"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." "DISTANT SIREN" "No, I can't come up." "I'm really late." "Anyway, it's over." "We agreed." "I just wanted to hear your voice." "(LAUGHS)" "Are you spying on me?" "Huh?" "Are you checking me out?" "Yeah, I miss you" " Uhh!" "Kelly?" "You need to call an ambulance!" "What?" "Call an ambulance." "'Kelly!" "'" "Kelly?" "Call an ambulance." "Please!" "Someone help!" "Call an ambulance, someone please!" "My friend's dying!" "Oh my God." "(SCREAMS)" "Someone call an ambulance!" "Joe!" "Joe!" "BEEPING" "Multiple skull fractures, intracranial haemorrhages, two broken legs, two shattered kneecaps." "The homeless are an easy target." "Who are you, son?" "What's your story?" "BEEPING" "Several blows to the head and legs, a lot of blood loss." "It was a pretty vicious attack." "You're sure?" "Certain." "You knew him by name?" "That's right, I do." "OK." "Thank you." "Ronnie!" "Yeah, victim's Roland Kirk." "Soco found a weapon in the bushes here." "An iron bar, covered in hair, blood..." "Nice." "Right." "He sleeps rough here, does he?" "Not all the time." "If you come this way, gentlemen, I'll show you." "You see this van here?" "That's his home from home." "His home from home?" "That's right." "What's wrong with him?" "He suffers from manic depression." "Has huge mood swings - he's bipolar." "When he's not here, he's on the Royal Hope psychiatric wing." "So who found Kirk?" "A local boy." "His parents live here in Stuart Square." "All right there?" "Hello, son." "Who are you?" "This is Nate Morgan." "He and Kirk hang out together." "Nate, seriously, why are you dossing in here with a perfectly nice house over the road?" "Oh, I don't know." "It's not that shabby, is it?" "Well, it's a lot better than his place." "Why don't you come with us Nate, eh?" "Take you down the station." "Have a nice cup of tea." "Roland's my friend." "I do things for him." "I, I...run errands." "Like uh..." "Roland Kirk's repeat prescription." "Yeah, I get him his lithium." "It's for his depression." "Why?" "Well, he doesn't like to leave the square, you know?" "Is..." "Is he all right?" "He's in a coma." "Two broken legs and a fractured skull." "We just had a row, man." "I was... ..I was bringing him a kebab to say sorry to him when I found him." "Why are you sleeping in his van when your mum and dad live across the square?" "Uh, they don't really care about me." "So what do you think?" "CCTV puts Nate leaving the kebab shop on the high street at 3:03am." "There was a wrapped kebab found by Kirk's body." "What about the cameras on the square?" "They're all focused on residents' houses, away from the gardens." "So this was organised by someone?" "No." "Roland Kirk did it himself, with his little helper Nate." "Ah." "Well, Kirk's definitely got some previous, that's for sure." "Mostly harassment, bit of criminal damage." "Maybe he started on the wrong person, they followed him home?" "Except that Nate says Kirk never leaves the square." "Apart from when he goes to hospital for his manic depression, which happens on a regular basis." "Maybe he's made enemies there, then." "Talk to the psychiatrist." "Roland Kirk." "We diagnosed him as bipolar, prescribed medication and sent him out with a clear rehabilitation plan." "Six months later he was back." "The revolving door of mental health." "We sort him out, restore the chemical imbalance in his brain and release him." "He heads out, flushes his lithium down the loo." "His mind starts racing." "He loses control, breaks the law, gets sent back to us." "Never-ending pattern." "There's no real place for him." "No sympathy either." "He's an emotional refugee, at odds with the world." "Tell me, did he ever make any enemies amongst other patients in the times that he's been in here?" "No." "He's quiet in here." "His illness is under control." "Does anyone ever visit him?" "His sister always visits." "My God." "Is he going to be all right?" "Well, he is still unconscious." "But he will wake up?" "Well, who did this?" "People think, you know, he's some kind of tramp, but he's not, he's just ill." "And all these experts he sees - no one can help him." "How long's he suffered from manic depression?" "Um, since he was 18." "Um...he used to visit all the time." "And, and then one night he took my five-year-old up onto the roof to look at the stars, and... ..well we, you know, we couldn't have him in the house after that." "I can't say I blame you." "Yeah." "He's not a psychopath." "He's just my daft big brother who used to take me go-karting, and I still love him." "When's the last time you spoke to him, Sharon?" "Um... ..about a year ago." "He seemed OK." "He was fine." "He said some family on the square were