Blind Defence - Characters

 

 These are the characters in the novel for future reference

SPOILERS!!!

REGULAR CHARACTERS

• William Benson (38) is the main character. In 1999 William was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life. One night he had a run-in with a hospital porter, Paul Halbetron, in a pub, and later the man was found dead, and William was een around the area. William claimed that he was innocent but he was not believed by the jury. After his experience during the trial William realised that he wanted to be a barrister, and Tess De Vere, who at the time was doing some work experience, told him to fight for what he wanted. His lawyers told him that it would be almost impossible, but his QC Helen Camberley helped him and he managed to pass the bar. His first murder case was of a woman accused of killing his boss. Many of the barristers are against him practising, especially Richard Merington, the Secretary of Justice. When Tess tells him that they need to clear his name once and for all, Benson tells her to leave the past be. In prison he was often called Rizla. 
• Tess de Vere (36) is the second main character. Tess met Will when she was doing work experience for Camberley. She was the one to tell him to fight for what he wanted. Now she works in a prestigious firm. In the last book when she read about Will, she went to find him and offered him to help him. Now Tess and her friend Sally are trying to find out the truth about Will and Paul Harbeton's murder.
• Archie Congreve (63) is Will's clerk. Will met him in prison. Archie did time for tax fraud. The building that Will uses as his offices used to be the fishmonger's that Archie's family had years ago. 
• Sally Martindale is Tess's best friend. She is a graphologist. Sally pushes Tess to discover the truth about Benson and Paul Harbeton. Sally starts investigating and she finds a link between the crime and Richard Merrington. A valuable jewel was found near the body of Paul Halberton, which belonged to Merrington's family, but the jewel was never reported missing.
• Richard Merrington is the Secretary of State for Justice and is against Paul practising law. He even hires a detective to gather information against Will. What the detective discovers is that the person who anonymously gave Benson the money to start as a lawyer is Richard's mother. 
• Eddie Benson (37) is William's disabled brother.  Eddie is in a wheelchair because he had an accident on his bicycle when he, William and their friend were playing around. After Will was sentenced to life, Eddie refused to talk or see his brother again because he blames him for the death of their mother and the suffering of their father. 
• Neil Reydon is Eddie's best friend. He looks after him. 
• Jim Benson is Will's father.
• Helen Camberley (74) is a QC and she helped William to become a barrister.
• Molly Robson (64) is Will's typist.
• George Braithwaite is William's solicitor. He helped him to become a barrister when an anonymous benefactor donated money for Will. In this book George tells Will that he needs to sell his houseboat because his finances are in a shambles. In the end George tells Will that there has been another donation from another anonymous benefactor, and that is why he does not have to sell his home. 
• David Merrington is Richard's son. He is studying law and admires Benson, and his intention is to work for him. That does not sit well with his father, and Richard is even more determined to stop Benson. 
• Pamela Merrington is Richard's wife.
• Annette Merrington (91) is Richard's mother. She secretly gave Benson the money to become a barrister.
• Basil is Tess's assistant. 
• Dot, Joyce, Betsy and Eileen Congreve are Archie's sisters. Will plays monopoly with them regularly.
• Dr Abasiama Agozino is Benson's psychologist.
• Maureen Harbeton is Paul's mother.
• Kenny Harbeton is Paul's father. After the family moved to London, he left them. When Paul was killed, he reappeared, but then he went away again. 
• Gary Chilton is Paul's half-brother.
• Gordon Hayward is one of Tess's colleagues at the law firm. He is the head of the department
• Paul Harbeton(33)  is the man who William was accused of killing, and that is why he spent eleven years in prison.  William and he had a fight in a pub, and then the man was found dead in the street. Some witnesses claim to have seen William near the place where Paul's body was found. 
• Jessica Buchanan was William's girlfriend when he had the incident with Paul Halbeton.
• CJ Congreve is Archie's father and gives his headsup to William using his former fishmonger's.
• Douglas Coker (75) is the senior partner of the firm Tess works for. He is also her godfather, and he advises her not to get involved with Benson professionally. Douglas helped her when Tess had a problematic realtionship with her boyfriend.
• Peter Farsely is Tess's exboyfriend. She left for Strasbourgh after she broke up with him. 
• Elizabeth Benson was Will's mother. She died of cancer.
• Mickey Lever was the despatch rider who find Harbeton's body.
• Tracy Patterson used to be Lever's girlfriend. He gave her a bracelet, which she thought was a cheap thing. The she found out that the jewel was valuable, and Lever admitted to having picked it up near the body of Paul Harbeton

