Chapter 3: A Date For Jack

Lewis found the address easily and knocked on the door. The house looked a little bit uncared for. A lady answered the door and said, ‘Well!’ ‘Mrs Preston?’ Lewis enquired. ‘Yes, who wants to know?’ she said. ‘Hi, I’m Lewis,’ he said offering his hand, ‘I’m at school with Callum.’

Ignoring his hand she said, ‘He hasn’t come home from school and his brothers disappeared too. How they expect me to provide meals for them when they don’t turn up, I’ll never know.’

‘I’m afraid that they’re both in trouble and won’t be home tonight,’ Lewis told her, ‘May I come in and tell you about it.’ ‘What has that no-good son of mine done now?’ she said as she turned and went in.

Assuming he was to follow, Lewis went in and closed the door. She went into the lounge and sat down in an armchair. The lounge looked like it could do with a clean, but it wasn’t too bad.

Lewis decided he wasn’t going to be invited to sit down, so he sat in the chair opposite her. ‘Can I ask which son you were referring to when you said no good?’ he asked.

‘They’re both useless,’ she said, ‘But Norman is always in trouble, it’s the people he mixes with.’ ‘Including you,’ Lewis thought to himself, but he said nothing.

‘Well, I’m afraid that Norman and his friend Raymond have dragged Callum into trouble with them this time.’ he told her. ‘Norman and Raymond robbed a shop a week ago. They forced Callum to break in through a small vent for them. I’ve just come from the police station where they have all been charged with robbery.’

‘Callum asked me if I would let you know where he was and what had happened. All three will be in court in the morning.’ ‘Well at least I won’t have to feed them for a while.’ she said. Lewis was astounded but restrained himself from commenting.

‘They will appear at the local Magistrates Court in the morning,’ Lewis told her, ‘It starts about ten o’clock.’ ‘You’re not expecting me to go, are you?’ she said, ‘I’m not being seen in one of those places.’ ‘I thought you might like to give your sons some moral support.’ Lewis said.

She didn’t reply. ‘Is Callum’s dad around?’ Lewis asked. ‘No,’ she said, ‘That good for nothing cleared off right after Callum was born. I’ve no idea where he is now. He’s not contributed a penny since.’

‘Well, it’s time I went home,’ Lewis said standing up, ‘I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news.’ ‘Who are you again?’ she asked. ‘I’m a friend of Callum’s from school.’ Lewis replied. ‘I don’t remember him mentioning you.’ she said. ‘He wouldn’t have done,’ Lewis told her, ‘We only became friends recently.’

She showed no sign of moving so he said, ‘I’ll see myself out, goodbye Mrs Preston.’ She said nothing and just watched him leave the room. As he closed the front door behind himself, Lewis thought of his own parents and how lucky he was.

He found somewhere to sit and rang his form teacher. ‘Hello Lewis,’ he said recognising the number. ‘Sorry to disturb you at home sir,’ Lewis said, ‘I just wanted to update you.’

‘Go ahead,’ he told him. ‘Callum and his older brother plus a friend have been charged with robbery,’ Lewis told him, ‘They’ll appear at the Magistrates Court in the morning. The shop keeper was killed during the robbery. Callum wasn’t part of that, but even so all three could face a charge of murder.’

‘I remember hearing about it on the news,’ his teacher told him, ‘That’s terrible.’ ‘I’ve just been to Callum’s home to tell his mother,’ Lewis said. ‘She made it clear that she has no intention of going to court. There is clear evidence that Callum was forced into it, and I know he is terrified. It’s not necessary for me to be there but I’d like him to see at least one friendly face.’

‘You go ahead Lewis.’ he said, ‘That’s very good of you. I’ll see you are marked present.’ ‘Thank you, sir, I’ll let you know what happens.’ ‘Can I tell his form master.’ ‘Yes sir, it’ll be public knowledge tomorrow anyway, although Callum’s name will not be made public because of his age.’

