999: Killer on the Line? (2016–…): Season 1, Episode 1 - French - full transcript
After pub landlord Steven French murdered a customer at the Wisbech Arms, Cambridgeshire, he and his partner invented an elaborate cover story to avoid justice.
(PHONE RINGS)
Fire and Rescue.
There are 80,000 emergency calls
made every day in the UK.
Hello. What's the problem?
It's the police.
Who's stole your money?
Some are more serious than others.
OK, put the little boy flat on his
back for me there.
He's not on his back.
On rare occasions, the call
is to report a death.
Emergency service.
But, what if the caller...
Right, she's not moving at all?
..is in fact a killer?
Wisbech in rural England,
once a thriving market town.
By 2006, Wisbech had become
a struggling rural town
with an increasing Eastern European
population,
but with jobs in scarce supply,
crime had become a growing problem.
(COUNTRY SONG PLAYS ON RADIO)
In 2004, 44-year-old Stephen French
moved to Cambridgeshire
to become landlord
of the Wisbech Arms,
working alongside his fiancee,
28-year-old Joanna Gonzales.
Right, I think we're in good shape.
What time's the footie start?
Two o'clock. England, Jamaica.
Punters will be in here
before that though.
Stephen French had
a close group of friends,
very small tightknit family.
He was well liked, well respected.
In many ways, he was well suited
to be a publican.
Steve was my dad's mate.
He used to come round my dad's,
have a few beers or
if his car broke down,
Dad would fix it.
I thought he was a lovely bloke.
Friendly geezer,
you know what I mean?
Amongst the regulars
at the Wisbech Arms
was 49-year-old Christopher Garford,
a local builder.
All right, Stevo?
How are you doing?
Good thanks, mate.
Chrissy was a well-known person
around Wisbech.
He used to get on
with a lot of people.
He was a good person anyway.
Pint of, please, landlord.
Do you want one?
I'm feeling generous.
Is that right? Why not?
While Stephen and Joanna prepared
for a busy day behind the bar,
another of the Wisbech Arms locals,
Bernie Lake, was making his way
to the pub when he ran
into his estranged son.
Oi, Ricky!
What's up with you?
Don't know. Just going into town.
Look at the state of you.
What have you been up to?
Not much.
You've been in trouble?
No.
You look terrible.
You need a feed, Rick.
Haven't got any money, have I?
I was 15 at the time.
I was homeless for a little while.
Dad kicked me out because I was
mixing with the wrong people.
Let's go home and get you
sorted out, alright?
After two years at the pub,
Stephen French was ready for a change
and had been asking his boss
for a new pub to run.
The barrel needs changing.
Can you do it for me?
Yeah, alright.
I hate sports days.
Don't be so miserable.
I just want to get out
of this place.
They still ain't called back
with a new offer.
Look, I'm going to call them again.
OK, but please,
change the barrel.
For me, OK?
Yeah, alright.
Stephen just wanted to find
somewhere where he didn't feel
under such pressure
as he was at the time.
Dave, Steve here from the Wisbech.
Look, the reason why I'm calling
is about what I said last week.
I need a change, yeah?
He was then somewhere where
he had become a familiar figure
and, in some ways, also a target...
Please?
..having been running a public house
in a very difficult area.
At 11:15 AM, Ricky Lake
follows his father Bernie home,
where the 15-year-old
was taken back in.
There's food in the fridge.
You help yourself, yeah?
Thanks, Dad.
I'm going down the Wisbech.
I'm gonna have a few drinks.
You sort yourself out here.
Put a DVD on, alright?
Cheers, Dad.
See you later.
So, it's true then?
What?
You're leaving the Wisbech.
Who told you that?
People.
People talk a lot, don't they?
It's the Wisbech Arms, ain't it?
Everybody knows everybody
else's business.
So you're leaving?
We'll see.
Can't handle the Wisbech?
(SCOFFS)
Hardly.
I've landlorded a lot worse places
than the Wisbech Arms, I tell you.
Well, I'll miss you
if you do go, mate.
Cheers.
By 2PM, the Wisbech Arms
was filling up with regulars
in preparation for the live
football match that afternoon.
Back at Bernie Lake's house,
his son Ricky was bored
and decided to join his father
in the Wisbech Arms.
He left the house
for the short walk to the pub.
Oh, here he is.
What's up with you, Rick?
Got bored at home.
So, thought I'd come to the pub.
Thought your old man kicked you out?
I have.
You want to sort
your life out, Rick.
Get a bit of discipline.
Shame the Army didn't take you in.
Oh, here we go.
If I did anything stupid
or had any trouble,
Stephen would always talk to me
and tell me not to get in trouble.
Come on, mate,
I'll go and get you a drink.
As the football began,
Stephen returned behind the bar
whilst Ricky and his father Bernie
discussed Ricky's situation.
You can't go on through life like
this forever, always in trouble.
You'll end up in prison or worse.
I'm trying to behave, Dad, honest.
Just behave yourself, alright?
My dad was giving me basically
a bashing and that
like a dad would,
you know what I mean?
You giving him a pep talk, Bern?
Trying.
You need to listen
to your old man.
Otherwise you'll come unstuck.
You only get a few chances in life,
trust me. I should know.
(CROWD CHEERS ON TV)
Yes!
Three-nil!
Steve, what about another drink, eh?
Rick?
Thanks, Dad.
Me and my dad sat there talking,
Steve's missus Jo was there,
they were talking
about getting engaged.
Basically it was all
like a good vibe,
like everyone all cheering,
being all right.
By 9 PM, business had slowed
at the Wisbech Arms,
and Stephen French was keen to close
the pub early after a busy day.
I'm knackered.
You need a drink yourself.
Sit down and relax
for one moment.
Get that down you.
You off home, Chris?
No, I'm going to see some mates
at the King's Head.
OK. Have a good night,
see you soon.
You alright here?
I'm gonna put the kids to bed.
Yeah, I think
we've had the rush now.
Let's start winding down, yeah?
Let the regulars have one more,
but we'll start closing up, alright?
Yeah?
Yeah. Sure.
At 10:50 PM, the only drinkers
in the pub were Ricky Lake
and his father Bernie...
Hey, Jo.
..until Christopher returned after
drinking at another pub.
King's Head not good enough
for you?
I know where home is.
Closing up now, Steve's orders.
One for the road?
Alright, but drink up quick.
He wants to close early tonight.
Relax. Jo, I'm a regular here.
Part of the furniture.
He weren't drunk but he'd had
a few beers.
You could tell he'd had
a few beers.
Alright, Bernie?
Hey, Chris.
You alright?
Pint in my hand,
England six, Jamaica nil.
I couldn't be happier.
So, what about that car, then?
Have you thought about it?
I told you I'm not selling.
Come on, Chris.
I'll give you two grand.
Leave it, Bernie!
I said no.
Chris was quite a big guy.
I think it's fair to say
he had a bit of a temper.
