by Mike Pannett
‘Hello Jo, this is Acting Sergeant Mike Pannett. Are you OK?’
‘Oh God,’ she gasped, ‘I’m up in the bedroom, Rob’s downstairs with Rosie.’
‘Is anyone hurt?’
‘No, no we’re all OK. But don’t come in. He’ll kick off again.’
‘What about Rosie?’
‘She’s downstairs in the living room. I had to run upstairs to get away from him. He had a knife.’
‘Are you sure Rosie’s OK?’
‘Yeah, he’d never hurt Rosie. I can hear her playing. I’m just worried what he might do if you come in.’
‘Right, and what about you? Can you lock the door?’
‘No, but I’ve put the bed against it.’
‘OK. We’re going to have to go steady with this, but don’t worry, we’re outside if anything happens. I’m putting your Janice back on the phone now. Stay on the line and let us know if anything changes. All right?’
I got on the radio. ‘1015 to control, over.’
‘Go ahead Mike, what’s the situation?’
‘The situation is this. We’ve got a male called Rob who is believed to be in possession of a carving knife somewhere downstairs. We’ve got the wife called Jo, who is at this moment in time safe in an upstairs bedroom. She’s pushed the bed against the door to make her more secure. I’ve spoken to her on her mobile phone and the line is still open while she’s talking to her sister-in-law Janice. She’s here with us. Received so far?’
‘All received. Carry on.’
‘To make matters worse there’s a six-year-old daughter called Rosie who is believed to be safe and well and playing downstairs. This is what I’m going to need. Can you get the ARVs to start making their way and can you let me have an ETA? I’ll give you an RV point in a minute. I’m also going to need somebody to bring me a couple of shields from the sergeant’s office at Malton down here asap, in case the situation deteriorates and I need to go in. Received so far?’
‘Received, carry on.’
‘Could you inform the late-turn senior officer of the situation and also mention we might need a negotiator. Last thing, could you locate a dog unit?’
‘1015, that is all received. I’ll come back to you shortly.’
I looked over to Janice and mouthed, ‘All OK still?’
She put her thumb up and nodded her head. She even gave a sort of smile, but her face was wet with tears.
It was a difficult spot we were in. You learn from experience not to go rushing in unless there’s an immediate threat to life. In this case it could in fact inflame the situation, and the fact that the man had a knife could endanger everyone’s lives, including ours. I felt that with each minute that passed there was more chance of defusing the situation.
I was just talking through what was best to do with Ed when my own mobile phone rang and made me jump. It took me a while to locate it in my shirt pocket under my body armour.
‘Hello Mike, it’s Inspector Graham.’
I knew Mark Graham. Based at Scarborough, he was what we called of the old school.
‘Hello boss.’
‘Now then Mike, baptism of fire for you today, I hear. How’s it looking with this domestic?’
I gave him a brief situation report.
‘Right, Mike. First things first. I can’t get over. It’s gone pear-shaped over here at Scarborough. Been a bad day all round, and I’ve got a couple of serious incidents running as we speak. It’s going to be down to you, but the superintendent’s aware so you might get a call from him. He’s at York at the moment but he’s had the sit. rep. and been in contact with the ARV sergeant discussing authorities to arm if need be.’
‘OK, sir. Thanks for that. I’ll crack on here.’
‘Have you got enough officers?’
‘We’re OK unless we need to do a forced entry. Night duty will be in shortly though.’
‘OK, Mike. Good luck.’
Ed was standing beside me. He hitched up his trousers. ‘OK then, what’s the plan?’
‘Number one, we stay out of sight,’ I said. ‘But as near to the scene as we can.’ I pointed out the house to him. ‘Just in case we have to get in there sharpish. Number two, we keep obs on the rear of the premises in case he comes out that way. We can do that via a lane at the back. Three, you go with Janice in your car to the school around the corner, that’s going to be the RVP. Keep the phone line open with Jo, but get her to describe the house layout in case we have to go in. Where the rooms and stairs are, which way doors open etc, you know the type of thing.’
‘Sounds like a plan to me. What do we know about this bloke?’
‘I’ll find out. You go with Janice.’ I was back on the radio. ‘1015 to control.’
