03x09 - Haunted

[bunniefuu]

In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups the police who investigate crime and the Crown Prosecutors who prosecute the offenders.

These are their stories.

Did you get the eight? I'm in the changing room and she's like, "D'you want me to grab that in your size?" I'm like, "You're a shop assistant.

Assist me.

Don't make me feel like topping meself!" Does it fit? I'm not having the likes of her tell me I can't have a size eight if I want a size eight.

It doesn't fit ya, does it? It's the principle.

Hey! Get off.

Get off me bag! Get off me bag! Get off! Get off! Someone get him! Stop him! Oi! Come back here! Oi! Come back! Oi! Oi! James O'Doherty, crackhead, done time for theft, all drug-related.

Ran straight into a car on his latest "shopping" trip.

And we're here because? He asked to see you.

CID? He asked for you by name.

Really? Hello.

I'm DS Brooks.

You wanted to see me? Amanda Bennet.

I'm sorry? What did you just say? I k*lled Amanda Bennet.

Me and Ricky, we k*lled her.

Excuse me, sir.

No, one second.

Outside, please.

Outside.

Did he just say Amanda Bennet? Yeah.

That was fourteen years ago.

Strange thing to admit to.

You think he's straight up? I can tell you for a fact it wasn't him or this "Ricky" that k*lled Amanda Bennet.

How d'you know? Because the investigating officer on that case was me.

Amanda was found on the floor fatal blow to her head, no sign of any sexual att*ck.

No sign of any forced entry, and nothing taken.

Her dad's DNA was found all over her and her blood was found all over his clothes.

The jury agreed.

Simon Bennet got life.

So how come the geezer's not banged up? He did serve three years, then got off on a technicality.

His brief reckoned that the judge "misdirected the jury," and claimed it was a miscarriage of justice.

I don't know a copper breathing who doesn't think the injustice was Simon Bennet walking out of jail.

The neighbors said that they heard Simon Bennet screaming blue m*rder at Amanda the night before she d*ed, and apparently it hadn't been the first time he'd lost his cool with her.

She was one of these unruly kids, y'know, staying out late, bunking off school, going out with older lads that sort of stuff.

DS Casey? So why's O'Doherty claiming he k*lled her? I've got no idea, Gov.

That was the hospital.

Jimmy O'Doherty d*ed ten minutes ago.

Well, we can't just ignore a m*rder confession.

No, we can't.

You said Jimmy mentioned an accomplice.

I think we should find out who that is.

I'm only Jimmy's dad in the technical sense of the word.

I haven't seen Jimmy in years.

We've got some bad news, Mr.

O'Doherty.

Maybe we should go inside.

He's dead? He d*ed a couple of hours ago, sir.

Was it the dr*gs? No.

He was hit by a car.

Thanks for letting me know.

We're looking for someone, sir.

We think he was a friend of your son's.

I wouldn't know who his friends are these days.

What about fourteen years ago? Bloke named Ricky? You know him? Ricky Phelps.

They knocked about together since school.

Jimmy's mum was always telling him hanging around with Ricky would land him in jail.

Richard Phelps two theft, three burglary, GBH, and an arson att*ck that landed him six years.

Right.

Well, he's out now, so probation'll have his address.

I haven't seen Jimmy in years.

How many years? Ten, eleven.

Maybe more.

You two have some sort of disagreement? We drifted apart.

Jimmy said you might know something about a m*rder.

Amanda Bennet.

Jimmy talks a load of bollocks.

I mean, that's cr*ck for you.

Makes you delusional.

Really? He was dying at the time, so he didn't exactly have a reason to lie, did he? Jimmy's dead? Yeah.

I'm sorry to hear that.

Well, you can send flowers.

So why would he say that you and him had something to do with Amanda Bennet's m*rder? I done a lot of things in my time I'm not proud of, but I never k*lled no one.

Okay, thank you.

Ricky gave evidence against O'Doherty in court over some drug deal.

Jimmy got four years.

So this could be about revenge.

You sure there's no mention of them in the original investigation? Well, these are all the names and addresses of the people who went through the Bennet house a week prior to the m*rder.

There you go.

That's a lot of foot traffic.

Yeah, to be fair, the Bennet's house was up for sale, so they were probably all viewings.

