Episode 2 Silk

She got the prize, he didn't. It's not going to be easy for him.

It's not going to be easy for her either.

-A case as big as this, it needs...

-Martha Costello.

-Who's the solicitor?

-Micky Joy.

-You're in charge here, I mean your people are your people?

-Of course.

The solicitor is at court. Very right-on.

Name of George Duggan.

Don't pigeon-hole me. That's just lazy.

Fatima Ali.

The brother tried to calm her down, she lashed out at him with a broken bottle, he bled to death.

-Think about Brendan...

-Why "Brendan?" Every other client's a surname, why's that?

Because I think he's a child.

He's dead.

'Brendan Kay's dead.'

Keep up, boys.

Hey, Marth.

Marth? What you up to?

Ah.

.338 sniper rifle. Nice.

Yeah.

One of them's dead, Clive.

-Which one?

-I don't know.

There's no witness statement from whoever took the film.

What happened?

IED. Both legs blown off.

Embedded photographer took this.

My client's the officer in command of the patrol base.

Disobeyed an order to stay put.

Took his men out on patrol, and the consequence was, well, this.

Him.

-The quiet one.

-How do you know?

Saw his picture in the paper.

Jake.

Right, we go in together.

When I give you the nod, I want you to bang this down on the desk. You got it?

Got it. Er, why?

Because when a brief goes thump, it says,

"I'm heavy, I'm meaty, I matter."

Are you in court this morning?

Got a mention in my murder for George Duggan.

You're getting very political.

The thing you have to remember about George is...

that as well as all that integrity,

she has a tremendous pair of tits.

Which is a good combination in a solicitor.

DOOR OPENS

SHE CHUCKLES

Ah! Interrupting something?

Oh, we were just talking about George Duggan's integrity.

Oh, yes, one thing to say about that, sir.

Do not pass go.

Sorry?

Sleeping with solicitors, like eating raw fish, is wrong.

Do not do it.

See you later, sir.

So, you going to win this court martial?

80/20 against.

Jesus Christ!

Drugs.

Big importation of heroin through Felixstowe,

nicked half way down the M11 at Birchanger Services.

-Where?

-Eight weeks in Chelmsford.

Don't tell me I'm not the best clerk in England.

Laters, Miss.

-Er, wait... Who's the solicitor?

-PHONE RINGS

-Bye, Miss.

-Ah, Billy!

-Billy!

-DOOR SLAMS

She'll do it...

Yeah, I'm sure.

Ha! No problem. Call me back.

I had a wire-haired dachshund years ago.

I've never told anyone this before,

but I had to re-home him because our lives became incompatible.

And what's this got to do with anything?

The handover to his new owners was at Birchanger Services.

-Who's the solicitor, Billy?

-Micky Joy.

-Oh.

-Miss...

-No!

-I've said yes.

-Well, unsay it.

People are saying that you only got silk

because you're a woman and you're from Bolton,

and the Bar is trying to stop looking so male and posh.

Don't you dare threaten me.

I'm killing myself out there trying to sell you,

so when you say no to a brief like this...

I will not work for that man.

Billy, Micky on line one.

Micky!

Martha Costello, she's, er... she's double-booked.

Yeah, she's got a fixture at Southwark starting the same day.

I know, I know.

The new Doris forgot to put it in the diary.

So, er, yeah, it's just one of those...things.

Er...

Alan Cowdrey is free.

You know what they call him, don't you? Mr Mellifluous.

HE CHUCKLES

No, I don't know what it means, either. But, er...

He'd be good for this, don't you think?

Captain Ryan?

Captain Cassidy. The UDO.

Right.

Unit Defence Officer. I'm his best friend.

And I'm here to help him, and you, I hope.

Great.

Miss...

How many in the patrol base?

12 British soldiers. 20 Afghan National Army.

And how many are there supposed to be?

30 of us and 40 of them.

And you being under strength,

that was behind the decision to stay put, presumably?

Doing what the enemy least expects is always a good idea.

And I felt that staying put became a bad idea.

Well, isn't battening down the hatches usually the best way?

Well, we didn't trust the ANA.

