"'In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups." "The police who investigate crime, and the Crown prosecutors who prosecute the offenders." "These are their stories.'" "Puss, puss, puss!" "Are you up there?" "Puss, puss, puss!" "You are a naughty boy." "You know you shouldn't run off like that." "And if you think you are going to sit on my lap all evening, watching TV..." "Oh..." "Jenny?" "Ah!" "Jenny?" "Jenny?" "Jenny?" "Oh..." "Oh, no!" "Jenny..." "Jenny Moran, 83, bruises on her arm, face, and torso." "Right." "No blood." "Internal bleeding." "What, you think somebody has beaten her up?" "Or she fell." "Um..." "Shame." "Nice smile." "Right, what else, mate?" "The lady that found her." "Where is she?" "She is next door." "Name?" "Harriet Pelham." "And she lives just downstairs from here." "OK." "Thank you." "Hello, Harriet." "My name is Ronnie Brooks." "I'm a detective sergeant." "How are you?" "Oh..." "Not good?" "OK." "Um..." "Harriet, what can you tell us about Jenny Moran?" "Jenny and I were friends." "Hmm." "Ignatius wouldn't just go into anyone's flat." "That's my cat." "Oh, right, I see." "Jenny was very fond of Ignatius." "Harriet, did you notice anyone hanging around the flats that you didn't recognise, or did you hear or see anything this morning or last night out of the ordinary?" "Nothing at all." "Right..." "Ah!" "They took the clock." "The clock?" "The silver carriage clock." "Right." "It should be on the mantelpiece next to the Virgin Mary." "Well, that is really helpful." "Thanks, Harriet." "Jackie will take care of you right now and I will speak to you again later on." "OK?" "Yes." "All right, OK." "All this for a clock?" "Mater Dolorosa." "It's our Lady of Sorrows." "No signs of trauma on Jenny Moran's body..." "Blunt or otherwise." "No evidence of violence at all." "So, she did just pop her clogs then?" "Well, the not eating didn't help." "Thank you." "You're welcome." "Hypertension, diminished organs, kidney failure, dehydration..." "Plus loss of adipose tissue, rock bottom levels of insulin, while her glucagon was through the roof." "Thanks, Lily." "That is a great help." "I know how she ended up, Ron, just not how she got there." "We don't know how she died." "The bruises are inconclusive." "How about when?" "Lily thinks about 12 hours before she was found." "They went through everything, but the only thing that was missing so far is a carriage clock." "Any witnesses?" "Well, none, except for Ignatius." "Who?" "The neighbour's cat." "All right, well..." "This is a robbery that went wrong?" "They break in, she interrupts them..." "She has died of a heart attack, maybe, or a fall, or failure of any one of about half a dozen organs." "Was she that bad?" "Yes, she was." "The next of kin are in the family room." "Thanks, Ange." "Ron, take care of that please." "Sam, usual suspects." "Pawnshops, known fences, see if anyone has seen a silver carriage clock." "I told Jenny to move." "I told her she would be better off in a home." "But she wouldn't listen." "To Connie, maybe, but not to me." "She said that she didn't want to be surrounded by old drooling people." "My mother-in-law was a snob." "That is not fair, Mum." "She loved being in her own home, surrounded by her own things." "At least that way, she could hold on to some dignity." "She said that if she left home..." "they would kill her." "Only she was wrong, wasn't she?" "Oh, sweetheart..." "I'm sorry." "It's all right." "It's OK." "Please..." "Apart from yourselves, did anyone else know that your gran lived alone?" "Um..." "She didn't." "Cecile lived with her." "Cecile?" "Cecile Bakama." "She cared for Gran." "She has done for about six months." "Really?" "Well, there was no..." "There was no sign of anyone else living at the flat when we went there." "That's not possible." "Last time I was there was Tuesday, and she was there then." "They were playing Boggle." "Gran liked that." "OK, and where did you get her from?" "According to the agency, Cecile Bakama arrived in England from the Congo three years ago." "They say she is conscientious, patient, and dedicated." "No complaints, accusations, items going AWOL?" "Not a whiff." "All right." "Did you get a contact address for her?" "The agency also told us she went back to the Congo two months ago." "Eh?" "Yeah, her Visa expired." "So, Cecile tells her agency she's going home, but instead she