Because of the reporting restrictions still being in place, the mainstream media was limited about what it could say until the jury had returned a verdict. It was as if the world had stopped while the jury deliberated.

The foreign media was rife with speculation and conspiracy stories about the trial. One conspiracy was that Dido was the spurned lover of Fox, and this was her way of getting revenge. Thankfully, the UK media were more circumspect with their reporting.

With so many charges to consider, no one was expecting a verdict to come down before the weekend and for it to be the following Wednesday at the earliest. No announcement was made, but the Judge ordered the jury to be sequestered for the entirety of their deliberations. He’d made this ruling in-camera before the end of closing arguments. No one knew where they were taken despite a lot of speculation from the foreign media. The UK media knew better than to try to expose their whereabouts and then have to face contempt charges after the trial had concluded.

The media could and did report the factual goings on in the courtroom, leaving little room for speculation. That didn’t stop social media. There were several cases of ‘doxing’ going on while the jury was deliberating. The CPS team was a prime target for the doxing. The home of the deputy head of the CPS was ‘SWATed’ twice in three days. He was not at home. The source of the phone call was traced to the USA, but the trail went cold.

Thanks to both the course and the words of experience coming from John Proudfoot, both Dido and Chrissy were able to avoid most of the dirt that was being slung in Dido’s direction from abroad, especially the USA. Some of it was pretty vile and included many death threats, but as it was not read by the intended targets, it was wasted. All of the threats were sent to the Police, who would be treating them as hate crimes given Dido’s gender. Interpol and the FBI were involved in tracking the ‘perps’ down. Some of the threats bore all the hallmarks of previous attacks relating to other cases.

Because of the sequestration, none of the jury members saw any of the threats against their very existence. One UK-based US media reporter talked about feeling physically sick when he read the threats. He wrote an article saying that people do not deserve to die for doing their civic duty, but it was just a sign of the times.

The jury deliberated for a total of nineteen and a half hours before notifying the jury bailiff, who began the process of calling all the key players back to court just before lunchtime on Wednesday.

It was a further three hours before everyone was assembled. John was present as ever in the public gallery for the reading of the verdict. Such was the interest in the verdict that many members of the media were refused admittance. He was one of the lucky 24 people to be able to witness the proceedings first-hand. He recognised a few others who had been there for the entirety of the trial as he took his seat for possibly the last time.

When the court was called to order, the clerk of the court addressed the jury. Fox didn’t look at the Judge or the jury. His gaze was fixed on the desk in front of him. He was scribbling furiously. John noted that whatever it was, it would be irrelevant to the proceedings that day. Remaining motionless was not going to save him now.

The Clerk called the court to order. Then, the judge began by asking the jury foreperson to stand.
Then he asked,
“Have you reached a verdict upon which you are all agreed? Please answer ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.”
At that moment, you could hear a pin drop in the packed courtroom. John discovered that he was holding his breath.

The foreperson replied in a clear voice.

“Yes”.

The clerk said,

“I will go through the list of charges. For each one, you are to answer ‘Guilty’ or ‘Not guilty’. To members of the media who are present, please remember that these verdicts are only in respect of Johnathon Edward Fox. The court will be dealing with the guilty plea by Marcus James Fox at a later date.”

“On the charge of failing to report the death of victim A?”

“Guilty,” came the reply.

“On the charge of failing to report the death of victim B?”

“Guilty.”

“On the charge of unlawful sex with child 1?”

“Guilty.”

John was watching Fox. He’d sat motionless and without any expression on his face until then. John saw a slight shake of the head, and his eyes went down towards the floor.”

The foreperson returned the same ‘Guilty’ verdict for all but one of the remaining charges. Fox remained motionless.

“And of the charge of unlawful sex with a minor, Ms Dido Pleasance, as directed by the Judge?”
“Guilty.”

At the end of the verdicts, the clerk said,
“Thank you, foreperson, you may sit down.”

The clerk nodded at the Judge, who returned the nod.

“Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury. We want to thank you for your service in this very difficult and sometimes emotional case. I want to remind you that whilst your involvement in the case is now over, you are not entitled to discuss what took place within the jury room and to do so amounts to a criminal offence. This does not mean that you cannot talk about the evidence that was presented in open court or about how you found the experience of being a juror. However, it does prohibit you from revealing the details of your deliberations. For example, if one juror was stopping you from reaching a verdict, you cannot mention anything to do with that fact or who was involved. You told the court that you reached a unanimous verdict. Please, let it rest at that. There may well be parts of the media that will try to present a divided jury. Ignore them. You have told the world on record that you are unanimous. Let that be the end of it.”

Then the Judge said,
“I will now move on to the sentencing of Jonathan Fox. Given the seriousness of the charges, I will defer that until next Monday, the thirteenth, at 10:00. The sentencing of the other defendant, Marcus Fox, will be adjourned for a minimum of seven days pending recommendations from the Crown Prosecution Service.”