They were getting jumpy and twitchy,

and it was rubbing off on my men.

What do you mean about trust?

Three months earlier, the Taliban put our base under siege.

The siege was 18 hours of continuous fighting.

It's the most pressure

my men have ever been under.

And what about you?

It's my men I'm concerned about.

OK.

So your defence...

Circumstances changed after you received the order

because you had intelligence that the Taliban were approaching.

In large numbers.

What intelligence?

I can't talk about that.

-Well...

-I believe in the absolute integrity of a source.

I don't want it mentioned in here or in court.

Well, that's all very honourable and everything,

but it would help if I knew.

I'm sorry that you think honourable behaviour isn't worth very much.

And then communication with the...the FOB broke down.

Ah, you're good at this.

My grandfather fought in the war. Sword Beach, June 6th, 1944.

Maybe it's in my bones.

I can't tell you how much it hurts that I lost Private Rivers.

But what I did was the right thing to do.

"Cocky, aggressive-minded,

"always willing to take the fight to the enemy."

That's what they're saying about you.

It's exciting. There's nothing like contact with the enemy.

Don't say that in court, will you?

WOMAN IN BACKGROUND: Yes, yes, he is.

Well, you can come into the...

He's trying to impress you. He'll settle down.

The siege he talks about.

Every bit as tough as he says.

So, your grandfather on D-Day.

Doesn't talk about it.

What I said in there is all I know about his war.

Hmm. Sorry.

It sounded like, er...

-That thing about it being in your bones.

-Hmm.

Maybe you were trying to impress him.

Should have been me, really. Big court martial like this.

It's a silk's case, sir.

Aah... Oof...

-79...

-PHONE RINGS

..80.

-Phew!

-PHONE RINGS

Shoe Lane.

Phew!

Yeah, sorry, can I get your name, please?

Brilliant news. Thank you.

No, I will, I will. I promise, I'll... Yes, bye.

Let's have a pop at bail, shall we?

She has nowhere to live.

Her community, which has been her entire life,

has broken all ties with her irrevocably and completely.

There is a real risk she might abscond

between now and the start of her trial.

Abscond?

Where to?

If...

Fatima Ali's life has been limited exclusively to her community,

where would she go?

My learned friend seems to be doing my job for me.

Pushed to see how Your Honour can grant bail

without a condition of residence.

Ergo, this bail application fails.

Refuge.

-I'm sorry?

-I've secured her a place in a women's refuge as of this morning.

They'll have her for as long as it takes.

-I rang them.

-Just now?

Yeah, I've never understood why barristers won't get their hands dirty.

Make the phone call, find the bed. It's not like God has a secretary or a...solicitor.

-They didn't have a bed last night when I called.

-I run marathons.

-What?

-I raise money for them.

She'll be in with a member of staff for a few nights.

They wouldn't do it normally.

For you...

How much?

What?

New York in November.

Shall I put you down for 50 quid?

Goes without saying, Micky Joy asked for you, sir.

Then why are you saying it, Billy?

-HE CHUCKLES

-He's brilliant.

Never misses... He's.. He's brilliant.

HE CHUCKLES

Then he goes all silent and he looks at you,

and you feel like you've got to answer the question.

HE LAUGHS

Well done.

Oh. Thanks.

I like a man who can pull a rabbit out of a hat

by the seat of his pants.

HE LAUGHS Well, I was just lucky.

Not with your last silk application, you weren't.

How did I get silk?

I gave up defending guilty men and started prosecuting them.

I can't tell you the pleasure it gives me.

It's like rump steak in the morning.

Mastication, complex textures, deep taste,

and, oh, those bloody juices.

Change tack, Clive Reader.

Prosecute, and you'll walk into silk, a man with your pedigree.

Happy to give you a bunk-up.

Why would you do that?

Well, that can't be too hard to work out, can it?

Diversify.

Meaning?

Expand, become a bigger set.

Prosecute more.

Prosecute more?

That's what I said.

-Are you OK, sir, with the eight-weeks drug trial I just got you?

-Micky Joy is...

Is the biggest solicitor there is.

