Court Out - By Elle Wynne Page 0,17
the drive back to get my car from home. I turn and wave goodbye to mum who has picked up Siddy and is holding his paw up so he can wave me off too.
Chapter Four
True to form, I spend Sunday working at home, setting up fort on the dining room table. I have an upcoming week of classic ‘Lauren’ cases: prosecuting a range of misfits accused of various misdemeanors and defending a similar motley crew.
As I sit and read through the case of a woman accused of benefit fraud my mobile rings. Unusually, it is sat on top of Archbold directly in front of me so I have no difficulty in locating it before it switches to answer phone. My ringtone is a source of great amusement within the legal community, whenever a member of Chambers calls me it bursts into a version of ‘All Rise’ by Blue. Sooo cheesy I know, but it always makes me smile.
I press the ‘answer’ button and am immediately connected to Serena. Had it not been for my caller display I would have had no idea my best friend was on the line given all I can hear is some heavy breathing interspersed with the odd squeak.
“Serena?”
“Murder!” she pants.
“What’s up? Is everything ok?”
After a pause in which I can hear her take a large gulp of liquid which I hope isn’t alcoholic, she finally manages to compose herself.
“Better than ok,” she gushes. “I got a call this morning from Roger and he’s given me a murder. A murder! Can you believe it?”
Roger is our senior clerk, best known for his unapproachable manner and unpredictable temper. For him to dish out lucrative briefs is pretty much unheard of.
“What!” I splutter as I struggle to process this information. Serena has only been in Chambers for four years so whilst possible, It would be quite unusual for her to pull off this coup at such an early stage in her career. Whilst I’m obviously pleased that she’s been handed this opportunity on a plate, part of me is confused as to how on earth she’s managed it.
“You’ve heard about the Ryan Hobbs trial right? Well given third times’ a charm and all, he wants a noting junior in the event that they can appeal.”
Ah, this makes a bit more sense now. Ryan Hobbs is a premiership footballer accused of the murder of his wife Marina. She was found floating in the swimming pool of their Cheshire mansion by their maid back in January two years ago. Black and blue, it was obvious that she’d taken quite a beating before she died.
The pair had married five years ago following a whirlwind courtship after they had met in Hobbs’ local strip club. As I’m sure you can imagine, the media had a field day with the coverage of their wedding. Subsequently, the couple had always figured heavily in the press, becoming famous off as well as on the pitch for their willingness to attend the opening of an envelope.
Marina had modeled herself on the other footballers wives: permatanned skin, Rapunzel-esque hair extensions and a wardrobe that would make Barbie weep. Throughout their marriage they survived the frequent ‘kiss and tell’ stories that surfaced on a bi-annual basis; girls barely out of childhood stepping forward to sell the details of their illicit encounters with Hobbs. Every time the inevitable story was splashed across the tabloids, the public waited with baited breath to see if this would be the straw that broke the camel’s back, but it never was. As the details of his many affaires became progressively more sordid it appeared that Marina would let Hobbs get away with pretty much anything.
On the day before her body was discovered, a fourteen year old girl had claimed that she was pregnant with Hobbs’ child. The papers had a field day with this shock revelation; infidelity and underage relations. Add in that this fourteen year old was the daughter of a local bishop with the face of an angel and you had front page news. Hobbs’ team was playing a league match that Saturday and whilst before, reports of his womanising enhanced his performance on the pitch, that day he couldn’t do a thing right. He missed easy shots, made overly aggressive challenges and was eventually given a red card for punching the other sides goalkeeper after missing an easy shot. Sent off in disgrace and forced to watch the remainder of the match from the dressing room.
Rumour has it that he