The penultimate closing speech was given by Mr Shaun Dryden on behalf of John Sanderson. He opened by explaining that he was addressing them eighth of all because his client was the eighth defendant, and he’d try not to cover ground his learned friends had already covered and he apologised in advance if he did […]
The first closing speech heard today, Tuesday 25 April, was from Ms Rebecca Brown for Darren Lawton. She checked that everyone could hear and started by saying that she really liked her job. I really like my job and I know that that makes me very lucky. One of the things I like most about […]
The half way point in the defendant’s closing speeches was occupied by Mr Christopher Knox for Ryan Fuller. [Mr Knox who addressed the jury after lunch on Monday 24 April, had a tendency towards the middle and end of his speech to move around somewhat, and raise his arms, which meant unfortunately I really struggled […]
After two closing speeches this morning, the court had a short break, before returning at midday for Mr Josh Normanton’s closing speech for Karen McGhee. He started by telling the jury that in early 2019 Ms McGhee was a recently trained nurse and that he wanted to open his speech by having a think about […]
The third closing speech we heard was from Mr Jonathan Walker on behalf of Sarah Banner. Mr Walker started by telling the jury that it doesn’t often happen, but that he’d got the distinct heebie jeebies and flashbacks when Ms Richardson addressed the court on Friday, he then expanded on her reference to George Orwell’s […]
The first counsel to address the jury this morning (24 April) was Mr Stephen Constantine for Matthew Banner. He didn’t have a microphone for his initial opening comments so I missed them, but when those in the dock alerted the court to the fact they were struggling to hear that was addressed. So ladies and […]
The last address the jury heard on Friday (21 April) was from Mr Andrew Rutter for Peter Bennett. He referenced Ms Richardson’s opening to her closing speech where she said that the jury may be sick of hearing her voice. I’m at the other end of that particular scale, you’ve heard very little from me, […]
Ms Anne Richardson started her closing by telling the ladies and gentlemen of the jury that they would be very relieved to know that this would probably be the last time they’d hear her voice in this trial “you’ve heard a great deal of my voice in the last few weeks”. She told the jury […]
The final defendant, who faces one charge, Count 27, was called to give her evidence by her counsel, Mr Rooney. In response to questions she told the court that she was 27, had never been charged with any criminal offence before this one, had never been cautioned by the police and was a person of […]
19 April 2023 The penultimate defendant, John Sanderson, was called to give evidence after the morning break. He gave an affirmation and his counsel, Mr Dryden, started by asking him to face the jury when giving his evidence. MrD: You are charged with two counts of ill-treatment involving the patient or service user, Patient 4. […]