looking after him." "OK." "Do you know who they were?" "No, I don't know the name." "Well, they've, they've obviously turned their backs on him." "Like I did." "I'm sorry." "I should be with him." "I'm sorry." "OK, let's talk to the residents of the square." "Start with the lady that found him." "I'd been having cocktails in a bar up in Soho with my mates." "The taxi dropped me off at the corner after three." "I was walking past the park when Nate crashed into me." "You know, he freaks me out." "He's always staring at me when I do yoga." "She does do it by the window." "It's the only part of the flat with any light." "It's like living in a cave." "A pretty expensive cave." "And going down in value by the minute." "How long have you lived here?" "Two months." "I got a small inheritance." "We're trying for a baby." "The park swung it for us really." "The estate agent didn't mention the resident madman." "Well, you can't have been too happy about that." "We moved here to get away from this kind of thing." "Kelly, did you see anyone other than Nate?" "Patrick, Patrick Orsi, from the caff." "Yep." "He came out just before Joe." "I just heard Nate screaming." "But you didn't hear anything before that?" "No." "I was asleep." "I have to be up early." "I'm a mature medical student and part-time courier." "I waited up until two, when Kelly was meant to be home." "Then I went to bed." "Joe was out within minutes of Kelly finding Kirk, but his bedroom's at the back, so how would he hear anything?" "I reckon he was waiting up for her cos he don't like her being out so late." "You could see that in his face." "Then why lie about being asleep?" "Cos he doesn't want to look as jealous as he actually is." "There's eight people living in that house and no one hears Kirk cry out." "I dunno" " I thought these squares were all friendly and communal, not places where everybody just turns their back." "Well, there's always someone keeping an eye." "Nice view from up here, Mrs Bowen." "I bet nothing gets past you, does it?" "Maybe not." "But then..." "But then what?" "Did you know Roland Kirk?" "They're good people round here." "Well, did you see or hear anything at the time of the attack?" "I'm a bit deaf, dear." "That time last night, I was upstairs, watching telly." "OK, and you were out as soon as you heard Nate shouting." "Well, yeah, I was worried about him." "Nate doesn't normally do that sort of thing." "So you heard Kirk cry out and chose not to do anything?" "He yells all the time." "That's all well and good, Mr Orsi." "He could have died." "Look, I'm not pretending I'm sorry." "I was doing OK till that psycho Kirk turned up a few years back." "He wanted to eat in, but I thought he stank so I said no." "Ever since, he's outside, whispering to people about rats and cockroaches." "I see them walk away." "That madman is ruining my business." "I tell you lot, but you do nothing." "When you catch whoever did it, shake their hand for me." "There are no prints on the iron bar, Kirk's still in a coma and you tell me you can't get any witnesses." "Which is a clue in itself." "The residents of the square hated Kirk and want him out of there." "Maybe they looked out, saw Kirk and chose to turn a blind eye." "Yeah, well, it's our job to stop people policing themselves, so keep digging." "But guvnor, we still have a few residents to talk to, like Nate's mum and dad, the Morgans." "They were out when we called." "They can't be too happy about their son hanging out with Kirk." "When Kirk turned up, he seemed OK at first and we helped him." "He'd do a bit of gardening." "I'd made him some food." "I mean, he taught Nate the guitar." "That was our big mistake, letting him have any contact with Nate." "Why do you say that?" "Because Nate is - how shall I put this - he's impressionable." "When he was 15 he tried to cut his wrists." "Why is that relevant?" "They don't need to know that." "Harry, we haven't got anything to hide." "I mean..." "I'm sorry." "That must have been tough for you." "But Nate was back on track - until Kirk showed up." "Yeah, most of the residents seem to think Kirk's a bit of a menace." "Yeah, but Harry thinks it's disgusting that he pays taxes when there's scum like Roland walking around." "The house has been on the market a year." "Any prospective buyers," "Kirk is always there, welcoming them to the neighbourhood." "So they don't hang around too long?" "Huh!" "We even...we had..." "a residents' association meeting to talk about it, to try to get some evidence." "Here, have a look at this." "Oh, here we go." "'MUSIC POUNDS'" "'Why are you doing this?" "'" "'Look, don't put the camera in my fa...go home!" "'" "'Look, what is the point?" "'" "'You're all eating rats!" "Rats!" "You're