Another one who’d thought she could get away with it but hadn’t been smart enough to. He often thought that plain stupidity was the reason that most of them ended up in here. He imagined that she’d probably stolen the money and immediately gone out and bought a Porsche, which she’d then driven to work the next day. And then wondered why she’d got caught.

He scanned over the adjudication sheet in front of him, which contained the set of standard questions that he was required to recite by law. He had conducted so many adjudications that he knew the questions off by heart without any real need to look at the piece of paper.

‘Have you received the form DIS1?’ he asked.

That was the nicking sheet.

She nodded.

‘Have you received the form DIS2?’

That was a record of how the hearing would progress.

She nodded.

‘I’m now going to read out the charge,’ he said.

She nodded.

He sighed to himself. So far she hadn’t said a single word. She must have been terrible in court. One more reason that she’d ended up in prison.

He cleared his throat. ‘The charge is one of reckless behaviour and attempted endangerment of your life. According to Shelley, it seems that you were playing some kind of silly game. She’s under the impression that you were trying to pull a “fast one” on her. She says you told her that you saw some inmates selling drugs, but then you proceeded to jump off the balcony, much to the amusement of everyone who was there.’

He looked up at her.

‘Is that correct?’

She nodded.

‘Do you want legal advice or help during the hearing before we proceed any further?’

She shook her head.

‘Have you had time to think about what you want to tell me and prepare a defence?’

She nodded.

‘Will you be calling any witnesses?’

She shook her head.

‘How do you plead? Guilty or not guilty?’

‘I just haven’t been myself since I’ve got in here,’ she said.

Finally. She was speaking. He smiled.

‘Guilty or not guilty?’ he repeated gently but firmly.

‘Not guilty.’

He made a note on the adjudication paper.

Now that the boring questions and procedure were out of the way, he would give her the talk that he gave them all, especially if it was their first adjudication.

‘Look, I understand that things can be difficult in here and I want you to know that I want the best for you. I’m not the hang ’em and flog ’em type. I have an open-door policy, which means that you can request to come and see me in my office any time, within reason, to discuss anything that might be on your mind. Office hours, Monday to Friday.’

She nodded, disinterested.

He sighed and continued, ‘I believe that all of you deserve a second chance. I know that many of you didn’t have the right opportunities to start with or you may have made bad life choices for whatever reason.’ He didn’t mention plain stupidity.