It's All So Beautiful *Roger Taylor Fanfic*

It's Nothing But A Crime Of Passion

A few days had passed and although Roger and I were supposed to be trying for a baby, all either of us could think about was this stupid hearing and what Ben was going to do next.

When we went to bed every night, we both just sighed and turned around, barely saying goodnight to each other and just trying to get to sleep. But it didn't come easy.

I would have done anything to go back to the way things were before Ben came along and ruined everything, like he always did.

The only good thing to come out of this was that Roger and Brian were calling each other quite frequently, finally. They weren't the same when they weren't friends.

I tried to think of what I was going to say, I made sure I would make the judge and jury feel as much pity and guilt as they could for even considering letting Ben out on the streets again.

Brian told me he was writing a song that was loosely based on our experience with Ben being released from prison, but was inspired by the death of John Lennon last year.

I was getting so worried and I didn't want to go through with this hearing. It was a few years ago, but the emotions were still raw; we weren't over it yet.

The hearing got closer and closer, until finally it came and I woke up that morning with a pit in my stomach and I just got a feeling that we were going to lose this and he would be released.

Roger and I drove to the courthouse after dropping Elly, Aidan and Luke to Sharon's house.

We walked in the front door, Roger gripping my hand tightly.

There was a man in a suit waiting for us at the desk.

"Mr and Mrs Taylor, good afternoon, I'm Ben Smith's representative." He said, shaking our hands.

"Is Ben not here?" Roger asked.

"No, he is, he just wanted someone to represent him, seeing as you two have each other and Ben has no one."

"Of course." I smiled, gritting my teeth.

"This way, folks." Ben's representative told us and the judge was waiting for us down the hall.

"This will be over fairly quickly, we just need a statement from both of you and then you have the option to leave. You can stay if you want, to find out the decision but it can become quite heated and emotional for some people so feel free to be excused." He told us.

"Sorry, your honour, but I was doing some research and I found that people charged with murder shouldn't be offered parole until 15 years after their original sentencing. Why is Ben being offered it now?" I asked.

"Well, based on the incident that occurred, there was no hard evidence and it was a very close vote in the jury. Ben's behaviour in prison was outstanding as well."

And then he was gone, us following him down a long hallway to where the hearing would take place.

Roger took my hand again and squeezed it.

He brought us into a room, not a court room, with a big circular table in the middle with members of the Parole Board sitting at it.

Roger and I took a seat across from them and waited for Ben to arrive.

Finally, he did and I tensed a little.

Once all the Parole Panel managers had introduced everyone, the judge asked me and Roger to read out our personal statements as we were the "victims" of Ben's crime.

I stood up, pulled a piece of paper out of my pocket and cleared my throat.

"When Ben killed my child a few years ago I was absolutely devastated and I felt like my family had been torn apart. My other children were very young but still traumatised that a man that we had welcomed into our house had done such a thing. Since then, I have found it very difficult to move on from the events that took place. We haven't had any more children because of the fear for their life and our protection of our children now has increased dramatically. If Ben is released from prison, it will cause havoc in our family once again and we will constantly live in fear. I just want to protect my children."

The board managers nodded and I sat down and Roger stood up.

"Like my wife said, the death of Eoin was extremely scarring and traumatising for both us and our young children. Since then, things haven't been the same in our house, our children won't trust anyone and neither will we. It's difficult for us to think into the future because of what happened. Releasing Ben will have significant physiological consequences for us and our children."

He sat down and the board managers went over Ben's time in prison and what happened at the accident.

"....the murder of Eoin Taylor, which took place a number of years ago. As we have heard the family was significantly affected by these actions, however based on Ben Smith's behaviour in prison and positive attitude, mental help from counsellors, the Board has agreed that releasing the offender is the fairest option which has been earned by him."

I immediately broke down in tears and put my head in my hands. Roger picked me up from the chair as I was in hysterics, and he dragged me out into the hallway.

Once we got out there and closed the door, Roger pulled me into his arms and kissed my head, shushing me as I sobbed and sobbed.

I felt my whole world fall apart and knew the constant worry for my family's life would soon arise again.