Kavanagh QC (1995–2001): Season 2, Episode 2 - Men of Substance - full transcript
Kavanagh finds himself prosecuting a case for HM Customs. The case is anything but straightforward however. While 15 kilos of heroin was seized being smuggled in condemned meat, there is no physical or forensic evidence linking the drugs to any of the accused. One of them, Kevin Gregson, may have eliminated a witness in a previous case and he seems true to form when Kavanagh and his wife are threatened. Kavanagh suspects that not all is on the up an and as far as the evidence is concerned.
Good afternoon. Papers, please.
Thank you.
(Police radio)
WOMAN ON RADIO: 505 roger.
- There you go. Thank you.
- Thank you.
(Water splashing)
MAN: Hello Mummy.
Look at Mummy, and say, "Hi, Mummy."
Hi, Mummy.
(Rings)
Thanks, angel.
Hello?
Yeah, right.
Good. OK, I'll be right down. OK.
Darling, I've got to go out. I'm sorry.
I'll be back to tuck him in, OK?
Bye, angel.
Here she comes.
Lloyd to Pearson. Hold your position.
That's his Jag.
(Cameras continue clicking)
All right, let's go. Come on.
(Tyres squeal)
Customs! Hold it!
Get after him!
Kevin Gregson, I'm arresting you
on suspicion of importing Class A drugs.
This is a very dangerous job you're in.
Your wife and kids must worry terribly.
Lucky I'm still a bachelor.
Freeze!
(Groans)
Ah, window locks.
Wise precaution. Mr Bennett.
It's glucose.
(Groans)
Hey.
(Camera clicks)
Pallisters can have this lot back
with my compliments.
- I'm off for a bevvy.
- First one of theirs you've lost.
Unfortunately. she left her
confession till the witness box.
You've got out of tighter
spots, Mr Kavanagh.
I'm staying home tomorrow.
Mountain of paperwork.
That might be difficult, sir.
Customs are sending down a brief
for next week.
Prosecuting?
I'd thought you'd lined me up for a GBH.
Mr Foxcott got to it first.
Can't be much to the Customs matter.
It's a return from Ted Fellows.
Ted Fellows isn't even a silk.
He had a coronary this morning.
- Didn't think you 'd say no to a healthy fee.
- I don't have much choice, do I?
(Knock at door)
Fancy a pint?
All right for some, James.
- Jeremy?
- ..taken care of.
- Oh, I'm sorry.
- Can I help you, James?
No, no. Nothing important.
The debt-factoring option could increase an
individual barristers income by 5 percent.
- Hello, darling
- Hiya.
- How do I look?
- Lovely.
- Have I seen that dress before?
- You bought it two years ago.
It's worn well.
- Posh do?
- Claridges.
I could handle that.
You wouldn't find the Association
of Women Executives very relaxing company.
Ah.
And to be honest with
you, neither do I, but...
while I'm looking for the right job,
I have to network.
Isn't that something fishermen do?
I'm afraid I haven't had time
to make you anything.
Oh, Matt's friends are coming here
tomorrow night for dinner.
7130.
Matt's birthday?
Yeah. Yeah, I hadn't forgotten.
TONY GREEN: OK We Second round
Five.
(Door opens)
- 20
Matt?
And 20. That's 45.
I've got you a biryani.
I'm not hungry, thanks.
I'm glad you dropped by.
I enjoyed our little chat.
Hi.
Wm Miranda Lawson.
Matt tells me you're a QC.
It must be fascinating.
It's um...
It has its moments.
There's enough for both of you.
- Um, we're fine.
- Yeah.
We don't want to interrupt you.
You must be very busy.
TONY: scores for the first round. Jim.
JIM BOWEN: OK. That's fine.
(Applause from TV)
How do you explain this?
How about that? Hm?
That jog your memory?
What about this one?
And this? And this?
You ought to say something, Kevin.
You'll give the jury the wrong idea.
My client is making no comment.
Interview terminated at 23:30.
What about bail?
- With 15 kilos of heroin?
- It could be anyone's.
WOMAN: I'm sure
the magistrate will be open to persuasion.
How much would it take?
I never heard that.
Well, you know where I am.
Your Customs briefs arrived.
Con at five.
It's not all mine.
Just carrying this lot about is enough
to give you a seizure. Who's the junior?
