I’m Billy and you”re not going to believe the predicament I’m in. It all began A week after I started uni I was heavily in debt, and under a lot of pressure from my parents. They had just got divorced and the courts said that I was only allowed to live with my mum because my dad had previously been sent to jail. My mum had been made redundant because she had just given birth to my brother Matthew, and fell ill. My piece of dirt dad was supposed to support us, but he didn’t fork out any money us. So with what little money I earned I had to keep my family.
On the way to uni I normally stopped in Aldays to buy my lunch, and that day was no exception. I went up to the till to pay for my stuff, when I noticed a small piece of paper,
which was all scrupled in a ball. So I unravelled it and at the top it said” 57,12,15,37.” It was the combination to a safe. I thought oh great I’ll get out of debt easy with this piece of paper. I was so excited I forgot to buy my lunch and went to uni without it .
After lectures had finished I went back to Aldays and I went round the back, hoping to find a back entrance to Aldays. The street was more like a back alley it was dark, dingy and narrow. It really must have been my lucky day as the back door to Aldays was swinging open in the wind. When I walked past the door, I could see that there was no one in the back room. Before I stepped in I thought ” I hope the safe isn’t hard to find.” so I walked in. The room was really well
lit , with boxes of stuff piled high , bundles of old newspapers and beside them was a safe. I crept up to the safe and started putting in the combination 57,……12,…….15……and 37. Suddenly the safe gave out a tremendous click and it opened. Inside there was several bags filled with different amounts of money inside them. As quickly as I could I shoved them into my bag. SLAM! The door to the shop opened. I was in such a panic that I banged the safe door shut and darted behind a pile of boxes. I peeked over the boxes and two men walked in. One of them was crying with anger, and the other had an innocent look on his face. In an angry but tearful voice one of them said “Why?……Why Did you sleep with my wife?” In a sobbing voice
the other guy said “It just… well….happened. I was drunk. She was drunk. We didn’t want it to happen.”
” I thought you were my best friend….I wish you were dead.” Then he punched the cabinet and steamed out! The other guy went to follow but he tripped over the cabinet and it came down on him with an almighty crash. I thought “I better get out of here before the other man comes back.” So I ran out of the back door and emerged into the street. I walked away slowly so I didn’t look suspicious. It was easy getting home because there was no trouble from any body. When I got home I went straight to my room to hide the money.
I thought nothing else of it until the next day when my mum turned over
to the news, there was a story about a murder in the Aldays where I had stolen the money. The first thing that came into my head was, “Murder there wasn’t a murder, the guy accidentally killed himself.” Then it said the victims name was Jamie Knight and the suspected killer was David Jones. It showed pictures of the men that I saw in Aldays. The reporter went on to say “Jamie Knight was crushed to death when a cabinet was pushed on top of him. David Jones’s finger prints were found on the cabinet so the police are treating the death as suspicious.” I thought that must have been from when he punched it. The reporter finished it with ” The court case for this tragedy will be heard on October the 4th.”
This was eating me up inside because I and only I knew the truth, and I was the only one who could do something about it. What happened the next day made it worse I got a letter from the council saying I was to do jury service in the week starting October 4th That meant I had to be on jury for that murder case talk about a twist of luck.
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Its now October the third and all I’ve been able to think about for the last few weeks has been. the murder case Am I going to prove David’s Innocence by telling them what I saw. If I do that I will get put in jail and I would ruin my future, wreck mum’s life, and god knows what Matthew would think of me.
Or I could not say anything and hope that the other jury members think he’s not guilty. And now you can see what a serious the predicament I’m in .
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Now it’s the big day and I”m sitting in the jury box. All these people came up to give evidence and all I could think about was “I’ll go next I’ll go next.” The people were coming up one by one. then I was just too scared to stand forward so I just wrote not guilty on my card and hope for the best. then one of the jury members took our cards and gave them to the judge. Then in a deep voice the judge said “We find the defendant.” All that was going through my head was the words not guilty. After
what seemed an eternity the judge said “guilty, and I sentence you to life imprisonment. ” There was a huge cry from the defendant side of the court. I was distraught, how could I ruin other peoples lives like that. When I was walking home all I kept saying to myself was ” How could I have been so selfish I’ve ruined people lives and for what. A few months in jail at best.”
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To Mum
This diary explains everything. I’m sorry mum I didn’t mean to hurt you and Matthew. I’m so sorry. When Matthew grows up tell him I love him. I love you mum
Billy
