You saw him in the witness-box, and I have no doubt
formed your own conclusions as to the type of man he is. Did he strike
you as a man who would stand by the truth above all things, or a man who
would lie persistently in order to save his own skin? That the man cannot
be believed even when on his oath has been publicly demonstrated in the
courts of the land. The story he told the court yesterday in the
witness-box of his movements on the day of the murder is quite different
to the story he told on his oath at the inquest on the body of Sir Horace
Fewbanks. Let me read to you the evidence he gave at the inquest."
Mr. Finnis handed to his leader a copy of Hill's evidence at the inquest,
and Mr. Holymead read it out to the jury. He then read out a shorthand
writer's account of Hill's evidence on the previous day.
"Which of these accounts are we to believe?" he said, turning to the
jury. "The latter one, the prosecution says. But why, I ask? Because it
tallies with the statement extorted from Hill by the police under the
threat of charging him with the murder. Does that make it more credible?
Is a man like Hill, who is placed in that position, likely to tell the
truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? It is an insult to the
jury as men of intelligence to ask you to believe Hill's evidence.
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