Miss Wilson. She was the
only one available.
Do you realise how much work is in this?
She's barely been doing the job a year.
14 months, actually.
Cancel your weekend. It's going to be...
a steep learning curve.
Have you noticed anything peculiar
about Tom lately?
His wife's in a psychiatric unit.
She's suffering from a bad spell
of postnatal depression.
Oh.
Oh, poor chap.
What about his wife?
As far as I see it.
There are only two possible advantages
in taking an appointment
to the High Court bench.
Never having to toady to a judge again,
and my wife would have the exquisite pleasure
of booking herself into the hairdressers
as Lady Foxcott.
The rest is just loneliness,
creeping senility.
And haemorrhoids.
And the 60% slash in earnings.
Do you really want to struggle on
into old age at the Bar?
- Don't listen to him, Peter.
- I think I can wait a while.
Could you have a word with Tom
before he drives me into early retirement?
- Yes, I suppose I should.
- Bringing his problems into work.
(Phone rings)
Yep?
Your Customs officers have arrived.
Great.
Only an hour late.
Give me five minutes.
A sympathetic line with Tom would be best.
Lizzie will skin me.
I know that tone.
I understand
there have been a few problems at home.
Childbirth...
is a difficult time for women.
They can be a bit funny.
It passes.
Well...
good.
Bring her along to the chambers bash,
get her out of herself.
We'll see.
- What goes on in here again?
- It's the cutting room, where they make the stuff.
Those sacks in the corner
- 300 kilos of glucose,
so if the heroin's cut to a 5% purity
they'd look to make...£4 million.
ALEX: Wow.
- What's the significance of this?
- Cutting is a closed operation.
When you're dealing
with four million quid's worth,
you don't want anybody
going in or out until you've shifted it.
This amount could take three men
several days. They need feeding.
Anything else on Gregson?
Yeah, he owns a nightclub in Dagenham.
Garters.
Five years ago,
he bailed out Mainbeam Haulage.
Bennett used to own it.
But Gregson kept him on as a manager.
Six months later.
He moves to a nice little pad in Surrey.
Must have set him back 500K.
He's also got a villa in the Algarve,
and a yacht in Jersey.
What sort of yacht?
Um...
A 70-footer.
The Born Leader.
- Regular entrepreneur.
- He reckons he is.
- How much has he got in the bank?
- Only a few thousand we could find.
He's clever. The haulage firm
does plenty of legitimate business,
but we're sure Gregson's been using it to front
a drugs operation for several years now.
What's Bennett's role?
He signed the consignment documents.
All false.
The meat in the back was condemned.
The company it was
destined for didn't exist.
Neither of their fingerprints on the drugs?
No.
No evidence to link them to the purchase?
And the documents only tie in Bennett.
We haven’t got a lotto prove Gregson was
knowingly concerned with the importation.
Unless there's something
you haven't told me.
You've got statements
from all the investigating officers.
- They don't say where the drugs came from.
- They were caught red-handed.
The jury like to hear the full story.
Wouldn't you?
You know how sensitive our sources are,
Mr Kavanagh.
If we keep them confidential.
It's for a very good reason.
Kevin Gregson was charged with conspiracy
to commit armed robbery in '84.
The trial collapsed when the main
prosecution witness didn't testify.
He was shot on his way to court.
Was Gregson charged?
Insufficient evidence. He
still has a clean slate.
Don't worry, Alex - if anyone else
is going to get shot, it's me.
- You finished early.
- Matt and his friends have gone to a nightclub.
I told them not to wait.
We only got the papers this morning.
We couldn't have a con till late.
Never your fault, is it, Jim?
Set the agenda for once, can't you?
You're a silk, not a bloody tea boy!
What am I supposed to do?
I can't change the way the system works.
I thought you were a persuasive man.
My concern is the bottom line. If we want to
live like this, someones got to sweat for it.
I'm more than capable
of making money too, Jim.
That's not what I meant.
I Ambient trance
- Do you want a drink?
- Yeah.
I THE BEAUTIFUL SOUTH: Song For Whoever
I I love you from the
bottom of my pencil case
I I love you in the songs I write and sing
I Love you because
I You put me in my rightful place
I And I love the PRS cheques that you bring
I Cheap, never cheap
I I'll sing the songs till...
Cut it out, Matt!
