27The raid

The raid

Featuring

The undercover cop

And

the fantasist

27

1996

Song:- caught by the fuzz

Artist:- supergrass

Song:- Firestarter

Artist:-The Prodigy

Song:-Female Of The Species

Artist:- Space

Artist:- Manic Street Preacher

Song :- A Design For Life

THE MASTER

Andrew Whitfield was an enigma

a master of disguise, who kept the establishment at bay for many a year,

a nemesis or an adversary if you will, to all law enforcement across the globe,

a man with many secrets, a man of mystery that nobody will ever really know,

a man that will never be taken alive,

a man who only lets you see what he wants you to see,

a man who’ll never be broken,

However the bobbies of Warrington town had other ideas,

they want him, and they want him so badly they can taste it

so they have decided to set up a task force which they felt was needed to take the master down.

JUST ANOTHER DAY

August 18th 1996

The pills were being counted out and the wraps were being formed into little rectangular parcels,

it was eight am on a fucking hot Sunday morning,

and there was a group of us sat the in the garden of the infamous Andy Whit’s,

the joints had already been lit and were being passed around, every hand in that garden had a can of lager in it and that included the girls,

the atmosphere was growing already and the excitement could be seen hovering above the group like a cloud of stardust, and that garden was the usual destination and meeting place of the masses, Whitties garden just had an air about it,

such was the host that he was, he always made you feel at home, he even carpeted the concrete flooring to make it more comfortable for the folk who collapsed from shall we say over indulging,

and it would soon be time for a visit to the island lodge one of our local taverns, we would be calling in for a few scoops on the way to the first ever V festival, yes V96 was in town, it was being played out in our very own back yard, just a ten minute stroll from our houses and across a little bridge named the cantilever( because of the style I guess) and then you were there at Victoria park and facing the crowds of the day, if you could sum up the nineties and Brit pop, then I think that sight was it, although I never did work out where Gary Newman fitted into all of that,

THE LAST SUPPER

Friday September 13th

There were several of us sat around whitties dining table, Derek the joker, a 5ft 3 blonde lad sat in a wicker chair in the conservatory, well I say conservatory it was more of an extension and the hub of whitties world, Derek had just sparked up a joint and was in a world of his own having a wonderful conversation with the household dog, now besides his family there were only two things Andy loved and cherished, that was his fateful dog and his wicker chair situated in the corner of the extension facing towards the TV, the patio doors and the rest of the room where he could hold court to all his minions,

and at this moment his minions were sat around his dining room table, and the only reason there were so many of us sat there was to collect some recreationals for the evening,

John the Baptist was there that afternoon as was old Billy the fantasist,

Alex and Nigel my two house mates, myself of course, and Lee whit, Elaine was there of course as she was the head of the house, once everyone around the table had been sorted, discussions got under way of what the night would bring, and of course we’d all meet up at the the island lodge,

there would be a band on, and the euphoria of the recreationals would play a big part of the evening,

and after closing time back to whitties house for the after party, a few more spliffs and some good tunes before everyone drifts off home to bed before the sun comes up.

IN THE

BEGINNING

V96

August 18th

Pulp, supergrss, longpigs, elastics, super fury animals, Lee whit was relaying with some vigour the line up for V96 festival, this information was being retrieved from the poster on the wall of our local, and when he got to Gary Newman everyone had lost interest and settled down on the outside furniture situated in the beer garden at the rear of the establishment,

It was getting hotter and hotter with every minute, and was going to be a very fucking long day, the beer garden was full, there was great music banging out of the sound system,

the atmosphere was electric and it was still only ten in the morning,

every one and his dog in Warrington were going to be heading to Victoria park for the very first V festival, and we were no different, the one advantage we had was our local was just ten minutes walk from the site of the festival and where we lived was actually closer, so the pills were popping the drinks were flowing and the spliffs were smokin, dancing and shuffling had already begun in one corner of the beer garden,

