By Rob John
Morgan: Mr Barker? Mr Barker? Are you awake? Can you hear me?
Barker: Where am I?
Morgan: You’re in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Mr Barker.
Barker: Who are you?
Morgan: I’m WPC Morgan. From Central Police Station. The doctor said it’d be OK to ask you a few questions.
Barker: What questions?
Morgan: You’ve been quite badly hurt, Mr Barker. You’ve had some sort of accident and we’d like to find out what happened.
Barker: It wasn’t an accident.
Morgan: No? Then perhaps you’d like to tell me exactly what happened.
Barker: It’s all a bit of a blur. I can’t really…
Morgan: Take your time, Mr Barker.
Barker: I remember leaving my daughter’s house…
Morgan: Where’s that?
Barker: Priory Road.
Morgan: OK. Nice part of town.
Barker: Yes. It was getting late. My daughter said I should get a taxi but I wanted to walk. It was a cold…starting to snow…but I just felt like walking. You know? And I hadn’t gone far when a man came towards me and asked me the way to the station.
Morgan: What did he look like?
Barker: I don’t know. He was quite tall maybe. I can’t remember. It all happened so quickly.
Morgan: What happened so quickly?
Barker: I was telling this man the way to the station when someone else…another person…came up behind me. They must have hit me – because I felt a bang on the back of my head and the next thing I knew I was flat on the pavement.
Morgan: Did they speak?
Barker: What?
Morgan: Did they say anything…after you were hit? Can you remember?
Barker: I can just remember being cold. It was very cold lying on the ground. I felt their hands going through my pockets…wallet, keys, phone… They took everything. Then they ran away and left me lying there. I tried to get up but I was dizzy…didn’t feel right. I thought I’ll just lie here for a bit and hope someone comes along.
Morgan: And someone did come along…?
Barker: Yes, they did… Two women. I could hear them talking as they came up to me. I thought…that’s good. They’ll see me…and they’ll help me. I’ll be alright now…but then one of them said:
Woman: Just look at that! Â鶹ԼÅÄless people sleeping in the street. Don’t expect to see that sort of thing round here. Go on – push off!
Barker: I tried to speak. Tried to tell them that I needed help but they weren’t listening. They just crossed the road and walked away.
Woman: This is a respectable neighbourhood!
Morgan: So you were still just lying there, Mr Barker…
Barker: Yes.
Morgan: And getting pretty cold I imagine…
Barker: I was freezing. But then some more people came along. Two men. They could see I’d been hurt. One of them said he wanted to help me but I heard the other one say…
Man 1: Let’s not get involved. Someone else will sort this out.
Man 2: But he needs help -
Man 1: I told you it’s not our problem. And it’s cold. I wanna get home!
Barker: And I was on my own again. Freezing. Lying in the street. I don’t know how long I was there…felt like hours. And then I saw him…
Morgan: Saw who, Mr Barker?
Barker: Man. On his own. Young fella…not much more than a kid. He was walking towards me.
Morgan: What did he look like?
Barker: Usual sort. Trainers, jeans, a grey top with the hood up so you couldn’t see his face. I thought…this is it. He’s come to finish me off. He knelt down beside me and I said ‘You’re wasting your time. They’ve taken everything. There’s nothing left to steal.’
Morgan: He put his hand in your pocket did he?
Barker: No. No he didn’t. He put his hand in his own pocket…and took out his phone. I heard him say ‘ambulance please’ and then I must have passed out because the next thing I knew I was in here.
Morgan: Well that explains this.
Barker: What is it?
Morgan: It’s a grey top with a hood. The paramedics didn’t think it was yours. You were wrapped up in it when they found you.
Barker: I was wrapped up in that?
Morgan: He was trying to keep you warm, Mr Barker. And it’s good job he did. It was a very cold night. He might just have saved your life.
Barker: And I thought he was going to rob me. He looked…
Morgan: Yeah well you can’t always tell by appearances, Mr Barker. Don’t judge a book by its cover and all that.
Barker: I ought to say thank you to him. Give him back his top. Who was he?
Morgan: He didn’t give his name so we don’t know. Probably won’t ever know. Anyway he’s a Good Samaritan whoever he is.
Barker: Yes. A real Good Samaritan.
