First broadcast 5th November 1992.
Rumpole finds himself in the unusual position of defending a police officer on a charge of falsifying a confession.
Leo McKern ... Horace Rumpole
Marion Mathie ... Hilda Rumpole
Peter Bowles ... Guthrie Featherstone
Joanna Van Gyseghem ... Lady Marigold Featherstone
Julian Curry ... Claude Erskine-Brown
Denis Lill ... Mr. Bernard
Jonathan Coy ... Henry
Camille Coduri ... Dot Clapton
Ronnie Stevens ... Rt. Hon. Lord Justice Parsloe
Peter Carlisle ... Wilfred Shadwell
Rosalind March ... Betty Yeomans
Tony Doyle ... Det. Supt. Gannon
Harvey Ashby ... Ch. Supt. Belmont
Sean Gascoine ... Det. Sgt. Chesney Lane
David Beames ... Det. Insp. Peplow
Graham Sinclair ... Miles Crudgington Q.C.
Tim Wylton ... Toby Haringay
David Gooderson ... Denver
Stanley Kowalski ... Pinhead Morgan
Jim Penfold ... Thespian
Sylvester Salmon ... Police Constable
David Oliver ... Ted Yeomans
Rumpole finds himself in the unusual position of defending a police officer on a charge of falsifying a confession.
Leo McKern ... Horace Rumpole
Marion Mathie ... Hilda Rumpole
Peter Bowles ... Guthrie Featherstone
Joanna Van Gyseghem ... Lady Marigold Featherstone
Julian Curry ... Claude Erskine-Brown
Denis Lill ... Mr. Bernard
Jonathan Coy ... Henry
Camille Coduri ... Dot Clapton
Ronnie Stevens ... Rt. Hon. Lord Justice Parsloe
Peter Carlisle ... Wilfred Shadwell
Rosalind March ... Betty Yeomans
Tony Doyle ... Det. Supt. Gannon
Harvey Ashby ... Ch. Supt. Belmont
Sean Gascoine ... Det. Sgt. Chesney Lane
David Beames ... Det. Insp. Peplow
Graham Sinclair ... Miles Crudgington Q.C.
Tim Wylton ... Toby Haringay
David Gooderson ... Denver
Stanley Kowalski ... Pinhead Morgan
Jim Penfold ... Thespian
Sylvester Salmon ... Police Constable
David Oliver ... Ted Yeomans
Category
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TVTranscript
00:00This episode is called Rumpole and the Miscarriage of Justice. The person who appears to have
00:11miscarried justice is Guthrie Featherstone, that very nervous and insecure judge, who
00:17has condemned for 25 years someone who appears to have confessed to a murder, but for various
00:26reasons the Court of Appeal order a re-hearing. That sends Guthrie into a terrible spin of
00:32helpless uncertainty. What has caused the re-trial is whether or not the police have
00:40fabricated some evidence, and Rumpole finds himself in this case on the side of the police,
00:48defending a police officer who is alleged to have forged a confession. All I can say
00:54is that the police are very lucky to have Rumpole on their side.
02:55Liked by one and all, Betty. Best of his intake. Did his job braver than any of us.
03:04Great career in front of him. That's not a great help, is it, telling you all that?
03:12No.
03:15All I can say, all I can say for your satisfaction, Betty, is that we got the little bastard,
03:21no bloody trouble. And he won't get away with it, not in a million years.
03:26Put your trust in Roy, Betty. You trust the super.
03:30That's one thing I can do for you, Betty. I can promise you a conviction.
03:38Morgan, you have been convicted of murder out of your own mouth, and by your own words.
03:46Every minute that this trial has lasted has made me surer and surer of your guilt.
03:53You will go to prison for life, and my recommendation is that you serve a minimum of 25 years.
04:02Thanks for that, Mr. Gannon. Thanks for everything.
04:05Least we could do, Betty.
04:07Take him down.
04:08Justice for all!
04:10Silence!
04:13Evening, Judge.
04:15Ah, Rumpole.
04:22I see you've got the evening standard.
04:25Remarkable powers of observation, Your Lordship.
04:28But I just happen to have my face plastered all over the front page.
04:32Oh, right. I'll start on page two.
04:36Morgan was the most anxious case.
04:39Morgan was the most anxious case.
04:41And you did it extraordinarily skillfully, if I may say so.
04:46Oh, my dear old Rumpole.
04:48No blood on the accused's clothing, no evidence that the knife was his,
04:51no witness that saw him anywhere near where the body was found.
04:54My darling old Lordship, anyone can get a conviction on evidence.
04:58It takes a legal genius to obtain one without it.
05:01But the accused, Morgan, had better be fish.
05:04Oh, damn, there goes my bus.
05:06Oh, dear.
05:08I'm going to be late.
05:10Marigold's having people around this evening.
05:12She'll be absolutely furious.
05:14Taxi!
05:16I shouldn't have stood here chattering to you, Rumpole.
05:18I must be a complete idiot.
05:21Is that a confession we can accept as a proof, My Lord?
05:27Detective Inspector Petrov.
05:29You told me that Superintendent Gannon wrote out more than a confession.
05:33This document. Yes, sir.
05:35With this sheet, page 2, flat on the table, nothing underneath it.
05:39I'm sure of that, sir.
05:41So, that would seem to be perfectly clear.
05:44Can you confirm that, Sergeant Lane?
05:46No, I think we only had one sheet at a time, sir.
05:48You think?
05:50Well, no, I'm sure. He wrote on single sheets, flat on the table, sir.
05:53So, what your test shows is that page 2 was written on top of a pile of papers
05:57located in Superintendent Gannon's office. Is that right?
06:00Exactly. Here you see the indentations on the paper.
06:04Did you know that page 2, the page that describes the murder,
06:07was written elsewhere and possibly added later?
06:09Superintendent Gannon took away what he wrote.
06:11We don't know anything after that.