Billy the fantasist was already talking bulshit to himself and anyone else who caught his eye,

Jon the Baptist and little Derek were still arguing about a stolen dole cheque, the story behind this was while little Derek was between places to live he had his benefits delivered to my house, for a small fee of course, not quite sure how legal this was, and not quite sure if little Derek was without a place to live, come to think of it not too sure either if little Derek’s name was even on the benefit cheques, but the point is a couple of weeks previous when little Derek came a calling to pick up the cheques they were not where I usually leave them, and the only other person that was in my house that specific day was Jon the Baptist, and when Derek caught up with him in the barley mow pub he was rather flush with cash, and unlike the Jon everyone knows he was buying the drinks,

well it didn’t take long to establish what occurred, with Jon the Baptist admitting everything right off the bat, his only defence for such criminal activities were that the cheques were not addressed to Derek, I know, no logic among thieves,

but on this Sunday they were still arguing the point of who was right and who was wrong,

Andy whit, Elaine, Ibbie, Paula, Moggsie young Jenny (Moggsie girlfriend, she was given the title young Jenny on the basis at seventeen she was twenty plus years younger that Moggsie) were all sat at a picnic table to the back of the beer garden sharing a joint, while I was sat with our kid Dwayne Alex and Nigel just shooting the breeze and taking it easy before the recreational’s come out and we head off for an afternoon of wild music history.

THE END IS NIGH

Friday 13th

Six pm and a group of us had arrived at the island lodge, we were sat in our usual spot under the front window near to the front door and close to the bar, an excellent spot,

there was Andy whit , Elaine, Moggsie, young Jenny, my house mates Alex and Nigel, myself, and Lee whit,

we were all just starting the evening with the proverbial pint and a reefer, other players in the bar that evening that were occasionally part of our group were Johnny Bibby and his partner Karen,

They were situated on two bar stools just behind our group at the bar,

Jon the Baptist and little Derek were still bickering in the corner just along a small corridor near the back door, and then there was old Billy the fantasist talking to a guy named Jason at the end of the bar near the serving hatch , Jason had integrated himself with the group some months back, but this evening he seemed overly friendly with Billy and the landlord,

But fate takes a hand in my pursuit of happiness and freedom this evening, because Nigel who has a girlfriend (who just happens to be a student nurse) has been given the task to invite me to a hospital party where there would be a girl, also a student nurse no less who I very much fancied, but she had never shown any interest in me more than mates in the past,

but Nigel had past on to me that Christie (the nurse) had specifically ask for my presence this evening, well how could I resist, I could tag along with nige and Alex, check out the party and if everything was going well, then that night would be a night to fall in love,

if it all went tits up i knew where everyone was on a usual Friday evening, and that’s just where I have left them

at the island lodge probably with a few additions, as more patrons came in later,

It was a win win situation what possibly could go wrong,

A MESSY PARTY

August 28th

When a festival starts at midday there must be a good reason for it, and I’m sure the reason is not to start the party at eight o’clock in the morning,

by the time eleven am had arrived and it was time to move on to the main venue at Victoria park the whole of the island lodge were smashed, old Billy the fantasist was dancing with the trees in the beer garden and he would not make the final journey to the gig,

Jon the Baptist and little Derek had given up throwing insults at each other in favour of throwing punches, neither one of them made the gig,

but some of the smarter party people paced themselves, and were just peaking in time for the gig, and with recreationals to come it was all to play for, so the rest of the flock followed whittie out of the lodge and on we went to have one of the best days for decades

UNREQUITED LOVE

It was not yet 7pm, in the evening and nige and Alex were itching to move on to the party, so instead of my usual routine I had made up my mind to go with them, and so off we went, leaving my usual crowd there to enjoy themselves,

which was more than I could hope for,

and the reason for this thought was although nige and Alex are my house mates and nice lads,

they were not the most exciting of blokes, and although they dabbled occasionally in recreationals, the effect on them was not at all dramatic,

but I had an obligation to a lady who apparently had requested my presence at the party, and as a gentleman I was obliged to attend,

and I caught Christie’s eye almost immediately as I made my entrance into the function room that was holding this medical shin dig, and with that passing look the passion filled the whole of my body,

