Innocent

Seven years ago, I was sent to prison

for something that I did not do. I lost my liberty.

And most importantly, I lost my kids.

They are not his kids. He gave up that right when he killed their mother.

God. You have such a fixed view of everything! The case. Tara. This!

I'm so sorry.

I want you to investigate this case as if she were killed yesterday.

But there are some gaps.

Were you just screwing my wife?

Or did you kill her too?

Have you seen Jack?

What if he's taken him?

Oh, my God.

- He's just in town. He'll be back any time now. - I'm sorry, sir. - It's his dad.

Why are you taking me? I don't understand what the problem is.

Get in the car, son.

- I haven't done anything wrong. Jack? I just want to see my dad. - Mind your head.

Jack!

No. No. No. No.

Wait! Wait, please! Jack! No. No. That's my son! Jack! Jack!

I know this is a really confusing time for you.

I understand how difficult it's been for you. You cannot go running off like that, sweetheart.

- Seriously, you frightened Rosie half to death. You frightened me... - I'm fine. - Yeah, of course you are.

And we know you're not a child any more. But we love you and we worry. That's all Mum's saying.

Alice.

Jack, listen, we've got no idea what the next few weeks are going to be like.

He's my dad. I know. And if I want to see him, you can't stop me.

Jack. Jack!

- You should have called me, Phil. - I did. Several times.

I let him in. But then Alice must have called the police, cos they turned up a couple of minutes later.

I'm his dad. What do they think I'm going to do to him? I'm his dad!

Did he say anything? What did he say?

Well, not a lot, just... just that he wanted to see you.

I missed him.

- David Collins is a sick man. I don't know how many more ways I can say it. - He was your best friend.

Well, right up until he beat his wife to death and dumped her body in a lake.

Look. They may have let him out, but we all know he did it.

And anything he says now, any accusations he makes are just the delusions of a guilty man.

Trust me.

- What if Wilson calls the police? - I didn't touch him, Phil.

- Yeah, but you thought about it. - He was sleeping with my wife.

- My best friend was sleeping with my wife. - Dave.

Something happened, I'm not sure what. But he killed her.

- We've been through this. - He killed her.

- We've been through this a million times. - He framed me to cover his tracks.

You have absolutely no proof of that, not a single shred of evidence.

- No... - And I didn't spend seven years campaigning to get you out, so that you can chase shadows.

You...

Think of Jack. And Rosie. Right? They have to be your priority now.

And let the police deal with Tom Wilson.

Come with me. Come on.

Look forwards, mate. Not back.

Cause of death was a single blow to the head.

The shape of the wound suggests we're probably talking about some kind of hammer.

The lake was dragged repeatedly, but no weapon was ever found.

So, Tara was placed in a sleeping bag, and then wrapped in a tarpaulin,

which was secured at both ends with a distinctive knot called a butterfly knot.

This one here.

And she'd probably still be down there if a diving club hadn't found her.

So, this was... this was a meticulous job. And whoever did it, was cold, calm and collected.

Jack wants to meet David and obviously we're very concerned for his welfare.

We're also worried about the effect it'll have on Rosie.

So, we need to know which side the judge is likely to come down on.

We both feel that it's not in the kids' best interests to have any contact.

Well, Jack is nearly 16, so who he chooses to meet is not a matter for the courts.

And as for Rosie, Mr Collins has a right to see her.

I received an Application For Contact from his solicitor this morning.

Well, we'll contest it.

Well, you can. But I would strongly counsel you against it.

The courts take a dim view of that and in extreme circumstances,

can reverse custody in favour of the father,

if he demonstrates a more constructive attitude.

Look, instead of saying a blanket "no", we'll say a "not now".

We'll argue that Rosie's distress is such that she needs a period of three months or more,

before any formal contact is made.

Look, I know this isn't what you wanted to hear, but I'm just giving you the facts.

This process has started now and, I'm afraid, there's very little you can do to stop it.

The application only takes two to three weeks, but the Moffats may try to delay things,

in which case you could be looking at three to six months.

- Sorry? I'm not allowed to see my daughter for six months? - Worst case scenario. - Six months?!

Be under no illusions, you're at the start of a long road.

Even when contact is granted, you won't be allowed unfettered access.

Initial meetings with Rosie will last no longer than an hour,

supervised by a court-appointed volunteer.

- So, I have to prove to a bunch of strangers that I'm a fit dad? - Basically, yes.

Could you do that, Mike? Could you do that? Could you audition to be your kids' dad?

In your position, yes, I could.

If you can find the patience,

there is nothing to stop you having a full relationship with both your children in time.

In the meantime, there's no restrictions at all on non-physical contact.

Twitter, Skype, Facebook.

If I were you, I'd start there.

In a previous statement, you said that you met your sister at a local brasserie that night.

- Yeah, for a drink, yeah. - And that you spent a pleasant evening together.

- And that you parted on good terms. - Yeah.

OK. It's just that we now have a witness who insists that, far from being a friendly drink,

the atmosphere between you became increasingly hostile during the evening.

And ended with you assaulting Tara.

No. No, that is absolutely not true.

