High life
Going to court
Taki
Inever thought I'd find myself back in a magistrates' office so soon. No, thank God, this time it wasn't Uxbridge, and I wasn't in the dock. It was Marylebone and I was in the press gallery (if one could call it that) watching a 31-year-old Saudi by the name of Mashour bin Saud Abdul Aziz face charges of conspiring to supply the stuff that sent me down. Courts are de- pressing places, and they're all the more depressing for me because they bring back the kind of nightmares only masochists like to remember. The one thing I noticed was that people being charged all look peni- tent. Even respectful. I guess it's normal. Nothing like facing the chance of a little time in the nick to get one to remember the things one was taught in school. Friends of mine have told me that in places like Singapore everyone acts as if they're in the dock. The reason for that is that when the laws are broken over there no amount of money or high-priced solicitors can get one off. I think I like that. When I was in Pentonville one of the things I noticed was that all the cons insisted they were inno- cent, and once they got out they would show them. Them being the law-abiding people of this country.
Well, I was one of the few in the Ville who admitted his guilt, and who I think has learned his lesson. My friend Richard Sykes has told me that because the case of Mashour bin Saud is sub judice I cannot write any opinion about it, and if I do it mean contempt of court. And contempt 0. court means that I go straight back in the pokey, something I do not plan to do in the immediate future.
So, I shall set aside the reasons I wished to be there when the Saudi was charged foi conspiracy to supply cocaine, and simply hope that justice will be done. But ii certainly wouldn't be prejudicial against Mashour to repeat what the police stated ir court. That £150,000 bail is not sufficient ir his particular case because he is extremely rich. What I am allowed to write aboul freely, however, is the Saudi's entourage which wasn't charged with anything, but I will charge with having extremely bad manners. His bodyguard looked Arab, had a broken and bent nose, and spoke in a heavy cockney accent. There were also three other Arab men and a battery of lawyers. The bodyguard made it obvious he didn't like the press. Bodyguards verY seldom do. What I don't understand is why hacks don't sue bodyguards for depriving them of the right to work, as often as they sue proprietors for literally the same thing, Like when they're fired. But be that as it may. There was also another man there. An American. He huddled next to Mashour's entourage and then, after the hearing, he stood outside shooting the breeze with the hacks, acting important by pretending he was there 'because I had time to kill before lunch and I thought it was interesting to see how British justice works': I had a word or two with him and found myself insulting hint. Nothing heavy, mind you, but enough t° wipe the self-satisfied smile from his liver lips. In my opinion he was either an ambulance chaser — as those types are known in America — or someone over from the States to make sure that British justice doesn't get the Saudis angry enough to invade these islands. Or cut off the technology and medical facilities theY supply Britain. Mashour is a nephew of the King of Saudi Arabia, a man who is a responsible monarch and — more important — 8 friend of my friend John Aspinall. In fact he (the King) once had a nine to my eight in a chemmi game, and that particular fact sent me to the bathroom for five minutes. (It was a pity to lose a great Aspinali dinner, but it always happens when one loses four times the amount one is worth.: including wife, tennis racket, and skis., Mashour's lawyers asked for him to be allowed to enter a clinic, which he was, and I for one will await the outcome of this case with particular interest. When I was inside, most of the inmates expressed the opini°11 that there were laws for the rich and laws for the poor. My answer was that my being there was proof to the contrary. This 15 now again being bandied about. I am sure I will not have to eat my words. Oh, there was also another thing. Whell I was first busted a well-connected person advised me to seek medical help and throW myself on the mercy of the court. I refused, as the only addictions I suffer from are women and sports. But speaking of the law I must say a word in defence of my friend Justin Frewen: He is now in Wandsworth Prison doing two years. He has appealed but in the meantime he's languishing in- side. He was convicted of the charge of fraudulent trading, but found innocent of two charges of obtaining moneys by decep- tion from specific clients. Justin was a businessman who dealt in the money mar- ket. His company went insolvent but he Claims he was not told in time. His lawyer advised me that if anyone should be in jail is not Justin. I agree. Not because I know a hell of a lot about the case, but because I have never, ever (well, once) made any money investigating. I guess it's sour grapes but if Justin is in, so should most of the people whom I've handed money to all these years.
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