A senior clerk has to be careful supping with the devil.

Woolworths.

Sorry?

Woolies went down because it didn't know what it was anymore.

No-one had any idea what they were selling or why.

If you're going to survive, then you have to know what you are,

and you have to say it loud and clear.

The heart and soul of this chambers is defending.

Now, I can sell that.

I can't sell pick 'n' mix.

We can't afford to say no to half the work on offer.

Lengthen your ladle...

and sup with the CPS.

Pastures new, sir.

Bit of a weird message from the CPS solicitor.

"Some rump steak in the morning," he said to tell you.

Does Billy need to know about this?

I can keep one under the radar.

Thanks.

Thanks, Micky. Appreciate it.

Er... Just so you know...

I'm not doing that drugs case because of you.

No other reason.

You.

You know, it's six weeks since Brendan Kay was murdered.

I don't know how you've got the nerve to smile.

'I told him I thought he was connected to Brendan's death.'

My God, Marth.

Yeah, I'm slightly regretting it now.

-I should have just punched him.

-HE LAUGHS

I miss you.

What?

I miss you.

We were called together, we were pupils together,

we've always been side by side in this. And now...

PHONE RINGS Sorry.

What do you want to say, Clive?

It hurt when you got silk.

Sorry. I mean...

I know I... I shouldn't be like this, but...

I wanted to tell you because...

Well, we tell each other everything, don't we?

PHONE RINGS

HE SIGHS

You should probably get that.

HE SIGHS

George, hi.

HE LAUGHS

Yes.

Yes.

OK.

Erm...

Well, I don't know...

We could do it tonight.

Yeah.

Welcome to Hillesden Barracks.

Hello, there.

How are things?

Hello.

Oh, er, thank you.

Sir.

Major Scotter.

He gave the order Captain Ryan disobeyed.

Parents?

CLERK: All rise.

Service personnel may remove their headdress.

These are the last pictures of Private Alan Rivers.

It's about 20 minutes before going out on patrol,

and an hour before he stood on an IED,

and what became the long, slow business of bleeding to death.

Could we have the Board out, sir?

VIDEO: 'Wave goodbye to your mum!'

There's no statement from anyone producing this film in evidence.

Then the Crown should get one.

It's shot by an embedded photographer, Paul McGovern.

Get a short statement from him and serve it as an NAE.

I want him here.

Counsel who did the last hearing expressly stated

that he didn't need McGovern to attend,

which must have been on instruction from the defendant.

Well...

I want him here.

What's your objection to the film?

My learned friend wants it in because it's poignant.

Evidential value?

None.

It's part of the story. The Board should hear what he says.

He doesn't say anything.

Well, that's him speaking now, Miss Costello.

Did you think...?

We had general information

that there was insurgent grouping in the area.

The patrol base was one of the possible targets.

I gave the order to stay put.

Who was the order given to?

Captain Ryan, the defendant.

Directly?

On HF from FOB.

Might need translating for our civilian friend.

High frequency from forward operating base.

Ahem...

Now, you'll have to forgive my civilian ignorance.

A soldier is trained to obey orders.

Yes.

But he's not a robot.

I'm sorry, is that a question?

You wouldn't, for example, obey an order to murder a prisoner?

I'm not a lawyer, and I'm sure you know what you're doing, Miss Costello.

-But your example is way out at the end of the spectrum.

-But there is a spectrum?

Yes.

And there's a point on that spectrum

when it becomes the right thing to do to disobey an order?

This is the British Army, Miss Costello.

Have you heard of courageous restraint?

No return of fire unless you are 100% sure

a target is completely legitimate,

and there is no danger to civilian life.

Do you know how difficult that is?

It's an excellent example

of why officers are trained to think under pressure.

It's an example of how disciplined the British Army is,

and where on your spectrum...

And under pressure,

required by his training to think, an officer might end up deciding

that the best thing to do

is the opposite of what he's been ordered to do,

if that's what the circumstances dictate.

Then he should refer it back to whoever gave the order.

And that would be you in this case?

The circumstances at the patrol base remained pretty much the same

from the time the order was given to the time Captain Ryan disobeyed it.