By Rob John
Morgan: Mr Barker? Mr Barker? Are you awake? Can you hear me?
Barker: Where am I?
Morgan: You’re in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Mr Barker.
Barker: Who are you?
Morgan: I’m WPC Morgan. From Central Police Station. The doctor said it’d be OK to ask you a few questions.
Barker: What questions?
Morgan: You’ve been quite badly hurt, Mr Barker. You’ve had some sort of accident and we’d like to find out what happened.
Barker: It wasn’t an accident.
Morgan: No? Then perhaps you’d like to tell me exactly what happened.
Barker: It’s all a bit of a blur. I can’t really…
Morgan: Take your time, Mr Barker.
Barker: I remember leaving my daughter’s house…
Morgan: Where’s that?
Barker: Priory Road.
Morgan: OK. Nice part of town.
Barker: Yes. It was getting late. My daughter said I should get a taxi but I wanted to walk. It was a cold…starting to snow…but I just felt like walking. You know? And I hadn’t gone far when a man came towards me and asked me the way to the station.
Morgan: What did he look like?
Barker: I don’t know. He was quite tall maybe. I can’t remember. It all happened so quickly.
Morgan: What happened so quickly?
Barker: I was telling this man the way to the station when someone else…another person…came up behind me. They must have hit me – because I felt a bang on the back of my head and the next thing I knew I was flat on the pavement.
Morgan: Did they speak?
Barker: What?
Morgan: Did they say anything…after you were hit? Can you remember?
Barker: I can just remember being cold. It was very cold lying on the ground. I felt their hands going through my pockets…wallet, keys, phone… They took everything. Then they ran away and left me lying there. I tried to get up but I was dizzy…didn’t feel right. I thought I’ll just lie here for a bit and hope someone comes along.
Morgan: And someone did come along…?
Barker: Yes, they did… Two women. I could hear them talking as they came up to me. I thought…that’s good. They’ll see me…and they’ll help me. I’ll be alright now…but then one of them said:
Woman: Just look at that! Â鶹ԼÅÄless people sleeping in the street. Don’t expect to see that sort of thing round here. Go on – push off!
Barker: I tried to speak. Tried to tell them that I needed help but they weren’t listening. They just crossed the road and walked away.
Woman: This is a respectable neighbourhood!
Morgan: So you were still just lying there, Mr Barker…
Barker: Yes.
Morgan: And getting pretty cold I imagine…
Barker: I was freezing. But then some more people came along. Two men. They could see I’d been hurt. One of them said he wanted to help me but I heard the other one say…
Man 1: Let’s not get involved. Someone else will sort this out.
Man 2: But he needs help -
Man 1: I told you it’s not our problem. And it’s cold. I wanna get home!
Barker: And I was on my own again. Freezing. Lying in the street. I don’t know how long I was there…felt like hours. And then I saw him…
Morgan: Saw who, Mr Barker?
Barker: Man. On his own. Young fella…not much more than a kid. He was walking towards me.
Morgan: What did he look like?
Barker: Usual sort. Trainers, jeans, a grey top with the hood up so you couldn’t see his face. I thought…this is it. He’s come to finish me off. He knelt down beside me and I said ‘You’re wasting your time. They’ve taken everything. There’s nothing left to steal.’
Morgan: He put his hand in your pocket did he?
Barker: No. No he didn’t. He put his hand in his own pocket…and took out his phone. I heard him say ‘ambulance please’ and then I must have passed out because the next thing I knew I was in here.
Morgan: Well that explains this.
Barker: What is it?
Morgan: It’s a grey top with a hood. The paramedics didn’t think it was yours. You were wrapped up in it when they found you.
Barker: I was wrapped up in that?
Morgan: He was trying to keep you warm, Mr Barker. And it’s good job he did. It was a very cold night. He might just have saved your life.
Barker: And I thought he was going to rob me. He looked…
Morgan: Yeah well you can’t always tell by appearances, Mr Barker. Don’t judge a book by its cover and all that.
Barker: I ought to say thank you to him. Give him back his top. Who was he?
Morgan: He didn’t give his name so we don’t know. Probably won’t ever know. Anyway he’s a Good Samaritan whoever he is.
Barker: Yes. A real Good Samaritan.
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