Much distress in Bideford - and understandably so - after a young man called Steven Cloak was assaulted and left with serious head injuries, putting him in Derriford Hospital in Plymouth. He seems to be making some sort of recovery and we can only hope that he will return to full health. These concerns have prompted some of Mr Cloak's friends to organise a march in Bideford protesting at such attacks and calling on people in Bideford to show more respect for each other. So far, so good. However, my eye was caught by a line in the report of this in the North Devon Journal in which local police have promised to look at the way they police the "night-time economy". The what? This will no doubt be done paying full regard to the sensibilities and rights of the "binge-drinking community".
Dear God, what will they come out with next? The night-time economy might suggest that of an evening Bideford is thronged with people making their way between theatres, cinemas, chic bars, happening restaurants and "lovely pubs, where the locals are so friendly". Well, those of us who have endured a night out in Bideford will know the truth of it. While it might be a cause for celebration that Bideford has not gone "all trendy", the reality is that many Bideford pubs are dying on their feet, relying on customers whose basic rule of thumb when it comes to alcohol is that if you haven't actually vomited or passed out yet, you should probably keep having a round of shots until one or other of these outcomes occurs.
This is not to support the view that Bideford is a violent town, which some people claim, just that in Bideford, and much of the UK, many drinkers can have only the haziest idea of what they do on a night-out because their consumption of alcohol is so great it threatens to shut down their central nervous system. In the main, the truth about violence at night in Bideford is that it is between young men who have consumed too much booze. I doubt that there is anyone who takes a drink, who in the course of their lives has never done anything which they do not later regret (yes, me most definitely included). But the unassailable point with alcohol is that for too many young people the lowering of inhibitions results not in some cheery singing and feelings of bonhomie, but aggression, rage and violent acts which can have permanent consequences. On that basis, unsafe sex with casual acquaintances might seem the lesser of two evils, but that is hardly a recommendation.
So, anyway, the "night-time economy", if we must call it that, needs some looking after and let us hope the police can do that effectively. I know it makes me sound old, but I am less and less inclined to go out in places which require large numbers of police to maintain order and I really don't like drinking in pubs which need bouncers to control the clientele. Bloody hell, I only want a couple of pints. The sad irony of all of this is that, so far as I have been able to ascertain, Steven Cloak was a young man who had not been partaking of the "night-time economy". He was on his way home from a friend's house with a takeaway meal. Whether his assailants had been drinking, I do not know, but he has been described to me as someone who would never provoke trouble. All in all, it leaves me wondering if the so-called night-time economy is in just as much trouble as the "real" economy.
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