CHARACTERS IN THIS BOOK

• Brent Stainsby is the man who Will and Tess defend as he stands trial for killing his former girlfriend, Diane. Brent insist he is innocent, and Will and Tess believe him. Brent is acquitted, and then he tells Tess and Will that he did kill Diane. Brent is killed and his body dropped before Will. Meersham got him killed because he realised that he put them at risk when his girlfriend gathered information about their illegal activities.
• Diane Heybridge is the woman who was murdered. Brent claimed that she had killed herself. Diane had been Stainsby's girlfriend for years even though he treated him hideously, but she felt unable to leave as she was fond of his parents. When his parents died, Diane inherited part of the money and the jewels, and then Diane left Stainsby and moved to London. In London she contacted the police once again (she had done it before in 2009) to report Stainsby, but she was killed before the police did anything. 
• Terry Meersham is a criminal. Will met him in prison and he and his men threatened to hurt his brother, and Will was forced to help them in his fraudulent activities within prison. In this book Meersham is a man who is suspected to have been using Brent Stainsby in 2009. Diane accused his boyfriend and Meersham but nothing came out of this. At the end of the book Meersham is arrested. 
• Skagman is one of the Meersham's men in prison. 
• Owen 'Manchester' Kennedy also shared a cell with Will, and they became friends. When the warden found out that the books that Will had been forced to request from libraries had a page impregnated in a drug, Kennedy was accused and blamed. 
• Andrezej was the man Will shared his cell with.
• Crazy Joe was another of Meersham's men.
• Roy Chalker was one of Meersham's men in prison. He was the one to give Will instructions, and he forced Will to call him Lord. 
• DCI Goodshaw is the detective that investigated Diane's death.
• Caroline and Frank Stainsby were Brent Stainsby's parents who Diane was so fond of. They left money and jewels to Diane in their will.
• Jane Tapster was Diane's best friend. Jane tells Tess that Diane killed herself on purpose to take revenge on Stainsby. Jane was also a police informer.
• Samantha, Angel and Cathy were Diane's other friend. Together with Jane they were called the Dover Five.
• Mr Edgeworth is the manager of the Building society which Will has an account in. Edgeworth tells Will that he needs to sell his houseboat. 
• Mr Phillips is an officer in prison when Will was serving time.
• Bradley Hilmarton is the detective that Richard Merrington hires.
• Andrew Yardley is the prosecutor at the trial.
• Gary Bredfield was Stainsby's partner in his criminal activities. He was also killed. 
• John Foster is a detective that suspected Stainsby of criminal actities because Diane told him. So without telling anybody he decided to keep watch, and he was beaten up, suffering very serious injuries. Stainsby was blamed, but Diane gave him an alibi. Foster eventually killed himself.
• DC Steve Draycott was Foster's colleague, and he and Foster were in the pub keeping watch of Stainsby and Meersham. Draycott was contacted by Diane when she went to London, and he told her that they would talk in ten days, but she died. Draycott started an operation, and he discovered that his boss was corrupt and working for Meersham.
• DCI Ray Carlatoon was Draycott's superior, and he was cooperating with Meersham. At the end of the book he is arrested.
• MIlena Sibhatu (37) was Diane's neighbour and she found her dead body.
• Jonas Sibhatu (8) is Milena's son. Benson calls him to testify and the boy admits that he took the cigarette stub that Stainsby smoked outside the building, and then he dropped it inside Diane's flat when his mother and he discovered her body. 
• Andre Loupierre was a leader of a criinal gang in France who worked tiwht Meersham.
• Dr Andrew Capicelly was an expert witness during the trial. 
• Malcolm Hargreaves was Frank and Caroline Stainsby's solicitor.
• Pauline Osborno was the barrister who defended Stainsby in 2009. Then she left the bar and became a pub onwer.
• Rosie Heybridge was Diane's mother.
• Linda Foster is John Foster's wife. 
• Dr Lowmax was Diane's GP.