Play@YSDC

Monday morning, 15th March 2010, High Wycombe Police Station

Two days since Regina Balfour was rescued.

Stopping off at the Yew Tree, they take a few minutes of hammering on the door to wake the decorator. He looks knackered and reeks of stale alcohol. 'Oh, it's you. Thought you'd have sent someone last night,' he grumbles. Jocelyn throws him the keys and joins Kris and Simon in their tour through the greatest hits of the Canadian chanteuse.

-----

At the station there's a diesel generator chugging away in the car park and the power is back on. In the incident room half the computers are gone and lots of the evidence has been boxed up and stacked in the corner. There's no sign of Malone but DC Burke is leaning over the shoulder of a young female uniformed officer, a leering smile on his face.

Burke looks up as they walk in. 'Where the fuck have you been Sapru? There's about a tonne of paperwork here with your name on it.'

"The power went out in Slough too," says Jocelyn. "The outages are spreading. Any updates on the case?"

”Professional as ever,” Kris snapped back at Burke. He glanced at the young WPC then back at Burke and said slyly, ”How’re the IPCC getting on with that sexual harassment case?”

'Fuck off Kris,' retorts Burke. He reluctantly takes one final look down the uniformed officer's top, before hauling himself over to another computer.

'Case is over. All solved. We're closing everything down. Time for DC Sapru to stop pissing about playing RoboCop and do some paperwork.' He starts booting up the desktop, 'Still no internet so we've only got the local files,' he grumbles. 'But plenty for you and your consultants to be getting those reports started.' He glances up at their blank faces, 'Oh, and the DI left something for you, it's over there.' He points to an A4 manila envelope sitting on an otherwise empty table.

Kris strolls over, he notes it isn't addressed. He rips it open. There's a single sheet of A4 paper, printed rather than handwritten, unsigned. It is a series of bullet points:

- JZ - Banbury custody - bail hearing AM - unlikely
- RB - S44 EPO - lost parent copy - appeal in 72hrs
- Rev B - Ch Insp go for 2 man surv team - 24hrs only - Grey & Adebayo depld

Kris knows that S44 EPO means that there's an Emergency Protection Order under Section 44 of the Children Act, sounds like Malone did talk to Goldfarb and she's got a court order to keep Regina in an emergency placement, at least for the next few days. Looks like Goldfarb 'forgot' to file notice to the Balfours so they'll still have a chance to appeal if they find out - they have 72hrs to do so.

He also knows that Chris Adebayo is a pretty diligent if somewhat pedestrian uniformed officer who sometimes helps out the CID on surveillance and other special assignments. Ollie Grey of course he's all to familiar with, looks like Malone might have authorised carrying a firearm on this stakeout. They must have got through to him on some level!

Without looking at Burke but holding up a middle finger in his direction, Kris showed the note to Jocelyn and Simon. ”A bit of progress,” he said, explaining the details.

Simon is mollified somewhat by this news. "Looks like Regina will be safe, at least. I suppose we can hope that it's enough to deter Balfour-- he is a narcissist after all, and no doubt he'd like to sacrifice his own child to prove he's the Lord's favored or some such.Though it's not something I believe we can rely on. If we had the time I'd suggest making a list of all the church members with young children, but I doubt we have the time or, frankly, ability to observe all of them the day of the ritual.

"Zero's also likely to stay in jail, even with Balfour's high priced lawyer, which is also a positive; he strikes me as one of Balfour's most trusted agents, and he was trying to do something for him yesterday. Perhaps we should try and get his mother in here to talk some sense into him. She was a definite sore spot for him. But on the other hand he may be too far gone to consider flipping now. It may be worth a try, but I'd not get our hopes up.

"I don't know about this surveillance team but I assume they're good, dependable agents. Is it worth giving either of them a heads up about what to expect?"

"It does say Johnny Zero is unlikely to get bail," says Jocelyn, "but we might want to make sure. I know my testimony of his actions during the pursuit could be helpful in making certain he stays locked up for good. Plus, his mother is likely to be there, so we could talk to her there. Then we can join in on the surveillance. It's a shame it was only authorised for 24 hours, but we can take over once Grey and Adebayo are done. Kris, you'd know them better than we would. We may also want to talk to Lucy at some point today."

”Making sure Zero stays behind bars seems to the first place to start,” replied Kris. “Grey and Adebayo are solid, but we might try to swing past to talk to them, brief them on what we know.”

