Shattered Perfection

Forty Nine

The day came for sentencing. Vivian and Siobhan woke curled round each other as usual, their legs entwined and Siobhan's head tucked under Vivian's chin. Vivian's arm around her and Siobhan's fingers through Vivian's hair. For a moment, they didn't move just enjoying each other's company. Eventually, the pad of small feet made their way down the corridor. Their bedroom door creaked open and a tousled dark-haired Jamie bounced in. He climbed on the bed and squeezed his way between them.

'Good morning little man,' Vivian said.

'Mama,' he said throwing his arms around her neck. Siobhan kissed the back of his head.

'Morning my love,' she said. He squirmed around and hugged her, kissing her cheek.

'Mummy, hungry.'

'You're hungry?' Asked Vivian, he nodded. 'Well we'd better get up then.' She said grinning.

They got dressed and ate quickly. After dropping him at nursery they drove to the court house. Vivian dressed in a smart navy suit, white shirt with large white collar and pointed shoes with a small heel. Siobhan had a knee length black pencil skirt, a fitted blazer and cream top. They met the others outside the court house and made their way in together. Reece and Autumn looked serious, conflicted as it is their father but also knowing the type of man he was. Charlotte accompanied Mia, keeping a firm grip on her hand.

The wait for the judge seemed indefinite. Eventually, they brought out Janice and Roger. The change in Roger was drastic, he'd lost weight, his moustache looked unkempt and he looked like he had aged quite a lot. Janice was still immaculate. But the worry lines were visible on her face. Karma was about to bite her on the arse.

They stood for the judge and everyone waited with baited breath. Taking a deep breath, the judge began.

'Thank you for all attending here today. We will hear the sentence of both defendants. Firstly, do any of your clients want to read out their impact statements?' she asked their lawyer. Reece nodded and stood. They had decided that he would read out their statement. Siobhan had decided not to write a statement due to Roger's obsession with her. Reece cleared his throat.

'I read this on behalf of Autumn, Mia and myself. As a father, your job was to protect and guide us. You failed. Your actions and words were destructive, manipulative and abusive. You will never appreciate what you did to us as children, at a time when you should have supported and protected us, you chose to plot to make us turn on each other so we were isolated and alone. The abuse has left us scared and damaged, which we are still dealing with today. To discover that our childhood was funded by drugs is devastating. We are pleased that you are finally facing the consequence of your actions and we hope that over the years you will come to realise the error of your ways.'

Reece stopped and nodded to the judge who thanked him. He returned to his seat and put his arm around Marjorie who kissed his cheek. He looked at Autumn and Mia who both nodded at him in thanks. Roger sat without comment although the back of his neck was bright red, usually an indicator that he was angry and about to blow up.

The judge read out the crimes by which they had been found guilty. She straightened in her chair to read out the sentencing.

'Roger Knight, you have been found guilty of coercive control and you will receive the maximum sentence of five years. You have also been found guilty of physical abuse, for this you will receive a life sentence. You have been found guilty of sexual abuse, sexual attack and rape, this also carries a life sentence. You have been found guilty on drug trafficking and money laundering. This also carries a life sentence. These sentences will be served consecutively. You will also be placed on the sex offenders register for life. Your assets will be seized as proceeds of crime and you will pay significant compensation to each of the defendants.' There was a buzz across the court room. The judge banged her gavel bringing the room to order. She moved on to Janice, listing her crimes but Siobhan couldn't hear what she said. Her heart was pounding in her ears. She turned a shocked face to Vivian who was also surprised. He had been given the maximum sentence possible. Before she knew it the judge was banging her gavel again after reading Janice's sentencing. Siobhan had missed it thinking about Roger.

'What happened?' she asked turning to Vivian.

'He's not coming out Bon Bon,' Viv said with a smile on her face. 'And neither is she!'

'What did she get?' Siobhan said still confused. Vivian looked sympathetic.

'Did you zone out?' Siobhan nodded.

'She got a total of five life sentences. They have broken up a huge international drug syndicate and she said the court takes a dim view on it all hence the heavy penalties.'

Siobhan nodded again, dumbstruck. The judge dismissed the court and everyone rose to their feet. Siobhan looked at the others, they looked as shell shocked as she felt.

All of a sudden, the court was emptying. Everyone was filing out. She had even missed Roger and Janice being taken down to the cells. She gave her head a little shake before turning to Viv.

'Shall we have everyone back to our house for a celebration?' Siobhan said, Viv nodded. Mia was stood staring into nothingness. Siobhan touched her elbow.

'It's over,' she said softly. 'You don't have to run anymore.'

Mia looked at her with tears running down her face. 'He's gone?' she whispered. Siobhan nodded. Mia threw her arms round Siobhan and sobbed into her shoulder. Charlotte looked stricken. Siobhan hugged Mia before passing her on to Charlotte who gathered her into a hug

They all made their way back to Vivian's house. As they stood in the kitchen with glasses of wine they all looked at each other in shock. It was over. Roger and Janice were not going to bother them for a long, long time. Reece had his arm around Marjorie, Mia and Charlotte were leaning on each other, Autumn and Winter were stood close to each other and Vivian had an arm around Siobhan's waist. Finally, Autumn broke the silence.

'Thank goodness for that.' She said. The chuckling started with Reece but soon spread to them all. They laughed until tears rolled down their cheeks. The party they had lasted long into the night.