Unfaithful (43 page)

"Would you agree or disagree that when there is an attempt being made to kill someone that it's not a particularly clever idea to go and tell the person, or meet them in a centrally located hotel?"

"I was
following Savannah's instructions."

"What were you going to do if the women had refused your demand for money?"

"I don't know."

"Savannah Kingston was not involved in
the plot to kill," Mr. Loftus stated.

"That's ridiculous!" Daniel shouted. It was the most animated he had been throughout his entire time in the witness box.

"Ridiculous is the correct word, Mr. Williams, because everything you have said to the jury and the trial is ridiculous," and with that Mr. Loftus had the last word.

Daniel Kingston stepped down from the witness box and flew back to England later that evening. However, his crucial evidence would not be forgotten.

Mr. Kiely, Savannah’s barrister, faced the jury. "If everything that Mr. Williams says is true, that makes him an accomplice. You must treat his evidence with particular care and caution. If you accept his evidence beyond reasonable doubt, you are entitled to act on it. Mr. Williams’ evidence in relation to Savannah Kingston's reaction when she couldn't reach Mark McNamara is of particular importance. Apparently, she was quite furious and it is this fury which prompted her to approach Penelope and sell the contract to her; that's the turning point when Mark McNamara's plan started to go wrong for him. If Mark had answered the telephone to Savannah these women wouldn't be here right now and this would be a murder trial, not a conspiracy to murder trial. Thankfully, Ms. Kingston has a short temper."

Mr. Loftus then
made his summary speech to the jury of the day's proceedings. "Mr. Williams took an oath to tell the truth and willfully proceeded to tell lie after lie. He has no regard whatsoever for the truth and is self-interested, self-serving and a conniving fraudster who would like us to believe that he is almost a slave to Savannah Kingston. However, it's interesting that the only person with a criminal conviction in this case is Daniel Williams. He presented a web of lies and told one of the most self-serving and conniving pieces of perjury that I've heard in an Irish court. He's a liar and a conniver who came here to serve his own interests when he found himself caught like a rat in a trap. He sat there in that witness box giving evidence like the stone face of a liar. Mr. Williams is the Prosecution's star witness and they are relying on him to tie together their whole case. He claimed the intention was murder but it was evident that he didn't have a clue about how that was actually going to happen. Was he going to follow his targets around Westport with a bottle of poison in the hope they would get thirsty? It's at that absurd level," he finished.

Daniel Williams’
evidence made the outlook seem bleak for both the accused. The two defendants took their seats every morning and endured the intense scrutiny of the packed public gallery. Mark had worked his way through an entire notepad while Savannah was busy making friends with everyone. She joked with the prison officers and journalists, smiling a welcome as each familiar face arrived in court. She seemed to relax as every day passed and listened to the evidence with an expression of almost rapt attention. Mark was equally alert but seemed less impressed; frequently bowing his head to murmur to his lawyers and vigorously shaking his head when the evidence seemed particularly damning. He was absolutely determined not to go down without a fight and this would prove to be the fight of his life.

Chapter 13

The discovery of traces of the deadly poison, ricin, in Savannah Kingston's prison cell led to widespread media coverage. Ricin makes a perfect poison for various reasons. It has no antidote and cannot be detected in the victim. There is no telltale scent or distracting taste to alert the target and death is almost guaranteed. It's estimated that it would only require an amount of the pure poison which is the same size as one grain of salt to kill an adult human. It would take approximately one hundred grains of arsenic to produce the same result.

Add to this the fact that the castor plant is a popular decorative shrub and easily available. It's grown in gardens and is a popular hou
se plant. The seeds can be purchased from any garden centre and they're widely available to buy online. The fact that something so deadly could be growing happily at the bottom of the garden is an attractive thought for the more homicidally inclined.

Ricin is estimated to be, gram for gram, around six thousand times more poisonous tha
n cyanide and around twelve thousand times more potent than rattle snake venom. Once it gets into the blood it makes the red blood cells clump together and eventually burst as they die. Interestingly, ricin is successful in the treatment of cancer. It bonds with an antibody which can seek out the tumour cells, delivering the ricin to have its devastating effect on the tumour. However, a fatal poisoning with ricin means a slow and painful death with no hope of reprieve. Doctors are only able to assist the victims and make them as comfortable as possible.

The
mention of ricin in open court was a major talking point throughout the country. Everyone was greatly anticipating the evidence which was about to be presented. The investigation into alleged conspiracy to murder was in full swing at that stage and the last thing police wanted was any public revelation to potentially hamper their inquiry.

The next stage in the dramatic saga began to unfold on the eighth day of th
e trial when Gerald Loftus, Mark’s barrister, began to speak. "The examination of the poison which was carried out by the Irish army was clearly not adequate as the contact lens case had to be sent to England for further analysis. The testing process in England involved the irrigation of the case; therefore it's unlikely there are any remaining traces for the Defence to have independently tested. The sample was destroyed and I was given no notice of the fact that this was going to happen."

"The correspondence between us and the
State is the same," agreed Savannah’s barrister, Arthur Kiely.

"Ms. Kingston was entitled to have physical evidence maintained until the trial," the judge said. "There may have been a trace of ricin available and there was an obligation on the Prosecution to have made known to Ms. Kingston that there had been a preliminary
positive result for its presence. It seems the court should rule that it is not permissible to have the matter of the ricin element adduced in evidence."

