A Nod is as good as a Wink to a Blind Horse...

The One that Got Away......

Having completed my thirteen weeks entrance course at the Police College in North London in 1966, I found myself posted to the East End of London.   I was so far out of my depth that it was a wonder that I survived my probationary period.   I did not know where I was most of the time and was given only a couple of weeks with an experienced officer to show me the ropes.  I regularly got lost (in full uniform) and embarrassingly had to ask puzzled members of the public how to get to my destination. 

I honestly do not know how I managed to cope with the local thieves who had a field day when I was on duty.   You see, I was brought up back home in Ireland to be honest and truthful and consequently I expected others to be the same.   They certainly were not and one incident haunted me throughout my service.........almost to my last tour of duty twenty-five years later......

It happened like this:  Back in 1966, I was on night duty and at about twenty past five in the morning I was making my final checks on my beat.  Suddenly, out of the darkness, and from around a corner came a young man carrying a large cardboard box. I stopped him and checked its contents.............

It contained hundreds of cigarettes, tobacco and small cigars. I asked him where he got them and he casually replied “I work as a porter at the meat market in Smithfield and I buy them at the Cash and Carry. I sell them to the other porters and make a few pennies on each packet. Look, guvnor, my bus is coming, can I go please?"   I was not entirely happy but he did not appear nervous and his story was plausible. I let him go and he jumped onto the bus...............

I carried on around the corner and a few hundred yards down the street, lo and behold, there it was, the tobacconist's shop with the door kicked in.    Total panic ensued............

I called for assistance and luckily, a trusty old constable friend of mine arrived. I told him what had happened and he advised me to keep my mouth shut or I might get into all sorts of trouble. This I did and there were no repercussions.   I merely reported the burglary...........

However, about eighteen months later, when I was married and living in the same area, quite often the same young man with the cigarettes would casually walk past me in the street and without saying anything to me, would merely nod his head and wink. He knew he had pulled the wool over my eyes..............

Twenty-five years later, as a sergeant, when I was working in North London, I was out at lunchtime in full uniform having a walk about.  As I went down the local market, I looked towards a pub where they were occasionally having some problems.  As I did so, the door opened and a man emerged into the street.........

He stopped and looked straight into my eyes, he did not say anything, but merely nodded his head and winked. Although I had not seen him for a long, long time, it was him alright and he hadn't changed a bit........................

Good luck to him - he was one of the few who got away.

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