At the Rutherglen end of Kings Park Avenue about ten days ago, I saw an incident unfolding as I waited at the traffic lights before turning right. There was a car across at the other side of Mill Street which had crashed into a pedestrian light so hard that the pole was bent right down. There was a police car and a police van in attendance, and what particularly caught my eye was a tight circle of about five police officers facing inwards. As I watched, they all bent and then stood up again, having lifted a man in the centre of their circle to his feet. His hands were already handcuffed behind his back, and as the lights changed and I drove off I saw him being marched smartly towards the police van. Naturally I mentioned this to James, Ally, Davie and Cat at dinner time but then thought no more of it.
However the next day Ally showed me a short video film and asked if it was of the same man that I had seen being arrested. I recognised him immediately by the clothes he was wearing. The video had been filmed before either the police or I arrived at the scene. A passer by must have filmed it right after the crash. The driver was leaning on the bonnet of the car, trying fruitlessly to push it backwards away from the traffic light, and he was shouting to his friend who was still inside the car, “Reverse! Reverse!”
The voice of the passer by can be heard off camera, advising him that “The wheel’s aff mate! The engine’s smashed! You’re f***ed!” while the driver (clearly under the influence of drink or drugs, which was presumably why he was arrested later) keeps exhorting his passenger again and again to “Reverse! Reverse!”
Ally explained to me that the video clip had gone viral on the internet with the title “Glasgow Bampots reverse reverse” and apparently during its brief moment of fame it was then used on a football website in a spoof commentary about a Celtic match!
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