The Scapegoat - Part Four.

The Scapegoat – Part 4.

So I was escorted back to the reception at the police station, there were not many seats so I sat near a woman with a seat between us. And during the course of the morning, within a short time we realized both our sons had been arrested yesterday! In fact she told me that in total there were three of them that had been arrested and was all at this police station! She introduced herself as Steve’s mum. His name meant nothing to me; she was on her own with a new born baby! Then as we chatted and she filled me in, for it seemed I knew nothing compared to her, another woman came into the station, it turned out she was the mother of the other lad whose name is Noah, now I had heard his name mentioned before by Daniel, for it always makes me wonder why people would want to call their child such a name, when to me it means lots of rain!!! We three chatted and swopped mobile numbers, even though we were all given different times to be at the station, we still managed to talk and comfort each other.  

Steve’s mum told us that at 2.40am this morning the police came to her home, and banged on the door! They too had asked to search his bedroom and had found nothing stolen and the same policeman had said to her, “I saw Steve steal the man’s mobile phone, with my own eyes,” as his colleagues stood next to him!    

The police told me, a man had been attacked yesterday and the gang of lads had tried to take his mobile phone, I said, “Tried?” He said, “Yes, nothing was taken, but the man had been badly beaten up, and another man had seen it and ran to his aid, he then was attacked too, two in the gang had ran off when the police arrived.

If I had known that I would have been this long at the police station, I would have bought sandwiches and a flask! I didn’t have breakfast for I thought I would have been back home by 10.30am! So I was grateful for the items I had bought for Daniel, it was enough to keep body and soul together.

There were lots of waiting about, either in the main reception or the back reception and waiting for other people to arrive. Noah’s mum made me smile for a second when we were together at one point in the main reception, she refused to have a lawyer and said to her son, “Don’t say no comment, tell them what happened, for if you don’t tell them, they won’t know the truth!”  I wished I’d heard that first from her, for I too would have said the same to Daniel, after all its only guilty people who say no comment. I kept Paul fully informed, but the feeling of uncertainty and fear was hard to explain.  

Finally after five hours, we were called to the desk and there were lots of duplicate forms to sign. The nice man at the desk said to Daniel, “You are on a curfew and you have to be in the house every night at 7pm until you go to court, sign here to say you will.” He also told him, “You are not to contact your two friends who were arrested with you.” And finally he said, “Be careful who you hang around with, for bad company corrupts good character,” I told, told the police man I agreed with him, indeed those were wise words.

Daniel, and I found out later, that all three lads were horrified that they had to leave the station in broad daylight in the ‘clothes’ the police gave them, for their footwear, top and trousers were kept for the forensics people.

It was good to get Daniel home, and hear his side of the story, for until then I’d had the beaten man’s story and the police story.

The day of the court day arrived, we had to take a day off work, we were told to be there at 09.30a.m.