-But you don't know that. You weren't there.

-Miss Costello.

You may be in silk now,

but that does not entitle you to be disrespectful to witnesses.

Respect and deference are two different things, sir.

Too often mistaken for each other.

What's your point here?

That the commander on the ground

knows more than the commander back at the forward operating base

about the situation he's in.

How would he know more than me? Did he have information I didn't have?

So it's a lie, then.

What?

"The intelligence, I can't possibly talk about it."

Bit surprising you wanted to go near it at all though,

given that it's plainly the opposite of what Ryan wants you to do.

Don't tell me how to conduct my case.

You're conducting mine, really.

Making such a good job of alerting the Board

to the fact that Ryan is hoodwinking you.

And if he's not telling his own barrister the truth...

You're bluffing.

The Board don't think that.

One brigadier and two lieutenant colonels,

each of them with lots of combat experience.

They know a smokescreen when they see one.

When did you get silk?

Why didn't you want McGovern here?

I did what I did for good military reasons.

I've told you. How would McGovern help that? He's a photographer.

Embedded with you.

Watching you all the time.

I've got nothing to hide.

-I acted properly.

-Oh, yeah.

"Properly. Honourably."

Shall I tell you something?

If you don't stop hiding behind all those words very soon,

you'd better start thinking about living for the next ten years

where none of those count for a bloody thing!

Did courageous restraint frustrate you?

It frustrated all of us.

An aggressive-minded officer doesn't like being on the back foot.

-Whose side are you on?

-Look...

It's better you get the hard questions from me first,

so when the real thing comes, it's not a shock,

and you deal with it.

Tell me about the siege.

I've told you.

Well, why was it so tough?

You were engaging with the enemy all the time,

what was it about this contact that affected you so much?

It would help, wouldn't it?

What?

If in there, they understood

why staying put the second time around didn't feel right.

What was it about that 18-hour siege?

There's a report.

On the siege.

We call it a learning account.

Can you get it for me?

Sure. Absolutely.

SHE DIALS A NUMBER

PHONE RINGS

Bethany.

It's Martha.

A photographer called Paul McGovern.

Yeah. Get a pupil to dig out everything you can about him, and...

And every picture he's taken in Afghanistan.

And I'll need it by tonight.

Ah. Drink?

-Why?

-Chat about silk.

-Don't need a drink.

Skip a year, sir.

Re-group, fatten up your practice,

think about an application next time around.

You lied to me.

No way. What you talking about?

I can't send work to a set of chambers

with a senior clerk who lies to me.

I understand you have to bullshit your barristers to keep them happy.

I know you have to keep telling them

just how much sunshine is in their lives,

or the inner toddler comes out to play.

But I'm a proper grown-up, Billy.

My clients are proper grown-ups too.

I need you to tell me everything.

And for it always to be true.

What does mellifluous mean?

Richard Burton 60 seconds after sex.

I knew you knew. Why did you lie?

You said you didn't know what it meant.

I thought you'd be offended having an inferior vocabulary

to a man who left school at five.

Was Martha Costello double-booked?

No.

You see how easy it is,

telling the truth?

And look what it gets you.

Private drink driving. 1,500 on the brief.

-1,500?

-Footballer's wife.

Right.

Strictly between you and me,

we could call it two grand, couldn't we?

Just don't tell the toddler you give it to.

-John.

-Yeah?

My prosecuting brief, it's a three-day trial,

so can you book me in for two nights at Brasenose?

What's Brasenose?

-(It's an Oxford college.)

-Er... It's an Oxford college.

My old Oxford college.

Er, Brasenose.

-BILLY:

-What are you doing in Oxford, sir?

College reunion.

Brase...nose.

-HE CHUCKLES

-Calm down, Jake.

Learning account.

That's it?

So...

One Afghan civilian killed, collateral damage.

Courageous restraint didn't work, then.

Who was manning the western wall of the patrol base? Afghan National Army?

Jumpy and twitchy?

Oh, you don't know the half of it.

Off their faces quite often. On duty, in uniform, high as kites.

