The Accused

Kersley Quite so. You are a Fellow of the Royal Society and have recently been awarded a CBE for services to medicine?

Judge I do believe, Mr Kersley, that you have established beyond peradventure the credentials of your expert witness, so perhaps the time has come to get on with the case in hand.

Kersley I am delighted to learn, My Lord, that you feel Professor Forsyth’s credentials need no further claims on my part, as I believe your endorsement can only give the jury added confidence in his opinions.

Judge (scowls) Mr Kersley. Get on with it.

Kersley First let me ask you, Professor, how you became involved in this case?

Forsyth The Crown Prosecution Service invited me to make a report on Mrs Sherwood’s medical history. I began by reading all Mrs Sherwood’s files held at St George’s.

Kersley And would I be correct in thinking that you sought a Home Office order to exhume the body?

Forsyth I would have done so, Mr Kersley, had Mr Sherwood not given instructions for the body to be cremated a few days after her death.

Kersley Really. Despite this setback, were you able to discover any new evidence?

Forsyth No, because Mr Sherwood had misled his colleagues into believing that his wife’s previous heart attack explained her premature death. They also emphasised that as she was married to a surgeon who specialised in the subject, her aftercare treatment could hardly have been better.

Kersley Or worse, as the case may be.

Judge Mr Kersley, you will in future desist from making these sotto voce remarks. (Turns to the audience.) Members of the Jury, Mr Kersley’s comment should be ignored.

Kersley But not forgotten, I suspect.

Judge Did you wish to say something, Mr Kerlsey?

Kersley My Lord, I was simply at pains to point out that …

Judge It is not your responsibility to point out anything, Mr Kersley, merely to ask questions, which may elicit answers that in turn might possibly assist the jury.

Kersley But … My Lord … if I am to discharge …

Judge No buts, Mr Kersley, as Sir James has so properly reminded us. From you, I only require questions. I expect the answers to come from the witnesses.

Kersley So be it, My Lord. Professor, would it be possible for an experienced doctor to poison a patient while at the same time fooling his colleagues?

Forsyth Yes, nowadays that would be easy enough for anyone with Mr Sherwood’s experience. There are three known poisons - only one available on prescription - that would kill an intended victim without leaving any clue that a murder had taken place.

Kersley Well, I will deal only with the one poison that is available on prescription - Potassium Chloride. Professor, could you poison someone with Potassium Chloride and hope to get away with it?

Forsyth Oh, yes, it’s the most satisfactory of all poisons for a would-be murderer. Once injected, the victim will suffer a cardiac arrest, showing absolutely no sign of being poisoned.

Kersley So what led you to suspect that this was not a death by natural causes?

Forsyth The discovery of a deposit of Potassium Chloride on the rubber glove found on the floor of the Sherwoods’ kitchen.

Kersley And how much poison was discovered on the glove?

Forsyth One milligram, which is an amount consistent with checking that a hypodermic needle was working effectively.

Kersley Would you care to demonstrate to the jury exactly what you mean by that, Professor?

Forsyth Certainly. (Pulls on a rubber glove and demonstrates to the audience.) Just before injecting a patient, you press the plunger thus, to ensure that the liquid is flowing. (He allows it to fly into the air, landing on his glove.) As you observe, some droplets end up on the glove.

Kersley And this led you to believe that Mrs Sherwood had probably received an injection of Potassium Chloride just before her death?

Forsyth Yes, it did.