all eating rats!" "'" "'How many times do I have to tell you?" "!" "Piss off!" "'" "'This is boring now.'" "'That's your father, Nate." "What does your mum think of him?" "'" "'Go away." "I've had enough of this." "Could you please stop following me?" "'" "Whenever I see him he's wearing my jacket, with my brandy, my cigars - with my son." "Anyway, we weren't here because I had taken Irene to AE, and when we got back the ambulance had already gone, with Kirk in it." "Sorry - how did you get the cast?" "Earlier in the evening, I went over to Kirk's van to see if I could get one of our paintings back." "It wasn't a painting, it was an icon actually." "The point is, Nate had seen fit to donate this to Kirk." "Cos you know, we haven't got enough stuff." "OK." "So Kirk pushed me over and I broke my wrist." "He didn't mean to." "While our son stood by, out of his brains on whatever drug Kirk had given him." "Kirk didn't give me anything." "Why do you blame everything that's wrong in your life on him?" "Because he's ruining our life, that's why!" "One second." "Sorry..." "Brooks, hello?" "OK." "Well, that's fine." "Thank you." "Well, Roland Kirk has just come out of his coma." "Then he can tell us who did this." "(BREATHES HARD) They...they came up from behind me." "Did you say 'they'?" "There was more than one, sir?" "I don't know." "I told you, they were behind me." "I was...protecting myself." "So you didn't see anything of your attackers?" "Mr Kirk?" "I saw a dragon." "A dragon?" "Mmm." "I saw a red dragon." "It was..." "It was on top of me." "So we're looking for a dragon." "Oh, not just any dragon." "This one was red." "He could be remembering the paramedic giving him CPR mouth-to-mouth." "That's a bit of a leap, isn't it?" "What about Harry Morgan?" "Kirk hurts his wife." "His son's hanging round with him." "Does his story check out?" "His car's seen on CCTV on the high street at 03:25 after the attack." "What if it is just a gang who beat him up and moved on?" "Well, listen, if the residents had seen a gang, they would certainly be talking." "And there's too many people on that square keeping shtum." "Didn't the Morgans say they had residents' meetings?" "Get hold of the minutes." "'Nate, what's your dad doing?" "' 'I dunno...merry Christmas innit?" "!" "'" "'Merry Christmas, man.'" "'Are you disappointed with your father?" "'" "When Roland Kirk ain't about or he's AWOL, they've got nothing to complain about other than the litter." "But when he's back, he racks up an impressive 117 complaints and the meeting runs on for two hours." "They're obsessed, I'm telling you." "I mean, what actual harm is he doing?" "Other than being a, you know, bit of a pain in the arse." "Uh, he assaulted Irene Morgan." "Maybe he was defending his territory." "You are joking?" "No." "There's two sides to every story, Matt." "I mean, Nate gives Roland Kirk the stuff fair and square," "Irene Morgan comes over all threatening." "There's a scuffle." "He don't mean to hurt her." "Ron, he's a parasite." "Would you live there?" "They are trapped." "House prices are falling, they can't sell the place, all because of Roland Kirk." "And they applied for an Asbo but it was turned down - because he was friendly with the Morgans and apparently had slept there in the past." "No, I'm sorry, mate." "I'd want shot of him." "Well, look at these last complaints here from Dora Bowen." "Now, she reckons she can't get any sleep because Roland Kirk keeps her awake at night." "Isn't she supposed to be deaf?" "I told you I didn't hear anything." "On account of being deaf." "It has its compensations." "But you did complain to the residents' association saying that Roland Kirk was keeping you awake at night." "And he was only singing in the park." "How did you know about that?" "We're detectives, Dora." "I can't tell you what I saw." "And why not?" "I'm all alone." "I don't get out much now." "They look after me round here." "Well, I can understand that." "But in the same vein, a man almost died out there, didn't he?" "And he doesn't deserve that." "I tell you what." "You tell us, and we won't let on where we got the information from." "There was this horrible cry... ..and then this grunting." "I got up." "I came to the window." "But it was all quiet by then." "After a while, I saw two men leaving the square." "One of them was too far away for me to see who it was, but the other one was Joe Butler." "He was in his dressing gown." "Joe's at work at the moment." "You can get him on this number." "Thanks." "Can I hold on to this?" "Yeah, sure." "We'll show ourselves out." "Hold on." "Um..." "I know you talked to Patrick." "Patrick Orsi, yeah." "Yeah." "He didn't have anything to do with it." "The only