Into the Darkest Corner

M R . M ACLEAN	Would you please state your full name?
M R . B RIGHTMAN	Lee Anthony Brightman.
M R . M ACLEAN	Thank you. Now, Mr. Brightman, you had a relationship with Miss Bailey, is that correct?
M R . B RIGHTMAN	Yes.
M R . M ACLEAN	For how long?
M R . B RIGHTMAN	I met her at the end of October in 2003. We were seeing each other until the middle of June last year.
M R . M ACLEAN	And how did you meet?
M R . B RIGHTMAN	At work. I was working on an operation and I happened to meet her through the course of that.
M R . M ACLEAN	And you formed a relationship?
M R . B RIGHTMAN	Yes.
M R . M ACLEAN	You said that the relationship ended in June. Was that a mutual decision?
M R . B RIGHTMAN	Things had been going wrong for a while. Catherine was very jealous of the time I spent away from her working. She was convinced I was having an affair.
M R . M ACLEAN	And were you?
M R . B RIGHTMAN	No. My job takes me away from home for days at a time, and the nature of it means that I can’t tell anyone, not even my girlfriend, where I am or when I’ll be home.
M R . M ACLEAN	Did your time away from Miss Bailey cause arguments between you?
M R . B RIGHTMAN	Yes. She would check my cell phone for messages from other women, demand to know where I’d been, who I’d been seeing. When I got back from a job, all I wanted to do was forget about work and relax a bit. It started to feel like I never had the chance to do that.
M R . M ACLEAN	So you ended the relationship?
M R . B RIGHTMAN	No. We had fights sometimes, but I loved her. I knew she had some emotional problems. When she went for me, I always told myself that it wasn’t her fault.
M R . M ACLEAN	What do you mean by “emotional problems?”
M R . B RIGHTMAN	Well, she told me she had suffered from anxiety in the past. The more time I spent with her, the more I saw that coming out. She would go out drinking with her friends, or drink at home, and when I got home she would start an argument and lash out at me.
M R . M ACLEAN	Just with regard to the emotional problems, I would like to ask you about that further. Did you, over the course of your relationship, see any evidence that Miss Bailey would harm herself at times of emotional stress?
M R . B RIGHTMAN	No. Her friends had told me that she had cut herself in the past.
M R . L EWIS	Objection, Your Honor. The witness was not asked about the opinions of Miss Bailey’s friends.
M R . J USTICE N OLAN	Mr. Brightman, please keep to the questions you are asked. Thank you.
M R. M ACLEAN	Mr. Brightman, you mentioned that Miss Bailey would “lash out” at you. Can you explain what you mean by “lash out”?
M R . B RIGHTMAN	She would shout, push me, slap me, kick me. That kind of thing.
M R . M ACLEAN	She was violent toward you?
M R . B RIGHTMAN	Yes. Well, yes. She was.
M R . M ACLEAN	On how many occasions, would you say?
M R . B RIGHTMAN	I don’t know. I didn’t keep count.
M R . M ACLEAN	And what did you generally do, on these occasions when she “lashed out” at you?
M R . B RIGHTMAN	I would walk away from it. I deal with that enough at work; I don’t need it when I get home.
M R . M ACLEAN	And were you ever violent toward her?
M R . B RIGHTMAN	Only the last time. She had locked me in the house and hidden the key somewhere. She went mad at me. I’d been working on a particularly difficult job and something inside me snapped. I hit her back. It was the first time I’d ever hit a woman.
M R . M ACLEAN	The last time—what date are you talking about, exactly?
M R . B RIGHTMAN	It was in June. The thirteenth, I think.
M R . M ACLEAN	Would you take us through that day?
M R . B RIGHTMAN	I stayed the night before at Catherine’s house. I was on duty that weekend so I left for work before Catherine woke up. When I came back to her house that evening she was at home and she had been drinking. She accused me of spending the day with another woman—the same thing I heard over and over again. I took it for a while, but after a couple of hours I had had enough. I went to walk away but she had double-locked the front door. She was screaming and swearing at me, over and over again, slapping me with her hands, scratching my face. I pushed her backward, just enough to get her away. Then she just threw herself at me again and I hit her.
M R . M ACLEAN	How did you hit her, Mr. Brightman? Was it a punch, a slap?
M R . B RIGHTMAN	I hit her with a closed fist.
M R . M ACLEAN	I see. And what happened then?
M R . B RIGHTMAN	She didn’t stop; she just yelled louder and came at me again. So I hit her again. I guess it was probably harder. She fell over backward and I went to see if she was all right, to help her up. I think I must have trodden on her hand. She screamed and yelled at me and threw something. It was the key to the front door.
M R . M ACLEAN	What did you do next?
M R . B RIGHTMAN	I took the key, unlocked the front door and left.
M R . M ACLEAN	What time was that?
M R . B RIGHTMAN	It must have been about a quarter past seven.
M R . M ACLEAN	And when you left her, what condition was she in?
M R . B RIGHTMAN	She was still shouting and screaming.
M R . M ACLEAN	Was she injured, bleeding?
M R . B RIGHTMAN	I think she may have been bleeding.
M R . M ACLEAN	Could you elaborate, Mr. Brightman?
M R . B RIGHTMAN	She had some blood on her face. I don’t know where it came from. It wasn’t a lot of blood.
M R . M ACLEAN	And did you have any injuries yourself?
M R . B RIGHTMAN	I just had some scratches.
M R . M ACLEAN	Did you consider that she might have needed medical attention?
M R . B RIGHTMAN	No.
M R . M ACLEAN	Even though she was apparently bleeding, and crying out?
M R . B RIGHTMAN	I don’t recall that she was crying out. As I left the house she was shouting and swearing at me. If she needed medical attention I believe she could have gotten it herself, without my help.
M R . M ACLEAN	I see. So after you left the house at a quarter past seven, did you see Miss Bailey again?
M R . B RIGHTMAN	No. I didn’t see her again.
M R . M ACLEAN	Did you contact her by telephone?
M R . B RIGHTMAN	No.
M R . M ACLEAN	Mr. Brightman, I want you to think very carefully before answering my next question. How do you feel now with regard to the incidents of that day?
M R . B RIGHTMAN	I have deep regret for everything that happened. I loved Catherine. I had asked her to marry me. I had no idea she was so emotionally disturbed and I wish to God I hadn’t retaliated. I wish I had just tried harder to calm her down.
M R . M ACLEAN	Thank you. No further questions, Your Honor.

