Several years ago I became quite friendly with a woman - no, not like that -
and we shared a few secrets, a few more glasses of wine together, did each other
the occasional favour, exchanged emails and had fairly frequent long telephone
conversations. Her mobile number still features on my list of regularly called numbers.
Then I discovered that she was not what she had seemed to be.
Beneath the smooth exterior there was a liar, probably a
thief and definitely a forger of letters. Foolishly perhaps, I let a few details slip to
mutual friends and showed them the evidence.
The result was that my female friend reported me to the police and signed an
extraordinary false statement which the police should have seen was untrue by
simply comparing the conflicting statements contained within it. But plod,
reliably unintelligent as always, decided to charge me with making false statements and summonsed me to Court.
Everything was a tissue of lies but it blighted my life at the time and for several years afterwards.
It is with this in mind that I will not be commenting on the news that so many
people were keen to tell me about yesterday. I have been hearing about this
latest case of friends falling out for the past couple of months and the story is not unlike my own experience. I do not
know where the truth lies. In my own case it was clear cut, the woman in
question who now claims to be a reformed character, had put her name to several very obvious lies, but this
new dispute does not rely on the written word, so potentially more
difficult.
I will not be speculating on accusations which are now in the public domain.