CASE FOR The Prosecution; THE TRIAL OF TRACY BARLOW She is an accomplished liar... and her so-called eyewitness is a fantasist.

Byline: BRIAN ROBERTS 

THE prosecution opens with details of how womanising builder Charlie Stubbs met an untimely end after Tracy clubbed him over the head with a heavy statuette.

The counsel for the prosecution tells the jury: "There may be times when a terrified woman, believing herself to be in immediate danger, and having no avenue of escape, is perfectly justified in fighting off her attacker in any way she can.

"There may be times when a desperate woman, as a last resort, will strike out in self-defence.

"And if that blow is a fatal one, well you might think her attacker had it coming. He deserved everything he got.

"There are times like that. The law recognises it. The law knows it. You know it. Tracy Barlow knows it. But in this case we submit that this wasn't one of those times.

"Tracy Barlow was not in immediate danger. She was not fighting off a knife-wielding attacker. This was not an act of self-defence.

"And her cynical attempt to paint it as such is a gross insult to the many women who live in genuine fear of violent partners."

When Tracy is brought to the stand to give her evidence she is brutally cross-examined by prosecution counsel.

An usher is ordered to hand Tracy the heavy ornament that she used to whack Charlie (played by Bill Ward) over the head. She is asked: "How do you account for the absence of blood on the ornament?"

She tells the court she grabbed it with one hand and things all happened very quickly.

"Were you holding it in your right hand?" she is asked.

Tracy can't remember but is asked to demonstrate the killer blow. Distressed, she is consoled by the judge but cannot then re-enact the killing.

The prosecution says: "You seem to be struggling, Miss Barlow."

She replies, testily: "Well, I wasn't at the time."

Satisfied, the prosecutor replies: "No further questions."

The first prosecution witness is Jason Grimshaw (Ryan Thomas) who worked for Charlie's building firm and who is quizzed about his boss's affairs - the pleasure variety, not business.

He talks of Charlie's fling with Maria Sutherland and the fact that Tracy stormed off home to her parents, Ken and Deirdre, after finding out he had been cheating on her with the pretty hairdresser.

Jason paints a picture of Tracy as the type never to forgive and forget - someone who plays games and who is always trying to get her own back. He tells the court of her: "Causing arguments for no reason. Locking herself in her bedroom and saying he'd done it. Weird things like that. He was fed up of her by the end."

Next in the stand is Maria (Samia Smith), who insists that Charlie was never violent towards her. In fact, she says it was Tracy who attacked her in the street after finding out about the affair.

But she does admit that Charlie was violent towards neighbour David Platt (Jack P Shepherd) trying to drown him in her bath.

Next, the prosecution try to discredit defence witness Claire Peacock - who had been keeping a dossier of Charlie's alleged violence towards Tracy - by forcing her to admit that she was recently sectioned under the Mental Health Act, suffering from post natal depression.

The prosecution also try to discredit the defence's star witness David Platt - when the teenager shows the court how he saw Charlie thrusting the knife he uses his right hand. Yet it is pointed out that Charlie was left-handed.

The prosecutor tells David: "None of your evidence is supported by forensic testimony. The only thing true about your evidence is that it is exactly the same as Miss Barlow's. You didn't see the incident at all, did you?"

Even Tracy's mum Deirdre (Anne Kirkbride) is the victim of a vicious cross-examination.

She is quizzed about Tracy's temper, with the prosecution asking: "If she's not usually instantly angry, perhaps she's a brooder then, who bottles things up? Someone who for instance, would make a long-term plan for revenge?"

Deirdre: "No."

Prosecutor: "Someone who would plan a murder?"

Deirdre: "No."

The prosecution then call two independent witnesses regarding the knife attack and Tracy's injuries. They question whether after receiving such heavy blows tohis head, Charlie would still have been holding the knife.

They also reveal that Tracy had no other scratches or bruising. Neither was there any of her blood on the murder weapon. The prosecution suggests the evidence clearly points to the fact that her hand was cut after the weapon had been wielded - not before.

In his summing up, the counsel for the prosecution says: "No doubt the defence will be all too keen to remind you of its so-called 'eye witness', on whom its case rests, if not entirely, then to a considerable degree.

"A young man with a score to settle against Charlie Stubbs and whose sworn testimony contradicts forensic evidence at just about every turn.

"We submit that this eyewitness, David Platt, is, in fact, merely an attention-seeking fantasist. The defence has clung to his vague and confused testimony out of nothing more than desperation

"As we have outlined, the accused has proven to be an accomplished liar - she fooled her family, her neighbours, and her unfortunate victim. She should not fool you.

"We invite you not to deviate from your duty in this case and to find the accused, Tracy Barlow, guilty of murder."

CAPTION(S):

FATAL: Tracy strikes Charlie; BEHIND BARS: Tracy will be banged up if found guilty - one of two endings filmed; AFFAIR Charlie with Maria