Read Online The Accused (Modern Plays) by Jeffrey Archer - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Jeffrey Archer
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fact a simple decent man who has devoted his life to the service of others.
But Members of the Jury, for you to be convinced that this man is capable of murder, you have to ask yourself what was the motive, because all crimes must, in the end, have a motive. And, perhaps even more important, where is the evidence to convict Mr Sherwood? Because the evidence in this case has been at best circumstantial, and at worst, prejudicial.
Members of the Jury, English law does not demand that a defendant should appear in the witness box and it is right that it does not do so, but so determined is Mr Sherwood to clear his good name, that he is willing to face cross-examination and be judged by his peers.
My Lord, I call Mr Patrick Sherwood.
Usher Mr Sherwood
Kersley
smiles as
Sherwood
leaves the dock, walks across the courtroom and enters the witness box
.
Usher Please take the testament in your right hand and read from the card.
Sherwood I swear by Almighty God that the evidence I shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Barrington Your name is Patrick Hugh Sherwood and you reside at twenty-two Cadogan Villas in the county of London?
Sherwood Yes, I do.
Barrington You are presently a senior consultant, head of the Cardio Thoracic Unit at St George’s, and a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons?
Sherwood That is correct.
Barrington Your life-long hobby has been sailing and until the age of forty-five you were a surgeon captain in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve?
Sherwood Yes, and I still keep a small boat at Burnham, which my wife … my late wife and I used to sail at weekends.
Barrington In 1982 you were called up as a reservist to serve in the Falklands, where you performed over a hundred operations in twenty-nine days.
Sherwood I have no idea how many operations I performed.
Barrington My Lord, over a hundred were the words mentioned in dispatches by the fleet commander. Now I’d like to begin, Mr Sherwood, with your relationship with your wife. How long were you married?
Sherwood Just over seventeen years.
Barrington And was your marriage a happy one?
Sherwood I adored Elizabeth; no one will ever be able to replace her.
Barrington When was it that you first discovered your wife had a heart problem?
Sherwood The first hint came in 1997, when Elizabeth complained of loss of breath, and of feeling pains in her chest, and left arm. These are the classic signs of a minorheart attack, so I took her into St George’s and carried out some routine tests.
Barrington And what did those tests reveal?
Sherwood That her heartbeat was irregular and she was suffering from an arrhythmia.
Barrington Did you consider this curable at the time?
Sherwood Oh, yes, I deal with this sort of problem every day, and as long as a patient is willing to be disciplined with their diet, sensible about taking exercise and, if it applies, give up smoking, then there’s no reason why they shouldn’t live to an old age.
Barrington So what did you do next?
Sherwood I put her on a programme of medication that was approved by her GP and confirmed by the brightest young specialist on my staff.
Barrington And once she had begun that programme, did her health start to improve?
Sherwood No, she continued to complain about loss of breath and feeling tired, which caused me to doubt my own diagnosis.
Barrington So what did you do about it?
Sherwood I got in touch with Sir Magdi Yacoub at the Brompton Hospital. He’s the leading authority in my field and I was keen to seek a second opinion.
Barrington And what was his judgement?
Sherwood He was puzzled. He could find no fault with my diagnosis and suggested that Elizabeth be put on a special fat-free diet.
Barrington And did you at last see some improvement?
Sherwood No, her health continued to deteriorate and during the last few months I couldn’t get her to leave the flat, even to go for a short walk.
Barrington And she finally collapsed on the
But Members of the Jury, for you to be convinced that this man is capable of murder, you have to ask yourself what was the motive, because all crimes must, in the end, have a motive. And, perhaps even more important, where is the evidence to convict Mr Sherwood? Because the evidence in this case has been at best circumstantial, and at worst, prejudicial.
Members of the Jury, English law does not demand that a defendant should appear in the witness box and it is right that it does not do so, but so determined is Mr Sherwood to clear his good name, that he is willing to face cross-examination and be judged by his peers.
My Lord, I call Mr Patrick Sherwood.
Usher Mr Sherwood
Kersley
smiles as
Sherwood
leaves the dock, walks across the courtroom and enters the witness box
.
Usher Please take the testament in your right hand and read from the card.
Sherwood I swear by Almighty God that the evidence I shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Barrington Your name is Patrick Hugh Sherwood and you reside at twenty-two Cadogan Villas in the county of London?
Sherwood Yes, I do.
Barrington You are presently a senior consultant, head of the Cardio Thoracic Unit at St George’s, and a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons?
Sherwood That is correct.
Barrington Your life-long hobby has been sailing and until the age of forty-five you were a surgeon captain in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve?
Sherwood Yes, and I still keep a small boat at Burnham, which my wife … my late wife and I used to sail at weekends.
Barrington In 1982 you were called up as a reservist to serve in the Falklands, where you performed over a hundred operations in twenty-nine days.
Sherwood I have no idea how many operations I performed.
Barrington My Lord, over a hundred were the words mentioned in dispatches by the fleet commander. Now I’d like to begin, Mr Sherwood, with your relationship with your wife. How long were you married?
Sherwood Just over seventeen years.
Barrington And was your marriage a happy one?
Sherwood I adored Elizabeth; no one will ever be able to replace her.
Barrington When was it that you first discovered your wife had a heart problem?
Sherwood The first hint came in 1997, when Elizabeth complained of loss of breath, and of feeling pains in her chest, and left arm. These are the classic signs of a minorheart attack, so I took her into St George’s and carried out some routine tests.
Barrington And what did those tests reveal?
Sherwood That her heartbeat was irregular and she was suffering from an arrhythmia.
Barrington Did you consider this curable at the time?
Sherwood Oh, yes, I deal with this sort of problem every day, and as long as a patient is willing to be disciplined with their diet, sensible about taking exercise and, if it applies, give up smoking, then there’s no reason why they shouldn’t live to an old age.
Barrington So what did you do next?
Sherwood I put her on a programme of medication that was approved by her GP and confirmed by the brightest young specialist on my staff.
Barrington And once she had begun that programme, did her health start to improve?
Sherwood No, she continued to complain about loss of breath and feeling tired, which caused me to doubt my own diagnosis.
Barrington So what did you do about it?
Sherwood I got in touch with Sir Magdi Yacoub at the Brompton Hospital. He’s the leading authority in my field and I was keen to seek a second opinion.
Barrington And what was his judgement?
Sherwood He was puzzled. He could find no fault with my diagnosis and suggested that Elizabeth be put on a special fat-free diet.
Barrington And did you at last see some improvement?
Sherwood No, her health continued to deteriorate and during the last few months I couldn’t get her to leave the flat, even to go for a short walk.
Barrington And she finally collapsed on the
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