—CROSS-EXAMINATION—

M R . L EWIS	Mr. Brightman, would you have described your relationship with Miss Bailey as a serious one?
M R . B RIGHTMAN	I thought it was, yes.
M R . L EWIS	Do you understand that it is part of your terms and conditions of employment that you will inform your employers of changes in your personal circumstances, including providing the details of your relationships?
M R . B RIGHTMAN	Yes.
M R . L EWIS	And yet you chose not to inform anyone you work with about your relationship with Miss Bailey, is that not the case?
M R . B RIGHTMAN	I had planned to do so when Catherine agreed to marry me. My vetting review was due at the end of September; I would have mentioned it then in any case.
M R . L EWIS	Now, I would like to draw your attention to Exhibit WL/1—this is on page fourteen of the exhibit packs—which is the statement by PC William Lay. PC Lay arrested you on Tuesday 15 June 2004 at your home address. In his statement he asserts that when he asked you about Miss Bailey, you at first stated, and I quote: “I don’t know who you are talking about.” Is that correct?
M R . B RIGHTMAN	I don’t remember exactly what I said.
M R . L EWIS	This is the woman you have subsequently stated that you were in love with, that you intended to marry. Is that correct?
M R . B RIGHTMAN	PC Lay and PC Newman turned up at my house at six in the morning. I’d been working for the past three nights and I had only just gone to bed. I was disoriented.
M R . L EWIS	Did you also state when questioned at Lancaster Police Station later that same day—and I’m quoting again from your statement: “She was just someone I was investigating. When I left her she was fine. She had emotional issues, mental health issues”?
M R . B RIGHTMAN	(inaudible)
M R . J USTICE N OLAN	Mr. Brightman, could you speak up?
M R . B RIGHTMAN	Yes.
M R . L EWIS	And were you conducting an investigation into Miss Bailey?
M R . B RIGHTMAN	No.
M R . L EWIS	I have no further questions.
M R . J USTICE N OLAN	Thank you. In that case, ladies and gentlemen, we will adjourn for lunch.

Other books

The Hanging Tree by Geraldine Evans

Dark's Descent by Basil Bacorn

The Teratologist by Edward Lee

Superlovin' by Vivi Andrews

Incredible Metal Detecting Discoveries: True Stories of Amazing Treasures Found by Everyday People by Smith, Mark D

The Secret Healer by Ellin Carsta

Death on a Vineyard Beach by Philip R. Craig

Does This Taste Funny? A Half-Baked Look at Food and Foodies by Dane, Michael

Gods of Chicago: Omnibus Edition by Sikes, AJ

Bagmen (A Victor Carl Novel) by William Lashner