London Arrest (by Guest Blogger Fergus)

Fergus is a young person recently released from a UK prison.

Saturday April 4^th.  I was stood at Platform 9 of Waterloo Station, train side of the ticket barriers, my freedom of movement restricted by the handcuffs securing my wrists behind my back, and by the tight grip of a policeman adorned with a glowing sense of pride plastered over his face, surrounded by ten British transport policemen, a mere spectacle, a typical but no less gaze-worthy feature of the hustle and bustle.

I have always been reckless, no stranger to the sudden re-percussions of my actions. Even high on ketamine and alcohol, it didn’t take me long to acknowledge and accept the consequences of this scenario. Kind of like when you tread in dog dirt – you know it straight away.

They held out a folded lottery ticket with a thumb-nail-sized pile of white rocky powder.

“What’s this?”

“Ketamine,” I replied

“That’s what’s all over your face I take it?”

“Ketamine’s for horses isn’t it? Why’d you wanna do that?”

“Have you got anything else we should know about?”

“In the bag,” I said.

“Anything that might hurt me?”

“Not unless your vulnerable to paper cuts.”

He unzipped my bag and unloaded the contents onto the concrete: laptop, cables, headphones and six rolls of banknotes totalling £6,000, giving the police an idea of the magnitude of the situation.

I was at Waterloo that evening going to buy three kilograms of mephedrone or “meow meow,” not to consume, but to sell. With a street price of £45,000, the potential profit was enticing for a 20 year old with no qualifications or interesting employment opportunities.

That Saturday, I had originally decided to give myself a day off drug dealing. It had become stressful, and I hadn’t taken a break in months. I was planning on going to an illegal rave, and jumping around to loud music. Reluctant as I was to alter my plan to take a day off, as soon as I got drunk, I fell to the allure of quick easy money.    I made a call, and grabbed enough money to re-stock. I took alcohol and a few grams of ketamine, the latter of which I normally left behind, but determined to act like it was still a night off, I loosened my rules, and so a small decision dramatically effected my life, earning me a 30-month prison sentence.

Click here for the previous guest blog (by Kenneth Hartman).
.

As this is Fergus's first guest blog, your comments are appreciated.

Shaun Attwood