The judge's ruling left the entire courtroom in complete shock. The respective legal teams left the courtroom in a flurry and grouped together in the hall to discuss the effects which the ruling would have on the
case. Police officers were beyond flabbergasted. They knew that if the ricin element was dismissed the jury would have to be discharged as they had been told about the ricin in the opening speech of the trial.

Mark spoke to his legal team outside the courtroom, before confidently strolling back to
his seat moments later. He chatted to his lawyer and smiled and laughed with his defence team. Was this going to be his last day sitting in the dock? It certainly was beginning to look that way. The judge's ruling was crucial and he knew it. He seemed convinced that the ruling was about to go his way.

"It's my submission that the court should give me an opportunity to see definitively if evidence can be obtained from the laboratory in England. If there's material there which can still be examined I'll make certain applications," said
Mr. Clifford, senior counsel for the Prosecution.

Judge Charles Enright
agreed to the application and adjourned until the following morning.

"I would like to apply to the court for permission to call further evidence
. I want to call Detective James Leary and three witnesses from the laboratory in England to give evidence. Detective Leary will deal with the circumstances in which the material was sent away and the reasons for it being sent," Mr. Clifford explained the next morning. "There were extraordinary and exceptional circumstances in this case. I want to be given the opportunity to be heard on this matter."

"The court does not want to exclude evidence by
any party," Judge Enright replied. "The court will allow the evidence."

Detective Leary
took the stand and told the court that he was the senior officer in charge of the investigation. He stated that he had been made aware by Scotland Yard that they had received confidential information to the effect that ricin had been transported from the United Kingdom to Ireland in a contact lens case. He said that a warrant had been obtained to search a cell at Mountjoy prison and the services of the army explosive ordnance disposal team had been sought. "I had no knowledge of ricin. I was made aware that this was a serious biological poison. There were hundreds of prisoners and staff at Mountjoy prison and the possibility of evacuating everyone was discussed. We were aware that there were serious health and safety issues involved. Eventually, we decided to carry out a search of Ms. Kingston's cell and this was done after lock-down. The army unit wore biological suits because of the toxic nature of the poison. The presence of ricin was confirmed but I was advised that I should seek further confirmation elsewhere. I went to England to get a conclusive report on the sample and they proved that it was indeed ricin. Micrograms of this substance are lethal if ingested in any way, so I was obviously very concerned."

"Were you not aware of the need to
preserve evidence?" Mr. Clifford asked Detective Leary. "An extra swab could have been taken and preserved in Ireland."

"Considering the nature of the substance I was dealing with, I had concerns about keeping any of it here in Ireland."

"Why were no steps taken to ensure that the evidence sent to England would be preserved?"

"It was my understanding from the laboratory that they provide services to the English courts and what was necessary woul
d be done correctly. The steps taken in this instance were the only steps open to me."

The court th
en heard from Ava Patterson of the laboratory in England who had carried out the work for the UK Home Office. "I was given some preliminary information that an exhibit had been seized in a prison and that it had been tested for ricin. I received a package and a contact lens holder was inside. I screened and X-rayed the package."

"What is ricin?"
Mr. Clifford asked.

"Ricin is a lethal toxin which is derived from castor beans. It could be toxic if ingested, inhaled or injected."

Charles Finley, who was the manager of the laboratory, also advised the court that ricin was a chemical compound which was produced by castor beans.

"Is it toxic?"

"It's extremely toxic, one of the most toxic compounds."

"Can it kill?"

"It can kill someone stone dead."

"What did you do with the package containing the contact lens case?"

"I took it from Ms. Patterson and placed it in a safety cabinet. It was unpacked and irrigated."

When Detective
Leary and the scientists had finished giving their evidence to the court, Mr. Clifford addressed Judge Enright. "A highly toxic chemical was found. Detective Leary had serious concerns about it and he acted correctly on his concerns. If the police hadn't acted and some disaster had occurred in the prison there would have been a serious public outcry. Mr. McNamara was not charged when the search and subsequent tests were carried out and in such circumstances the Prosecution couldn't be said to be under any obligation to inform him that such tests were carried out. Your ruling does not and cannot apply to Mr. McNamara. Also, there are exceptional and extraordinary circumstances in relation to the other defendant, Ms. Kingston."

"I believe the Prosecution has taken several steps backwards by the evidence which they have presented here today," Mr.
Loftus retaliated. "I'm not disputing the fact that ricin is a deadly substance but Mr. McNamara should have been made aware of the positive test results."

"My client has the constitution
al right to a fair trial," Mr. Kiely spoke for his client, Ms. Kingston. "There are no grounds on which your Lordship should reconsider your ruling. The ricin element should not be allowed."

Everyone knew t
hat the decision made by Judge Enright the following morning was going to be crucial in terms of whether or not the trial would proceed. A tension-filled courtroom listened intently as he made his judgment. "It appears to me that, considering the circumstances, the police acted quickly, urgently and expeditiously with the evidence which was obtained and performed the tests which were available to them. It was clearly not a right that any defendant had to be present when an original sample was taken. The court also finds that there was no deliberate attempt to deprive the individuals of the possibility to investigate or indeed to deal with the laboratory in England. The matter should be dealt with by the jury and they should be allowed to hear the evidence and possible conflicts that exist."