You got the name of the estate agent that showed them round? No, sorry, I don't know him.

You sure? What about him? Maybe.

You recognize him? Yeah, I think so.

He hasn't aged very well, has he? Did you show him round the Bennets' place? Yeah.

Yeah.

His name wasn't on the list you gave us at the time.

Well, it's definitely the same bloke.

You certain about that? Davey something? Yeah, yeah, that's him.

How can you be sure? Look, I don't make a habit of this, okay, it's just that, well, we we had a one-night stand.

He threw up in my bed and then he passed out.

Wasn't quite the night of passion I was expecting.

Davey Jones? That's gotta be it.

Yeah.

You know when you interviewed him, did he have a cat suit on and a lightning strike across his face? I don't know what you mean.

Davey Jones is David Bowie's real name.

Of course, yeah.

So he's given us a false name, which explains why he never came up in the investigation.

Absolutely.

But if you interviewed him, Ronnie, wouldn't you remember his face? Look, Sam, I wasn't there for all the interviews.

I mean, I did some, Bernie did some, I was, y'know Who's that? Your old partner? Yeah, Bernie Rawlins.

Your grandson filling out that Hammers shirt yet? Well, he's getting there, Bernie.

Hopefully playing for the first team soon, be great.

Ha.

Thanks, mate.

So, anyway, this interview the guy's real name is Jimmy O'Doherty.

The estate agent reckoned that she took him back to her place after the viewing.

So what's this all about Ron? You and I both know Simon Bennet's as guilty as the day is long.

Well, I thought that, too, Bernie.

And now you don't anymore? Well, I don't know.

He had her blood all over his shirt.

You tell me how it got there if he wasn't the one caving her head in.

He did say that he cuddled her after he found her.

What if we got it wrong? What if Simon Bennet was telling the truth? He wasn't.

Then why is Jimmy O'Doherty telling us he k*lled Amanda Bennet? Maybe he wants his fifteen minutes? Well, maybe he does, but nonetheless, the Gov wants us to look into it.

Don't tell me she's taking this seriously? So what was O'Doherty doing at the house? Safe to assume he didn't have the cash to buy it? He was probably on a recce.

Yeah, but nothing was taken.

No, but it does add weight to his confession before he d*ed.

It's certainly enough to dig a little deeper.

I'll call Callaghan.

I think it's time this case was re-opened.

I'll let the Bennets know.

I could get someone else to do it.

No, no.

I can do it.

Far cry from the Chelsea pad.

Guess he lost more than his daughter and his reputation.

Sorry, I thought you were the MacMillan nurses.

I'm DS Casey.

This is DS Brooks.

Mrs.

Bennet, may we I'll deal with this, darling.

You go and lie down.

It's okay.

DS Brooks.

Mr.

Bennet.

What can I do for you? We've come to inform you that, uh We're reopening the investigation into Amanda's death.

God, no.

Mr.

Bennet, please we're not here for you.

We have a suspect.

So why did you come here? We're following up some new leads.

We thought you and your wife would want to know.

We've spent the last fourteen years trying to put it all behind us.

My wife chooses to forget.

I'd prefer it if you weren't here forcing her to remember.

I'm very sorry, I know it must be difficult Thank you, Detective.

Now I'd very much like you, and everyone who works with you, to go to hell.

I'd've thought Simon Bennet would be champing at the bit to get his name cleared? I get the feeling he's seen enough coppers to last him a lifetime, Gov.

Ron, have you got anything to link Ricky Phelps with the m*rder scene? Not yet, Gov, no.

So for all we know O'Doherty was there on his own? Phelps has got plenty of form.

He did a stretch at Ashbridge for arson.

Yeah, well arson doesn't carry much currency inside.

Maybe Ricky Phelps bragged to one of his cellmates about doing something a little bit more impressive.

So Mr.

McDonald, are you sure Amanda Bennet never came up in conversation? So Ricky Phelps never mentioned her? Why would he? So what did you guys talk about then? On those long lonely nights in that cell? Usual shite.

Which screw's giving him a hard time, who spat in his spaghetti.

You're up for parole soon, aren't you, Neil? Six weeks, isn't it? What do you reckon are your chances? I reckon I'm going home.

