00:45:54That's all.
00:45:55You went where?
00:45:56Electric Glow Worm.
00:45:59It's the name of one of the currently prominent rock groups, Miss Travers.
00:46:03I see. Thank you, Your Honour.
00:46:05You went to a concert, or whatever it is, not very long ago, with Barbara Brown?
00:46:10Yes.
00:46:11Well, I'm sure it's not necessary for me, really, to ask you this question, Miss Mason,
00:46:16because I'm equally sure I know what your answer will be.
00:46:19However, I will ask it.
00:46:22And did you discuss with her then, or have you discussed with her since,
00:46:27this case which then was going to come up?
00:46:31No, we never did. Not a single word.
00:46:34I see. Thank you, Miss Mason.
00:46:38Oh, no, thank you, Your Honour.
00:46:40Yes, thank you, Miss Mason. You may stand down.
00:46:46Is that your case, Mr Maitland-Wilson?
00:46:48Your Honour.
00:46:51I call Kenneth Edward Eden.
00:47:09What is your religion?
00:47:11Church of England.
00:47:12Take the Bible in your right hand. Read aloud the words on this card.
00:47:16I swear by almighty God that the evidence I shall give shall be the truth,
00:47:20the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
00:47:42Amen.
00:48:12The Jury
00:48:28Kenneth Eden has denied indecently assaulting Barbara Brown.
00:48:32Today, the jury reaches its verdict.
00:48:37Mr Eden, you exercised your right to be tried by judge and jury.
00:48:41Why did you do that?
00:48:43Well...
00:48:46Excuse me.
00:48:48I have a number of friends who are on the bench, magistrates.
00:48:52I expect to be acquitted of these charges because I'm innocent,
00:48:55but I want no one to be able to say afterwards
00:48:57that the verdict was the result of my being influential.
00:49:01Well, now, can we turn to the events with which we are here particularly concerned?
00:49:05Those that are alleged to have taken place on Saturday, June the 25th, last.
00:49:10Mr Eden, did you on that day telephone Broom Lodge Community Home for Children,
00:49:15speak to Barbara, and ask her to come and have tea with you and your wife at home?
00:49:20No, I did not.
00:49:22Did you at any time, say the day before or during the week before,
00:49:26ring her up and invite her or ask her in any other way for tea on that Saturday?
00:49:31No, I did not. We know her. She knows us much too well for that by now.
00:49:35She doesn't have to wait to be asked. She just comes when she wants to.
00:49:39And she does that quite frequently?
00:49:42In the past 12 months, I should say at least once a month, perhaps more.
00:49:47And when she's been, have you and your wife always both been there?
00:49:52This day, June the 25th, was the first time she's ever been when my wife wasn't there.
00:49:57About what time did she arrive?
00:49:59I think shortly after 3 o'clock.
00:50:02And what was said in the early conversation between you?
00:50:05I told her that my wife wasn't there.
00:50:07Within how long of her arrival was it, do you think,
00:50:10that you told her that you were on your own?
00:50:12Oh, within the first five minutes at the very outside.
00:50:16And did you say more than that to her, more than just that your wife wasn't there?
00:50:20Yes, I did.
00:50:22I said that Margaret, my wife, had had to go over to see her mother
00:50:26because she wasn't well, but that she'd be back before very long.
00:50:30Was that true?
00:50:32That she'd gone to see her mother, yes. That she'd be back soon, no.
00:50:35I knew that she intended to stay there overnight.
00:50:38Why did you tell a deliberate untruth?
00:50:41Because, um...
00:50:43Sorry to have to say this, but, uh...
00:50:46Because I thought it was wiser to give Barbara the impression
00:50:50that we wouldn't be alone together for long.
00:50:52And why did you think that was important?
00:50:55Well, to put it in colloquial terms,
00:50:58I knew that Barbara had what's called a crush on me.
00:51:01And, uh, I didn't want there to be any risks of her getting any ideas in her mind
00:51:05that, um, well, that we might have a chance to make love
00:51:09or something of that sort.
00:51:11Can we pass on now, Mr Eden, to what happened after her arrival?
00:51:14When she arrived, you yourself were wearing shorts and a toweling robe.
00:51:17Is that right?
