Read Unsafe Convictions Online
Authors: Alison Taylor
8
In later interviews, after Smith realised I would not enter into his games, he became surly and monosyllabic, and could present as exceedingly insolent. Violence occurred during the last interview, since when he has refused to see me. On that occasion I had obtained child psychological and school reports, and particularly those from the period following the death of his teacher, when the school felt he was in need of trauma counselling. Starting with the teacher’s death, I tried to get Smith to discuss the startling catalogue of deaths by fire in his history, and he refused. I then tried to discuss some comment made at the time by the educational psychologist, who had expressed fears about the implications of his seeming divorce from reality. This issue arose when it became clear that Smith’s presentation of his home circumstances was untrue. The psychologist visited Mrs Smith, and found the home, although sparsely furnished, to be clean and tidy, as was Mrs Smith. She worked hard, and was herself on friendly terms with several neighbours, one of whom had previously looked after Smith in the period between his return from school and Mrs Smith’s return from work. That arrangement ceased after the family’s pet dog, a small mongrel, went missing one afternoon, to be found later that night impaled on a piece of railing stuck in the ground. While still alive, the dog had been doused in petrol and set alight. Two children from a tenement block which overlooked the area identified Smith as the culprit, but although the matter was reported to the police, no action ensued. Other children in the area disclosed their own fears to the police, stating that Smith bullied and hit them, and was always playing with matches. The issue of Smith’s personal cleanliness was explored with his mother, who reluctantly disclosed that the child was wilfully dirty. He wet his bed, but would not wash himself, and refused to wash his hair or clean his teeth. If she tried to force him, he attacked her, biting and kicking and, on one occasion, thumped her so hard on the side of the head she passed out. Mrs Smith put forward the view that his behaviour had deteriorated even more since he spent several weeks in a children’s home while she was in hospital, and she was of the opinion that he was hoping to engineer another admission. He had received toys and new clothes from the home, and since his return, demanded luxuries she could not afford. It was when I broached these matters with him that the violence erupted. His face suffused with rage, and he jumped to his feet and began to smash whatever was within reach. He then leaned over my desk, issued various threats, and stormed out of the room
9
At his trial, the issue of Smith’s sexual orientation was raised, but I do not recall more than doubt and innuendo. In early interviews he was more than willing to discuss the extremely unsatisfactory sexual relationship which allegedly existed in his first marriage, citing his wife’s traumatised response to childhood sexual abuse as the reason. Again, there appears to he no evidence that his wife was abused, and no other source to the claim apart from Smith. From another viewpoint, if the attack on his wife which apparently triggered her action for divorce was typical, it is hardly surprising she should reject a sexual relationship. Smith admitted to that attack (he had no option), but again resorted to rationalisation, presenting me with a textbook Freudian response, to the effect that he lashed out despite himself out of a deep-rooted fear of her capacity to emasculate him. He also suggested that when she collapsed in front of him, he was terrified she might die and therefore abandon him, and again lashed out in fear, to rouse her. At this point he said he thought Transactional Analysis might well enable him to unravel his confusions. My suggestion that he kicked her in the genitals because it was the most humiliating and painful mode of attack he could devise upon a woman was met with outrage, then floods of tears. He even began to hit himself about the head, and to thump his chest, but there were no marks on his flesh. He is guileful in the extreme: he admits to these outrageous acts, then invites sympathy and compassion because he has been forced to suffer their pain. During this first year, he appears to have gleaned a quite considerable knowledge of psychology, and it is my view that it would be a serious error of judgement for the professionals involved with him to provide any more ammunition, or to pander to his preferred view of himself as world victim: he seems to have a remarkable ability to turn anything and everything to his own advantage. In that, he shows the unvarying characteristics of the true sociopath, for whom egotism and immediate self-gratification are the mainsprings of all action, and who persistently expects the world to adjust to his wants
10
