Mr. Brierley said that he did go to see Carol from time to time and first met her somewhere in the village. He was aware that she had left her husband, and he said he was scared by the situation that he was becoming involved in, with the breakup of a marriage. He said at first they drove round just killing a few hours. He said he continued to visit her at Broughton in November and December of that year, and on one or two occasions he had stayed a day or two, and it was at that stage they decided they wanted to live together. He also said he had seen Carol occasionally at her parents' house, where she was having access to the children. He had stayed in a rear room while the children visited.
We also had evidence from Mr. and Mrs. Walker, who ran the guest house. Mrs. Walker told us that it was at the end of August, just before the school term, that she had received a call from Carol asking for a room for a few days, and that ties in with Mr. Park's assessment that it was about two weeks after Keele that she said she was leaving home. She asked Mr. Walker if he would transport her to school in the mornings. The Walkers in fact had a child at the school and another was to start in the new term. It was, said the Walkers, Mr. Park who brought her to the guest house, with the three children in the back of the car he said. She brought a suitcase, a vanity case and the hair dryer. Mrs. Walker said she did not realise the problem immediately, but Mrs. Park, Carol, had opened up to her on the following evening, the Sunday. She had told Mrs. Walker that she wanted to find a flat, but realised that that would cost a lot more than staying at the guest house. She told Mrs. Walker about Mr. Brierley, and she said to her that she, Carol, realised it was her only chance to make a break. She asked to stay on after that first week, and the Walkers could accommodate her except for the half term holiday, when they were fully booked. Mrs. Walker said that Carol was unhappy without the children. She consulted solicitors in Broughton about access. However, the children she said never came to the guest house. Mr. Brierley did come to stay she agreed once or twice and brought his little boy. Mrs. Walker described the relationship between Carol Park and Mr. Brierley. She said Carol seemed happy but miserable at the same time. She had stayed until Christmas. She had been anxious to work out her notice, and then left for the North East. Initially Mrs. Walker said Carol would call her every month or so on the telephone and wrote at intervals. However, after July of the following year she did not hear again until the Christmas, when she got a card with a Barrow postmark, and assumed as it seems right, that by that stage Carol had moved back to Barrow.