stayed with Jenny Moran." "A nice anonymous address, always paid in readies, immigration none the wiser." "So, your thinking is..." "Cecile tried robbing Jenny Moran, all went wrong, and..." "Absolutely." "OK." "What next?" "Another Congolese girl joined the agency around the same time as Cecile Bakama." "Now, she may know where Cecile lives." "Two girls coming from the same country, same job." "It's worth a pop." "A bit of a stretch, isn't it?" "Well, I'll limber up." "Yes, we joined at the same time." "Cecile looks after that old lady." "Mrs Moran?" "Mmm..." "Nice lady." "But always sick." "Always something wrong." "Like what?" "Her head, her stomach." "Never stopped her from going to Mass, though." "Every week." "Cecile is the same." "Do you know which church she went to?" "Cecile?" "No." "But she's the one who needs to ask for forgiveness." "Why?" "Did she do something wrong?" "She needs locking up." "She is a thief." "She stole from Mrs Moran?" "Mrs Moran?" "No." "Who cares about her?" "Me!" "She stole my boyfriend." "Olivier Dondo." "If you want to find her, she'll be in his flat." "And you can tell her there aren't enough Hail Marys in the world for what she's done." "Quoi." "Er..." "I'm DS Casey." "This is DS Brooks." "Is Cecile in?" "We would like a word." "Cecile Bakama..." "Parlez-vouz Anglais?" "No." "Oui?" "Olivier..." "It's OK." "Thank you." "Hello, Cecile." "We would like to talk to you about Jenny Moran." "Why?" "Is something wrong?" "You could say that." "She's dead." "Dead?" "All right if we come in?" "You have a warrant?" "Ah, there you go." "You see how easy this English thing is once you get going?" "Warrant..." "We would just like to come in and have a look around if that's OK?" "You've got nothing to hide..." "Have you?" "No warrant, no looking." "Whoa, whoa..." "Just one thing..." "Why weren't you at Mrs Moran's the day she died?" "Why would I be?" "I was fired." "By Mrs Moran?" "No." "Her granddaughter." "Enough." "Fluent French?" "Still waters, Sammy." "Still waters." "Of course I didn't fire her." "Why would she say something like that?" "My God..." "She... killed Gran..." "Is that what you think?" "Well, what do you think?" "Is it possible?" "Well..." "Well, what?" "I wasn't going to say anything, but things started to go missing from the flat." "Nothing valuable." "Just little things." "Why DIDN'T you fire her then?" "It wasn't worth it." "But you said she was stealing from your gran?" "Well, amongst other things, Gran was doubly incontinent." "It's not like we had carers lining up down the street." "So, your grandmother is burgled, and you didn't think to mention that her carer was stealing from her." "They broke in." "Why would Cecile do that?" "She had keys." "Well, she has a point." "Unless Cecile is covering herself pretending it is a break-in." "I don't think she's that clever." "But Olivier Dondo has got previous." "Two convictions for burglary, and a robbery charge that was later dropped." "All right, try this on..." "Connie fires Cecile, takes back the keys, but Olivier now fancies a bit of payback, so..." "Yeah, but Connie Moran reckons she didn't fire her." "Even though she admits Cecile was stealing." "Come on!" "No, Wes, her gran liked Cecile, trusted her." "Maybe Connie thought that was more important than a few odds and ends." "It is a bit more than that." "Go back to Olivier's gaff, but this time, take a warrant." "We might not need to." "The clock's been found." "The thing is, Cecile..." "About three hours ago, a man comes in to see us." "Now, this man owns a pawnbrokers in Kilburn High Road." "And he told us that a couple had been in to pawn a silver carriage clock." "So, we showed him some photographs." "He ID'd Olivier Dondo... and he gave us a pretty good description of you." "So, I need to know, how did you come by that carriage clock?" "My client says Mrs Moran gave it to her." "Really?" "That was nice." "So, you wanted to pawn someone's present." "I needed" " We've given you a perfectly innocent explanation, which you can't disprove." "Well, I'm not interested about the clock." "I'm interested in how Mrs Jenny Moran came to be dead in her flat." "Which Miss Bakama is happy to help you with in any way she can." "By handing over her boyfriend Olivier Dondo." "He didn't do anything." "Cecile..." "He broke down the door..." "But that's all." "We knocked, but there was no answer." "I