"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." "Big smile for Mummy, Tom." "I never can get a shot where they're both smiling." "Must be nice though - twins always have someone to play with." "Only child?" "Yeah." "Got ours buy one get one free." "Ryan!" "Ryan?" "Ryan!" "Are you OK?" "No." "My little boy's gone." "He was just there and someone's taken him." "Oh, my God!" "Ryan!" "Ryan!" "Ryan!" "Ryan!" "Ryan!" "Ryan Stark." "Two last week." "He was on the merry-go-round in the yellow car." "His mum turned away for no more than 30 seconds, looked back and he was gone." "Where's the ride operator?" "He's having a pub lunch." "He left his 15-year-old son in charge." "Although he wasn't being in charge?" "He got distracted." "He doesn't remember the kid or the mum." "Kayla?" "This is DS Ronnie Brooks." "Kayla Stark." "Have you found Ryan yet?" "We've got a team working very hard on it." "The more you can tell us, the quicker we can find him." "Could Ryan have got down from the ride by himself?" "I dunno, he's been on it loads of times." "No, he wouldn't just get off." "Was anyone else with you?" "I was supposed to meet my ex, Jimmy, but he never showed." "Is Jimmy Ryan's Dad?" "Yeah." "And is that Ryan's toy?" "Yeah, he takes it everywhere." "Can't sleep without it." "We could use that." "The Police dogs can pick up Ryan's scent from that." "If you don't mind?" "Thanks." "Try not to worry, we'll do our very best to help you through it." "Karen?" "Yep." "Kayla, Karen will take you home, and get a few things and we'll meet you down at the station." "Right." "Snatching a kid from a ride right in front of his own mum." "This bastard's got balls." "Yeah, and I know what I'd like to do with them." "How can a kid get snatched in front of 20 witnesses and no one see anything?" "You know what it's like when you put your kid on a ride - they're having the time of their life, you're just watching your own kid, not anybody else's." "I bet half the mums and dads caught it on their phones." "Get Ange to go through all the photos and video footage we can get our hands on." "That'll be a problem." "She's trawling through all the CCTV footage." "The dad was supposed to make contact today." "You know, this is probably just a custody thing." "The dad apparently had access once a month, and he was meant to meet them at the merry-go-round" "20 minutes before Ryan was snatched." "He never showed up." "Maybe he did and she never saw him." "Yeah, well, if the Dad did take the kid, hopefully he's safe." "Yeah, right, because dads never harm their own kids, do they?" "All I'm saying, Matt, is if this is a custody thing then he's gonna look after the kid, take care of him." "He couldn't have left the country the missing child alert was actioned within the hour." "Kayla's waiting in there." "Karen's collected the kid's toothbrush for DNA, just in case, but let's rule out Dad before we consider any other options." "You've gotta find him before it gets dark." "He hates the dark." "Kayla, Ryan's dad, um..." "Jimmy." "Yeah, Jimmy." "Has he ever missed a visit before?" "No." "He's always on at me for extra visits." "Do you think he might've taken Ryan?" "He wouldn't." "Well, maybe...maybe he felt he wasn't getting enough time with Ryan." "I dunno." "And do you have a boyfriend now?" "No." "So it's just you and Ryannin the flat, and his dad comes and visits once a month?" "Yeah." "Look, Jimmy hasn't took Ryan." "He wouldn't." "Have you got a mobile?" "Course." "Did you take any pictures today of Ryan on the ride?" "No." "My card's full." "But you have photographs of Ryan on there, yeah?" "Er, yeah." "Um, I took..." "I took this one last week." "On his birthday." "Ryan's father is Jimmy Burton, 25, carpet fitter." "Uniform's been round his flat no one home." "And his mobile goes straight to answerphone, so does his home number." "So we're onto him." "We've got a search out for his car and we've added his details to Ryan's alert." "If he did take his kid and do a runner, someone must know what he was planning to do." "Maybe his best mate?" "Or the Grandma." "My Jimmy loves that boy enough for 10 dads." "And only gets to see him once a month?" "Yeah." "Being away from your kids can break a dad's heart." "Break the gran's heart an' all." "But grandparents don't have rights." "Why did Jimmy and Kayla split up?" "They was just kids themselves when they had Ryan." "They never stood a chance." "So was the break up amicable?" "Well, the only