Death Sentence (The DI Nick Dixon Crime Series Book 6) by Damien Boyd

Author:Damien Boyd [Boyd, Damien]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
ISBN: 9781503939691
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Published: 2016-10-03T22:00:00+00:00

The taxi dropped them outside the offices of the Government Legal Department in Kemble Street just after 4 p.m., and Virat Sharma was waiting for them in reception, Dixon having rung ahead. More concrete and glass, this time arranged like a honeycomb.

‘Don’t say it,’ said Louise, watching Dixon looking up at the building and frowning. ‘You’re starting to sound like Prince Charles.’

Dixon smiled. At least there was someone else who shared his disdain for modern architecture.

‘Inspector Dixon?’

‘Yes.’

‘Virat Sharma.’ He was tall and thin, dressed in a grey suit with trousers too short in the leg, although he was young enough that he may have just grown out of them.

‘This is Detective Constable Louise Willmott.’

They shook hands.

‘We’re on the fifth floor. The lift’s this way,’ said Sharma, gesturing to the back of the reception area. ‘I’ve got the copies ready, but it’s two boxes I’m afraid.’ He pressed the button and the doors opened.

‘That’s fine,’ said Dixon, stepping into the lift. ‘We’ll take a cab.’

‘Would you like a cup of tea?’

‘Yes, please.’

‘Follow me.’

The lift doors opened, and they followed Sharma through large double doors marked ‘Litigation Department’ and into a glass panelled meeting room.

‘These are the boxes,’ said Sharma. ‘I’ll just get my secretary to organise the tea.’

He returned a minute or so later to find Dixon flicking through the witness statements.

‘Right, well, what do you want to know?’ asked Sharma, sitting down at the table.

‘Tell me about the case,’ said Dixon. ‘Are they going to win?’

‘No.’

‘You sound sure.’

‘Section 10 of the Crown Proceedings Act 1947. A member of the armed forces can’t sue the Crown for personal injury. It was repealed in 1987, but still applies to injuries suffered before 1987, which covers the Falklands of course.’

‘Why have they commenced court proceedings then?’

‘They’re relying on Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights. In the determination of his civil rights, everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing. I’m paraphrasing, but that’s the gist of it. They say the Crown Proceedings Act denies them a fair and public hearing.’

‘So they’re taking it all the way to the European Court?’

‘They’re threatening to. No one’s ever done it before, so it’ll be a test case. They also have to show they’ve got a winnable case, but the exposure was short-lived and our expert says it wouldn’t have caused mesothelioma on its own. The exposure needs to be more prolonged. That’s our defence anyway.’

‘The European Court will take years though, surely.’

‘It will, by which time they’ll all have died, sadly.’

‘Can’t you settle it?’

‘I had a go when I first took the case over. I offered them the chance to discontinue the proceedings, with each side paying their own costs, but that wasn’t good enough.’

‘Why would they consider that?’ asked Louise.

‘Because when they lose they’ll have to pay all our costs as well as their own. They’ve backed themselves into a corner and commenced proceedings in a case they can’t win, and I was offering them a way out before the costs ramped up.

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