Denying the name – this is something I stumbled upon when I was seventeen years old. I didn’t understand what happened at the time but have had many years to reflect on.
I was dragged up to The Old Bailey in the City of London. It was a case of mistaken identity or a trumped up attempt to get me on something. The police had spent half a day with me and had nothing. They came up with an old case of somebody with the exact same name as mine – even the middle name. His date of birth had the same numbers as mine only arranged differently. It smelled fishy. It was only a minor thing. A fifteen pound unpaid fine.
They had to take me across London to the Square Mile which I now know to be a sovereign entity within London. It was a Saturday and I was sure I was going to be there until Monday to see a judge. I was in a cell for about half an hour when I was taken upstairs. The court was in session and I was put in the box. They called out the name and asked if it was me. I had been dreading this moment. How was I going to explain? I have to say that I accidentally blurted out “no”.
I was really scared now as I could see the judge’s anger building. His face got red and it looked like his wig was askew. His anger however was directed at the policeman. He screamed a bunch of abuse at him and the policeman looked embarrassed. He then adjourned the case sine die which is Latin for indefinitely. I was led out through the big doors and that was it.
As I have had many years to reflect and study it is my belief that the police were hoping I would try to explain thereby creating a dispute. It would have been reason to hold me. It was also in a foreign jurisdiction and was a way to cover their tracks. Everything they did was bogus. They came to my flat at six in the morning. A search warrant was waved in front of me. I was quick enough to read that it said I had stolen cameras. It took them less than five minutes to search. I had nothing.
I was a seventeen year old kid working in a hardware store. That should have been it. They didn’t have an arrest warrant. But this was a fishing trip. I was never told why they were there. The excuse now was I had to go to the station to check out my story. What story? I didn’t have one. I wanted their story. They should have had my story when they got the bogus warrant. And after wasting a lot of man hours they took me to the Bailey.
The only conclusion I can think of is maybe I knew someone they wanted to get close to and were setting me up as a snitch. But first they had to have something on me to bargain with. Whatever the reason, I will have to thank them in hindsight as that was probably the starting point of my studies. I was determined to figure out what had happened in that courtroom. I had denied the name and saw the results first hand. I had no explaining to do. They were put on the spot. What I saw at the time as a hopeless situation. How was I going to prove a negative? I had nothing to prove. The burden was on them. My fear was now their fear. They could not prove a negative either. It is simply that easy to deny the name. I said only one word in that courtroom. “No”. Nothing else. That was all it took to stop the proceeding.