He dismissed the jury and then adjourned the court.

In the public gallery, there was a general rush for the exit by members of the media. Many had colleagues waiting outside with TV cameras or computers, as no electronics are allowed in the public gallery. John sat watching the court officials take Fox away. His only reaction was to shake his head. John dismissed that because, with him being a lawyer, he would have known that the jury would return a guilty verdict after his encounter with Dido. She’d played him very well. While it was clear to John from his questioning that he hated Dido with a vengeance, he, Professor Fox, should have been able to admit that he had taught her his secrets well. For that, she should be proud. John thought that it was a small positive to have come out of the proceedings. Fox had never expected to meet one of his victims face-to-face like that. When he saw the evidence against him before the trial, he had only one chance to defeat her. He’d tried his best, but she had bettered him on all counts. That must hurt him deeply. The last straw had been the photo that his stupid son had taken and put on the internet. That had sealed his fate, and he had his idiot son to thank for that.

[The following Monday]

The court reconvened for the sentencing. Once again, the public gallery was packed. Since the verdict had been announced, any reporting restrictions had been lifted. All weekend, the media had been discussing the verdicts, and many hours had been spent trying to forecast what sort of sentence would be handed down. Now, it was time for the speculation to end. The general consensus was that things did not look good for Fox. Even shows that had supported him in the past were now slowly coming down on the side of a jail sentence.

The judge called for the prisoner to be brought up from the cells. When Fox was seated, he began.

“Mr Fox… The crimes upon which you have been found guilty are both heinous and extremely aggravating. I am going to follow the published guidelines for sentencing almost entirely. You should know what is coming once all the guilty verdicts were announced, and as a previously practising barrister, you should know the guidelines laid down by the Home Office for sentencing in these cases.”

Fox remained impassive.
The Judge began by reviewing the verdicts. Then he turned to the sentencing.

“Giving huge amounts of female hormones to genetic males against their will is, to my mind, a throwback to what happened in 1930s Germany under Hitler. It is not only cruel but may have contributed to the deaths of two young people. The medical profession is still evaluating the long-term effects of such an action on the victim. You made matters worse by giving them over a long period. For a young person to develop a full set of breasts before they reach the age of ten is unacceptable to our society. Child mutilation is not acceptable in this or any civilised society. While you may not have done the physical mutilation yourself, you did give those children you held captive a huge quantity of hormones to children over such a long period, which is, in the opinion of the law, heinous. I have used the maximum because of the number of victims. For that offence and because it was spread out over such a long period and on so many people, I am sentencing you to the recommended maximum of fifteen years for each of the six young persons that we know you gave these drugs to. Those sentences will be served concurrently.”

Fox remained motionless.

“On the four charges of false imprisonment of a minor, you have been found guilty. To keep a young person captive for years on end is bad enough, but to keep doing it with more than the six people we know about is beyond the pale. It shows a clear pattern of behaviour. You, sir, have robbed all those you have held prisoner of their formative years. For that, I hereby sentence you to twelve years for each offence to be served consecutively.”

His last word caused a sharp intake of breath throughout the courtroom. Six twelve-year sentences served consecutively would mean he would serve the full term. With those two sentences, in all likelihood, Fox would never be a free man again unless, by some miracle, he could live beyond one hundred and twenty years of age.

The judge looked at his notes.

“Concerning the charges of having both oral and anal sex with at least four children under the age of consent, namely, Ms Pleasance, child 1, child 2 and child 3, I find you to be a clear threat to society. Once again, the extended period over which these offences took place shows a pattern of abuse and a wilful disregard for the well-being of your victims. I hereby sentence you to life imprisonment for each offence. Each sentence will be served concurrently and comes with a recommendation that you serve no less than twenty-five years for each crime and that you spend that time as a category A prisoner. You, sir, are a clear danger to society.”

“On the six charges of procuring sex with minors, you, sir, are nothing much more than a glorified pimp. Because the victims had no say in your choice of abusers, I hereby sentence you to ten years for each offence. Those sentences will be served concurrently.”

“Then there is the matter of the gun and explosives that were found in your home. You have been found guilty of possession in both cases. I hereby sentence you to ten years in prison for each offence, and given the seriousness of these explosives charges, these will be served consecutively.”

“Finally, I will deal with the sixteen charges of attempted murder resulting from your attempt to blow up the property while a legally obtained search warrant was being executed. I sentence you to sixteen life sentences. Each sentence will be served concurrently, but comes with a recommendation that you serve at least thirty years before becoming eligible for parole on each of those sentences alone.”

“Given the sexual nature of these crimes, should you be successful in obtaining parole, then you will be placed on the sex offenders register for the rest of your life. Furthermore, should you ever be released from prison, you are banned from having any contact with anyone under the age of consent. Should you break that condition even once, you will return to prison for the rest of your life without the possibility of parole.”