I And when you've gone
upstairs, I'll creep...
What a bloody mess.
(Phone rings)
Hello?
What?
Just hold onto him, will you?
What's your address?
- No. O come now.
- What's happened?
Matt started a punch-up in a nightclub.
Apparently.
I'll come with you.
I think this is my responsibility.
I Trance
Any other club would have called the cops.
We don't expect this kind of thing.
We've all been there.
He assaulted two of my staff
as well as a customer.
(Shouts) Let me know if there's any damage.
Happy birthday, son.
So?
The old boy had a heart attack.
So, who've we got now, then?
A QC called Kavanagh.
He defends, mostly.
- Working-class lad from up north, apparently.
- Make him an offer.
He looks pretty tight.
Wife and kids?
- How's Annie?
- She's fine, Kev. I'm keeping an eye on her.
Well, just make sure
she stays away from the trial, all right?
OK.
Turn up anything else
on Gregson's finances?
Only the one account.
Ted Fellows left the
papers in a right mess.
Well, his heart wasn't in it.
Morning.
Look, I have to warn you again
that alleging Customs planted the drugs
is not the most attractive of defences.
- It's what happened.
- You know my concerns.
The jury may have difficulty understanding
why they would single you out.
Isn't it a bit late to start
rewriting my defence?
Juries don't want to hear
that officers of the Crown are bent, Kevin.
Wouldn't it be safer
to say that it was down to Bennett?
He couldn't organise a straight business,
let alone a bent one.
His counsel and the Crown
will be very keen for him to implicate you.
Is there a risk
he'll do a deal with the prosecution?
He hasn't got the balls.
Listen, I intend to walk.
Graham Emerton. I'm appearing for Bennett.
Something on your mind?
Perhaps we might see our way
to avoiding the unpleasantness of a trial.
That depends what you're looking for.
Customs wouldn't be happy with anything
less than possession with intent to supply.
(Door opens)
A tete-a-tete, gentlemen?
Well, it's hardly a conspiracy.
Susannah Dixon. I represent Kevin Gregson.
He's prepared to plead to the importation
of contaminated meat.
I don't see any evidence
to sustain a case on the drugs.
The jury might look a little harder.
They can't see what isn't there.
Excuse me.
You will put my offer to Customs?
The judge would like to see counsel
in chambers.
What do you think he wants?
An old-fashioned carve-up, followed by an early
lunch at the Carlton Club, I shouldn't wonder.
I simply wanted to ensure
a meaningful dialogue was taking place.
If Your Honour is suggesting
accepting a plea from Bennett,
and not proceeding against Mr Gregson,
it's quite out of the question.
I'm sure you'll be mindful!
Of the pressing obligation
to save expensive court time, Mr Kavanagh.
Guilty pleas to counts acceptable to the Crown
will of course receive the appropriate discount.
LLOYD: The lorry left Harwich
shortly before 12:30pm.
Gregson arrived at the yard at 3pm.
A few moments after the lorry.
KAVANAGH: How long after were
the defendants arrested?
A matter of minutes.
- Was anything found in the lorry?
- Pork carcasses.
My officers opened them, and found
15 kilos of 80% pure Afghan heroin.
Have you any idea what
that would have cost?
About half a million.
Precisely what was the load in the trailer?
Condemned meat. The refrigeration
unit wasn't even switched on.
I understand there's a black market
for that kind of meat.
- It's easy money.
- I have come across it.
- Who arranged this importation?
- Bennett signed the paperwork.
Bennett was the grafter. He ran the business.
Mr Gregson only looked in now and then.
Gregson came into the yard
almost as the load arrived.
How long did you have people
watching the depot?
13% weeks.
If you hadn't come up with a result
after three months.
Might not your judgment
be called into question?
I'm not sure I understand.
What is your point, Miss Dixon?
I'm suggesting these drugs were planted
in the trailer by your officers.
I plant flowers, Miss, not drugs.
Last year, Mr Gregson's income from his two
businesses was in the region of £120000.
Something like that, yes.
But even a man of his means would have to
dig deep to find half a million pounds.
- I assume so.
- You have to make assumptions. Officer.
Because you have absolutely no evidence of
my client parting with money to buy drugs.
Have you?
No.
There's no evidence of Mr Bennett sharing
Mr Gregson's high life, is there, Officer?
