Date: Mon, 31 Jul 2023 09:15:00 +0700 From: Andrew Passey Subject: Shipperton Rules Part Twenty One (Young Friends) A few days later Nick sat nervously outside of the main village hall as he waited to go and in and give his evidence. It had been a stressful few days waiting for the disciplinary committee meeting. He hated that he was going to have to relive that experience again so soon after it happened. Hated that he was going to have to defend himself against false accusations as well. Christian really had been right about games being played that Nick had no idea about. What a fucked up place Shipperton was he thought. Sunday had been a tricky day for Nick as well. While he and Ken had an amazing bout of sex first thing, they knew Ken needed to go home to see his Dad and to face the music. They were both very nervous about the outcome. Ken had sworn and insulted his Dad and he half expected his Dad to ban them from seeing each other. In the end to both their surprise Jeremy had been fairly low key, saying he understood their frustrations and that he would work to make sure it was all resolved quickly, one way or another. Nick had downplayed the incident with Christian when he told his Dad later that day. Saying it was non consensual but that in reality all of the sex he had to have was non consensual. Even so his Dad had wanted to march over to the Palmers and drag Christian to the police station before Nick persuaded him it was a very bad idea. In the end his Dad agreed to let the formal process play out. So here Nick was, waiting to hopefully put everything to bed so he could move on. He felt fairly confident that they would win, after all they had truth on their side. Ken was giving his evidence now and then it would be his turn. He wasn't sure if Paul or Christian had yet or indeed anybody else. The whole process was very secretive. All he knew was that there was a panel of three deciding, Jeremy Shipperton, Mr Hodgkins and Mr Evans who Nick thought was a parent of an older kid at their school but he wasn't sure. He tried to compose himself and also remember to trust the rules and trust the process. Unbeknownst to Nick, he was last to give his side of events. Christian had already given evidence as had Paul and Toby who had been roped in by Christian with the promise of their deal ending. Christian was fairly sure that they would win. He sensed that while clearly Jeremy Shipperton would want Nick and Ken to win he wouldn't favour them due to not wanting to be seen to be biased. In fact if anything he'd probably do the opposite. He could tell Mr Evans favoured him given the friendship between him and his father. As for Mr Hodgkins, he was an enigma but one Christian thought might also favour him. He'd laid it on really thick when he gave his evidence and pulled on all the emotional levers he could. He was well prepared and he also made sure the others were. He'd told Paul and Toby what to say and between them the narrative that Nick was just trying to get out of his responsibilities had been created. Paul had said how upset he felt about being bullied over his dick size and how depressed it made him feel., Toby had lied and said Nick had told him that he wanted to take Paul and Christian down and was going to make up fake accusations. Christian had squeezed fake tears out at his horror of being accused of something so terrible when all he'd wanted to do was make a deal with Nick and help him see he was bullying his best friend. He knew Jeremy wasn't buying it but the other two looked like they were. Now he just had to wait for the verdict. If Nick was nervous before, once the questioning of his evidence started those nerves amplified. Every little thing he said was analysed and he started to worry that maybe things wouldn't be as easy as he thought. Things took a real turn when Mr Hodgkins wanted to dig down into Christian's attack on him. "We have heard evidence from Christian Palmer, supported by multiple witnesses, that all of this is because you want to shirk your responsibilities. And that the so called "rape" as you just referred to it was just a false accusation, a case of at best buyers remorse by you after the act or potentially something more sinister where you used the whole thing to drag the name of an innocent boy through the mud." "I don't know how much clearer I can be," Nick said getting frustrated. "I didn't consent. Christian attacked me and then he forced me. I was raped." Mr Hodgkins pretended to be confused," and yet stopped him before penetration and asked him to use lube? Is that correct?" "Well I didn't want it to hurt and it's not like I don't have the lube after what I have to do every day," Nick said bitterly. Mr Hodgkins nodded but then put his hands together and rested his chin on them looking thoughtful. "Hmm well I could see why Mr Palmer could take that as consent." "Now hold on a minute," Jeremy started to say before Mr Hodgkins continued, "So in the evidence Mr Palmer gave us he said, and I quote "during our lovemaking, before I had my orgasm, Nick orgasmed with my penis inside him". Is that correct?" "I hardly think being raped is "lovemaking"" Nick said tersely. "Did you or did you not orgasm during penetration?" "Well yes I did but that was due to the stimulation of my body being pushed up against the bed." "Doesn't sound much like rape to me if you orgasmed." "I didn't consent! He attacked me!" Nick said angrily. "Sounds like buyers remorse and it sounds like you consented to me. You asked him to use lube, you gave him the lube, you orgasmed during sex. Clearly afterwards you felt embarrassed and I understand and totally sympathise but at the same time you can't drag an innocent person into this just because you have second thoughts. Now I don't have any other questions, gentlemen?" Mr Hodgkins asked his colleagues who shook their heads. Nick was dismissed and looked over at Jeremy who looked troubled. Nick didn't like the look of that and left the room feeling more concerned than when he entered it. That last bout of questioning had really knocked him and he was worried that his version of events, the truthful version of events might not be believed, An hour later Nick stood in the same room he'd left but this time with Ken next to him and Paul and Christian off to the side. The tension was palpable as they waited for the verdict. It was impossible to read the body language of the panel but Nick thought that Jeremy looked pissed off which was a bad sign. Christian was a mix of suppressed excitement, nerves and just a tiny smattering of guilt. He tried to ignore the little voice in his head that told him he could still stop all this. He could come clean, admit what he'd done and just take the consequences. The little voice, or more precisely his conscience had been getting louder the past few days. He tried to ignore it, after all he'd worked so hard to get to this point and he wasn't going to give up now. Mr Hodgkins stood up to deliver the verdict and cleared his throat, "So we have heard the evidence, and questioned everyone involved. After a robust discussion we have reached a consensus. Our judgement is as follows: On balance we find that the allegation of sex without consent by Nicholas Hurley against Christian Palmer is unproven. The counter allegation by Christian Palmer than this was a false accusation contrived by Nicholas Hurley and Kenneth Shipperton is proven. The allegations by Paul Rogers of bullying against Nicholas Hurley are proven. As a result the following occurs: Kenneth Shipperton is removed as Nicholas Hurley's Primus and replaced by Christian Palmer. As it was such an egregious accusation there will be further sanction for Nicholas Hurley to be announced following discussion at a full meeting of the council."