06:13Sir, I don't quite understand. We saw him write on single sheets.
06:16There is something that stinks to high heaven about this Morgan confession.
06:20Thank you.
06:31From the Chief Super's office to go in the safe, Linda.
06:51All done, Linda.
06:53Absolutely no trouble at all.
06:56I can't understand why women make such a meal about shopping.
07:00I broke the speed record and glossed her own happy mark.
07:03Round on two wheels most of the time.
07:06Now then, here we are. Squeeze me, bath and cleaner. Pleasant.
07:10Rumpel.
07:12Rumpel.
07:14Rumpel.
07:16Rumpel.
07:18Cleaner. Pleasant.
07:20Rumpel. I distinctly ask for the lime plough scented and the jumbo sized.
07:24But the recession, Hilda, we can't afford the jumbo.
07:26This will be very nicely your sugar, madam.
07:28A sweets to the sweet.
07:30A sugar for a big furry.
07:33Excellent. I relish the rum poll. Rolly pollly.
07:36Rumpel, this sugar is in lumps.
07:38What am I supposed to do? Jump up and down on it?
07:41Well do your best.
07:43Oh, I manage to track down that mincemeat you want.
07:46Oh, how brilliant of you. This will be wonderful for making shepherd's pie.
07:50Shepherd's pie? But you distinctly wrote...
07:53I distinctly wrote meat underlined. Minced. One pound.
07:58Minced meat, meat, minced. How was I to know the difference?
08:01Hilda, listen to this. Morgan case review.
08:05The Bishop of Worsfield, the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster
08:08and the Chairman of the Arts Council have all called
08:10for the reopening of the case of Peter Morgan,
08:12convicted for the murder of PC Yeomans on the Buttercup Meadows estate.
08:16Oh, well, it's no use on her.
08:18I shall just have to do all the shopping myself in the future.
08:22Well, I'm not the only one to make mistakes.
08:24Just think of poor, darling old Mr Justice Bethelstone.
08:39Sir Simon Parslow's looking for you, Judge.
08:41Lord Justice Parslow, is he indeed?
08:43Hello there, Guthrie. Drowning your sorrows?
08:46Simon, why, should I have sorrows?
08:49Bit of a hard time for you, I'm afraid.
08:51My heart goes out to you, poor old fellow. Keeping well, are you?
08:54Yeah, well, apart from the usual ailments of a trial judge.
08:57I know, piles and sleeplessness.
08:59But I'm looking forward to joining you, Lord Justices,
09:01in the peace and comfort of a court of appeal.
09:03Well, perhaps someday. Who knows? These things do get forgotten in time.
09:08Think, Simon, what sort of things are you talking about?
09:11Well, let's say things like Pinhead Morgan.
09:13Yes, well, I sent him down with a recommendation of 25 years.
09:16I know you did, Guthrie. How many has he done now?
09:19I suppose the question we have to decide is, has he done enough?
09:22Enough? For stabbing a copper?
09:24Look, why don't we move our drinks over to the window?
09:27There's fellows here trying to earwig us.
09:32Yes, well, I know there's been a bit of agitation by copper-hating leftists, Simon.
09:37The National Do-Gooders and the Howard League for Penal Reform.
09:40But you're not going to take any notice of them, are you?
09:42Tim Bunting referred the matter to us.
09:45And I'm not sure the Home Secretary's a copper-hating lefty, as you call it so elegantly.
09:49No, but he's a politician.
09:50I mean, people have been asking questions in the House, appearing on television.
09:53All that sort of nonsense.
09:55Poor chap fears he's going to do something.
09:57Guthrie, I know you'll be very brave about this.
10:00It may not be entirely nonsense.
10:03It may be just one more of these cases where the trial judge is left with egg on his face.
10:07But it was an open and shut case, Simon.
10:09Reopened and not yet shut, unfortunately.
10:13Oh, my dear old fellow, if only you hadn't said every minute this trial has lasted
10:17has made me surer and surer of your guilt.
10:20Did I say that?
10:21Oh, yes. Nailed your colours to the mast, didn't you, Guthrie?
10:25Silence is golden, old fellow.
10:27Particularly when passing possibly dubious life sentences.
10:31Possibly dubious?
10:34You mean you've already made up your minds?
10:36No, not at all, not at all.
10:38I've no idea what conclusion I and my brother-in-law's justices may come to.
10:43We might find the conviction is still safe.
10:46I just thought I ought to warn you.
10:49So keep your head down, Guthrie. The flack may be coming over.
10:53Free Pinnock! Free Pinnock! Free Pinnock!
11:15The Court of Appeal is sitting in judgment this morning, Wilfred.
11:18So I understand, sir, from Lord Justice Pastelot's clerk, Gladys.
11:23It's a troublesome business, Wilfred. It's an extremely troublesome business.
11:27Billy, they got rid of the rope. Those were my very words to Gladys.
11:31I was perfectly entitled to say, well, we had watertight evidence.
11:35And if that young man had been strung up,
11:37he would never have come popping up in the Court of Appeal
11:40and causing us all this trouble and anxiety.
11:43The point is, I have to know the result as soon as possible.
11:47Now, you come into my court at what time?
11:4912.30, sir.
11:52It should all be over by then, according to Gladys.
11:57Gladys is very reliable. We've become fast friends over the years.
12:02Do stop going on about Gladys and try and concentrate on coming in and giving me a signal.
12:08Now, um, let's say, uh,
12:12thumbs up if Pinhead goes back to prison and we're in the clear.
12:16And otherwise, may I make a suggestion, sir?
12:20Thumbs down.
12:23I feel there's going to be a terrible miscarriage of justice, Wilfred.
12:27The officer in charge of the case, Detective Superintendent Roy Gannon,
12:33must bear the heavy responsibility of obtaining this worthless confession.
