JUSTICE IS BEST SERVED DEAD

John Pointer obtains his science degree at Leicester University in 1984, he falls head over heels in love with fellow student Lucy; a life together is assumed, by both, will follow university.  In a moment of madness Lucy is seduced by Robert Stevens, a commercially sponsored mature student with lots of cash to splash.  Pregnant, and unwilling to be a single parent she marries Robert. John is heartbroken, never to recover.

September 2008, John is Kent Constabulary’s senior crime scene forensic analyst, aged 45, he’s an attractive, unattached, shy, but confident expert, when he attends the home of Constable Simon Yantis, aged 32, athletic, handsome, charming, a competent but arrogant officer of 11 years police service.  John is at the scene to supervise evidence-gathering following the death of pretty, shy, demure, Sally Stevens, aged 21. Yantis recounts a doubtful story of accidental death while defending himself from Sally’s attack on him with a kitchen knife; he is charged with Sally’s murder.

John does not know that Sally is the daughter of his lost-love Lucy; a discovery not made until the trial.

Yantis pleads not guilty, thereby requiring John to present his evidence. What should have been for John a romp through well established forensic procedures, becomes a nightmare; he is attacked by the rapier swift, razor-sharp mind of Paul Godden QC from the moment he enters the witness box, before beginning his evidence, and it goes downhill thereafter.

Mistakes by the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) produce further problems, which, combined with Yantis’ brilliant acting out of a devastated, grieving, and innocent victim of the prosecution’s incompetence, lead to his acquittal.

John and Lucy, having recognized each other at the beginning of the trial, but unable to acknowledge their relationship for fear of affecting the trial procedure are devastated, but unable to seek comfort together.

After a battle with his Chief Constable, Yantis is reinstated amid fury from colleagues and media, not to mention Lucy Stevens.  She begins a battle to reverse what she perceives as a grave injustice.

A year on and Lucy has uncovered fresh evidence she believes will merit Yantis being re-tried for Sally’s murder, so in a moment of triumphalism she emails Yantis to tell him his days of freedom are numbered.

Hours later she is dead, killed by a speeding driver who fails to stop after the event.  A fresh investigation is opened, and John Pointer called to the scene to supervise collection of forensic evidence.  He fails to appear for two days despite numerous requests, so his good friend Inspector Sean Daley visits John’s home.  What he discovers tears his emotions to shreds and plunges him into a crisis of conscience, justice versus rules of evidence.

He is torn by loyalty to justice with its precise rules for collection of evidence and disclosure to the defence, which can and often does crush truth, exclude critical evidence and put psychopaths back on the streets, balanced against real justice untainted by defence manipulation, so he visits his good friend, priest and confessor, Father Peter, for advice. He recognises the path he must follow. Yantis is re-tried and convicted.

You must read this heart-wrenching novel to understand the emotion, anger and frustration that drives the actions of its characters