Can Kris try calling the CPS to find out what time the hearing is?

Kris calls up Banbury Magistrates' Court and finds out that Johnny's case is listed to be heard at 10am. Given what he's been accused of it wouldn't be surprising if his case was sent to the Crown Court for trial. Then the Magistrate would just have to decide on bail, which seems unlikely given he was attempting to escape from the police.

"Sounds as though normal conditions would indicate he'd stay in jail, but I would wager most who did what he did are not represented by such high priced solicitors." Simon points out. "I don't think it can hurt to swing by and try to make sure he remains behind bars. I'm more concerned as to why Balfour is going to such lengths to spring him, however. My best assessment is that he's deathly afraid of Johnny flipping-- given what he knows-- and is pulling out all the stops to convince the man to stay silent. I wish we could find a way to get him talking, but he's a brick wall. He's willing to condemn himself and countless other people to hell to satisfy Balfour, who is probably some sort of a twisted father figure to him. The only vulnerability I see is his mother, and I'm not convinced even she could sway him."

"That's a good point," says Jocelyn. "Balfour will want to make sure he doesn't talk. That's presumably why he hired that expensive solicitor. He may even go so far as to kill Johnny if he thinks he's said too much. We'd better get down there, just in case. His mother may very well be there. I'll drive."

Kris went off to see if there was a car they could use…

Civilian contractors run the service vehicle pool at the police station. They share a look of alarm as Kris wanders down looking for a vehicle. 'Ah, Kris, what happened to your own car?' one of them asks, knowingly.

”I left it parked in a tree, thanks to the blackout last night,” said Kris. “I’ll try and look after this one a bit better. But you seem to have got word about that anyway, so shall we skip the chat so I can get on with my work?” He smiled thinly.

'Sure, your car's in the pound when you want it back. I'm sure we can waive the recovery fee.' She returns his weak smile. 'But seriously, you're getting a bit of a reputation. Please take care of this one'

She points out a white Astra. Unmarked. But it's clearly seen better days. Kris gets the feeling he's not popular with the car pool guys. He can't imagine why, he's only crashed one service vehicle. And his own car. But then Jocelyn managed to smash up her own car and the Rev Balfour's. Actually, they are going through vehicles at quite a rate aren't they?

Kris eyed up the Astra. ”Thanks,” he said dryly, then pocketed the keys and went off to find Jocelyn and Simon.

"Ready to go, then?"asks Simon.

”Yeah,” replied Kris. ”Let’s go and see what Johnny’s got to say to the judge.”

"I'll drive," says Jocelyn. "I'm unlikely to wreck it, and if the worst does happen, they won't be able to blame it on you."

”I suppose so,” grumbled Kris. He’d rather have driven but had to admit that his career probably couldn’t stand another car crash… a term that his career was rapidly coming to resemble, if he cared to dwell on it…

It takes the best part of an hour to drive from High Wycombe to Banbury, Jocelyn doing the job without any complications. They arrive at the Banbury Police Station, a standard nondescript redbrick municipal building. With crap parking. Eventually Jocelyn manages to find a space out the front and they report inside.

The Magistrate's Court is in a rather more attractive building of soft yellow Cotswold limestone that sits alongside the station. In fact the courthouse used to be the police station until the more modern building was constructed a few decades ago. The holding cells for the court are still accessed via the basement of the police station, through a maze of narrow, winding low-ceilinged corridors. Custody is now run by private sector contractors and Kris leads the way, sidling up to the custody desk, and asking about Johnny Zero. Apparently he's been a model prisoner. And his hearing is expected in the next hour or so.

”Model prisoner?! Don’t you believe it!” said Kris, shaking his head. ”Keep a close eye on him, he can’t be trusted!”

Moving away from the desk, he said to the others, ”I don’t know if you want to get a coffee or something. I’m going to take a walk around the building, just checking to make sure there are no familiar faces hanging around.”

"Good idea," says Jocelyn. "I'll check in with the prosecutor. My testimony could be helpful in making sure he stays locked up, since I witnessed what he did during his attempted flight."

"A shame we can't get the old woman he assaulted here to testify," Simon adds. "I worry Ms Acharya can find a loophole to get him out, but it may be tough even for her, given his record. Hopefully the word of both of my esteemed colleagues keeps him behind bars."

