Above and beyond......

Yesterday Police Constable Christopher Roberts fell in the line of duty, he was 47 and had three children.

On April the 18th 1995 a young Police Officer attended a disturbance at a house in Ilford, when confronted by three men he bravely attempted an arrest. He managed to apply one handcuff, but was shot in the chest.

This man was Police Constable Phillip John Walters, age 28.



On May the 21st 2004, a married Police Officer, father of one daughter, responded to assist other Officers who were trying to detain a man who was armed with a knife. He pursued the man along a canal path, and as he attempted the arrest he was stabbed in the heart and fatally wounded.

This man was Detective Constable Michael Swindells, age 44.



When you think of the men and women who have died in the line of duty, there is one thing of which you are certain, it is that to these brave Officers you pail in comparison, because they faced what you would flee from.

'Heroes never die. They live on forever in the hearts and minds of those who would follow in their footsteps.'

Emily Potter

Solace for the accused.......

The very beautiful Katherine Jenkins should never go out in public near Mistletoe, it would start a RIOT, because everyman alive would want to taste perfection.

John Redwood states:

'There is a difference between a man using unreasonable force to assault a woman on the street, and a disagreement between two lovers over whether there was consent on one particular occasion when the two were spending an evening or night together.'

Women can be fierce and nasty creatures, in the past you have been slapped, your car has been subjected to eggs and flour, and you have even been threatened with castration by women who feel you have done them wrong. It is not too far from your mind, that one day one woman who feels you have done her wrong, might go as far as to 'cry rape'.

To be quite honest, if you had any feelings at all, this would scare you more than the thought of having a loaded firearm pointing at your head, why? Because if you are shot dead, you are just that dead. But if a woman that you have slept with decides that it might make her feel better to tell someone you raped her, your life will be quite literally, worse than hell.

You would be arrested, subjected to many humiliating procedres, some of your family would believe you, others would disown you, your name would most likely be paraded through the newspapers, whilst her name would be kept secret, you wouldn't know who was on your side, and worst of all, you would face losing your freedom, on the decision of twelve people you don't even know, about whether or not her tears were genuine.

Women are raped, they are subjected to degredation, and such actions are abhorent and need to be punished to the fullest extent of the law, but one thing people should never forget aswell, is that this society is rife with double standards, and in a situation where it is 'he said, she said', neither side should hold the high ground.

'Young men do not want to have to take a consent form and a lawyer on a date, just as young women have every right to go on a date and to say 'No', having it respected.'

John Redwood, Member of Parliament.

Freedom of choice.....

You’ll be honest; the thought of two men having sexual relations doesn’t come up in your top one hundred, but the thought of two beautiful women doing the same, comes up in your top five.

In a lecture a while back, the topic of whether or not homosexuality was biological or not came to the floor, an older chap at the back decided to make his views known:

‘It’s disgusting, they choose to be gay, just thinking about it makes me feel ill.’

You decided to take the opposite position:

'They don’t choose to be gay, it’s how they are born.’
‘Bollocks.’
‘So you’re telling me that one day a person wakes up and decides to risk being beaten up for being gay, to risk being disowned and hated by their own family, they walk down the street and suddenly think to themselves that a person of, shall we say, the same sex, is a better prospect than one of the opposite gender? Is that what you’re telling me mate, because I’m not sure where you’re coming from?’

To put to death a common misconception, Homophobia means a fear of homosexuality and homosexuals, not hatred.

Whatever a person might be, black, white, gay, straight, bisexual, Christian, Muslim, even fans of ‘Take that’, have the right to be treated equally, with equal respect, they have the right to feel safe, to be safe.

Do homosexuals choose to be as such? Who gives a flying fuck whether they do or they don’t, they still have the right to be who they want to be.

‘What?’
‘Just thinking…’
‘About what exactly?’
‘Your beautiful body, rapped in tinsel, and that cute little mole on your……...’
‘Stop it, people will hear you!’
‘What, like they heard you yesterday?’
‘Don’t!’
‘I can’t help it, you just look so amazing, you temptress.’

