Twenty three months ago i witnessed a bit of domestic violence at a premier inn in Essex,it was literally range rovers at dawn with a bit of ramming and slamming doors on the victims arm. I did the right thing and phoned the coppers and gave a statement over my breakfast. I hear nothing for 14 months then get a phone call from "ive just been given this" for a re run of my statement,at this point the finer points are not as fresh in my recollection as i would like. Last night another phone call, its scheduled for court Aug 2nd and they want me to appear, dont mind but at two years on i know my words will be taken to pieces and i will have to reply at some point i cant recall. Also this is quite short notice for me,i bet they knew months ago.
My work is scheduled well in advance as i do adaptations for the elderly,disabled,and infirm, sometimes all three under the Disabled Facilities Grant for my local Authority as a sanctioned contractor. I dont feel at ease taking leave from my commitments now i have scheduled. I work alone so cant even send the lads in to cover for me.
The stance is, we should only need you for one day, its only scheduled for 10 days, now it must be pretty serious behind the scenes for 10 days! and i feel i should do the right thing but was expecting a longer lead in time and i could just make a hole by not booking anything in.
The job i have for that period has arranged additional care package for a very frail individual with permanent O2 requirements and probably a lot of other bits will have been scheduled behind the scenes to allow me into fit the adaptations.All this stuff has been arranged for months.
Two years to get to this point is a poor do.I find the more i have to do with the police over the years the less i actually want to deal with them.
As an example a few weeks ago on the M61 at 5am travelling to Stirling from leeds just past Rivington services i see a lad leaning on a bridge rail over a road on the hard shoulder,no vehicle. I ring it in now carriageways have boards with Motorway, Carriageway location in miles, in other words a specific and unique location, these are very frequent and should provide all information to help and rescue. On the phone Not a scooby do, after a few minutes of trying to convey firstly board no ( i am a bathroom fitter and i know ) then M61 West, bridge parapet immediately after Services i gave up. As i drove up Shap Traffic rings and they couldn't grasp the location of the numbered board. We are in a bad way, police are akin to a duck trying to swim upstream in a river just faster then the top speed of a duck.
Just a mild rant really.
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