Really? Even with that last adjudication hanging over your head? It was a fight wasn't it? Yeah.

Fight's never look good.

No, they don't.

They make the parole board think you need a bit more rehabilitation.

That's right.

So Why don't you use this as a golden opportunity? Help us put away a m*rder*r, it will look good on you, won't it? However, if you really do enjoy it in here, we could always have a word with the parole board, and say that you were uncooperative.

Maybe he mentioned her.

No.

Maybe's don't score that high.

He reckons he was off his head at the time.

At the time of what? Amanda Bennet's m*rder.

He told you he was there? He told me he strangled her.

It's pretty obvious why the blow to the head was recorded as the cause of death.

There was so much edema and blood in the brain.

Barely any external bruising, and the hyoid bone was intact.

And that would definitely be broken if she'd been strangled? Most likely, yes.

The pathologist, he he noted all these marks on the neck? Yeah, the bruising he's documented as pressure applied to the neck.

As in strangulation? Possibly, but he struggled to pinpoint exactly what time the bruising occurred, whereas the color and consistency of the blood meant that he could determine precisely when the blow to the head happened.

Yeah, but there's a chance that the bruising occurred after the blow to the head? I couldn't rule it out.

So she could have been strangled? It's possible, yeah.

We need to start from scratch and look at everything again.

I'm gonna need a lot more evidence before I put this in front of the CPS.

O'Doherty's dead, but Ricky Phelps is still alive and kicking.

He not gonna confess to a m*rder, Gov.

Then talk to the people who know him best.

Me and my brother ain't spoken for two years, and you don't wanna hear the last words I said to him.

Try us.

Ricky crashed my son's birthday party, all right? He scared the kids to death, and then he nicked my boy's PlayStation.

That was the last straw.

What about fourteen years ago? We're trying to find out if Ricky was involved in a m*rder.

Amanda Bennet.

I'm sorry.

We think your brother and his mate k*lled her.

I wouldn't know about that.

You say the birthday party was the last straw What else had he done to you? Come on, Andy.

Don't make us take you down to the station.

I mean, you'd have to shut up shop.

I gave him a job, didn't I? And the keys to close up one night.

I came in the next morning, and the place had been stripped.

Two grand's worth of coffee machine, chairs, tables, everything.

In all he took me for fifteen grand.

Your lot said it was an inside job, so I didn't get a penny off the insurance.

You look like you've replaced everything.

Yeah, and the debt I'm in now, I can hardly sleep, so It's obvious your brother's hurt you very badly.

I understand you don't wanna get involved, but if he ever mentioned Amanda Bennet I don't need any more trouble, all right? Andy, if Ricky was the one who turned you over, make a new statement.

I'll personally see that it's looked into.

But if you know anything at all, please tell us.

So, we gonna pick up Ricky Phelps now or let him sweat a bit longer? A confession to his brother isn't gonna be enough.

I don't wanna make the same mistake twice.

Hello? Brooks.

Right.

Thank you.

That was Lilly.

She wants us at the lab.

She has something.

Yeah, the original forensic pathologist found Simon Bennet's DNA on Amanda's body.

His saliva was on her hand.

There's no getting round DNA.

Yeah, well fourteen years ago a forensic pathologist needed rather a large sample to glean a DNA profile.

These days we can get one from a microscopic sample.

So where are we going with this, Lilly? I've re-analyzed the sample of saliva taken from Amanda's hand, and I've found DNA that doesn't belong to her or her father.

You've got a match? No.

The sample's deteriorated.

I can't get a whole profile, but I've got a partial.

Very good, Lilly.

Don't get too excited, Ron.

Maybe she was with a boyfriend before she came home.

No, no, no, Amanda had a shower immediately before her death.

She was found in her dressing gown, her hair was still wet.

In fact, the original pathologist said she was the perfect victim because any evidence that was found on her body got there through the att*ck.

Well, in that case I'd say someone other than her father was there around the time Amanda Bennet was m*rder*d.

Simon Bennet went down for it, but I think we went after the wrong person.

What makes you think you've got the right person now? New evidence.

We think that Jimmy O'Doherty and Ricky Phelps k*lled Amanda Bennet, only O'Doherty's dead.

