Still magic, like policing, has always been much more about the practice than the theory. - Ben Aaronovitch

Anything that can go wrong with armed men in the light can go twice as wrong in the dark.

Desperate people do desperate things," said Spencer-Talbot. "Perhaps if we all did more to make things less desperate, then perhaps there would be less violence.

The Daily Mail had the scoop but the media had caught the smell of blood in the water and twenty-four-hour news outlets were running the bulletin every half an hour, with a teaser on the quarter in case your attention span was that short.