The fair and dutiful sergeant

In a little village not far from Bantry, Co Cork, there once lived a local garda sergeant who had the calm and patience which earned him the respect of all who knew him.

He could not be taken lightly either, and was always known to do his duty, but in such a way as nobody felt offended when he brought them to book. Fairness was his forte.

One famous story of him was the time he stopped a motorist for having a defective tail-light on his van. Tim, the motorist, got out from behind the wheel and was all apologies to the sergeant and proceeded to give the rear bumper a kick and the light came back on. “It always works again when I do this, sir,” he uttered nervously.

“Well, if that isn’t the best I’ve seen in a long, long time,” said the sergeant.

“Tell me,” he added, “do you think if you gave the windscreen a kick, it might bring back the missing tax and insurance discs as well?” Robert Sullivan Bantry, Co Cork