Leaving Ricky Phelps to take the rap? How much evidence have you got that Phelps was the k*ller? O'Doherty's confession and two witnesses who claim Phelps confessed to them.

The witnesses are hearsay.

Anything else? New forensic evidence a partial DNA sample was found on Amanda's body.

It definitely did not come from Simon Bennet.

Do you know who it did come from? We can't be certain, once again, but there are strong indicators within that partial sample suggesting it came from Ricky Phelps.

It's not exactly concrete.

Well, one of the witnesses claimed Phelps confessed to strangling the victim.

And the pathologist who re-examined the photos and samples said it's a strong possibility.

Now even we didn't know that strangulation could've been the cause of death.

We always thought Amanda Bennet d*ed from that blow to the head.

Look, Jake, I know it doesn't look like much, but if we put all the pieces of evidence together the more we look into this, the more I am certain we got the wrong bloke.

All right.

Make the arrest.

Richard Phelps, I'm arresting you on suspicion of the m*rder of Amanda Bennet.

You're making a mistake.

You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defense I never touched her.

If you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court.

Anything you do say may be given in evidence.

So you arrested your suspect.

Yes, we did.

Never gonna be easy admitting we made a mistake.

"We"? As I recall, I was teetotal, you were a pisshead, and I carried you.

Well, I'm sorry you had to do that.

You more than anyone else should know what this case cost me.

'Cause I was working all the hours that God sent, the Gov breathing down my neck for a result.

And where were you? You were propping up the bar in the White Horse.

Well, now I just wanna put things right.

Who for? Yourself? Alleviating your guilt, is that it? No.

Not for me at all.

For Amanda Bennet and her parents.

Come on, Ron.

I think we got it wrong.

What makes you so sure? We have confessions.

From dead crackheads and armed robbers.

I've still got mates here, Ron.

We have new forensics.

Which won't stand up in court because they're maybes.

What about a motive? You got one of those? Well, like you said, Bernie, crackheads, you know, there is no reason or logic there.

You've got nothing that puts Ricky Phelps at the Bennets' house at the time of the crime, nothing.

You ain't got a case, Ron.

And you know why? It ain't 'cause we messed up in the first place.

It's 'cause Simon Bennet did it.

Bernie, you can't know that.

There's things you don't know, Ron.

Really? Like what precisely? Like his wife.

Mrs.

Bennet stood by him all the way.

In her statement, yeah, but I spoke to her at the court on the day Bennet was sent down.

She thanked me, Ron, she thanked me for locking up her daughter's k*ller.

Can you imagine what it's like to be convicted of k*lling your own child if you didn't do it? It doesn't seem to me like you have proof of anyone else's guilt.

A partial DNA profile, a deathbed confession that can't undergo the scrutiny of cross examination and a couple of hearsay witnesses.

On their own each piece of evidence is weak, I agree, but together? You'd have to be a conspiracy theorist to believe that three unconnected individuals all decided to pin it on the same innocent man.

Well, the evidence conspired against Simon Bennet in the original case, look where that got us.

Who do you think the jury will believe k*lled Amanda? A loving father or a couple of crackheads with a history of breaking into people's houses? are k*lled by someone they know.

Someone they know.

Bang goes McDonald's witness statement.

Phelps' brief is putting in an application to have it excluded.

Not like you to sound defeatist, Jake.

You haven't heard his grounds.

He reckons McDonald qualified as a lawyer.

He's in prison for armed robbery.

And has put his sentence to good use down the education block.

My Lord, the conversation took place on the prison wing, over a card game.

Mr.

McDonald's legal training is entirely coincidental and in no way relevant to the confession.

It doesn't negate the fact that my client was aware of Mr.

McDonald's legal training.

It had a significant influence on the nature and content of their conversation.

Mr.

Nevins has a point.

If the defendant was seeking legal advice I think that's stretching it, My Lord.

The conversation must still be regarded as privileged.

My Lord, you cannot possibly extend privilege to a convicted armed robber who's read a few law books and completed a correspondence course! Mr.

McDonald graduated with honors.

The point is with a criminal record he won't be able to practice.

Isn't that the distinction we have to make here? If we discriminate against Mr.

McDonald's legal position because he also happens to be a prisoner, then a precedent will be set, the floodgates will be opened.

