Dr of Dundee - 7. D of D Ch 7

“Well, we better get you settled into your temporary office for the whole day,” the AG said to me smiling, “Uh? Oh yeah, I just still can’t believe that I have been appointed a temporary Magistrate to hear cases in the Youth Justice Court, replacing the Magistrate that had given me so much grief just over one day earlier, who had fallen ill suddenly.

“You’re Worship. Welcome to the Youth Justice Court,” a young man said to me as we entered an office area which is behind the court rooms. “Thankyou and you are?” I responded, realising that the AG had not followed me into the Magistrates office area and had disappeared somewhere.

“Oh sorry, my name is Jed Wellington, I am your Court Clerk, just call me if you have any questions,” the young man said in reply. “Well with that offer made, I must inform you that this will be my first time, sitting in a court room.

I am only newly appointed as a JP, although I have completed an Associate Degree in Law studies, so I have a fairly good idea what to expect,” I replied.

“Well sir…” Jed started and he spent the next ten minutes briefing me on how court hearings are run, and what to expect from the lawyers. “Do they know that I will be sitting today?” I asked my clerk, and he shook his head, “I thought we would surprise them on that,” Jed said with a huge smile and that made me chuckle.

Jed looked at his watch, “Time to get started, if you are ready Your Worship,” Jed said to me, as he pointed to the coat stand, where a legal gown was hanging, and reluctantly I lifted it off the stand and put it on over my suit jacket, and Jed smiled, as he opened the door, and I followed him down a different passageway.

There was a small door knocker located near a large door, and Jed banged it three times before opening the door and entering, “All Rise,” he called out, as he held the door open for me.

“Presiding today, His Worship, Dr James Shaw JP,” he added, as I stepped up to the bench and stood in front of the big chair, and I nodded my head before sitting, and everyone in the courtroom also seated. “First case, Crown Vs…” Jed began, and soon he handed the documents up to me, and I scanned all the important information to get an idea of the case before me.

Two hours and three cases later, Jed pointed at his watch when he caught my attention and I smiled and nodded. “We will adjourn for lunch,” I announced, before standing and giving a little nod. I turned and Jed already had the door open for me and followed me out.

“What would you like to eat for lunch?” Jed asked me as soon as we entered my temporary office, “A chicken salad and a fruit juice please,” I responded, as I took off the gown and let it hang on the stand, and I removed my coat and hung it on the back of my chair before sitting down.

Jed had placed a copy of the court list on the desk for what to expect for the afternoon, and I was looking at the list when there was a knock on the door and it opened. I stood up immediately as soon as I saw the Chief Magistrate at the doorway.

“Sir, how may I assist you,” I said nervously, “Sit young man, I just wanted to let you know, that you are doing a wonderful job, you were concentrating so much that you didn’t even notice that I had popped in for a few moments,” he said to me as I sat back down.

“I am sorry sir, I had not noticed, and I am pleased that I am doing an ok job,” I responded, “More than doing ok, the AG was already in the courtroom when I arrived, and he said that you were doing surprisingly well, especially when not taking any nonsense from the lawyers,” the Chief Magistrate said to me.

“Thankyou sir, that is good to know,” I replied, I will let you enjoy your lunch break. Just one other thing, I would strongly suggest that you complete your law degree, as you have a lot of talent in the field of Law,” the CM said to me before departing.

Suddenly I remembered that I had not let Melanie know that I would not be back in Dundee until tonight, so I quickly made the call. “Hi, I am terribly sorry, but I have been delayed, and I will be in the city until after 4 pm, I will be available to do a full day of surgery tomorrow, so just contact all of the patients and reschedule until tomorrow,” I said to Melanie, and I thanked her for all the extra work I had given her.

I was thankful of the end of the day, and that I could now head home to Dundee, as I listened to the news and music on the ABC radio channel, and I headed straight to Tim’s place to collect Toby. “Tim, Uncle James is back,” I heard Toby call out as I approached the house, and it wasn’t long before Tim appeared to meet up with me.

“I had a call from Adelaide, because he could not get hold of you for the past few days,” Tim said to me, “Oh, Bugga! I have forgotten to arrange transport for Reid for the holidays, didn’t I?” I commented, and Tim smiled and nodded his head yes.

“It is ok, I have organised it all for you. He will be home tomorrow evening, I am going to Darwin, so I can collect him from the airport,” Tim said to me. “I am sorry for forgetting, the Attorney General and Chief Magistrate had me deputised to fill in as JP in the Youth Justice Court, which was quite an interesting experience,” I explained.

Reid was very happy to be home, and spent most of dinner time the following evening, informing Toby and me all about his first term at his new school in Adelaide, and afterwards he and Toby went for a long walk around the garden, while I did some work in my study.

I was awoken by the sound of my mobile ringing the following morning, as I glanced at my bedside clock, which read 3.45 am, and towards the window, to see that it was still dark outside.

The caller number was blocked, and I considered ignoring the call, but decided that it may be a medical emergency, so I answered it.

“Dr Shaw speaking,” I croaked, “You Worship, this is Senior Sergeant Pete Jenkins of the NT Tactical Response Squad, we are requiring an emergency search warrant, for a property area, in regards to illegal drugs, we have attempted to speak to the POI - Person of Interest, but he has refused to allow that to happen,” the caller said to me.