Kris takes a stroll through the court buildings, he's spent plenty of time here when he was covering a beat in Oxford as a uniformed constable. The surroundings and personnel are familiar and comfortable, a few of the usual suspects in for minor drug charges, the same old legal aid lawyers, defending the indefensible for a few quid, the haggard looking CPS prosecutors, desperately trying to familiarise themselves with a case before going before the bench of magistrates.

Roll me a Spot Hidden to see if there's anything out of place

-----

Pointing out the gaggle of CPS lawyers, Kris leaves Jocelyn with a gangly young man who looks about twelve. He tells her that he is the lead CPS prosecutor on the Johnny Zero case. 'Just a formality really. We're going to charge Johnny with Possession of a Prohibited Weapon, Resisting Arrest, and a couple of assault charges for good measure. It'll get committed to the Crown Court and we'll push for five years on the Possession charge. Don't worry, Mr Allen won't be going anywhere.'

-----

What's Simon doing?

"I just wanted to make sure," says Jocelyn. "He has a high-priced, high-powered solicitor for which someone else paid. I can testify about the assaults if needed."

The number for Johnny's mother rings and rings. Just as Simon is about to hang up there's a hesitant answer, 'Yes?'

"Good day madame Allen." Simon says. "Dr. Templeton here. We met briefly the other day concerning the matter with your son, Johnny. I was wondering if you were planning to attend his bail hearing today. I won't sugarcoat it... your son is in a good deal of trouble, but I think you're the only one who may be able to help him avoid making a terrible mistake." He lowers his voice. "I know Reverend Balfour may seem like a good influence considering his former crowd, but I'm sorry to say he's even worse. I cannot give full details, but let me just say that he's on a terror watchlist and our recent investigation has only reaffirmed that that was the correct decision. He's now paying for a very high priced solicitor to get Johnny out of jail, but I fear this is an attempt to buy your son's silence... or keep him complicit in some horrid acts."

"I'll be blunt. I'd like you to come by and speak with Johnny. Try to convince him to turn on Balfour. You're the only one he may listen to. I know I'm placing you in a difficult position, but if your son remains loyal to Balfour it's not going to end well for him. In addition, I'm a criminal psychologist. I know what evil looks like. And I don't see that in Johnny. I see a young man who has made a lot of mistakes, but someone who is desperate to believe and be part of something greater. And I think Reverend Balfour exploited that. If we can reach your son, I pledge to do everything in my power to ensure he gets a light sentence and has a chance to turn his life around. I solved the Thorndike murder a year ago, if you remember that one, so my word does carry some weight with the authorities."

'It is Joyce Williams to you son,' snaps the voice at the end of the phone. 'I suppose you're with those two detectives that paid me an unannounced visit yesterday.'

There's a long pause.

'You don't need to tell me what trouble my son is in. This isn't my first day in court with him. I'm already here if you want to meet up with me.'

-----

At the mention of Ms Acharya, the young lawyer winces. 'Yes, well. I'm sure it will all be just fine.'

This guy looks young and inexperienced and he seems nervous. Like he's not as confident as he pretends to be.

-----

Strolling around the courthouse, Kris eventually sees Ms Acharya in a huddle with a couple of other people. Catching sight of her face he sees she's got quite a smug look. A couple of the party look like assistants and junior lawyers but two others stand out. One is a short south Asian man in his forties, smartly dressed in a pinstripe suit with a cane. Perhaps the barrister retained by Carter-Ruck, but even by their standards his appearance is eccentric. Beside him is a massive man, well over six foot in an ill-fitting suit. He's in his fifties with olive skin, five o'clock shadow, and thinning dark hair. He looks more like a criminal enforcer than a lawyer.

"I hope so," says Jocelyn, "but I'd like to help if I can all the same."

Psychology roll (55% skill) about the lawyer:
d%

Simon's is taken aback by Joyce's tone, and he instinctively lowers his head like a scolded child. "Of course," He says. "Just let me know where you are and I'll be happy to meet up with you." Assuming she does so, he goes to find her.

Kris studied the two men, trying to work out if he’d seen them before.

Idea roll (70%) 1d100

There's something about the two men that seems familiar to Kris, but he can't put his finger on it. But the guy in the pinstripe suit with a cane, that does seem an awful lot like the description of the psychiatrist that Simon was raving about, the words supercilious and self-satisfied come back to him from Simon's rants. Kris can certainly see why someone might say that about the eccentrically dressed man.