00:51:19You were just about to spend the afternoon sitting by your swimming pool.
00:51:22Having a drink, listening to the cricket on the radio and so on, yes.
00:51:26Did you ask Barbara if she would like to have a swim?
00:51:29No, I most certainly did not.
00:51:31Well, you say that with some emphasis. Why?
00:51:34Because I'd have thought that, uh,
00:51:36if I'd really been, as it's alleged,
00:51:39trying to seduce Barbara or whatever,
00:51:42one obvious way of starting would be to try to think up some way
00:51:45of getting her to take her clothes off.
00:51:47Which, suggesting she had a swim, would be one very simple way of doing.
00:51:51But I didn't suggest it, nor has she alleged it, either.
00:51:54Yes, I'm sure that that is a point that the jury will be very well aware of.
00:51:58Now, Mr Eden, will you tell us what did happen by the swimming pool?
00:52:02Nothing happened.
00:52:04I mean, for God's sake, if the word of a girl like her is going to be taken rather...
00:52:07No, Mr Eden, I know this is a very stressful time for you,
00:52:10but if you will just confine yourself to answering the question that I ask you.
00:52:14When I say to you what happened by the swimming pool,
00:52:17I am not using the word happened as a euphemism.
00:52:20I am simply asking you to tell us plainly the sequence of events.
00:52:24Will you?
00:52:26Yes. I see. I'm sorry, yes.
00:52:29I'll try my best.
00:52:32Well, as I say, I was...
00:52:35I was just going to sit by the pool in the sun and listen to the cricket.
00:52:39I asked Barbara if she'd like to do that for a while, too.
00:52:42She said she would, so that's what we did.
00:52:45That. No more.
00:52:48Did you offer her any kind of alcoholic drink?
00:52:50No, I did not, and I'd like to make that point, too.
00:52:53That's another thing I'd almost certainly have done...
00:52:55Yes, thank you, Mr Eden, but may we just stick to the answers to my questions, please?
00:52:59Now, Barbara has said that she lay on the sun lounger
00:53:03and that after a while she became dozy,
00:53:06and then some time after that she was aware of your saying something
00:53:10about never having had a proper look at the chain
00:53:13and the silver pendant she was wearing around her neck...
00:53:15I categorically and absolutely deny it.
00:53:18Yes, but please, Mr Eden, however strong your feelings are,
00:53:22please allow me to finish my question before answering.
00:53:26Now, she went on to say,
00:53:29he took it off the chain I mean he unfastened it.
00:53:33Did you?
00:53:35I swear on my solemn oath
00:53:38that the chain and pendant were neither mentioned
00:53:41nor did I ever touch them ever.
00:53:43Oh, you mean you never touched the chain and pendant while she was there?
00:53:46I mean I never touched them ever.
00:53:48Mr Eden, listen to what I say, please,
00:53:51and then think about what you say in reply.
00:53:55You deny touching or unfastening the chain from around her neck while she was there,
00:53:59but of course it is agreed that when Inspector Cripps arrived
00:54:03the chain and pendant were around your own neck.
00:54:06Now, will you tell us, please, how they got there?
00:54:09Yes, I see. Yes, I'm sorry. Certainly, yes.
00:54:15Well, I don't know when, actually, it was that Barbara left,
00:54:19but about five minutes perhaps after she'd gone
00:54:23I happened to glance down at the tiles under the recliner, the chair,
00:54:27and saw the pendant and chain.
00:54:30Well, it had fallen off or she'd taken it off and then dropped it by mistake.
00:54:34I didn't want to put it in the pocket of my robe or my shorts
00:54:38in case I forgot it, so I
00:54:41quite unthinkingly
00:54:44put it round my own neck.
00:54:46And when she went, was her clothing, her blouse, torn, for instance?
00:54:49Of course not. She did that herself.
00:54:52Later. On the way home, I suppose.
00:54:55Now, Mr Eden, another one of your, what shall we call them, detractors,
00:54:58whom we heard from, was Miss Lawton,
00:55:01the local authority social worker. Now, what she said was...
00:55:04I categorically and absolutely deny that I made a pass at her of any kind,
00:55:08let alone tried to pinch her bottom, as she says.
00:55:11Quite apart from anything else, she isn't my type in any way.