“Sergeant Jenkins is it, why did you not approach a member of the Judiciary in Darwin?” I asked, as I climbed out of bed and switched on my light, before grabbing the pen and pad in the drawer, and I made a few notes.

“Well sir, we arrived in Dundee Beach late yesterday afternoon and after he refused to cooperate, we have spent most of the evening and night casing his property, and gathering additional information, and we are now ready to do a search his property,” the caller responded.

“I see, and because I am the closest you chose to wake me at the ungodly hour of 3.45 am to get a Search Warrant. What is the address of this POI?” I asked. “The address is 85 Lavington Road Dundee Downs, they have a small landing and a speed boat located on the river at the back of the property, as well as a large orchard and vineyard,” the caller replied.

I am sorry, but I will not sign a search warrant, you will need to go back to the city to obtain one, good morning,” I said before ending the call, just as the caller was about to say something, and I put my phone on silent, turned off the light, and returned to bed.

With the boys sleeping in since it was now school holidays, and I had to go to work, I quietly headed out the door, and drove into town. When I arrived at the car park of the business centre, I groaned, when I saw two heavy duty vehicles, with TRS marked on the sides.

As I parked and exited my car in front of my JP office, the doors of the two vehicles opened, and four men exited the vehicles. I walked over to the surgery and pushed open the door, and leaned in, “Melanie, I will be next door for about half an hour,” I said to my receptionist, before letting the door close, and I walked over to the JP office, unlocked it and walked in.

As I walked in, I sent a quick text message on my mobile, keeping it out of sight of the TRS while I was doing it. “Need you here now @ JP Office, Dr JS.” After sending the message, I kept the mobile in my hand as I entered the front office and sat down behind my new desk.

“Now gentlemen, I am presuming that you are here for the same matter that you woke me up about at 3.45 am?” I asked, as I heard the front door open and close, before Melanie appeared. I took out a note pad and pen and placed them on the corner of the desk, closest to the chair placed in the front corner away from the door.

Melanie picked up the pad and pen and sat down. “This is my receptionist both here and next door, and she will be recording everything said here today. Now I ask again, is this the same matter that you telephoned me about earlier this morning?” I said to the two men who had followed me inside.

“It is Your Worship, the POI is still on his property, as we have a watch from all angles, and we would very much like your assistance in having a search warrant issued, so that we can put this person away for good,” the more senior of the two men said to me.

“I see, and what proof do you have that this person of interest is dealing with illegal drugs?” I asked, “Sir we have been watching this man for a few weeks now, and although we have not spotted any actual drugs on him, we believe that a fishing boat from Asia is coming south at night, and meeting up with the POI in his speed boat some distance out from the coast and returning to his property before daylight,” the man said to me.

“Once again I ask, what proof do you have, I need to see real evidence before I am going to sign any search warrant,” I stated, “Sir, all of our surveillance evidence is currently in the city, but we can get it down here within an hour,” the TRS officer said to me.

“Well until I see actual proof, I will not be signing anything, and I suggest that you try someone else instead of wasting my very valuable time, that is all thankyou gentlemen,” I said before standing to signal the end of the meeting.

After a brief pause, the two men exited the room and the building, and stormed off out the building. “They are not very happy people sir?” Melanie said to me as we watched them leave, and I chuckled. “They think that because I am just a JP, they can easily convince me too sign the warrant. Thanks to my little stint of practical experience in Darwin, I am a little wiser than they think,” I commented.

A few hours later, as I was enjoying a quiet lunch at the tavern, my mobile rang, and looking at the screen, I was a little surprised at who the call is. “Mr Trevenan, how may I assist you this afternoon,” I said when I answered the call.

“I have just received a call from the Commander of the Tactical Response Squad, who shouted into my ear for a good ten minutes about a junior appointee of mine, who refused to sign a search warrant, and was hindering a police investigation,” the Attorney General said to me, and I groaned in annoyance.

“Thankyou for spoiling my lunch break sir, I really didn’t need all of this bullshit. Did he happen to mention to you that his officers telephoned me at 3.45 am this morning to arrange an urgent meeting to sign this said search warrant?

Plus when I arrived at my place of work at 8.20 am, the same men were waiting for me, and after listening to the situation, they still failed to produce any evidence to convince me to sign the warrant?” I asked. “I see, well that would explain your bad mood, and I am on your side James.

“They had no right to try these tactics on you to get what they want. I am presuming that your little stint on the bench in Darwin helped you with dealing with them properly?” the AG said to me and I chuckled, “You presume correctly sir,” I replied.

“Well, leave the matter to me, I will give the Commander my own serve of authority, by going over his head, and see how he likes that, sorry about your lunch. Have a good afternoon, bye,” the AG said before ending the call.

I didn’t hear another peep out of the TRS, and after a full day of surgery, I spent the rest of the weekend with my nephews, firstly spending some time at the beach, then just relaxing at home.

For the next two weeks I spent as much time as possible with the boys, and on the weekends, we went to the city to enjoy just relaxing at an expensive hotel, going to the cinema, and even going to the sunset markets at Mindal Beach, and swimming in the hotel pool.

On the last weekend, before Reid had to fly back to Adelaide, we had all of Reid’s luggage with us, as we would be dropping him off at the airport after lunch on Sunday, and young Toby was quite upset about Reid leaving him alone once again.

This worried me a bit, as in the Northern Territory it is the Dry Season, so he still had one more week of school holidays, before the next school term begins.