A verdict | Lucky Boy update

**Chloe Hadjimatheou** (0:04)
Tortoise Investigates.

**Gary Marshall** (0:12)
Hi, Chloe.

**Chloe Hadjimatheou** (0:13)
Can you hear me?

**Gary Marshall** (0:14)
I can hear you.

**Chloe Hadjimatheou** (0:16)
What happened?
We've got a verdict. It took six hours and 29 minutes of deliberation.

**Gary Marshall** (0:23)
Right.

**Chloe Hadjimatheou** (0:24)
They didn't reach a unanimous verdict. They reached a majority verdict of 10 to two.

**Gary Marshall** (0:29)
Okay. And this, you've just found this out?

**Chloe Hadjimatheou** (0:33)
I've just walked out of courtroom floor right now and stepped aside to call you.

**Gary Marshall** (0:38)
Okay. And what was the majority verdict?

**Chloe Hadjimatheou** (0:42)
Sally Anne Bowen is guilty of all seven counts.

**Gary Marshall** (0:49)
Okay.

**Chloe Hadjimatheou** (0:49)
She's guilty of all seven counts of indecent assault on a child under the age of 16 All seven counts.
Both Gareth and Sanjay.

**Gary Marshall** (1:03)
Does Gareth know yet?

**Chloe Hadjimatheou** (1:05)
I texted him and he just replied yes with lots of S's and then said, tell me again. And so I told him again, guilty.
He's obviously incredibly relieved. Yeah, I'm sure. But I'm going to call him soon.

**Gary Marshall** (1:21)
Okay.

**Chloe Hadjimatheou** (1:23)
Sally Anne Bowen was asked to stand by the judge and she was told that as a result of these verdicts, she is now going to be put on the Sex Offenders Register.
She needs to go straight to the probation service where she'll be interviewed and probation will recommend a sentence. The judge said the fact that he was releasing her on bail was no indication of what her sentence would be and that all options remain open, including a custodial sentence.

**Gary Marshall** (1:53)
Really?

**Chloe Hadjimatheou** (1:54)
She showed no emotion. It was quite...
I felt emotional and she just showed nothing. Nothing. Her face was absolutely blank.

**Gary Marshall** (2:05)
I think it's worth going back to the start of this. And the reason that Gareth got in touch with you was because he wanted some form of justice and it's been a...

**Chloe Hadjimatheou** (2:16)
It's been a mad emotional roller coaster for him.
You know, the reason that he first got in touch with me was because he felt that he was being gaslit for years because he knew what happened between him and Sally Anne Bowen. And that's why he came to me in the first place, because he wasn't getting traction with a legal case. And so my investigation ended up throwing up fresh witnesses, another alleged victim and a key witness that was used by the prosecution. And that has ended up with this guilty verdict, which for him I think will be an incredible relief that finally his truth has been proven, that he's been vindicated. This really did happen. Sally Anne Bowen really did have sex with him when he was 14 years old.

**Gary Marshall** (3:10)
And just to put that in perspective, he's now in his 50s.

**Chloe Hadjimatheou** (3:15)
He's now 53 years old. But in the end, it looks like jury trials really do work, especially because during the process of this trial, with all the media attention it's got, new people have come forward.

**Gary Marshall** (3:32)
And that's what you want to look into now?

**Chloe Hadjimatheou** (3:34)
That's where my investigation is going next. I'm gonna have to go.

**Gary Marshall** (3:38)
Okay.
Hello, it's Gary here. While Chloe and me work on a new episode of Lucky Boy, you can listen to the original series here in the Tortoise Investigates feed. Episode one is available for everyone to listen to and to get the full series, you can become a subscriber to The Observer wherever you're listening to this. Thank you.