thing they argued about was Ryan." "Jimmy wanted to see more of him." "But Kayla didn't want that?" "She was all right about visits till six months ago, and she cut Jimmy's access down to once a month." "And that upset Jimmy?" "He told me he'd had it with her messing him about." "He wanted it sorted." "Enough to take Ryan?" "No, no." "He was doing it by the book." "He got himself a solicitor." "To get more access?" "To get custody." "Oh, no." "No, I know it looks bad but I swear to God," "Jimmy wouldn't do anything to mess up his chances of getting Ryan for good." "I reckon glamour gran's straight up." "So do I, but maybe Jimmy hasn't told her everything." "If he takes that kid without Kayla's permission, even for one day, the family court thing's gonna go against him." "Well, you don't know how it feels not to be able to see your kids, Matt." "No ta." "Sarah still not returned your calls, then?" "No." "She's probably busy, eh?" "I've been through all the footage covering the merry-go-round." "This is Kayla and Ryan arriving." "This is Kayla watching Ryan on the ride." "What about the ride itself, Ange?" "Can you see Ryan on it?" "If we could, we'd know who took him." "None of the cameras are clear enough to see who's on it." "And no sign of Jimmy Burton?" "I'm sorry." "Ryan's on the "at risk" register." "Five months ago, one of the Nursery staff called social services after spotting some bruising on his legs." "Kayla claims that he got it falling off the slide in the park." "Last visit was a week ago." "Ryan's case worker, Bernice Bradley's on holiday, so you'll have to wait for her last report but the rest are in there." "Why aren't the reports filed immediately after a visit?" "Bernie's got 15 cases on the go." "Can be a week or two before a caseworker gets time to write a report." "How long's Ryan been on the register?" "Five months." "He had some bruising but we think it was accidental." "Then why's he still on the register?" "His mum's on her own, she's vulnerable." "In what way?" "She's young, inexperienced, no family support." "She needed some help." "What kind of help?" "We got her some parenting classes." "She's doing really well." "So no major concerns over Ryan's welfare?" "With a bit more support from us she could be a really good mum." "Why didn't Kayla tell us about social services herself?" "Gov, her focus is on getting her kid back." "That's gonna be the last thing on her mind." "Any news on Jimmy?" "No sign of him." "You've spoken to his boss?" "And his work colleagues." "Everyone thinks he's a thoroughly decent blokes." "Gov, if he has got Ryan, maybe we can make him see sense to bring the boy in." "An appeal." "Yeah." "That way we can get to Jimmy directly." "We don't want to scare him off too much, he's already gone to ground." "Don't worry." "I'll get a psychologist to phrase the appeal in such a way that if Jimmy has got Ryan, he'll feel compelled to bring him in." "If you've got my Ryan, you need to bring him back." "We need him home with his family." "He needs his mum." "Please bring my baby back." "Ladies and gents, we're not taking any questions at this point." "Thank you." "If you think you've seen Ryan, please give us a call at the police incident room." "And if you've got Ryan," "Ryan's mum...and Dad love him very, very much, so just pick up the phone." "That's all you have to do." "We need Ryan back." "Thank you very much." "No questions today, thank you." "You'll have plenty of chances when we know a a bit more." "Was I all right?" "Yeah, you were great." "Most people find it really tough." "But did I look OK?" "Yeah." "Are we sure he's not just some nutter?" "Well, Reception checked his ID, they reckon he's legit." "Let's find out then, shall we?" "Have you found him yet?" "Jimmy Burton?" "Yeah." "Take a seat." "I came the minute I heard the appeal." "Please tell me he's safe." "Please tell me you've found my son." "This is crazy." "Why do you think I'd take him?" "Kayla said she was meant to meet you yesterday morning to collect Ryan." "Today." "Today I was meant to meet him." "She always gets it muddled up." "Where were you yesterday, Jimmy?" "Your boss told us you took the day off." "I was driving up to Birmingham, to meet this bloke." "Dan Tyler." "Dan runs this fathers' rights group." "He was gonna help me with my case." "To get custody of Ryan?" "It was all right at first." "Kayla let me take him every time she wanted a night out." "Every time there was a new bloke, she