He was known... He could lose
his temper at times.
Shh. Bedtime, yeah?
No more stories.
As Stephen checked
on his children at 11 PM,
true eastern Europeans
entered the pub.
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
Er...Fosters.
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
What's that?
I'm talking to you.
I'm not talking to you.
Easy.
Coming downstairs, Stephen
heard a fight breaking out.
As he attempted to intervene,
he was stabbed in the hand.
Steve!
Stephen French immediately ran
to Chris,
now lying on the floor
with multiple stab wounds.
Steve!
Rick.
Rick.
Let's go.
Steve, we need to call
an ambulance.
(PHONE DIALLING)
Emergency service.
Yeah, can I have police, please?
OK, thank you.
Cambridgeshire Police Emergency,
how can I help?
Can I have an ambulance, please,
and police as well, yeah?
To what address?
The Wisbech Arms, yeah?
What's happened?
Someone's been stabbed,
I think their dead.
His name is Chrissy.
He's about 49.
He's one of our regulars.
He's a regular, is he?
Yeah.
Do you know who it was
who stabbed him?
I think they were foreigners.
My wife reckons they've gone
to the King's Head.
Can you give us a description
or anything?
Jo, they want a description.
Yeah, they had dark hair,
about 5'5", jeans, T-shirt.
Oh, god. I don't know.
About 5'5", dark hair, I think.
Jeans, T-shirt.
Oh, god. I don't know.
(SIRENS APPROACH)
Ah, here's the police now.
OK, I'll let you go
and speak to them. All right?
(PHONE RINGS)
At 11 PM, Christopher Garford,
one of the Wisbech Arms regulars
and friend of the landlord,
Stephen French,
was attacked
by two Eastern Europeans.
As Stephen French tried to intervene,
he was stabbed in the hand.
Police are immediately
dispatched to the Wisbech arms.
The initial response officers
turned up within 2 minutes
of the phone call that was made
by Stephen French.
It was a pretty horrific
crime scene,
there was a lot of blood.
Chris Garford, the victim,
had been stabbed numerous times
and had bled heavily.
By the time the police
arrived at the scene,
Christopher Garford was dead.
As the crime scene was secured,
Stephen French was attended to
by paramedics, whilst Joanna
was questioned by police.
Can you give me some details
about what happened next?
We were just about to close,
then two guys came in,
Eastern Europeans came in...
..and started arguing with Chris.
He's one of our regulars.
Just spiralled out of control
from nowhere.
They started fighting,
and one of them had a knife.
He was stabbing Chris.
There was blood everywhere.
What happened after that?
Chris was on the floor,
he couldn't talk.
Just lying there.
Two guys ran off up the road
to the pub up the road, I think.
Would you recognise
them if you saw them again?
Yeah.
One was wearing a white T-shirt,
jeans, he had a shaved head.
I think I'd definitely
recognise them.
Joanna gave a fairly bland
description which is not unusual,
two guys in a T-shirt,
jeans etc.
Probably about 1 AM,
Joanna would have been taken
by officers up to the pub that she
intimated they were going to.
What about these two?
No, it wasn't him.
He was taller. Wrong shirt.
She was there for some considerable
time sitting in the police van,
looking out of the window towards
the entrance to the pub
to see if she could see the two men
who had killed Chris Garford.
What about those two?
But, as the pub emptied,
Joanna was unable to positively ID
anyone who looked like
Christopher Garford's attackers.
Back at Bernie Lake's house,
his son Ricky
was suffering from shock.
I can't sleep, Dad.
Me neither.
He decided to get some fresh air
and revisited the Wisbech Arms
where police had cornered off
the pub.
I started walking home,
I was panicking.
I burst out in tears.
I felt scared.
Across town, Stephen French's stab
wound to the hand
was being attended to
by medics.
Looks nasty.
How did you do it?
I got in the middle of a fight,
didn't I?
I was stabbed by a knife.
Poor thing.
Stephen was quite badly injured.
He'd tried to defend Chris Garford
when he was being attacked
and he'd been struck by the knife
and was left in hospital
for some period of time.
had removed Christopher Garford's
body from the scene,
ready to undergo a full autopsy.
Details a forensic pathologist
can obtain is quite significant.
For example, in a case like this,
not only would you be able to tell
exactly how many stab wounds...
..but the angle of the stab wounds,
the force of the stab wound,
the degree of attack etc, etc.
So, it's really important
to recover the body
so we don't lose a single,
solitary piece of evidence.
As critical witnesses, Stephen French
and his fiancee Joanna Gonzales
were brought in by the police
for routine questioning.
How's the hand?
Yeah, it's alright, thanks.
Now, we need your statement
about the events of last night.
Can you talk me
through the details?
Yeah.
I was upstairs
putting the kids to bed.
Shh. Bedtime, yeah?
No more stories.
We were gonna close up early.
I came downstairs.
Stephen wasn't helpful
to the offices as a witness.
He came across as fairly
intelligent,
and an OK sort of guy.
The foreigners walked in.
Chris went berserk.
I don't know what happened.
His face just changed.
He started fighting
and one of them threw a glass.
Cut me a bit here.
That's when Stephen jumped in.
He was just trying to break it up.
It happened so fast.
Joanna, she was really quiet,
quite timid actually.
She was really traumatised
by the whole incident.
We were continuing now
with other lines of enquiry,
so we were out looking
for intelligent sources
that might be able to identify
who these two foreign males were,
carrying out house-to-house
enquiries, looking for witnesses,
doing media appeals.
The forensic exam
was still taking place.
That was probably going on for
the best part of 24-36 hours,
so this now takes us through
the whole of Sunday 4 June.
48 hours after the murder,
a local police officer
was on patrol
in the Wisbech town centre.
They're beat officers
so they know the local people,
they know the local area,
they're walking through
the town centre
and they get approached
by a young man.
I need to speak to the police.
Here I am, son.
I mean a detective.
I know you, don't I?
Ricky Lake.
Ricky is known to them.
He's quite a confident type
of character,
not generally known to be overly
friendly towards the police.
The officer described him
as looking pale,
like he's going to be sick.
Really, really worried,
his voice is breaking,
and he looks in a state.
What have you done now?
Nothing.
I was at the Wisbech pub last night.
I saw what happened.
I need to speak to a detective.
They didn't seem like
they took it serious,
thought I was joking or something,
until I said what
Chrissy was wearing
and what he looked like.
Police sat Ricky down
for an interview
where he gave
a very different account
of Christopher Garford's murder.
I saw it. I was there.
Saw what?
Chris Garford get killed.
He threw a glass at Steve.
Steve went mental...
Steve! Steve! Steve!
..jumped out the bar
and grabbed him.
This is pretty
ground breaking stuff for us.
Stephen French and Joanna Gonzales
had lied to us
and given us a false story,
and now we've got Stephen French
who has committed the murder.
Police are coming, yeah?