told Olivier to kick in the door, and when we got in, we found Mrs Moran on the floor." "And then just ransacked the flat?" "I was looking for her pills." "I was desperate." "But they weren't where they should have been." "It didn't matter." "She was already dead." "So, why did you leave her?" "Why didn't you call 999?" "I don't want to be sent home." "My family..." "Go on." "I need to earn money." "I send them what I can." "It is why I pawned the clock." "For the money." "I would never harm Mrs Moran." "So why break down the door?" "Why not just use the keys you had?" "I gave them back when I was fired." "Connie Moran says that didn't happen." "It did!" "So, what did you do, tell Olivier, and he wanted to get even?" "No!" "He became angry, broke the door down " "I went back because I was worried." "I was fired because Connie caught me... trying to give Mrs Moran extra food and water." "She told me not to, but..." "You're telling me Connie Moran told you not to feed her grandmother?" "At first..." "I tried to do what she asked." "But the amounts got smaller and smaller." "Mrs Moran..." "She was so thin." "There was nothing there." "It broke... my heart." "My client kept these." ""Sunday..." "One small glass of water." "Monday..." "Half a potato." "Tuesday..." "Two spoons of mash and swede."" "Connie Moran's instructions." "A how-to for starving her grandmother to death." "She starved her?" "Thursday..." "One apple only." "Friday..." "One carrot." "Etc, etc." "And can we prove that the granddaughter actually wrote these?" "Cos until we can, the other two are still in the frame." "It's not them." "Even though they tried to pawn the clock?" "Olivier Dundo's MO is waving crowbars about, not withholding carrots." "OK." "Will this take long?" "I don't think so." "I'm trying to arrange my grandmother's funeral." "At least what I can until her body is released." "Were you responsible for your grandmother's food intake?" "What's that got to do with anything?" "She starved to death." "Did you write these?" "Come on..." "You think that I...?" "Do you know how ridiculous that is?" "That is your handwriting, isn't it?" "So?" "I had to spell it out for Cecile." "She didn't get it." "She thought I was being cruel." "Half a cup of water?" "Her kidneys were a problem." "Her liquids had to be restricted." "I was just doing what I was told." "By who?" "Jenny Moran had IgA nephropathy." "It's an inflammation of the glomerulus which developed." "The kidneys packed up." "Chronic renal failure." "To which you could add rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, 15 rounds with pneumonia, and the broken hip she sustained last Christmas." "Jenny Moran was holding on with spit and willpower." "Technical term!" "Did you advise her granddaughter to monitor her water intake?" "And protein." "Salt, potassium." "Did that help?" "I've really no idea." "Mrs Moran changed consultants six months ago." "Do you know why?" "My office received a phone call telling us that Mrs Moran would not be coming in any more." "And it was her that called, yeah?" "Er..." "No." "Her granddaughter did." "The doc may well have told her to watch Jenny's diet, but the post-it notes were all Connie's work." "It is the first he'd heard of them." "She thought she was following doctor's orders." "We can't arrest her for that." "She said she was going to change doctors, except nobody ever requested Jenny Moran's records." "Connie had her grandmother all to herself." "Still a stretch." "Even if we are right, there are easier ways to kill someone." "Not crueller ones." "OK, Connie Moran certainly had means and opportunity, but what about motive?" "She's the only next of kin." "Maybe there's a will." "You know what they say, where there's a will..." "There's a relative." "Sorry, Ronnie." "Thanks for your time on this Jenny Moran business." "I appreciate it." "Well, if you're looking for an eccentric billionaire heiress, you'll be disappointed." "I've been Jenny's solicitor for years." "She had a little money, which she left for charity." "Nothing for her granddaughter?" "Some jewellery." "Nothing of great value." "Beyond sentiment, that is." "Did Connie know that she wasn't going to get anything?" "If she thought she was - She wasn't that bothered." "Really?" "Not when she had Jenny's flat." "According to the Land Registry, Jenny Moran owned the flat outright." "Two months ago, Connie