Deception - 8. Dec Chapter 8

I had spoken to Sam and Lucas before leaving PNG, they informed me that they were both in Cairns, and that Lucas has all the tickets from the train and flights, since leaving Perth, however the Police had seized all of my luggage, and I was told they would be waiting for me at Cairns airport. Before touching down, I explained to the boys that some bad people were trying to get me into serious trouble, and that I needed to talk to the police to sort it out.

I said to them that the lawyer from Perth, and the barrister we met on the train would be at Cairns to collect them and look after them till I had it all sorted, they were both upset with this news, but I managed to convince them that all will work out fine. I made sure the boys left the plane with the stewardess, and I waited till I was almost the last off the plane, so as to make sure the boys didn’t see me if I was arrested, which is exactly what happened.

I was grabbed roughly, and forced onto the floor, where I hit my cheek bone on the hard floor, I saw from the corner of my eye, Lucas was standing nearby, with his phone recording the whole thing, once I was handcuffed, I was pulled up roughly, and slammed against the wall, my legs spread out, I was frisk searched before been led away, without my rights been read out to me.

I was taken to the Cairns police station, where I was placed in a cell, I asked for some water and a phone call, and I was denied both requests. The cell had a single foam mattress on the floor, there was a sink and a toilet in the corner, neither of them worked, so I lay down and tried to rest a bit, uncertain on what was going to happen.

I woke up suddenly, when I heard the sound of the door opening, it was morning, and I was feeling rather hungry and very thirsty, “Water, can I have some water please?” I asked hoarsely, as my mouth was very dry, “No time for that, you are due in court” the police officer said and I was marched out of the lockup, and down some passageways, till I appeared in a small courtroom, where I was placed in a secured area.

“Next case, Crown vs Gresley Langton” some-one announced loudly, “Your worship, Mr. Langton has been charged with Murder, and we request that he remains in custody” the prosecution lawyer announced, and the magistrate looked at my shabby appearance, “Do you have anything to say, where is your lawyer?” the magistrate asked me. I opened my mouth to speak but all that came out was a squeak, and I pointed to the jug of water down on the table below.

“Give him a drink someone” the magistrate said and I was handed half a glass of water which I drank all of it, and held it out for some more, but I was refused any more, so I placed the glass on the edge of the desk, and turned to the magistrate. “Sir, I was arrested at the airport yesterday, I have not eaten or drunk anything since arriving at Cairns, I was not read my rights or told that I have been charged with murder, and I have been refused a phone call or a lawyer” I said quickly, and the lawyer on the other side jumped up.

“Your worship, he is just saying all this rubbish to try and get bail and escape the charges, we have followed all proper procedures”, after a short pause the magistrate spoke, “very well, bail is denied, hearing is set for two weeks from today, hold him in minimum security till then, next case”, and suddenly I was being forced to stand up again.

“I want to speak to my lawyer” I asked loudly, but no one was listening to me, as I was being escorted back to my cell. As I entered my cell I was handed a roll of toilet paper, a foam cup of water, and a plastic plate with a microwaved over cooked pie, and the door slammed closed and locked behind me. I could not believe that this was happening to me, I drank the water, which tasted strange, and ate what I could of the pie that was edible, before laying down on the mattress to rest. Two hours later I was dragged down a corridor, still half asleep from sleeping, and shoved into a small seating area in a prison transport van. About 45 minutes later the van came to a stop and the doors opened, “Where am I?” I asked, “Shut up, don’t talk, just move” the guard demanded, and I did as I was told, and after been photographed, fingerprinted, stripped naked and given prison clothes, I was marched to a single cell.

It was all a terrible nightmare for me, and as my cell door was closed and locked, I climbed onto my bed and curled into a ball and silently cried till I eventually fell asleep. When the cell door opened, I did not move, I wanted to stay where I was, “Langton, get up and out, its lunch time” came an order, “I’m not hungry, I’ll stay here please” I said even thou I was very hungry, I was not in any mood to come face to face with other prisoners.

Sometime later, the cell door opened again, “It’s Langton isn’t it? Came a voice, and I looked up to see an elderly man aged about 70 at the door. I nodded my head in the affirmative, “Welcome to Maximum security block at Brisbane Maximum Prison, you must have done something nasty to end up here straight away” the man said, “I’m innocent, I have been framed for a murder, in Brisbane when I was at Broken Hill at the time” I said, and the man laughed, “Mate many of us say we are innocent, welcome to the club, the name is Prince by the way” he said, and he placed something on the floor and left me alone, closing the door again.

On the floor was a food tray, with a cup of tea, and a meal, that looked like a stew with some vegetables, I looked at it cautiously before smelling it, then used the fork to check that there was nothing in there like glass or nails, before I took a bite, and within a minute it was all gone. It wasn’t too bad food actually, and I lay back down to try and sleep some more.

For the next three days, I remained in my cell, and I had a meal tray delivered to me by this guy Prince three times a day, the guards didn’t speak to me and I didn’t speak to them, until on the fourth day a guard came to my cell mid-morning. “Langton, you have a visitor, come with me” he demanded, and I jumped up and quickly followed the guard.

I was taken to a visitor room, and I found Lucas there waiting for me, and he looked shocked and worried, “I’m terribly sorry, I had a hell of a time trying to find you” the police wouldn’t tell me, and I had to go to the courthouse to get the information. Why are you in a maximum prison?” he stated. “I don’t know, all I remember was been taken to the police station, photographed and finger printed then shoved into a cell, with no water or food.

