‘Two years. That’s not long at all is it, Inspector Henley?’ asked Ramouter. ‘Especially when two years doesn’t even mean two years.’
‘The man who killed your dad would have been out of prison after serving half his time,’ said Henley.
‘It’s wrong,’ said Elliot.
‘Did your wife, Mikaela, or Mika, feel the same way?’
‘No comment.’
‘You answered questions about your dad, but you don’t want to answer questions about your wife?’
‘No. I won’t talk about her, and you can’t force me,’ Elliot said petulantly.
‘You’re right, we can’t force you, so let’s talk about your time at Manchester Crown Court and Douglas Mantell. This is a copy of the first page of the trial transcript. You will see that it states who was present at court before the prosecution opened their case,’ said Henley, handing a copy to Elliot. ‘You’re listed as the court clerk assisting His Honour Judge Keir.’
‘That’s right,’ Elliot confirmed.
‘And it’s correct that your wife, Mika, had started working for witness services at the same court six months earlier?’
‘Yes she—’ Elliot pressed his lips closed, prematurely ending his answer.
‘It takes a certain type of person to sit there day in, day out listening to the prosecution tell the jury how a man sexually abused his daughter and allowed others to do the same. Twenty-six years is a long time. It must take its toll,’ said Henley.
‘It’s my job and I do my job. I’m not paid to have an opinion. My job is to assist the judge, diary management, liaise with counsel. I don’t take the job home.’
‘That’s not true,’ said Henley, producing a short stack of prints from a folder. ‘This is a log of all of the cases you accessed on the Crown Court digital case system since you transferred from Manchester to Wood Green Crown Court. Now that’s a lot of cases.’
‘But what is most interesting about these cases is that you accessed cases that weren’t taking place in Wood Green,’ added Ramouter, tapping his pen against a name highlighted in yellow. ‘For example. R v Christopher Hayes. Isleworth Crown Court and we go down a bit. R v Bolade Yesufu. Snaresbrook Crown Court and there’s more. Pick any Crown Court in London and we’ll find a defendant’s case that you tried to access.’
‘That’s not against the law. I have the right to access the system,’ said Elliot unconvincingly.
‘But do you have the right to download case papers and upload those papers to your personal Google drive?’
‘I didn’t do that.’
‘It’s not a good idea for you to lie to us especially when the evidence is right in front of you. Highlighted.’
‘I accessed papers, but I didn’t download them.’
‘Can you explain why you downloaded not only the case papers but the court file and the DART recordings from trials.’
‘DART? I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
‘Stop playing games, Elliot,’ Henley snapped. ‘The digital audio and recording transcription and storage system that every court uses. The system that records every single word uttered in a court hearing. You downloaded the recordings for Tabitha Ashcroft’s trial at Croydon Crown Court. Nathan Hall’s trial at Southwark, Sian Fox-Carnell didn’t have a trial, but you downloaded the court file which contained her bail address. What did you do with them?’
‘I was doing my job.’
‘It wasn’t your job to take this information home. Whose idea was it to take actions into your own hands?’
‘No comment.’
‘Was it your wife’s idea?’
‘No comment.
‘Was it Don’s?’
Henley watched the recognition spread across Elliot’s face as she put the composite image in front of him. ‘What’s his full name?’ she asked.
