First watch and I was directed to a back street of terraced houses. The report was of a domestic disturbance. No street number was given and the informant did not want the police calling at their door.
I parked the patrol car some distance from the informants address. I didn’t know what I was looking for, so I stopped to listen. I couldn’t hear anything more than distant traffic breathing. I walked along the pavement until I came across a pool of blood. I followed the trail leading to a gate and up some steps and to a front door. I banged on the door, and a young Asian girl opened it. The blood trail continued inside hallway of the front room toward the back room. I entered following the trail.
In the backroom was a male seated, a woman wearing a scarf with her hand on her head sat in the corner in the shade and the young lady.
I said; ” What happened here?”
No one spoke
I asked the lady what was wrong with her head. She nodded in a negative manner.
I said to the young lady “Can you tell me what has happened?” She looked at the male but was seemed too afraid to speak.
I asked the lady to remove her hand from the top of her head. She wouldn’t. I asked the young lady to do it. The man stood up to protest.
I asked firmly to sit down, he did so.
The ladies head was covered in blood and needed treatment. I said, “Who did this?” But she was petrified and in a state of shock.
I sent for an ambulance and also woman police officer.
I said to him, “Did you do this?” He wouldn’t answer.
I asked the young lady if there was anyone else in the house, she said not.
I said to the male; “Why have you done this? He muttered something in Asian and the women froze rigid.
I could see blood spattering on his clothes and since there was no other person who could be responsible, I arrested him on suspicion of grievous bodily assault and after a struggle handcuffed him. Then I asked where the weapon was. A welders hammer was pointed out to me I could see the blood on the pointed end. I told the ladies not to touch it.
I searched the male and took him out to the police car. Despite his protestations in his natural tongue. I locked the car and went back inside the house. The lady of the house didn’t speak much English which was often the case.
The young lady asked me if I was taking him away. I told her that he was going to the Police Station to be interviewed. I explained that a police lady would come to help them and the ambulance was on it’s way.
The arrested man was her father and he had hit her mother on the head with the welding hammer. I asked why? She said because her mother wouldn’t give him her passport so that he could send her back home.
Basically he was tired of his wife and wanted to send her back to her home country. There she would disappear never to be heard of again. The husband would then remarry a younger women.
The woman’s brother was holding on to her passport to prevent his sister being sent back to her old country. The husband was coercing his wife to make the brother give up the passport.
Now he was going to be imprisoned without his old wife or even a younger one.
The wife had severe woundings to her head but made a good recovery with treatment and her family’s help.
The husband was branded a tyrant by the court and will be residing in prison for some years and have no wife or family to come out to.
The Friendly Giant
“See you later mate!”
He was a very large lad and very amiable and forever coming up before the magistrates court for being Drunk and Incapable or none payment of fine or to answer a warrant.
But whenever he appeared he had everyone chuckling behind their hands from the Usher to the whoever was on the bench. They could not help but smile at him.
I went to the same school that he had attended, he was in a lower class and quite happy to come day go day without any ambition. After school he had a few jobs but never held on to them and inevitably he would be sacked.
Drink was his downfall, and like stoker George he didn’t pay for much of his beer because everyone liked him.
But he would appear in court and he would be asked if his name was? and the name would read out.
He would reply, “You know it is. Goodness me, you’ve seen me here enough times. Weem old mates aye we?”
The request to ‘just answer the question please’ only made matters worse.
He was so personable with them all and replied as though they were sitting in a bar room.
The more pompous the court sounded the more absurd it appeared.
No one could keep a straight face.
He would be released on bail to attend court at such and such a date.
” Can you write it down? I lost the last bit O paper you gave me!”
The date and time would be restated and a warning that he might be arrested if he failed to attend fell on deaf ears. “That’s orl right weem all pals here aye we! See Ya Later. Bye, bye!”
It would take a little while before order was resumed among the court staff especially anyone new to the friendly Giant.
I often wonder what happened to him!!!!!