Dr of Dundee - 8. D of D Ch 8

The court case with the development company in Singapore, had failed with its case and they had to cover the costs of law fees for the community, which our community barrister submitted a modest invoice, just to cover her travel and accommodation costs.

Life in Dundee was busy as usual, especially during the school holidays, weekends and public holidays, and for the rest of the year, Reid came home another 4 times to spend time at home, before coming home for the Christmas and New Year holidays, which Toby was thrilled about.

Angela, Tracy and crew were kept busy with the Trimaran, with regular trips down to the Victoria River, and up river to Big Horse Creek. When the yacht was back in early October, it was great to have Caro and her two boys back on the property, and Toby and later when Reid was home, the four boys had a wonderful time on the jungle gardens.

Although the little courthouse has now been fully completed, it hasn’t been used yet, which I was pleased about, and my JP duties were mostly witnessing documents, and that was not very often. In regards to the matter with the Tactical Response Squad and their demands for signing a search warrant, a city magistrate had signed the required documents and the search was done, with minimal success.

It was late November, when I heard the sound of the of a siren as I followed a patient back to the reception area, and I stopped and listened again, and realised that it was the ambulance going to attend to an accident somewhere, just as the surgery telephone rang.

“Excuse me Dr Shaw; that was Gill Anders to let you know that she had a call out to a police situation, and that there is one person injured and will be brought into Dundee shortly,” Melanie said to me, and I looked to see how many people were waiting to be seen, and the room was empty.

“Ok, if there is anyone due in, can you please change their appointments, and I will get Amanda to get the major treatment room set up,” I replied, before heading down the passageway. It wasn’t long when I heard a lot of noise coming from the front of the surgery, as Amanda and I had completed the setting up of the treatment room.

I stepped into the passageway, to see two police officers holding onto a man who looked very angry, and there was a temporary bandage over his left shoulder. “Down here thanks officers,” I said to them and I waited as they carried and dragged the man down the passageway and into the treatment room, and lifted him up onto the treatment table.

One of the officers walked around the table with his arm held out and that is when I realised that he and the man were handcuffed together. The other officer walked to the door, closing it before leaning against the door.

I quickly scrubbed up while Amanda cut away the shirt of the patient, and unwrapped the wound, replacing the gauze with fresh gauze, and applied pressure. “Gun wound, with an exit wound, Dr Shaw,” Amanda informed me.

“What is the calibre of the ammunition please officer?” I asked gruffly to no officer in particular. “10mm from a Glock 40,” the officer leaning against the door replied. “Ok, thanks, as I was given gloves, a gown, and mask.

The surgery took nearly half an hour, to check the wound, clean out any dirt and anything that doesn’t belong there, before sewing up the inside and the outside of the front and back wounds, with the patient under a local anaesthesia.

When I was finished, I removed the gloves, mask and tossed them in the bin for contaminated items, and I turned to the officer who is still attached to the patient via the handcuffs. “It will be about fifteen minutes before he comes out of the anaesthesia fully, then he will need to be kept resting for a few weeks until the wound has completely healed,” I informed the officer.

“Good, we will be transporting him via ambulance to the Darwin Prison, he can recover in the prison hospital,” the officer said to me. “I have to ask, is he under arrest, and has been read his rights and seen a lawyer?” I asked.

“Not yet, he and this two mates, who are locked up in the police van, will face a bail hearing as soon as we get them to a magistrate, the officer at the door replied. “You do know that I am also the local JP, and we have a local who is a lawyer,” I commented.

“No, I was not aware of that, but we will need to speak to my boss before any decision is made,” the officer informed me, as he pulled out his mobile and walked out off the room to make a call, and I glanced at Amanda, and I smiled before I too exited the treatment room and headed to the reception area.

Can you call Gill Anders, to let her know that she would be needed to transport a patient to Darwin, and do you know if Jessica Trevenan is in town?” I asked, “She was at the tavern last night for dinner, would you like me to call her?” Melanie asked me.

“Yes, call her first, then Gill thanks, I may need you for court duties if these police officer’s give the go ahead for a bail hearing,” I answered, as I headed out the door, and next door, I unlocked the door, and turned on the airconditioner, and all the lights, before heading down to the office next door to the court room, which is where I now has all paperwork to do with my JP work.

Tim had installed the witness box and the clerk’s desk, in the court room, and in the other room opposite the office, an internal brick wall had been built, with a very narrow high window, and a very solid door. When I heard the front door open, I was expecting Melanie to walk in, but I was surprised to see that it was Jed, the court clerk from Darwin.

“Your Worship, Mr Trevenan sent me to assist, as soon as he learnt about the Search Warrant,” Jed said to me smiling. “Well this is definitely a pleasant surprise, welcome to my world of country life,” I replied smiling, and Jed gave a short laugh.