Nothing remarkable, no.
At £20000 a year.
He wasn't on the sort of wages
that buy 15kg of heroin.
We don't know where the money was from.
He didn't put it through the books.
What was Mr Bennett doing
in the hour or so before his arrest?
He was working in the yard.
A flat-bed load of timber came in.
He helped the driver move his unit
to another trailer.
Business as usual.
Whatever that was.
Well, the only unusual element
was Mr Gregson's arrival
coinciding with that of the lorry.
No, I wouldn't say that at all.
You have told us nothing
which proves Mr Bennett knew
there was anything in the
trailer other than meat.
The facts speak for themselves.
Quite so.
KAVANAGH:
Could I refer you to photograph 32?
Could you tell the jury what this is?
A workshop lined with polythene.
The sacks contain raw glucose,
used to cut the drugs to a lesser purity.
What purpose does the polythene serve?
It stops the heroin, at £1,000 a teaspoon,
from falling through the floorboards.
They maximise profits in every way.
Wait there, please, Officer Norris.
Look at the workshop photograph again. Do you
see the shelves in the far right corner?
- Mm-hm. I do.
- And the equipment stored there?
It looks like a spray gun.
Might not that have been used for the
purpose of spraying paint onto panels?
There was no evidence of that.
Turn to page 853 in your bundle.
Tell the jury what that is.
It's a delivery note for 60
50-kilo sacks of glucose.
- To whom is the delivery?
- Barkers soft drinks company.
Would you read out the instruction
on the bottom?
"Received 60. Six returned."
Would that not account for the presence
of six sacks of glucose at Mainbeam?
Well, it's a possibility,
but it's unlikely.
The truth is, Officer, that for every piece
of evidence you say is incriminating,
there is an equally innocent explanation.
Why not negotiate?
We could still get something.
Take for both.
Thank you.
There's not a lot to be said for prosecuting,
but now and again it has its own reward.
Gregson is going to go.
Thank you.
And Bennett?
He's easily led.
He's helping to peddle the stuff too.
We'll use him to get to Gregson. If we can.
If Gregson doesn't get to him first.
I wouldn't mind a word with Emerton.
The ice maiden has him under close arrest.
How are you at subterfuge?
I'll think of something.
Excuse me.
You couldn't do me an enormous favour?
It's rather embarrassing.
Women's business.
Shall we have a chat?
I'm afraid I'm rather caught out.
There was no-one I could ask.
You haven't got a spare tampon?
The machine's empty.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
If your client pleads, I'm willing to accept it
on the basis that he played a very minor role.
The judge will still give him a discount.
He might even get away with three years.
Out in 18 months.
Well, that's rather optimistic.
Not if he helps to sink Gregson.
Oh, you can't make that a condition.
Put it to him.
What's going on?
I fancied another pud.
Do you have a particular resentment
towards me, Mr Kavanagh?
We all have to do our best for our clients.
Dib dib dib.
Giving evidence for the prosecution
will halve your sentence.
In your position, it's the
most attractive option.
That would make me a grass. Do you know
what that means when you're inside?
The prison authorities
will ensure you're protected.
But my wife and kids won't be, will they?
That's the way Gregson works.
Think about it.
KAVANAGH: Who was driving the lorry?
Dieter Klausen.
We found a mobile phone
registered to him in the cab.
We got a print-out of his calls.
What did that print-out show?
He made a call to Gregson's at er... 2:30pm
while he was on the motorway.
The defence have suggested that the drugs
found in the carcasses may have been planted.
That's very unlikely.
They were sewn right into the viscera.
It would have taken too long.
Is there something significant
in the way that the drugs were concealed?
Well, the carcasses must
have been specially obtained,
with the offal still in place
to provide a means of concealment.
KAVANAGH: It's enough
to turn you vegetarian.
DIXON: You say
the driver telephoned Mr Gregson at 2:30.
According to the print-out.
Look at exhibit 357, Officer.
A photocopy of a Mainbeam business card
found inside the lorry cab.
- Yes.
- There are three numbers on it.
The fax and telephone numbers of the
Mainbeam office. and a mobile number.
But it doesn't say it's Mr
Gregson's mobile, does it?
No.
The photos in the bundle were automatically
timecoded by the camera. weren't they?
R
Q
And photograph 63 clearly shows
Mr Bennett working in the yard at 2:30.