12:39We, as judges at the Court of Appeal,
12:44can only apologize to the public,
12:47and to Mr. Morgan, the unfortunate victim of this miscarriage,
12:50for the somewhat unwise remarks of the learned judge,
12:55who was reckless enough to say, and I quote,
12:59every minute this trial has lasted has made me surer and surer of your guilt.
13:06Of your guilt.
13:17The judgment of the House of Lords in R. V. Windhammer,
13:22my lord,
13:25defines intent as presence of mind and body acting in concert in a willful murder.
13:35And at page 209 of the...
13:42No, I'm so sorry, I've got the wrong page.
13:45Uh, 213.
13:48No.
13:51So Pinhead never killed my husband?
13:55Never stabbed Ted? Never cut him?
13:58So who did, then? Would they mind telling me that?
14:01I'm sorry, Betty, I know it's...
14:02Or did no one kill Ted? Did he just pull out a knife and do himself?
14:06Was it all a mistake, like that trial of Pinhead? Is that what they're telling us?
14:10I don't know, Betty.
14:12I don't know.
14:14I don't know.
14:16Was it all a mistake, like that trial of Pinhead? Is that what they're telling us?
14:19I don't know, Betty. I seem to have lost interest in what Pinhead did.
14:22It's what I did, what the judge did, where we went wrong.
14:24It's all their lordships are concerned about.
14:26Someone killed Ted, that's all I know. Someone's got to suffer!
14:30Yeah, well, the most likely person to suffer is going to be me.
14:34Oh, not you, Roy.
14:36Not after all you've done for us.
14:39Not you.
14:41I'm not gonna let that happen.
14:44I've had no justice whatsoever, Denver.
14:46I'm sorry about that, sir. Truly sorry.
14:49No one to represent me.
14:51No chance to put my case.
14:54Appearing in another court, as it so happened, while the Court of Appeal rubbished me.
14:58Rubbished me, Denver.
15:01Trial judge was reckless enough to say.
15:04Reckless, me.
15:07I mean, tell me quite honestly.
15:09Denver, would you say I was reckless?
15:12No, Sir Guthrie, but you are my last gentleman, sir.
15:17Your last gentleman.
15:19Yes, yes, that's probably it.
15:21Too much of a gentleman to answer back.
15:23Yeah, not many of us left nowadays, are there?
15:26I was just about to pack up.
15:29Is that what you're advising me to do, Denver?
15:31Jack it in?
15:33Hang up the scarlet dressing gown?
15:35Take up golf?
15:37Sure, Lady Featherstone wouldn't want you to do that, sir.
15:39Lady Featherstone is far, far away in sunny Coventry with her sister.
15:45With any luck, she was too busy chattering to listen to the ten o'clock news.
15:49No, I'm all alone now, Denver.
15:55All alone in London.
15:58With only you for company.
16:01A very good night to you then, Sir Guthrie.
16:10Good night, Denver.
16:17Careful, mate, wait a minute.
16:19Sir Guthrie.
16:21It's Mr Justice Featherstone.
16:24If it isn't Henry.
16:26From number three equity court.
16:29Out on the town, are you, Henry?
16:32Are you all in the law? In which case you have my profound sympathy.
16:36Well, no, not exactly, Sir Guthrie, not at all in the law.
16:39What we have here is the cream of the Bexley Heath thespians.
16:43Up in town on our annual theatre evening.
16:45And piss up.
16:47That was not the purpose of the evening, Sir Guthrie.
16:49The purpose of the evening was to witness Miss Diana Rigg
16:53performing the role of Hedda Gobbler.
16:55I'd like to play opposite her.
16:57Not many laughs in it, was there?
16:59Never any of those, not in that Henry Gibson.
17:01So he was all off to blokes for a bit of a bop?
17:04Oh, a bit of a bop!
17:07There was a time when I could indulge myself in a bit of a bop.
17:11Before the pressures of life in the law became too much for me.
17:15Oh.
17:17Where is this blokes you go to?
17:19Leicester Square, just round the corner.
17:21Feel like shaking a foot, do you?
17:24Speaking for all the assembled thespians here, Sir Guthrie,
17:27we should be honoured if you'd care to join us.
17:30Well, that's very kind of you, but I'm afraid it's quite impossible.
17:39I mean, tell me quite honestly, what was I meant to do?
17:44Go down into the cells and keep a fatherly eye on Pinhead Morgan?
17:49Make sure the old Bill wasn't picking him up
17:52because he had tea and biscuits and a clever solicitor?
17:56No, I can't do that, you know.
17:59I simply don't have the time.
18:01So if we trial judges are going to carry on,
18:04we've got to trust the police, Debbie.
18:07Dottie!
18:10What did you call me?
18:12My name's Dot, Dottie, not Deb, Debbie.
18:16Seems as though I'm always making mistakes.
18:19Don't you worry, Judge, you're an excellent lawyer.
18:23Morning, Dot.
18:25Who's been giving you flowers? I didn't forget your birthday, did I?
18:29You can't have. I never told you when it was.
18:32No, perhaps I didn't.
18:34From a judicial admirer, hmm? Thanks for the bob.
18:37I don't read your correspondence, Mr Erskine-Brown,
18:40so I'd be glad if you kept your eyes off mine.
18:43Only taking a friendly interest, Dot.
18:45Is it serious? When's the engagement?
18:48I've seen enough of married men not to want one of my own.
18:51Mr Rumpole, we were expecting you half an hour ago, sir.
18:54Blame the common market, only I fell asleep on the bus reading about it.
18:58Oh, somebody's birthday!
19:00It's Dot. She's got an admirer.
19:02Yeah, and you've got a police officer, Mr Rumpole.
19:04What? Rumpole.
19:06They've fingered your collar at last.
19:08Nothing to do with my VAT, is it?
19:10I told the superintendent, Mr Rumpole,
19:13he couldn't wish for a better day.
19:15I told the superintendent, Mr Rumpole,
19:17he couldn't wish for a better brief.
19:19Not one with your talent for acquittals.
