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“Once the jury has been sworn in, the judge, the Honorable Mrs Justice Lane, will address them on their responsibilities, and when she has finished she will invitestatement on your behalf When I’ve done so, I will call my witnesses I shall start with you First impressions are very important Juries often make up theirbats they’ll remember”

When Trelford held open the door of court fourteen, the first person Einia with her leading counsel, Sir Edward Makepeace, huddled in a corner, deep in conversation

Trelford guided Emma to the other side of the court, where they took their places on the front bench, with Giles and Seb in the second row, directly behind them

“Why isn’t her husband with her?” asked Virginia

“I have no idea,” said Sir Edward, “but I can assure you, it will have no bearing on the case”

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” said Virginia as the clock behind them quietly struck ten

A door to the left of the royal crest opened and a tall, elegant wo, ready to rule over her domain Everyone in the well of the court ie returned their bow before taking her place in the high-backed chair in front of a desk covered in copious legal documents and leather-bound volumes on the laws of defamation Once everyone had settled, Dame Elizabeth Lane turned her attention to the jury

“Allowit clear from the outset that you are the most important people in this courtroom You are the proof of our democracy and the sole arbiters of justice, because it is you, and you alone, ill decide the outcome of this case But let me offer you a word of advice You cannot have failed to notice that there is considerable press interest in this case, so please avoid the media’s accounts of it Only your opinion matters They may have millions of readers, viewers, and listeners, but they don’t have a single vote in this courtroom The same applies to your family and friends, who may not only have opinions on the case but be all too happy to express thee continued, her eyes never leaving the jury, “they will not have heard the evidence and therefore cannot offer an informed and unbiased opinion

“Now, before I explain what is about to happen, I will relish Dictionary definition of the word libel: A false, undeserved, discredit on a person or country In this case, you will have to decide whether or not Lady Virginia Fenwick has suffered such a defa an opening statement on behalf of his client, Mrs Clifton, and as the trial progresses I will keep you fully briefed Should a s and explain its relevance to you”

Dame Elizabeth turned her attention to counsel’s bench “Mr Trelford, youstatement”

“I aain giving her a slight bow Like the judge, he turned to face the jury before he began his sube black file in front of hiave the sevenan even wared a few minutes before

“Mean “My name is Donald Trelford, and I represent the defendant, Mrs Emma Clifton, while my learned friend Sir Edward Makepeace represents the plaintiff, Lady Virginia Fenwick” He gave a cursory nod in their direction “This,” he continued, “is a case of both slander and libel The slander arises because the words in contention were delivered during a heated exchange, when the defendant was taking questions at the annual generalCompany, of which she is chairman, and the libel arises because those words were later recorded in the

“Lady Virginia, a shareholder of the co and when questions arose she asked Mrs Clifton: ‘Is it true that one of your directors sold his vast shareholding over the weekend, in an atte the company down?’ Shortly afterward, she followed this with another question: ‘If one of your directors was involved in such an action, shouldn’t he resign fro to Major Fisher, I asked hin last Friday when he came to visit inia’ Lady Virginia then asked, ‘What are you insinuating?’ And Mrs Clifton responded, ‘That on two separate occasions when Major Fisher represented you on the board, you allowed him to sell all your shares over a weekend, and then, after you’dthe three-week trading period When the share price recovered and reached a new high, you carried out the same exercise a second time, mak

ing an even larger profit If it was your intention to bring the coinia, then … you have failed, and failed lamentably, because you were defeated by decent ordinary people ant this company to be a success’

“Now, members of the jury, it is Mrs Clifton’s response that is the subject of this action, and it is up to you to decide if Lady Virginia was libeled or if my client’s words were, as I contend, no more than fair co directly at the jury, “if one of you were to say to Jack the Ripper, ‘You’re a murderer,’ that unquestionably would be fair comment, but if Jack the Ripper were to say to any one of you sitting on the jury, ‘You’re a ation was then printed in a newspaper, that would undoubtedly be both libel and slander This case, however, requires a finer judgement