reason he came out so quickly that night is because he was on the phone..." "to me." "And why would he be calling you at three o'clock in the morning?" "I called him." "I teach dance classes, at the caff." "Does Joe know about you and Patrick?" "Please don't tell him." "It's over." "Are you telling us this because Kirk happened to come out of his coma?" "He saw me and Patrick together once." "And then when I was with Joe, he'd follow us around and talk about how I loved to 'eat Italian'." "He thought it was funny." "And so you ended it." "Yeah." "Kirk reckons he saw a dragon, didn't he?" "It could have been that kimono." "Well, maybe Kirk told Joe about the affair." "Joe didn't want confront in case he lost her." "And he was scared that Kirk might make it public because it would embarrass him, so he shut him up." "Well, yeah, Kirk's the eyes of the square, ain't he?" "So he knows all the secrets." "But he never actually named Joe." "No, but Dora Bowen did." "Look, she's got it wrong." "She's an old lady." "I didn't go to the park until after Kirk was found." "Did Roland Kirk ever trouble you personally?" "Only by hassling Kelly." "What was that about?" "You've seen her." "She's gorgeous." "He's a man." "Does that make you feel threatened, Joe?" "As a man?" "I mean, you're out all hours, she doesn't work..." "Apart from the dance classes at Orsi's." "Look, she's out of my league, I know that." "She flirts, always has." "Now and then she takes it a little too far, but she always comes home to me." "And did Kirk ever say that Kelly was maybe going a little too far?" "No." "I've never even spoken to the man." "Joe Butler is lying." "We know he spoke to Roland Kirk because Kelly told us, right?" "Dora Bowen puts Butler at the scene of the crime and said he was wearing a dressing gown." "Joe has a red kimono dressing gown with oriental patterns on the back." "Well, Kirk said the ah...dragon was breathing." "Joe's a medical student." "Maybe he was giving him CPR." "If you do CPR on someone who's bleeding like a stuck pig, you're going to get blood all over you." "We need that kimono for forensics." "You can't search his house without reason." "Then why don't we arrest Butler on suspicion of GBH?" "Then we can search the house and get the evidence we need." "He ain't exactly hiding it, is he?" "I mean the poor bloke's just thrown the kimono straight in the wash." "He's not a practised criminal." "No." "That's true." "He might cave earlier than you think." "Get him in cuffs." "Dora Bowen told us that she saw you leaving the park just after the attack." "She's wrong." "I..." "I was in bed, asleep." "What have you got against Roland Kirk?" "Kelly also told us that Roland Kirk used to wind you up about her and Patrick Orsi." "But you told us you'd never spoken to Roland Kirk." "I mean, it can't be easy, Joe, him goading you about your wife and another man." "Please." "I'm sorry I lied to you." "I was scared." "Why?" "What are you scared about, Joe?" "This." "You know, being here!" "I didn't hurt Kirk." "You've got to believe me." "Well, Dora Bowen said that she saw someone else with you." "Who was that?" "Well, no one." "Cos I didn't come out till after Kelly found Kirk's body." "What were you wearing then?" "Why?" "Just answer the question, please, Joe." "Joggers and a sweatshirt." "Right." "Forensics found blood matching Kirk's on Butler's kimono, which puts Butler at the scene." "But Joe's still saying he was asleep." "Then again, he's scared about something." "How's Kirk now?" "Well, he's stable." "He's on lithium and painkillers, and still confused about what happened that night." "So..." "Well, let's do a video ID parade, see if we can't jog his memory." "I couldn't really see." "I..." "I had blood in my eyes." "OK, that's fine." "Just, just take your time and keep looking at the screen if you can." "I don't know..." "There you go." "What about him?" "Dragons..." "And he's our star witness?" "This ain't funny." "No, not at all, sir." "Does he think I'm funny?" "Just take your time." "Calm down." "We know there's dragons on the dressing gown." "We're just trying to ascertain who was wearing it." "Just keep looking at the screen." "OK?" "Yeah." "Sure?" "Yeah, he was on top of me." "He was... ..shouting at me, knew my name." "Yeah, he tried to kill me." "My client has been charged with GBH on the word of a man who claims he was attacked by a dragon." "Roland Kirk has identified you, Mr Butler." "He claims you tried to kill him." "He said the same of a nurse who tried to change his IV drip." "This is a joke." "Not for Roland Kirk." "He might never walk again." "What?" "He was beaten over and over with an iron bar, Mr Butler, on his head, on his legs." "You were seen coming out