The Accused

Barrington As you wish, My Lord. But I do hope my learned friend will not object to me asking Ms Mitchell about the phone calls she claims Mr Sherwood made to her after she had left St George’s.

Mitchell He did call me, again and again.

Barrington Again and again. Then how is it that BT are unable to trace a single call to Wellingborough Cottage Hospital from either Mr Sherwood’s office, his home or his mobile?

Mitchell He could have called me from a phone box.

Barrington Oh, I see, so several times a day he just popped out of the operating theatre to phone boxes all over London to plead with you to keep quiet about your affair.

Mitchell Yes, he did.

Barrington You know, Ms Mitchell, these calls are beginning to sound like the presents, the flowers, the restaurants and the theatre, absolutely no proof of anything actually taking place - which brings me on to the statement that you made to the police following Mrs Sherwood’s death.

Mitchell Yes, I made a voluntary statement to Chief Inspector Payne.

Barrington You did indeed, Ms Mitchell, but what I want to know is what you mean by the word voluntary? Was it an unsolicited statement? Did you, for example, visit a police station and offer to assist them with their enquiries?

Mitchell It wasn’t quite like that.

Barrington It wasn’t anything like that, was it, Ms Mitchell? The only reason you volunteered a statement was because your father, Councillor Mitchell, had warned you that if you didn’t, you might well be implicated yourself. And correct me if I’m wrong, you didn’t make that statement until after Chief Inspector Payne had contacted you some weeks later?

Mitchell I volunteered a statement immediately he contacted me.

Barrington Yes, but why didn’t you contact the police immediately following Mrs Sherwood’s death? Why leave it until Inspector Payne had got in touch with you?

Mitchell (voice rising) Because I didn’t have any proof. It would only have been my word against his.

Barrington At last we come down to the reality of this case - you didn’t have any proof. It’s simply your word against his. The truth is, Ms Mitchell, that your word isn’t worth the Usher’s pad it’s written on because there never was any relationship between you and the defendant.

Mitchell (breaking down sobbing) Yes, there was. We were lovers and he even asked me to be his wife.

Barrington Did you accept his proposal?

Mitchell Yes, I did.

Barrington So you must have been in love with him at the time?

Mitchell Yes, I was at the time.

Barrington So how do you feel about him now, Ms Mitchell?

Mitchell I loathe him.

Barrington You loathe him?

Mitchell (voice rising) Yes, I loathe him. When he needed me, nothing was too much trouble for him, but once I’d served my purpose he dumped me as if I had never existed.

Barrington Try not to raise your voice too much, Ms Mitchell. Otherwise the jury might begin to suspect that…

Mitchell (still sobbing) I don’t care what they …

Kersley My Lord, I must object. Do these attacks on Ms Mitchell have any real purpose other than to intimidate?

Judge Do they, Sir James?

Barrington They most certainly do, My Lord, their purpose is to ensure that an innocent man doesn’t have to spend the rest of his life in gaol on the evidence of a jealous, vindictive woman who couldn’t get her own way. Ms Mitchell, if you are going to persist in claiming that Mr Sherwood seduced you, I must remind you, before you answer my next question, that you are still under oath. (He pauses.) Was Mr Sherwood the first person you had an affair with at St George’s? (Jarvis hands him blank sheet of paper that the audience can see is blank.)

Mitchell (hesitates) There may have been one other.