“Show me to your dungeon Your Worship,” Jed said and I smiled, as I led the way down the passageway, to the end, and stopping, I opened the door to my right, “A holding room, with no facilities,” I said as I let Jed have a look, while I turned to my left and opened the door to my Judiciary office as I call it and stepped inside.

“My Judiciary office, with a connecting door to the court room,” I said as I headed to that door an opened it, before stepping into the bigger room. “Compact but very functional, I like it,” Jed said to me, as he looked around the room. Heading back to the front of the office suite, Jed looked at my front office, where I deal with all of the minor JP work.

“You may have some emails, in regards to this case that you will be hearing today,” Jed said just as the door opened again, and Jessica walked in. “Hello Your Worship and Mr Wellington, good to see you both,” she said as she walked in with a large briefcase in hand.

“Hello Ms Trevenan, you will find your client in the treatment room next door, recovering from surgery, and attached to a police officer,” I commented. “I was told that there are three clients?” Jessica responded, “Yes, you will find the other two detained in the police vehicle.

There are two rooms in the centre of the passageway that you can use for interviewing them,” I said to Jessica, who walked back outside. “Right, lets get prepared for this hearing,” I commented to Jed, and we were almost at the back office when the front door opened again, and I looked back in that direction to see Melanie.

“I have a court clerk with me, can you just occupy the reception, and when Ms Trevenan the Barrister comes in with her clients, they can use the middle interview rooms,” I said to her and Melanie waved to say she understood.

In the Judiciary Office, I allowed Jed to guide me on what to expect, with the court case, and when the phone beeped, Jed picked it up. “Thankyou, show them into the court room,” Jed said after listening for a few moments and ended the call.

“Police and Ms Trevenan are ready, accused are in the holding room and interview rooms,” Jed informed me, as he held out a small parcel, which contained a brand new Judiciary Cloak, and I smiled as I put it on, and checked that my tie was straight, as Jed collected the court documents and headed for the door to the court room, giving it three hard thumps with his fist before opening the door.

“All Rise, His Worship Dr James Shaw JP presiding,” Jed announced in the court room, as I followed him in and stood at my bench and gave a small nod and sat down. “Your Worship, Jessica Trevenan SC acting for the accused,” Jessica said after standing, then sat again.

“Senior Sergeant Ben Hall for the prosecution your worship,” the police officer said after standing and he remained standing, “Go ahead thankyou officer,” I said, as I was presented the information in regards to the information of the case, and about the three accused currently waiting to appear before me.

After the police had presented their case, which included documentation, Jessica stood up and gave me some more detailed information about the accused and requested that they be allowed bail, until a court hearing date could be set.

This was my very first case of a bail hearing, well not including my time working in the Youth Justice Court, but this was about adults and is a completely different situation, so I was pondering what I should do, as all three men had been caught red handed with the cultivation of marijuana, as well having in the possession over 800 grams of ecstasy tablets.

I could not ignore the high class drugs that they had found on the grounds where the three men were, and with that I had made my decision. “Bail is refused, the accused are to be held in custody until their hearing at a date to be set at the Supreme Court, Darwin,” I announced, before dropping the gavel down.

After making some notes on the documents, I handed them down to Jed, who smiled and gave me a little nod, , before he called out, “All Rise,” and I stood up and headed back to my office. A knock from the other door made me look up as it opened, “Come in Jessica,” I said smiling as I hung up the gown.

“Congratulations on your first adult court case, although I was defending the three men, I agree with your decision, it was the right one to make,” Jessica said to me, and I let out a breath and sat down heavily in my chair.

“Well I am glad to hear it, as I was nervous as hell in that room, and at first I was not sure what to do, it was the ecstasy tablets that turned the decision to what I made, they are very bad, and ruin so many young peoples lives,” I replied.

There was a knock on the door and Jed entered, “the accused are on their way to Darwin Prison, one via ambulance the other to in a police van,” Jed announced to me, and I nodded my head in understanding and gave a small smile.

“Well I have to return to Darwin, to see when we can get the first hearing set for those three, so I will see you later,” Jessica said to me, before leaving the office and building. “What about you Jed, do you have to head back to the city too?” I asked, “No sir, I have booked a room at the park, and will be enjoying the surrounds of your home town for the rest of today and half of tomorrow,” Jed said smiling.

Life for me, went back to a normal routine, of three days of work in Dundee and 1 ½ days at Belyuen and Wagait Beach, as the wet season approached for another year, and on days when the roads were blocked by heavy rains, I would make the ten minute flight by small plane that I would charter to get from Dundee to those areas.

Thee boys were happy to be together again, which was good to see, since they have been separated for some of the year, and would be attending the same boarding school next year.

I was considering if I should stop having charters down the cost and just have local charters so the yacht remains close to home, and after some discussion with Caro and the crew, it was decided to do just that, which I was pleased about, as I would give me a place to take the boys on weekends, just sailing up and down the coast or over to Darwin.

The End.