You choose to look at your girlfriend when you’re shopping in Tesco and imagine her naked, your choice? Too bloody right, no one can take that away from you, just as no one without just cause, whoever they may be, has the right to take away the freedom of choice away from another.

'My definition of a free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular.'

Adlai E. Stevenson Jr.

Actions defined by thought......

A while ago as you were on your way to ASDA you stopped at a set of traffic lights in your car, at a major junction, and the gentleman next to you was speaking on his phone, rolling back and forth to the white line, also he was operating his car radio. At this point you signaled to him politely with your hands to get off his phone and concentrate on the road, followed by a thumbs up from you he proceeded to mouth 'Fuck Off', not his best move of the day.

At this point you thought about just letting it go, which you decided to do, after all, it wasn't the crime of the century and as you were in your car there wasn't really much you could do. But as you both drove away you seemed to be going in the same direction. All the way to ASDA.

Then you did something rather stupid, you made a point of parking right next to him, and making sure you got out of your car at the same time as him, the conversation went something like this:

'Excuse me mate, don't use your phone while you're driving it's dangerous.'

'I can do what the hell I want to do, fuck off!'

'I beg your pardon?'

'You heard what I said.'

'Yes I heard it loud and clear, don't swear at me.'

'What you gonna do about it?'

At this point you really wanted to walk away, your girfriend was in the car and she certainly didn't need to see you getting your arse kicked by some idiot, but you made the decision that walking away wasn't really an option. You told her to lock her door and stay in the car. You remember exactly what you said next, you have no idea why you do, it's just burned onto your memory:

'Actually mate, i'm a copper, and if you want three points, a sixty pound fine and to be arrested for a Section 4 Public Order Offence, carry right on being an idiot.'

At this point his face changed completely, he looked like a kid, like he had been caught masturbating by his mother, a mixture of embarassment, and complete and utter terror. He started explaining many things at once, apologising profusely and trying to back track over the past five minutes of his life. After being given a few stern words of advice, he got in his car and left.

After taking your girlfriend home, you managed to get a few seconds to browse the news, a young Police Officer had been beaten up by a gang of youths earlier that day, whilst he was off duty trying to stop them behaving badly on a bus. It didn't sit well, and you promised yourself that never again would you get involved.........

Have you kept that promise? Well, is the sky yellow?

'The real world: no time to do it right, but always time to do it over.'

Rex Jaeschke

Getting it right......

You once had a rather intresting conversation with your manager:

'I thought I had Bank Holiday Monday off, actually I told you I wanted it off, and you said it was alright, because I work weekends and Monday is a weekday.'
'Yes, but i've set you on for it now.'
'No, you seem to be misunderstanding what i'm saying here. I've made plans.'
'It's double the money.'
'It's not about money, it's about making the right choice.'
'What's so important you can't work?'
'The girl with the most beautiful eyes i've ever seen, she's fucking amazing.'
'I should have known, but I've done it now so it can't be changed.'
'That's not a problem, I won't turn up though.'
'What?'
'You heard me, i'm not giving you an ultimatum here, i'm telling you i'm not working Bank Holiday Monday, and i'll quit before you sack me.'
'Hold on, wait a minute. I'll sort it out.'

Eight months later you still work for her at the same place, you don't know the young woman anymore, for this you sometimes ask yourself a question: Knowing what you know now, having the benefit of hindsight, if you could go back in time, would you change anything?

Without fail, you would do the same thing, you wouldn't work, because that day you spent, looking into her eyes, talking to her, listening to her, watching her, can't be replaced. Sometimes you don't think of her, but one thing is certain, you will never forget her.

'Instead, she left, I ironed my shirt, went to late turn, nicked a guy for being wanted on warrant. Came back, cleared out the flat, cleaned it, and slept on the floor in an empty flat that we once called home.'

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