Stephen French and Joanna Gonzales
had reported the stabbing
of Christopher Garford
as an attack
by two Eastern Europeans.
When eyewitness Ricky Lake
approached police,
he told them a very different
version of events.
I saw it.
Saw what?
Chris Garford get killed.
He threw a glass at Steve
and Steve went mental.
This is pretty ground breaking
stuff for us.
Stephen French and Joanna Gonzales
had lied to us
about Chris Garford's murder.
So, throughout the Monday,
both Ricky and Bernard his father
are interviewed in depth by us.
They knew Stephen French ever
so well, in fact, I think
they were renting a house
off Stephen French.
They give a completely different
version of events
than what Stephen French
and Joanna had given.
It started getting late.
Get that down you.
I heard Steve say to Jo
like, "I'm going upstairs
to take my little'uns to bed.
Do you mind
closing the pub up for me?"
and that.
Yeah. Sure.
Chris Garford come into the pub.
Hey, Jo.
He weren't drunk
but he had had a few beers.
You could tell he'd had a few beers.
All right, Bernie?
Hey, Chrissy.
Then he just, I don't know,
it went all weird.
Do you know what I mean?
I thought I told you to close,
no more drinks.
But it's Chris.
I don't care.
Are you stupid or something?
Do as you're told.
Steve, no harm done,
he's going in a minute.
I'll decide when he goes, not you.
Yeah?
Easy, Steve.
It's not her fault.
I'm only having a pint, mate.
I'm the landlord here, yeah?
It's my rules.
We're closing.
It's time to leave.
I'll finish my beer, then I'll go.
No.
You're going now.
You shouldn't have done that, mate.
Oh, why's that then?
Never disrespect your elders
and your betters.
Get out!
I thought he was punching him,
punching him up, fighting.
I didn't realise until
I turned my head properly
and I see a knife,
a big kitchen knife.
He was stabbing him
quite a few times.
With Ricky Lake and his father
Bernie's statements
intimating that Stephen had killed
Christopher Garford,
the police felt they had enough
to arrest Joanna and Stephen
on suspicion of murder.
As you know, Steve,
you have been read your rights
and arrested on suspicion
of the murder of Chris Garford.
Now, Steve, we know Chris Garford
was killed by you that night.
We have eyewitness accounts
that testify to the fact.
He came at me.
He threw a glass at me.
I instinctively grabbed a knife
from the bar, it was self defence.
I went round the bar
and he stabbed me.
That's how I got this, right?
I managed to wrestle him
down onto the floor.
Stabbed him three times, no more.
I was fighting for my life.
Stephen French admits
to stabbing him three times,
he starts to change his story
from his initial account.
He still has the two
foreign males in there,
but they are now
nothing to do with this.
In his initial police interview
as a suspect,
Chris Garford was threatening
to kill him,
all the time shouting, "I'm gonna
kill you, I'm gonna kill you,"
so he was saying he was
in fear of his life.
He picked the knife up that
he used to cut the lemons with,
went round because he was
in fear of his life,
and Chris Garford
took the knife off of him,
and stabbed him through the hand,
and then they went on to the floor,
had a fight, and he stabbed him.
What I wanted to do was nail down
when the offence had occurred.
Post-mortems won't ever tell you...
They can't give you the exact time,
but they can give you
a period of time, but they
won't give you to the minute.
You need a clock, a witness,
someone you knows the time.
What time was this?
About 11:15.
I remember looking at the clock
and Steve wanted to close.
So, I had a team put
on the CCTV duties,
and they went through the town
on the route
that we knew Ricky
and Bernie Lake had taken
from the Wisbech Arms pubs
back to their home address.
They looked at all the CCTV
and we picked them up
on a little bridge at 23:24,
about 10 minutes walk from the pub.
So, that was giving us a rough time,
and then we picked up
four witnesses who were leaving
a local snooker club
who walked past the Wisbech Arms
and heard raised voices,
to the tune of someone shouting,
"I think you've killed him,"
and someone saying,
"Come on, let's go."
Let's get home, Rick.
They said it was at 23:15.
So now we had a situation
where we had two sources
that we could work out
and pretty much narrow down to...
The offence had occurred
some time before 23:15,
but of course,
Stephen French and Joanne Gonzales
hadn't phoned the police
until 23:43.
Can I have an ambulance, please?
Police as well, yeah?
So, 28 unaccounted for minutes.
Whilst the police continue
to examine the crime scene,
and attempting to piece together
what happened
in those 28 minutes before
the emergency call was made,
the results of the post-mortem
revealed a shocking discovery.
Christopher Garford was stabbed
22 times in the shoulder,
head, face and throat.
With these pieces of evidence,
police further questioned
Stephen French.
You say this was self defence.
You only stabbed Chris Garford
three times.
You called the police
straight after.
Yeah.
In your last statement,
you said Chris Garford was alive
when you made a 999 call.
Yeah, that's right.
The police arrived 2 minutes
after the 999 call was made.
Yeah.
That's not true, is it?
We know you killed him
just before 11:15.
You never made the 999 call
until 11:42.
By the time we interview him
a second occasion,
where we're actually able
to pin him down on times
and things that had happened etc,
as is his right to do so,
he replied, "No comment"
to most of those questions.
You spent those 28 minutes, with Jo,
cleaning the crime scene,
hiding the murder weapon,
working out your cover story.
No comment.
In interviews of murder suspects,
they're meticulously planned,
detailed, and they will go
backwards, forwards,
backwards, forwards, cover off
every major point of the enquiry
and make sure that every discrepancy
is picked up upon.
We can't make someone talk.
That doesn't look like self defence
to me, Steve.
It sounds like murder.
No comment.
Pub landlord Stephen French
told police that two foreign males
stabbed local man Christopher Garford
to death in his pub.
But when 15-year-old Ricky Lake
stepped forward as a witness,
the police investigation
took a shocking turn.
Threw a glass at Steve,
and Steve went mental.
Steven changed his story
and admitted to stabbing Christopher
three times in self defence.
I was fighting for my life.
But with the autopsy results
showing a frenzied attack
of 22 stab wounds
and a gap of 28 minutes
before the emergency call was made...
Can I have an ambulance, please?
And police as well, yeah?
..police were certain
this wasn't self defence,
and it was murder.
Sounds like murder.
On Thursday 8 June 2006,
five days after the death
of Christopher Garford,
Stephen French appeared
before a magistrate to be charged
with his murder.
Joanna Gonzales
was also charged
with perverting the course of justice
and assisting an offender.
The Police and the Crown Prosecution
Service put together the case,
and you take it to court with
as much evidence as you can get
to go to court, but once it goes to
court, it's out of your hands.
There's a jury of 12 people there,
there's a judge, there's barristers,
for prosecution and defence,
and a trial, the way it unfolds,
you never know until you get there.
In January 2007, Stephen French's
murder trial commenced
at Cambridge Crown Court.