was made joint tenant." "Meaning?" "When Jenny died, Connie became sole owner." "All right, the whole kit and caboodle." "She hasn't wasted any time borrowing against it." "She has just taken out a mortgage." "Why would she do that if she owned the whole thing?" "I've got a pretty good idea." "Go on then." "Well, 18 months ago, Connie Moran was a witness to a car crash." "So?" "Well, she gave a statement, and she had to give her occupation." "Which is a..." ""Company director." Yes." "Company House has her listed as director of Mogo Life Software." "Now, in the last two months, they've been given three windup orders." "So, she's going bankrupt?" "No." "Not any more." "All three creditors have just withdrawn their orders." "Ah..." "Someone's been paying the bills." "70 grand." "And Connie paid them off, yeah?" "Yeah, luckily." "We were going under." "You didn't wonder where the money came from?" "Her gran left it to her, didn't she?" "What, just when you both needed it?" "Very lucky, I'd say." "Wouldn't you?" "Look, I've known Connie a long time." "The person she loved most in this world was her gran." "I have heard that a lot." "Weekends, evenings, she was always going around." "Devoted granddaughter." "Yeah, I get it, I really do." "If you want proof, Thursday night, we had a meeting, suppliers we owed money to," "Connie insisted we stopped by to check on her gran." "Interesting." "Cos Thursday night was the night before her gran was found dead." "So, did you go up to the flat with her?" "Um..." "No." "It was only for a few minutes." "She said she was sleeping." "Really?" "You can't think..." "We were under a shitload of pressure, but all Connie thought about was her gran." "That's what I meant." "There's no weapon." "No proof." "But she did say the last time she was in the flat was three days before Jenny Moran died, but we know she was in the flat the day before." "So?" "So, her grandmother was still alive." "She didn't do anything to help her." "Conjecture." "Instead, she went to a meeting with the creditors, and promised them they'd get paid, a promise she now knew she could keep." "You have only got the carer's word that she was fired, and you can't prove she and her boyfriend didn't finish her off when they broke in." "She starved her grandmother to death, Kate, so she could get her hands on the flat and save the company." "It is death by omission." "It is murder." "Ronnie..." "Huh?" "Hello." "Connie Moran, I'm arresting you for the murder of Jenny Moran." "You do not have to say anything..." "But this is totally wrong." "If you do not mention..." "No, you get away from her." "This is ridiculous!" "Just leave her alone!" "May be given in evidence." "Thank you." "Connie!" "You can't!" "It's not murder, Jake, it's not anything." "She lied to her grandmother, she lied to the police." "Jenny Moran died from natural causes." "She died from lack of food and water." "Really?" "According to the post-mortem, she had kidney disease, a weak heart, hypertension, any one of which could have killed her." "Are you honestly going to try for Miss Scarlet in the Library with the Candlestick?" "Starvation is a weapon, too." "And Connie Moran ended up with her grandmother's flat." "Because she was her grandmother." "It's not that you haven't got a case, you haven't got a crime." "But if you want to try and prove omission, be my guest." "Thank you." "But you'll also have to prove that Jenny Moran wouldn't have died anyway." "Your client accelerated death by her actions." "Jenny Moran was dying, and I'll have a string of doctors who will swear that the malnutrition was incidental." "And if the experts can't agree on the cause of death, how can you expect a jury to?" "He was always going to argue causation." "Muddy the waters." "All he can do." "Are you ready for him?" "Connie Moran was responsible for her grandmother's death." "What she did doesn't have to be the sole or main cause, merely a substantial one." "It also has to be beyond reasonable doubt, which the jury will have to be sure of to convict." "She might as well have given a fatal injection." "It's not the same." "She was her de facto custodian." "What, she had a duty of care?" "Her actions killed the person she claimed to be responsible for." "Then get her on gross negligence manslaughter." "Prasad will argue that Connie was exercising that duty." "What, by starving her?" "By