19:21You saw my point, didn't you, Roy?
19:23Acquittals.
19:25Us was caused all this mess.
19:27The way you lawyers let Pinhead out laughing.
19:30Oh, you blame the lawyers for that, do you?
19:33I gave Betty Yeomans my solemn oath.
19:35I'd get her a conviction.
19:37Did you mean that any old conviction would do?
19:40Oh, Pinhead was guilty, all right.
19:42There's no mistake about that.
19:44Very well.
19:46Now, let's see exactly what you did.
19:48Pinhead was arrested on the night of the incident.
19:51On the night he killed Ted Yeomans, yes.
19:54You interviewed him three times before he made his statement to you.
19:58He used foul language to us, or else he stayed silent,
20:01and that's often signs of cracking up.
20:03Now, you were away on the morning of the day he confessed.
20:07I went to see someone in hospital, yes.
20:09When I got back to the station, I was met by D.I. Peplow,
20:12who told me that Pinhead was ready to talk.
20:15Yes, that's right. They had a short interview with him while you were away.
20:19But all that Pinhead would say was,
20:21When is the governor back?
20:23I would now like to tell him about my involvement.
20:27That's according to D.I. Peplow's notes.
20:30Something like that, yes.
20:33So why did he change his mind?
20:38They need to talk, Mr. Rumpole.
20:40They need to tell someone about it. Can't keep it bottled up any longer.
20:44Then the truth comes out. New lawyers won't believe it.
20:47Did he use all the words in this confession statement?
20:50As far as I'm concerned, he said exactly what I wrote down.
20:54Yes. Now, you wrote on single sheets of paper, on loose sheets.
20:59Yes, I'm sure I did. D.I. Peplow, D.S. Lee, and so that.
21:03Nothing underneath, nothing between the sheet you were writing on and the table.
21:07No, I'm sure there wasn't.
21:09You know, the machine thinks differently.
21:12It ran its eye over a pile of blank statement forms from your office
21:17and detected indentations of page two.
21:21That's the page which contains the words,
21:24I came tooled up, I cut the copper, and so on.
21:29You can't rely on a machine.
21:32Superintendent Gammon, do you understand the case against you?
21:35That that page must have been written on top of a pile of blank statement forms
21:40and that it was then substituted for a less incriminating page two.
21:46I wrote down exactly what Pinhead said.
21:51Are you sure you didn't improve on it later
21:55to keep your promise to an unhappy woman?
21:59Yes, I'm sure.
22:01I thought I'd give Rumpole lunch at the club since they made me a member, Judge.
22:05A bit of a treat for the old boy.
22:07A rare opportunity to listen to judges slurping Brown Windsor soup.
22:11I say, I'm so sorry, Judge. You must be suffering terribly.
22:15Suffering? No, I'm not suffering.
22:18I'm feeling, well, on top of the world, really.
22:21You're being brave about it. Of course anyone can make mistakes.
22:25Mistakes? What are you talking about? Who's been making mistakes?
22:28Have you heard about anybody making mistakes, Rumpole?
22:30Mistakes? No, certainly not. Mistakes simply don't occur in the law.
22:34I summed up in that case perfectly fairly on the evidence before me.
22:37Are you suggesting I made some kind of mistake?
22:40God forbid. Well, anyway.
22:42You look well, Guthrie. Top of the world.
22:45There's more to life than stuffy courtrooms and summings up, Claude.
22:48Life has better things to offer, greater pleasures,
22:52and thank God I'm still young enough to enjoy them.
22:55Of course you are. A mere child.
22:58Shall we sit down?
23:03Yes, but at least I'm young enough to indulge in a bit of a bop occasionally.
23:09A bit of a what? A bop, Rumpole. A rave.
23:12That means a dance-up. A dance-up?
23:15Well, it's a modern idiom which you may be too square to understand.
23:18He's not square. He's round.
23:21I can see this is going to be an hilarious luncheon.
23:24Anyway, Marygold was away,
23:26and I didn't fancy spending the evening here with a lot of dusty old lawyers,
23:30so I took a young lady out.
23:33Bopping.
23:35Claude takes them to Wagner, you know.
23:37A judicial bop. I suppose because it lasts longer.
23:40Good heavens, I'd never have imagined.
23:42What I do find interesting, to be absolutely honest with you fellows,
23:45is how many young women today, well, let's say girls,
23:49how many girls today prefer the older man as a partner
23:53in every sense of the word?
23:55That's the in thing now, is it? Gerontophilia.
23:58Well, not really, old Rumpole.
24:01Not in your class, but the slightly older.
24:05Even judges?
24:07Well, even judges are human.
24:09Not many people know that.
24:11So you mean you actually struck lucky with your bopping?
24:15Oh, yes, Claude. Beyond all reasonable doubt.
24:19Successful in every way, in every possible way.
24:23Let's say it was an evening to look back on with joy
24:26when one's bopping days are over.
24:31Well, sorry, you chaps. I'm lunching with a couple of the younger members.
24:38Dot. It must have been our Dot.
24:40Oh, don't babble, Erskine Brown. Dot what?
24:43What Dot? Which Dot?
24:45Captain, she was getting red roses from a judicial admirer.
24:49I say, what exotic lives your judges do lead, don't they?
24:54Come along, Rumpole. Lunchtime.
24:56Yes.
24:58Hanky-panky, Mrs Rumpole.
25:00Among the judiciary, bed-hopping, apparently.
25:03Like those dreadful young people that go on package holidays to Menorca.
25:07You wouldn't believe it if judges, would you?
25:09Don't lie. You should hear them talking about it in the Sheridan, rather.
25:13Oh, Sheridan. Rumpole really must get around to joining.
25:16There was a judge holding forth from the bar the other day.
25:19What do you think he was on about? Points of law? Reform of the jury system?
25:22Not at all.
25:24It was all about how he'd taken some young bopper to the discotheque.
25:31I think girls prefer the older man as a partner.