It the phone rang at that time
chances are he wouldn't hear it.
Especially over a lorry engine.
Well, that may be, but I've no idea
if Klausen phoned the office.
The print-out doesn't
record unanswered calls.
It's perfectly possible Mr I
Thank you.
(Police radio)
WOMAN ON RADIO: 505 roger.
- There you go. Thank you.
- Thank you.
(Water splashing)
MAN: Hello Mummy.
Look at Mummy, and say, "Hi, Mummy."
Hi, Mummy.
(Rings)
Thanks, angel.
Hello?
Yeah, right.
Good. OK, I'll be right down. OK.
Darling, I've got to go out. I'm sorry.
I'll be back to tuck him in, OK?
Bye, angel.
Here she comes.
Lloyd to Pearson. Hold your position.
That's his Jag.
(Cameras continue clicking)
All right, let's go. Come on.
(Tyres squeal)
Customs! Hold it!
Get after him!
Kevin Gregson, I'm arresting you
on suspicion of importing Class A drugs.
This is a very dangerous job you're in.
Your wife and kids must worry terribly.
Lucky I'm still a bachelor.
Freeze!
(Groans)
Ah, window locks.
Wise precaution. Mr Bennett.
It's glucose.
(Groans)
Hey.
(Camera clicks)
Pallisters can have this lot back
with my compliments.
- I'm off for a bevvy.
- First one of theirs you've lost.
Unfortunately. she left her
confession till the witness box.
You've got out of tighter
spots, Mr Kavanagh.
I'm staying home tomorrow.
Mountain of paperwork.
That might be difficult, sir.
Customs are sending down a brief
for next week.
Prosecuting?
I'd thought you'd lined me up for a GBH.
Mr Foxcott got to it first.
Can't be much to the Customs matter.
It's a return from Ted Fellows.
Ted Fellows isn't even a silk.
He had a coronary this morning.
- Didn't think you 'd say no to a healthy fee.
- I don't have much choice, do I?
(Knock at door)
Fancy a pint?
All right for some, James.
- Jeremy?
- ..taken care of.
- Oh, I'm sorry.
- Can I help you, James?
No, no. Nothing important.
The debt-factoring option could increase an
individual barristers income by 5 percent.
- Hello, darling
- Hiya.
- How do I look?
- Lovely.
- Have I seen that dress before?
- You bought it two years ago.
It's worn well.
- Posh do?
- Claridges.
I could handle that.
You wouldn't find the Association
of Women Executives very relaxing company.
Ah.
And to be honest with
you, neither do I, but...
while I'm looking for the right job,
I have to network.
Isn't that something fishermen do?
I'm afraid I haven't had time
to make you anything.
Oh, Matt's friends are coming here
tomorrow night for dinner.
7130.
Matt's birthday?
Yeah. Yeah, I hadn't forgotten.
TONY GREEN: OK We Second round
Five.
(Door opens)
- 20
Matt?
And 20. That's 45.
I've got you a biryani.
I'm not hungry, thanks.
I'm glad you dropped by.
I enjoyed our little chat.
Hi.
Wm Miranda Lawson.
Matt tells me you're a QC.
It must be fascinating.
It's um...
It has its moments.
There's enough for both of you.
- Um, we're fine.
- Yeah.
We don't want to interrupt you.
You must be very busy.
TONY: scores for the first round. Jim.
JIM BOWEN: OK. That's fine.
(Applause from TV)
How do you explain this?
How about that? Hm?
That jog your memory?
What about this one?
And this? And this?
You ought to say something, Kevin.
You'll give the jury the wrong idea.
My client is making no comment.
Interview terminated at 23:30.
What about bail?
- With 15 kilos of heroin?
- It could be anyone's.
WOMAN: I'm sure
the magistrate will be open to persuasion.
How much would it take?
I never heard that.
Well, you know where I am.
Your Customs briefs arrived.
Con at five.
It's not all mine.
Just carrying this lot about is enough
to give you a seizure. Who's the junior?
Miss Wilson. She was the
only one available.
Do you realise how much work is in this?
She's barely been doing the job a year.
14 months, actually.
Cancel your weekend. It's going to be...
a steep learning curve.
Have you noticed anything peculiar
about Tom lately?
His wife's in a psychiatric unit.
