I did not mind them briefly satisfying themselves that we were not perps (yeah, right, we kick a guy's head in, and then take him to hospital and turn ourselves in at the local nick; two well spoken blokes in good suits driving a newish BMW), but they went on far too long, and gave my brother, who was the real hero of the hour (I was mainly the getaway driver), a real going over. One of the fearless guardians of society (numerous at the station, notably absent on the mean streets of Hackney) even threatened to breathalyse me (we had been driving home from a dinner party; I was sober). I gave him a somewhat judicial look, and he changed his mind.

I try my best to support and admire the police, who have a hell of a job to do, but the Met in particular are arrogant and high handed in their dealings with the law abiding.