They were done. Now they just had to await the verdict. The judge stood up and so did the rest of the court, and she glanced at Johnny, who reached into his pocket to take a call. She watched his brow knit, then her phone went off too. She glanced around the court at the journos and realised that their phones were buzzing too. Silently vibrating, it would seem, across the packed court. Something serious was happening. Jesus, it didn’t take long, she thought. But, then when she answered the call, she realised with surprise that the news everybody was clamouring to spread was not about the trial at all.

A chopper had come down on a fell race high up on Scafell Pike and the emergency services had been alerted. The whole county, it seemed, was being summoned, and anyone with advanced first aid was on their way up the mountainside, because no ambulance could make it up there, and there was nowhere obvious to land a helicopter except maybe the Col, but that would depend on the weather.

She stood listening to Kate on the other end of the phone, and her eyes met Johnny’s. She knew he was talking to the desk at mountain rescue HQ in Keswick. Given the magnitude of such an accident, they’d be calling everyone they could reach, on or off shift. She read his eyes and he nodded to her.

‘What is it?’ Ted asked.

She held her hand up slightly and indicated that she’d fill him in as soon as she could. The judge left and members of the public gallery began to file out. Only journos and the legal teams stayed behind, and half of those were on phone calls just the same as hers.

‘Somebody videoed it and it’s been uploaded onto YouTube already,’ Kate said.

‘Jesus, casualties?’

‘A lot,’ Kate replied.

‘Who’s been mobilised?’ Kelly asked.

She knew that in any scenario like this, it would be a race to the mountain, given the location of the valley and the inaccessibility. It wasn’t a case of following the rule book and sending a couple of ambulances and a squad car to take statements. They were facing potential huge loss of life and anybody with any kind of relevant training was heading up there as fast as possible. The police would take charge of the multiple agencies who could get onto the mountain, but in the meantime, it was a mess, and someone was needed up there to keep things calm.

‘Surgeons are being flown from the Penrith and Lakes. They’re going to try and land them on the Lingmell Col,’ Kate said.

‘How long ago did it happen?’

‘Twenty minutes. The wreckage is still smoking. Police have been sent from Egremont, Whitehaven and Millom. Lancaster is sending helicopters, mountain rescue have five teams going up.’

Kelly hung up and filled Ted in briefly.