‘Yes, go ahead.’
‘Can you let me know what intelligence we have on the address?’
‘Yes Mike, we’ve just finished the checks, all negative and no firearms shown listed. Also ETA from ARVs is ten minutes. Have you got an RVP?’
‘All received. RVP is the primary school in Highfield Road.’
‘Received, Mike. Keith Nicholson should be with you any minute with the shields and door-opening equipment.’
As soon as Keith arrived I threw the equipment across the back seat of Fordy’s car and sent Keith to cover the rear of the house. Just so that we could work out which house it was from the back, we counted the chimney pots from the end house. I left Fordy keeping obs on the front from the end of the street before driving round the corner to the school. I felt that we were now a bit better prepared should the situation deteriorate. Everyone had their body armour on and we had a bit of extra protection with the shields. I just had to think. What was the best method to use to make contact with Rob and get the situation sorted? As I arrived in the school grounds and got out of the car, Thommo pulled in behind me.
‘Right, I’m free Mike. Where d’ye want me?’
‘Thommo, if you could go and join Fordy covering the front, just in case anything happens. The shields are in the back of Fordy’s car if you need them on the hurry up.’
‘You leave it with me, Mike. I’m used to dealing wi’ these type o’ situations.’ As he headed back to his car he called out over his shoulder, ‘Aye, and I’ve got the war wounds to prove it.’
‘But Thommo,’ I said, ‘we don’t want any more, OK? You get down there and look after young Fordy. Keith’s round the back out of sight. I can back up either front or back in seconds if needed.’
‘OK, Sarge.’
I got into the car next to Janice. ‘Now then,’ I said. ‘Would you say he’s a reasonable kind of man, Rob?’
‘Yeah, I . . .’
‘I mean, would he listen to me?’
‘Look, he’s never done anything like this.’
I looked at her. She was his sister. She would say that.
It was as if she could see the doubt on my face. ‘Never,’ she repeated. ‘It’s not in his character.’
What I’d been wondering was, would it be worth calling the guy and talking to him on the phone. I’d seen it done in the past, in hostage situations. I’d done something like it myself. It can work. It had to be worth a try. I’d just finished writing down the house phone number from Janice when the armed response unit arrived.
‘Wait here,’ I said to her. ‘I need to talk with my colleagues.’ I got out of the car and closed the door. ‘Now then,’ I said. ‘Long time no see.’
I knew Derek. He was from Harrogate and we’d been on a number of courses together. I talked him through the situation, and explained what I was thinking of doing.
‘Look,’ he said, ‘if you can talk him into coming out – hell, that’ll do me. The Easingwold ARV will be with us shortly. Leave me to sort the containment. I’ll use my officers to back up your team.’ He thought for a moment, then said, ‘Just to let you know, given the present situation, we have not been given authority to arm. But we can self-arm if things deteriorate rapidly. I’ve spoken to the superintendent
on the phone on the way over here, so expect a call from him.’
‘OK, Derek. Ed’s got a map of the house if you want to brief your lot.’
‘Brilliant Mike, good job.’
‘1015 to control, I’m going to put a phone call into the house, over. I want to keep it as low-key as possible at this time.’
‘All received, Mike. The control-room inspector is monitoring also.’
I pulled out my mobile phone and punched in the number. The phone rang once, twice, and a third time. Then a man’s voice said, ‘’Ello.’
‘Hello, is that Rob?’
‘Aye. Who are you?’
‘My name’s Mike Pannett. I’m the duty sergeant at Malton police station. I’ve had a call from your sister. She said you were having a problem. I just wanted to make sure everything’s OK.’
‘Nah nah – it’s fine, mate. Just had a bit of a falling out with the missus, like.’ He paused for a moment, then said, ‘All right’ and put the phone down.
Bugger, I thought. That’s no use to me at all. I’m not having that. I hit redial.
‘’Ello.’
‘Ah, Mike Pannett here again.’
‘Now what?’
‘Listen, I’m afraid that’s not good enough, saying everything’s fine. Your sister’s worried about you, and your wife, and the little lass. And I’m worried too. I can’t leave here until I have physically seen and spoken to all three of you. I need to know that everyone is all right’.