00:55:14Mr Eden, on at least two occasions now,
00:55:17your counsel has had to ask you to wait for her to finish her question
00:55:20before answering. I must say
00:55:23that you're creating quite unnecessary difficulties
00:55:26by continuing to ignore that request.
00:55:29I'm terribly sorry. Yes.
00:55:32Mr Eden, have you, as she said,
00:55:35written letters of complaint about her to her employers?
00:55:38Yes, I have. And I
00:55:41still feel with every justification.
00:55:44Though I'd like to make it completely plain to her
00:55:47and to my daughter that it had and has nothing whatsoever to do
00:55:50with their sexual relationship. I object to Miss Lawton
00:55:53entirely on the basis of her political beliefs.
00:55:56And Linda Mason, Mr Eden, what do you have to say about...
00:55:59Absolute lies. Complete rubbish from beginning... I'm sorry.
00:56:02Please forgive me. Yes.
00:56:05But what do you say of it, Mr Eden, of the allegation? You deny it.
00:56:08Totally. She's nothing but a...
00:56:11Yes, I do deny it.
00:56:14Well, finally, Mr Eden, we must turn now to what is the most
00:56:17difficult part of this case in many ways,
00:56:20that which relates to the evidence given by Inspector Cripps.
00:56:23Now, the one point of disagreement is, is it not,
00:56:26what his words to you were when he offered you a cigarette
00:56:29after he had cautioned and charged you?
00:56:32Yes, that is so, yes. Now, he denies it, but you say
00:56:35that he said to you some such words as
00:56:38it had to come. Is that correct?
00:56:41Yes. I'm sorry, Ken, it had to come.
00:56:44Something of that sort, yes. Well,
00:56:47will you tell us why you think he said that?
00:56:51In your own time, Mr Eden. No need to hurry.
00:56:55Yes.
00:56:58Well, I know this may sound unbelievable,
00:57:01but it is absolutely true.
00:57:04One Sunday some months ago,
00:57:07Charlie and...
00:57:10Inspector Cripps and I, that is, were having a Sunday lunchtime
00:57:13drink together in our village local, like we very often do.
00:57:16Did.
00:57:19Do.
00:57:22And it just so happened that there'd been something in the local paper
00:57:25that week that we'd started to talk about.
00:57:28Now, I wasn't by any means drunk, nothing of that kind,
00:57:31What was it that was in the paper that you'd been talking about,
00:57:34Mr Eden? Well, it was the report
00:57:37of a case of some little girls
00:57:40who'd been assaulted by a man. I think he was one of their teachers
00:57:43at school, as a matter of fact, and he'd been sent to prison for it.
00:57:46Well, as I say,
00:57:49I wasn't drunk, but we were talking and so on, and I remember
00:57:52I said to Inspector Cripps,
00:57:55something like...
00:57:58It was purely as a joke, but I said something like,
00:58:01Well, Charlie, if it ever happened to me
00:58:04to be brought up in court, that's the one thing I can imagine myself
00:58:07being charged with. And little girls are...
00:58:12They're my weakness, too.
00:58:15That was rather a strange thing to say, wasn't it?
00:58:18To a friend who was a police inspector?
00:58:21Yes, of course, it was stupid.
00:58:24I really can't imagine now how I could have done it.
00:58:27What precisely did you mean by it?
00:58:30Well, that's the whole point, you see,
00:58:33because what I really meant was absolutely nothing.
00:58:36It was a joke.
00:58:39Well, what I mean is that
00:58:42if it could ever happen to me to commit
00:58:45a crime, I was saying that was the
00:58:48one crime that it wouldn't be out of the question
00:58:51that I couldn't imagine it. That's all.
00:58:55We were talking absolutely and entirely about
00:58:58personal, private fantasies.
00:59:01And only fantasies, that's all.
00:59:04I never imagined that it could one day not long afterwards
00:59:07come back on to me like this. Yes, thank you, Mr Eden.
00:59:11I never laid a finger on her.
00:59:14Thank you, Mr Eden.
00:59:20Mr Eden.
00:59:24When the house mother, Mrs Davenport,
00:59:27said she had reason to suspect
00:59:30you were encouraging Barbara in what you yourself admitted
00:59:33was her, I think the word you used was crush,
00:59:36was it not, on you,
00:59:39when Mrs Davenport said that, she was lying?