wanted Ryan out the way." "And what changed that?" "About six months ago she stopped returning my calls." "I went round her flat but she wouldn't answer the door." "After that, if I wanted to see Ryan I had to meet her somewhere public." "Like the merry-go-round?" "Cos we weren't married and she never put me on the birth certificate," "I got no rights to my own kid." "Can you believe that?" "Dad's alibi checks out, he's in the clear." "I've been on to the dog unit." "The only scent that they picked up must have been Kayla Stark's cos they followed it to the point where she gets into one of our cars." "Why didn't they pick up Ryan's scent?" "Kayla claims she washed the toy the night before Ryan went missing." "If he'd held it all morning, the dogs would have picked up his scent." "When my Sarah was a kid, she had this toy rabbit." "Went everywhere with her, ate with her, slept with her she watched the telly with it." "Even if she went on a bus, or in the car, or on a ride, who was sat in the seat next to her all the time?" "Every time?" "That rabbit." "So why wasn't this dinosaur toy thing on the ride with Ryan?" "It fell off and I picked it up." "Why didn't you give him back to him?" "No, I couldn't." "The ride was going round." "And Ryan didn't mind?" "No." "You said he was very attached to the toy." "A lot of kids would have screamed the place down had that happened to them." "He was enjoying the ride." "Thing is, Kayla...no one remembers Ryan being on the ride, or you putting him on it, or you paying for it." "We've looked at all the CCTV footage for the area and we can see you, Kayla, pushing the buggy, but we don't see Ryan in the buggy." "I don't understand." "Of course he's in it." "Have you erm, have you found his dad yet?" "Cos I've been thinking, and I reckon you might be right " "I reckon that Jimmy could've taken him." "Jimmy's here at the station, Kayla." "He doesn't have Ryan." "He might be lying." "I mean he could've took him up to his mum's." "She hates me." "She'd do anything to get back at me." "The only scent that the dogs found on the scene was yours." "It's like Ryan was never there." "That's because I washed Dino, innit?" "But when the liaison officer took you back to your flat to get your things, she took a couple of pillowcases from Ryan's bed and the dogs didn't pick his scent up on the ride or anywhere else." "Well, I washed them too." "Before you took Ryan out?" "The night before." "So where did Ryan sleep?" "We should be out there!" "Looking for him!" "Could you take me, Ronnie?" "Maybe if we go somewhere where I went before, maybe I can remember something, or find something that might help!" "We got all the data off her phone, and downloaded all the photos." "There's 60 of them." "Well, she said it was full." "No, the data card holds 500." "Why would she lie about that?" "Any photographs of Ryan on there?" "Only the one she showed you." "The other 59 are of this bloke." "Well, who's that?" "She said she didn't have a boyfriend at the minute." "Could be an ex." "Yeah, but, I mean that is at Ryan's birthday party last week." "Surely she'd have mentioned him?" "We checked the internet access on the phone." "She visited this website five times last week." "It's a discussion thread for illegal adoption." "Oh, you're joking." "She messaged a couple of forum members too." "Said she's got a two-year-old boy who she can't look after anymore." "So maybe Ryan was coming between her and lover boy." "Yeah." "If she didn't want him anymore, why didn't she just give him back to his dad?" "He wanted custody." "Spite maybe." "I mean, Jimmy's had trouble in the last six months getting to see Ryan, hasn't he?" "So..." "So she gives him away to a complete stranger?" "I'm sorry, doesn't make any sense." "You've never had the pleasure of walking down the aisle, have you?" "So many people can't have kids of their own." "But loads of kids get adopted legally." "It takes years that, doesn't it?" "And not every kid, by the way, is a two-year-old cute blonde boy." "So some desperate couple skips the red tape and she gets her freedom back." "If she wanted to give him away maybe she made up the abduction story just to cover her tracks." "We've got to get her talking." "She wanted me to go out there and help her find Ryan, so..." "I'd be happier if you talked to her here." "No, cos If Ron goes out and retraces her steps, we get to see the whole journey in detail." "And if there was a handover, maybe somebody