25:34In every sense of the word.
25:38It's quite shocking to an old gentleman like me.
25:42You probably know the judge I'm talking about, Mrs Rumpole.
25:45Yes, probably. Rumpole is friends with so many judges.
25:48One part.
25:50Tall chap. Always looks terribly nervous.
25:53Fathering gay.
25:55No.
25:57Feather something.
26:00Dr Featherstone.
26:02That's it. Mr Justice Featherstone.
26:04Wouldn't want to be hauled up before him, would you?
26:07Not after he'd spent a hard night of hanky-panky in the discotheque.
26:13Lush out, Mrs Rumpole.
26:15Dr Featherstone.
26:19Oh, dear.
26:22I wonder.
26:26Is he married? No.
26:38Mr Rumpole, I'm Betty Yeomans.
26:41Oh, yes.
26:43You going anywhere?
26:45Well, I have to see somebody at Acton Crown Court, that's all.
26:48Jump in. I'll give you a free ride.
26:50Oh.
26:56Oh.
26:58Oh, dear.
27:00Oh, dear.
27:02Oh, dear.
27:04Oh.
27:06That's very kind of you.
27:08I've been meaning to have a word with you.
27:10Oh, really?
27:12A friend of Roy Cannon's got this minicab business. Job suits me.
27:14I do the hours and I can look after the kids as well.
27:16Don't forget your seatbelt.
27:18Oh, yes. Seatbelt.
27:22There we are.
27:26Now, then.
27:28What was it you wanted to tell me, Mrs Yeomans?
27:30A world full of bankers.
27:32Oh, is that what you wanted to tell me?
27:34Why can't they make their minds up?
27:37Roy's been wonderful to me and the kids, Mr Rumpole, since we lost Ted.
27:41Yeah?
27:43Come on, madam. It's gone green.
27:45You colourblind or something?
27:47I don't think she can hear you.
27:49I know, but it makes me feel better.
27:51It's like Roy made me feel better when he got our conviction.
27:54Ah, yes, but was it the correct one?
27:57Isn't that the point?
27:59You don't think he lied, Mr Rumpole, just to give me the satisfaction?
28:02He's not like that. Roy isn't.
28:04A straight copper.
28:06Roy's not the one Ted used to talk about.
28:08Oh, uh, Ted used to yawn about someone, did he?
28:10Oh, I know. He was only a uniformed man.
28:12Ted was never that ambitious.
28:14But his friend, the one he was at school with, he's the high flyer.
28:17He went straight in the CID and got detective sergeant.
28:20We used to see a lot of them, though.
28:22Him and Doreen. Our kids was the same age.
28:24Mrs Yeomans, what is it exactly you wanted to tell me?
28:28Why don't you go home and take a driving lesson?
28:32No, that's all right. I'm getting used to it.
28:35It's after Mr Pertwee got convicted.
28:37There was someone else Ted's friend was worried about, but it wasn't Roy.
28:41Superintendent Gannon's as clean as a whistle.
28:44Not like some others I could mention, he used to say.
28:47Uh, who used to say?
28:49What didn't I tell you?
28:50Oh.
28:51It was Chesney, of course.
28:52Chesney.
28:54Get a move on!
28:56This is a funeral procession!
28:58Chesney?
28:59Yes!
29:00We all got on so well together.
29:02I haven't seen much of them, though.
29:04Neither him nor Doreen Lane.
29:06Not since Ted went.
29:08Oh, detective sergeant Chesney Lane.
29:12One of those present when Pinhead Morgan signed his confession.
29:17Tell me more, Mrs Yeomans.
29:21Caltree, we have video.
29:23Oh, sorry.
29:27Is there something else?
29:29Is what something else?
29:30Your ears should be burning.
29:32I've been having a little chat with the Lord Chief about you.
29:35Not about dancing, was it?
29:37What did you say?
29:38We were talking about dancing.
29:40Well, hardly. I mean, I don't suppose the Lord Chief dances much nowadays.
29:43Do you dance, Guthrie?
29:44Dance? No, of course not.
29:46Why are we talking about it, then?
29:48Talking about what?
29:49Dancing.
29:50I really don't know.
29:52It's probably quite irrelevant.
29:53Yes, it is totally relevant.
29:54What we were discussing, Guthrie,
29:56is whether we shouldn't let you try detective superintendent Gannon,
29:59the fellow charged with faking a confession.
30:02But I tried Morgan, the chap who was supposed to have confessed.
30:05So you did, Guthrie, clever of you to remember.
30:07And you made an absolute pig's breakfast of it, didn't you, old chap?
30:10Well, we're thinking of giving you a chance to redeem yourself.
30:14Gannon.
30:15The copper who deceived the court.
30:17Deceived me, in fact.
30:18That's right, Guthrie.
30:19It might not have been very hard to do, but it seems he did it.
30:22Rotten apples in the police must be turfed out of the barrel,
30:25if the evidence exists, of course.
30:27The public expects a conviction.
30:29So, for the sake of the administration of justice, will you take it on?
30:32Oh, yes, Simon. Yes, yes, yes.
30:34You can tell the Lord Chief, yes.
30:36Oh, well, that's settled, then.
30:38Oh, and, Guthrie...
30:39Yes, sir?
30:40I should give up dancing if I were you.
30:42You're probably too old for it.
30:44Ah, Mr. Barnard.
30:46You associate pretty closely with the boys in blue, don't you?
30:51Attend their annual dinner dance,
30:53bump into them in the Rotary Club, that sort of thing.
30:56Well, you get to know how their minds work.
30:58And you can tell me,
31:00what was the Pertwee case?
31:03Oh, dear, we never got instructed on that one.
31:06Otherwise, you'd have had the brief, quite definitely.
31:08Yeah, I believe you.
31:09A superintendent, Pertwee.
31:11Yeah.
31:12Some people wanted to get rid of him.
31:14Oh?
31:15I never discovered who or why, exactly.
