‘If I had asked you that same question eighteen months ago, how would you have responded?’
Sangster hesitated for a moment before he said, ‘Dr Gerald Sangster.’
‘When a doctor returns to being Mr, it’s usually because they’ve been appointed a surgeon, or a consultant. Is that what happened in your case?’
‘No.’
‘Then perhaps you’d like to explain to the court why you are no longer entitled to call yourself a doctor.’
‘The court has already been told that the General Medical Council removed my name from the register.’
‘ “Struck off”, I believe, is the correct term. And what was your offence, may I ask?’
Sangster hesitated for a moment before he admitted, ‘I was accused of violating my Hippocratic Oath.’
Booth Watson couldn’t resist another long pause.
‘ “Violating”,’ he repeated. ‘What does that actually mean?’
‘I over-prescribed controlled drugs that proved harmful to some of my patients.’
‘How many patients were involved?’
‘There were three witnesses who gave evidence at the hearing.’
‘That wasn’t the question I asked, Mr Sangster,’ said Booth Watson, as his junior passed him a thick file.
‘Eleven,’ said Sangster, more quietly.
‘Can you tell the court the fate of one particular patient, a Ms Amy Watson?’
‘Sadly, she died.’
‘How did she die?’
‘From an overdose.’
‘Of drugs prescribed by you, Mr Sangster. How old was she?’
‘Twenty-seven.’
‘And another of your patients, a Ms Esther Lockhart. How did she die?’
‘Suicide.’
‘She hanged herself,’ said Booth Watson, before turning another page of the GMC’s report. ‘I won’t go into the details of the other nine unfortunate patients who were in your care, Mr Sangster, unless of course you’d like me to.’
Sir Julian rose from his place. ‘M’lud, I hadn’t realized that Mr Sangster was on trial in this case.’
‘He isn’t, m’lud,’ interjected Booth Watson before the judge could respond, ‘but the credibility of his evidence is, and I’ll leave the jury to decide if they can believe a word this witness says.’
‘You’ve made your point, Mr Booth Watson. Move on.’
‘As Your Lordship pleases,’ said defence counsel, before turning back to face the witness. ‘Mr Sangster, when were you struck off the Medical Register?’
Sangster hesitated again.
‘Come, come. I can’t believe that date isn’t etched in your memory.’
‘July ninth last year.’
‘And how long do you claim that you worked for Mr Rashidi?’
‘I joined him quite recently.’
‘How recently?’
‘A few weeks before the factory was raided.’
‘I think two weeks would be more accurate, wouldn’t it, Mr Sangster? But then, accuracy is not your strong suit.’
‘It was more than two weeks.’
‘Well, let’s say three, shall we? How many times during those three weeks did you come across Mr Rashidi?’
‘Several times.’
‘And was one of those occasions during the police raid?’
‘Yes, it was,’ said Sangster firmly.
‘When you yourself were arrested?’
‘Mr Booth Watson, tread carefully,’ said the judge firmly.
‘I’m simply trying to get at the truth, m’lud. And were you charged on that occasion, Mr Sangster?’
‘Yes.’
‘With what offence?’
‘The supply of illegal substances.’
‘In contravention of the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act. And when your case came to court, how did you plead?’
‘Guilty,’ said Sangster, so quietly he could barely be heard.
‘Would you repeat that, Mr Sangster? I’m not sure the jury heard you.’
‘Guilty.’
‘And your sentence?’
‘Two years.’
‘Only two years for an offence that usually carries a tariff of seven? That seems an unusually lenient sentence for such a serious crime. Can I presume you’re still in prison?’
‘No, I was released last week.’
‘How convenient. Just in time to give evidence in this trial.’
‘You’ve made your point, Mr Booth Watson,’ repeated the judge. ‘Move on.’
Booth Watson looked at the jury, and had to agree with the judge. He put down one file, picked up another, and turned a few pages before embarking on his next ploy. ‘Mr Sangster, I’m interested to find out how well you know Mr Rashidi. For example, can you tell me the name of the company of which he’s been chairman for the past ten years?’
‘Marcel and Neffe,’ said Sangster, almost in triumph.
‘And what do they do?’
‘Import tea.’
‘Which I don’t think we’ll find is listed as an illegal substance under the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act.’
Several people smiled, one or two of them on the jury.
‘And where are the offices of Marcel and Neffe?’
‘In the City.’
‘Could you be a little more precise?’
Sangster bit his lip, but didn’t reply.
‘No, of course you can’t, Mr Sangster, because I would suggest that there’s not a lot you do know about Mr Rashidi, other than what you’ve read in the press, or picked up when you were in prison.’
‘I know where his drug factory was, because I worked there.’
‘I don’t doubt you worked there, Mr Sangster, I just doubt you ever saw Mr Rashidi there, other than on the night of the raid.’
‘But I know he had a flat in the same block.’
‘In the same block?’ repeated Booth Watson word for word, to make sure it was on the record.
‘I meant in the adjoining block.’
‘Perhaps it was you who had a flat in the same block,’ suggested Booth Watson, but was met with a stony silence.
Sir Julian frowned and passed a note to Grace.
‘Did you ever visit that flat?’
‘No, I wasn’t a friend of Rashidi’s.’
‘Then how do you know about this supposed flat?’
‘It was common knowledge.’
‘It is common knowledge, Mr Sangster, that Queen Elizabeth the First met Mary Queen of Scots in Fotheringhay Castle, but I can assure you that no such meeting ever took place. I would suggest that you have never met Mr Rashidi, and that your whole story is nothing more than a few scraps of “common knowledge” you picked up in prison, embroidered with some elaborate inventions of your own that would guarantee you a shorter sentence.’
‘That’s not true. I worked for Rashidi.’
‘And was it Mr Rashidi who offered you the job?’
‘No, a dealer recommended me.’
‘Your personal dealer?’
Another long silence followed before Sangster responded. ‘Yes. In the past, as I’ve admitted, I was an occasional user of cocaine, but that’s all behind me now.’
Booth Watson picked up the GMC report once again, and took his time finding the relevant page before he said, ‘ “Occasional” wasn’t the word the chairman of the GMC used to describe your addiction.’
Sangster made no attempt to defend himself.
‘You are clearly someone who has only an occasional association with the truth.’ Sir Julian began to rise from his place. ‘But before my learned friend protests, let me ask if that was the same dealer with whom you shared a cell during your surprisingly brief period in prison?’
This time the hesitation was even longer.
‘And was it during that time he told you the story of a drug dealer who lost his hand?’
‘It might have been.’
‘In which case it would be nothing more than hearsay, and the jury can dismiss it for what it’s worth. And where is this dealer now?’ asked Booth Watson before the witness could recover.