Belated Christmas greetings to one and all out there in Blogging Land. My Internet connection was down after a particularly busy Christmas Eve shift where I managed a cup of tea and a Jammy Dodger for breakfast and a Snickers bar for lunch. Must have been the wrong kind of frost on the line but I'm back on now. Funny how, when based in Germany I experienced much worse weather then we have having now and always managed to reach Mr Drinks Bar in Hanover. The roads were OK and the trains always ran, damned efficient those German's. We have totally lost it in this country haven't we?
12 hours of hell today but a quite full custody suite and a substantial quantity of drugs seized with several prisoners attached. So much that even the CID couldn't wiggle out of taking the job on. I think usually the prisoners would remain with us but suspect that financial considerations will take over and bail will be an option as everything has been scaled back for Christmas Day. All departments are closed apart from response who will take on the extra work despite being short ourselves.
I work every Christmas through choice and this year is no different. I only missed one a couple of years ago through toe rag connected injury and this is actually my anniversary of having a massive line of metal staples removed from my war wound. I'm mentally over it and am in a good place at present.
This year I've been fortunate and missed the run up to the festivities through being away on a course and on rest days. I have however got all of Christmas, New Years Eve and New Years day to work. I will only be cheered by those who find themselves in custody through their own stupidity and criminality.
I have been compared to Scrooge but fortunately I don't go in for all this goodwill to all men at Christmas time. I'm actually more consistent then Scrooge who gave in at the end. This may be because on past Christmas Day's I've dealt with murder scenes and too many domestics to mention. All of them result in the same whinge in custody "But it's Christmas".
I particularly loved the representations put forward by a solicitor one year after I'd decided to keep a prolific druggie shoplifter in to prevent him emptying the shops of more goods. I'd explained my position regarding the prevention of further offences due to his offending history and paused for her speech. If she'd offered up some reasonable conditions to prevent his offending I would have considered them, but all she could offer was "It's Christmas and I appeal to your nature to bail him without conditions, the magistrates will only let him out anyway".
She would have been right on the second count but she should have played the game at least. Christmas is not on the list for making people eligible for bail, so one extra customer for us for the night. He should have gone to court the next day which was Christmas Eve but "Couldn't Be Bothered Security Contractors" failed to get him him to court in time so he was still there when I came in for late turn facing a Boxing Day court date. So it fell to me to review his continued detention as custody officer.
I let him out on short bail to court after the shops had shut and would like to point out this was only because my grounds for keeping him in had ceased, nothing to do with the time of year.
Happy Christmas to you all and thank you for those who have contributed to this blog. You have amused me no end and kept me grounded and reasonably sane. I am grateful to you all.
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