He didn’t respond. I could hear him breathing into the receiver. ‘Now,’ I continued, ‘there’s been talk of a knife. And that you’ve made threats against your wife. Come on, let’s get this sorted out. I’ve got a number of officers here and we are not going away until it’s resolved.’
‘No no no no. No, mate, I wouldn’t harm ’em, honest I wouldn’t.’
It didn’t take a genius to sense a chink in his armour. ‘Listen,’ I said, ‘let’s at least get your little lass out of danger, shall we? Can you ask her to come out and see her auntie? I’ve got her right here with me. Your sister, Auntie Janice.’
‘Send the lass out? I dunno about that. She’s just off to bed, like.’
I could feel the weight of fatigue pressing on me. The afternoon’s dramas, and now this. I was wilting, and I knew it. ‘Look,’ I said, ‘I’m going to tell you something. I’ve seen two people lose their lives this afternoon, and it makes you realise how precious life is. You’ve got your life ahead of you, and so’s that little lass. Do you want her growing up remembering something like this? Eh? Do you want her to remember something she might blame you for for as long as she lives? Come on, mate. Let her come out.’ Beside me the woman Janice was sniffling into a tissue.
There was no reply. I turned around. Derek was stood by his car, not fifty yards away, watching me. I was about to pass the phone to Janice and maybe get her to have a word when Derek came on the radio: ‘Got movement at the front door, stand by.’ I held my breath. ‘Right, we have a little girl walking alone down the garden path towards the street. Can we have the sister to the outer cordon to meet her.’
I walked from the school to the end of the road with Janice. And there was Rosie walking towards us. She was wearing a red dressing gown and clutching a doll, a little pink plastic thing with its hair tied in a ponytail. She looked about her, then back over her shoulder. That’s when Janice ran forward and grabbed her niece with one hand, putting the phone to her ear with the other. ‘Jo, I’ve got Rosie, she’s out, she’s safe with me.’
Behind me I heard Ed say, ‘Let’s get her back to the car to keep warm.’
‘Thank you,’ I said down the phone to Rob, and waited to see how he’d respond. He hadn’t hung up on me, but I couldn’t be sure that he was still listening. My phone made a beeping noise to indicate someone else was trying to ring me. The main thing from my point of view was that the threat level had been reduced, drastically. Or so I thought. I could hear him breathing, so I repeated ‘Thank you’ – and the phone went dead. Suddenly I felt exhausted again, and frightened. What was on the guy’s mind now? Did he intend to harm his wife? Had he got the lass out of the way so that he could settle with her mother? In situations like these everything can turn in the blink of an eye.
‘Rosie!’ With no warning whatsoever, the wife was outside the house, looking around for her daughter, then running across to where Janice had hold of her. She grabbed hold of the child and collapsed to her knees, sobbing.
Derek was there beside me, ‘So far so good Mike. Just the one to go, lad.’
I shook my head. I had a bad feeling inside me, not for the first time today. Then Derek nudged me. The door was still slightly open. I looked at him, asking the question with my raised eyebrows. At that moment the man Rob appeared at the door, staring at the ground with his hands up in the air.
I could feel all the breath coming out of my chest in one huge sigh. I hadn’t even realised I’d been holding it.
Situations like this can go one way or the other and I was thanking my lucky stars it seemed to be going my way. Now it was just a question of securing him and making the arrest.
I looked at Derek and he immediately came back with, ‘You keep the rapport going, Mike. Our lads will handcuff him.’
I cupped my hand to my mouth and called across the space between us – maybe thirty yards. ‘Now listen, Rob. It’s Mike. We just spoke on the phone. Are you listening?’
He was still looking down, but I could see a nod.
‘Where’s the knife?’
He jerked his head towards the house. ‘Back inside.’
‘OK, I want you to take five steps forward along the path and then stop outside the gate. Keep your hands where we can see them.’
He stepped forward, silently.
‘Now, stop there and put your hands on your head. Then I want you to kneel down.’
For the first time he showed some animation. ‘Look, for f***’s sake.’ I tensed up. Surely he wasn’t going to kick off now?