I appreciate your concerns, Mr.

Thorne, but I do not believe this is the appropriate time to tackle the rights and wrongs of legal privilege.

McDonald's evidence is excluded.

Judge Prentice has so little backbone, it's a miracle he can stand up.

We still have Ricky Phelps' brother.

It's about all we do have.

Let's hope he delivers the goods.

He told me he'd k*lled this girl.

I thought he was losing it.

I mean, I told him to think about what he was saying be careful but he just got angry, he started shouting and kept saying he'd k*lled her over and over.

I asked him who he was talking about, and then he said her name.

He said he'd k*lled Amanda Bennet.

No more questions, My Lord.

Mr.

Phelps.

Am I right in thinking that you run a cafe? Yeah, I do.

And there was a robbery at your cafe three years ago? Yeah.

My Lord, what exactly does a break-in at the witness's cafe have to do with this m*rder trial? I'm getting there, My Lord.

Get there a little faster, Mr.

Nevins.

You made an insurance claim to cover your losses, Mr.

Phelps? I did, yeah.

And the insurance claim was turned down? Yeah.

So you lost a considerable amount of money.

Now who was responsible for that robbery, Mr.

Phelps? My brother.

You must've been very angry with him? I was angry, yeah, but Is that the real reason you're here today, Mr.

Phelps, to get revenge on your brother? No, of course not.

But you lost everything.

You had to take out a loan to cover the loss? Yes, but the insurance thing's being sorted.

How is it getting sorted? DS Brooks took a new statement, he's sorting it out for me.

DS Brooks? Yeah.

The officer investigating this case? The same officer who brought charges against another person in relation to this crime fourteen years ago.

Our key witness just totally discredited himself in the witness box.

Defense made it sound like he was only giving evidence to get back at his brother.

He said you made him a promise.

What sort of promise? Reckoned if he helped you out, you'd help him get his insurance money.

Made it sound like you bribed him.

No, I didn't.

I was there the whole time.

I said we would take a new statement regarding his break-in, which we did.

Yeah.

Ronnie's offer was completely legitimate.

That's not the way the jury'll see it.

They'll see a witness who's done a deal with a policeman.

Unless they hear your side.

DS Brooks, you led the original investigation into the m*rder of Amanda Bennet? I was on the investigating team.

Detective Sergeant Bernard Rawlins led it.

You and DS Rawlins had a different prime suspect first time around, didn't you? That's correct.

You believed that Amanda Bennet was m*rder*d by her father, Simon Bennet? We did, yes.

After serving three years for the m*rder, Mr.

Bennet was released on appeal? Yes.

So he wasn't the k*ller? We got the wrong man.

Knowing how deeply flawed your original investigation was, you must be desperate now to ensure that another person is convicted of that crime.

I want to see the right person put in prison, yes.

Is it true you are an alcoholic, DS Brooks? Relevance, My Lord? Mr.

Nevins? I'm trying to ascertain DS Brooks mental state at the time of the original investigation, My Lord.

Answer the question, DS Brooks.

I've been sober for seven years.

Your drinking must have had a significant impact on your handling of the case? It certainly didn't help.

So while you were three sheets to the wind, is it any wonder that your partner developed a blind obsession with convicting Simon Bennet? He made some mistakes, but He decided who he thought was guilty and went for them disregarding all the evidence, didn't he? DS Rawlins was working under a lot of strain.

It was very hard work, long hours, he barely had enough sleep.

Well, it's no surprise the case was riddled with errors if DS Rawlins was suffering from sleep deprivation.

He wasn't.

He decided at the time to take some pills to make sure he got enough sleep.

I see, so there was one drunk investigating officer and another one popping pills! And these two self-medicating officers were responsible for blundering through this case and charging an innocent man! Bernie, wait.

Please, Bernie! Don't make it any worse, Ron.

I was under oath, Bernie.

You stabbed me in the back, trashed my reputation.

Why can't you just why can't you just admit that we got it wrong? Make you feel better, will it? All those nights you crashed in our spare room when Jean kicked you out.

We fed you, got you back on your feet again.

I went to your first AA meeting with you, remember? And when you got pissed two days later, who scraped you off the pavement? And I thought our friendship meant something.