saw something." "Well, all right." "But I want you on a wire." "We've got to cover our arses." "You and Jimmy don't get on, then?" "He doesn't like me having boyfriends in case Ryan likes them too much." "Maybe he's scared of losing Ryan for good." "I mean, you get married, Ryan gets a new dad." "I'm not getting married until I'm at least 25." "How comes you don't have a boyfriend?" "Pretty girl like you, they must be queuing up round the block.'" "'Yeah, cos they really wanna be lumbered with someone else's kid.'" "'Do you regret having Ryan so young?" "'" "Used to be all I ever wanted." "Be like them girls pushing prams round the estate, all proud." "I remember at school they did this talk about how hard it was to be a mum and we were all just like, whatever." "They even had one of them dolls, you know, that cries when it needs changing?" "Yeah." "Supposed to put you off having kids." "But it didn't put you off?" "When it was my turn to take it home, it was proper screaming at two o'clock in the morning " "I just took the batteries out." "'Well, you can't do that with a real baby.'" "'Wish I'd had a dad like you.'" "'I'm not sure my daughters would agree!" "'" "'They would if they had my dad.'" "My eldest daughter Sarah, she's er... ..she's sort of about your age." "She's expecting a baby." "You're gonna be a granddad." "Well, if she'll let me." "She's not returning my calls." "Why not?" "Because the dad she remembers chose a bottle of whisky over her and her sister." "So, where next?" "You don't drink now, then?" "Not for 2,198 days." "Your daughter not proud?" "It doesn't change the past, does it?" "And I'm not proud of that, so..." "Bet all she wants is a big hug from her dad." "Talk to me, Kayla." "Trust me." "I've kind of told you a white lie, Ronnie." "I have got a boyfriend." "We... ..we had a row before I come out." "What about?" "Jimmy." "And he doesn't like Jimmy seeing Ryan?" "He doesn't like me seeing Jimmy." "He got me to stop the visits." "Oh." "And sometimes I'd let Jimmy see Ryan in secret, but...if he found out, he'd go mental." "Does your boyfriend have a name?" "'Rob.'" "'Does Rob have a temper?" "'" "He doesn't like it when Ryan cries." "But kids cry." "You can't stop 'em." "Did he ever try and stop Ryan from crying?" "He couldn't think straight with all that noise." "That's what he said." "'I left the house about 10:30, come up the shops to buy fish fingers and chips for Ryan's tea.'" "When I met Rob I thought that he liked kids." "He's got enough of 'em." "How many kids has he got?" "Four." "He don't see 'em or nothing." "Must cost him a fortune in child support." "No, it's all right, he's on benefit so he don't pay or anything." "And where does Rob live?" "We're just down there." "Hang on a minute, so you live in Morden Rise with Rob?" "But I thought you lived in Tollington View." "I did." "But Rob wanted us to move into his place." "But your name's still on your old flat." "My mate lives there with her kid." "So the pillowcases and toothbrush, they weren't even Ryan's?" "'I'm sorry." "I lied.'" "Morden Rise." "All units to Morden Rise." "Sorry, babe." "I had to tell them what you done." "Stupid cow!" "Search the bedrooms." "Cuff him." "Robert Whitely, I'm arresting you on suspicion of kidnapping Ryan Stark." "No, nothing." "What have you done with Ryan, Kayla?" "Where is he?" "He's in heaven, Ronnie." "My baby boy is in heaven with the angels." "My client has prepared a statement which he would like to read out." "I left my flat at 13 Morden Rise at five." "My mate, Colin Woods, picked me up in his car and we drove to Milton Keynes where he lives." "We had a few drinks at his place and then went clubbing." "We were drinking all night, and didn't get to London until the next day." "Did you go into Ryan's room before you went out?" "No comment." "You say you were drinking heavily." "Do you remember coming home?" "No comment." "Do you have any memory of what you did when you got home?" "No comment." "Did you go into Ryan's bedroom when you got home?" "No comment." "Did you kill Ryan Stark?" "I never went near her bloody kid!" "Shut up, Rob." "My client has no further comments to make." "So, what are we talking here?" "Sustained abuse or a single attack?" "Well, there's evidence of ongoing neglect and injuries dating back six months." "And he never came to the attention of Social Services?" "This is the updated file." "Ryan was subject to a Child Protection plan for the last five months