31:17It all started with a series of minor persecutions.
31:20I mean, they actually did it for speeding when he was out with his family.
31:23And then he was supposed to be friends with a big local villain.
31:27And they finally got Jim Pertwee on a charge
31:29of perverting the course of justice,
31:32planting dope on a suspect.
31:33Although I never found out who did the planting, exactly.
31:36He got a couple of years, still at it.
31:38You interest me, strangely.
31:41Barnard, I have work for you.
31:43Usually have, Mr. Rumpole.
31:45Detective Sergeant Chesney Lane.
31:47Cultivate his friendship.
31:49I think there's something you'd like to tell us.
31:58Betty Yeomans came to see our brief, Chesney.
32:04She doesn't want Roy to go down for this.
32:06Not after all he's done for her.
32:09Ted wouldn't have wanted it, would he?
32:11He knew Ted.
32:12Ted was an honest policeman.
32:14Perhaps that's why he stayed in uniform.
32:16Ted would have liked to have seen justice done.
32:19What's justice when it's at home?
32:23Well, I mean, has Pinhead got justice?
32:25Has Betty?
32:27No one nicked after all this time?
32:30Roy's the only one left to take the blame.
32:32I know that. I've lost sleep over it.
32:36You might sleep better after you've told someone.
32:39Doreen doesn't think so.
32:41Doreen thinks I want to keep my head down.
32:43What do you think?
32:46I think it's time I took the boys back for tea.
32:48Frank, Danny, pack it in, lads. Tea time.
32:51Oh, do we have to?
32:53Yes, you do. Come on.
32:58Look, do you want to come with us?
33:00I might have something for you.
33:06I told Marigold.
33:08What?
33:11I told Marigold.
33:14I told Marigold about Guthrie.
33:20You did what?
33:22I took her to lunch at Harrods.
33:24How very generous of you.
33:26You must have ruined her appetite.
33:29I told her all I'd heard about Guthrie...
33:32from that little man in the bridge club.
33:35But, Hilda, why?
33:37Because it was only fair, Rumpole.
33:39I couldn't let Marigold be deceived.
33:43I had to do her justice.
33:45Oh, the terrible harm people do
33:48when they start talking about justice.
34:01I'm telling everybody.
34:03Spilling it all out in the bar of the Sheridan Club
34:05as soon as my back is turned.
34:07Marigold, we've been through all that.
34:09Yes, well, we're going through it all again, several times.
34:11What do you think it felt like, having Hilda Rumpole
34:13feeling sorry for me in the silver grid?
34:15I've told you I don't know what came over me.
34:17Probably the same thing that came over you
34:19when you made a complete bosh of that murder trial.
34:21Temporary insanity.
34:23I suppose that's the kindest way of looking at it.
34:25I've told you it was completely innocent.
34:27Oh, yes? Is that why you confessed?
34:29But I didn't confess.
34:30Of course you did.
34:32Look, you're not the greatest catch in the world, Guthrie.
34:34Little Miss Wotsit's perfectly welcome to you,
34:36as far as I'm concerned.
34:38But why couldn't you keep your mouth shut about it?
34:40But I've tried to explain.
34:42You've got absolutely no judgment, Guthrie.
34:45There must come as something of a drawback in your profession.
34:58Marigold, I have a particularly difficult case starting today.
35:03Bent copper.
35:06How can I concentrate on it until I know
35:10your decision?
35:14You're not going to leave me.
35:16Of course not.
35:17That'd make things far too easy for you.
35:23Does that mean you're going to forgive me?
35:25Oh, no, Guthrie. I'm not going to do that either.
35:27I'm going to stay here and not forgive you.
35:30Now run along to work.
35:33Oh, and, Guthrie,
35:35do try not to make another cock-up, won't you?
35:38Thinking back to that time,
35:40are you absolutely sure he said,
35:42I'm sorry I cut the copper?
35:44Are you sure he said that?
35:46No, I'm not sure he said that at all.
35:48But it appears on the confession statement.
35:50So, it would seem
35:52that Detective Superintendent Gannon
35:54was writing down words that Morgan didn't say,
35:56completely ignoring that you had confessed.
35:59Perhaps...
36:00Is that the situation?
36:02Perhaps I could remind my learned friend...
36:05Yes, Mr. Rumpel?
36:07That Detective Superintendents like my client,
36:09Mr. Gannon, have human rights also,
36:12and one of them is that prosecution witnesses
36:14should not be asked leading questions.
36:16Mr. Crudgington was just making the obvious deduction.
36:19Ignoring all other possibilities,
36:22my lord, as is the way with those
36:24who talk about human rights.
36:26My lord, I'm quite prepared to play the game
36:29by Mr. Rumpel's somewhat outdated rules.
36:32They're not my rules, they're the rules of evidence.
36:34Have they gone out of favor with radical barristers?
36:38Perhaps it would be better
36:40if you rephrased your question, Mr. Crudgington.
36:43Ha-ha!
36:45Poor old darling's forgotten what his question was.
36:48No, my lord, I'm prepared to leave it there.
36:52Now, Detective Inspector Peplow,
36:56you gave evidence at the trial of Pinhead Morgan?
36:59I did, yes.
37:01And at that time, you had no doubt
37:03that the words Morgan said
37:05were written in the confession document?
37:07I couldn't recall exactly what he said,
37:10but then I had no reason to doubt
37:13what Mr. Gannon had said.
37:15I'm afraid I have no reason to doubt
37:18But then I had no reason to doubt
37:20what Mr. Gannon had written.
37:22Oh, and you have now.
37:24Since Chief Superintendent Belmont showed us the test,
37:27he proved that page two had been written later.
37:31Tell me, was Superintendent Gannon present
37:35when Mr. Belmont showed you the machine?
37:39No.
37:41Well, was he not asked to attend?
37:43Not as far as I know.
37:45Oh, why was that?
37:47I can't tell you.
