Chapter 7: The Prison Governors Dilemma

Andrew took him into the lounge then went and made them a coffee. He returned soon with two coffees on a tray and a plate of chocolate biscuits.

‘This Sunday,’ Lewis explained, ‘A young boy will be raped by his uncle, just as he was last month. I plan to catch him in the act and at the same time acquire enough other evidence to present to the court.’

‘Th
e combination of my evidence and the eyewitness statement of a policeman, or even an ex-policeman,’ he added with a grin, ‘Would ensure he would plead guilty. That would save the boy being involved in the court case. The boy has put up with it so far under the threat of him and his mother being thrown out of the house and being made homeless if he didn’t agree.’

‘He has also managed to take a number of indecent and easily misinterpreted photos of the boy.’ These he has threatened to show his mum and make public on the internet if he tells anyone what is happening.’

‘I could ask a serving policeman friend for help. But that would mean when he arrested him, he would have to take him in, and put him in a cell. The case would then go to court and the boy’s mother would discover what had been happening. He doesn’t want her to find out if it can be avoided. I have an idea to put to the uncle, which I can’t do until after he has been caught in the act and arrested. And after he has been shown my evidence.’

‘But if he agrees, he couldn’t then be taken to the police station. ‘So, if he agreed, but then backed out the next day, a serving policeman could lose his job for not taking him in right away.’

‘What occurred to me is that perhaps I could find an ex-policeman to help instead. He would be able to act with sufficient authority and conviction to arrest him, so it would work just as well. Then if he should back out of the deal, the police could then be sent to arrest him, and he could go to court and prison in the usual manner.’

‘If that happened, the ex-policeman would simply say he caught him in the act and arrested him, but gave him the opportunity to turn himself in. When he didn’t, he reported him to the police and handed over the evidence. Being an ex-policeman, his statement would carry enough weight to convince the magistrate. And he wouldn’t have done anything wrong in the eyes of the law, so he wouldn’t be in any trouble.’

‘This evidence,’ Andrew asked, ‘Can you tell me what it is?’ ‘Sorry, no, not at this point,’ Lewis said. ‘But you’ll know on the day, and I can tell you it will convict him on its own. It’s worked many times before and having him caught in the act is just to make conviction absolutely certain.’

‘Ok,’ Andrew said, ‘I’m in.’ ‘Great, thank you,’ Lewis said. ‘Oh, by the way, how are you in a small boat?’ ‘Fine,’ Andrew said sounding surprised at the question, ‘I can row, and I’ve been a passenger in a two-man yacht.’ ‘How about a one-man raft?’ Lewis asked. ‘I’ve never been in or on one,’ Andrew said, ‘But it shouldn’t be a problem.’

‘To get access unseen to the cabin where it takes place, we have to cross a small pond,’ Lewis told him. ‘But the raft can only take one at a time.’ ‘Good job I can swim,’ Andrew said grinning. ‘Hopefully, that won’t be needed.’ Lewis said.

As they worked their way through the biscuits and coffee, Andrew said, ‘I met someone who knows you, or at least knows of you, the other day.’ As Lewis looked at him enquiringly Andrew said, ‘I bumped into someone I was pally with at teacher training college. We hadn’t seen each other since then so we were reminiscing.’

‘I asked him how his brother was, he had been out with us several times during our college time as he lived near to the college.’ ‘He’s fine,’ he said, ‘He was nearly out of work a while back, but he’s now a part owner of his firm.’

‘That’s good going,’ I said, ‘How did he manage that?’ ‘He didn’t,’ he told me, ‘It was a young boy made the owner turn the factory over to the employees.’

‘You’re kidding,’ I said, ‘How could he do that?’ ‘The story goes,’ he told me, ‘That the owner of the factory had been raping the young daughters of some of the managers when he stayed with them.’

‘I’m a bit vague as to how the young lad became involved,’ he said. ‘But before he went to court the factory was transferred in a management buyout for a ridiculously low price. Every member of staff got free shares in the new company. In return the owner was allowed to say at his trial that he had done it out of remorse.’

‘The Judge told him that he had been going to sentence him to ten years for what he had done. ‘No one should be able to buy their way out of a sentence,’ he said, ‘So I do sentence you to ten years in prison.’

‘Apparently, he let that sink in for a few moments, then added, ‘But your action to your workforce shows a truly amazing degree of remorse, so I am suspending six years of your sentence.’

‘Do you know the boy’s name?’ I asked him, although I was already suspecting. ‘I only know his Christian name,’ he told me, ‘By a vote of the workforce, the new name of the company is ‘Lewis Engineering.’

Lewis grinned, ‘I knew nothing about that until after it had happened.’ he said. ‘I’m sure there was a lot more to it than my friend knows,’ Andrew said, ‘But you deserve it. I’m sure you’ll go far.’

As Andrew dropped him off at home, they arranged that he would collect Lewis at ten o’clock on Sunday. ‘Thanks again.’ Lewis said as he got out of the car. ‘No, thank you,’ Andrew said, ‘You’re putting a bit of excitement back in my life. If I’m helping someone escape abuse as well, even better.’

THURSDAY

The next day Lewis rang the solicitor who had handled the transfer of the factory. He asked if he could come and see him after school sometime that week.

He told him to come along that day so after school Lewis went over to his office. They discussed what Lewis had planned and the solicitor agreed to handle it if it happened.

During the day, Lewis had spoken to Gregg in the playground. ‘It’s very close to being sorted,’ he said. ‘But I’ll need your help.’ ‘Anything,’ Gregg said. ‘Tomorrow, after school, preferably without your family knowing, I need access to your raft and your help at the pond for a couple of hours.’

‘No problem,’ Gregg said, ‘If anyone spots you, I’ll tell mum that you’re doing a project for school on natural ponds and the livestock it attracts. ‘Excellent idea.’ Lewis told him.

‘Also,’ Lewis said, ‘This Sunday a friend and I will need to get to your raft at half past ten. Again, preferably without being seen. You don’t need to be there then, but I’d like you to be at home in case I need your help when it’s all over.’

Mum usually goes to see her friend in the next road about ten thirty and doesn’t get back until gone one.’ Gregg told him. ‘I’ll leave the side gate open,’ but if you can hang on outside as long as you can. As soon as mum has left, I’ll come out front and mow the lawn so when you see me, you’ll know the coast is clear. ‘But if you need to go in before then, just go. If she spots you, I’ll use the same excuse.’

‘Thanks,’ Lewis said, ‘I’ll see you after school tomorrow.’ ‘I’ll wait for you at the main gate.’ Gregg told him.

That morning, the local paper came out. It’s frontpage headline read as follows...

LOCAL PROPERTY DEVELOPER FINED £20,000

Property Developer Jeff Greatbanks was fined £20,000 by the Magistrates Court yesterday, for breach of safety regulations. Mr Greatbanks has been preparing a large, detached house ready to convert it into flats. When he discovered that the original plaster was made with asbestos and would cost a small fortune to remove, he hit on a way to avoid the regulations.

He employed his young nephew to supervise the work and had the local job centre send him a succession of youngsters who had just left school. They filled skips for him as part of his normal work, but in any spare moments they were sent to assist his nephew remove the dangerous plaster.

His nephew wasn’t told anything about the asbestos but was told to make sure the youngsters did all the work of pulling the ceilings down, the dustiest part of the job. However, he was told to knock the plaster off the walls, which was almost as bad.