Roger Sumption QC for the Crown Prosecution Service
Ms. Hardcastle, you run Sunshine Start, is that correct?
Elaine Hardcastle
Yes.
Roger Sumption QC
Could you describe what you do?
Elaine Hardcastle
We provide temporary care for children until they can be placed with a foster family or adopted.
Roger Sumption QC
Can you explain how you first encountered the defendant?
Elaine Hardcastle
Mr. Elmys was going to adopt Elliot Asha. Well, he did, but when I first met him, he was still going through the legal formalities.
Roger Sumption QC
I believe you told the police there was something odd about Mr. Elmys’s behavior on the day he came to collect Elliot.
Elaine Hardcastle
Yes.
Roger Sumption QC
Can you elaborate? Tell us about it for the benefit of the jury.
Elaine Hardcastle
It was last August. I remember because we were planning our annual sunshine holiday. It’s a little treat we give the children at the end of every summer, sort of to make up for them not going away like they might if they were with family. I was sad Elliot was leaving us and missing it but pleased he had a new home. Well, an old home.
Roger Sumption QC
Can you explain?
Elaine Hardcastle
David and Elizabeth Asha had made Mr. Elmys trustee of their estate and Elliot’s guardian. Elliot was going back to the family home to live with Mr. Elmys.
Roger Sumption QC
And how did he seem to you that day?
Elaine Hardcastle
Elliot? He was sad. At least to begin with.
Roger Sumption QC
And Mr. Elmys?
Elaine Hardcastle
I, well, we met in my office. I like to give new guardians the opportunity to ask questions while I’m doing final checks.
Roger Sumption QC
Did Mr. Elmys ask any questions?
Elaine Hardcastle
No. He just watched me going over the paperwork. He seemed distracted.
Grace Oyewole QC for the defendant
My Lord, as someone might be if they were suddenly responsible for a child.
Justice Thomas
Indeed.
Elaine Hardcastle
That’s true. A lot of people who adopt struggle with the responsibility. But this was different. Am I, I mean, I hope it’s not untoward or anything, but Mr. Elmys seemed troubled.
Grace Oyewole QC for the defendant
My Lord.
Justice Thomas
Please keep to your recollection of events, Mrs. Hardcastle. You’re not qualified to give opinions on Mr. Elmys’s frame of mind.
Roger Sumption QC
What happened then?
Elaine Hardcastle
I asked Mr. Elmys to stay in the welcome room. It’s a play space we use to acclimatize children to their new families. I left him there and went to fetch Elliot, who was with Stephanie Cliffe, one of our counselors. She was observing him interact with other children. Or rather not interact. His parents’ deaths had hit him hard. Is it okay to say that? I mean, it’s my opinion, but it’s based on decades of working with children.
He was sitting apart, like he did every day, staring out of the window at the old oak tree that grows just beside the residential wing. Whenever I’d ask him what he was doing, why he was daydreaming rather than playing, he’d say he was counting souls. Each leaf was a person. One day they’d start to fall, and by winter they’d all be gone. I thought it was a very strange way for a ten-year-old child to look at the world.
Anyway, I found him by the window, and Steph and I took him to the welcome room. It was very distressing.
Roger Sumption QC
Why?
Elaine Hardcastle
He was crying. Fighting with us both. We don’t use physical restraint at Sunshine, but this was as close as I’d ever come to having to do so.
Roger Sumption QC
Would you say he was afraid of Mr. Elmys?
Grace Oyewole QC
I hesitate to rise, but my learned friend knows the rules. Can I ask that he stick to them so that I do not have to address my Lord further?
Roger Sumption QC
Then I will ask a different question. Did you get Elliot to the welcome room?
Elaine Hardcastle
Yes.
Roger Sumption QC
What happened then?
Elaine Hardcastle
He ran away from us and went into the corner. He was very upset. He sat with his back to us, but I think he was crying. I asked him to come and say hello to Mr. Elmys, but he ignored me. I reminded him Mr. Elmys was one of his parents’ oldest friends. “They wouldn’t have left you in his care if they didn’t think he was a good man,” I told him, but he stayed put.
Roger Sumption QC
What did Mr. Elmys do?
Elaine Hardcastle
When I looked at him, I thought he was crying, but he caught my eye and turned away, so I can’t be sure. These are emotional experiences. Big rocks.
Roger Sumption QC
Excuse me?
Elaine Hardcastle
It’s what I tell the children. When you go to the beach, it’s mostly pebbles, but occasionally there will be one or two big rocks you have to climb over. Just like life. Most days are pebbles, but every so often you’ll hit a big rock. Adoption is a big rock. A murder trial is another big rock.
Roger Sumption QC
Quite. Going back to that day, Mrs. Hardcastle, what happened next?
Elaine Hardcastle
Elliot was shuddering and shaking. He was very upset. I told Mr. Elmys we would have to try another day if we couldn’t calm him down. I was about to go to the boy, when Mr. Elmys asked if he could try. I wasn’t sure it was a good idea, but Mr. Elmys was already on his way. He crouched beside Elliot and spoke to him.
Roger Sumption QC
Could you hear what he was saying?
Elaine Hardcastle
No. He wasn’t whispering exactly, just speaking softly. After a short while, Mr. Elmys stood. I thought he’d failed and was about to go over, but Elliot got up and turned around. He wiped his tears and then took Mr. Elmys’s hand. Steph and I were blown away. I’d never seen anything like it. The boy was transformed. He seemed calm, happy almost.
“How did you do that? What did you say?” I asked Mr. Elmys. I’ve worked with hundreds of children and I was stunned.
Roger Sumption QC
And what was the defendant’s reply?
Elaine Hardcastle
“We made a deal, didn’t we, Elliot?” And he looked down at the boy, who nodded. The two of them smiled.
Roger Sumption QC
Did you ever learn the nature of this deal?
Elaine Hardcastle
No.
Roger Sumption QC
So, it was secret?
Elaine Hardcastle
Yes. It was secret.