Although I am loath to allow personal reactions to affect my assessments, I feel obliged to comment as Smith will be with us for a long time, and his interactions with other prisoners, and staff, therefore become significant. In observing him, I have noted that he takes every opportunity to approach women, and appears able to ingratiate himself very quickly. He unashamedly exploits capacity for guilt wherever it is to be found, which is more likely to be with women than with men, but once the victim begins to understand the nature of that exploitation, and to resist, he becomes vicious. He also gravitates towards prisoners known to be homosexually inclined, and his own mannerisms at times suggest he is of similar bent, although my observations suggest that he deliberately exaggerates the standard affectations in such company. His emotional development, apparently arrested in infancy, his overweening vanity, and his total self-absorption are all typical of homosexuality, in itself possibly a symptom of arrested development, but my personal opinion tends towards another diagnosis. There is an unwholesomeness about him, admittedly more sensed than seen, which is focused on his attitudes towards the sexuality of others, involving prurience and disgust, and engendering a great unease in the observer. He attempts to ‘seduce’ others, literally as well as metaphorically: therefore, his potential to create serious problems for other prisoners, and possibly to compromise officers and professionals, should not be overlooked. I am of the opinion that he uses his sexuality as and when and how it might suit him, and it is therefore yet another dangerous tool at his disposal
11
Despite the clear deliberation in Smith’s conduct, it is my view that he is profoundly and dangerously disturbed, and functions from bases of rationalisation which preclude his taking any responsibility for his actions or their consequences, however dreadful for others, or from any comprehension of guilt. Blame is projected universally, which allows him to continue with his excesses of conduct without any remorse. Even if he is innocent of the murder of his wife, as he maintains, the casual fashion in which he admits to his violence towards her, which was probably worse than we know, is chilling, as are his endless justifications for his actions. He is cruel and greedy, and seems to enjoy the pain he causes others, because they ‘deserve’ it, and he uses his intelligence, which will always be limited by his lack of emotional empathy, to torture and taunt his victims. Although people like this are capable of destroying others without necessarily lifting a finger, as he has already come to enjoy the power he can acquire through physical violence, it is unlikely that he will lose that taste: on the contrary, its future satisfaction will demand greater and greater excesses. In this context, I feel justified in referring to new research into the ‘serial-killer’ phenomenon, which suggests such people often commence their career with sadistic attacks on animals
12
To my knowledge, Smith has so far received three psychiatric evaluations: for the defence pre-trial (to which we are not privy), for initial assessment, and for this upcoming review. Whilst inconclusive, the in-house evaluations concur in many respects with my own views. We can therefore read the evidence as pointing towards a serious personality disorder. Such disorders fall outside the definition of mental illness, and are generally regarded as untreatable either by medication or surgery. However, our job is not to warehouse prisoners, but to rehabilitate, and we have an ongoing responsibility to the wider society with regard to any prisoner who may pose an indefinite risk. It is my view that Smith should receive further psychiatric evaluation in order to exclude specific mental illness — for example, schizophrenia — and in order to attempt a specific statement of need. In that way, his future management and therapeutic input may be designed to address those needs.
Unable to match Rene’s outrage at the news of Fred Jarvis’s heart attack, Jack murmured the usual words of sympathy, hoping she would leave him alone.
‘
It’s no good pretending it’s not your business,’ she nagged. ‘Smith’s
made
it your business. It’s his fault it happened. He leaves a trail of misery wherever he sets foot, that one.’
‘
There’s nothing we can do,’ Jack said. ‘It’s up to Linda to deal with it.’
‘
Why can’t you ring that damned reporter?’
‘
Because we’d be seriously overstepping the mark. We’re walking on eggs as it is.’
Arms
akimbo, she stood over him. ‘Why?’
‘
Because we have to be completely impartial.’ Ellen stood up, and took Rene’s elbow. ‘Let’s make some tea. I know you’re terribly upset. Linda’s almost like one of your
own,
isn’t she?’
Grudgingly,
Rene allowed herself to be moved. ‘And I feel for Fred like he’s one of the family. By God!’ she exploded. ‘That Smith’s got it coming to him!’
