“Did it involve any harm or neglect to either the child or yourself, Maddie?”
“No. And in any case, it was triggered by my premature baby being in intensive care for five weeks. It’s relatively common after childbirth and there’s absolutely no possibility of it recurring. I’m not even Theo’s primary carer, for Christ’s sake—” I stop, conscious of the importance of not getting worked up. “Sorry. I mean ‘for goodness’ sake.’ I just don’t see how it can possibly be relevant to what’s happening now.”
“I don’t suppose it is. But I still have to write it all down, do you see? And are you still taking any medication for that condition?”
“No,” I say firmly. “I was prescribed antidepressants but I came off them over a year ago. I’m absolutely fine.”
“Would you have any objection to me contacting your GP for a copy of your medical notes? Just to confirm what you’ve told me? I can ask the court to make a formal order for them, but really, it’s so much easier if we’re all working together, isn’t it?”
“Yes, of course,” I say. Just for a moment, I feel dizzy. How did an ordinary professional couple come to have so many court cases going on simultaneously? Fighting for Theo, fighting for David, suing the hospitals…It feels like each one is a separate series of plates spinning on sticks, a forest of toppling, precarious crockery that has to be kept from smashing to the ground.
You can do this, I tell myself. After all, it’s no more complex than a major TV production, and I do a dozen of those every year.
Lyn is saying, “And is there anything you’d like to tell me, Maddie, about how you got into this situation, or how it might be resolved?”
I look down at my notes, all the pertinent facts I’d intended to work into the conversation. Suddenly they all seem irrelevant, a catalog of failed attempts at being reasonable in a situation where reason is redundant. “Yes,” I say shortly. “A man turned up on our doorstep one day with the intention of taking our son. How would you react to that? We didn’t want to end up here, but it was probably inevitable. And there’s only one way to resolve it. We need to beat him. He needs a court to tell him he’s lost and that he can’t have Theo, not ever. Otherwise, he’ll never stop trying.”
56
Case no. 12675/PU78B65, Exhibit 29: statement by Reverend Sheila Lewis, The Vicarage, Willesden Green, NW10 1AQ.
My name is Reverend Sheila Lewis and I am the vicar of All Souls’ Church, Willesden Green. I have been asked by Miles Lambert to write a brief note describing an incident that took place at Theo Riley’s baptism service.
From the start, Theo seemed agitated and was disruptive, hurling books at a side chapel and cheering when he succeeded in hitting the cross. We are accustomed these days to children being noisy during services and to some extent we tolerate it, but this went far beyond what I would have considered normal. I tried pausing in my liturgy and giving a meaningful glance in Theo’s direction, but the parents—that is, Peter Riley and Maddie Wilson—were slow to take the hint. When they did intervene, it became clear why this was: They had almost no control over Theo whatsoever. Theo then burrowed under the pews, a situation from which Mr. Riley seemed powerless to extricate him. When a member of the congregation finally apprehended the child, Mr. Riley was visibly angry and, under the guise of sitting Theo on “the naughty step,” pushed him down forcibly by the thighs. I am told by Mr. Lambert that this produced bruising on Theo’s legs, which is certainly consistent with what I saw. I understand Mr. Lambert has obtained phone footage of this incident from another member of the congregation.
Theo is a charming little boy who does not seem in the least malevolent or ill tempered, merely boisterous. I suspect he would simply benefit from a more consistent parenting style. This is an opinion I have formed over several visits by him to my church, as Mr. Riley and Ms. Wilson have become regular members of my congregation.
I have also been made aware by Mr. Lambert why this may be. The vicar here at All Souls’ is able to make available to long-standing churchgoers a small number of places at the local Church of England primary school,