of his life." "Doesn't look like they did a very good job!" "They were on the back foot." "Social Services weren't aware that" "Kayla and Ryan were living with Whitely until after Ryan died." "They were running a benefit scam, claiming on two flats." "All Social Services visits happened at Kayla's flat." "So they had no idea Rob Whitely was on the scene?" "Exactly." "What was the cause of death?" "Suffocation." "We can't be sure how." "He had three cracked ribs and there was bruising on his back." "And we think during the attack" "Whitely pressed his full weight down onto Ryan." "The pathologist then reckoned that had that happened on a sofa or a bed," "Ryan could easily have suffocated." "Were both of them abusing him?" "Kayla knew what Whitely was up to, that's for sure, but it was definitely Whitely that was hurting the boy." "He had a sovereign ring when we arrested him." "We matched marks from Ryan's body to that ring." "Initially, Kayla claimed Whitely was abusing Ryan." "She changed her story?" "Not exactly." "When we arrested them and they got briefed up, their only words were "no comment."" "But Whitely did come up with some sort of an alibi, didn't he?" "Yeah." "Does it check out?" "We've got evidence of him being in a nightclub part of the night, but he easily had time enough to get back and kill Ryan." "So is this child cruelty resulting in death or is it murder?" "No, no, it is murder." "No doubt about it." "Kayla and Rob Whitely haven't made any attempt to explain how or why Ryan died." "That's to be expected." "Their legal advisors have made sure they don't incriminate themselves." "I can't promise we can secure a murder conviction, but I will do my best to make sure they both go to prison." "I've got journalists... ..banging my door down, day and night..." "..wanting my story." "All of a sudden everyone wants to hear what I got to say." "For the past six months... ..I've been begging someone to listen..." "..and all I heard was I got no right to see my own son." "I'm his dad." "I should've kept him safe." "You know murder is notoriously hard to prove in child cruelty cases." "The abuse speaks for itself." "A jury who sees the photographs will want to bring back hanging." "A life sentence is a soft option." "You think the Home Secretary wants a big expensive trial?" "What's the alternative?" "I'm not dropping the murder charge to save the Ministry of Justice a few quid, Henry." "Just make sure those two don't get bail." "Kayla was removed from her family at the age of five following chronic sexual abuse and physical violence at the hands of her alcoholic father." "Spare me the sob story." "I have a report here from a clinical psychologist specialising in women who collude with a partner's abuse." "It states that my client had "Developed a narcissistic attitude towards her son, viewing him as an extension of herself"." "So what are you saying?" "It wasn't her fault her son died?" "I'm saying her norms are radically different to yours or mine." "She's only worthy of cruelty, so that's how she treats her child." "And I can cite you women like Shy Keenan who endured the most horrific abuse but came out the other side a hero not an abuser." "It's a choice." "Not if it affects her fitness to plead." "History of abuse has no bearing on fitness to plead." "She's as sane as any one of us, and you know it." "Sane maybe, but she also has severe learning difficulties and the IQ of a 10-year-old child." "Well, 10 is the age of criminal responsibility so we're good to go." "You really don't remember me, do you?" "I'm sorry, should I?" "Phone number on the bedside table would've been nice." "Defence are going to argue if Kayla Stark hadn't been a victim of abuse, none of this would've happened." "An abusive childhood might be convenient mitigation but it isn't an excuse for murder." "She deserves to go to prison." "Any juror will see they deserve jail time, but what they did needs explaining." "These are the wrong defendants to get all touchy feely over." "They end up in psych units, the Home Secretary'll hang us all out to dry." "I think we need to cover ourselves and order our own psych evaluations." "Because her brief found a psychiatrist who claims Kayla Stark has a low IQ?" "Because we need to be one step ahead of defence." "And don't you wanna know why they killed Ryan?" "If we don't ask why, who will?" "Substitute psychology for morality and our jobs become obsolete." "Deny they had a choice, you deny