Stephen French was anxious,
he was obviously worried
about the trial process.
He seemed to have an understanding
of the long-term position
that he faced
but was more concerned about
other members of his family.
Ricky Lake was called to the stand
to give evidence
as a critical witness.
I went to court, I was nervous,
real scared,
facing him, face-to-face
in the courtroom.
I felt scared.
I just thought to myself
about the victims,
they want to know what happened,
you know?
They want the truth as much
as everyone else does.
I just told them how it was.
I just thought of it
and, like, blanked out the courtroom,
and talked, like, how it happened.
You know, told them everything.
During the trial, the prosecution
presented to the jury
what the police believed to be
the actual events of that night.
I thought I told you to close,
no more drinks.
But it's Chris.
I don't care.
Are you stupid or something?
Do as you're told.
Steve, no harm done.
He's going in a minute.
I'll decide when he goes.
He went all crazy at Jo,
swearing, proper evil to her.
And Chrissy got up.
It's not her fault.
I'm only having a beer, mate.
He was like, "How dare you
talk to her like that?
How are you talking to her?
You shouldn't be doing that.
She's a young woman. I'm drinking
my beer and then I'll go."
You know what I mean?
"I'll go."
No.
You'll go now.
Never disrespect your elders
and your betters.
Get out!
Stephen French starts stabbing
Chris Garford, holding him down.
In Ricky and Bernie Lake's
version of events,
he's singing a song at one point,
laughing as he's stabbing into him.
I froze.
I didn't know what to do.
I didn't know it was real or nothing.
I was petrified,
to be honest with you.
When I saw the knife in his hand...
It felt like I was in
a video game or something.
It didn't happen.
You know what I mean?
I was more scared than anything.
I was afraid.
Like, real afraid.
I just looked at him like,
"Don't do me, don't kill me,"
like, you know what I mean?
I've got my whole life ahead of me.
I don't want to be dead next.
You know what I mean?
Wrong person to mess with.
Steve, he didn't even look
like he was sorry.
After he had done it, he just
drunk whiskey or whatever it was
off the bar, poured it
and sat there and drunk it.
He knew what he had done.
You know what I mean?
Jo went white, screaming.
What have you done?
Steve!
Rick.
Rick?
Let's go.
I can still remember
how Chrissy was laying.
He weren't moving, he went breathing,
He weren't speaking.
I climbed over the body to get out,
I did look, just instant,
I turned and see him laying
on the floor,
and you could see blood
around his neck area.
Do you know what I mean?
Round the back here.
Blood...
A lot of blood.
It was quite messy anyway.
He looked like on a horror film.
Let's get home, Rick.
Keep this to yourself, yeah?
The Lakes have left, there has
been this, no doubt, pause,
what have I done, what have we done,
what are we going to do about this?
Steve, we need to call an ambulance.
No, we need to think about this.
I'm not going down for this.
I'm not.
You have to call the police.
No, no, no.
He deserved it.
He threw a glass at me.
It was self-defence, yeah?
You killed him!
They'll never believe you.
I'm not losing my life over this.
They'd set the ball rolling
in that 28 minutes.
What can we say?
They then immediately start
a cover up.
They start to work together
their story, what actually happened.
Who did it, how do they do it?
We'll say we got into an argument,
with some Eastern Europeans,
they came in, killed him
and left, yeah?
The interesting thing
is who concocted the story
and how much both of Joanna
and Stephen
were involved in that story.
You're covered in his blood.
Your hand.
We'll say I got hurt protecting him.
What about Bernie and Ricky?
They're in real trouble
from the outset
because they've got to be
completely reliant
on the fact that neither Bernie
or Ricky Lake
are ever going to tell anyone
about this.
They're alright.
They don't talk to the police,
they won't say a thing.
He thought me and my dad
wouldn't have come forward,
how close we were to him,
but he's got to realise
he's just killed someone.
You ain't going to keep
that is a secret.
You can't.
We need to clean
this place up, yeah?
Go and get a mop and bucket, yeah?
Hot water, yeah?
When we examined the scene,
cleaning detergents were found,
microscopic amounts
of Chris Garford's blood
were found around the sink,
and we think the knife
that had been used
was the knife that
they used to cut the lemons
to put in the gin and tonics
in the pub. I'm not sure
we could ever say for certain
that was the weapon.
It could have been the weapon.
It had been put through
the dishwasher, super hot.
They had spent 28 minutes
cleaning up evidence,
destroying evidence as best
they could, and concocting a story,
what they would say to try
and get out of the fact
that they murdered Chris Garford.
Come on, Steve. Let's call.
We can't wait too long,
the body will get cold.
OK.
Wait, one more time.
Two eastern Europeans came in,
they fight with Chris,
you step in, get hurt,
they run out.
Emergency service.
Yeah, can I have police, please?
Thank you.
Cambridgeshire Police Emergency.
Can I have an ambulance, please,
and police as well, yeah?
Yeah, to what address?
Wisbech Arms, yeah.
The what arms?
Wisbech Arms.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Someone's been stabbed.
I think they're dead.
His name's Chrissy.
He's one of our regulars, yeah?
I reckon he's dead.
He's not moving.
There's a lot of blood on the floor.
These foreigners, they came in
and started on him, yeah.
He starts to give a description
and then in the background,
he can hear Joanna providing him
with more detail
of that fictitious description.
Can we get a description?
Are you able to give me
a description?
Darker hair, 5'5".
5'5", dark hair.
She's then saying, "Oh, he's wearing
this, he's doing that."
As I said, right from the outset,
they are standing together
on the phone making a phone call,
setting up the story,
and both of them, in tandem,
are doing that.
All right, thanks.
If she was under so much duress
and influence,
I think she would have
just said, "That's it."
I don't think that's the case.
I think he was her partner,
they were together,
they concocted the story,
and after that, she was exactly
as big a part of it as he was,
and she wasn't going to detract
from her version of events.
She wanted to protect her
man and try and keep him from jail.
At the trial, Joanna Gonzales
was convicted of perverting
the course of justice
and assisting an offender.
She was sentenced
to three years prison.
There were people that knew one
another in a pub having a drink.
It wasn't domestic related,
there was no history, no planning.
It was just alcohol and temper,
and loss of control.
The glass being thrown
was a trigger,
he sees a little bit of blood
and loses his temper.
The jury deliberated pretty quick.
They went out
and were back in a day.
We, the jury, find Stephen French
guilty of murder.
He got life, 18 years.
That's quite high.
The reason he got 18 was because
he concocted this false story.
He took one life
and it nearly ruined the lives
of so many other people.
Yeah, Steve, I don't like him.
I thought he was a lovely bloke,
like I said,
Chris died and I died
with him really, I think.
He messed my life up, he has.
If I could ever see Steve,
I would tell him
how he's done my life,
not just taken someone else's life.
He's ruined mine as well.
They've still got that pub there
now, every time I go past there,
it just sends me shivers.
