noticed the hybrid parrots in the trees at the back of the shop and, most unusual of all, his antique pen collecting hobby. Not a cheap hobby by all accounts as he said he had just bought an expensive pen for his collection and could not tell his wife how much he had spent. Whether it was to intimidate Jeremy into some sort of confession, we were not sure, but Hopkins revealed he was an expert in computers in the fact that he could take one apart and build it again from scratch and that he would be relying on forensics.
I tried to smile politely but felt it was more a grimace as we sat looking at the large TV screen with the films of various wedding days running through at fast-forward speed. My poor Jeremy, I thought. Even though he seemed to be handling it all quite well, I could tell he was nervous as he was a little breathless, probably because his heart was thundering away in his chest – as was mine. My nerves were in shreds but why should they be? We had nothing to hide and there was nothing to find.
As the films played through I got up to stretch my legs and wander over to the shop window. All of a sudden a customer came in, I hoped that Hopkins would continue to sit quietly and look as though he were acustomer watching a demo tape. Fortunately, he was discreet while Jeremy gave out all the necessary information and they left happy and none the wiser. The clock ticked round to 11.30 a.m. when finally Hopkins stood up and said he was satisfied that he had seen enough. We were relieved as we were under the impression that he was going to be with us a lot longer, but he got Jeremy to sign a returned property sheet, letting him have a copy, and then left promptly through the back door. We both let out a sigh of relief but I knew that we would spend the rest of the day analysing what was said, what it meant, had we said too much?
Soon after this visit Jeremy had to visit the doctor for treatment of eczema, most probably brought on by the terrible stress he was under.
Our solicitor was still tirelessly working on Hopkins to get our property list of items seized at the house and shop, reminding him that this was very much overdue. Very often the excuses given were that they were either short-staffed, on holiday or sick.
Finally, on 21 February, we received the list by second-class post – and there were many pages of it. It was both infuriating and upsetting to see our possessions itemised in this way, but more importantly, we hoped that they were all in safe keeping. Patel had originally said that I would have this list within seven days and here we were, a week short of four months. Getting the list felt like we had had our house burgled all over again, as many of the entries only reminded us that they were missing, some we hadn’t even noticed had disappeared.
We were copied in on all correspondence from the solicitor and we were pleased to see that Mr Bennett had made the following point in relation to the Siggery matter that Jeremy had been worrying about among everything else:
Finally, we understand that in the course of viewing the video material at our client’s premises that the Officer in the case identified another officerknown to him. May we remind you on the need to keep your investigations in this matter confidential and to avoid the transmission of any information relating to the same other than that required specifically for the purposes of the investigation to any third party.
Meanwhile, at work I received an email from Nicola Holder, the exhibits officer, who had been present during the raid and was the compiler of the list. She said that some items had been examined and were ready for return although she did not indicate what these were. To avoid Jeremy having to take more time off from the shop I said that I would meet her at the house. She arrived carrying a small bag of video films, cassettes, photographs that had been developed by the police from a roll of film and some pre-recorded CDs. As
I tried to smile politely but felt it was more a grimace as we sat looking at the large TV screen with the films of various wedding days running through at fast-forward speed. My poor Jeremy, I thought. Even though he seemed to be handling it all quite well, I could tell he was nervous as he was a little breathless, probably because his heart was thundering away in his chest – as was mine. My nerves were in shreds but why should they be? We had nothing to hide and there was nothing to find.
As the films played through I got up to stretch my legs and wander over to the shop window. All of a sudden a customer came in, I hoped that Hopkins would continue to sit quietly and look as though he were acustomer watching a demo tape. Fortunately, he was discreet while Jeremy gave out all the necessary information and they left happy and none the wiser. The clock ticked round to 11.30 a.m. when finally Hopkins stood up and said he was satisfied that he had seen enough. We were relieved as we were under the impression that he was going to be with us a lot longer, but he got Jeremy to sign a returned property sheet, letting him have a copy, and then left promptly through the back door. We both let out a sigh of relief but I knew that we would spend the rest of the day analysing what was said, what it meant, had we said too much?
Soon after this visit Jeremy had to visit the doctor for treatment of eczema, most probably brought on by the terrible stress he was under.
Our solicitor was still tirelessly working on Hopkins to get our property list of items seized at the house and shop, reminding him that this was very much overdue. Very often the excuses given were that they were either short-staffed, on holiday or sick.
Finally, on 21 February, we received the list by second-class post – and there were many pages of it. It was both infuriating and upsetting to see our possessions itemised in this way, but more importantly, we hoped that they were all in safe keeping. Patel had originally said that I would have this list within seven days and here we were, a week short of four months. Getting the list felt like we had had our house burgled all over again, as many of the entries only reminded us that they were missing, some we hadn’t even noticed had disappeared.
We were copied in on all correspondence from the solicitor and we were pleased to see that Mr Bennett had made the following point in relation to the Siggery matter that Jeremy had been worrying about among everything else:
Finally, we understand that in the course of viewing the video material at our client’s premises that the Officer in the case identified another officerknown to him. May we remind you on the need to keep your investigations in this matter confidential and to avoid the transmission of any information relating to the same other than that required specifically for the purposes of the investigation to any third party.
Meanwhile, at work I received an email from Nicola Holder, the exhibits officer, who had been present during the raid and was the compiler of the list. She said that some items had been examined and were ready for return although she did not indicate what these were. To avoid Jeremy having to take more time off from the shop I said that I would meet her at the house. She arrived carrying a small bag of video films, cassettes, photographs that had been developed by the police from a roll of film and some pre-recorded CDs. As
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