I managed to get half a glass of water when in court, that was all, I wasn’t interviewed, I wasn’t formally charged, I wasn’t even allowed to call you” I said, and there was a moment of silence before Lucas spoke again, “so what happened in court? “Well that is when I found out I was charged with murder, I said to the magistrate that I hadn’t been read my rights, formally charged, given food or water or allowed to call you, the other lawyer said I was making up stories, and the magistrate gave me no bail, and I was to be detained in minimum security for two weeks till the next hearing” I replied.

The law system seems to have its own ways here in Brisbane, Lucas said crossly, when I learnt that you were here, I came straight away, I wanted to talk to you first before I did anything” Lucas said, “Just get me out of here please” I asked and the guard arrived announcing that time was up, and I had to return to my cell. Four hours later, a guard came to my cell again, “Langton, get up, the prison superintendent wants to talk to you” he said and I followed him till we arrived at an office, where I sat down in front of a large desk.

I then realized that someone else was in the room, and he stood up and walked up to me, and I smiled as I recognized the face of Samuel Yeoman, “Mr. Langton, I am releasing you into Mr. Yeoman’s care, until this mess is sorted out, I have no idea why you were sent here if the magistrate specifically said minimum security, Good luck with all of this” the superintendent said, and I stood up and followed Sam out of the room, and after I was processed out, I stepped outside of the prison on my own two feet.

After a short drive, we arrived at a motel, where Sam said he had booked me in, and I showered and changed into some fresh clothes, as Sam had managed to collect all of my belongings that had been seized. Sam was waiting in the lounge area of the motel room that has two bedrooms, the second I presumed was for Sam. “Lucas is looking after the boys, they are still in Cairns, Angela has woken up, but she is partially paralyzed, and slowly on the mend” he announced to me once I had sat down. “That is great news about Angela, I bet Tom is pleased too” I said with a big smile.

“Now, we need to sort out this mess, I have seen the magistrate that you saw in court a few days ago, I showed him the footage I took of your arrest, I also played the recording I took of our conversation earlier today, he has issued this document releasing you from prison, and dismissing all charges against you, on the grounds of police incorrect procedures, and denying me my rights to food, water and a lawyer, he has also issued a warrant for the arrest of the two officers, who failed to give you the required basic care and right to a lawyer”, Sam said to me, with a smile and I was so glad that I was out of prison.

Suddenly there was a loud bang on the door, “Open up, this is the police” came a loud voice, “What do you want” Sam replied, “We believe you have an escaped fugitive in the room” came the police reply, and Sam was already on the phone, “Just a moment please” Sam said and he walked away from the door, “Hello, this is Sam Yeoman, I have two police officers at my motel door demanding entry for false reasons, my client has been freed from prison by order of a magistrate” Sam said to whoever he had called.

“Open up, or we will bust the door down” came a demand from outside the door, “You have no right to be here, I am speaking to Superintendent David Kerson as we speak, I have a court order releasing my client from prison, so go away” Sam said loudly. Suddenly there was more banging on the door, and Sam gave me his phone to hold, as he leaned against the door to stop them from entering.

I heard a voice from somewhere, and realized it was from the phone, “Hello, this is Gres Langton speaking” I said, “Mr. Langton, I have police on their way to your location right now, and I have spoken to the Magistrate and asked for an urgent hearing, so just hang tight” the man said on the phone, as the banging on the door got louder, and it continued for at least another five minutes before it stopped.

After some silence, there was a knock on the door, “It’s safe to open the door now, the two officers have been arrested” came a voice from outside, and Sam cautiously opened the door, and saw four police cars in the carpark, and two men dressed in casuals that I had not seen before were handcuffed and in the back of one of the cars. Sam spoke to an officer for a few minutes before stepping inside and closing the door, “Come on Gres, we have an appointment to see the magistrate right away, to try and sort it all out, once and for all.

Half an hour later, we were in the chambers of the magistrate, along with three other men, who Sam appeared to know who they were, “Ok, first off, let me hear from the Prosecutions office, I want to know what charges are been brought against Mr. Langton, and why” the magistrate said, and the prosecution lawyer stood up.

“Sir, Mr. Langton is charged with the willful murder of his great uncle on the Tuesday two weeks ago, sometime between 7.30 and 8pm, he then fled the country to Papua New Guinea for two weeks. We have four witnesses who state that they saw Mr. Langton in Brisbane, and that he had a big argument with his great uncle over a trust fund, and that the following day he killed his great uncle. We have a travel Itinerary that clearly states that Mr. Langton arrived in Brisbane two days before the murder, after a flight from Perth. We also have two sets of his fingerprints at his uncle’s house along with some hair fibers that match with Mr. Langton, we feel this is sufficient proof to have him arrested and charged with murder”.

Once the lawyer sat down the magistrate looked towards Sam, “Now Mr. Yeoman, do you have anything to assist your client on this information” he said and Sam stood and nodded his head, “Yes sir, we have plenty of evidence and witnesses to prove that my client was no-where near Brisbane at the time of the murder, firstly I would like to present documents from my clients 4 relatives, who have tried to force my client to sign away his right to the family trust, shortly after he had two of his car tyres slashed by an unknown person or persons, furthermore I have a police report from Perth, and an additional email, on the break in of my client’s property a week before he went on holidays, were his travel itinerary, a cup and a comb went missing, and finally I have tickets for the Indian Pacific Train from Perth to Sydney, and an airline ticket from Sydney to Cairns, placing my client no-where near Brisbane.