‘No,’ I said, loud and firm. ‘I need you to do this. You are going to be handcuffed and searched.’
He was thinking about whether or not to comply. Once more I realised I’d been holding my breath. We were so close to a safe result. I hadn’t realised that the police dog and handler had arrived behind me. A sudden barking cut through the silence and made both Rob and me jump. That was all it took to finally convince him that it was over.
He dropped to his knees and the ARV crew moved forward to handcuff, arrest and search him.
As he was led to the van I heard control calling me on the radio. I put it to my mouth and realised my tongue was sticking to the roof of my mouth.
‘Go ahead, over,’ I croaked.
‘The superintendent has been trying to ring you on your mobile.’
‘Received. Sorry – I was on the phone to the house. I have a final update, over.’
‘Go ahead.’
Half an hour later I was back at the station, ready to hand over to the nightshift sergeant. When I tried to sign my name as I was going off duty I saw my hand was shaking.
All of us on the late shift had been relieved, and Jayne had returned from the mortuary, but nobody had gone home yet. It seemed that we all wanted – needed – that little break, fifteen minutes or so, to debrief, unwind, prepare ourselves for re-entry into the mundane world of driving home, greeting our families, putting out the milk bottles, feeding the cat – or in my case the dog – knowing that the next day it would all start again. I got everybody together in the meal room, and over a brew we talked about the day’s events. I let everybody have their say about how they’d found things. We’d all had a tough day, no one more so than Jayne. She felt the need to describe in detail what she’d seen when the elderly couple were being cut from the wreckage. We listened in silence. Once everything had been aired, and after a short pause, I thanked the whole team for their efforts and for getting on with things with no fuss. I also passed on a message of ‘well d
one’ from the superintendent. He’d finally caught up with me when I got back to the station. ‘So, a good day’s work, everybody. Let’s all go home – and drive carefully.’
‘And thank God Chris Cocks is back next week, laddie.’ Thommo piped up with a smile.
I grinned back at him. ‘I’ll second that, Thommo lad.’
As I stepped out of the car at Keeper’s Cottage twenty minutes later, an owl was hooting in the trees behind me. Henry was jumping up at the back door, snapping at a couple of moths that had been drawn to the porch light. Ann was up and waiting for me. I’d texted her from the station, telling her that things had kicked off and I’d be late home. Now I was able to give her the whole story over a very welcome beer.
‘So,’ she said – and she couldn’t help laughing – ‘welcome to the wonderful world of the supervisor. D’you still want to be a sergeant?’
I kicked off my boots, sat myself down in the recliner and closed my eyes. ‘Good question,’ I said. ‘I think I’ll sleep on it. For about fifteen hours.’
Chapter 9
As Sly as a Fox
‘There you go, cock-bod. Good as new.’ Soapy and I were standing some way back from Keeper’s Cottage, over by the gooseberry bushes where we could get a good view of it. My two weeks as acting sergeant were over and I was enjoying a couple of days off before going back to my regular beat. The weather had been kind and I’d managed to get a lot of tidying up done in the garden – in between taking some lengthy tea breaks with Soapy as he put the finishing touches to the roof, replaced a length of guttering and installed a downpipe.
‘Not bad,’ I said. ‘Not bad at all. I have to say you’ve made a fair job of that. In the end.’
‘How d’you mean, in the end?’
‘Well, let’s face it, you’ve taken your time.’
‘Aye, but you can’t be hurrying a craftsman, Mike. No good rushing the job. That’s how mistakes get made.’
I let it go. I could’ve mentioned the elementary mistake he’d made in telling us that the roof was sound, way back in the early summer, but what do they say? All’s well that ends well? And, fair play to him, he had made a decent job of it. The new ridge tiles were all cemented in, the chimney was standing tall and straight, freshly pointed up with the TV aerial back in place, and the new lead flashing was glinting dully in the September sunlight. As Soapy said, ‘To say your cottage is over two hundred years old, it looks as good as new.’ He nodded in the direction of the trailer where he’d just finished stacking the scaffolding, boards and ladders. ‘I’ll fetch Algy’s tractor down tonight and have them away.’ He grinned and rubbed his hands together. ‘Then it’ll be payday, eh?’