She's suffering from a bad spell
of postnatal depression.
Oh.
Oh, poor chap.
What about his wife?
As far as I see it.
There are only two possible advantages
in taking an appointment
to the High Court bench.
Never having to toady to a judge again,
and my wife would have the exquisite pleasure
of booking herself into the hairdressers
as Lady Foxcott.
The rest is just loneliness,
creeping senility.
And haemorrhoids.
And the 60% slash in earnings.
Do you really want to struggle on
into old age at the Bar?
- Don't listen to him, Peter.
- I think I can wait a while.
Could you have a word with Tom
before he drives me into early retirement?
- Yes, I suppose I should.
- Bringing his problems into work.
(Phone rings)
Yep?
Your Customs officers have arrived.
Great.
Only an hour late.
Give me five minutes.
A sympathetic line with Tom would be best.
Lizzie will skin me.
I know that tone.
I understand
there have been a few problems at home.
Childbirth...
is a difficult time for women.
They can be a bit funny.
It passes.
Well...
good.
Bring her along to the chambers bash,
get her out of herself.
We'll see.
- What goes on in here again?
- It's the cutting room, where they make the stuff.
Those sacks in the corner
- 300 kilos of glucose,
so if the heroin's cut to a 5% purity
they'd look to make...£4 million.
ALEX: Wow.
- What's the significance of this?
- Cutting is a closed operation.
When you're dealing
with four million quid's worth,
you don't want anybody
going in or out until you've shifted it.
This amount could take three men
several days. They need feeding.
Anything else on Gregson?
Yeah, he owns a nightclub in Dagenham.
Garters.
Five years ago,
he bailed out Mainbeam Haulage.
Bennett used to own it.
But Gregson kept him on as a manager.
Six months later.
He moves to a nice little pad in Surrey.
Must have set him back 500K.
He's also got a villa in the Algarve,
and a yacht in Jersey.
What sort of yacht?
Um...
A 70-footer.
The Born Leader.
- Regular entrepreneur.
- He reckons he is.
- How much has he got in the bank?
- Only a few thousand we could find.
He's clever. The haulage firm
does plenty of legitimate business,
but we're sure Gregson's been using it to front
a drugs operation for several years now.
What's Bennett's role?
He signed the consignment documents.
All false.
The meat in the back was condemned.
The company it was
destined for didn't exist.
Neither of their fingerprints on the drugs?
No.
No evidence to link them to the purchase?
And the documents only tie in Bennett.
We haven’t got a lotto prove Gregson was
knowingly concerned with the importation.
Unless there's something
you haven't told me.
You've got statements
from all the investigating officers.
- They don't say where the drugs came from.
- They were caught red-handed.
The jury like to hear the full story.
Wouldn't you?
You know how sensitive our sources are,
Mr Kavanagh.
If we keep them confidential.
It's for a very good reason.
Kevin Gregson was charged with conspiracy
to commit armed robbery in '84.
The trial collapsed when the main
prosecution witness didn't testify.
He was shot on his way to court.
Was Gregson charged?
Insufficient evidence. He
still has a clean slate.
Don't worry, Alex - if anyone else
is going to get shot, it's me.
- You finished early.
- Matt and his friends have gone to a nightclub.
I told them not to wait.
We only got the papers this morning.
We couldn't have a con till late.
Never your fault, is it, Jim?
Set the agenda for once, can't you?
You're a silk, not a bloody tea boy!
What am I supposed to do?
I can't change the way the system works.
I thought you were a persuasive man.
My concern is the bottom line. If we want to
live like this, someones got to sweat for it.
I'm more than capable
of making money too, Jim.
That's not what I meant.
I Ambient trance
- Do you want a drink?
- Yeah.
I THE BEAUTIFUL SOUTH: Song For Whoever
I I love you from the
bottom of my pencil case
I I love you in the songs I write and sing
I Love you because
I You put me in my rightful place
I And I love the PRS cheques that you bring
I Cheap, never cheap
I I'll sing the songs till...
Cut it out, Matt!
I And when you've gone
upstairs, I'll creep...
What a bloody mess.
(Phone rings)
Hello?
What?
Just hold onto him, will you?
What's your address?
- No. O come now.
- What's happened?
Matt started a punch-up in a nightclub.
Apparently.
I'll come with you.
