FROM The Daily Telegraph, May 6: A disabled war widow who has refused to pay her council tax for two years has fled abroad to escape arrest.
So it’s come to this, has it?
Inspector Gripper of the Yard looked up in scarlet faced fury when his sergeant jabbed him stiletto style with the bad news.
“She’s flown chief. Done a runner. Scarpered. Gaff’s empty. No trace. Searched. No passport. Spain’s favourite.”
Gripper lit a cigarette and to hell with the petty laws. He was supposed to catch villains like this Gwyneth Lester dame and they wouldn’t let him smoke? They gotta be kidding.
He’d ordered the operation himself.
“Early doors.” God how he loved that phrase. It smacked of splintered wood and bleary eyed bad guys in their underwear.
He could not have made it plainer
“Early doors. In. Arrest. Out. Neat. Tidy. No fuss.”
Except the mark had gone. Tipped off? That would have to wait till later.
He reviewed what he knew of Lester.
She was 59. Had refused to pay £1,200 council tax to Gosport Borough. Had done time last year for the same offence. Claimed she’d been burgled eight times and was refusing to pay.
Some people! She’d been given incident numbers hadn’t she? Offers of counselling. What more could the police do? What would happen if everyone wanted value for money, for God’s sake?
He’d taken charge personally when it became obvious some of the coppers sympathised with her. Who knows, maybe enough to warn her of the raid. The force was going soft, he thought.
And he knew most people wouldn’t pay up either, if only they had the guts. Not like getting away with a train fare or finding a tenner on the street. It was deeper than that, like a revolution that couldn’t be bothered happening.
There was a trend, too.
It was always the older ones who wouldn’t pay up and were dragged through the courts and into the Daily Mail. They always had some grievance. They were martyrs and everybody loved them for it. But that didn’t make it legal. Right?
“OK Dave,” Gripper said to his sergeant. “Here’s what we do.
“You: ports. Tom: airports. Pictures: passport control. Got it? Stop her.”
“Right Guv. On to it. Interpol. Spain: immigration; border guards. Red alert.”
“And Dave.”
“Yes Guv.”
“Press conference. CCTV.” She could be anywhere.
“Right Guv. Spotter plane? Bloodhounds? Aborigine trackers?”
Gripper sometimes wondered about Dave.
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