Nancy Parker had given a statement to the police too. She was on the ball that one, worked out that Donny was a wrong ‘un when she clocked his car in Blackpool when she was off on one of her jaunts. Noted down his registration and everything and checked it when she was back. She told everyone about it too; she was the detective here, not the police. Female intuition she called it, but in another life she’d have made a pretty good copper, she said to her boyfriend, Ged.

But we don’t get another life, is what Ged had told her. This life was all they had, and you had to play the cards you’d been dealt. That was why he’d not gone back to Second Chance. Nancy didn’t ask where his cash came from, and now his dad was back on the scene Ged was happier – if sometimes a bit elusive. Kids like them, Nancy knew, had to make their own luck even if that meant breaking a few rules.

Justice Wilson walked into the courtroom and everyone stood up. He looked a right sour-faced fucker – Donny gulped. As the judge sat down, he peered over his gold-rimmed glasses at the courtroom, poured himself a glass of water and opened the file in front of him. It seemed to be happening in slow-motion, prolonging Donny’s agony. The noise in the courtroom subsided; you could have heard a pin drop. The reporters sat on the edge of their seats, keen to get the story ready for the evening news. Donny was asked to stand up and confirm his details. He swallowed hard, you could hardly hear him speak. Two heavy-set security guards stood close to the dock. If Donny was going to kick off, they’d be on him in seconds. They’d already manhandled him into the courtroom. He’d called them every name under the sun.

Donny sat back down and leant forward in his seat. He knew his life would never be the same again. He’d spend his life banged up, always having to look over his shoulder. The days that lay ahead were dark and depressing. He’d be an old geezer by the time he got out. If he got out.