BORN KILLER – SHOOTING SCRIPT

S01 – E05: THE TRIAL

ROBERT BARNES (Amy’s father): ‘I wanted to kill him. Sorry, I know I shouldn’t say things like that, but that’s how it felt. I wanted to be shut in a room with him for five minutes … I know he was a big lad, bigger than I am, but if I’d have got my hands on him …’

ARCHIVE NEWS FOOTAGE: An explosion of camera flashes as a police van nudges its way through a booing crowd as it arrives at court. People hammer on the side of the van with their fists. There are shouts of ‘Murderer!’, ‘Scumbag!’

ELAINE BARNES (Amy’s mother): ‘Rob was a typical dad. He always said nobody would ever be good enough for his little girl. But I told him we should give Connor a chance, try to get to him know a bit. Otherwise, we’d end up pushing her away. We knew he had a reputation, but Amy said he was trying to turn things around, so we agreed they could go out, so long as we met him first. So, we invited him over for dinner.’

ROBERT BARNES: (Looks down, shakes his head. Says nothing.)

ELAINE BARNES: ‘We were quite impressed. He arrived on time, and he brought flowers. He was polite, well mannered, all “Yes please, Mrs Barnes. No thank you, Mrs Barnes.” And I remember thinking that perhaps we’d been too hasty, that we’d misjudged him. I’ve always thought people deserve second chances, that they should be given the benefit of the doubt.’

ROBERT BARNES: ‘He sat at my table, in my kitchen. Ate food off my plates, drank from my glasses. He laughed and joked and pretended he had nothing but good intentions. Then, six months later, he murdered my daughter.’

DS JOHN DALTON: ‘In the end, the evidence was overwhelming. A neighbour saw Amy leaving her house on the night in question, carrying a small canvas shoulder bag. That bag was later found in Connor’s room, hidden at the back of his wardrobe, with her asthma medication inside it. Clearly, they met up that night, and whatever happened between them led to her ending up in that well.’