-----

'Don't worry about a thing,' says the young lawyer. 'We've got this one in the bag Officer Leigh.'

-----

Simon meets up with Joyce Williams outside the cafe. He recognises her from some way off, a short black woman in her fifties or sixties dressed in a severe tweed skirt suit and a frown big enough to be seen from space. 'So what do you want boy?'

"Good day Ms. Williams," Simon offers his hand."Let em extend my condolences to you; I know this is not a situation any mother wishes to find herself in, even if you have sadly grown accustomed to it. Can I get you a drink?" He offers.

Once they've settled down, he continues. "It's essentially what I mentioned on the phone. Reverend Balfour is essentially a cult leader, and he's got his hooks in your son. He knew exactly what insecurities your boy had and played on them; I've seen this sort of behavior much in my line of work.

"I meant what I said on the telephone. We're concerned what Balfour's planning and think he's trying to pressure Johnny to cover for him. You may have seen the solicitor he hired; very highly regarded and good at her job. I believe this is a way of trying to ensure he maintains your son's loyalty, because Balfour knows he knows things that could bring him down-- and because we believe him to be on the reverend's business when he was arrested this last time.

He leans in. "All we'd like you to do is talk to your son. Try and gently convince him to flip on Balfour. You may be the only person he loves more than him. Balfour's church is very fire and brimstone, and he preaches how all first born must die to usher in a paradise. It's disconcerting rhetoric, and though I can't say much, we've reason to believe he may intend to take action in this direction in the coming days. Your son told me he would openly be willing to go to hell in an effort to bring Balfour's vision about. I've heard this sort of language from radicalized suicide bombers and the like. It's disturbing and won't lead anywhere good."

"In short, I'd like you to speak with your son and try to talk some sense into him. I know you've no doubt been trying that his entire life, but you're our last hope. I don't know if you have siblings or are first born, but point out the fate that would await you under Balfour's utopia, and that he's essentially taking a fall for him. We need a way to shake his unbreakable faith, and I believe you may be the only one who can do it. If you can get through to him, I swear to do everything in my power and those of my police contacts to get him the minimum sentence possible. I have given you a lot of doom and gloom here, but I do firmly believe your son is trying to turn his life around. He just had the misfortune of falling prey to a charismatic cult leader. "

1d100 If needed. Persuade 39

"All right," says Jocelyn. "I'll be observing all the same. If there's time before the proceeding starts, I'll keep an eye on our surroundings until then and check in with my colleagues."

Kris switched his attention to the bigger man, the one that looked a bit like an ogre shoehorned into his Sunday best.

Did he recognise him?

Joyce Williams looks at Simon's outstretched hand impassively, and doesn't take it. She shakes her head at his offer of a drink but sits down with Simon to hear what he has to say. The longer he talks the more alarmed she becomes. 'Oh no. the Reverend Balfour is, well, very Old Testament, if you know what I mean. But terrorism? No, no, I don't think so. John is a good boy, deep down, underneath it all I mean. I can't believe he would get involved in anything like that. No. Not at all.'

-----

'Be my guest Officer Leigh, you are welcome to watch proceedings,' says the lawyer.

-----

Again, there's something about the big man that seems familiar to Kris, like something on the tip of his tongue, but he can't quite place him. Simon did say something about a big psychiatrist, or social worker, someone big anyway, when he was moaning about his experiences in the Emergency Department in Reading.

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."

"I can attest, he was greatly amused by all of the 'delusions' he felt I was experiencing," Simon sniffs. He's still not sure if Balfour has some sort of supernatural power--the very notion seemed absurd!-- but he's seen enough to know the man either does or possesses some sort of technology that can expertly mimic such. Either way, he is greatly dangerous.

The case is called and the CPS lawyer goes into the court. A clerk leads Kris, Jocelyn, and Simon into the public gallery. The court itself is typical of a provincial magistrates' court, all fake wood panelling and municipal gloom. At the back of the room there is a long table, elevated above the rest of the seating, behind which sit three magistrates in their suits. Two men and a woman. All aged in their fifties or sixties. They look almost bored. Another table sits in front of the magistrates with a single man sitting there. Kris knows this is the legal advisor who provides legal advice to the magistrates who are unpaid members of the local community rather than trained judges or lawyers. Then finally, just before the public gallery there are some more tables where the CPS lawyer is sitting along with an even younger woman - the CPS prosecution team, and there is Ms Acharya, sharply attired in a well tailored trouser suit alongside two men and a woman - the defence.