Down my back, all the time.
I've never been in that pub
ever since.
I don't want to.
It brings back too many memories.
Captioned by Ai-Media
ai-media.tv
Fire and Rescue.
There are 80,000 emergency calls
made every day in the UK.
Hello. What's the problem?
It's the police.
Who's stole your money?
Some are more serious than others.
OK, put the little boy flat on his
back for me there.
He's not on his back.
On rare occasions, the call
is to report a death.
Emergency service.
But, what if the caller...
Right, she's not moving at all?
..is in fact a killer?
Wisbech in rural England,
once a thriving market town.
By 2006, Wisbech had become
a struggling rural town
with an increasing Eastern European
population,
but with jobs in scarce supply,
crime had become a growing problem.
(COUNTRY SONG PLAYS ON RADIO)
In 2004, 44-year-old Stephen French
moved to Cambridgeshire
to become landlord
of the Wisbech Arms,
working alongside his fiancee,
28-year-old Joanna Gonzales.
Right, I think we're in good shape.
What time's the footie start?
Two o'clock. England, Jamaica.
Punters will be in here
before that though.
Stephen French had
a close group of friends,
very small tightknit family.
He was well liked, well respected.
In many ways, he was well suited
to be a publican.
Steve was my dad's mate.
He used to come round my dad's,
have a few beers or
if his car broke down,
Dad would fix it.
I thought he was a lovely bloke.
Friendly geezer,
you know what I mean?
Amongst the regulars
at the Wisbech Arms
was 49-year-old Christopher Garford,
a local builder.
All right, Stevo?
How are you doing?
Good thanks, mate.
Chrissy was a well-known person
around Wisbech.
He used to get on
with a lot of people.
He was a good person anyway.
Pint of, please, landlord.
Do you want one?
I'm feeling generous.
Is that right? Why not?
While Stephen and Joanna prepared
for a busy day behind the bar,
another of the Wisbech Arms locals,
Bernie Lake, was making his way
to the pub when he ran
into his estranged son.
Oi, Ricky!
What's up with you?
Don't know. Just going into town.
Look at the state of you.
What have you been up to?
Not much.
You've been in trouble?
No.
You look terrible.
You need a feed, Rick.
Haven't got any money, have I?
I was 15 at the time.
I was homeless for a little while.
Dad kicked me out because I was
mixing with the wrong people.
Let's go home and get you
sorted out, alright?
After two years at the pub,
Stephen French was ready for a change
and had been asking his boss
for a new pub to run.
The barrel needs changing.
Can you do it for me?
Yeah, alright.
I hate sports days.
Don't be so miserable.
I just want to get out
of this place.
They still ain't called back
with a new offer.
Look, I'm going to call them again.
OK, but please,
change the barrel.
For me, OK?
Yeah, alright.
Stephen just wanted to find
somewhere where he didn't feel
under such pressure
as he was at the time.
Dave, Steve here from the Wisbech.
Look, the reason why I'm calling
is about what I said last week.
I need a change, yeah?
He was then somewhere where
he had become a familiar figure
and, in some ways, also a target...
Please?
..having been running a public house
in a very difficult area.
At 11:15 AM, Ricky Lake
follows his father Bernie home,
where the 15-year-old
was taken back in.
There's food in the fridge.
You help yourself, yeah?
Thanks, Dad.
I'm going down the Wisbech.
I'm gonna have a few drinks.
You sort yourself out here.
Put a DVD on, alright?
Cheers, Dad.
See you later.
So, it's true then?
What?
You're leaving the Wisbech.
Who told you that?
People.
People talk a lot, don't they?
It's the Wisbech Arms, ain't it?
Everybody knows everybody
else's business.
So you're leaving?
We'll see.
Can't handle the Wisbech?
(SCOFFS)
Hardly.
I've landlorded a lot worse places
than the Wisbech Arms, I tell you.
Well, I'll miss you
if you do go, mate.
Cheers.
By 2PM, the Wisbech Arms
was filling up with regulars
in preparation for the live
football match that afternoon.
Back at Bernie Lake's house,
his son Ricky was bored
and decided to join his father
in the Wisbech Arms.
He left the house
for the short walk to the pub.
Oh, here he is.
What's up with you, Rick?
Got bored at home.
So, thought I'd come to the pub.
Thought your old man kicked you out?
I have.
You want to sort
your life out, Rick.
Get a bit of discipline.
Shame the Army didn't take you in.
Oh, here we go.
If I did anything stupid
or had any trouble,
Stephen would always talk to me
and tell me not to get in trouble.
Come on, mate,
I'll go and get you a drink.
As the football began,
Stephen returned behind the bar
whilst Ricky and his father Bernie
discussed Ricky's situation.
You can't go on through life like
this forever, always in trouble.
You'll end up in prison or worse.
I'm trying to behave, Dad, honest.
Just behave yourself, alright?
My dad was giving me basically
a bashing and that
like a dad would,
you know what I mean?
You giving him a pep talk, Bern?
Trying.
You need to listen
to your old man.
Otherwise you'll come unstuck.
You only get a few chances in life,
trust me. I should know.
(CROWD CHEERS ON TV)
Yes!
Three-nil!
Steve, what about another drink, eh?
Rick?
Thanks, Dad.
Me and my dad sat there talking,
Steve's missus Jo was there,
they were talking
about getting engaged.
Basically it was all
like a good vibe,
like everyone all cheering,
being all right.
By 9 PM, business had slowed
at the Wisbech Arms,
and Stephen French was keen to close
the pub early after a busy day.
I'm knackered.
You need a drink yourself.
Sit down and relax
for one moment.
Get that down you.
You off home, Chris?
No, I'm going to see some mates
at the King's Head.
OK. Have a good night,
see you soon.
You alright here?
I'm gonna put the kids to bed.
Yeah, I think
we've had the rush now.
Let's start winding down, yeah?
Let the regulars have one more,
but we'll start closing up, alright?
Yeah?
Yeah. Sure.
At 10:50 PM, the only drinkers
in the pub were Ricky Lake
and his father Bernie...
Hey, Jo.
..until Christopher returned after
drinking at another pub.
King's Head not good enough
for you?
I know where home is.
Closing up now, Steve's orders.
One for the road?
Alright, but drink up quick.
He wants to close early tonight.
Relax. Jo, I'm a regular here.
Part of the furniture.
He weren't drunk but he'd had
a few beers.
You could tell he'd had
a few beers.
Alright, Bernie?
Hey, Chris.
You alright?
Pint in my hand,
England six, Jamaica nil.
I couldn't be happier.
So, what about that car, then?
Have you thought about it?
I told you I'm not selling.
Come on, Chris.
I'll give you two grand.
Leave it, Bernie!
I said no.
Chris was quite a big guy.
I think it's fair to say
he had a bit of a temper.
He was known... He could lose
his temper at times.
Shh. Bedtime, yeah?
No more stories.
