Sherwood Or second sight, Mr Kersley.
Kersley So it was some time later that you fell under her spell?
Sherwood I never fell under her spell.
Kersley Ah. So she was correct in suggesting that you were the pursuer and she the pursued in this relationship?
Sherwood There never was a relationship, Mr Kersley.
Kersley I shall return to the proof of that relationship later, Mr Sherwood.
Sherwood And I shall continue to deny it.
Kersley I’ll look forward to that. So let me turn to something you can’t deny. Where do you live?
Sherwood Twenty-two Cadogan Villas.
Kersley So when did you move out of your flat in Wimbledon?
Sherwood About a year ago.
Kersley And how much did it cost to purchase a penthouse in Chelsea?
Sherwood I don’t remember exactly.
Kersley Come, come, Mr Sherwood, I think every one of us knows exactly what we paid for the home we live in, especially if we bought it less than a year ago. I repeat, how much did it cost to purchase a penthouse in Chelsea?
Sherwood Around eight hundred thousand pounds.
Kersley Wouldn’t eight hundred and thirty-seven thousand be more accurate?
Sherwood Possibly.
Kersley So you must have won the lottery? Or did you inherit it?
Sherwood Neither. My wife left few assets in her will. By the time I had finished paying death duties I received less than twenty thousand pounds.
Kersley Well, that would just about cover the stamp duty on twenty-two Cadogan villas, so I must therefore ask you what the current salary is for a surgeon at St George’s?
Sherwood Just over ninety thousand pounds a year.
Kersley How many people earning ninety thousand pounds a year can afford to purchase a penthouse in Chelsea for eight hundred and thirty-seven thousand pounds? I feel sure you’re about to tell us that there’s another simple explanation.
Sherwood Yes, there is. Some years ago I took out a joint life insurance policy on my wife and myself.
Kersley Some years ago. Wouldn’t March 1997 be more precise?
Sherwood That is some years ago, Mr Kersley.
Kersley But it’s only some weeks before your wife suffered her first heart attack - ‘the first hint came in 1997, my wife complained of loss of br
eath, pains in her left arm and chest …’ - And what was the value of the policy?
Sherwood A million pounds.
Kersley One million pounds. And would I be right in thinking that the life insurance company are refusing to settle the amount until the result of this trial is known?
Barrington My Lord, that can only be speculation.