following doctor's orders." "Besides, you can only argue duty of care if Jenny Moran was mentally incapable of looking after herself." "Then I suggest you find out." "You are all wrong, you know?" "Yes, your..." "Connie would never..." "It is absurd." "Did you see your mother-in-law in the weeks before she died?" "Of course not." "We weren't close." "Did she seemed confused at all?" "Had she become forgetful?" "Was she senile, do you mean?" "Not a chance." "Her body might have been falling apart, but her brain was fine." "Shame it wasn't the other way around, she might have been a nicer person." "You didn't know her!" "So, her mental faculties..." "I know what you're trying to do." "You think my daughter tricked her grandmother and then once she got her hands on the flat, she..." "Mrs Moran - Listen, Connie loved Jenny." "And after Connie's dad died, whatever love Jenny had, she kept it for Connie." "Jenny knew exactly what she was doing when she made Connie joint tenant." "She wasn't confused, she wasn't forgetful." "And she wasn't tricked!" "Thanks, bye." "Caroline will swear to her mother-in-law's competency." "We can't argue duty of care." "Which leaves us with murder." "Which is fine, because that is what it is." "Even without any proof?" "Where is the physical evidence?" "There isn't any." "There never was." "What if we...?" "No!" "No more games." "No more manoeuvring." "We trust the system." "Jake..." "A helpless old woman was starved to death in cold blood." "We put it in front of a jury and let them decide." "According to your report, Jenny Moran died when her heart developed arrhythmia and stopped beating." "Heart failure, yes." "That didn't happen in isolation, did it?" "It is your evidence that the cause was malnutrition." "Correct." "The truth is, you don't know what it was, do you?" "I know she didn't eat." "That's right." "She didn't." "Jenny Moran also had kidney failure, heart disease, and immune deficiency." "Is that unusual?" "She was 83." "Is it possible any one of these could have caused the arrhythmia?" "It is possible, yes." "Is it also possible that someone with these conditions could suffer a loss of appetite?" "Doctor?" "Yes." "So, in fact, the malnutrition might not have even been a cause." "It might just have been another symptom." "Isn't that possible?" "Yes..." "I suppose so." "Nothing further." "I wrote it." "I was outlining the dietary requirements for Mrs Moran." "Protein, potassium, fluid intake and so forth, after she had been diagnosed with CRF." "CRF?" "Chronic renal failure." "Maintaining a strict diet is vital..." "Although, had I realised what she was doing..." "Really?" "Half a potato!" "Were you surprised when you discovered that Connie Moran had decided that her grandmother shouldn't see you any more?" "Leading, My Lord." "There is nothing to suggest this was my client's decision." "In fact, the Crown have no way of knowing whose the decision was." "Do you have a question, Mr Thorne?" "My Lord..." "How did you feel when Connie Moran informed you her grandmother was going to see another doctor?" "It happens." "I didn't dwell on it." "When you discovered that she had, in fact, not seen any other doctor?" "Well, that did bother me." "It was foolish, and dangerous." "That woman needed expert care." "Thank you." "I imagine patients leaving you is a sort of occupational hazard?" "As I said, it happens." "You diagnosed the CRF in June last year?" "Yes." "And at that time, how long had Jenny Moran been a patient of yours?" "She was referred to me in October of the previous year following a bout of pneumonia." "Eight months, then?" "Yes." "Eight months... to diagnose chronic renal failure." "You can appear quite well, you know, with a chronic condition." "It's long term." "That is the difference between chronic and acute." "I am sure we are all grateful to you for clearing that up..." "If a chronic condition goes undiagnosed, will it get worse?" "Of course." "Are these your notes, Doctor?" "Yes." "Made following your first consultation with Jenny Moran?" "Yes." "Could you read the highlighted section please?" ""Patient presented little or no appetite, vomiting, fatigue, swollen ankles."" "What causes swollen ankles, Doctor?" "Fluid retention." "And what did you do when presented with these symptoms?" "They could have been caused by - They weren't, were they?" "Jenny Moran was already in stage four