of the park at the time of the beating." "Well, I didn't hurt him!" "Then who did?" "You're intimidating my client, James." "Somebody took the law into their own hands, beat Kirk and left him to die." "I'm not letting that stand." "But it wasn't me!" "I saved his life." "I'm a good person." "Something terrible happened." "I got dragged into it." "I gave him mouth-to-mouth." "What exactly happened?" "This is your last chance to tell us the truth, Mr Butler." "I was waiting up for Kelly." "I heard noises from the park." "I went outside." "Orsi was by the park gate." "He said he'd found Kirk in a state." "I saw he was out cold, so I gave him CPR." "Why didn't you call an ambulance?" "Orsi said he'd see to it." "He told me to go home, wash my dressing gown and say I wasn't there." "He's got a temper, Patrick Orsi." "He's punched Kirk before." "Talk to him." "You want to know why I punched him?" "He pushed my son into the road." "My son's eight." "Ever since, my ex won't let him come over." "He knew about you and Kelly." "Were you scared Joe might find out?" "No." "I wanted to tell him but Kelly wasn't having it." "Look, I've got a hundred motives, OK?" "But I didn't do it." "I've got previous for ABH." "I won't go down for him." "I just came out and I found him." "You told Joe you'd call an ambulance." "There's no record of any call." "I didn't want it traced back to me or Joe." "I know he's a squealer." "So you went in and watched telly while Kirk lay bleeding to death in the park?" "If I'd stayed in, I wouldn't have found him!" "He's a tramp." "And crazy." "It was bound to happen sooner or later." "So he deserved it?" "You don't know him." "He's a bully." "He's cruel." "He loves to watch people break." "Patrick Orsi admits he didn't call an ambulance, but also says he didn't beat Kirk." "And Joe Butler said that all he did was try to save his life." "So who do we believe?" "There's only one person who knows the truth" " Roland Kirk." "Now I'm a crown prosecutor." "I want to find out who did this to you." "I wouldn't bother." "The system don't work for people like me, you know that." "It's for ordinary people with orderly lives, people with..." "order in their lives, see?" "Don't put any trust in me, mate." "Is that what the Morgans did?" "Trusted you?" "They thought I was taking their boy away from them." "He used to come to me." "He used to sell my lithium to buy cocaine." "I don't take it." "I drink whisky." "I drink lots of whiskey." "I've...a lot of chaos in my head some days." "I can try and make the system work for you this time, but you have to trust me." "Yeah, I was trying to sleep, in the park." "I could hear Orsi talking to someone nearby, and..." "..that's when it started." "They hit me, and I didn't think they were going to stop." "I thought I was going to die." "I didn't mean to push Irene Morgan." "But her arm was in a sling when she come back from hospital." "You saw Irene Morgan come back before you were attacked?" "Alesha." "CCTV footage that backed up Harry Morgan's story." "I had the image enlarged." "Take a look." "That's Harry Morgan's car, seen in the high street at 3:25am, going in the direction of the square, but look at the passenger seat." "No one's there." "We thought this cleared him." "It doesn't." "He's seen on CCTV leaving the hospital at 2:30am." "Which gives him enough time to go home, drop off his wife..." "..and have his revenge." "Then he must have driven off again - to clear his head, dump his clothes, I don't know." "Is there footage of him earlier?" "No." "We haven't enough to charge him." "No one's even mentioned him." "But we now know he lied." "Talk to him." "Check out his story." "Kirk's lying." "Mr Morgan, you told the police that you came back as Kirk was being taken by the ambulance." "But you were seen out in your car alone at that time, so you see, you must have come back earlier with your wife." "Look, why am I having to defend myself?" "And why do you people always take their side?" "Whose side?" "The inadequates!" "The people who can't function in society." "What about my rights?" "And I'm not a bigot!" "I'm an architect!" "I read The Guardian, for crying out loud!" "Look, I understand how desperate you must feel." "No." "You don't." "My son hates me, because Kirk got inside his head and turned him against me." "And..." "(SIGHS)" "..he has made my life a living nightmare." "Now, if that's all you need, I really need to get back to work, OK?" "Thank you." "I checked the phones at the hospital and cross-matched them with the corridor CCTV." "Got the bit between your teeth, have you?" "Harry Morgan called Patrick at 1:34am from the hospital." "Morgan's upset." "He wants revenge." "He asks Orsi to keep an eye on