I think this is my responsibility.
I Trance
Any other club would have called the cops.
We don't expect this kind of thing.
We've all been there.
He assaulted two of my staff
as well as a customer.
(Shouts) Let me know if there's any damage.
Happy birthday, son.
So?
The old boy had a heart attack.
So, who've we got now, then?
A QC called Kavanagh.
He defends, mostly.
- Working-class lad from up north, apparently.
- Make him an offer.
He looks pretty tight.
Wife and kids?
- How's Annie?
- She's fine, Kev. I'm keeping an eye on her.
Well, just make sure
she stays away from the trial, all right?
OK.
Turn up anything else
on Gregson's finances?
Only the one account.
Ted Fellows left the
papers in a right mess.
Well, his heart wasn't in it.
Morning.
Look, I have to warn you again
that alleging Customs planted the drugs
is not the most attractive of defences.
- It's what happened.
- You know my concerns.
The jury may have difficulty understanding
why they would single you out.
Isn't it a bit late to start
rewriting my defence?
Juries don't want to hear
that officers of the Crown are bent, Kevin.
Wouldn't it be safer
to say that it was down to Bennett?
He couldn't organise a straight business,
let alone a bent one.
His counsel and the Crown
will be very keen for him to implicate you.
Is there a risk
he'll do a deal with the prosecution?
He hasn't got the balls.
Listen, I intend to walk.
Graham Emerton. I'm appearing for Bennett.
Something on your mind?
Perhaps we might see our way
to avoiding the unpleasantness of a trial.
That depends what you're looking for.
Customs wouldn't be happy with anything
less than possession with intent to supply.
(Door opens)
A tete-a-tete, gentlemen?
Well, it's hardly a conspiracy.
Susannah Dixon. I represent Kevin Gregson.
He's prepared to plead to the importation
of contaminated meat.
I don't see any evidence
to sustain a case on the drugs.
The jury might look a little harder.
They can't see what isn't there.
Excuse me.
You will put my offer to Customs?
The judge would like to see counsel
in chambers.
What do you think he wants?
An old-fashioned carve-up, followed by an early
lunch at the Carlton Club, I shouldn't wonder.
I simply wanted to ensure
a meaningful dialogue was taking place.
If Your Honour is suggesting
accepting a plea from Bennett,
and not proceeding against Mr Gregson,
it's quite out of the question.
I'm sure you'll be mindful!
Of the pressing obligation
to save expensive court time, Mr Kavanagh.
Guilty pleas to counts acceptable to the Crown
will of course receive the appropriate discount.
LLOYD: The lorry left Harwich
shortly before 12:30pm.
Gregson arrived at the yard at 3pm.
A few moments after the lorry.
KAVANAGH: How long after were
the defendants arrested?
A matter of minutes.
- Was anything found in the lorry?
- Pork carcasses.
My officers opened them, and found
15 kilos of 80% pure Afghan heroin.
Have you any idea what
that would have cost?
About half a million.
Precisely what was the load in the trailer?
Condemned meat. The refrigeration
unit wasn't even switched on.
I understand there's a black market
for that kind of meat.
- It's easy money.
- I have come across it.
- Who arranged this importation?
- Bennett signed the paperwork.
Bennett was the grafter. He ran the business.
Mr Gregson only looked in now and then.
Gregson came into the yard
almost as the load arrived.
How long did you have people
watching the depot?
13% weeks.
If you hadn't come up with a result
after three months.
Might not your judgment
be called into question?
I'm not sure I understand.
What is your point, Miss Dixon?
I'm suggesting these drugs were planted
in the trailer by your officers.
I plant flowers, Miss, not drugs.
Last year, Mr Gregson's income from his two
businesses was in the region of £120000.
Something like that, yes.
But even a man of his means would have to
dig deep to find half a million pounds.
- I assume so.
- You have to make assumptions. Officer.
Because you have absolutely no evidence of
my client parting with money to buy drugs.
Have you?
No.
There's no evidence of Mr Bennett sharing
Mr Gregson's high life, is there, Officer?
Nothing remarkable, no.
At £20000 a year.
He wasn't on the sort of wages
that buy 15kg of heroin.
We don't know where the money was from.
He didn't put it through the books.
What was Mr Bennett doing
in the hour or so before his arrest?
He was working in the yard.