Courageous restraint wasn't a concept they grasped at all.

Who wrote this?

DOOR OPENS

I didn't know at the time about the order not to go out.

Is that usual?

For a sergeant major?

Never had it before.

How would the witness know that? If the CO doesn't tell him, he doesn't know that he doesn't know.

It's my job to know everything my officer is thinking.

How did you feel about going out on patrol that day?

I was worried, because there were only ten of us.

Two have to stay at the patrol base.

Did you question what Captain Ryan was doing?

-Yes.

-What was his response?

He was set on it.

If you felt that strongly about it, why didn't you press the point?

It's not my job to keep on disagreeing with my officer once I've told him what I think.

You can say it once.

When Private Rivers stood on the IED,

what happened next?

The "man down" shout came along the line to me at the rear.

-At the same time, we came under heavy contact.

-What did you do?

Three things you're trained to do.

Secure the area, which just means carry on fighting,

give first aid to the man down,

secure a spot no less than 500 metres away

for the chopper to land to get the wounded man out.

-And were you able to do all that?

-No.

Why not?

There were nine of us.

Two of my privates weren't doing well.

What do you mean by that?

When you see a colleague lose both his legs

and you can't get to him because you're pinned down by incoming fire,

and he's calling out for you,

it's pretty upsetting.

Private Bloxham and Private Farrelly

weren't functioning well as combat troops.

Meaning?

They were crying.

We were effectively seven men.

Tell us what the wounded Private Rivers was actually saying.

I'd rather not, sir.

We all understand your feelings, Sergeant Major,

but I'm afraid you are going to have to answer the question.

He was doing what most wounded soldiers do

when they're still conscious.

He was calling out for me.

And when I wasn't coming,

he was calling out for his mother.

The chopper landed 70 minutes later.

Private Rivers died in the helicopter

on the way back to Bastion.

And based on all your experience and knowledge,

what do you think of Captain Ryan's decision

to go out on patrol with just ten men?

In my opinion, it was foolish.

Is that what you're saying in the sergeants' mess?

No, sir.

What do you say?

The G words get used.

Gung-ho.

Lust for glory.

SHE CLEARS HER THROAT

Do you remember the 23rd of September, 2009?

Private Owen Gearty was hit

down an alleyway in a place called Sarkani.

And what did you do?

I went down the alley and got him out.

Alone?

Yes.

And why didn't anyone else from your platoon come with you?

They were ordered not to.

Were you ordered not to?

Yes.

And have you been disciplined for disobeying this order?

No.

Did you do the right thing?

He's alive today.

Did you do the right thing?

It's completely different from...

Were you at Buckingham Palace on June 5th, 2010,

to receive a gallantry award

for your bravery in rescuing Private Gearty?

Yes.

And was it the Queen who gave it to you?

Yes.

So there is a point at which not only is it right

to disobey an order,

you get a medal from the Queen for doing so?

When it really comes down to it,

it's for your friends that you fight.

I wasn't about to leave a friend of mine bleeding to death.

Was the order not to rescue Private Gearty a direct command

from an officer who was there with you?

Yes, it was.

And was that order based on an assessment of risk?

He would have weighed up the chances of rescuing Private Gearty

against the chances of losing someone trying to rescue him.

And who was that officer?

Captain Ryan.

The defendant.

And is that the attitude of someone lusting for glory?

I don't think the witness can tell us

what was going on in someone else's mind.

Well, why not?

It's his job to know what his officer is thinking.

Miss Costello!

From Bethany. From your chambers.

Oh, thank you.

You mistook my boy for someone else.

My dead son.

I'm sorry, it was unforgivable.

It's just another job for you.

No, it really isn't.

Back to London?

What's the officers' mess like?

Did you apply for silk last time?

Yeah.

Probably a bit young.

It's good you didn't get it.

Why?

You're hungry.

I like that.

Martha Costello got it.

Yeah.

She wasn't too young.

I get into fights with judges.

You know, I...

I don't care what they think about me.

As long as I'm doing the best thing for my client,

that's all that counts.

Maybe I... You know...

Maybe I don't play the game enough.

