TFTIM: SAPol Superintendent Mark Fairney

In previous posts I have referred to events around the St Martins Issue and the 2006 SA state election, and that is where this story kicks off.

In late 2005/early 2006 parents were generating some media noise on St Martins, when MP Rory McEwen  attacked us on WIN TV News (previous) and MP Kevin Foley threatened the ABC's Alan Richardson on air the next day, stating that the matter was in the courts (sort of) and SAPol were allegedly doing 'another' investigation, etc, etc.

Nobody was allowed to do or say anything because according to Kevin "...it's with the DPP...".

A fortnight after the March 2006 election, SAPol's senior Mt Gambier officer Superintendent Mark Fairney called around to parents to tell us the whole thing had been dropped; the DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions) had given it back to police with no action and police were closing the file.

We had been deliberately herded past the 2006 election with everything tightly buttoned down in the Courts and DPP, etc, until after the election when it all collapsed. I call it a conspiracy...you call it what you like...

When Supt Fairney rang parents, he illegally recorded those phone calls without telling parents, and I know that as fact because I've read the transcript he provided one parent who busted him..."hey, what's that noise...are you recording this?"..."um, yes"..."well I want a copy..."..."um, yes." (that is not exact, but it's damn close)

Anyway, he obviously did provide a copy because I've sat there and read it. My repeated written requests for a copy of my 'call transcript' went un-answered by Supt Fairney.

About a year later I ran into him in the foyer of the Mt Gambier ABC, and all I said was "Supt Fairney? We've spoken on the phone." I didn't identify myself or say anything else.

He looked at me momentarily and then his jaw literally dropped and all the blood drained out of his face; I don't know why exactly, but I can't imagine that I was smiling (he says with a big grin on his face). We had never met and that one conversation was over a year before, but maybe my repeated letters kept the issue in mind for him.

Maybe he confused me with someone else whom he just happened to be completely terrified of, but there's no pleasant way of saying it, I absolutely hit the infamous 'Brown Note' with Supt Fairney; he looked so scared that he was going to soil himself...it was bizarre.

We've never met, all I said was 'we've spoken', he's the Superintendent of SAPol, the senior police officer for the South East, armed with a gun, pepper spray, a baton, and two mates sitting in the car right there out front, and you'd have thought I had a cannon pointed at him...I've never seen anyone look so scared.

We just stood there looking at each other for a moment and then an ABC staffer came to the counter window and spoke to Supt Fairney, who quickly turned to answer. He was visibly shaking.

Either he was picking up his phone or it was already in his hand, but he was shaking so violently the phone flew out of his hand sideways at speed, bounced loudly along the counter top, and clattered into the whicker bookshelf at the end, before dropping onto the floor, from where he hurriedly retrieved it.

I sat down as he spoke to the staffer, politely waiting until he was finished, but looked up from my mag to see Fairney shuffle sideways literally along the wall to the door, with his back to me, out the door, scuttle to his car, and awayyyyy....One of the other people in the car was Commissioner Mal Hyde.

It was absolutely hilarious.

In previous posts I've discussed how aware I am of how my size and disposition can be 'impactful' on other people and why I work very hard to be 'non-threatening' etc, and that day was a hilarious reminder.

I take no pride in scaring anyone, but I have no problem confronting another grown man who's armed with a gun, mace, truncheon, handcuffs, and a government sanctioned monopoly on violence...said the old hippy...just stickin' it to the man...if he hadn't run out the door....

In all honesty, as scary as this large, angry, old hippy may be...rarrrrrrgh, puss cat... I think that it was the St Martins issue in it's entirety that terrified Fairney and I just happened to be the quite bulky, very angry conduit for that issue.

In all of the darkness and pain and suffering it was a genuine moment of genuinely ironic hilarity, and I make no attempt to stifle a wry smile....please join me...

Tomorrow: More House Keeping and Stuff

And latest update on 'SERDE' and 'Bill Degaris' posts that were removed.