37:49Were you and your sergeant being asked
37:51to gang up on your superior officer, Mr. Gannon?
37:54No, lord, that's an outrageous suggestion.
37:56Chief Superintendent Belmont hasn't had a chance
37:58to answer that very serious accusation.
38:01Oh, you mean Mr. Belmont has human rights also,
38:03even though he's a policeman?
38:05He has a right to answer these charges.
38:07So I shall be calling him as a witness, my lord.
38:10Unless Mr. Rumpole has any objections.
38:12Uh, no, not really, my lord.
38:15Calou, calou, Mr. Bernard,
38:17the old radical darling has walked straight into it.
38:19Now I can question Belmont.
38:22Just one more matter, Detective Inspector.
38:26Pinhead Morgan refused to talk
38:29during the first three days of his custody.
38:31Yes.
38:33And then you saw him without Superintendent Gannon being there.
38:37Detective Sergeant Lane was present on that occasion.
38:40Did you tell Morgan that if he did not confess,
38:44you would hand him over to Ted Yeoman's mates
38:47who would do him over in a way he would never be likely to forget?
38:51Well, Mr. Peplow?
38:53No, I did not tell him that.
38:56But by a remarkable coincidence,
38:58Mr. Morgan spoke at length to Superintendent Gannon
39:01that very afternoon and did so the moment
39:03Mr. Gannon arrived back at the station.
39:06Yes, but I don't think it was exactly the statement
39:10that's being produced in court.
39:13Yes.
39:15Do you have any more questions, Mr. Rumpole?
39:18No, not at the moment, my lord.
39:20In that case, I will rise for a few minutes.
39:23Court rise.
39:28A public business, my lord?
39:31No, Mr. Rumpole, it is an entirely private matter.
39:37Marigold, darling, I appeal to you.
39:43I'm sorry, Guthrie, you've lost your appeal.
39:48Chief Superintendent Belmont,
39:51what led you to make the test on the confession statement
39:56with the electro-detective or whatever the little device is called?
40:00There was a lot of protest about Morgan's conviction,
40:03his subnormal intellect.
40:05So you took a pile of blank statement forms
40:09from Superintendent Gannon's office.
40:12Did you do that surreptitiously?
40:15I don't think he knew about it.
40:18No, he was on holiday.
40:20But you did not tell him what you were doing behind his back.
40:23No, I didn't.
40:25At that stage, I didn't altogether trust Superintendent Gannon.
40:29You had another officer convicted
40:31for perverting the course of justice, didn't you?
40:34Superintendent Pertwee.
40:36You do get the occasional rotten apple, Mr. Rumpole.
40:39Yes, your particular barrel seems to be unusually full
40:43of rotten apples, doesn't it?
40:45Can I suggest where all this corruption starts?
40:49By all means.
40:50At the top, with you, sir!
40:52Mr. Rumpole, Mr. Rumpole,
40:55I'm sure you understand the risk you are taking
40:58in attacking a senior officer in this way.
41:01A risk, my lord?
41:03Well, we all like to dance on thin ice from time to time,
41:08don't we, my lord?
41:10I don't know what you were up to exactly,
41:12and I doubt if many of the CID officers know either.
41:15But Superintendent Pertwee found out, whatever it was.
41:19And Pertwee had to be persecuted, accused of it.
41:22And Pertwee had to be persecuted,
41:24accused of consorting with criminals.
41:26Pertwee was convicted after trial by jury.
41:29So was Pinhead Morgan.
41:31Did my client, Mr. Gannon, come to you
41:34and say that Pertwee may have been framed?
41:37I don't remember him saying that.
41:39And is that why you had to get rid of Gannon as well?
41:42By making it appear that he had forged a confession?
41:45Usher.
41:46So far as I'm concerned, he did forge a confession.
41:50As far as you are concerned.
41:53Just take a look at that document, will you?
41:56What is it?
41:57It appears to be a photostat copy of page 2
42:00of Morgan's alleged confession.
42:02The handwriting is Superintendent Gannon's?
42:04Yes.
42:05Well, run your fingers over it. Look at it closely.
42:08Hasn't someone gone over every letter
42:10with a pointed object pressing down hard?
42:15I can't tell.
42:16Oh, come, sir. Of course you can.
42:18Someone did that
42:19so that the writing would be impressed
42:21on the blank pages underneath it.
42:23And it would look to the machine
42:25as though that page had been written later.
42:28Surely you're not suggesting
42:30that Superintendent Gannon manufactured
42:32that evidence against himself, are you?
42:37Mr. Rumpole, where exactly did this come from?
42:40It came from Chief Superintendent Belmont's office, my lord.
42:45What the hell are you doing, Mr. Rumpole?
42:47Defending you, and rather well,
42:49even though I say it myself.
42:50All that you put to the Chief Superintendent.
42:52What's the public going to think?
42:53What is the jury going to think?
42:55That's what interests me.
42:56Look, if that's going on a Chief Superintendent level,
42:58who are we going to trust?
42:59Listen to me, Mr. Gannon.
43:01You voiced your suspicion about Pertwee's conviction
43:04to Chief Super Belmont, didn't you?
43:06And that is why he is out to get you?
43:08You can't prove that.
43:10We've got a witness, Roy.
43:12Who?
43:13Chesney Lane.
43:15You didn't tell me.
43:17We weren't sure he'd come out with it in the witness box.
43:19Somebody's been trying to shut him up, apparently.
43:21And I don't blame them.
43:22You don't what?
43:24Let young Chesney blow the whole division.
43:26I imagine he's going to tell the truth.
43:28Yeah, is that going to make it any better?
43:30Better for you, perhaps.
43:31We might even get you off.
43:33I mean better for the police.
43:35Listen to me, Mr. Gannon.
43:37The police, the judges, the jury,
43:40the public interest, the interest of justice,
43:42all those big words, those big ideas,
43:44they're altogether too much for me.