The judge looked at his notes before continuing.
“I will be recommending that Compensation Forfeiture Orders be made on behalf of the victims of your crimes, including the two who were improperly buried in your garden. From the written evidence presented to this court, it is clear that you have made copious efforts to hide your financial and physical assets. The CPS has told the court in their reports since the guilty verdict was announced that it has, so far, identified accounts in six offshore countries. I am sure that the CPS will also be applying for one or more ‘Proceeds of Crime’ orders against your properties. I will also be recommending to the appropriate bodies that you are disbarred from ever acting as a solicitor or barrister again.”

“While that concludes the sentencing of Mr Johnathan Fox, I have a few personal words to say on the case. As I have passed sentence, nothing I am about to say can or should affect your rights to an appeal.”

“Mr Fox, in days gone by, at this moment, I would have reached for a black handkerchief before pronouncing the sentence and placed it on my head. I am sure that those few words give you a foretaste of what I am about to say.”

He paused and glared at Fox, who was still scribbling furiously.

“I am on record for supporting the abolition of the death penalty, but as this case unfolded, I was forced to reconsider those views. Your sir gave no thought to the rights of those you imprisoned, nor did you think of the rights of the team who you tried without thought or regret to blow up while they carried out their legally granted search powers of your home. Mr Fox, it is more than likely that I would have sentenced you to death for your crimes if that were an option for me. It isn’t, but cases like this will cause everyone involved to reconsider their fundamentally held beliefs. Mr Fox, may you rot in hell for your crimes.”

The Judge let the court settle.
“This case is adjourned for the sentencing of Mr Marcus Fox. Bailiff, please take Mr Fox away to begin his sentence.

Once again, John Proudfoot let the majority of those in the public gallery leave ahead of him. He needed to call Dido and let her know his thoughts on the various sentences that Fox had been given. Then there was the dreaded ‘A’ word. ‘A’ as in appeal. To John, the judge’s closing remarks were aimed directly at the court of appeal and the strongest hint possible that any appeal should be rejected out of hand.

Fox had every right to appeal the verdict and the sentences. Much of the chatter on TV and in the Media over the weekend had been about the viability of any appeal. The consensus was that he’d be a fool to appeal every verdict and that the only ones worth appealing were the least severe in terms of severity. The attempt to kill the SOCO teams alone should guarantee the rejection of any appeal.

Many in the media who had used Fox for comment on legal cases were busy putting as much distance between themselves and him as possible.

To John and Dido, what was missing was any discussion about the people that Fox entertained at his home and why none of them had so far been charged with any crimes.
They knew why, but the pundits on TV didn’t. They just ignored the whole topic. Like the crimes of Jimmy Saville and others like him, it was just too close to home to talk about. You might never know that the person you are talking to is or was up to their neck in the Fox swamp.

A few commentators on social media did raise the issue, but were quickly shut down by what seemed to be organised trolling from all over the world.

“John,” said Dido after Chrissy had gone to bed.
“What if Fox Junior was part of a worldwide group that traded victims and photos?”

John put down the part of the Sunday Times that he’d been reading and looked at Dido over the top of his reading glasses.

“I’ve had much the same thoughts. I find it hard to believe that Fox dreamed up what they did to you, the likes of you and Chrissy and the others on his own. It is well known that Child Pornography is an international business. Images are traded like players in a fantasy football league.”

Dido smiled.
John reached over and took her hand. Once upon a time, she would have recoiled at such a move, but not now.
“I think that we have to let that go. If in the investigation of Chrissy’s attackers, we come upon information that relates to that sort of trade, then we package it up and give it to the NCA. We are in their good books, and I, for one, do not want to jeopardise that. We will need them to bring Operation Chesil to a conclusion.”

He smiled at Dido.
“I do not doubt that, given enough bitcoin, some of your less kosher associates could dig it all up, but the problem then comes to the validity of the evidence and how it was gathered. Ok?”

“I agree with that one. I have tried to uncover even a little bit, but so far, the results have been very poor and are mostly dead ends.”

“Are you going to stop?”

“That will be hard… Yes. Chrissie is more important.”

John gently squeezed her hand before letting it go,
“That’s when your training as a Criminologist comes into play. Knowing what battles to fight.”

“True,” said Dido.

“Speaking of that… when are your exam results coming out?”

“Friday. I’m under strict orders to call Trish as soon as I see them posted outside the head of the School of Law’s office.

“With me next on the list?”

Dido grinned.
“Yes, Daddy.”

John chuckled and returned to reading his Sunday Paper.

Dido smiled and thanked God yet again that it was his car that she tried to steal all those years ago. She was under no illusion about how important his wisdom was to her life.

[end of book 4 of this story]

[Author’s note]
While many crime stories, especially those on TV, would end at this point, there is a lot of unfinished business to wrap up before we can say goodbye to Dido and friends.