[JOCELYN]
By 1984 the family had moved to Manchester. Vernon Parrie had been made redundant from Cowley, but managed to secure another job at a truck assembly plant up north. It came at a bad time for Gavin, who as we’ve heard, was already finding schoolwork difficult. The transition to a new school proved a challenge too far, and Gavin left the education system that summer with no formal qualifications.
He spent the next two years moving from job to job – some office cleaning, some mini-cabbing, the odd stint labouring alongside his brother Bobby, who was an apprentice plasterer by then. Remember that – it’s going to be important later.
It was around this time that Gavin first met the woman who would become his wife. Sandra Powell was 16 and photos of her in the family album show a typical fun-loving 80s teenager. Big shoulder pads, a big smile and big hair. Really big hair.
[SANDRA]
‘I know, I know, but we all had perms like that back then. My mum used to do mine in the back kitchen.’
[SOUND OF PAGE TURNING]
‘I can’t even remember the last time I looked at these. And I definitely can’t believe I wore all this stuff – look at those legwarmers – what were we even thinking?’
[JOCELYN]
That’s Sandra. As you can tell from her voice, there’s still some of that bright, sassy teenager left in her, though the intervening years have taken a heavy toll. She lives in Scotland now, and has reverted to using her maiden name (we’ll hear why in a later episode), but through it all, she’s remained in contact with Gavin and has always been a firm believer in his innocence. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Back to 1986.
[SANDRA]
[SOUND OF PAGE TURNING]
‘Ah, I love that one – that’s me and Gav at Blackpool a couple of weeks after we first started going out.’
[JOCELYN]
It’s a sweet picture, and not just because they’re both clutching candyfloss. Gavin has a shy smile and a mullet haircut that makes him look a bit like David Cassidy. Sandra is acting up for the camera, and even though she’s two years younger she looks a lot more worldly, a lot more mature. And according to Sandra, that’s a pretty accurate reflection of the early days of their relationship.
[SANDRA]
‘It took Gav a long time to adjust to moving to Manchester. He’d left all his mates behind in Cowley, and I think he resented that a bit. He didn’t get along that well with his dad either, so I think he was quite lonely. I was definitely his first serious girlfriend, that I do know. He really wasn’t that confident back then – it took him so long to ask me out I was beginning to think he wasn’t interested.’
[JOCELYN]
But once their relationship started, things moved very fast. Within three months Sandra was pregnant, and by the end of that year they were the parents of a baby girl, Dawn.
[DAWN MACLEAN]
‘What’s my first memory of Dad? Probably him teaching me to ride my bike when I was about 6.’
[JOCELYN]
That’s Dawn. She’s a qualified beautician now, married and living in Stirling with two children of her own.
[DAWN]
‘I got the bike for my birthday, and I remember it absolutely poured down all day – you know what Manchester’s like – but he spent hours outside with me in the rain while I wobbled up and down. He wasn’t always that patient though. I remember he hated anything to do with paperwork or filling in forms – Mum always had to deal with Social Services or the council or our schools. I guess he was always a bit wary of people like that. People in authority. He said they were all out to get you. And let’s face it, he wasn’t wrong, was he?’
[JOCELYN]
Sandra and Gavin had two further children in the next ten years. Sandra had a job as a hairdresser but Gavin was still stuck with casual labouring jobs, so money was tight, and they couldn’t get by without benefits. After a while, the strain began to tell.
[DAWN]
‘By the time I was about 11 I knew my dad was struggling. I mean, I wouldn’t have used that word, but I knew he wasn’t happy. He seemed to be angry all the time, and I think he was drinking, and that just made him even more angry. And sad. I remember finding him in tears one day, upstairs in their bedroom. It was the first time I’d ever seen a man cry and it really scared me. It was after that that everything started to go wrong.’
[JOCELYN]
It was 1997. On May 2nd that year, a 16-year-old girl was attacked in Lockhart Avenue, Manchester. She was dragged into the undergrowth, sexually assaulted and left there, on the side of the road.
Three nights later, Sandra got a phone call.
It was Gavin. He was at Greater Manchester Police HQ, and he’d been arrested.
For rape.
[UNDER BED OF ‘I FOUGHT THE LAW AND THE LAW WON’ – THE CLASH]
I’m Jocelyn Naismith and this is Righting the Wrongs. You can listen to this and other podcasts from The Whole Truth on Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
[FADE OUT]
* * *
Adam Fawley
7 July 2018
15.49
‘So if you can come with us now, we’ll do the Video-Recorded Interview, and take the samples the CPS will need if the case goes to court.’
It’s Ev doing the talking. And no question, doing it bloody well. Perhaps it’s the specialist training, but she’s managing to be completely unfazed by the killer flip in this case. Unlike me. Even Quinn seems to have got his head round it, though perhaps it’s just that he’s had longer to get used to the idea. And meanwhile Ev has been calmly taking down the details for the Initial Investigative Report, and talking Morgan through what to expect at the Sexual Assault Referral Centre, and what help he can ask for, and what support he can get. And at the end of it all, when she tells him he can have a male officer as his police point of contact if he prefers, it doesn’t surprise me at all that he decides to stick with her.
I’ve not said much in the last half-hour, and nothing at all to Reynolds, and I was rather hoping to keep it that way, but when we all get up to leave, he clears his throat in that way he has.
‘Could you remain behind for a moment, Inspector?’
Ev gives me a questioning look, but I just nod. ‘You go ahead. I’ll call you later for an update.’
Reynolds must have pressed some sort of button on his desk, because the door opens and the PA appears, tray of tea in hand. Either that or she’s been listening to the whole bloody thing on the intercom, which, frankly, wouldn’t surprise me.
Quinn looks rather enviously at the tea – we haven’t even been offered water thus far – but it’s evidently not designed for the likes of him. Silver teapot with a college crest, milk jug, sugar bowl and tongs, plate of lemon slices. And only two cups.
When the door closes behind them, Reynolds turns to me.
‘There’s a reason I wanted to speak to you, Inspector. Caleb Morgan – it’s rather more complicated than it might initially appear.’
More complicated? A female professor accused of assaulting a male student. Gender politics, university politics. Minefields don’t get any murkier than that. What the hell else could there be?