Thanks Cottonweaver for you kind comments! And I`ll take your good advice when writing a message so I don`t have to yell in frustration when a message disappears into cyberspace!
The reason that I go to the courts when I have time is to study the people..their behaviour..their relationships. I try to work out who they are, what they`re thinking, where they`re coming from. Do they believe their own lies? Do they feel? What is their own background?
Just think - BB and JG stood to make SO much money out of Ellie - they were suing left right and centre - damage to reputation, wrongful arrest, wrongful imprisonment, him unable to work because of what was "done to him", deprivation of years of family life etc etc. And they may not care about Ellie - but they sure as heck must have cared about all that lovely dosh that was coming their way in compensation. And yet, still...still with all that money at stake..he still couldn`t control himself. I`m sure he curses himself - not because of what he did to his own daughter, but because he`s lost his lottery win.
Yes, she was smoking right outside the door in court where the defendants, jurors etc go in. Quite relaxed. Quite fine.
On a different note, on Monday PM one of the jurors on the case was ill so there was no court. I ended up going to another (very different) case that I am also interested in. Perversely it is at the opposite end of the spectrum. It is how a mother ended up committing a crime for her adult son. Her son is in prison serving a long sentence for a drugs gang, drive by shooting. He (they) are from a very wealthy family and he attended the best private schools but his ambition from when he was a teenager was to be a "gangsta". His mother and girlfriend and a (corrupt) police officer are on trial for illegally accessing police files with details of protected witnesses who gave evidence against her son. Really shocking breach of security which should never have happened.
The mother, Diana Lank, (girlfriend Lydia Lauro, police officer Hayden Cheremeh) in this case simply cannot accept what her son is and what he did.
A very different case but very interesting and the same self denial of truth!
Regards
Michelle
Thanks Michelle, I fell asleep so I didn't see your reply.
I think I have heard of the "gangsta" boy case in the press- it rings a bell.
You know that if you find a UK case, that you feel will be reported and capture interest, you can, yourself, start a new thread on it.
Anyway, I think we have been very lucky on this thread to have you, Tortoise and Flutterby, all going down to court to report on this. It will be great when you can all share "notes" together and maybe those others from the public gallery who might join WS after verdict is given. ( Wouldn't that be great.)
The £ angle is an interesting one as that has never been brought up before on this thread. I did try and look , last month, how much "compo" he would get for wrongful conviction but I noticed the rules had changed sometime around 2013 so they must have felt thwarted. I've also joked about that typical "compo face" he has put on in the earlier press interviews he gave in 2012!.
Right from the start of thread 1 I found it fascinating how he justified not working in his interviews, in relation to the earlier case, the fights. The dates didn't match , if you like. He never gave up a job to look after Ellie, he never went to work when Ellie was removed yet he used the kids and then the "fights" to justify staying home. ( I also didn't think that an unskilled job would be that hard to find somewhere like Sutton area, admittedly low paid. ) I think OLive(?) poster is from here, so she would know better.
From reports we know he has worked - removals man, car salesman, office work- I presume he was sacked TBH , or was forced into these brief temp roles even at risk of losing his benefits.
Also have always wondered if JG paid him pocket £, even if they weren't dating, to look after E & I, at different points, to top up his benefits? IDK, it's hard to work out their co-hab and financials as they did so much lying.
Smoking right outside the front- as brazen as she first appeared- I presume you saw the early photos of her filming the press LOL.