Being different

The vast majority of the offenders I deal with are white British, with a depressingly similar background. It was a refreshing change to interview Manuel and glimpse something of a very different cultural identity.

Manuel was up for a drunken assault of police who arrested him for being noisy and disruptive in the town centre one night. The ferocity of his reaction to arrest seemed out of proportion to the circumstances and, from the reading of the prosecution papers, hard to understand.

In interview, Manuel was a fiercely proud man. Exploring his background was fascinating and began to shed light on his attitudes and behaviour that night.

He was born in a small West African country and his ancestors were slaves transported from unknown regions in the continent. Manuel was conceived and born as the result of the rape of his mother by a white European who had power and influence over her and others in the community. He and his family suffered extreme poverty and hardship as a result of civil war in the country before fleeing with his mother to Spain, France and finally the UK. He has a good work record but his habit is to get drunk on frequent occasions as a way of blocking his thoughts and memories. Under such circumstances, he can react very badly, especially to white male authority figures.

We discussed likely sentences and Manuel said that he would rather go to prison than do community service. He was adamant that he would never work for nothing, as he viewed this as akin to slavery.

I liked Manuel and felt considerable compassion towards him. But then we were sitting in a safe and comfortable office, and he was sober and repentant. I can imagine that police officers who have to deal with him late on a Saturday night, after he has been drinking heavily, might well have a different view.