6 Summary of Week 1

We need to give you an update, sir, as a number of things have come to light in the last day or so that cast this case in a slightly different light than we first thought.

OK. I’m listening. Who’s going to start?

I will. First thing is, sir, a couple of things have come up in the initial statements that made us uneasy. In his witness interview, which I know you’ve been briefed on already, Neale claims that he tried the doors at the back of the house and they were locked, but there are already a couple of problems with that account. Firstly, the neighbour cannot remember witnessing him do this. And in a statement, she specifically said she didn’t see him do this. Perhaps more importantly, though, the Scenes of Crimes officer’s report is now in and that says that the patio doors were found to be unlocked.

To make things worse, sir, on that point. As you know, the door at the front was smashed in by the attending police.

Yes, I thought it was.

To be honest, sir, I think this was a mistake made by the relatively junior constables that attended the scene in the first place. They didn’t physically check the doors themselves, just took Neale’s word for it.

OK. Not ideal, but these things happen.

In addition to the crime scene related detail, the neighbour also reported a bit of unease about Neale’s behaviour at the scene. She said she got the strange feeling that Neale was reluctant to go inside the house, almost having the sense that he didn’t really want to go around the back of the property.

Yes, sir. The officer who was waiting with him outside said he seemed very agitated.

Well, OK, Bullet but that kind of agitation might be expected if he thought his dad had come to harm.

I guess.

We’ve had other intel in too, sir, related to that address. Six months ago on a Saturday night, the neighbour at 26, Pippa, rang in to report a domestic disturbance and raised voices coming from the house. She was unsure if the disturbance might have raised to a physical fight.

The divisional car arrived at 22:42 hours. Present at the scene where both Neale Anderson and Leonard Anderson, but the scene was calm and both were cooperative. No offence was disclosed and Neale took the officer’s advice to leave.

OK. Anything else?

Yes, sir. We have checked Neale’s PNC and he has an affray from six years previously. He pleaded and was found guilty, receiving a six month sentence, suspended for 12 months, and a 600 pound fine. SIO HARRIS: Any details?

Looks like a scuffle in a pub, sir.

What’s your view on the witness interview?

I was happy with him, to be honest. I mean, it’s hard to tell, isn’t it, sir? After all, he was being interviewed the day after the loss of his father. He seemed a bit buttoned-down, but I mean, that could be shock or anything. DI BULLET: I wasn’t happy with him, sir. I downstreamed the interview and thought he wasn’t being straight with us.

What makes you say that, Bullet?

Gut feel, sir.

Gut feel? We need more than gut feel to go on.

Yes but, sir, there’s something else. We also know that he has plans for a business trip in the near future. It’s overseas to Germany.

OK. Right. I’m going to have to make a fairly assertive decision here. This, in summary, is what I think we’re dealing with, and I’m going to check with you to make sure I’ve understood correctly the following points. First, Neale informed us that the patio doors were locked, and yet SOCO officers established that they were unlocked and there was no break in continuity from the comment Neale made to the officer to SOCO officers discovering the opposite had occurred. Second, Neale has a prior conviction for affray. Third, there was a domestic disturbance reported by a neighbour involving Neale and Leonard.

And finally– and this is the one that makes me feel an arrest might be considered necessary here– Neale has plans for foreign travel coming up imminently. Anything else?

No, sir.

No, sir.

OK. Look, I’ve got to go to another meeting right now, but I’ll be back after it and I’ll let you know whether we should move to an arrest or not.