In the jury room, Harold Trout, seated, said, ‘What the defendant is saying is utterly preposterous. The man is cornered in the last chance saloon and is clearly lying through his teeth. Are we really expected to swallow such arrant nonsense?’
Mike Roberts, spooning coffee into a mug by the kettle, said, ‘Well, during my last two years with the police I’m afraid I saw some quite astonishing cases involving falsified documents and records created by cyber criminals. I think he is making a valid point about what we can and can’t trust these days.’
‘My nan was swindled out of £12,000 by online fraudsters just two months ago,’ Toby DeWinter concurred. ‘They are extremely clever and sophisticated. She showed me the email purportedly from her bank and it really did look genuine.’
‘We’ve had to engage a computer expert full-time in my business to protect us and our clients against cyber fraud,’ Hugo Pink added. ‘What the defendant says is completely plausible.’
‘Would he lie under oath?’ Maisy Waller questioned.
‘With respect, Maisy, when someone’s back is to the wall, they will say anything,’ Trout said, dismissively.
‘I wasn’t sure earlier, despite all the evidence against Mr Gready,’ Maisy Waller persisted. ‘But after listening to him, I have to say I really don’t like him — and I don’t trust him.’
‘I’m with you, Maisy, and with you, Harold,’ Mark Adams said. He looked around at his fellow jurors, all now seated at the table. ‘Do we really need to run into a third week just to hear a bunch more lies? I’ve got to earn money for my family and for the mortgage, and it’s tough enough losing two weeks as it is. Surely we’ve heard enough — do we need to hear any more?’
‘Any more what, exactly?’ Meg said, sternly rounding on him. ‘That we don’t need to hear any more from the defence? Is that your idea of justice? You’d like to see a kangaroo court convict this man regardless of the facts so you can get back behind the wheel of your Uber?’
He glared back at her. ‘I don’t know if you and I have been sitting in the same court, but it’s blatantly clear to me that, as Harold has just said, the defendant is in the last chance saloon. He’s guilty as hell. A child of three could see through the baloney he’s just spouted at us. Does he think we’re a bunch of idiots sitting around playing pass the brain cell?’