Lewis wandered on home. He gave his mum and dad a big hug and a kiss each as soon as he got in. When they asked what it was in aid of, he told them, ‘I’ve always known how lucky I am to have parents like you, but I met a friend’s mother today and saw his home. It made me appreciate you even more.’

He had a snack and went up to his room. As he was doing his homework, he had a call from Theo’s solicitor. ‘I saw Theo today,’ he told him. ‘I think he was leaning your way in any case, but when I recommended it too, he did as you suggested, he agreed.’

‘I’ll be drawing up the contracts of sale tomorrow and contacting the managers.’ ‘That’s great,’ Lewis said, ‘Thank you. I’ll let them know to expect your call.’

He rang Isla’s dad and told him. ‘That’s astounding and brilliant,’ he said, ‘I’ll ring around the other managers right away and I’ll contact the bank tomorrow.’ Lewis gave him the solicitors name. ‘Thank you, Lewis.’ he said.

TUESDAY

The next morning Lewis was in court early. There were three Magistrates on the bench which is quite usual. He went and sat in the public gallery. He watched the first case which took half an hour, then Raymond, Norman and Callum were brought up into the dock.

Callum had looked around the court after they came up into the dock. As he spotted Lewis, his face lit up briefly before returning to its worried look.

The clerk of the court read out the charge of robbery and manslaughter. He asked each one in turn how they pleaded. Raymond and Norman pleaded Guilty. Then he asked Callum. His solicitor stood up and said, ‘Your Honour, in view of my clients age may I answer that for him.’

The Magistrate nodded. ‘My client pleads guilty to the robbery charge but not guilty to the manslaughter charge.’ ‘Thank you,’ the Magistrate said.

The prosecutor stood up and announced that all three had admitted their part in the robbery and had been charged with it. ‘The older two were in the storeroom,’ he told the court, ‘They alone were responsible for the killing. Initially all three were charged with murder. However due to evidence which has been shown to your Honours, and some negotiation with the defence, we have agreed to change the charge to manslaughter on the grounds that the death was not planned or foreseen.’

‘In return, the accused have pleaded guilty. Except for the youngest to the manslaughter charge around which there are some special circumstances.’

He went on to tell the court what had happened and how they had escaped. ‘Evidence later came to light which revealed the culprits,’ he said. ‘As a result, the two older ones who had gone into hiding, were traced through their vehicle registration being spotted by a patrol car. They were arrested yesterday morning.’

‘The younger member of the trio arrived at the police station accompanied by a friend from school. Coincidentally this was just after they had been charged. We are satisfied that he had no knowledge of the arrest of the other two.’

‘He refused a solicitor at that time and gave a full statement admitting his involvement and saying how he had been forced into taking part by the other two. Your Honours have seen the evidence that proves that that is so.’

‘Is anything known?’ the Magistrate asked. ‘Raymond Preston who is a cousin of the other two has three previous convictions, two for theft and one for violence.’ the prosecutor reported. ‘Norman Preston has one previous conviction for theft.’ ‘Callum Preston has no previous.’

The Magistrates made some notes and conferred with each other, then the senior one who was doing the speaking fixed the older two with a stern look. ‘Raymond Preston and Norman Preston,’ he said, ‘You have committed a crime during which you attacked the owner of the property in a manner which resulted in his death.’

‘You have both been in trouble before and clearly have no respect for the law, for other people’s property or indeed their lives. What you have done is too serious for us to deal with in this court, so you are remanded in custody to appear at the Crown Court for sentencing.’

‘Take them down.’ he said. The prison officers in the dock took them both down the stairs to the cells below. They would now go to the nearest prison until their next court appearance.

‘Callum Preston,’ the magistrate said, ‘You have been charged on two accounts. Let me deal with the manslaughter charge first to which you pleaded not guilty. Because you were part of the gang, in law you would be held to be just as guilty as the one who struck the fatal blow.’