Kirk." "And when Morgan gets back, the two of them decide to take Kirk on." "Kirk said he heard Orsi talking to someone before the beating started." "Which makes this a premeditated, cold-blooded vigilante attack." "Let's put pressure on Orsi." "Harry didn't get back till after Kirk was found." "We know you were in the park after Kirk was attacked." "I'm not lying." "If you and Harry went in the park together, you're looking at joint enterprise GBH." "It's a long stretch in custody." "Harry Morgan must be a very good friend if you'd do time for him." "Harry came back." "He took Irene into his house and came out again." "He ran to the building site round the corner, picked up an iron bar and went into the park." "Harry Morgan, I'm arresting you on suspicion of GBH." "You do not have to say anything but it may harm your defence if you do not mention..." "This is bloody ridiculous!" "This way, please." "Anything you do say may be given in evidence." "And you ought to be ashamed of yourselves." "I was only doing your job for you!" "You bastard." "Can you believe this?" "Morgan's pleading not guilty, saying he acted in self defence." "Terrific." "I suppose we shouldn't expect honour from a vigilante." "He claims he went into the park to confront Kirk, Kirk lashed out, he conveniently found an iron bar on the ground and fought him off." "But Patrick told you that Morgan got the bar in the building site nearby." "Exactly." "The attack was vicious and premeditated." "But I know where the jury's sympathies will lie - with a man whose wife was attacked and not with our violent victim." "Whatever Kirk did, Harry Morgan's actions can't go unpunished." "I'll make the jury see that." "Could be tougher than you think." "We're all potential vigilantes deep down." "If I'd been through what Harry Morgan'd been through," "I might be tempted to have a go." "And beat a man unconscious?" "We're all liberals until the front garden is invaded, James." "The jury will be imagining what they would do in the same situation." "We can't afford for Harry Morgan to become a cause celebre, James." "The last thing we want is a middle-class vigilante hero." "So you go into that court and expose him for the thug that he is." "Did Mr Morgan phone you from the hospital?" "Yes." "He asked where Kirk was." "I told him he was in the park." "And when did you next see Mr Morgan?" "When he brought Irene home." "He got her indoors and then came out again." "Then I went down." "What happened then?" "He wanted to talk to Kirk, said he was tired of walking away." "Then " "I'm sorry, Harry - Answer the question, please." "Then he went to the building site, picked up an iron bar and went into the park." "Did you follow Mr Morgan into the park?" "I waited by the gate." "I didn't see anything." "Then Harry left." "He was covered in blood." "He got into his car and drove off." "That's when I went in." "Thank you." "No further questions." "You're very good friends with Mr Morgan." "Would you say he's a decent man?" "Yeah." "He's helped me through tough times." "I couldn't ask for a better friend." "No." "This isn't right." "What isn't right, Mr Orsi?" "A decent, hard-working family man in the dock." "Kirk's ruining our lives." "Harry's the victim here." "Can I remind you that you are still under oath?" "Could you tell us what happened that night?" "I did go in after him." "I yelled at him to walk away, and he did." "He dropped the bar." "He was walking away when Kirk attacked him." "He only picked it up again when Kirk shoved him to the ground." "I lied." "I'm sorry." "I didn't know what to say." "Well, it's better late than never where the truth's concerned." "(CLEARS THROAT) Thank you." "Any re-examination, Mr Steel?" "Yes, my lord." "I thought as much." "If this new version is true, Mr Orsi, why didn't you intervene when Harry Morgan picked the bar up again?" "Harry was only defending himself." "I see." "So you walked away as the fight was starting?" "Even though your close friend was in danger?" "Yeah." "The jury must know he's lying." "They might prefer the new version." "Clean-cut man defends himself against crazy tramp." "Harry Morgan keeps telling everyone he's an honourable man, but won't take a shred of responsibility for his actions." "Harry Morgan's a good guy." "He was defending himself." "The Morgans are the people the CPS should serve, James." "Not prosecute." "He beat a man in cold blood and left him to die." "It's him we're meant to put away." "Ha!" "Kirk is a violent sociopath who terrorised a neighbourhood." "You've put the wrong man in the dock." "And everyone in that court can see it, except you." "Hm!" "I saw the Morgans when they came back from the hospital." "I was hiding in the park." "I was