I did not rest on my laurels, I quickly hand gestured a drink towards her admiring stare as I made my way to the bar, and her reply could be seen by everyone, because she stood slowly, then provocatively started to walk towards me, at this point my legs nearly gave way and I was frothing at the mouth with anticipation of what tonight may bring if only I could keep it together,

as she approached me I thought about that old cliche, as the girl approaches, you reach out to her, and she walks by you to another, and you stand there just so fucking humiliated, well it did not happen quite that way, she arrived to me, we hugged and a kiss on the cheek from me, was reciprocated by her with a full on mouth to mouth snog, tongues essential, and as she took my hand and dragged me to the dance floor, I realised that she may have been a little intoxicated, but before I could show off my moves on the dance floor a greasy six foot something handsome god caught her attention by grabbing her hand,

as she turned to him you could tell they were acquainted with the way they hugged and the use of the serious mouth action at play, while I just stood there with my jaw to the floor, nige whispered into my ear that this was Terence a junior doctor and occasional friend of Christie’s, well I picked up my jaw from the floor and headed to the exit thinking how could anyone compete with a very large mountain wearing a fucking white T shirt so tight his pecks were fighting to be released, and once released there would only ever be one winner in the war for the girls affections,

I bet he’s got a small dick was my last thought as I left the building,

THE ONE WHO HAS

DIPPED HIS HAND

Johnny Bibby an old school friend, and the best lad I have ever seen doing a wheelie on his souped up bike when we were at school was sat at the bar of the island lodge at eight thirty on Friday the 13th 1996, he related to me what had occurred at the lodge while I had taken cover at a public house across from the island lodge on my way back to join the evenings fun and frolicking, apparently cigarettes and alcohol by oasis was blasting through the sound system of the venue when a surge of uniforms came crashing through the front door of the island lodge followed by several suits, the police had arrived mob handed and were in no mood for pleasantries, the suits knew exactly where they were going to first, and that was to whitties table, the rest of the uniform police spread throughout the venue searching every person that looked suspicious, which was every fucking one in the place so that job could take some time,

JON’S DISCIPLE

Jon the Baptist and little Derek noticed what was occurring and who was being targeted from their position near the back door and as there was no back entrance into the beer garden, just three tall solid walls, the police concentrated on the front which allowed Jon the Baptist and little Derek to slip out the back door without being noticed,

and with a stealth like speed crossed the beer garden and scaled the trees situated at the back wall and dropped over the other side and had it off on their toes,

together the two of them had come up with a plan the minute they saw the first uniform,

and it was a simple plan, which was to get the fuck out of there and regroup at whittie’s place,

which they did with such ease and finesse, when they arrived at whittie’s they did not have a fucking clue what to do next,

then little Derek had a moment of clarity, and realised that this house that they had just arrived at would probable hold some secrets that could be used as evidence against Andrew Whitfield if he were to be arrested on that very evening,

so they did what law abiding citizen would do, they broke in and cleaned that fucking house from top to bottom,

clearing out any incriminating evidence there may have been lying around, they then left through the back door just as the police arrived at the front,

DON’T LOOK NOW

I took a walk back to the lodge to clear my head and reminisce over the love I’d lost, but as I was reaching the point where the borough arms holds court on the corner of Buttermarket street and Mersey street i not only heard some sort of fracas I could clearly see it,

and it involved a lot of police presence and a lot of police vehicles,

I’m stopped in my tracks just outside the pubs entrance and for a second time that evening I had to lift my jaw back off the floor, and wisely I think, decided to pop in to that pub for refreshments,