renal failure and you were so late diagnosing it, the damage had been done." "No, that's not..." "You can't just..." "Jenny Moran didn't take away her grandmother because she was foolish, and it wasn't sinister!" "She did it because she didn't trust you." "Isn't that the truth?" "That is ridiculous." "She wanted what was best for her grandmother!" "She wanted to keep her alive!" "And after her experience with you, she believed that she was in the best position to do that!" "In what way, "Dangerous"?" "I'm sorry?" "Mr Thorne here asked you about Connie Moran taking away her grandmother, and you said it was foolish and dangerous." "That's right." "Was that wounded pride talking?" "Don't be absurd." "It is understandable." "Lash out a little..." "Of course it was dangerous!" "Why?" "Because renal failure is a killer!" "It is, isn't it?" "Vijay Prasad is going to have the jury doubting their own names." "You knew it was going to happen the minute you decided it was murder." "It was murder." "If Connie Moran wanted to kill her grandmother, why not just hold a pillow over her face?" "I don't know." "I don't need to." "Not to mention Cecile and the paper trail of brightly coloured post-it notes for the police to find." "Maybe she just wasn't thinking." "Maybe she was more interested in getting her hands on the flat to pay her bills." "Why do you hate her so much?" "I don't." "She was the only real family Jenny Moran had, and instead of taking care of her, she left her to die." "Things like that, you have to pay for." ""Instead of taking care of her, she left her to die."" "That's right." "You can't make up for your mum by punishing Connie Moran." "Go home." "Get some rest." "You've got the neighbour in the morning." "She wanted my advice for a birthday present." "She wanted to buy something nice..." "for Connie." "How was her mood?" "Jenny loved getting things for Connie." "Making a fuss." "She said Connie spent so much time with her that she deserved it." "The African girl who lived in..." "She stopped me from seeing Jenny." ""Connie's orders", she said." "It isn't terribly surprising now that we know what she was doing." "Opinion, My Lord, and hearsay." "Hardly facts." "The witness will confine herself to what she saw and what she heard." "No more questions." "Were you ever told why you weren't allowed to see Jenny Moran?" "No." "Never." "Did you know that Jenny Moran had been recently charged by a builder for work that was never done?" "How could I?" "Or that she'd been routinely overcharged by her milkman?" "Well, you can't always trust strangers." "Which was why Connie Moran made sure people didn't take advantage of her." "You borrowed £500 from her, didn't you?" "I don't..." "That's what happened, isn't it?" "I was going to pay her back." "But you didn't, did you?" "Perhaps Connie Moran knew it wasn't just strangers you can't trust." "Oh!" "You are supposed to leap up and object!" "I've seen it!" "That man made me look like a criminal." "It would have helped if you'd mentioned the money when you were first interviewed." "I didn't think it was relevant." "How about now?" "Don't get shirty with me just because you didn't do your job." "One day, you will get old, too, and invisible." "Your whole life in a heartbeat." "Kate!" "I'm sorry." "I should have seen Vijay coming." "Forget it." "You know he'll try something similar with Cecile this afternoon." "I doubt that." "She is being deported today." "You assured me the burglary charges against my client would be dropped." "They have been." "And I've applied to the Home Office to delay deportation proceedings." "I want them cancelled altogether." "We can't do that." "Please." "I don't want to be sent back." "I need to send my family money." "They need me here." "It isn't in my power." "Then talk to someone whose power it is... or Miss Bakama leaves as planned and you find another witness." "Don't play games with me." "Connie caught me trying to give extra food to her grandmother." "She was very angry." "Can you tell the jury what happened?" "She told me to leave right away." "Why not call the police?" "If you thought she was trying to starve her grandmother?" "I had no Visa." "You were afraid she'd tell the authorities?" "Yes." "Did you see Jenny Moran again?" "I went back to the flat that afternoon but Connie wouldn't let me in." "You went back?" "I still had Mrs Moran's glasses." "So, you