responsibility." "So you really don't care why?" "Not in this case, no." "All I care about is convicting one of them for the murder of a child." "If we push for a murder trial we could lose." "There isn't enough evidence to prove which one of them killed Ryan." "She's right." "If we can't prove which one killed the boy, there's sufficient reasonable doubt to see them both walk." "We could consider a manslaughter charge, try and get them to plead guilty." "We may not get them to plead at all." "Whitely and Stark's briefs have joined forces." "They've applied for a fitness to plead hearing." "Sorry Mr Browning, I have no doubt Robert Whitely is fit to plead." "I have some concerns, however, regarding Kayla Stark's IQ and her learning difficulties." "Has she the mental ability to follow the proceedings?" "We try 10-year-old children for murder without regard to their ability to follow proceedings." "I'm not interested in debating the age of criminal responsibility, only in Kayla Stark's ability to understand what she's pleading to." "The psychiatric evaluations suggest that she doesn't, m'Lord." "So on the say so of two psychiatrists who've seen her for five minutes, we go from murder to nothing in less than an hour!" "If she's not fit to plead, she's not fit to plead." "It's not rocket science." "Which is fortunate as none of us are rocket scientists." "There is also my defendant's family history to take into consideration." "Which you can introduce in trial but bears no relevance to this hearing." "Indeed, Mr Thorne." "According to reports, she is not suffering from mental illness." "So, the only issue is her IQ and her learning difficulties." "She was capable of concocting a story that her child had been abducted." "Low IQ or not, she is quite capable of standing trial." "I'm sorry, Miss Dyer, I'm with the Crown on this." "Anyone capable of weaving such an elaborate web of lies is capable of entering a plea." "The charges stand." "Trial will commence on Monday." "What do you reckon?" "10 minutes before one of them caves?" "15 if they've got any self respect." "Yvette or Gregor?" "Yvette, definitely." "I reckon Gregor secretly wants the glory of a high profile trial." "Yvette actually cares about her clients." "Jake!" "And she fancies you." "We'll plead guilty to causing or allowing the death of a child." "Great news." "It'll help us secure the murder conviction." "If you drop the murder charge." "Even if she pleads to the lower charge, she could still end up in prison for life." "So we all rest easy." "Except for Ryan's dad." "Oh, come on, Jake." "Accept the plea and we'll give you Whitely gift wrapped." "Kayla will turn QE?" "She'll give you every last detail you need to crucify Whitely and put him away for murder." "Ronnie." "I've heard you've accepted a plea from Kayla Stark." "She pleaded guilty to causing or allowing the death of a child." "She was sentenced this morning, five year tariff." "We charged her with murder on joint enterprise." "We've got no evidence to prove which one killed Ryan." "We put them both in that dock, their briefs'll cry reasonable doubt and they can walk." "I know why you did it, but it's just a matter of time before Whitely's brief comes knocking at your door for the same deal." "If you accept Whitely's plea, they could both be out in five years." "Please, please tell me you think more of that little boy's life than that." "You've been a copper long enough to know how the law works, Ronnie." "Long enough to hope that if I charge someone with murder, they will be tried for murder." "Ronnie, you have my word, with Kayla's evidence, I can try Whitely with murder and send him to prison for life." "Did my client, Robert Whitely, ever confess to killing Ryan Stark?" "No." "So all you have is his ex-girlfriend Kayla Stark's claim that he did?" "Well, she was very clear about who killed her son." "These claims Kayla made were offered up during a little walk you took together?" "Yes they were, but we went out together to retrace her steps." "Ah." "I thought you took her out to ask her personal, probing questions about her love life." "I was trying to find out if Ryan was at risk from someone else." "And did you tell her she was pretty?" "My learned friend is deviating into fantasy land, m'Lord." "His insinuation DS Brooks, an officer with an impeccable record, had some ulterior motive is beyond ridiculous." "Withdrawn, m'Lord." "Let me ask you one more time, DS Brooks, so we are