Once they uncuffed me they started asking me about the traffic cone. Initially they aske my name address etc. I asked to be allowed to make a phone call, explaining that I want to let my girlfriend know that I was going to be late. She was baby sitting at her sister's until 2AM. Unfortunately I couldn't correctly recall her sister's land line number. They let me try twice and then started questioning me about the cone. After minutes of accusing me of putting it in the road, I became frustrated and said "I don't know sh*t about the traffic cone" and that was when they put in cell number 1. Periodically, I would hear them asking who is cell number 1, and then saying "<insert my first name> I don't know sh*t>. When I spoke to the duty solicitor, he told me that they were going to release me in an hour or so without charge. I, foolishly, suggested that if they genuinely believed that I had put the cone in the road, perhaps they should arrest me. He told me that was a bad idea because I might be found guilty.
This was over 30 years ago. I honestly do not recall them explicitly explaining why I was being held. I simply assumed that it was in relation to the cone, afterall, that was what the police in the Astra told me. I got the impression that I p'eed them off from the get go. When they told me to get into the back of the car, unaided, I pointed out that getting in to a (smallish) car with your hands behind your back is somewhat difficult.
