‘Have you got kids?’ Forfana asked.
‘No. Well, nearly. We’re adopting. He’ll be with us in a couple of weeks.’
‘Congratulations but to be fair it doesn’t take having kids to feel that an injustice has been done. To feel angry.’
‘Was anyone else angry? With Mantell I mean,’ Stanford asked.
‘Mantell’s wife definitely wasn’t angry. I still don’t understand how she could stand by his side even after social services took Hazel. We had a lot of groups protesting outside court.’
‘What about any attacks against Mantell personally?’
Forfana laughed. ‘Take your pick,’ he said. ‘His trial was adjourned for a month because Mantell was attacked by his brother-in law. Can’t say I was sorry to hear that. He was then harassed by a couple of paedophile hunters once his name got into the papers.’
‘How bad was the harassment?’
‘Pretty bad. Somehow they got a copy of the MG5 against him and posted it on Facebook.’
‘How the hell did they get hold of the case summary?’
‘No idea. The only decent thing they did was to redact Gia’s name but everything else was out, his name, address, employer’s details and the allegations.’
‘Was that it, just the doxxing or was there more?’
‘No. The hunters, Karim Messenger and Gareth Humphreys, livestreamed themselves following Mantell and abusing him, throwing rubbish at him, calling him a pervert but they went too far. They livestreamed themselves beating the shit out of him.’
‘Absolute morons,’ said Stanford as he wrote the names down.
‘Why do you think his trial was adjourned for a month? Gareth Humphreys was Mantell’s brother-in-law. Was I sorry that the sick pervert ended up with a broken wrist, and lost three of his teeth? Absolutely not. Was I annoyed that the trial was delayed? Definitely.’
‘So, what happened to Messenger and Humphreys?’
‘The irony is that they both spent more time in prison thanMantell ever did. They both got eighteen months for Section 20 GBH.’
‘Were there any more incidents like this with Mantell?’
‘Not in regard to my case. I’m not sure if the team dealing with his murder discovered anything, although I doubt it, considering the case has gone cold.’
‘You wouldn’t happen to know where Messenger and Humphreys are now?’
‘Those two seem to like prison. Back in Strangeways and, before you get too excited, they were already serving their sentence when Mantell was killed. The idiots were arrested and charged a couple of days after they livestreamed the assault on Mantell. Two weeks later they pleaded guilty at Manchester Crown Court and were given an immediate custodial sentence.’
‘What are they inside for?’
‘Four years for ABH and kidnapping.’
‘Thank you. You’ve been a great help,’ said Stanford, tapping his pen against the desk.
‘As I said, I can’t say I’m sorry that Mantell’s dead but it’s not right for people to take justice into their own hands.’
‘No, you’re right. Just one more thing before you go. Were Messenger and Gareth part of a larger group or were they out on their own?’
‘I think they were out on their own but best to ask the SIOs for their cases. But there’s one more thing. Humphreys just got an additional two years. You would think that being in prison would sober him up a bit.’
‘What did he do?’ Stanford asked.
‘GBH,’ said Forfana. ‘Shanked his cell mate. Apparently, the injuries to his cellmate’s head were so bad that the doctors said it looked like a scalping.’
38