completely clear, during the course of the police interviews, did Robert Whitely at any time say he was responsible for Ryan's death?" "No." "No further questions, m'Lord." "Re-examination, m'Lord." "Am I right in assuming that other than a brief statement setting out his alibi, the defendant said nothing more than "no comment"" "while he was in police custody?" "Apart from one abusive remark, yes." "And am I also right in assuming when you went out with Kayla Stark on this search for Ryan, you were under the assumption that Ryan had been illegally adopted?" "Evidence suggested that Kayla had given Ryan away." "So we thought by retracing her steps, we could find some new witnesses." "So the only reason you took this unorthodox approach was because you believed there was a slim chance of finding Ryan alive, and you might rescue him?" "Well, we had hoped that that was the case, yes." "Thank you, Detective Sergeant, you've been most helpful." "Did Whitely attack Ryan the night he died?" "I was in bed...and Ryan was crying." "Rob went into Ryan's room." "I heard him shouting." "I heard Ryan - he was crying and then he stopped." "When I went to get Ryan up in the morning," "I knew he was dead." "I was scared." "Jimmy was supposed to see him the next day." "I panicked." "And pretended Ryan had been abducted?" "Yeah." "So there is no doubt in your mind that your son was alive when Robert Whitely entered his room that night and dead when he left it?" "No doubt at all." "You pleaded guilty to "causing or allowing" Ryan's death." "Did anyone else allow Ryan's death?" "Did anyone else know about Ryan's injuries?" "His social worker, Bernie Bradley, she knew." "Is my learned friend simply hurling mud left, right and centre and seeing where it lands, or does this bear any relevance to the question of his client's guilt?" "Make your point, Mr Browning." "There were 23 separate visits or meetings with social workers who came into your home and asked you questions about Ryan's injuries?" "Yeah." "So how is it possible that Ryan continued to suffer abuse?" "I covered it up." "To protect your boyfriend?" "No to protect Ryan." "I grew up in care." "I know what them places are like." "I was afraid they'd take him away from me." "And these social workers, they believed your lies?" "I dunno." "They wanted to get out of my house as quick as they could." "That Bernie Bradley woman said my flat smelled." "She didn't want to conduct further visits to a child with inexplicable repeated serious injuries because your flat smelled?" "!" "That's right." "And did she come on a visit the week before Ryan died?" "And how long did Bernie Bradley stay?" "She didn't." "She was on the doorstep a minute or so." "Did she see Ryan?" "He was asleep." "So a week before Ryan's death, this senior social worker, responsible for Ryan's welfare, conducted this final visit and then walked away without even seeing him?" "!" "Yeah." "No further questions my Lord." "Gregor did a good job of making Ryan's social worker sound culpable." "Yeah, maybe she had a role in Ryan's death but you can't lay the blame on a bureaucratic system." "Even if they failed to protect a child?" "Social Services have already sacked Bernice Bradley to save their own skins." "Gregor's turning this into a witch hunt." "If he causes enough confusion, the jury won't know who to blame." "Aren't you the one responsible for Ryan Stark's death?" "I mean, you're the social worker who saw him 23 times and between your visits he was battered senseless." "Kayla Stark hid what was going on." "She lied about where she was living." "Wasn't it your job to dig a little deeper?" "A week before he died, I sent Ryan's case for review so care proceedings could be considered." "It's not in the file." "There was an administrative error in the department." "My written request was misfiled by a temp." "Are you telling this court the life of an abused child was in the hands of a temp?" "Our department was already short staffed before our funding was cut." "You were there, were you not?" "You didn't notice Ryan's case hadn't come up for review?" "I thought about that little boy all the time." "And yet you didn't help him." "I went there the night he died!" "There's no record of any visit that night." "It was out of hours." "I turned up at the address on the file and she wasn't there." "Her old neighbour told me where she was now living," "I went round there and I told her I was issuing care proceedings." "Are you 