Johnny Zero is escorted in by a uniformed police officer from a side door and led to an elevated seat which is inside a sort of box-like structure. He sits down and looks over the court room. There's the slightest of nods as he recognises his mother in the public gallery and then he passes over Kris, Jocelyn, and Simon. His gaze lingering on Simon for an uncomfortable minute before he turns back to the proceedings.

Johnny is called to confirm his name, 'John Timothy Allen.' Then the magistrates invite the legal teams to introduce themselves. The CPS lawyer turns out to be called Wayne Hastings and the woman with him is his assistant. The defence team is extensive but Ms Acharya seems to be taking the lead.

Hastings is invited to present the charges and he 'Possession of a Prohibited Weapon, Assault with Intent to Resist Arrest, and Actual Bodily Harm Your Worships.'

Johnny is then asked to plead, 'Not guilty your honour.'

One of the magistrates then says, 'I see we have some either way offences on the charge sheet. Do either of you have any submissions about whether they should be tried here or sent to the Crown Court?'

Mr Hastings coughs and stands up, 'With all due respect, given the severity and culpability of Mr Allen's offences I would submit that sentencing would be outside the remit of this court, Sir.'

'Well that will be for us to decide but your submission is duly noted.' He then leans forwards and exchanges a few whispered words with the legal adviser.

Ms Acharya stands and clears her throat. 'I would humbly suggest that my learned colleague is incorrect on all counts. These allegations, false allegations as we will establish, are certainly not of a nature that would warrant sentences requiring remitting to the Crown Court. The charge under 5(1)(ab) of the Firearms Act 1968 is clearly absurd as there is no evidence of Mr Allen ever having said weapon in his possession and Actual Bodily Harm is frankly overreaching and...' she pauses for a second and looks at Hastings with a hint of disgust, '...and Mr Hastings is well aware of that fact. As for the charge under Section 38 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, namely Assault with Intent to Resist Arrest, we will establish that far from assaulting anyone, Mr Allen was in fact himself assaulted by overzealous members of the intelligence services...'

By this point Hastings has his mouth wide open. He clearly hadn't been expecting this approach by Acharya.

She pauses again, and smiles in Mr Hastings's direction. 'However, I do have medical evidence to submit that far from being imprisoned, Mr Allen requires psychiatric help and should be removed to hospital for further assessment, under, if I may be so bold, Section 35 of the Mental Health Act 1983 if it pleases Your Worships?' She gives a sickly-sweet smile to the magistrates and turns to inflict it on the rest of the court room.

At the mention of requiring psychiatric help, Johnny visibly grimaces.

'If the prosecution has no objections I think we should hear the medical evidence for the defence...' says the magistrate.

Hastings is looking very uncomfortable and rather red. 'If we could just take a ten minute break...?'

So we'll pause there. Anything you guys want to do before the doctors give their evidence? Anything you want to say to Hastings?

"Who tipped her off about the intelligence services?" asks Jocelyn. She will privately confide to Hastings that she is MI5, consulting with the police on the kidnapping case, and she will also go over the article on Dr. Chaudhary that will be useful to discredit his testimony.

Simon rolls his eyes at Hastings awful performance thus far, though he's hardly surprised, having learned to expect that everyone save him--and to some degree Jocelyn and Kris-- were a disappointment. The whole thing would be rather amusing were it not for the stakes involved.

Since he's not an expert on the topic, he lets the two law enforcement agents take the lead here.

Kris thought for a while. ”You were in the interview with me when we spoke to Johnny, Jocelyn. Presumably that’s why they know the intelligence services are involved,” he said. “But as far as us assaulting him, that’s rubbish. He assaulted Jocelyn while trying to get away and any force we used was proportional to protect ourselves and to effect the arrest.”

“And we’ve got him bang to rights with the weapon as his prints were on it. The forensic report bears that out,” he continued, looking at Hastings.

"Agreed," says Jocelyn. "But I never revealed who I work for in the interview. Balfour must know somehow, and he told Acharya. He does have a lot of highly placed friends. Maybe one of them told him."

Mr Hastings seems quite flustered. 'This is a simple case. We have all the evidence we need. The magistrates have to remit it to the Crown Court! I don't know what she's playing at. The only way she could get him on a Section 35 hospital order is if the magistrates tried Mr Allen here, found him guilty, and then sent him to hospital for a report. No. She's overreaching. Whatever testimony she has from the psychiatrists can't outweigh all the evidence we have...' then he adds quietly, 'Can it?'