00:59:42Yes.
00:59:45And when Barbara described how you attempted to assault her by your swimming pool,
00:59:48she was lying also?
00:59:51Yes.
00:59:54And she then tore her own clothing and went home
00:59:57sobbing to the children's home and made up a complete and total fabrication
01:00:00about what had happened?
01:00:03Yes.
01:00:06And when Miss Lawton, the social worker,
01:00:09says that on one occasion you tried a familiarity with her,
01:00:12she too is lying? Yes.
01:00:15And when Linda Mason said that she stopped
01:00:18coming to your house, was you always trying to interfere with her?
01:00:21She was lying also? Absolutely and completely, yes.
01:00:24They are all lying,
01:00:27and you are the only one who is telling the truth?
01:00:30Yes.
01:00:33I see.
01:00:36Thank you, Mr Eden.
01:00:39Thank you, Mr Eden. Would you go back over there, please?
01:00:43I call Mrs Margaret Eden.
01:00:46Mrs Margaret Eden.
01:01:01And you say, Mrs Eden, that he telephoned you at your mother's home
01:01:04that Saturday evening, June the 25th,
01:01:07and asked you what time you were coming home on the Sunday.
01:01:10The following day. He did, yes.
01:01:13Did you find that strange? Yes.
01:01:16I know this is a very painful subject, Mrs Eden,
01:01:19but will you say why? Yes.
01:01:22I wasn't intending to return at all,
01:01:25and Ken knew that.
01:01:28You had separated from him?
01:01:31Well, certainly we were going to remain apart for quite some time.
01:01:34At least, so I intended.
01:01:37On Saturday evening, the day you'd left,
01:01:40he phoned you and asked you to go back the next day,
01:01:43the upshot of which was that you returned on the Sunday afternoon.
01:01:46Yes.
01:01:49Was there a condition attached to your return? By you, I mean.
01:01:52Did he offer you an undertaking of some sort?
01:01:55Yes, he promised to give up seeing a certain person.
01:01:58If. Well, I am, of course, not going to ask you to name the person,
01:02:01Mrs Eden, but can you say a little more about them?
01:02:04She was the wife of one of his business associates.
01:02:07They'd been having an affair which had been going on and on
01:02:10for a long time, causing great distress
01:02:13to her husband and young children
01:02:16for, well, about six months at that time, I think.
01:02:19It was a very, well, what would you call it, a very engrossing affair, was it?
01:02:22Very much so.
01:02:25He was deeply infatuated with her,
01:02:28and he'd become, well, we'd both become,
01:02:31more or less, total strangers because of it.
01:02:34He had no interest in you as a person, are you saying?
01:02:37Yes.
01:02:40He had no interest in me, or anything,
01:02:43or anyone else, for that matter, at all at that time.
01:02:46He was completely obsessed with her.
01:02:49Now, you went back home, as you said, on the Sunday afternoon.
01:02:52When did he first tell you that he was going to be charged
01:02:55with these offences for which he is now standing trial?
01:02:58On the Sunday evening.
01:03:01And do you remember what your reaction was?
01:03:04Yes. We'd been drinking a little and quarrelling,
01:03:07and when he first said it, I just laughed.
01:03:10I couldn't believe what he was saying.
01:03:13I thought he was just trying to get sympathy for himself from me.
01:03:16You didn't think that it was possible
01:03:19that he was going to be charged with assaulting or trying to assault Barbara?
01:03:22I thought it was completely absurd.
01:03:25You'll tell us yourself why because, will you?
01:03:28Well, she was so young, and because he was so completely wrapped up with Jack...
01:03:34..with this other woman, that it just had to be absurd.
01:03:37But gradually you realised that he meant it.
01:03:40He really was going to be charged.
01:03:42Well, only after I'd talked to... I'd talked to Inspector Cripps,
01:03:46and he told me that it was true, and then I realised how serious it was.
01:03:50Serious? In what way, Mrs Eden?
01:03:53There had been no-one there in the house,
01:03:56and I knew as well as he that Barbara had had for a long time
01:03:59a sort of schoolgirl thing about him.
