Arrested for cottaging
1983
I will always remember that night. It was a Thursday evening in July, 1983. A couple of friends and me arranged to go out; I was seventeen at the time. When any of us arranged to meet up it was always on a car park by the cottage, always there as everyone new everyone and we felt safe.
That night I thought to myself I would go a bit earlier to see who's around. When I arrived there no one was about, so I started walking around waiting for my friend to pick me up. Then as I noticed there were two maybe three men just hanging around. I walked into the toilet to see if they would follow me stayed in there for ten minutes, then came back out again and sat on the wall. This guy came up to me started talking about how quiet it was tonight and asking me which was the best night to come up here. Then he asked me what I was into and all that kind of stuff....then he showed me his ID card and arrested me for importuning/soliciting. I ran off and tried to get away but another copper jumped out on me took me down to the police station.
It was horrible; I was in there for three hours and was interviewed by three police men. I went to court and got bound over for two years. I can laugh about it now, as I said I was only seventeen, but I am forty three now. I have not been cottaging for a long time now.
Contributed by: butler, 43