gave them back to her?" "No." "Connie wouldn't let me in." "So, she took the glasses." "She said that her grandmother was asleep and wasn't to be disturbed." "Thank you." "Was anyone else there to hear Connie Moran say this?" "We were alone." "You and your boyfriend Olivier Dondo were arrested for burglary." "But they let us go." "You took a carriage clock." "It was a present." "And they let us go." "A valued present you took to the pawn shop." "But, that's - You don't have a valid Visa." "In fact, you were due to be deported yesterday." "That's right." "And in return for uncorroborated, and, for all we know, entirely fictitious evidence " "My Lord!" "Mr Thorne made sure you remained in this country." "My Lord!" "Nothing further." "Did I or anyone else in the Crown Prosecution Service tell you, or put pressure on you to alter your evidence in any way?" "No." "And where will you be tomorrow?" "Tomorrow..." "I'm being deported." "Some of Vijay Prasad's punches landed." "But we are still standing." "And we've got Connie tomorrow." "Prasad will lay on the family devotion with a trowel." "Jake..." "But I'm ready." "Prasad can do what he likes." "Illegal immigrants sometimes go years without being found out." "So?" "So, how come the Border Agency found Cecile so quickly?" "She was on our watchlist, but, you know, low priority." "So, what changed?" "An anonymous tipoff." "Someone phoned in her name, address, the works." "They were keen." "Wanting to get rid of noisy neighbours usually." "It all needs to be checked out, though." "Just adds to the workload." "This call..." "When was it made?" "I only ever wanted what was best for Gran." "And yet you lied to the police about when you last saw her?" "I was ashamed." "I didn't want anyone to know I'd been there and not..." "I should have... done something." "When she died, you became sole owner of her flat?" "That's right." "And straight away, you borrowed £70,000 against it." "Yes, I put money into my company." "Because?" "We were going under." "We were desperate." "Creditors closing in, and I could help." "I know that, in hindsight, this looks bad, but I loved my grandmother." "And she loved me." "I would have never done anything to hurt her." "Thank you." "Nothing further." "Mr Thorne..." "Did you tell your grandmother about the creditors?" "No." "Why would I?" "Because you were desperate." "Because she owned the flat and could borrow against it." "I didn't want to concern her." "Not that desperate then?" "My Lord!" "Mr Thorne..." "When you're ready..." "Mr Thorne." "You fired Cecile Bakama for feeding your grandmother, didn't you?" "I didn't want to." "But getting my grandmother's diet right was vital, and she simply didn't understand." "You regretted it?" "I liked her, and so did Gran, but she..." "She left me no choice." "And then you lied to the police about firing her." "I was just trying to protect her." "I could not imagine she was involved in the burglary." "I see." "I didn't want the police going after her." "So, you lied about Cecile, and you lied about the last time you saw your grandmother." "You must feel ashamed about quite a lot..." "My Lord, this sounds like a speech." "Ask a question, Mr Thorne, or sit down." "What about the other lie?" "Other lie?" "You told the police you didn't know where Cecile lived." "That's right." "And yet, earlier that day, the UK Border Agency received an anonymous phone call giving them Cecile's address so she could be deported." "Did you make that call?" "My Lord, this is the first I've heard about any of this." "My Lord, this information only came to light today." "This is Miss Moran's mobile phone records, My Lord." "I wish to enter them into evidence, because, on the day in question, they show a call was made..." "OK!" "Yes." "You made that call?" "Yes." "You wanted Cecile Bakama deported?" "Yes." "You were afraid she'd talk?" "Yes." "She'd tell the truth?" "Yes." "That you killed your grandmother?" "No!" "That she killed herself!" "She knew..." "Gran knew what she was doing." "She told me that all her friends were dead..." ""What was the point?"" "She couldn't sleep..." "The pain was..." "I begged her to eat, but she'd made up her mind." "You're asking us to believe that your grandmother starved herself to death?" "If you're not a Catholic, you can't understand." "I understand perfectly well." "Then you'll know she could have never