A flat-bed load of timber came in.
He helped the driver move his unit
to another trailer.
Business as usual.
Whatever that was.
Well, the only unusual element
was Mr Gregson's arrival
coinciding with that of the lorry.
No, I wouldn't say that at all.
You have told us nothing
which proves Mr Bennett knew
there was anything in the
trailer other than meat.
The facts speak for themselves.
Quite so.
KAVANAGH:
Could I refer you to photograph 32?
Could you tell the jury what this is?
A workshop lined with polythene.
The sacks contain raw glucose,
used to cut the drugs to a lesser purity.
What purpose does the polythene serve?
It stops the heroin, at £1,000 a teaspoon,
from falling through the floorboards.
They maximise profits in every way.
Wait there, please, Officer Norris.
Look at the workshop photograph again. Do you
see the shelves in the far right corner?
- Mm-hm. I do.
- And the equipment stored there?
It looks like a spray gun.
Might not that have been used for the
purpose of spraying paint onto panels?
There was no evidence of that.
Turn to page 853 in your bundle.
Tell the jury what that is.
It's a delivery note for 60
50-kilo sacks of glucose.
- To whom is the delivery?
- Barkers soft drinks company.
Would you read out the instruction
on the bottom?
"Received 60. Six returned."
Would that not account for the presence
of six sacks of glucose at Mainbeam?
Well, it's a possibility,
but it's unlikely.
The truth is, Officer, that for every piece
of evidence you say is incriminating,
there is an equally innocent explanation.
Why not negotiate?
We could still get something.
Take for both.
Thank you.
There's not a lot to be said for prosecuting,
but now and again it has its own reward.
Gregson is going to go.
Thank you.
And Bennett?
He's easily led.
He's helping to peddle the stuff too.
We'll use him to get to Gregson. If we can.
If Gregson doesn't get to him first.
I wouldn't mind a word with Emerton.
The ice maiden has him under close arrest.
How are you at subterfuge?
I'll think of something.
Excuse me.
You couldn't do me an enormous favour?
It's rather embarrassing.
Women's business.
Shall we have a chat?
I'm afraid I'm rather caught out.
There was no-one I could ask.
You haven't got a spare tampon?
The machine's empty.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
If your client pleads, I'm willing to accept it
on the basis that he played a very minor role.
The judge will still give him a discount.
He might even get away with three years.
Out in 18 months.
Well, that's rather optimistic.
Not if he helps to sink Gregson.
Oh, you can't make that a condition.
Put it to him.
What's going on?
I fancied another pud.
Do you have a particular resentment
towards me, Mr Kavanagh?
We all have to do our best for our clients.
Dib dib dib.
Giving evidence for the prosecution
will halve your sentence.
In your position, it's the
most attractive option.
That would make me a grass. Do you know
what that means when you're inside?
The prison authorities
will ensure you're protected.
But my wife and kids won't be, will they?
That's the way Gregson works.
Think about it.
KAVANAGH: Who was driving the lorry?
Dieter Klausen.
We found a mobile phone
registered to him in the cab.
We got a print-out of his calls.
What did that print-out show?
He made a call to Gregson's at er... 2:30pm
while he was on the motorway.
The defence have suggested that the drugs
found in the carcasses may have been planted.
That's very unlikely.
They were sewn right into the viscera.
It would have taken too long.
Is there something significant
in the way that the drugs were concealed?
Well, the carcasses must
have been specially obtained,
with the offal still in place
to provide a means of concealment.
KAVANAGH: It's enough
to turn you vegetarian.
DIXON: You say
the driver telephoned Mr Gregson at 2:30.
According to the print-out.
Look at exhibit 357, Officer.
A photocopy of a Mainbeam business card
found inside the lorry cab.
- Yes.
- There are three numbers on it.
The fax and telephone numbers of the
Mainbeam office. and a mobile number.
But it doesn't say it's Mr
Gregson's mobile, does it?
No.
The photos in the bundle were automatically
timecoded by the camera. weren't they?
R
Q
And photograph 63 clearly shows
Mr Bennett working in the yard at 2:30.
It the phone rang at that time
chances are he wouldn't hear it.
Especially over a lorry engine.
Well, that may be, but I've no idea
if Klausen phoned the office.
The print-out doesn't
record unanswered calls.
It's perfectly possible Mr I