Come on, what about dinner? My treat.

I only eat with family and friends.

And I lost my family covering your arse.

Get Phelps to plead to manslaughter.

But we can get him for m*rder, Henry.

Well, so far your witnesses aren't helping you prove it.

But we know he did it.

I'm not seeing him walk out of prison in five years time with a slapped wrist.

The way things are going, he won't step foot in the sweatbox.

It's not just about convicting Phelps.

We owe it to Simon Bennet.

He spent three years in prison for a m*rder he didn't commit his daughter's m*rder.

The CPS did that to him, it's up to us to put that right.

If Phelps walks out of court a free man, we'll have wasted the taxpayers money on a trial that could never see a guilty verdict.

Isn't it better to have him convicted of something, rather than nothing? Just get the plea, Jake.

Ronnie We're going to offer Ricky Phelps a deal.

But he k*lled Amanda Bennet.

We can't get him.

I'm sorry.

Right.

Phelps will still go to prison.

I need to fix this.

It's over! Ronnie! When is this gonna stop?! Is that how you felt when you k*lled her? I didn't k*ll Amanda.

The only reason I'm angry is because her k*ller's still out there and you're wasting your time on me! Let's have another look at your alibi, shall we? I told you, I was driving home from work.

There's no witnesses to support that statement.

I got a speeding ticket.

There'll be a time on that.

Yeah.

I checked it.

Yeah.

You still could've got home in time to m*rder her.

There was someone.

A man.

He was in the road.

I nearly knocked him over.

He swore at me.

He had dark hair.

He had this tattoo on his forearm.

It was a it was a a spider, or a scorpion Sam, come and have a look at this.

He had this tattoo on his forearm.

It was a it was a a spider, or a scorpion He was describing Ricky Phelps.

Simon saw Phelps near his home moments before he found his daughter's body.

Ricky Phelps was never on our radar because he wasn't on the original interview list, although O'Doherty was, but used a false name, Davey Jones.

Bernie Rawlins initialed "Davey Jones" as being interviewed but then ruled it out.

But it puts O'Doherty in the house two days before the m*rder and Ricky Phelps on the street immediately afterwards.

So you think we've got enough? I think we need to talk to Simon Bennet.

We have a photograph of the man we think you saw outside your house the day Amanda was m*rder*d.

If you were to give us a positive I.

D I can't do this now.

I've got to get to the hospice.

We can make an appointment for My wife's dying! I'm so sorry.

I have to go.

Mr.

Bennet, we don't think the man you saw was a witness.

We think he was the k*ller.

I'm sorry.

Mr.

Bennet, I don't understand why you wouldn't want us to get the man who k*lled your daughter? I was locked up for three years, with murderers, pedophiles, all thinking I'd k*lled my own daughter.

While I was gone, Lynn was diagnosed with breast cancer.

She's spent thirteen years b*ating this disease only now it's back.

The last thing I want is for it all to be dragged up again.

She deserves to die with some sense of peace.

I can't even begin to imagine how hard this is for you, how angry you must be with the police, with us.

But this is a new case, and, with your help, we believe we can convict the man who destroyed your lives.

They've given Lynn a few weeks at best.

Losing Amanda broke her.

I'm not putting her through all that again.

He is a victim of a miscarriage of justice.

Every faith he had in the criminal justice system's been ripped apart.

And he doesn't want to clear his name? I think he's past caring what anyone else thinks.

Without the I.

D.

, we're back where we started.

I'll call Phelps' brief.

Let's get this over with.

Just for the comedy value, what are you proposing? I might consider accepting a plea to manslaughter.

Ha.

You're always good for a laugh, Jake.

Simon Bennet told DS Rawlins he saw a young man with dark hair and a tattoo, identical to your client's, outside his home moments before he went inside and found his daughter's body.

You're telling me my client was the only man in London fourteen years ago with a scorpion tattoo? The only one sporting that look and hanging around the Bennet's place at that specific time, yeah.

And Simon Bennet's picked him out of an I.

D.

parade, has he? No.

We wouldn't having this cozy little conversation if you thought, for one moment, that you could convict my client.

Fine.

Let's leave it to the jury.

The jury? I'm considering a half-time submission of no case to answer.