She said you grabbed her by the throat and pushed her against a wall.

No. No. No. I would never do that. No.

Who the hell is this witness anyway? This is the first we've ever heard of her.

We are looking into why this evidence wasn't presented to you before.

Right now, we're treating it as credible.

She might think that's what she saw but I'm telling you now, that's not what happened.

Like I've said before, Tara wanted to talk about her marriage.

You said in your original statement that she was thinking of leaving her husband.

Yeah. She hadn't loved him for some time. She felt like the marriage had run its course.

But she was frightened about leaving because of the effect that it would have on the kids.

She felt very trapped. And that night, she needed someone to talk to.

You know, to let off steam with.

She cried. I cried.

You know, we both had a bit to drink. Things got quite emotional

because I felt that she actually had to leave him.

Because it wasn't fair to subject the kids to a toxic marriage.

And then, the end of the night, I gave her a big hug. Maybe that's what your witness saw.

But I can categorically tell you that I did not push my sister anywhere.

What I can also tell you about what you already know, is that David Collins beat my sister

throughout their marriage.

He put her in hospital three months before she died. He had her blood on his jacket when he was arrested.

So, please, seriously, you know, for all our sakes, you do your job.

And you prove that he murdered my sister.

Excuse me.

There's no need to worry. All that's happened is that your dad has made a formal request to see you.

Nothing will happen straightaway. Ultimately, it is up to you two how little or often you see him.

The law is there to protect you. To protect us.

Yeah, your dad's indicated that he'd like to see you as soon as possible.

But we feel it's best if we wait a little while. Till everything settles down a bit, you know?

We're going to suggest that nothing happens for the next three months or so.

Now, let's get to the end of term

and then we were thinking that we'd go away somewhere fun. Maybe, New York?

What do you think?

Yep.

I've got a confession to make.

The estate agent said there had already been loads of interest,

and I knew you were snowed under, so I went and saw it on my own.

I know, I know, but it's perfect.

There's three big bedrooms, there's a huge garden. Plenty of room for a trampoline.

And I really think if we move quickly we could snag it.

So, what do you reckon?

Yeah, sounds great. Just, I thought you didn't want to rush this.

But I love you. And I want us to be a proper family.

DI Hudson.

'It's David Collins. I'd like to meet.'

Tara was seeing someone else.

A year or so before she died, she went to a book group on Thursday nights.

She hardly read at home, but she never missed a meeting.

And then one day she just suddenly stopped going. She never said why.

And I remember thinking at the time that she seemed really down.

And this was about four or five months before she was murdered.

And this was about the same time that Tom Wilson stopped coming to our house.

- So, you're saying you think it was him she was seeing? - Yeah. Yeah, I am.

- And you think he may have had something to do with her death. - Yes, because he lied.

He lied about what time he left our house.

Did you mention this to the original investigation?

No. No, because I hadn't worked it out, then.

But I had a lot of thinking time after I was convicted.

- Did you ever see them together? - No. No, not like that. No. No.

You didn't find anything incriminating like photos or...? No. No, I didn't... texts or anything?

- I'm sorry. - No, it's all right.

Tell me about your marriage.

Well...

- to start with, it was normal. - We were happy. So, why did she want to leave?

I think in the end she found me... limited.

I think she wanted something more.

Were there rows?

Yeah, of course, yeah. Towards the end. Yeah, we did.

- Did you ever hit her? - No.

No, I have never hit a woman in my life.

Was she going to take the kids? Did you discuss that in the days leading up to her murder?

- I don't remember. - Alice Moffatt described your marriage as "toxic".

- She said you beat Tara, you were violent, you were domineering. - Yeah, well, she's lying.

- Why would she do that? - Well, you ask her.

If I were you, I wouldn't believe a single word that that bitch says.

Alice, I'm off to the boatyard.

OK.

- What did Mum say? - She's not happy but I'm still going to see him.

Are you nervous?

A bit.

- What are you going to say to him? - I have no idea.

Look, it's fine. I'm going to be a couple of hours and then I'll be back. All right? I promise.

Come on, let's go.

Thanks for coming.

I nearly didn't. But in the end I couldn't resist.

Does Tom know I'm here? No. Good.

- Can I get you anything? - Shall we cut to the chase, Melissa? I didn't come here for the coffee.

I wanted to ask you about Tom and Tara. David Collins seems convinced that they were having an affair.

And what does Tom say? He denies it. And you have reason to doubt him?

No.

I'm pregnant, Louise. Nearly three months.

- So, if there is anything that you know, anything you can tell me... - Look, it's your life, Melissa.

But if I were you, I would get rid of it.

And get out while you still can.

I want us to have another look at Tara Collins' mugging. She presented at A&E with a broken cheekbone.

She said she'd been attacked in the street. I'm not convinced.

There were only three other assaults reported in Exminster that year. All of them were teen-on-teen crimes.

- You think she was lying? - Well, it was three months before she died.

Maybe she hadn't decided to leave Collins at that point.

Maybe she was covering for him but he was convinced she was having an affair with Tom Wilson.

What was your interview with him like, Steve?