An humourous ex-detective from the Metropolitan Police, Steve took us back to 1976 when he was patrolling the East End streets as a young policeman on the beat. Armed with an O Level in pottery and a truncheon, his first success in stopping a “Jump Up” robbery took place. Noticing something untoward, he single handedly landed on the back of a lorry “like Superman” and commanded the crooks to drive their lorry to the Lemon Street Police Station. A cargo of beef carcasses stolen from a local wholesale butcher was recovered: Steve’s first and only experience of cattle-rustling. From this early success, in 2000, he went on to foil the planned robbery of the Millennium Star, valued at over £200 million. The large diamond was housed in the Millennium Dome and the plot involved using a JCB to crash into the Dome with a planned escape on the River Thames by using a speedboat. As part of “Operation Magician”, 200 officers variously disguised as cleaners and security guards surrounded the gang and arrested them. Steve had enough stories and reflections of his life in the police to fill a book and romped through more stories of derring do and travels to investigate Triad and Columbian kidnap crimes with Chinese and American police forces. The questions were plentiful, “What is the origin of the Old Bill?” The answer was not definitive but entertaining possibilities included a reference to William IV as Old Bill, The Parliament Bill that formed them or a car number plate. Anyway the answer is lost in time. We forgot to ask about whether there are, any woman on the Flying Squad or indeed any women armed raiders – another time maybe. The evening ended on a more poignant note where Steve answered some more searching questions about prison reform and other social issues and gave very thoughtful and truthful answers on his observations on this. It left me wondering if there should not be another role for the early retired experienced police like this to work on improving our justice system and on how we approach criminality. It seems a shame to waste a treasure trove of experience like Steve.
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AuthorMalden Manorettes Archives
May 2016
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