‘Child Y has a mental age of seven or eight at best. She has an elder sister who attends a special-needs school. At present her doctor has her on a dosage of behaviour-modification drugs that is at the upper end of the scale for a child of her weight and age. In my professional opinion, Renee Smith is easily led and eager to please.’ Gerry turned and faced the other accused, daring Kevin Milne to break his act. But Kevin met his eyes, lifted his arm to his mouth and started to chew the end of his sleeve. A wool ball formed in his teeth, saliva ran from the sides of his mouth, and the jurors recoiled back into their seats.

‘And Child X? From what you have uncovered, what is your assessment of Child X?’ asked Limington. His half-moon steel glasses were perched on the end of his nose, one hand was resting on a large pile of leather-bound law books and his free hand was on his kidneys. There was a pained expression on his thin, lined face. He already knew the answer: Sir John did not ask any question to which he did not know the answer.

Gerry didn’t really want to talk about what had made Kevin Milne into the monster he was. It was totally unprofessional, but he disliked the boy intensely. He knew that his background was horrendous, but he also felt that there was something about Milne that would have made him act the way he had, irrespective of whether he had been brought up by nuns. Still, he was here for a reason, and the real Kevin would be revealed soon enough.

‘In the course of my sessions with Kevin, and in conjunction with social work, educational and police reports, there is no doubt that Kevin Milne comes from a dysfunctional background. His mother has had eight children, six of whom have been in care at one time or another. She claims that there are five different fathers involved, but none is mentioned on the birth certificates and we have no way of knowing the paternity of any of the children. There have been no father figures of a positive note in Kevin’s life at any point.’