100 per cent certain this impromptu doorstep visit took place the night Ryan died and not the week before?" "100 hundred percent." "It was my birthday and I spent it writing a report stating she was living at Whitely's." "I posted it through the office door at 5am before I got my flight to Spain." "And it never went into the file?" "It was added to the request to issue care proceedings." "Which got misfiled." "By the time it was found, I'd been summarily dismissed." "I did everything in my power to protect that little boy." "You have to believe me." "Thanks a lot, Bernie." "Kayla lied about the last visit." "She said in court that Bernie came round the week before Ryan died." "Which she did." "The last official visit at Kayla's old flat was the week before Ryan's death." "But the doorstep visit was at Whitely's flat and happened the night Ryan died." "You'd remember if your social worker came round the night your kid died." "So, what else has she been lying about?" "Ronnie?" "It's Jacob Thorne." "What exactly did you say to Kayla Stark to get her to open up to you?" "The night Bernie Bradley came round and you spoke to her on your doorstep, was Rob there?" "He was out clubbing." "We'd had a row." "He didn't come back till the next day." "So the visit took place at Rob Whitely's flat?" "Not your old flat, like all the other Social Services visits?" "Yeah." "Well, she'd found out I was living there, hadn't she?" "Some busybody mouthing off." "What time did he go out and what time did he return?" "He went out about eight." "Got back the next morning about 10, just before I went out." "Where did you go?" "Where did you go?" "I don't remember." "You went to the corner shop, didn't you?" "You bought fish fingers." "You went to the park, then you went to the merry-go-round in Bermondsey." "No, I didn't." "Not that day." "Then you raised the alarm that your son was missing, claiming that he'd been snatched from the merry-go-round." "Isn't that the case?" "You've got it wrong." "Bernice Bradley has told this court she went round to Whitely's flat and told you she was issuing care proceedings on the night Ryan died." "She remembers quite distinctly because it was her birthday." "You told the court that Rob was out the night Bernie made her visit which tallies with his alibi that he was clubbing in Milton Keynes." "According to the pathology report, Ryan died between 10pm and 6am." "If Robert Whitely wasn't at home during these hours, how did Ryan die?" "He went in his room before he went out." "I wasn't lying." "No, you weren't lying, Kayla, but you weren't telling us the whole truth either, were you?" "You told this court you went into Ryan's room at 8 the next morning to get him up, but you went in before that, didn't you?" "He was in so much pain." "You suffered extensive abuse at the hands of your own father, didn't you, Kayla?" "It must have been heartbreaking, seeing Ryan suffer like you did?" "I had to make it stop." "Of course you did." "That's what mums do, isn't it?" "Try and take away their child's suffering." "What did you do?" "Talk to me, Kayla." "Trust me." "They were gonna take him into care." "I..." "I got a pillow..." "..and I put it on his face..." "..till he stopped moving." "I..." "I just wanted him to be safe." "I'm sorry." "Jimmy, Jimmy..." "I'm so sorry." "Kayla's pleading guilty to the murder charge." "She knows she'll go to prison?" "She incriminated herself in open court." "She's hardly got options." "Henry will be thrilled you've saved the MOJ the cost of another trial." "And they can sentence her along with Whitely, so, two for the price of one." "And you don't have to spar with me across the court room for the next few weeks." "Result." "Blue tulip... left shoulder blade." "Some things I don't forget." "Kayla Stark, you have pleaded guilty to murder." "I have no other option than to sentence you to life in prison for the minimum term of 20 years." "Robert Whitely, you have been found guilty of causing or allowing the death of a child." "It is my belief you played a major role in the death of that child and had he not been moved into your home, he would still be alive now." "I therefore sentence you to a term of imprisonment for public protection with a minimum term of eight years." "Take them down." "Jake!" "Thank you." "We did the right thing." "Yeah, we did." "Do you fancy a pint?" "I can't tonight." "Er..." "Actually, I've got plans." "I'm seeing my daughter." "Another time." "Yeah?"