As Stephen checked
on his children at 11 PM,
true eastern Europeans
entered the pub.
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
Er...Fosters.
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
What's that?
I'm talking to you.
I'm not talking to you.
Easy.
Coming downstairs, Stephen
heard a fight breaking out.
As he attempted to intervene,
he was stabbed in the hand.
Steve!
Stephen French immediately ran
to Chris,
now lying on the floor
with multiple stab wounds.
Steve!
Rick.
Rick.
Let's go.
Steve, we need to call
an ambulance.
(PHONE DIALLING)
Emergency service.
Yeah, can I have police, please?
OK, thank you.
Cambridgeshire Police Emergency,
how can I help?
Can I have an ambulance, please,
and police as well, yeah?
To what address?
The Wisbech Arms, yeah?
What's happened?
Someone's been stabbed,
I think their dead.
His name is Chrissy.
He's about 49.
He's one of our regulars.
He's a regular, is he?
Yeah.
Do you know who it was
who stabbed him?
I think they were foreigners.
My wife reckons they've gone
to the King's Head.
Can you give us a description
or anything?
Jo, they want a description.
Yeah, they had dark hair,
about 5'5", jeans, T-shirt.
Oh, god. I don't know.
About 5'5", dark hair, I think.
Jeans, T-shirt.
Oh, god. I don't know.
(SIRENS APPROACH)
Ah, here's the police now.
OK, I'll let you go
and speak to them. All right?
(PHONE RINGS)
At 11 PM, Christopher Garford,
one of the Wisbech Arms regulars
and friend of the landlord,
Stephen French,
was attacked
by two Eastern Europeans.
As Stephen French tried to intervene,
he was stabbed in the hand.
Police are immediately
dispatched to the Wisbech arms.
The initial response officers
turned up within 2 minutes
of the phone call that was made
by Stephen French.
It was a pretty horrific
crime scene,
there was a lot of blood.
Chris Garford, the victim,
had been stabbed numerous times
and had bled heavily.
By the time the police
arrived at the scene,
Christopher Garford was dead.
As the crime scene was secured,
Stephen French was attended to
by paramedics, whilst Joanna
was questioned by police.
Can you give me some details
about what happened next?
We were just about to close,
then two guys came in,
Eastern Europeans came in...
..and started arguing with Chris.
He's one of our regulars.
Just spiralled out of control
from nowhere.
They started fighting,
and one of them had a knife.
He was stabbing Chris.
There was blood everywhere.
What happened after that?
Chris was on the floor,
he couldn't talk.
Just lying there.
Two guys ran off up the road
to the pub up the road, I think.
Would you recognise
them if you saw them again?
Yeah.
One was wearing a white T-shirt,
jeans, he had a shaved head.
I think I'd definitely
recognise them.
Joanna gave a fairly bland
description which is not unusual,
two guys in a T-shirt,
jeans etc.
Probably about 1 AM,
Joanna would have been taken
by officers up to the pub that she
intimated they were going to.
What about these two?
No, it wasn't him.
He was taller. Wrong shirt.
She was there for some considerable
time sitting in the police van,
looking out of the window towards
the entrance to the pub
to see if she could see the two men
who had killed Chris Garford.
What about those two?
But, as the pub emptied,
Joanna was unable to positively ID
anyone who looked like
Christopher Garford's attackers.
Back at Bernie Lake's house,
his son Ricky
was suffering from shock.
I can't sleep, Dad.
Me neither.
He decided to get some fresh air
and revisited the Wisbech Arms
where police had cornered off
the pub.
I started walking home,
I was panicking.
I burst out in tears.
I felt scared.
Across town, Stephen French's stab
wound to the hand
was being attended to
by medics.
Looks nasty.
How did you do it?
I got in the middle of a fight,
didn't I?
I was stabbed by a knife.
Poor thing.
Stephen was quite badly injured.
He'd tried to defend Chris Garford
when he was being attacked
and he'd been struck by the knife
and was left in hospital
for some period of time.
had removed Christopher Garford's
body from the scene,
ready to undergo a full autopsy.
Details a forensic pathologist
can obtain is quite significant.
For example, in a case like this,
not only would you be able to tell
exactly how many stab wounds...
..but the angle of the stab wounds,
the force of the stab wound,
the degree of attack etc, etc.
So, it's really important
to recover the body
so we don't lose a single,
solitary piece of evidence.
As critical witnesses, Stephen French
and his fiancee Joanna Gonzales
were brought in by the police
for routine questioning.
How's the hand?
Yeah, it's alright, thanks.
Now, we need your statement
about the events of last night.
Can you talk me
through the details?
Yeah.
I was upstairs
putting the kids to bed.
Shh. Bedtime, yeah?
No more stories.
We were gonna close up early.
I came downstairs.
Stephen wasn't helpful
to the offices as a witness.
He came across as fairly
intelligent,
and an OK sort of guy.
The foreigners walked in.
Chris went berserk.
I don't know what happened.
His face just changed.
He started fighting
and one of them threw a glass.
Cut me a bit here.
That's when Stephen jumped in.
He was just trying to break it up.
It happened so fast.
Joanna, she was really quiet,
quite timid actually.
She was really traumatised
by the whole incident.
We were continuing now
with other lines of enquiry,
so we were out looking
for intelligent sources
that might be able to identify
who these two foreign males were,
carrying out house-to-house
enquiries, looking for witnesses,
doing media appeals.
The forensic exam
was still taking place.
That was probably going on for
the best part of 24-36 hours,
so this now takes us through
the whole of Sunday 4 June.
48 hours after the murder,
a local police officer
was on patrol
in the Wisbech town centre.
They're beat officers
so they know the local people,
they know the local area,
they're walking through
the town centre
and they get approached
by a young man.
I need to speak to the police.
Here I am, son.
I mean a detective.
I know you, don't I?
Ricky Lake.
Ricky is known to them.
He's quite a confident type
of character,
not generally known to be overly
friendly towards the police.
The officer described him
as looking pale,
like he's going to be sick.
Really, really worried,
his voice is breaking,
and he looks in a state.
What have you done now?
Nothing.
I was at the Wisbech pub last night.
I saw what happened.
I need to speak to a detective.
They didn't seem like
they took it serious,
thought I was joking or something,
until I said what
Chrissy was wearing
and what he looked like.
Police sat Ricky down
for an interview
where he gave
a very different account
of Christopher Garford's murder.
I saw it. I was there.
Saw what?
Chris Garford get killed.
He threw a glass at Steve.
Steve went mental...
Steve! Steve! Steve!
..jumped out the bar
and grabbed him.
This is pretty
ground breaking stuff for us.
Stephen French and Joanna Gonzales
had lied to us
and given us a false story,
and now we've got Stephen French
who has committed the murder.
Police are coming, yeah?
Stephen French and Joanna Gonzales
had reported the stabbing
of Christopher Garford
as an attack
by two Eastern Europeans.
