Tough on Crime (iii)

As a boy Gruff was taught, for a while, by an obnoxious old man who had taught the father of a school chum before the war. This man was still a spiteful old bully (fond of bringing the sharp edge of a wooden ruler down on one's knuckles, often for no real reason) but in more authoritarian times had been famous for thrashing every boy every morning as a warning of what they would receive should they dare to break any of his numerous petty rules. Such a sentiment can be the only explanation for this barely credible story of a non smoker who has been fined for throwing a cigarette from the window of his car, in which no one, not even his wife, is allowed to smoke.

Once upon a time, of course, we could safely assume that a simple mistake had been made and the matter would soon be satisfactorily resolved by whomever was in charge of the official concerned but the comments of 'a council spokesman' perhaps suggest otherwise:

A council spokesman said ... "The senior enforcement officer is very clear that an offence was committed, but the details of the circumstances that she witnessed are very different to what has been reported, so there is obviously further investigative work to be undertaken."

'Different to (sic)'? How different? Regardless, council tax payers in Leeds may wish to ask their council how much the investigation of this abominable crime is going to cost them.

I can almost hear that obnoxious old man unctuously intoning, with a malign smile on his face, 'you may not have done anything wrong but let that be a warning to you'.