Jake? Give me a minute.

Simon Bennet's had a change of heart.

He's agreed to do the I.

D.

Mr.

Bennet, thank you.

I'm Jake Thorne.

What made you change your mind? My wife's dead.

I'm so sorry.

I think all she wanted was to die so she could be with Amanda.

They got to her you know, the police.

They took me away before she got home.

You never got to talk to her? They worked on her bit by bit, till they'd convinced her I was guilty.

It was nearly a year before she'd see me.

She looked into my eyes, and she knew I I couldn't do that.

When I got out of prison we made this pact, we'd try our hardest to forget what had happened.

It was her way of protecting herself.

She thought it would stop the cancer coming back.

You have all these images in your head that you wish weren't there.

What he did to her.

All that blood.

Our beautiful girl.

For my wife's sake, I tried not to think about what happened, but Amanda was my only child.

She was my life.

I need to know what happened to her.

DS Brooks is waiting for us to do the I.

D.

Make sure you get it right this time.

Please.

Mr.

Bennet, how long exactly did you see Mr.

Phelps for? I can't remember.

You can't remember? Two or three seconds.

Three seconds, fourteen years ago, on what was presumably the most stressful day of your life, and yet you remember exactly what this stranger looked like? I have lived in that day for fourteen years.

Replayed it over and over, every last detail.

So, yes, I remember exactly what he looked like.

And you wouldn't have to ask me any of this if the police had investigated my daughter's m*rder properly fourteen years ago.

What were you doing walking away from the Bennet's house? I went there with Jimmy.

Had Jimmy O'Doherty ever been to the Bennets' house before? Yeah.

He used to borrow his old man's suits go and look at houses pretending he wanted to buy them.

You went to the Bennets' house as a lookout for Jimmy while he went inside to commit a burglary? Yeah, that's right.

Didn't do nothing else.

While you were "standing guard ," did you see Amanda Bennet? Yeah, I saw her through the window.

She was coming down the stairs, she was wearing a dressing gown.

I heard her yelling at Jimmy to get out.

I saw him k*ll her.

And you saw all this from where you were standing at the front of the house? Yeah.

Amanda Bennet was k*lled in the kitchen at the back of the house.

You wouldn't have been able to see her from the front? Maybe maybe it was when I was round the back when I was seeing what was keeping Jimmy.

We heard forensic evidence that a DNA sample was found on Amanda's body and that there is a 60% probability that it belongs to you.

That DNA puts you in the house with Jimmy and with Amanda.

That's not mine.

That's an extraordinary coincidence, isn't it? That a DNA profile which is almost certainly yours is found on a victim k*lled by your friend while you stood guard outside? I dunno.

You and Jimmy thought the house was empty, didn't you? Jimmy said that it was empty.

Only Amanda was there? Jimmy was the one that hurt her, not me.

You didn't go to the house with the intention of k*lling anybody, did you? No.

But then she came down the stairs yelling at you to get out? At Jimmy, she was yelling at Jimmy.

She must have been terrified, two strangers in her home.

She was chucking all this stuff at Jimmy's head, and he started freaking out, he went mental.

He went mental.

And he went at her with this metal doorstop.

And I was screaming at him, I was begging him to stop.

I tried to pull him off her From outside the window? I know you didn't want to hurt her, Ricky.

I know that.

But you were there, weren't you? Trying to stop Jimmy? Trying to pull Jimmy off her? Tell us what really happened, Ricky.

He wouldn't stop.

I mean, he wouldn't stop.

And he just kept going at her.

She was on the floor.

I just remember there was so much blood then suddenly he's yelling at me, saying, "Look what you done to her.

" And she's looking at me, and she's thinking that I done that to her, she's thinking I done that to her? Then I'm thinking the old bill, the old bill are gonna come and she's gonna tell them that it was me.

I mean, I couldn't think straight.

I just Put my hands around her neck and started to squeeze until she stopped fighting.

The right man's behind bars.

Fourteen years too late.

He'd still be a free man if it wasn't for you.

Alesha, if it wasn't for me, we wouldn't've been here.

How many more are gonna come back and bite me? We all make mistakes.

Anyway, you fancy a Chinese? On me? Yeah.

Gimme an hour.