The past is now firmly in the past

Today marked the end of another particularly harrowing part of WH's and my life and a part which I have never mentioned on here.

Twelve months ago whilst working locally WH's labourer was arrested by armed police and carted off to the local nick for questioning. WH was asked to accompany them. It turned out that this chap was being accused of committing a murder whilst they had been working in another part of the country three weeks previously, at a time when WH had been elsewhere pricing another job.

And there WH's nightmare began. After 3 days in the nick 'helping with enquiries' being let out only to sleep he then became a witness for the prosecution. His van was confiscated along with all his tools so he couldn't work for over a week until they returned them. He also had no builder's mate so had to work alone for a while until he found someone else. Meanwhile I was given the task of sifting through numerous receipts and other paperwork and helping to build a profile of where they had been in connection with work for the best part of 3 months, who they met, where they ate and where they slept, where they bought materials and which shops they had visited. During one of my many calls to WH asking yet another question 'you remember that timber....? I discovered that WH had fallen off a beam in a stone barn. A trip to hospital later, a serious injury to his back, sides and shoulder was revealed. He lost a further couple of weeks off work. He had nightmares and flash backs, he couldn't work out what on earth had happened and how he could have prevented it. "If I wasn't working there, he wouldn't have been there etc etc"

In January WH had to attend a trial, miles away, stay over night and wait all day until 3pm to give evidence. I couldn't go to support him as my Mother had died 2 days previously. The following week there was a verdict, guilty of murder and guilty of rape then an adjournment for sentence.

Today WH had the last bit of news by mail, his former worker has started a double life sentence. We hope we can put it behind us and for WH it means twelve months of waiting and wondering is over. We will never know exactly what happened that day or what caused him to do it in the first place. Frightening to think they had more or less lived along side each other and WH had no inkling at all.

I hope we can now move on.