When eyewitness Ricky Lake
approached police,
he told them a very different
version of events.
I saw it.
Saw what?
Chris Garford get killed.
He threw a glass at Steve
and Steve went mental.
This is pretty ground breaking
stuff for us.
Stephen French and Joanna Gonzales
had lied to us
about Chris Garford's murder.
So, throughout the Monday,
both Ricky and Bernard his father
are interviewed in depth by us.
They knew Stephen French ever
so well, in fact, I think
they were renting a house
off Stephen French.
They give a completely different
version of events
than what Stephen French
and Joanna had given.
It started getting late.
Get that down you.
I heard Steve say to Jo
like, "I'm going upstairs
to take my little'uns to bed.
Do you mind
closing the pub up for me?"
and that.
Yeah. Sure.
Chris Garford come into the pub.
Hey, Jo.
He weren't drunk
but he had had a few beers.
You could tell he'd had a few beers.
All right, Bernie?
Hey, Chrissy.
Then he just, I don't know,
it went all weird.
Do you know what I mean?
I thought I told you to close,
no more drinks.
But it's Chris.
I don't care.
Are you stupid or something?
Do as you're told.
Steve, no harm done,
he's going in a minute.
I'll decide when he goes, not you.
Yeah?
Easy, Steve.
It's not her fault.
I'm only having a pint, mate.
I'm the landlord here, yeah?
It's my rules.
We're closing.
It's time to leave.
I'll finish my beer, then I'll go.
No.
You're going now.
You shouldn't have done that, mate.
Oh, why's that then?
Never disrespect your elders
and your betters.
Get out!
I thought he was punching him,
punching him up, fighting.
I didn't realise until
I turned my head properly
and I see a knife,
a big kitchen knife.
He was stabbing him
quite a few times.
With Ricky Lake and his father
Bernie's statements
intimating that Stephen had killed
Christopher Garford,
the police felt they had enough
to arrest Joanna and Stephen
on suspicion of murder.
As you know, Steve,
you have been read your rights
and arrested on suspicion
of the murder of Chris Garford.
Now, Steve, we know Chris Garford
was killed by you that night.
We have eyewitness accounts
that testify to the fact.
He came at me.
He threw a glass at me.
I instinctively grabbed a knife
from the bar, it was self defence.
I went round the bar
and he stabbed me.
That's how I got this, right?
I managed to wrestle him
down onto the floor.
Stabbed him three times, no more.
I was fighting for my life.
Stephen French admits
to stabbing him three times,
he starts to change his story
from his initial account.
He still has the two
foreign males in there,
but they are now
nothing to do with this.
In his initial police interview
as a suspect,
Chris Garford was threatening
to kill him,
all the time shouting, "I'm gonna
kill you, I'm gonna kill you,"
so he was saying he was
in fear of his life.
He picked the knife up that
he used to cut the lemons with,
went round because he was
in fear of his life,
and Chris Garford
took the knife off of him,
and stabbed him through the hand,
and then they went on to the floor,
had a fight, and he stabbed him.
What I wanted to do was nail down
when the offence had occurred.
Post-mortems won't ever tell you...
They can't give you the exact time,
but they can give you
a period of time, but they
won't give you to the minute.
You need a clock, a witness,
someone you knows the time.
What time was this?
About 11:15.
I remember looking at the clock
and Steve wanted to close.
So, I had a team put
on the CCTV duties,
and they went through the town
on the route
that we knew Ricky
and Bernie Lake had taken
from the Wisbech Arms pubs
back to their home address.
They looked at all the CCTV
and we picked them up
on a little bridge at 23:24,
about 10 minutes walk from the pub.
So, that was giving us a rough time,
and then we picked up
four witnesses who were leaving
a local snooker club
who walked past the Wisbech Arms
and heard raised voices,
to the tune of someone shouting,
"I think you've killed him,"
and someone saying,
"Come on, let's go."
Let's get home, Rick.
They said it was at 23:15.
So now we had a situation
where we had two sources
that we could work out
and pretty much narrow down to...
The offence had occurred
some time before 23:15,
but of course,
Stephen French and Joanne Gonzales
hadn't phoned the police
until 23:43.
Can I have an ambulance, please?
Police as well, yeah?
So, 28 unaccounted for minutes.
Whilst the police continue
to examine the crime scene,
and attempting to piece together
what happened
in those 28 minutes before
the emergency call was made,
the results of the post-mortem
revealed a shocking discovery.
Christopher Garford was stabbed
22 times in the shoulder,
head, face and throat.
With these pieces of evidence,
police further questioned
Stephen French.
You say this was self defence.
You only stabbed Chris Garford
three times.
You called the police
straight after.
Yeah.
In your last statement,
you said Chris Garford was alive
when you made a 999 call.
Yeah, that's right.
The police arrived 2 minutes
after the 999 call was made.
Yeah.
That's not true, is it?
We know you killed him
just before 11:15.
You never made the 999 call
until 11:42.
By the time we interview him
a second occasion,
where we're actually able
to pin him down on times
and things that had happened etc,
as is his right to do so,
he replied, "No comment"
to most of those questions.
You spent those 28 minutes, with Jo,
cleaning the crime scene,
hiding the murder weapon,
working out your cover story.
No comment.
In interviews of murder suspects,
they're meticulously planned,
detailed, and they will go
backwards, forwards,
backwards, forwards, cover off
every major point of the enquiry
and make sure that every discrepancy
is picked up upon.
We can't make someone talk.
That doesn't look like self defence
to me, Steve.
It sounds like murder.
No comment.
Pub landlord Stephen French
told police that two foreign males
stabbed local man Christopher Garford
to death in his pub.
But when 15-year-old Ricky Lake
stepped forward as a witness,
the police investigation
took a shocking turn.
Threw a glass at Steve,
and Steve went mental.
Steven changed his story
and admitted to stabbing Christopher
three times in self defence.
I was fighting for my life.
But with the autopsy results
showing a frenzied attack
of 22 stab wounds
and a gap of 28 minutes
before the emergency call was made...
Can I have an ambulance, please?
And police as well, yeah?
..police were certain
this wasn't self defence,
and it was murder.
Sounds like murder.
On Thursday 8 June 2006,
five days after the death
of Christopher Garford,
Stephen French appeared
before a magistrate to be charged
with his murder.
Joanna Gonzales
was also charged
with perverting the course of justice
and assisting an offender.
The Police and the Crown Prosecution
Service put together the case,
and you take it to court with
as much evidence as you can get
to go to court, but once it goes to
court, it's out of your hands.
There's a jury of 12 people there,
there's a judge, there's barristers,
for prosecution and defence,
and a trial, the way it unfolds,
you never know until you get there.
In January 2007, Stephen French's
murder trial commenced
at Cambridge Crown Court.
Stephen French was anxious,
he was obviously worried
about the trial process.
He seemed to have an understanding
of the long-term position
that he faced
but was more concerned about
other members of his family.
