REAL-LIFE CRIMEWATCH

(AN EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK)

When this relationship (thankfully) ended, I decided to do something with my life and train to be a manager. Times had changed, the Thatcher recession of the time meant jobs were no longer easy to find, especially in the North, that had suffered the most.

I was successful, much to the chagrin of many of my workmates- women especially. That was the first time I saw that envy is such a common and ugly thing. This was a surprise for me, because although I have many, many faults, envy is not one of them. I love hearing people´s good news and successes, especially women.

In Manchester female managers were put in “difficult” shops, ie in some of the roughest areas, because they were though to have a calming influence on difficult “punters”- customers. The shops were graded, 9 being the lowest and 1 the highest. New managers were put in grade 9 shops to start. Off I went to my new shop, exited to be a manageress. I was slightly less excited when I walked past it. It was so boarded up and shuttered up that you could not even see the Ladbrokes sign. It was a rough shop in one of the roughest areas of North Manchester.

The first night I was telephoned by the police in the middle of the night as the alarm was going off- the Satellite dish was stolen. Everything got stolen from that shop… Put the scissors down for a moment as you were putting up the papers in the morning- they were gone. The toilet paper disappeared. No one (except me- they were ok with me- they wanted the bookies to stay open) could park outside really without getting their car broken into.

It was in Manchester I got into the habit of never locking my car door. If you locked it, they would smash the window. Best to let them open the door and have a look inside. Just don’t leave anything valuable and use a crook lock so they couldn’t steal it. Insurance companies stopped paying out on windows, so you didn’t want your window smashed.

Watching Crimewatch Uk was always fun at that time, as I saw many mugshots of my regulars. Usually for credit card fraud, robbery, or drugs- never murder or rape. I did not ring in- you did not grass if you wanted to stay in one piece, it was an unspoken rule. Only for murdet, rape or crimes against children were you allowed to grass.

The offenders would disappear for a little while and then reappear with a beard or some change in appearance. I remember one day a guy came in to check he had the right shop to deliver a new TV, the previous one had been stolen. He popped in and then back to his car. In those few minutes someone had parked behind him, smashed his back window to get at the new TV, then legged it as they saw him come out. Their car was still there with the door open and the engine running. He had taken the keys and come back into the shop to ask me to ring the police.

As he was telling me the story, the owner of the keys entered the shop behind him. A regular customer. He asked him in no uncertain terms to give him his f@@@ing keys back.

– “Quick- ring the police”- the hapless driver says to me.

Well, not being funny but I was not prepared to put my safety, and actually more likely his, in danger over a television. I was at least behind the screen and safe for the moment. He was vulnerable in the shop and the other customers would have been friends of the regular customer. These guys have their code and may think twice about hurting a woman. But most definitely would not hesitate in hurting a man who got in their way.

-Give him the keys first and then I will ring the police- I said

At first it looked like he was going to argue, but as the guy advanced on him menacingly and circled him with the other customers he seemed to suddenly realise the precariousness of his position.

He gave him the keys.

The guy disappeared. I can´t remember if he took the tele with him or not.

I rang the police then. I knew they would not blame me for this, they didn´t blame you for ringing the police. They knew you had to make a report for the insurance. But you could not back someone into a corner and lead to them being arrested without repercussions. That was the reality of life as a betting shop manager in a shop like that.

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