Cath Staincliffe - Blink of an Eye

‘So what happens next?’ Phil said.

‘If Naomi is arrested for questioning, I will then be given a summary of the case against her.’

Just the word arrested made my stomach turn over.

‘I would then talk to Naomi before she was questioned and we’d agree how to proceed, what she would be saying to them.’

‘What could I say?’ Naomi protested. ‘All I can say is I can’t remember.’

‘That’s true,’ Don said. ‘If the amnesia persists, we’ll decide whether to sit through the questions or whether to give a prepared written statement instead.’ He went on, ‘If the police then decided to charge you, they’d do that and release you on bail to appear in the magistrates’ court in a few days’ time. Because of the gravity of the incident, the magistrates would automatically set a committal date, usually a month or two ahead, and that’s when they’d refer the case to the Crown Court. About six or eight weeks on from that, we’d have plea and case management hearing. That’s when you enter a plea of guilty or not guilty, if you’ve not already done so, and the arrangements are agreed to schedule a case.’

Something struck me forcefully, ‘She can’t plead guilty if she can’t remember anything about it, can she?’

‘That’s right. Not that I’d advise a guilty plea anyway, but it would be nonsensical. At the committal stage, once I receive the complete bundle of case notes from the prosecution, I apply for legal aid on Naomi’s behalf and start looking for our own evidence to contest the prosecution case. That’s when the real work begins.

‘The defendant’s character is of great significance in this sort of case,’ he went on. ‘Any previous convictions?’

‘No,’ we all said in unison.

‘I didn’t think so,’ he said. ‘Any history of careless driving, driving under the influence, anything of that nature?’

‘No,’ Naomi said. ‘We share the car but it belongs to Alex. I’ve always been careful with it.’

‘What about speeding? Any penalty points?’

‘No,’ she said.

‘Good. And what about Alex?’

‘The same,’ Phil said. ‘He’s a responsible lad.’

Naomi nodded.

‘You mentioned he was going into the law?’ Don said.

‘Yes, he’s just got a training contract with a firm here. Hasn’t started yet.’

‘Do you know who?’

‘Vincent and Kaplan.’

Don smiled. ‘Good firm.’

‘What if there was a problem with the car that meant Naomi couldn’t correct her speed?’ I said.

‘We’ll certainly be looking for anything like that, as will the road traffic investigation unit.’

‘The car was completely burnt out,’ Phil said.

‘Makes it harder. All we can do is wait and see what they put in their report. It’s a lot to take on board. Is there anything you want to ask me?’ Don asked Naomi.

‘Yes, can I write to them – Lily’s family? Say how sorry I am.’

Don pulled a face. ‘I really wouldn’t advise it. You’re pleading not guilty. Any communication like that, no matter how neutral, could be used against you – the prosecution could argue it signifies an admission of guilt.’

She looked crestfallen.

‘Could I write instead?’ I asked. ‘Send a card or something?’

He shook his head. ‘It would be very unwise.’

‘Okay,’ I said.

‘I’ll take you back through,’ Phil said to Naomi.

‘See you in a minute,’ I promised her.

‘Is there anything else?’ Don asked when they’d gone.

I hesitated. The trouble we had with Naomi during sixth-form college. Should I mention that? It was years ago, but… I dithered and then told Don all about it.

The first we knew about Naomi’s trouble was a visit from a pair of community support officers to inform us that Naomi and another girl had been apprehended drinking in the local park. The other girl was Georgia. Naomi stood with a sullen look on her face while they spoke to us, and when they’d gone and I tried to talk to her about it, she told me to mind my own business and flounced off upstairs. She was slightly more amenable by teatime, told us not to have a fit about it, it wasn’t like she’d killed anybody or anything. She promised that she wouldn’t play truant again. I was more worried about her drinking in the middle of the day.

Next thing, we got a letter from her tutor. Naomi had been found with alcohol in college. It was a disciplinary matter, this was a final warning, and if it happened again she would be expelled.

I went numb, my head cloudy and muddled. I waited until Phil got back to talk to him about how to tackle it. He read the letter, raked his fingers through his hair. ‘Well, she has to take it seriously or they’ll kick her out,’ he said. ‘Don’t know that anything we say will make a difference.’

‘That’s it, think positive,’ I complained.

‘Talk to her after tea?’

By then Suzanne was at Bournemouth, emailing us every Sunday and enjoying the course. Just the three of us at home.

‘Wait a minute,’ I said to Naomi later as she got up to leave the dinner table. ‘We have a letter from college. See?’ I pulled it out of my pocket and opened it, set it down for her to read.

She flushed and a mutinous glare rolled through her eyes.

‘What’s going on? What were you thinking of?’ I said.

She shrugged.

‘How often have you been drinking? If you’ve got a problem with it, you need to-’

‘It’s not like that,’ she said.

‘It’s not healthy,’ I said. ‘You’re seventeen, you shouldn’t be drinking at all, let alone at college.’

‘Get real,’ she sneered.

‘No! You don’t get to have that attitude. This is serious, it’s dangerous.’

She sighed.

I changed tack, I knew shouting at her wasn’t going to be productive. ‘Aren’t you happy at college?’

‘No.’

‘You want to leave?’ Phil said.

‘Maybe,’ she said, sounding utterly miserable.

‘Why?’ he said.

‘It’s boring and they treat us like little kids.’

‘What would you do instead?’ he said.

‘I don’t know.’

‘C’mon,’ Phil chided, ‘you must have some idea.’ At her age he was already planning the shop, already playing in the band.

‘Well I don’t,’ she said.

‘Is there anything you do like there?’ I was searching for a positive morsel to focus on, to build a strategy with. ‘Dance,’ I said, ‘you love dance.’

‘Not with Miss Gaffney, she’s crap.’

I sighed. ‘If you leave, it won’t be easy to get work; you’re not eighteen so lots of places won’t consider you. You’ve hardly any experience.’

‘I’ll sign on, then.’

Oh great. ‘Look, you need to think about what you want. I know it’s not that easy, but it’s no fun being on the dole. You get fifty quid a week and you’ll be filling in great long forms and having compulsory interviews with the jobseekers people to see if you are trying hard enough. Do you want to go to university? Because if you do, then you have to have A levels.’

She shrugged, bit at her thumbnail.

I had a sudden thought. ‘Is Georgia doing all right there? Does she like it?’

‘She left.’

Ah. ‘What’s she doing?’

‘Nothing.’

‘That going well for her, is it?’ Phil said.

‘Don’t be mean, Dad,’ Naomi said.

‘Just because she’s jacked it in-’ I began.

‘It’s nothing to do with that. I told you, it’s boring.’

We didn’t get much further. I told her we’d discuss it again the following evening, by which time she should come to a decision about whether to make a renewed effort or to give up her place.

‘I’m not going back,’ she said the next morning.