going to sleep there that night." "I shut my eyes." "Little while later, I heard Orsi shouting at someone." "Uh, that's when it started." "The attack?" "I tried to protect myself by crawling away." "He started hitting my legs, and I remember thinking I was going to die." "Can you identify your attacker?" "No." "What is your relationship with the defendant?" "He hates me." "His son prefers to hang out with me." "His wife sometimes brings me food behind his back." "Has the defendant ever threatened you?" "He threatens me all the time." "Thank you." "No further questions." "You have several previous convictions, don't you, Mr Kirk?" "You know I do." "Well, the jury doesn't, Mr Kirk, so perhaps you might care to answer." "Yes." "Harassment, public disorder, criminal damage." "Why did you break Mrs Morgan's arm?" "Pardon?" "Why did you break Irene Morgan's arm?" "She wanted to take the painting back that Nate gave me." "I'm sorry I did that." "I don't know my own strength." "And is it fair to say that sometimes you also don't always know your own mind?" "No." "I know it." "I just don't like it." "And you like to torment people, don't you, as we know from your previous criminal convictions?" "Don't choose to be this way." "I took the iron bar from a building site and I went to the park." "Kirk was lying on the ground, had his back to me." "And..." "I couldn't go through with it." "I dropped the bar." "But Kirk heard it fall to the ground, got up, pushed me over." "What did you do then?" "I panicked." "I reached for the bar, hit out, caught him on the head." "He fell." "I shouldn't have done it but I had to defend myself." "Thank you, Mr Morgan." "Why did you take the iron bar into the park?" "I had an idea that I was going to teach Kirk a lesson - but I saw sense." "I dropped the bar." "Then picked it up again and beat him to within an inch of his life?" "I was scared." "He kept coming at me." "When did he stop coming at you, Mr Morgan?" "He didn't" " When you'd broken his kneecaps and legs?" "Or after you'd bashed his head, fracturing his skull?" "I was just defending myself - All the time, he covered his face." "He didn't even see you, did he?" "That's not a man who fought back, is it?" "You're lying, aren't you?" "No, I'm not." "You didn't drop the bar." "You took revenge." "Your family was breaking up." "You took that anger out " "I wanted to defend them!" "No one else would help!" "You thought of attacking him before?" "Yes, plenty of times!" "You've heard how he provoked us!" "I" " I would I pray that he would have an accident or... ..anything." "But I" " I never acted on those thoughts." "I am not the bad guy here!" "Yet in picking up that bar, you took the law into your own hands." "What was I meant to do?" "We couldn't get away from him." "I was desperate, I'm not denying that." "He was taking my son away, we couldn't sell " "You had problems with your son before you met Mr Kirk." "And we were sorting that out as a family before he showed up." "You blame Mr Kirk for everything, don't you, Mr Morgan, to convince yourself you did nothing wrong." "I told you... ..I regained my self-control before I did anything stupid." "I dropped the bar." "And...then I used it in self defence." "What would you have done?" "Whose freedom has priority here?" "You might think Roland Kirk is your worst nightmare." "You might understand Harry Morgan's frustration." "But he broke the law." "He beat Roland Kirk in the most brutal way, then he walked away, leaving Roland Kirk for dead." "That wasn't self-defence." "That was vigilantism." "In viciously attacking a sleeping man," "Harry Morgan became a bigger menace to society than Kirk could ever be." "Imagine your own communities besieged by vagrants who terrorised you day and night." "And imagine the authorities failing to help." "Harry Morgan was at the end of his tether that night." "He may have taken a bar into the park with the intention of violence, but he knew he was better than that." "And he tried to walk away." "Roland Kirk attacked him." "He defended himself." "Harry Morgan is the victim here today." "He acted to defend his property, his family and his way of life." "Members of the jury, have you reached a verdict upon which you are all agreed?" "Yes." "On count one, causing grievous bodily harm with intent, do you find the defendant guilty or not guilty?" "Not guilty." "Evil triumphs when good men do nothing." "That includes juries." "Come on." "I don't think Harry Morgan's evil." "He got pushed too far." "He made a mistake." "And he's gone unpunished." "So the system finally came through, for me." "Do you expect me to congratulate you?" "Let's hope that Kirk stays away this time, because if he comes back," "I'll do it again."