43:46I am here to see that nobody gets banged up for a crime
43:48they probably did not do,
43:50and that is very likely to happen to you
43:52unless you help me.
43:54I don't want young Chesney saying all that out in public.
43:57Well...
44:00Think about it, Roy.
44:02You've got till tomorrow to think about it.
44:05Your Lordship will know from the statements
44:07that this witness corroborates Detective Inspector Peplow's evidence.
44:11I tend to him in the remote possibility
44:13that Mr. Rumpole may want to cross-examine.
44:15Do you have any questions, Mr. Rumpole?
44:22Yes, my Lord.
44:24Thank you.
44:27Detective Sergeant Lane,
44:29since making your original statement
44:31Have you thought further about the matter?
44:33Yes, I have.
44:35And now?
44:37Now I want to tell the truth.
44:39When you and Detective Inspector Peplow
44:42were alone with Morgan,
44:44did Peplow say something to him?
44:46He said he'd get Ted Yeoman's mates to do him over.
44:50Did Superintendent Gannon know anything at all about that threat?
44:54Not that I know of.
44:56But that afternoon, Morgan made a full confession.
44:59That afternoon, Morgan made a full confession to the superintendent?
45:02Yes, he did.
45:04He said he was sorry he cut the copper.
45:06He was excited what with the car racing and that.
45:09You heard him say that?
45:11I am sorry I cut the copper?
45:13Yes, I did.
45:15Do you think Morgan confessed because of Peplow's threat?
45:18Or because it was the truth?
45:20How can he possibly answer that?
45:22Quite so.
45:24Of course, he can't. Thank you, Mr. Crutchington.
45:27Now, sir.
45:29I'm very grateful to my learned friend
45:31for supplying the answer to that question, my lord.
45:34Now then, Sergeant Lane,
45:36is that a photostat of page two of the confession
45:39that Superintendent Gannon wrote out while you were there?
45:43Yes, it is.
45:45What can you tell us about it?
45:47Someone's gone over every letter,
45:49pressing hard down on the paper.
45:51I imagine that was done to show indentations on the sheets under it.
45:54Oh, don't. Let's have what he imagines.
45:56Let's have what you know to be the truth.
45:58How did you obtain that document?
46:00It was in a file I brought from Chief Superintendent Belmont's office.
46:04Well, it looked as though someone was trying to frame Mr. Gannon,
46:07so I decided to keep hold of it.
46:10Thank you, Detective Sergeant Lane.
46:12Just wait there a moment, will you?
46:15In case my learned friend can think of something to ask you.
46:26Thank you.
46:42Marygold?
46:44Do be quiet, Galtrain. I'm trying to get to sleep.
46:52Well, goodbye, Mr. Gannon, and congratulations.
46:55It's a funny thing, isn't it?
46:57What?
46:59When Pinhead got off,
47:01there was cameras and crowds and cheering supporters.
47:05Very quiet now, isn't it?
47:07Well, isn't that how you want it?
47:21Oh, Doc! Mr. Rumpole!
47:23Doc, a word with you, if you'd be so good.
47:26Oh, I've been buying you sandwiches, have you?
47:29Is that what you wanted to ask me?
47:31No, not exactly.
47:33You been dancing with any more judges lately, have you?
47:36You heard about that. Poor old chap, he was that miserable.
47:39And he danced so funny, just like my dad used to.
47:42Well, so you dance. That's understandable.
47:44I mean, I suppose even judges feel the need to dance occasionally, but...
47:48Oh, look, Doc, you'll have to help me.
47:51After the ball was over, was there anything that...
47:54Well, was there any...
47:56Did we do it? Is that what you mean?
47:58Yes.
48:00You have to be joking, Mr. Rumpole!
48:07Don't I do, really? Oh, enjoy your sandwiches!
48:11Rumpole, we're six points down.
48:14Oh, that's very true.
48:16Move a bit ridiculously. We only had two points.
48:20I was boasting.
48:22May I offer tea?
48:24Oh, yes, thank you very much.
48:26Yes, just boasting.
48:29Without a shred of truth.
48:32Just like old Guthrie, really.
48:34Guthrie?
48:36Yes, poor old Guthrie had no points at all.
48:39All he did was go for a drink with our clerk and some of his active friends,
48:42but he boasted of some great amorous conquest.
48:47But of course, nobody in their right mind would believe him for a moment, would they?
48:50You mean nothing happened?
48:52No, absolutely nothing at all.
48:54No, no, no.
48:56When I inquired of the young lady in question,
48:58she burst into laughter at the mere idea of it.
49:00Laughter?
49:02Well, I don't really see that Guthrie's as funny as all that.
49:04I think what upset Marigold, Rumpole,
49:07was that he discussed it in the Sheraton Club.
49:10Yes, yes, why on earth should he do that?
49:13Good Lord, don't you know, because he was so desperately unhappy.
49:17Unhappy?
49:19What on earth's Guthrie got to be unhappy about?
49:21Well, he'd been piddled on from a great height.
49:23Rumpole.
49:25Run, you bitched up.
49:30I mean, he'd had a considerable amount of dirty water
49:33thrown over him by the Court of Appeal, hadn't he?
49:37And then, of course, the only woman he ever really and truly loved was far away,
49:41and he was missing her dreadfully.
49:43He just tried to cheer himself up.
49:45Well, he may have danced a step out of time with the music, nothing more.
49:50But he confessed.
49:52There is no evidence more unreliable than a confession.
49:56Don't imagine people ever tell the truth about themselves.
50:00They say all sorts of things because they're afraid or they're vain.
50:04They want to boast about something they never really did,
50:06just to impress a few fellows at the club.
50:09Guthrie's confession wouldn't have got past the Court of Appeal.
50:12Really? Is that what you think, quite honestly?
50:16Absolutely sure of it.
50:23Guthrie.
50:26You may come in.
50:34But for heaven's sake,
50:36don't boast about it in the Sheridan camp.
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