05/05/2003 @21:39:55 ^00:13:52

Here's the humourous story which I said I'd post on here (after I tried to tell it at a party, but couldn't get a word in edgeways)

We begin about ten years ago, while I was still at school. Towards the end of every summer, I'd be taken, usually to the Co-Op, to purchase new pieces of uniform for the upcoming school year. This was necessary as I was still growing.

Having left the shop my parents and I went around the city for a short time afterwards, largely window-shopping. As we were looking into one place I sensed someone looking at me, and turned round. It was the guy who'd been working on the till in the Co-Op. I figured he must have recognised us from earlier.

Of course, my memory being an excellent capturer of useless information, I now knew the guy's face. He was probably about five foot nine, and vaguely reminded me of that guy who used to present The Krypton Factor, only he had glasses and was mostly bald. The following year, in exactly the same place, doing exactly the same shopping, I pointed him out to my mum, and she too remembered him.

Forward another couple of years. In particular, past the time when we moved out of my dad's house. It was local elections time, and all the usual campaign leaflets were arriving through the letterbox. Imagine my surprise; I recognised the photograph of Bald Guy From The Co-Op, standing as a Tory candidate for one of the seats on the city council. So now he had a name, too; it turned out to be Stidworthy. He succeeded in his quest for local power and was elected; he had also been successful in changing jobs, and was now, of all things, a bus driver.

That's how it all stayed for a while, that is up until some time last year, when scandal broke out! Stidworthy had been removed from his seat on the council, and suspended from his driving job. But for what reason? He was alleged to have met a rent boy and taken him to a public convenience where they proceeded to have sex! No, don't stop reading! There's more!

Unfortunately the boy stole his mobile phone, for which Stidworthy reported him to the police. But this proved to be a mistake. The police discovered that the boy, whom Stidworthy had believed to be of age, was in fact only 15.

WHOOPS.

Stidworthy was promptly arrested. The police searched his home, and found on his computer something of the order of 4000 images of underage children being sexually abused. He was sent to prison.

But just think for a moment. Go back 10 years again to that day I turned round to be confronted by his face. Was he merely looking at me in recognition of an earlier customer... Or was there far more unpleasant thoughts going through his mind...

Final note: last week, there was another round of local elections. This time, there were two votes for council representatives from this ward; the second was of course because a replacement for Stidworthy needed to be found. Stidworthy himself has recently had his prison sentence cut from twenty-one to fifteen months...

Links: Councillor on sex assault charge, Councillor jailed on sex charges, Ex-councillor's jail term cut

This has been no. 2 in a series, "RjY's encounters with child pornographers"