I took a seat at the window with a cold pint of lager in hand and a great view of all the commotion going on across the road,

there was at least two police vans and many cars parked out the front of the lodge, and while I sipped on my ice cold pint i observed many lodge clientele being escorted into the back of these vans,

I noticed Moggsie taking his place, but there was no young Jenny, there was old Billy the fantasist joining Moggsie

the landlord also turned up and was followed by whittie and Elaine,

there were some other faces being escorted in handcuffs, but none I really knew that well,

so I wondered where was Lee whit, and where were Jon the Baptist and small Derek, Ibbie Paula

These questions would be answered by the time I had ordered my second pint,

as they all arrived through the side door of the borough arms sporadically along with Johnny bibby and Karen,

I was briefed mainly by Johnny bibby who calmly watch the raid of the island lodge from his bar stool with his beloved Karen, and as they were not regulars of the establishment they were not on the police’s radar although they were asked questions and prompted to empty there pockets,

Jon the Baptist relayed the house cleansing mission by Derek and himself (who were now the best of buddies) this act of heroism by the two may or may not have saved whittie from a life time in prison,

but it was ibbys information that was the most interesting, he and Paula had heard that it was in fact old Billy the fantasist, who had dropped the whole of the island lodge under suspicion of being a den of iniquity and the base of the top drugs baron of the north west,

this was all related to a guy named Jason who was having a pint one day in the lodge while off duty from the police, and thus started a snow ball effect as Jason turned up more regularly undercover to enorgurate himself with Billy liar, and he was slowly taken in with all his Billy bullshit and fantasies, and actually believing him but without any collaboration,

a full on raid from the drug squad was undertaken, recovering a haul that amounted to two half smoked joints, the odd squashed pill into the lodge’s carpet and the fragrance of some josticks burning in the corner, it was a catastrophe for the bobbies of Warrington, but someone had to pay for their embarrassment and their focus lay on whittie and Moggsie

A RETURN TO MY HEARTBREAK

I couldn’t face going home as I lived a few doors away from the whittie household and with all the police activities in and around that area I had the idea that I should revisit the party I’d left earlier that evening,

I know my heart had been broken in two, but I was optimistic that there would be new opportunities on the girlfriend front as there were many student nurses who may want to befriend an honest god fearing young man,

and if they couldn’t find any I would be there to pick up the pieces,

as it happened when I arrived back at the social gathering of the hospital staff it wasn’t long before I was greeted once again by Christie, and by this time this young lady did not have much time left on her feet,

I could tell by now she was very inebriated and as I had had a fair few drinks myself on top of some recreationals I predicted the rest of this night would not go well,

where in fact it went better than anyone could have hope, but not as well as I would of liked,

we ended up at Christie’s dorm,

we ended up naked

we ended up exploring each other

and we ended up waking the following afternoon not understanding what the fuck went on,

but although there would never be any actual intercourse between myself and Christie, I will take to my grave the sight of her beautiful body as she slipped from the sheets to put on some clothing once we had realised who and where we were,

THE DEVILS WORK

Some weeks had past since the island lodge raid and everything was getting back to normal, everyone was falling back into there lives, and the sun was shining, whittie Moggsie and some others were charged with minor drugs offences, but life went on, I at some point since the incident I had decided to get back to nature,

I had decided all electrical equipment was the devils work,

so I systematically gave everything away,

my tv, stereo etc,

and then began to dig up my front garden with the idea of tunnelling through to somewhere,

but nowhere in particular,

I would just go out occasionally and dig

and if I was not digging I would paint, as I also took up oil painting and would paint blue lighthouses, this life style change lasted almost two weeks before I admitted my mistake to myself,

unfortunately I could not retrieve any of my possession I had given away and with hearing whittie had been given a twelve month jail sentence for the heinous crime of passing a joint around in his own house, I decided to pack a bag and leave the uk, first stopping off to visit my brother on the isle of Man,

I’m still waiting to leave the

Isle of Man twenty eight years later