Not the Old Bailey

Friday 1st March

This Friday was the next date we had been given for the hearing at the Old Bailey to discuss jurisdiction over the person accused of killing my cousin. It appears he may need both to be tried here, for my cousin's killing, and in Germany for another killing. Having to go to the Old Bailey was the reason my sister and I had to return from Malta - otherwise we could have stayed there for the weekend.

During the week, things became more complicated. E, our Family Liaison Officer, called me to say a colleague of hers would have to take us to court, as she had another appointment. She said she would let me know by text on Thursday afternoon, (when the court lists for Friday are published) the time of the hearing next morning, as well as giving me the phone number of her colleague who would meet us. As I hadn't heard from her by the time we were boarding the plane, I sent her a reminder text.

Unknown to us, there was a further complication. The judge is currently sitting on a case at Chelmsford Crown Court.  The original plan appears to have been to use the video link - Judge in Chelmsford, the rest of us in the Old Bailey; that's how it was published on the court lists at around 4 pm on Thursday. But then somebody noticed that the video link was already in use, because the accused needs to use it, as he does not attend in person but by video link from the secure hospital. So at about 5pm it was decided that, since it was a bit late to transfer the hearing to Chelmsford, the best thing was to cancel the hearing - by which time we were in the air! Once the list has been published, it seems there is no publication of cancellations. So I assume it's up to phone calls and word of mouth. 

Even more unfortunately, E, our Family Liaison Officer, had developed 'flu; she decided that, instead of texting me, she would phone me at 7.30 after we had landed; unfortunately, the poor woman fell asleep instead.

We landed to find no message, and sent a further frantic text to E, to no avail. So we collected our baggage, found the free Wi-Fi at Heathrow, sat down and logged on to get the court lists. We found the case listed at the Bailey for 9.30 in a numbered court, but the Judge sitting in Chelmsford. And we knew the accused was already on a video link from the secure hospital, so we couldn't understand how it would be done.

Anyway, it seemed best that my sister and I stayed together. So, instead of going to my house, I went home with my sister. We considered we would need to be at the Old Bailey by 9. With no message from E about her colleague who was to be her substitute, we had to assume we were on our own. If you go to court with a police officer, you can sit in the court itself and you just turn off your phone before you go in. If you have to go into the public gallery, you can't take your phone with you, and there is nowhere for you to leave it at the Old Bailey; you apparently have to leave it in a local shop, paying for the privilege. We needed to find the shop - hence my going home with my sister, as the chance of our meeting without phones was nil, and I needed to keep my phone until we went into court, in case E or some other officer decided to contact me after all.

At 5am on Friday morning, E woke up from her 'flu induced sleep and nearly had a fit when she read my texts; she immediately sent me a hurried text, which woke me up. I cancelled my early alarm and set another for 7, so I could tell my sister not to bother getting up. Later on, E called me to explain what had happened. Poor woman sounded so ill; having been a teacher (in a different life) I know how difficult it is when the kind of work you do doesn't really permit you to be ill.

The bad part is that, for the moment the case seems to be being transferred to Chelmsford Crown Court, and is currently scheduled for 9am on Thursday 7th. E says the police can take us to Chelmsford, which is just as well, as the complications of getting all the way there in the very early morning would otherwise make our lives quite difficulty. However, that's the day Paul gets back from the United States and he has no key to get into the house! I imagine we might have to leave before 7 am, long before Paul arrives. 

Of course, the date could change! I won't necessarily know what is happening until Wednesday night. The court lists are published between 2 and 4 pm the day before. I have noticed that the Old Bailey are often late in publishing (then this time, cancelled the hearing at 5pm.)  I don't even know if my sister will be able come, she would need to go into work very late. If she can come, I think I might stay with her so there will be fewer complications for the journey to Chelmsford.