As
soon as Rene was out of earshot, Janet said: ‘She keeps uttering threats, and local feeling seems to be running higher by the hour. How d’you rate Smith’s long-term chances?’
‘
Let’s say I’m very glad I’m not in his Gucci loafers,’ Jack replied. ‘If he’s any sense, he’ll change his name again, go to another town, and start all over as a virgin, as the saying goes.’
‘
He can afford to.’
‘
He could afford to go to the ends of the earth, or at least, Beryl could afford to send him, but I expect he’ll brazen it out here, because he reckons he’s done nothing wrong. He doubtless sees himself as the victim of a lynch mob mentality that succeeded in corrupting the police.’
‘
We’re not making much progress with Dugdale and the others, are we?’ Janet asked.
‘
I’m not sure there’s progress to be made, in the sense of breaking open a conspiracy.’ Jack yawned, as the church clock struck the hour. ‘My gut instinct, coupled with my professional judgement, inclines towards the view that Dugdale didn’t receive the letter, and therefore there’s nothing for us to pursue in that area. So, when Mr McKenna’s had time to get to grips with the notion of a possibly corrupt priest, we’ll go after Fauvel.’ When Janet shivered as a draught from the window caught her back, he added: ‘Rene’s determined we’ll have a blizzard before morning.’
‘
It’s still too cold to snow.’ She frowned at him across the desk. ‘Assuming Fauvel lied about the letter, he must have realised what the consequences would be. Why should he want Smith behind bars?’
Jack
shrugged. ‘I’ve no idea. He’s a completely unknown quantity at the moment.’
‘
Wendy Lewis thinks the sun’s rays originate under his cassock.’
‘
You took against her with a vengeance, didn’t you?’
‘
She’s a simpering hypocrite,’ Janet said. ‘And more than happy to drop Dugdale in the mire if the alternative involves her in questioning the integrity of the wonderful Father Brett. What sort of name is Brett Fauvel, anyway?’
‘
Of the same ilk as Piers Stanton Smith in my book.’ Jack grinned. ‘Pretentious in the extreme, and cringingly artificial.’
Clamping a pen between his teeth as he picked up the receiver, the newsroom clerk at the London office of Gaynor Holbrook’s paper tried to remember the last respite from the tyranny of telephones. ‘Yeah?’ he said, voice surly.
‘
I want to speak to that Holbrook woman.’
He
heard harsh breaths and even harsher vowels straining in the woman’s tones. ‘D’you mean Gaynor?’
‘
That’s her.’
‘
She’s not here.’
‘
She works there, doesn’t she?’
‘
When she’s in London, but she’s not here now.’
‘
Where is she, then?’
‘
Who wants to know?’
‘
I do!’
He
imagined the words snapping between her teeth, and coming out broken. ‘Why?’
‘
Because she’s been writing a pack of lies, and it’s going to cost her. That’s why!’
He
pulled the pen out of his mouth and scrabbled around amid the rubbish on the desk for a piece of paper. ‘Who are you? What’s your phone number?’
‘
You going to tell her?’
‘
That’s the general idea.’
‘
You writing this down?’
‘
When you tell me what to write.’
‘
You tell her Mrs Sheridan’s got a bone to pick with her, and it’s a big one.’
‘
Right. Will she know who you are, or what it’s about?’
‘
She will when she rings me, so mind you tell her to hurry up about it, or she’ll be sorry.’ She reeled off a telephone number. ‘You got that?’ She repeated the number, then hung up before he could answer.
‘
There!’ Ida Sheridan sat down in a rush and stared at her friend, her face flushed, her eyes bright, and both the women in awe of her daring.
‘
D’you think she’ll get in touch?’
‘
She will if she’s any sense, and if she doesn’t, why, I’ll ring her boss.’
‘
Are we doing the right thing?’ the other fretted, her
pinched
old face lined with worry.
‘
Yes!’ Ida patted her scrawny arm. ‘They can’t be let to get away with it. It’s criminal.’
‘
Shouldn’t I go to a solicitor, or something?’
‘
You can’t afford it.’
‘
Story of my life.’ The other sighed.