Some might remember that I went to court last year to challenge (unsuccessfully) a speeding prosecution. The main witness against me was the camera operator, a young man who at the time of the trial had just been accepted into the police force. I'll call him Fred.
Today my fettling of the brakes on the S2a was interrupted by a chimney fire at my M-in-L's house which turned out to be something more serious involving three fire engines, an ambulance and, later on, a police car. (Apparently the FB call them routinely to see if there are suspicious circumstances.) And out of the police car stepped - Fred. We recognised each other immediately and had an uneasy chat about - you know - things. Putting the name and the face together, I then realised that I used to teach him English about 10 years ago. There was an interesting combination of power relationships - ex-teacher/ex-pupil, prosecuting witness/accused motorist, and now police investigator/potential insurance scam punter. I was gald when he went, although I made sure we parted on good terms.
Funny thing - he said that after I had cross-examined him on his evidence in court he was sure I would win. I had introduced a lot of doubt into his mind over the quality of his own evidence, and if it had been up to him he would have let me off.
What a day - now for a shower to get rid of the smoky smell, a beer to calm the nerves, and off to bed. The S2a brakes will have to wait.