”I don’t see how but we haven’t had Johnny evaluated, have we? Yes, I know you spoke to him, Simon, but you’ve been under a lot of strain recently and I don’t think you’re in the best place to give evidence against him,” said Kris.

"We also have information that will show that Dr Choudhury has a consistent bias against religion. It led to him overlooking the case of a woman who later took her own life after he cleared her for release from the hospital. So I would imagine that would be enough to call his so called 'expertise' into question." Simon remarks smugly.

He bristles somewhat at Kris' words. "I assure you that I am perfectly capable of keeping my thoughts on Allen separate from my interactions with him. I am an expert in my field, after all. But whatever you both think puts us in a better position. I'm of course happy to testify if it requires such."

"She's definitely up to something," says Jocelyn. "Fortunately, you have the information to discredit the doctor, and you have us willing to testify if necessary. It may not be, but it's better to have these cards in your hand if you need them."

Okay then. Rather than play out the whole court case I'll let you guys roll for the CPS and I'll roll for Ms Acharya in an opposed test and then narrate it. What are you trying to achieve? I assume you want Johnny remanded to the Crown Court and no bail. I'd say that's a regular Law roll (Hastings has a Law of 50% and he gets a bonus die due to the info you've found on Chaudhury and the the witness evidence you can all give. Acharya needs to pass a hard Law roll (but she's a lot better at it, with Law 80%) to persuade the court to try and convict Johnny and then have him transferred to a psychiatric facility.

HHdL(HLFF80%)d%

The sitting of the Magistrates' Court resumes and Ms Acharya strides in, a confident look on her face and body language that signals she has the upper hand here.

The magistrates ask her to make her case, 'Ms Acharya, if you'll outline why we should be trying Mr Allen here rather than remitting him to the Crown Court, and that medical evidence you promised...'

'Of course, of course. Sirs, Madam. I would never wish to undermine the solemn nature of the duties of this court and contend that allegations such as those pertaining to Mr Allen are precisely those most appropriately dealt with within these hallowed walls. As I outlined earlier, these unfounded allegations against my client are really at the less serious end of the spectrum and would be entirely appropriate for this court. As I have already established, Mr Allen is more victim than aggressor. A black man experiencing brutality at the hands of a partial and prejudiced police force.'

At this point Kris is practically champing at the bit to say something but his professional demeanour returns when Jocelyn places a restraining hand on his arm.

'And what's more. Any criminal activity that Mr Allen might have committed - and I do not for a second concede that he did - bit any such activity, mild as it was, only occurred during a period of intense emotional upset and distress when a child from his congregation, the very daughter of his pastor, was kidnapped and nearly murdered by right-wing extremists attacking a predominantly black church in the heart of multicultural Wycombe!'

She gestures to the two psychiatrists, 'I call on the psychiatric evidence of Dr Michael Choudhury and Dr Yousef Hussein, both eminent practioners in their fields.'

Dr Choudhury gives a rather flashy but quite convincing argument that Johnny has adopted an extremist millennial Christianity that believes in the imminent end times and that he holds such beliefs will a delusional fervour and that these beliefs lie behind his actions. He demonstrates with some fairly impressive rhetorical flourishes how he tricked Johnny into revealing some of these beliefs. It is a virtuoso performance and some of the local court reporters seem positively starstruck. Dr Hussein gives a rather more pedestrian display but argues that Johnny remains a risk and that, while his beliefs could be considered appropriate to a particular religious subculture, there is enough evidence of concerning behaviour to justify a period of detention and assessment in hospital and he suggests his own medium secure forensic hospital in Milton Keynes would be suitable.

When he gets up to start his own questioning, Hastings looks like something of a broken man. Stuttering, lacking in any kind of confidence or charisma. But he ploughs on. First of all recounting the charges against Johnny. Breaking into Lewiston's home. Evading arrest. Assaulting officers trying to arrest him. Assaulting a member of the public when trying to evade arrest. Possession of a firearm that he concealed in the toilets of a church! Then he goes through Johnny's previous convictions. His gang memberships. The drug paraphernalia found in his friend's apartment. Then he cross-examines Choudhury, gently probing his evidence, his professional qualifications, his background, his previous experience, the findings of the General Medical Council, his attitudes towards less mainstream religious beliefs, the possibility that he is ascribing to psychosis what would better be considered strong religious conviction. Simon notices that at this point even Johnny is sat forward in his seat, seemingly willing on Mr Hastings against Choudhury.