committed suicide, not as a Catholic." "She couldn't take pills, or cut her wrists." "At least this way, it wasn't a sin." "It was God's will." "As a sinner, she believed she couldn't be buried next to Dad." "Not in consecrated ground." "And Cecile?" "Why the tipoff?" "She's a Catholic." "She knows what guilt means." "I was afraid that she'd confess." "You're put on trial for murder, and then suddenly, you remember, actually, it was suicide." "It's the truth." "It's convenient." "If my grandmother sinned - Her only sin was to trust you!" "Suicide is a mortal sin." "So is murder!" "All I did was watch." "I knew what Gran had done, and I lied about it." "That is my sin." "I can be forgiven for lying." "Suicide is the only thing for which there is no forgiveness." "We have heard a great deal from Mr Prasad and his client." "He has tried to dazzle you with his smoke and mirrors, his attempts to cloud the medical evidence, throwing up doubt where none exists." "Then suddenly, like a rabbit out of a hat, we are told this was not murder at all." "But suicide." "And no ordinary suicide but one shrouded in talk of mortal sin and eternal damnation." "And it is all there to get you to take your eye off the ball, which is something that you mustn't do." "The facts of this case are very simple." "Connie Moran needed money to prop up her ailing business and she decided Jenny Moran was her way out." "So, she deliberately isolated her grandmother..." "She made sure no doctor saw her..." "She systematically reduced her food and drink..." "And when she was dead, when the plan had worked, she shed crocodile tears, quietly called the Border Agency to shop the only witness to her crime, and then went down to the bank and cashed in." "The convulsions..." "The cramping..." "The terrifying hallucinations..." "The abject terror as her body fed off itself..." "It wasn't God's will that Jenny Moran should starve to death..." "It was Connie's." "Smoke, mirrors, rabbits out of a hat..." "I will be honest with you, sometimes we use them when our case is weak, when we want to try a little misdirection, when we've nothing else in our armoury." "Not this time." "Because in that list of simple facts, there was one the prosecution failed to mention just now." "A little misdirection of their own." "Reasonable doubt." "And the truth is, that no one, not one single expert witness, was able to say under oath and beyond reasonable doubt that Jenny Moran starved to death." "That she was malnourished was undisputed." "That she died because of it, that it can be proved categorically that the actions of Connie Moran caused the death of her grandmother, not a single witness." "Murder..." "Where a person of sound mind unlawfully kills with intent." "If you have no doubt that Connie Moran did all the things the prosecution allege, and in so doing, caused the death of her grandmother, you must find her guilty." "But if you have any doubt, any doubt at all, then it is equally your duty to return the only verdict possible in the light of the facts." "No smoke, no mirrors." "Not guilty." "Have you reached a verdict upon which you are all agreed?" "We have." "On the charge of the murder of Jenny Moran, do you find the defendant Constance Moran guilty or not guilty?" "Not guilty." "You missed a meeting." "Oh..." "Right..." "I made your excuses." "But next time you go walkies," "I'm going to tie your shoelaces together." "You were right." "I couldn't make up for Mum by punishing Connie Moran." "It didn't stop me trying, though." "Look, I'm sorry." "It was none of my business." "What do you think it cost her?" "To stand by and watch, to actually make it possible for Jenny to kill herself because that was what Jenny wanted." "Connie had a duty of care." "Do you think Jenny would say she didn't fulfil it?" "I couldn't even hold Mum's hand..." "Jake..." "And afterwards, she was prepared to go down for murder rather than betray her grandmother's wishes." "Connie was a better granddaughter after Jenny died then I was a son while Mum was still alive." "Assuming the jury got it right." "They did." "Sure about that, are you?" "Like she said, if you are not a Catholic, you can't understand." ""Mortal sin kills the life of grace within us."" "Are you going back to the office?" "I just need to clear my head." "But uh..." "Thanks, for... bothering." "Forgive me, Father..." "For I have sinned."