Play@YSDC

Kris doesn't think there would be a problem with a psychiatrist giving evidence on behalf of Johnny Zero, either as a professional witness (because they've treated him), or as an expert witness. The fact that the psychiatrist has also assessed and treated Simon in the past shouldn't affect things, that's why they're a professional.

But a more disturbing thought occurs to him. If the psychiatrists decide that Johnny is mentally ill, say because he talks about the Passover Angel and the end of the world like Simon did, the court might try and detain him to a hospital for a more detailed psychiatric assessment rather than send him to prison. Kris can't remember the exact details, it's been a while since he had to deal with this sort of thing, but it's something like Section 35 of the Mental Health Act for assessment and Section 36 for treatment. He has a vague sense that a Magistrates' Court can't order this for someone who hasn't been convicted and that it might need to go to the Crown Court. But still, there's a chance Johnny could end up in a hospital rather than a prison in the next few days or weeks. However much security a forensic psychiatric hospital might have, it is a lot less secure than a prison.

Simon is disappointed--and annoyed-- but decides not to push his luck. He's starting to see why Johnny turned to a life of crime however, with a mother that seemed willing to excuse his actions.

"In my considerable experience, many otherwise... `good boys` are prime targets for indoctrination, but If I can't convince you,so be it. Thank you for your time, and I hope things work out for your son.." He gives a nod and walks away to join the others.

If there's still time before the hearing starts, Jocelyn checks in with Kris and Simon.

Kris made his way back to the others. ”We may have a bit of a problem,” he said. “The shrink who was treating Simon is here. Looks like he’s here as a professional witness. Trouble is, if Johnny comes across as mad rather than bad, the judge could order him detained under the Mental Health Act, so he’d go to hospital, rather than jail. Normally that would be a secure unit, it may depend upon how ‘unwell’ the judge thinks he is.”

"Nasty fellow," Simon huffs indignantly. "And not all that smart. Of course he'd play right into their hands. I'm quite confident our case is solid enough to keep Mr. Zero in custody. But it occurs to me that having him transferred to the hospital may not be the worst thing. Do we think Balfour would send people to break him out? If we can catch them in the middle of such an attempt, we've got a great justification for shutting down Balfour's service and placing him under more scrutiny. DI Malone seemed surprisingly amenable to many of our other arguments, so perhaps we should ask for added security if he's transfered to such a place. The church won't be expecting it, especially if we push hard for him to stay in prison... yes, the more I think of it, the more this seems like a win win," he asserts. "Either Johnny stays in jail where he belongs or we can lay a trap for his friends if they expect to help him escape from the hospital.

"Oh, and I spoke to Johnny's mother... I'm sorry to say she's useless. Unsuprised, however. My research led me to anticipate this." He looks like nothing would please him more than to launch into an extensive explanation of said research, but he has (just) enough social awareness to realize this is not the time.

Jocelyn tells the others about her conversation with the prosecutor. "I think he's in over his head," she says. "He's younger than I am, and the solicitor Balfour hired to represent Johnny must earn many times what he does. Balfour's up to something, all right. I don't think we should let him get Johnny sent to hospital. He can get to him there, and we shouldn't give him the chance. I think it's more likely that he'll try to have him killed than that he'll try to bust him out. They'd probably try to make it look like a suicide. Do we have a name for this psychiatrist? If we can find out more about him, we could feed the prosecutor information to help discredit him."

"His name was...Choudhury, I believe. Awful sense of fashion as well." Simon sniffs. "I intend to file a complaint as to his lack of professionalism once it is clear I have been right about everything from the start."

”Having him arrested by the fashion police can be Plan B,” said Kris through gritted teeth. “In the meantime, we’ll have to be one our toes to counter any arguments that Choudhry makes to have Johnny sent to the funny farm.”

"Maybe we can make him look bad on the stand," says Jocelyn. "Let's do a quick online search on him and see if we can find out anything that might discredit him and feed it to the prosecutor. He must have a history. Everyone does."

”Let’s have a look, shall we?” said Kris pulling out his phone and starting a search.

Computer Use (65%) 1d100

Kris’ thumbs moved across his phone keys like a blur. ”It looks like we’ve got something…” he said.

"Excellent work, Mr. Sapru!" Exclaims Simon, offering the man a hearty pat on the back. "Let's destroy this bugger, " He sounds rather gleeful. "For the investigation, of course."

"I'll introduce you to the prosecutor," says Jocelyn. "You can tell him what you found."

Kris finds a few references to Dr Michael Choudhury and even a photograph that confirms it's him. Most of the articles are unremarkable, news reports of court cases, the journalists seeming to take great delight in describing Choudhury's eccentric appearance. But there's one story that comes up in the Northampton Chronicle & Echo from 2005:

A doctor responsible for failings in woman's care in private mental health unit suspended for a year.

It comes after a Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) decided Dr Michael Choudhury's fitness to practice was impaired.

Dr Choudhury was responsible for 23 failings contributing to the death of Angela Montrose, 43, in 2002.

Angela was allowed to discharge herself from St Andrews Hospital in Northampton despite being admitted only days earlier following a suicide attempt.

The MPTS met in London and heard Mrs Montrose died by hanging after leaving her house at night and going to local woods where she committed suicide.

'Blind spot'

It was found Dr Choudhury failed to adequately consider the risk of Mrs Montrose leaving the locked psychiatric ward and also failed to make any risk assessments for her.

Dr Choudhury was noted to have a "blind spot" when it came to Mrs Montrose's devout religious faith, with the tribunal noting that he was dismissive of her fear of being "evil" and "punished by God" because of his own dismissive attitude towards religious beliefs.

In a statement, Dr Choudhury expressed his regrets at the events around Mrs Montrose's death and committed to undertaking religious sensitivity training.

-----

Jocelyn introduces Simon and Kris to the CPS lawyer who is standing talking with an assistant. 'Officer Leigh, it looks like we'll be called in shortly.'

Kris shared with the others what he had found. ”I think we can play this two ways,” he said quietly. ”Let’s see what he says about Johnny when he gets on the stand.”

"We don't really have a choice about that," says Jocelyn. "When the defense calls him as a witness, they get to ask him questions first. After that, when our side cross examines him, is when his credibility can be destroyed on the stand."