A baby bottle containing gunpowder recovered from the crime scene
I WAS IN TWO MINDS ABOUT PUBLISHING THIS. The response to our main story this series has been overwhelming, and I feel like part of the reason is the lack of internet-ness surrounding it — no screengrabs to misinterpret with angry red annotations, no accusations of censorship or bias, remarkably few arguments on social media.
Just people who were generous enough to say how moved, or thrilled, or both, they’d been, and how it made them think about their own behavior. “My love for the inhabitants of earth has increased,” said one reader.
Why risk that by putting out the receipts? So I looked at it all again — the tense 999 call, dozens of images, an astonishing video taken by Nathan, and a video taken by the arresting officers that restored my faith in policing. And I realized my reluctance was just the illusion that I’m special — that I can see some beauty you’ll miss. Which is obviously nonsense.
So below, for paid subscribers, are all of the audio, video and images that the story is based on. And here, for everyone, is an audio version of the story that I hope makes a journey, or a break from the realities of the festive season, into a moment of mental escape.
We’ll be back next week with the final story in this series — an argument for tolerance that somehow includes both Elizabeth Hurley and Andrew Tate. And our next series will begin in the new year.
Give yourself a festive gift and subscribe for access to all the photos, videos and audio behind The bench. You’ll only spend the money on something less profound otherwise.
RAVI SOMAIYA is the founder of Bungalow. You can email him here.