I don't normally do this.

-You're very good at it.

-What?

-Drinking.

-SHE LAUGHS

You're very direct, Captain Cassidy.

For an officer and a gentleman.

About some things.

Bet that you look good on the dancefloor.

And maybe the directness buys you room not to talk about other things.

The man who told Sergeant Major Pierce

not to go down that alleyway in Sarkani,

and the man who took out a ten-man patrol with the Taliban approaching.

Same man.

What changed?

Maybe I'll just ask him.

Martha...

My ears are burning.

That's because we're talking about you.

Cheers.

Learning account.

Captain Ed Ryan...

"During an engagement between insurgents

"and ISAF-stroke-Afghan National Army,

"a round was fired from the western perimeter of the PB,

"resulting in the death of one times local national."

Here she is.

"One times local national."

Bed.

She died in his arms.

A few minutes after this was taken.

And then he carried on. Doing his job.

Being an army officer.

Sorry.

So...

Anyway...

Do you?

What?

Look good on the dancefloor?

-Don't worry. I'll lead.

-You'll lead?

What is this?

Men in uniform lose all dignity waving their arms about.

Close your eyes and this could be Saigon.

-Or Singapore.

-HE LAUGHS

Or Dar es Salaam...

THEY LAUGH

Here you are, mate. Thanks. Keep the change.

I've been looking for a relationship with a barrister.

Continuity, commitment,

knowing someone well enough so you don't have to explain everything twice.

So any thoughts about who that might be, I'd be grateful.

THEY LAUGH

You completely had me there!

It's a good feeling, actually.

Not knowing what's coming next.

This isn't supposed to happen.

What?

Falling for a solicitor.

No.

-Complicates things.

-Yeah.

Probably, your senior clerk wouldn't like it.

Nothing to do with him.

So you should stop yourself...

..falling.

Yeah.

Good.

I'm a little bit worried about this.

What is it?

One thing the army does very well is keep records.

Your grandfather.

And what does it say?

I haven't looked.

I thought you should decide if you want to read it.

Then if you don't, nothing has changed.

And maybe you want to respect his right not to talk about it.

You're here.

I'm down there.

On the right.

Night.

SHE DIALS A NUMBER

PHONE RINGS

PHONE RINGS

SHOWER RUNS

'Hello, this is Clive Reader, please leave a message after the tone.

'Thanks. Bye.'

BEEP

Oh, hi, Marth. It's me.

Missed your call. Um...

You probably stayed over.

Are you, er...

Are you coming back tomorrow?

I hope you are.

Er...

Need to talk.

Bye.

-OK, OK.

-SOBBING

You're OK.

SOBBING

Easy, mate.

SOBBING

You won't get him to talk about it.

It helps him.

Doesn't he see that?

He had every reason not to want another siege.

-But when he goes in the witness box, he'll see..

-He won't.

He's not.

And neither will I.

Miss Costello.

Mr McGovern has come a long way at your request.

Do you have some questions for him?

SHE CLEARS HER THROAT

Is it right that Captain Ryan was well regarded by his men?

Yes.

-Respected.

-Yes.

Is...

"Gung-ho" an expression you'd use about Captain Ryan?

No.

Lust for glory?

No.

Will you take a look at this photograph?

Thank you.

Did you take this picture?

-Yes.

-When?

Just after the siege.

And how did you feel taking it?

She was five years old.

Yes, she was.

How did you feel?

I knew it was a good photograph.

How did you feel,

Mr McGovern?

This is what it's all about.

This is what happens when a weapon of that calibre hits a human being.

And even at that range,

with all that distance between weapon and victim, how far?

Six, seven hundred metres?

Look what it did to her.

When they brought her in, I told myself,

"Just take the picture, just take the damn picture,

"so the world can see

"what these things look like."

And did you show your feelings?

I sat on my own.

I had a quiet cry.

And how did this death, this young life taken,

how did this make you feel about being there,

about being at that patrol base?

It was a constant thing. Something we all carried with us.

And Captain Ryan?

I think he changed.

Sometimes, I'd catch him on his own and he'd have the look on his face.

The look?