01:04:02I just knew that if she wanted to,
01:04:05she could make things look very bad for him.
01:04:08Do you believe that there could be anything whatsoever
01:04:12in such an allegation as she has made about your husband, Mrs Eden?
01:04:16No, of course they couldn't. It's utterly preposterous.
01:04:19And finally, just briefly, Mrs Eden, before you got to know Barbara,
01:04:22was there someone else who came to your home?
01:04:25Another girl for a short time to whom you and your husband
01:04:28were unofficial aunt and uncle?
01:04:30Yes, I believe there was, but it didn't last.
01:04:33She only came for a brief time. Linda Mason?
01:04:36Yes, that's right. That was her name, yes.
01:04:38And she too is making the same sort of allegation against your husband,
01:04:42saying he was always trying to get her into a corner and so on.
01:04:45Did you know that?
01:04:47No...
01:04:49No.
01:04:51No, I didn't know that, no.
01:04:53But you'd say the same thing, would you?
01:04:55That knowing your husband, the suggestion would be quite preposterous.
01:04:59Oh, yes. I'm sure I would.
01:05:02Yes. Thank you, Mrs Eden.
01:05:05Mrs Eden, I think we all noticed something
01:05:08which sounded rather like a marked lack of conviction
01:05:11in your tone of voice when you answered that last question.
01:05:14With respect, Your Honour,
01:05:16I do not think that my learned friend should be let pursue that.
01:05:19Mr Eden is not charged with any offences regarding Linda Mason.
01:05:23With equal respect, Your Honour,
01:05:25excuse me, I would point out that it was my learned friend herself
01:05:28who introduced this subject into the cross-questioning of her witness.
01:05:31Your Honour, it was the prosecution
01:05:33who brought Linda Mason into this case in the first place.
01:05:36Miss Travers, Mr Maitland-Wilson, I was going to say myself
01:05:39that I thought perhaps that this was a subject
01:05:41which should not be taken too far.
01:05:43So may we now continue from there?
01:05:45Please, Mr Maitland-Wilson.
01:05:47Your Honour...
01:05:49Now, are you all right, Mrs Eden?
01:05:52Yes.
01:05:54I'm very sorry.
01:05:56I just don't seem able to...
01:06:01I'm sorry. You see...
01:06:03It really is... It's all my fault.
01:06:07If only I'd been...
01:06:09a better wife, none of this would ever have happened.
01:06:13Mr Maitland-Wilson...
01:06:17Um, yes.
01:06:19Well, I think I have no further questions for this witness, ma'am.
01:06:25Mrs Eden, you and your husband
01:06:27are in fact separated again at this moment, are you not?
01:06:31Yes. Yes, we are.
01:06:33So there is no personal gain for you
01:06:35in coming to give evidence, as you have done, on his behalf?
01:06:39No. That's right, yes. No.
01:06:42Thank you, Mrs Eden.
01:06:45Thank you, Mrs Eden. You may leave the witness box.
01:06:51That is the case for the defence, Your Honour.
01:07:03Mum!
01:07:06The chain and pendant were Barbara's
01:07:09and when the police inspector arrived,
01:07:11the accused was wearing them
01:07:13and neither then nor since, as far as we have heard,
01:07:16did he make any, the slightest attempt,
01:07:18to explain why he never made any attempt whatever
01:07:21to return them to their rightful owner
01:07:23nor, indeed, to express any concern or contrition
01:07:26of not having done so.
01:07:28Well, I submit to you that that is theft.
01:07:31Now, ladies and gentlemen, the second charge,
01:07:33the one of indecent assault on Barbara Brown.
01:07:37At least two other people,
01:07:39Miss Lawton, a very senior and responsible social worker,
01:07:43and Miss Mason, a former resident of Broom Lodge,
01:07:46have both said that they, in their time,
01:07:49have had similar experiences,
01:07:51quite literally, at the hands of Mr Eden.
01:07:54Now, members of the jury,
01:07:56and particularly the female members of the jury,
01:07:59you will all be well aware, I'm sure,
01:08:01that there is a by no means uncommon type of man
01:08:04who, as the saying goes,
01:08:06is quite unable to keep his hands to himself.