Ricky Lake was called to the stand
to give evidence
as a critical witness.
I went to court, I was nervous,
real scared,
facing him, face-to-face
in the courtroom.
I felt scared.
I just thought to myself
about the victims,
they want to know what happened,
you know?
They want the truth as much
as everyone else does.
I just told them how it was.
I just thought of it
and, like, blanked out the courtroom,
and talked, like, how it happened.
You know, told them everything.
During the trial, the prosecution
presented to the jury
what the police believed to be
the actual events of that night.
I thought I told you to close,
no more drinks.
But it's Chris.
I don't care.
Are you stupid or something?
Do as you're told.
Steve, no harm done.
He's going in a minute.
I'll decide when he goes.
He went all crazy at Jo,
swearing, proper evil to her.
And Chrissy got up.
It's not her fault.
I'm only having a beer, mate.
He was like, "How dare you
talk to her like that?
How are you talking to her?
You shouldn't be doing that.
She's a young woman. I'm drinking
my beer and then I'll go."
You know what I mean?
"I'll go."
No.
You'll go now.
Never disrespect your elders
and your betters.
Get out!
Stephen French starts stabbing
Chris Garford, holding him down.
In Ricky and Bernie Lake's
version of events,
he's singing a song at one point,
laughing as he's stabbing into him.
I froze.
I didn't know what to do.
I didn't know it was real or nothing.
I was petrified,
to be honest with you.
When I saw the knife in his hand...
It felt like I was in
a video game or something.
It didn't happen.
You know what I mean?
I was more scared than anything.
I was afraid.
Like, real afraid.
I just looked at him like,
"Don't do me, don't kill me,"
like, you know what I mean?
I've got my whole life ahead of me.
I don't want to be dead next.
You know what I mean?
Wrong person to mess with.
Steve, he didn't even look
like he was sorry.
After he had done it, he just
drunk whiskey or whatever it was
off the bar, poured it
and sat there and drunk it.
He knew what he had done.
You know what I mean?
Jo went white, screaming.
What have you done?
Steve!
Rick.
Rick?
Let's go.
I can still remember
how Chrissy was laying.
He weren't moving, he went breathing,
He weren't speaking.
I climbed over the body to get out,
I did look, just instant,
I turned and see him laying
on the floor,
and you could see blood
around his neck area.
Do you know what I mean?
Round the back here.
Blood...
A lot of blood.
It was quite messy anyway.
He looked like on a horror film.
Let's get home, Rick.
Keep this to yourself, yeah?
The Lakes have left, there has
been this, no doubt, pause,
what have I done, what have we done,
what are we going to do about this?
Steve, we need to call an ambulance.
No, we need to think about this.
I'm not going down for this.
I'm not.
You have to call the police.
No, no, no.
He deserved it.
He threw a glass at me.
It was self-defence, yeah?
You killed him!
They'll never believe you.
I'm not losing my life over this.
They'd set the ball rolling
in that 28 minutes.
What can we say?
They then immediately start
a cover up.
They start to work together
their story, what actually happened.
Who did it, how do they do it?
We'll say we got into an argument,
with some Eastern Europeans,
they came in, killed him
and left, yeah?
The interesting thing
is who concocted the story
and how much both of Joanna
and Stephen
were involved in that story.
You're covered in his blood.
Your hand.
We'll say I got hurt protecting him.
What about Bernie and Ricky?
They're in real trouble
from the outset
because they've got to be
completely reliant
on the fact that neither Bernie
or Ricky Lake
are ever going to tell anyone
about this.
They're alright.
They don't talk to the police,
they won't say a thing.
He thought me and my dad
wouldn't have come forward,
how close we were to him,
but he's got to realise
he's just killed someone.
You ain't going to keep
that is a secret.
You can't.
We need to clean
this place up, yeah?
Go and get a mop and bucket, yeah?
Hot water, yeah?
When we examined the scene,
cleaning detergents were found,
microscopic amounts
of Chris Garford's blood
were found around the sink,
and we think the knife
that had been used
was the knife that
they used to cut the lemons
to put in the gin and tonics
in the pub. I'm not sure
we could ever say for certain
that was the weapon.
It could have been the weapon.
It had been put through
the dishwasher, super hot.
They had spent 28 minutes
cleaning up evidence,
destroying evidence as best
they could, and concocting a story,
what they would say to try
and get out of the fact
that they murdered Chris Garford.
Come on, Steve. Let's call.
We can't wait too long,
the body will get cold.
OK.
Wait, one more time.
Two eastern Europeans came in,
they fight with Chris,
you step in, get hurt,
they run out.
Emergency service.
Yeah, can I have police, please?
Thank you.
Cambridgeshire Police Emergency.
Can I have an ambulance, please,
and police as well, yeah?
Yeah, to what address?
Wisbech Arms, yeah.
The what arms?
Wisbech Arms.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Someone's been stabbed.
I think they're dead.
His name's Chrissy.
He's one of our regulars, yeah?
I reckon he's dead.
He's not moving.
There's a lot of blood on the floor.
These foreigners, they came in
and started on him, yeah.
He starts to give a description
and then in the background,
he can hear Joanna providing him
with more detail
of that fictitious description.
Can we get a description?
Are you able to give me
a description?
Darker hair, 5'5".
5'5", dark hair.
She's then saying, "Oh, he's wearing
this, he's doing that."
As I said, right from the outset,
they are standing together
on the phone making a phone call,
setting up the story,
and both of them, in tandem,
are doing that.
All right, thanks.
If she was under so much duress
and influence,
I think she would have
just said, "That's it."
I don't think that's the case.
I think he was her partner,
they were together,
they concocted the story,
and after that, she was exactly
as big a part of it as he was,
and she wasn't going to detract
from her version of events.
She wanted to protect her
man and try and keep him from jail.
At the trial, Joanna Gonzales
was convicted of perverting
the course of justice
and assisting an offender.
She was sentenced
to three years prison.
There were people that knew one
another in a pub having a drink.
It wasn't domestic related,
there was no history, no planning.
It was just alcohol and temper,
and loss of control.
The glass being thrown
was a trigger,
he sees a little bit of blood
and loses his temper.
The jury deliberated pretty quick.
They went out
and were back in a day.
We, the jury, find Stephen French
guilty of murder.
He got life, 18 years.
That's quite high.
The reason he got 18 was because
he concocted this false story.
He took one life
and it nearly ruined the lives
of so many other people.
Yeah, Steve, I don't like him.
I thought he was a lovely bloke,
like I said,
Chris died and I died
with him really, I think.
He messed my life up, he has.
If I could ever see Steve,
I would tell him
how he's done my life,
not just taken someone else's life.
He's ruined mine as well.
They've still got that pub there
now, every time I go past there,
it just sends me shivers.
Down my back, all the time.
I've never been in that pub
ever since.
I don't want to.
It brings back too many memories.
Captioned by Ai-Media
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