-I've seen it many times.

-What look?

Lost.

And when Captain Ryan decided to take that patrol out,

instead of staying put,

the day Private Rivers was killed,

was that decision influenced by his emotional condition?

Yes, I think so.

I think he didn't want it to happen again.

Did you think of Private Rivers as your friend?

Yes.

Did you take photographs of Alan Rivers with his legs blown off?

-Yes.

-You took pictures of your friend,

-with his legs blown off, bleeding to death.

-What are you saying?

Three months after you say you were so badly affected by the siege

and the death of the little girl?

I don't understand.

Professional men and women under extreme pressure can feel upset,

look lost, wonder, maybe, why they do what they do...

..and then carry on. They hold it together and carry on.

An officer can obey an order,

and a photographer can take pictures of his dying friend.

That's enough.

Get him to stop.

I was with Captain Ryan when he took the order.

Did he say anything to you?

Private Bloxham?

He asked me to keep quiet about it.

How did he seem to you?

He was himself. Completely in control.

And did you...

keep quiet about it?

Nobody is going to criticise you for obeying an order, Private Bloxham.

Would he be dead if I'd had the courage to say something?

Blown it. All over. So what's our defence now? Huh?

The very upset, totally honest, 19-year-old private soldier

whose best buddy's just died is lying in the witness box? I mean, shall we go for that?

Why the hell didn't you tell me?

It would have caused anxiety amongst my men if they knew Major Scotter had said don't go out.

It would have undermined their confidence in me and my authority.

But I thought at that point, you hadn't made the decision to go out.

That it was a later decision, wasn't it? When circumstances CHANGED.

What about the truth?

Last chance.

Try the truth, Captain Ryan.

DOOR SLAMS

Why was he crying his heart out in your room last night?

-Just leave it.

-It's about protecting him, isn't it? You're the buffer.

All this grandfather business, and making me think you like me.

Why were you outside my room?

DOOR OPENS

You're back. How's it going?

What did you want to ask me?

Do you think I should go for it? Silk?

Is that what you wanted to say?

You're the person I trust most in the world.

Go for it.

A white ribbon round a Clive Reader brief.

Will Miss Duggan and her immaculate integrity

like it if she finds out you're plod friendly?

Your upstairs and your downstairs need to have a talk, sir.

Hello, Billy.

Miss.

Hello?

He's pushing you and George together?

Yes and no.

-Meaning?

-Well, yes, professionally.

Personally?

He's against any personal developments.

-And you?

-He doesn't trust me.

He thinks I'd treat her badly.

That's not what I was asking.

Are you all right?

It's just people not saying things, you know, keeping things back.

I can't stand it. It's no way to live.

Marth?

How did it happen?

She was a long way away.

ANA thought she was an enemy insurgent.

-A very long way, then.

-Yeah.

The L115A3 sniper rifle.

It's pretty unique.

Clive.

-It's brilliant.

-Jesus, Clive.

And it can cause us to make mistakes like this.

Us?

Us. The British Army.

It's a British weapon?

KNOCK ON DOOR

Martha...

He doesn't want me talking to you.

He was crying.

He's a soppy drunk.

Why was he crying?

I'm not going to talk about it.

Nor is he.

Which means he's going down, which means the end of his army career.

And is that what's best for him?

Is that where your best buddy loyalty should get us?

The siege had had a traumatic effect on everyone.

The prospect of it happening again was...

would have been very difficult.

-Why?

-The Taliban used civilians. They had civilians with them.

Including a little girl.

Are the Afghans good shots?

No.

Do they have the kind of weapon to pull off a shot like that

at the range of 600 metres?

No.

If she had been shot by an ANA soldier at that distance,

would the wound look like this?

No.

Who shot her, Captain Cassidy?

That's for Captain Ryan to answer.

I asked Private Bloxham not to tell anyone I had received the order.

I disabled the radio.

I disobeyed the order.

Why?

We had to go out.

Because of the siege and the death of the little girl?

Stop calling her that. She's got a name.

She had a name.

What was her name?

It was a sniper, wasn't it?

Were there any ANA snipers?