01:08:10He regards almost any female, of whatever age,
01:08:13as what I believe is called fair game
01:08:16and he tries on his behaviour with every one of them he meets.
01:08:19Now, then, members of the jury,
01:08:21we have the accused.
01:08:23On that afternoon of Saturday, the 25th of June last,
01:08:27a hot day,
01:08:29at Mr Eden, perhaps a little under the influence of drink,
01:08:33alone in his house,
01:08:35and lonely, his wife having left him,
01:08:38with a young and inexperienced girl lying near him,
01:08:42a girl whom he admits he was well aware
01:08:45had a romantic, juvenile attachment to him.
01:08:49Can there really be any doubt at all in your minds as to what happened?
01:08:53I submit to you, ladies and gentlemen,
01:08:55that on the balance of probabilities,
01:08:58given that situation,
01:09:00given his character and hers,
01:09:04that what Barbara Brown says did occur, did,
01:09:07just as she says it did,
01:09:10and that the prosecution has clearly shown that it did.
01:09:21Members of the jury,
01:09:23these two charges, both of them,
01:09:26there is only one word, isn't there,
01:09:28which describes them,
01:09:30and that one word surely is, isn't it,
01:09:32the word pathetic.
01:09:35The chain and pendant.
01:09:37Is it credible that Mr Eden should want,
01:09:39even for a moment, to steal such a trinket?
01:09:44Members of the jury, I can only say,
01:09:46as was said by someone else in a different context,
01:09:48if you will believe that, you will believe anything.
01:09:51Now, as to the second charge,
01:09:54all I ask is that you put out of your minds
01:09:57all the wild and grossly unfair allegations
01:10:00that have been made against Mr Eden,
01:10:03and confine yourselves strictly to considering the facts,
01:10:07or the lack of them,
01:10:09which refer to the actual charges.
01:10:12For it's been only too clear, hasn't it,
01:10:14that having no facts at their command,
01:10:17the technique of the prosecution
01:10:20has been simply to sling as much mud as possible
01:10:23in the hope that some of it might stick.
01:10:27Surely you will not say that Mr Eden's good name and reputation
01:10:31is to be irreparably damaged
01:10:34by evidence so tenuous and so suspect
01:10:39as that which has been offered here.
01:10:41Members of the jury,
01:10:43I am confident that you will not.
01:10:49Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,
01:10:51I'm sure you will agree that one very important thing
01:10:55at stake in this case is the good name of the accused,
01:10:59and that really depends on whose story you believe.
01:11:02Now, you must not assume that because the accused
01:11:05is a man of substance and standing,
01:11:08that he therefore has to be believed.
01:11:10Equally, you will not take it for granted
01:11:13that because Barbara Brown, the inmate for Children's Home,
01:11:16had some difficulty in explaining the phone call
01:11:19which she said she had received,
01:11:21inviting her to tea with Mr Eden,
01:11:23that you must therefore necessarily disbelieve
01:11:26her account of everything else.
01:11:28Far from it.
01:11:31I'm sure you will forgive me for saying that
01:11:33what you're really being asked to answer
01:11:36is, is it not, one of the oldest questions of all time.
01:11:41What went on in the Garden of Eden?
01:11:46Well now, I will recapitulate for you the evidence.
01:11:54Prisoner will stand.
01:12:00Members of the jury, will your foreman please stand
01:12:03and just answer this question yes or no.
01:12:06Have you reached a verdict upon which you are all agreed?
01:12:08Yes.
01:12:09On the first count of stealing a silver necklace and pendant
01:12:12valued £7 from Barbara Mary Brown,
01:12:15do you find the accused Kenneth Edward Eden guilty or not guilty?
01:12:18Not guilty.
01:12:20And on the second count of indecently assaulting
01:12:23Barbara Mary Brown, a minor,
01:12:25do you find the accused Kenneth Edward Eden guilty or not guilty?
01:12:28Guilty.
01:12:29Is that the verdict of you all?
01:12:30It is.
01:12:42Well, Miss Travers, on this second count,
01:12:45which I hope you'll agree is the most serious,
01:12:47I expect you might wish to address me in mitigation
01:12:50on behalf of your client.
01:12:52Yes, Your Honour.
01:12:53My client?
01:12:55Yes.
01:13:17To be continued...