Finally Hastings concludes by pointing out the inconsistency at the heart of Acharya's case, that Johnny is both a passionate mainstream Christian persecuted by the police for his faith, and simultaneously that his religious beliefs make him psychotic, unable to know right from wrong, and that he requires committing to hospital for his own and other's safety. Despite the diffidence his evidence is forensic and unrelenting.

There is a period of extensive discussion between the magistrates and the legal advisor from the court. Eventually the lead magistrates says, 'That's enough Mr Hastings, you have us convinced. We will be remitting Mr Allen to the Crown Court for trial. No bail. Nice try Ms Acharya,' he says with a weak smile.

I'd say it is lunchtime. What's the plan?

Hastings had performed rather well, which likely surprised the man himself. Simon pays careful attention to Johnny's reaction when being told he would not be receiving bail.No doubt he was relieved he was not thought of as crazy, but if he was in the know as to some plan to spring him before Tuesday, this ruling may put a wrench in it.

1d100

Jocelyn congratulates Hastings for prevailing over the more experienced and expensive lawyer. "We should do what we can to ensure Johnny's security in jail," she says. "I'm not too worried that someone's going to break him out, but I am concerned that someone could try to kill him there to make sure he doesn't talk. We also have to make sure Regina stays safe. Balfour will be getting desperate once he hears that Johnny isn't going to hospital."

”Well done, Mr Hastings,” said Kris. “Hopefully that will give Balfour something the think about!” He pulled out his phone and placed a quick call to Malone, to update him on the outcome of the court case.

Johnny is clearly angry that Ms Acharya's gambit has failed. His hands grip the edge of the dock, his knuckles white. Mrs Williams shouts out, 'John!' But he doesn't even turn to look at her. He's staring at Simon again. A penetrating, relentless stare. Full of hatred. Hatred and something else. Triumph?

Johnny is clearly unhappy that he's lost his bail. It doesn't seem like frustration at any plan being prevented. Just like he wanted to get out. But the way he stares at Simon, it unnerves him, like he knows something Simon doesn't, like he's got one over on him somehow. It makes his distinctly uncomfortable.

-----

Hastings looks quietly pleased at all the plaudits, while Acharya is visibly fuming and can be seen outside the court room making several intemperate phone calls. Chaudhury slinks away with his tail between his legs, while Dr Hussein seems to be trying to console him. This isn't helped by several journalists trying to take photographs of him on the steps of the court.

Malone is pleased to hear that Johnny has been remanded into custody. 'Looks like money can't buy you everything. Well done. Now get some of that paperwork sorted or you can relieve Grey & Adebayo on surveillance.'

Simon just returns John's look with a quick smirk.

He's more troubled than he lets on, though, and he tells the others quietly. "Johnny's angry, especially with me. But he still looks triumphant about something. I'm not sure what. All I know is that he's been obsessed with me for some reason since we first brought him in.He seems more annoyed he won't be let out than any real fear we foiled Balfour's plan. As far as he knows, it seems like he still firmly believes the apocalypse remains on schedule.

"He believes he's tricked me somehow, like I'm missing something... mind, that seems impossible, but his sheer confidence in the notion unsettles me." he admits.

"On a lighter note, at least we wrecked that hack Chaudhury's career."

"I'd love to hear what she's saying on the phone," says Jocelyn, "but there's no way my boss would sign off on a wiretap. We should conduct the surveillance on Balfour ourselves. Acharya probably made one of her calls to him, and he must be getting pretty desperate about now. We need to be able to head off whatever Plan B he's got."

"Well, Zero seems to still think Balfour has an ace in his pocket. And he heavily alluded to them going forward even if they don't have Regina around to sacrifice.My fear is he'll just use one of his followers children. But there's a lot we still don't know. What Johnny was up to, for one. I suspect he was instructed to kidnap Regina so her father could sacrifice her, but that would have caused a lot of attention that the reverend would likely have wanted to avoid.I'm in agreement with watching him ourselves and thinking up ways to disrupt his plans."

Kris would rather have gone for a beer to celebrate but it seemed that they had just won a battle, rather than the war, so he sighed and said, ”Surveillance it is then…”