British snipers?

Two.

You?

Private Rivers.

It was his life, the army.

I knew what he felt about the job we were doing.

He believed we were making a difference in Afghanistan.

I didn't want his parents or anyone else to think of him

as anything other than a brave soldier.

Because he was.

Why would anyone think he wasn't?

After the siege was over,

the Taliban retreated when the air support finally arrived,

and there were two civilians still out there.

They weren't going anywhere

and they didn't care about the planes, or us, or anything.

They brought her in.

The father carried her, the mother was next to him.

It's a long walk, 600 metres.

Her name was Atefa Bashir.

She died in my arms.

They thought we could help.

We couldn't.

I couldn't.

I'm sorry.

Was it Private Rivers?

There was so much incoming fire.

We couldn't shoot back because the civilians were...

One shot.

That was all.

He couldn't stop himself.

From then on, he was traumatized.

If you were suffering from combat stress,

surely it would be obvious to the people living alongside him,

wouldn't it?

Sergeant Major Pierce.

Private Bloxham.

Bravado. Jokes. The film. That was him hiding it.

That's what he did.

That's what we do.

Tell me about the day Private Rivers died.

It was dusk, and Private Rivers saw them.

Saw who?

Afghan civilians.

Out where they had no reason to be at that time.

He came to me and he told me...

"It's happening again," he said.

He was sure the ANA were giving information to the enemy

and he was ranting about which one it might be.

And what did you do?

I took a look.

Private Rivers was next to me.

And?

I couldn't see them.

He was shaking and...

I tried to talk to him,

but he was just crying and pointing.

At what?

He said she was coming.

She?

-Atefa.

-But?

He was reliving it.

He was back in the moment when she was shot.

That's what happens.

He was condemned to shooting a small child over and over again,

and nobody could see that.

Nobody?

I believed the Taliban were coming.

If we stayed put, we'd be defending the base with 12 men

and Private Rivers, who was...

When a soldier cracks up, it's impossible for everyone.

Everything he was doing was completely unpredictable.

I knew that if we didn't go out...

HE SIGHS

It's the last thing they tell you when you leave Sandhurst.

"Love your men."

I love my men.

It was my decision.

He's dead because of me.

Leave him alone.

You leave him alone.

Mr President,

have you reached a verdict upon which you are all agreed?

Yes.

Do you find the defendant guilty or not guilty of disobeying an order?

Guilty.

When an officer disobeys an order,

it has long-lasting effects

on the men he commands, the men who must have absolute trust in him.

You have broken the trust between you and your men.

It is up to this court to decide

whether we should send you to prison and discharge you from the army.

We all believe that your loyalty to your men is not in question.

But we cannot forget that your actions in disobeying

an order led to the death of one of your soldiers

and deprived a mother and a father of their son.

This is something I know you will have to live with

for the rest of your life.

Captain Ryan,

you will receive a severe reprimand

and a loss of seniority.

We hope that you will be able to come to terms with what happened.

We also hope that you will continue your service...

..and continue to display the courage

that you have shown on the battlefield and in this courtroom.

I think we should go back to our lives.

Jody Farr's been arrested and charged.

Conspiracy to import heroin.

They're putting him as the number one.

So who do you want?

There are two silks at Shoe Lane.

Mister Mellifluous is representing the courier.

So why do you want her?

Anyone who goes toe to toe with me and spits in my eye

is my kind of brief.

INAUDIBLE CHATTER

LAUGHTER

Grandad?

It's Martha...

No, no, no, no, no, I just fancied a chat. Yeah!

How are you?

No, I'm good.

No, no, I'm not married yet.

Cheeky! Yeah.

What are you doing in Oxford, Clive?

Sexual assault.

You do this once and once only.

You stay out of Miss Duggan's downstairs.

-You're a very dangerous woman.

-You have no idea.

The business in the toilet.

There was nobody with me at any stage doing anything.

When you extinguish hope, there's nothing.

And when there's nothing, well, we'd better all watch out.

I thought you might need help.

We're both interested in seeing these boys go down.

Non-disclosure of evidence is as serious as it gets.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd