#313. Bournemouth's Feared Doorman - Mark Metcalfe

0:00My mate, he said, Mark, I had a load of scousers come down last night and they tried to chop my fingers off. So I said, OK, I'll come and work with you for a couple of days. First night and they came back for him. There was blood everywhere. Where did your violent streak come from? I entered the care system when I was 12. We got threatened all the time. We turned up to the approved school, which I never got that far because I ran away. Because regularly, someone come in and cut you. One lad had his watch wired up to the mains and then he flipped the switch on. So his watch would come and he'd fight.

0:32It was hard. It was hard. And I was fighting all the time. And that's where I learned how to fight. I was beaten. I was abused. That has so much anger in you. Was there ever a time when you were on the doors that you had the fear for your life? Yeah.

0:50Welcome to the Eventful Lives podcast. I'm your host Dodge and I'm the founder of Bournemouth 7s the world's largest sport and music festival on this podcast I speak to proper characters of all lived eventful lives do us a favour and hit that follow button and be sure to check us out on YouTube Instagram, Facebook and TikTok at Dodge Woodall where we've now had over 100 million views Mark, welcome to the show mate Dodge, thank you for having me, appreciate that yeah, really looking forward to this one we've been speaking for a while and I know it's one of those ones you're looking at going, you've been putting this off, putting this off and we finally got you here Terrified.

1:23Terrified. Yeah, I can't wait to cry. Quality. Let's roll all the way back. How did you end up owning one of the largest security firms on the South Coast over the last 30 years? 40. 40, yeah. I was always a big lad. Yeah. And I thought, you know, I could probably earn some money doing this because I wasn't stupid either. So I was, you know, I was quite switched on by the time I came to 17, 18 years old. And I learned how to fight very early because I had to previous to that from the age of about 10 years old. So I had to learn how to fight. Got my head kicked in a lot. But then I learned how to fight.

2:08So I thought I can do this. And the opportunity came along to start working the doors. so 1986 I started my first club in C Road in Boscombe which is now a block of flats and I blagged my way onto the door there was two great big doormen there old school and I went up and said what said you got any jobs they said what as making the sandwiches I said no I want to work on the door and they said wherever you work you could see there you could see straight through me yeah and he said where we worked before i said uh banana splits in london and they went what and he just laughed i said yeah yeah it was real hard that was said how old are you i said i'm 18 oh it must have been a very very young job then anyway they gave me a they gave me a go yeah and uh kitted up with a cummer band uh yeah back in the day you had little dicky bow and stuff wasn't it door iron braces on yeah to hold my boobs in and you know and it just looked cool we all look the same and we used to get sandwiches delivered to us what do you want any sandwiches tonight guys on cheese and pickle and then a coffee and um and then we'd have a few punch-ups and then go back to eating our sandwiches and there was no cctv then no recording and after you'd had an altercation with someone you'd shake their hand see you tomorrow Dave and they'll come back again the next day they'll apologise and they'll be good for a couple of weeks and then we'll have another round how did it change then, so it went from that late 80s when you're wearing dicky bows and whatever you had big lumps on the door and I've seen some brilliant photos you were a big, very big human being I had hair you had a barnet as well what was it when it changed to more bomber jackets, hardest men in the town people who were the artists who were broided up, training in the gyms in the day I never really had the bomber jacket thing.

4:08You know, a couple of backstreet clubs we did. There was a club in Boston called Cromwell's, which was really horrible. Big staircase going up. There's only one way up and one way down. So that was very informal. There was another club in town. It was a gay club. And my mate, Chris Davis, was working there. Chris Davis, oh, yeah. He was working there. Well, story. Yeah. He's back up there now. And he said, Mark, I had a load of Scousers come down last night, and they tried to chop my fingers off with a cheese board, you know, outside advertising. So I said, okay, I'll come and work with you for a couple of days.

4:46I went down there the next day. First night, I had a white shirt on black trousers, and they came back for him. And we let him in, deliberately let him in. And there's pillars with, you know, Artex, you know, which is really rough. and I don't know a couple of them accidentally hit the artex a couple of times and there was blood everywhere kicked them out and I thought I'm covered in blood and Chris had a flat across the road directly across the road I said I need another shirt so he ran across the road got me I just got it on and mine's in a bucket behind the bar totally red and then the police turned up thankfully I knew him went school with his younger brother he went what happened I said I don't know said well there's lots of people outside bleeding i went i don't know and he went behind the bar he saw the bucket with just blood in it he went you can't be doing that anymore i said it was an accident i said they came in they fell over on the carpet we'll get it sorted and he just hit the head on the side he went okay yeah no problem and it was done and dusted but as for bomber jackets and stuff i reckon in the 90s late yeah mid to late 90s um when the venue started yeah the venue was the big club in paul right the venue was yeah and the owner wanted to make it flamboyant and so he got us in pink jackets yes how flamboyant can you be that was a big club as well wasn't it what was it was there it was a first super club that's right Was it a Luminar Club?

6:23No. First Leisure? No, it was Future 3000. Oh, what, Richard Carr's one? Yeah. So he owned the venue, did he? Yeah, he did, yeah. Ah. Yeah, he owned the venue. And he wanted to make it the best, and it was the best, the sound systems. So you come up to it. You've got a feeder bar called Colonnades, which is next to it. It was never quiet. The queue would go right the way down to where Ice Tracks is now. and we'd have to police the whole queue. But I was always front door. Me, Jay, sadly Jay has passed away. Quite a few have passed away now because it's older. But we used to have the front door, and it was horrendous.

7:06Probably the roughest club I've ever worked at because of the volume of people because they would coach load them in from all over the country. And you coach load people in, they're not driving, they're drinking all the way, and they're just ready for any reason if they can't get in. How strong was your, as the head doorman, how strong was your team back then? I wasn't head doorman. Oh, you weren't back then? No, Jay was head doorman. Okay. Yeah, Jay was head doorman. I was the front door. So you normally get, without sounding too pretentious, you normally get the best on the front door to stop them coming in.

7:42Then you'd have a backup team in reception and then the others going in to the club. But we must have had 40-odd doormen, maybe 45. Capacity to the club was over 2 ,000, I think. And it was just constant all night. And I worked out, I must have, over my 40-odd years, but during the first 20 years, I probably had about 1 ,700 fights. About 1 ,700 fights. I worked it out the other day when I couldn't sleep because I was coming on air. I worked it out. It was about 1 ,700. Incidents, fights. A fight. Not just incidents, but fights. You know, one-on-ones, two-on-ones and stuff like that. And now I look back, I loved it.

8:29I absolutely loved it. I had no problem. I used to hate Scousers. Yeah. I don't anymore if there's any listening, but I love you all. But I used to watch Brookside before I went to work to fire myself up. Because I knew they were coming to be, and I'd be like, you're getting it. and I used to watch it every time because it was on eight o 'clock yeah and we didn't start work so we've gone nine and I used to watch it just to um just to fire myself up because I knew they were coming strange times but we had pink jackets cerise I think they were called pink jackets bow ties black we looked smart yeah can you fight in a jacket no you can't so Jay had false teeth at the front because they'd been banged out before he's proper tough man jay proper tough man loads of respect how did jay die he died over in spain died in his sleep did he had an operation i believe he had an operation then i believe he there's complications but he died in his sleep and i think his daughter found him wow okay um lovely though lovely man tough his old boots but just before it was about to kick off i always used to know because you should take his teeth out and put them in his pocket because he didn't want to damage his teeth and then we just go yeah hey ho and there's other times jay looking at me and and i know you get to know each other by your eyes when it's going to happen when you've had enough and there's times where jay was said to me not yet because he could see you know the the boiling point not the boiling point but the you're just ready yeah and you say not yet and his calls are very spot on um and it probably saved us a lot of agro as well but we used to we used to wine you know the old beta max tape yeah we used to have a row really bad and then the managers just wind it back so you can watch it no it raised a lot okay so basically the thing yeah okay before anyone saw it yeah um back in the day obviously you can't do that now with digital and everything else but yeah we used to yeah a lot of tapes go missing when we were growing up yeah in the pub scene in london and good old james bronson mate good old james bronson of the bronson run venue did he he was up there yeah sign the part of james managing it ah yeah bless his bless his soul yeah absolutely brilliant yeah and um did you get on well with richard car back then i ran his security for eight years so i was his health and safety manager plus security manager what in the early days uh Yes, 53 ,000 days.

10:59Yeah, okay. And I'll tell you a funny story. He's very obnoxious sometimes. I spoke to him the other day, but you won't mind me saying it. He's very obnoxious. Back in the day, very flamboyant. He liked to party. He wanted to be center of attention, which made him the person he is. Yeah. And he phoned me one day and he said, you're not doing your job very well. it's not saturday i went what do you mean i'm not doing it very well he went well you should have done this you should have i went don't talk to me like that i said what are you talking about for it's very rude he said well i'm not fucking having it i'm not this i'm not that i went listen you i said i'm coming around your house and the phone went dead so i'm driving around his house and i'm beating on his door beating on his door i went come out here you whatever come out i want you now he must have seen on cctv he phoned me he said what are you doing said i'm coming to get you you want i'm at twickenham honestly i just i'm just oh all right then yeah he said can you call someone to fix my door because it was buckled did he know did he did he know how to press your buttons if someone's rude anyone can press my buttons because you know but you're one of the kindest human beings there are out there who's very polite and very calm and very humble but I also know you've got this other side to you that people don't want to see.

12:26I've got, like anyone else, I've got to switch. You know, I don't like bad manners. I don't like rude people. I don't like, I don't really like aggression, to be fair. Don't like confrontation. Sooner walk the other way. Now, that might sound odd after I said I love a tear up, but that isn't confrontation to me. That's exercise. When we're fighting, that's exercise. And it was the best thing. It was just great. It was better than going to the gym. you know and we we very rarely i don't get me wrong i've been bottled i've been broke bits and pieces but fab i wouldn't change it for the world i wouldn't want to fight anyone now yeah but i would back then i wouldn't change it for the world and i can be on a single man door and still enjoy it as much as if you've got 42 people there but pushing my buttons if someone's rude to me maliciously you're pushing my buttons yeah and then i'm just gonna go from yin to yang that's it yeah and uh and i now i try not to get in any confrontational situations because a lot of people tell you that i've been on air once it starts you can't stop it it's like it's like a stone it just goes on and on and on and on and on and um i'm not prepared to um see that side of me, not at my age.

13:44And what was it like having a team? What was your team like? Because I know you had a solid team of men you could all rely on. What was that feeling like? Well, when I had my own security company. So we're talking like now going into the venue. When did you actually start your own security company? Was it you, Mark Smith and Chris? No, it was before that. It was 2003. Yeah. And it was me. Just yourself. Opium security. Yeah. We were based in Hinton. Well, actually, no, I was based in a coffee shop. Delmarco's coffee shop. remember that ed um he now works for council i started you know i couldn't afford an office so i used to take my laptop to to the coffee shop i got to know ed really well and he's a close friend now so when they come in i'll say do you want a coffee you know when i was interviewing people and um we sit down it was very comfortable and and just interview them then and then i started to make enough money to have an office at hinton road yeah and then it just grew and grew It grew very quickly, didn't it?

14:42What did it end up? Didn't it end up being a multi-million pound security phone? Not the first one. The first one, yeah. Not Opium, but first stop security then. Yeah. Which my operations director was Mark Smith. Yeah. Great fire. Yeah, lovely man. And Chris Davis. You can't tie a shoelace in the correct manner. Absolute dipstick. And he was my training director. Oh, Chris. I walk in, what are you doing today, mate? I'm not really sure. What do you want me to do? I'm like, and we fell out a couple of times. He says, well, if you don't tell me what to do, I said, I wouldn't mind you just using your own initiative and getting on with it, mate.

15:18You know, I know you're from Wales and stuff like that, but he's still my best friend to this day. And we got some stories, me and Chris, you know. We had no money back in the day. I mean, you go back 30-odd years. And he had a, his girlfriend, he wanted to get her a present. so he saw these lovely pair of fluffy pink slippers in a shop window so he went in ran in whipped them out the window and did a runner so he nicked them he wrapped them up for suzy on christmas day she opened it with two left feet because they wouldn't put the two together and when he hears this he'll laugh at that um another one with me and chris working in a club in town and uh there's these guys and they just wanted aggro it's called splits nightclub um you know where the either tiger is yeah yeah either tiger opposite there is a restaurant now but um these guys and on the way out this bloke stood on my toes on the way out and i thought i'm not having that so i chased him up the road along with chris and there was kebab shops on the right I slipped on a kebab, went on my ass.

16:33Chris, this guy is trying to kick my head in. And Chris is just laughing. He says, you just slipped on a kebab, you dipstick. I said, well, do you mind hitting him so I can get up? So the kebab story is great. But yeah, so it's Mark Smith, Chris Davis. And then we had office staff. So why did you go from opium? And then why did you then go to First Stop Security? I sold opium to a guy that worked for me. The sale didn't go as it should have done. He tried to take a civil action against me because he reckoned I had X amount of money. He says I shouldn't have started another security company. Was that in a clause when you set that up?

17:16Did he put a clause in and say you can't go and set one up for another year or something? Yep. Okay. So I set up another one with his permission. After that year or after that period? No, no, before the year. Okay. With his permission. Yeah. So I had emails, everything from him saying, yeah, I'm absolutely fine. Do that. He was doing one side, I'll do the other. And it was cool. It was, you know, all documented. And he tried to say I owed him 650 grand in a three-month period. Well, I wish I could earn that in a three-month period. And we fell out, went to mediation. He wouldn't come to mediation because he was too angry.

17:52you know because you knew he was wrong he didn't have a signed contract the contract we signed he didn't have so he got someone to forge um my signature the only son a dotted line there was three dots missing so it's been typical and when i showed it to my my lawyer my my solicitor he picked it out straight away he was really good and he and he then got hold of the other law firm and said, we're going criminal within 24 hours. It's fraud now. It's not civil anymore. And everything was done and dusted and gone. That was a very stressful time of my life. I bet. Paul Brady saw me through that and helped me with that.

18:33Legend, Paul. Yeah, yeah. I was in Prague when I heard what was going on. I'll tell you what, I wouldn't want to go against Paul on a deal like that. Paul, you're talking a 30-stone big lump of a human being. Unstoppable. Unstoppable. He's actually been on the podcast. It's coming out soon. Unstoppable. Yeah. I mean, I've seen him in action many, many times. And he's unstoppable. He's the strongest thing, strongest human I've ever seen. What he did when I went to work, he was the DJ. Yeah. I was doorman. And he went, Mark, put your feet together and your arms together and go like a plank. Yeah.

19:07I said, that's easier than me being a plank. And he picked me up like that and was shoulder pressing me above his head. And I was 20-odd, so. Yeah. You know. Yeah. I think you put me down now. Please put me down. You had a really good team of people. You built a business, an amazing business you built over those years. What was it like when you... Why did you jump in from a one-man band to go, right, I'm going to split it three ways with two other partners? Couldn't do it on my own. Okay. You've got to remember, back then there was a lot of clubs, a lot of bars in Bournemouth. You're talking lots, and everyone wanted you and your firm.

19:41I had 80 % of them, I think. 80 % of what I wanted, I had. Yeah. And there was a few other big firms from out of town. that wanted what I had. I got a death threat on the eve of my mum's funeral, an answer phone message, anonymous. You know, we've heard you're going to come and try and take our club. We're coming down, we're going to kill you. It took me four hours to find out who it was. Four hours to find out who it was. Because I went straight to that club, spoke to the manager. it was a gangsta inverted commons from commons from somerset okay had no idea so i phoned john john stevenson do you know john yeah he used to own the biggest security firm before i did yeah righteous security yeah um i found john he phoned a good friend john's well connected he phoned a good friend friend in london called kevin won't say any surnames kevin came down saw me with John he went I know who that is and he phoned him in front of me he said you absolute twonk you just give a death threat on eve of eve of this man's mum's funeral what's the matter with you he went well he was gonna he didn't know he wasn't gonna do that the head dormant this club was spreading rumors to make himself look good to this London knot yeah and um anyway he made him apologise to me on the phone.

21:07He'd come on the phone and say, I recognise your voice now. And I didn't send him, I didn't threaten him. I don't even know him. But Kevin said to him, you ain't going to do that again. And that was that. And then Kevin became a friend and John's always been my friend. He was such a staunch man. Do you find that when you were picking up more and more business everywhere, did you find that the owners of the club wanted Mark Metcalf? Yeah. Everyone wanted Mark Metcalf Because I remember when you were at Peak, mate, when you were at Peak, you had a lot, a lot of men, a lot of clubs, a lot of bars, and everyone wanted Mark.

21:41Even when you did our first year at Bournemouth Sevens Festival, you were the security company coming down. Everyone wanted you. Did you find that hard trying to run a business when everyone wants you? Because you can't be in 20 venues each night. This is why I needed Chris in Mark. Right, okay. And then I'd have an operations team. Yeah. I used to employ people before I had enough work to sustain it. Yeah. So I was paying out of my own pocket to have them. Like, we didn't have a night security team. I mean, all the way through the night. So I got vans and stuff like that. I couldn't afford it, but I did it until we had enough work come in to pay for it.

22:23Speculating. Yeah. You know, it's like when you put your house on the line for what you did. is just, you know, ballsy. Yeah, ballsy. So that's why I had Chris and Mark, and a massive help. Mark Smith was endless energy. Another big lump. Yeah, another big lump. He was at least 22 stone, but that's just his head. And he'll get laughing at that. Honestly, we've got this running joke about who was fat. It was definitely him. But he's a very personable, kind, polite man. you know and then then you had chris he who's just i couldn't not have him with me because he's my best mate and we did things together so they built a very good structured team so they made it a lot easier for me so i went out and got work and i'd say there you go you run it yeah it wasn't first up security they wanted it was me yeah because i was the product you're the product of what you do.

23:23It's not just diamond or whatever. It's you. And you take you out of it and there is no it. I think. I don't know what it's like for you but that's what it's like for me. Because when I sold it, that's what happened. It went... But that's the key to keep a business, to set up a business. I don't like operating business. I like building business, creating businesses and getting to put in a team in place that I can sort of moonwalk away from it. Yeah. That all of a sudden the venue owners are wanting to deal, knowing they don't have to deal with you. They can deal with Mark or they can deal with Chris.

23:52but you being you yeah i understand why they would want you because there's no one you don't know on the south coast for one phone call away and i know that you can find something out within half an hour in a hundred mile radius you can find something out i know someone's open the door to go what happened there who's that bang bang bang yeah well like we said a minute ago you know my phone's been pinging all weekend with certain things and and they do that because of the connections and and the fact that i want to help you know i'll if it's a nice person calling me i'm going to go out of my way to help them it doesn't cost me was there ever a time when you were on the doors that you had to fear for your life yeah yeah i i don't think i showed it but there's a fair few times i'd have a twitchy bum honestly and then you get the adrenaline so you start shaking you've probably heard that before from other people and people will think he's scared he's not scared the adrenaline it's like throwing a coal in the engine yeah his adrenaline's going up and up and up and in a minute the adrenaline's going to explode but i used to try and defuse situations i'd a lot of the times i if the aggressive people they're all one aggressive man or whatever yeah he's going to kill you and your children and i'd look him in And I'd say, I love it when you talk to me like that.

25:15And I'd whisper at him saying, I fancy you. He'd be like, what? I'd say, I'm taking you home tonight. And I'd wink at him. And I'd say, come on, wait for me at two o 'clock and I'll take you home. We'll have a peanut butter sandwich and we'll talk about it. And they either just go ballistic and fight or they just go, you're mad. And they just walk away. So I'd much sooner defuse the situation. you know then where did your where did your violent streak come from

25:45i entered the care system when i was 12 yeah and so my dad didn't want me anymore put me into a called an observation assessment center so you go there to be assessed and to decide what to do you because i wasn't really schooling um i was an angry man anyway mum and dad split up when i was four i was on the street a lot hanging around amusement arcades and like you do when you're a delinquent and i think i was hard to manage for my dad but there was no excuse to do what he did he put my older brother uh into a boarding school my younger brother stayed at home and i was the middle one um and he put me into children's home couldn't cope with me and that's where i learned out to fight because it's dog eat dog and uh i used to have to put my i had a single room i refused to have a dormitory so i had a single room and i just have to put wedge my bed up against the door to stop anyone coming in because regular occasions someone come in and cut you or one lad had his watch wired up to the mains and they flicked the switch on so his watch become electrified it was a tough place that was and I had to turn out I thought it was on West Howe and Mandale Road and you were dealing with the biggest families in the area because they stick all the families in one area on the council they stick them in one area and it was hard it was hard and I was fighting all the time and that's where I learned how to fight but then I was I was beaten a lot as well I was beaten I was abused I was sexually abused as well and that has so much anger in you and gives you so much anger this is why i didn't mind uh getting rid of that anger by doing that job but then i got uh i got fostered when i was 15 years old lovely family um ex-policeman and policewoman from the east end who had moved down here they had an older son alec i give him a mention because he's still around um he was a mentor to me and uh i got into the sea cadets because they were heavily into it um as part of a um a national gymnastics display team you wouldn't think looking at me now i can do a roly-poly now that's it but we were doing somersaults everything and then i joined the the marine cadets which was the next step up and then i joined the army i bet you didn't know i was in the army yeah 1983 1983 until 1983 I was in.

28:221983 till 83. Three weeks I was in. I ran away three times in three weeks crying. I used to jump out the window and run across the fields at Oldershot, that Buller barracks, and cry on the train, bunk on the train on the way home. I was brought back three times, and then the captain said, you're obviously not suited to army life. I said, no, I don't like it. Can I go home? He said, no, go and report to Corporal Tiny in the guardhouse. and I got there and all I heard was this boom boom corporal tiny turned out to be eight foot tall he said you have to go in a cell you're staying here the night I said I don't like it it was dark I said can you leave the light on because I don't like the dark and he's looking at me thinking I'm a well I was a wally he said I suppose you want a sandwich and a cup of tea I said yeah marmite please and a cup of tea and he was lovely and then I got discharged I tell everyone that story because I don't want anyone to think the first thing people ask you is were you military and i say well well yeah for three weeks because i'm not going to lie to anyone there's so many liars in this world who would have said yeah i was in this and i was i was in the marines i was this no i wasn't i wouldn't have lasted five minutes dodge wouldn't have lasted five minutes you know you said like we go back to your violent streak in that and even though you went when the army there and you said like i don't i actually don't like the dark is that come back is that come from the care homes when you got abused yeah have you ever dealt with that nope I've had loads of counselling you have okay oh god yeah psychology, psychiatrists occupational therapists what was how would you explain a care home different to what they are today but what explain so many what is a care home what does it look like who's in there who was abusing you were you scared at night what went on the police took me there the police took me there when I was about 11, he handcuffed me because I didn't want to go.

30:16So he handcuffed me one-on-one wrist and to the car. You wouldn't get that now. It wouldn't be allowed. I didn't have any clothes or anything. And we stopped outside the entrance to the children's home. I was thinking, where am I going? What am I doing? You know? And I was scared. And we had to walk up the path. And there was a big window. And I can see it now, obviously. Big window, which was the kitchen. And all the kids were looking at me, coming out of the thing. went in there to reception they said do you want anything to eat i said no don't want anything i don't want anything do you want to go and sit with everyone no i don't so he put me straight in my room and i must have stayed there for a couple of days and they bought me some food and stuff like that i didn't just yeah i want to go home you know i've got my little brother at home and you know my dad's at home and stuff like that and um it was just yeah it was horrible and then you to have the lights out at a certain time so you got the dark yeah um and sometimes you turn the lights out before just sit there in the dark you didn't want anyone to know you were in your room um we could have one bath every 10 days that was you know that was you couldn't you know it wasn't um you couldn't have it all the time it's very very relaxed but very the eyes were on you all the time this is why we used to run away a lot and do silly things and then get brought back by the police and things like that we were feral we were a pain in the bum but we're all a collective of kids which were there for a reason and didn't know what to do so you know we just we got threatened all the time we're going up to the approved school which which i never got that far because I ran away and then I got fostered.

32:01Yeah. But it was a dark place in there. And my mental experiences of it. So I've got complex PTSD. Now, I don't say that lightly because you can feel like a fraud. Until I understood what it was, I thought any military had PTSD. And I felt terrible being diagnosed with PTSD because I thought any military had it and quite rightly as well because of what they go through. but complex PTSD is trauma from an early age that's where the complex bit comes from and and I think a lot of military or ex-military will tell you you've got nothing to be ashamed about you know because trauma is trauma whether you see someone blown up or whether you have someone sticking a knife in you or something trauma is trauma to different levels um and I I didn't know how to deal with it.

32:57And I had trauma after trauma after trauma, which now I'm on medication for and get help for and things like that. And I'm a massive mental health, not campaigner, what's the word, advocate. Mental health. I'd sooner be physically ill than mentally ill. You know, the fact I'm both is neither here nor there. But it's not very nice. Have you ever seen your abuser? Since? Yeah. No. No. He was Canadian and went back to Canada. He used to come over here and pray on kids in amusement arcades. Yeah. And where was I? Amusement arcades. And he used to offer you pennies and two peas and stuff. And then I'll come back to my place.

33:43And he must have been 50 then when I was 11. Yeah. You know, I can see him. Yeah. I can see him now. He's my blood boil now. Yeah. And this is why I went into the work. that I did because I didn't want anyone else to experience what I experienced. How old were you, Mark, when you first spoke to someone about this? How long have you been holding on to this? How many years have you been holding on to this for? Well, to the day. To the day, since I was 12. And how old were you when you actually said, this is what happened to me? Have you been holding that on for years? I didn't really tell anyone.

34:22I didn't really tell anyone. It's only the last 10 years. Yeah. And I thought, was it Phil Campion you had on there? Yeah. I think he was sexually abused. Yeah, he was sexually abused, yeah. And I thought, you know, if a man like that can say it, then why can't I? Yeah. I mean, I said it before that, but he must have said it before he aired it on here. Yeah. So I thought, if a man like that can come out and say it, then why can't I? And obviously everyone's going to hear this now. No one will believe this story of, because they look at me and think, you know, that's that's you know that's mark mccalf yeah yeah he doesn't have any feelings emotions i'm sure a lot of people think i'm a dick and i'm sure a lot of people think i'm nice but you can't please everyone all the time i know i'm nice and that's a fact that's all i need to know i think everyone knows you're nice i don't get any grief dodge i don't get any i don't get any horrible because you've been nice to people okay you've had a lot of tear-ups and you've got a reputation that goes behind with that but you're a loving family man dad friend and a good friend to people look at some of the people you've had on here yeah and i've i've watched them and there's some tough tough guys but i think they'll be very similar to me family men don't want to hurt people leave me alone and also the story of being abused as a kid it comes up a lot from the care home system in the 80s yes it's 90s and i've heard this a lot and the most violent men i've had on here something big traumas happened as a kid you know when it happens as a kid you don't have coping mechanisms you don't have the skills to deal and you don't have the strength to fight people off or do whatever at that point as you're getting older you're holding this emotion in which explains why you probably had thousands my youngest child is 12 yeah my daughter's 12 How old are you today, Mark?

36:14Hmm? How old are you today? 58. Yeah. 59 in September. She's 12, which was roughly my age at the time. She can't fight with anyone. I couldn't fight with anyone. It's a disgusting, it's a disgusting thing. And when I read things in the paper, like today in the Echo, they've printed, there's a loophole where people can't have their picture taken if they go in voluntary for an interview. It's a fucking unreal. You never know who they are. Unreal. Unreal. That's in the paper today. And I post that. I post it on my socials. I'm not shrinking violet on socials. I love it. Because I've got nothing to hide.

36:50I'm all over it. I don't care. Let people see, you know. Do you know what pisses me off even more? Those people can get a two-year sentence. They'll be out in a year, and they're allowed to change their name when they come out. That was a fucking... What? Who? Who? Who invented that? Those people should come out. You know the dogs? You know the dogs get the cones put on their heads so they don't lick the paw? Whack a cone on someone's head for a couple of years. they assume that'll soon stop them well there there is that but you look at the keyboard warriors which wrote on their social media about rotherham you know they've gone to jail for 20 months yeah then you've got who's five children gets five months yeah or suspended sentence yeah and i don't get it and it angers me because of my brink when i was brought up and what happened to me it angers me and um i just can't bear it if i see someone smacking a child in public it's a trigger for me yeah it's a massive trigger for me and i've intervened before when i've seen that a parent smacking their child you know what are you doing they're naughty they're five yeah they're five why did your dad do you think put you in a care home he couldn't cope with me i was i missed my mum um so i was four years old when so my dad got custody of three boys which was unheard of back then where was your mum um she moved to lower parts and so my mum's family come from a traveler family they're all travelers big family my dad was a public school boy yeah i don't know how that opposite and he used to shop in westover road yeah best best clothes for himself mum used to have to go and get Oxfam clothes for us because he used to go and do that.

38:33And then he kicked her out. And I remember one day he wouldn't give her her clothes. So her brothers came around with massive knives and he just cried like a baby because they weren't going to have none of it. You've got our sister's stuff and we want it. And he'd just give it. He'd just give it. I just don't think he's a very nice man. I haven't spoken to him in 24 years. He's still about today. Yeah, he's 82, lives very local, and I drive past his house every day. What would happen if he turned up and knocked on the door in a minute? How would you feel? I'd just tell him, dirty, horrible man, go away.

39:18He wasn't the person that abused me, never, nothing like that. I'd never say that. he just couldn't deal with me and told awful lies you know when i was in the children's home he said because i had tattoos on my hands i did it in indian ink you know like you did when you were a kid he said if you have those tattoos removed plastic surgery you can come home so i had them removed and i said daddy can i come home now he went no it did breaks you you know um but if you If he showed up, I wouldn't... He had the ladder down to the loft for the first 10 years after he did what he did. So he could go and hide, because he thought I was going to come around and do...

39:57I could never do that. I could never... Despite what he did to me, and it was lots of terrible stuff, I could never physically hurt him. I just couldn't do it. I just couldn't do it. Tell me about when you were on the doors then. So you were building this company on the doors. How long did you have First Stop Security for? From 2003 to when?

40:19no i started in 2003 yeah uh and then sold in 2006 yeah started it in 2006 then uh first so you went again went again okay and that was when the court nearly went to court and everything else yeah went again and went big yeah much bigger than opium yeah went big because how big how big did how big did first stop security get a couple of hundreds yeah a couple hundred men yeah wow men and women yeah um big i mean for a small area that's big so you couldn't go anywhere without seeing a branded tie or and we were very strict on what we wanted these days you see doormans smoking on the door oh drinking pints on the door you know we used to do that 30 years ago with before licensing came about but to see it now is disgusting there's only i think there's two firms in Bournemouth which I would recommend to, say you said, Mark, who would you recommend?

41:19There's two firms and that's it. Yeah. You know, and I'd stand on them as well. And I'd give them work. I'd give both of those. And what's the name of the firms? Aegis. Yeah. And Vanguard. Vanguard. So shout out to both of you. Shout out to those leads. You know, because, you know. They're doing a good job. They're doing a great job. Vanguard's been around a long time, even when I was still, had First Stop, and he was my main competitor. I hated him. He was a young, good-looking kid. Jordan Mooney. Yeah, okay. Young, good-looking kid. If you'll listen to this, mate, you'll love it. He was better looking than me.

41:52He was fitter than me. But he was newer than I was. I'm a lot older. So he was still learning the ropes. Tough guy. A very tough man. And it's only the last 15 odd years that we've become friends, and I recommend him for work. Yeah. And then Aegis, which is shout out to Steve Ashby. He's got, I think it's Bournemouth Football Club. He's Sandfest. I don't know whether he does yours or not. No. Great guy. Not from around here. Very well connected. He's helped me out a couple of times when things have gone peak-tongue with a couple of his doorman. And it was, I had a phone call from up the road in London saying, he did this, he did that.

42:41I want to know this or we're all coming down. So I put a word out. I want to know who owns Egypt Security because I didn't know Steve then. And I got a phone call in 10 minutes. It said, hi, Mark, it's Steve. I said, my name's, he said, I know who you are. I went, listen, I need to know what happened here because he's, he's not from around here. He lives here now, but he's not from around here. So we put a call up the road and they're going to come down. And it would have come down as well, just to be a nuisance. Anyway, he looked on the CCTV for me, and he actually sent it to me. And it wasn't how it was.

43:12It was the guy's fault who was meant to have been hurt. He did get hurt because it was his fault. And I'll stand on Steve all day long. Have you had any other firms come and try to nick your business from Bristol, from London, or anything like that? Oh, very. Yes, I have. Two lots. You have? Yeah, I won't mention names because there's no point. But yeah, Bristol lot and London lot. And I had sit downs with them. And I said, fuck you. You'll have to kill me. You're not having it. You're not having it. And that isn't me being brave. That's me working really hard to have what I've got. And I won't be bullied.

43:53I won't be bullied. I won't be bullied by anyone. You know, and that's not being tough. It's in me. I wouldn't be able to sleep at night so if I'm involved in an incident on the door and I didn't do what I should do I wouldn't be able to sleep when I get home because I'd feel like a waste of space one of them said oh no we were only joking you know it's because I didn't fold they said no no we were only joking you weren't joking at all it's just that I didn't fold for you and the Bristol lot that was a little bit more difficult but I respect one of the guys that I sat down with very much, not the other one.

44:32I respect him very much. And he didn't try to nick the business. He thought that I owed it to him because there was a favor done. But we did stuff, you know, we get on well now. I'm still in contact with him, and he's a very, very tough man. Very tough man. what did what did that feeling feel like when the phone call come in how did it all happen what the death threat was yeah idiot on the door at this bar um because all the london lot used to come down we're talking london like faces yeah yeah okay with rubber gloves on yeah um because they all come down with shooters and stuff like that and they used to just go in there and help themselves to everything was free you know used to get the girls and there was cocaine going off the tables and everything and this idiot doorman who wanted to make a name for himself i still know his name now um told him that i was threatening to go in there and take over the club and absolutely not wasn't interested it was a it was a place which i wasn't interested in and he was riling them up and riling them up and that's when I got the phone he gave them my number and that's when I got the phone call which I was asleep and I got it when I woke up in the morning What's that feeling like now you've had a phone call and a death threat on your head?

46:00I was angry I was really angry because I know that I don't roll over so it's either all or nothing and I was angry I wasn't scared I was angry and I remained angry until John John did what he did and then Kevin intervened and put the phone call in for me because Kevin is like you know he's just not top of the tree but he's very well known he didn't have to do that for me he did it more for John than for me because John asked him for a favour but I've never forgotten Is there any incidents that really spring to mind when you're having tear-ups that something's probably kicked off and it won on for a lot longer than you thought it would do?

46:46Yeah, the venue, about 1990, before I moved over to the zoo in the cage, we had an incident on bar five where a lot of, it was locals, it was all planned, telling more, how worthy, poor lot. It was all planned and there was about 50 of them on bar five. There was a couple of handy lads behind the bar working. They jumped over the bar. It all kicked off. And I was working with some military guys who did this as a hobby, you know, a weekend thing. And some other really good friends, a lot of feral ones as well, because a lot of feral ones seem to drop into security. And they were tough guys. And there was about 20 of us.

47:26And a bottle come flying over. Brady was DJing. A bottle come flying over. And then one of these military guys just thought, fuck it. And he walked straight through the middle of them and grabbed him. no fear no nothing grabbed him dragged him out and that's when it went and that's when we were just toe to toe with them everyone was screaming running to different directions we were next to um it was venue two exit five and you go outside the main club but inside but the fire exits is concrete it's just pure concrete the steps down brady come along punches them and throws them over the top of the fire exit.

48:12And they're just bouncing off the floor as they hit the bottom. Just to explain it, Paul Brady's 30 stone, strong human bed, he just picks people and throws them everywhere. Yeah, like ragdolls. Like ragdolls, yeah. And if it wasn't him, it would have been a lot harder for us to have controlled that situation. Yeah. And he just kept doing it one after the other, one after the other. And he was taking out the toughest people. and there's a family in Paul which not so much now but then who were a very well known family what were they called? they were called the Longs I think it was Steve Long Gary Long bless them got no issues now I think a couple have passed away sadly but they were a tough family a tough family and they knew how to fight and so it was a hobby for them to come down at the weekend and have a row and it was our job to make sure they didn't ruin everyone else's night obviously So, yeah, it was tough.

49:07But thank God Brady was there and a few other really tough people. Yeah. Have you been around and seen a lot of drugs in Bournemouth over the years? Yeah, I have. Yeah, I mean, I first started off doing raves in Walthamstow. Yeah. It was to go from here in the back of a van. It was horrible. Up to Walthamstow. And I was more of a... East London. Tough place. Yeah. I think it was a canal next to it. There was a warehouse in a canal and a skate park. you know it better than I do up there and we used to like 10 of us in a van to go in um subsidize what they had there and we'd get there and there was these enormous black guys on the door scary as you like with with dogs and all kinds of stuff going on but if you think there's no tickets you pay as you go in so it's tens of thousands of pounds so that there was guns there and stuff like that because they could have been robbed and I was just a an eeny meeny miny moe back then I I just went in and it was when it was still smoking inside.

50:07You couldn't see anything. And I swear I was off my tits most of the time smelling that stuff. It was disgusting. And we used to get paid 30 quid or something back in the van and go home. But they did the real work. You know, these guys just so. But going on drugs in Bournemouth. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Massive. You know, to the point some venues who used to put Vaseline on the toilet lids and on the seats. so you couldn't put the cocaine on there and sniff it. And the police were very proactive then. Not so much now, sadly. It's all changed, but it's a different story. But drugs, yeah, massive thing, massive thing.

50:48And then when it went over to 24-hour licensing, it just killed the industry. How did you see the industry go from when you set up your security firm? Because this place was flying for years, wasn't it? And how have you seen it change to where we are today? if you think a lot of people now who are unemployed can get a free license yeah you just go you know sia badge license yeah get an sia badge license and i don't knock it fair play they want to work they're sooner work than be unemployed i get it but it's not as easy as that you know my son charlie wanted to do it said you're not doing it you're not doing it i said you're a big lad and everything but you're not you're not made up for it like i was you know you've you're a thoroughly nice person and you know i just didn't want him to do it and he won't so so you know when like we talk about the knife crime at the moment yeah in the uk and especially in bournemouth has gone through the roof yeah back when you do it wasn't many knives floating around no not like it is today what's changed why is there so many knives all of a sudden this is really sort of the last two, three years, knife crime's gone crazy.

51:56Because there needs to be a higher penalty for carrying a knife. You know, if you look at, you carry a gun, it's minimum five years. Make it five years. It's still a weapon that kills. My friend Amy Gray got killed on Bournemouth Beach. You knew Amy, did you? Yeah, very well. Yeah, very well. And, uh,

52:16you know, to be stabbed that many times, you know, and her friend lived, and she just died on the spot, you know. For what reason? No reason at all. She was walking down the beach with a friend? No, she sat there on the beach just talking to a friend, watching just like you do on a midnight on a hot night. It was May a year ago. And he crawled up behind, crawled up behind and just started stabbing them, started stabbing the other lady first. Amy tried to get involved and stabbed her to death. She died there and then. My God. So, yeah, that was really sad. Amy was a lovely, lovely woman. Do you know how many times she got stabbed?

52:56I think it was about 16. My God. But the other one was much more than that. The one that survived was much more than that. Really? Yeah, don't quote me on those numbers, but something like that. Have you seen the girl who survived since? No, I don't know the girl. No, okay. No. She would have trauma for the rest of her life. Oh, poor thing. And Amy's family. Yeah. Liam, her brother, who I spoke to afterwards, and I still keep in touch with now, It's a massive struggle for them, especially on the anniversary. Yeah. Because she was married to another woman, you know, and they had a child. And I don't know, just thoroughly nice people.

53:34Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, and for that to happen at such a young age is awful. When you finish your security company, what do you do afterwards? Well, close protection. Can I go back a little bit before then? Yeah, yeah, yeah. so I worked at St Anne's Hospital for six years on the intensive care unit as a health care assistant so when I left the care system I wanted I wanted to do something I wanted to do something helpful and productive so I got an interview to work for Dorset Healthcare NHS Trust and went to work at St Anne's and I started off on an open ward you have to St. Andy's, what sort of?

54:16Psychiatric hospital in Camford Cliffs. Yeah. Why did you do that? Because it was interesting. Yeah. It meant I could still do the door at night. And I got a lot of other doormen into that job as well. One's a doctor now. A few of them have passed away now, but I still keep in touch with quite a few of them. But I wanted to go in there and not make a difference, which help yeah because i i didn't want people to be feeling what i was feeling after because it affected me mentally obviously yeah and because i was a big lad they put me on the intensive care unit which you've got a set of keys in and out they don't they don't go out of there and it was tough there and um many a times we had to hold the patients down while they were injected they don't do that now so much um there was um electric ect where they used to with the severe ones they used to put pads on them and shock them to they're not allowed to do it now brainwave so i just have to hold them while they're like that oh god you know and they don't do it anymore and that that there is not very nice to watch either but i felt i was doing good by working there and when i left i got a lovely glowing reference from the senior clinical nurse and you know i would have stayed there but i started having children and i couldn't afford it it's the worst paid job ever but not the best job ever it's more of a vocation than a than a career and when you went into security uh celebrity security going what was that like for you traveling the world tell me some places you went to or who you looked after well i started off i managed to get the the national contract for wh smith so all the book signings about 500 a year yeah had them so i had to reach out to different security companies all up and down the uk and and engage their services to do the book signs i used to do a lot myself so i could meet the managers the the authors um what you call it the people that look after the celebrities because i knew what i wanted to do i wanted to get into close protection and that's what opened up the doors for me with close protection because i got to know them they liked me i like them i did a lot of free stuff in the beginning yeah just to get my name out there because i was an unknown entity really in that world um so i did a lot of free stuff and then started charging and charging money for it.

56:57So I was running that along with doing other people as well. So I had some amazing people there. What sort of people were you looking after? Well these were just book signings really dodged. You are looking after them because they're very exposed and you get loons throwing acid over people and stuff like that. So here's Tom Daly, Katie Price, what was her husband Peter Andre but there was hundreds I can't even name I was doing that for about four years some of them were a pain in the bum some of them were really good Justin Bieber God you know wow what was Justin Bieber like to laugh though horrible so we'd been out all day and when you come out the production team have a buffet ready he went and sneezed on the whole lot you know so no one could eat it you know it was like that I got my picture with him obviously I got a picture with everyone because then I'd post that up and on my website and so and stuff like that just for the profile yeah um but no it wasn't very nice what did you what did you enjoy traveling around the world did you do any close protection around the world yeah when you spend a bit of time in South Africa and West Africa 12 years on and off yeah with ultra high net worth person yeah who I still speak to weekly now yeah and um if he need something he'll always ring me first um he's a pain in the ass to be fair but i suppose he's earned that right to be a pain in the ass but he's also a very lovely man who's helped me out a lot so um he's out somewhere else at the moment but yeah west africa and that was for 12 years and then a local guy here for 15 years so they overlapped because i was part-time with one of whatever so 15 years with with my man here who's turned out to be a really close friend like family now but now retired yeah when I was 58 yeah good for you yeah I didn't want to do it anymore done it you don't done your stint didn't you I lost all interest yeah I lost all interest and things started to go wrong with my body um I've got arthritis and I've got all kinds of things going on nothing that's going to kill me but stuff that hurts me um and I'm in bed by 10 I want to be up any later can you name any of the clubs and venues you really enjoyed doing in bournemouth when bournemouth was at his peak it was mostly all richard car stuff yeah because i you know he had the most clubs yeah uh when when a club was a club and not just a late bar you know so you're up until six in the morning or something like that and so you had slam yeah do you remember that she had slam in urban which was urban was downstairs um and these these were all clubs and bars which are way ahead of their time where the sound systems are lighting he just had a knack of getting it right i think richard carr created the nightlife in bournemouth a million percent without a shadow of a doubt and even having the brains of calling it future 3000 because he he brought this whole london style into bournemouth all of a sudden with amazing bars just with thousands of people going through and then feeder clubs and then another big bar and a massive club everything was big and the best.

1:00:12And then he had the Slinky brand. Yeah. You know. That travelled around the country. Yeah. I remember he turned up, I had a club in Leicester. We had 12 nightclubs at peak all around the country at one point. And I remember he turned up, I didn't know who he was, this guy turned up. Flamboyant, bright suit. He had a, he turned up in a red Ferrari. Yeah. With number plate Slinky. Yeah. And he got out of the moment, everyone, all of us were like, who on earth is this guy? He's a real, like, I didn't know him then. This was like 2002. too so when I moved down to Bournemouth actually I realised that was him yeah he was sort of like the showman well don't forget because he's been honest started off with Wimpy and then diversed over to clubs so there was Slam Zooming Cage but we had Clouds and Zig Zags before that, before your time before my time so where Cameo is now was Zig Zags and Clouds was round the way and what were the two big venues you had up the road from Cameo Bliss and Toko.

1:01:09Bliss and Toko, that's right. So Bliss and Toko, the busiest places in Bournemouth. His bars and clubs were the busiest because he knew how to do it and he wouldn't skimp on costs and stuff like that. Why do you think Richard Carr, how would you explain Richard Carr? Because you mentioned his name. He is Marmite when you speak to different people. Why do you think that is? I think if you, the older crowd, there's two sides to Richard, as in business-wise. There's development, you know, and then there's nightclubs. You'll get more people saying nice things about him nightclub-wise than you would development-wise.

1:01:51But when Richard went bust years ago, people forgot that they earned millions from him. So when he went bust, he obviously was going to get debtors or creditors. and that's when you know the hate comes about if he's in the echo one day look at the comments comments are really bad aren't they just really hurtful as well I get it that people lost money I get it that people lost livelihoods as well but I think a lot of those people also made a hell of a lot of money during the time going on to nightclub side all you see Richard is a flamboyant bright purple suit yellow shirt looking like a cabbage, you know, and he's just hilarious.

1:02:35But we were all on our toes. And when we knew he was on the way, we used to get the eagle has landed. That was it. The eagle has landed. And we'd all be shitting ourselves. You know, everyone had to be on point. And, you know, we were all immaculate because we loved what we did. We were all immaculate. He had great attention to detail. Yeah. Yeah. He would only have a certain bar staff. Yeah, certain bar staff, certain security. Yeah. He wanted the best security, the best bar staff, and the best managers. And he had all of that. He had all of that. And he didn't skimp on costs. Have you ever done any debt collecting?

1:03:13Occasionally, but it's not my thing. I don't like it. Because you never know what the truth is. I will not go and collect money unless I know it's a million percent owed. Because all you're doing is putting on someone who might not owe it. No, so it's not my thing. probably once or twice. Have you had anyone do you a lot of money who hasn't paid? No, never. Never. Part of what I did with the security, I used to go around every Friday or Saturday night, or Friday and Saturday night, I used to go around all the venues and see the owners or the managers and ask them if they were, are you okay? Anything I can do?

1:03:50Any bad situations? Can I improve anything? And I used to turn up in my Range Rover. I was smart shirt, tie, jacket, everything and I used to collect money. I used to say, well, as soon as you're happy with everything, you owe me money. And they used to pay it there and then. And then when I used to go to Richard once a month to get his money, oh, yeah, do you want to come back a bit? Not really. And it was a game with us. And he used to write the cheque and pay me. I was never taken for any money whatsoever. I wouldn't have it. Have you ever kidnapped anyone? I have no idea what you mean, but what does that mean?

1:04:27i've taken people for a you know a walk a few times and you know pleasantly had a conversation but no who would do that kind of thing but it's you know there's some horrible people out there there's some horrible people out there that sometimes need a stern talking to um and i've I had a stern talking to a few people before. Did you ever carry anything over the years? No, never. Never. Never. Never carried a weapon of any kind. I didn't need to. I was pretty good dodged, to be fair. I was pretty good at knocking people out. You know, or there was an incident at Slam. Slam used to go, Urban used to go downstairs, and the doorman were being punched all over the place downstairs.

1:05:17This guy is big. And I went down, I just took his airway. Yeah. And that was it. He was on the floor. I said, I know you can get him out. Yeah. And I remember that as like it was yesterday. But you don't always have to go in there as heavy, you know. And it'll be as much as you're going. Whatever, you're going. So it's up to you. Yeah. And then it's their choice what they do. But no, never, never. How have you seen Bournemouth change, Bournemouth Town Centre change over the last three or four years to how we all know it? Well, I live in Bournemouth Town Centre. so you can't go out without smelling weed you can't go out i taught my daughter from the age of four what a crackhead looked like and i used those words so she could avoid you know and she'd point them out to me still does now bless her and all people which she doesn't seem right daddy doesn't seem right or she doesn't seem right it's changed phenomenally um and obviously with the hotels i I think there's four hotels now full with migrants.

1:06:22They're walking around town in the middle of the summer with puffer jackets on, denims, boots, hats. Menacing. Yeah. It's menacing. It is very menacing. I wouldn't have my daughter, I don't have a daughter, or my wife or any girlfriends going into that town centre. No. But I should have had no. Even a bloke, I go down there, it's menacing. I'm on guard. I walk through the gardens. I'm seeing groups of people, crackheads. I've seen a group of people who have been robbed. I've seen menacing men everywhere. I've seen all these different languages. It is just unreal. It doesn't matter how tough you are or you think you are or whatever.

1:06:56I agree. If there's enough of them, you're done. You're done, yeah. And if life doesn't mean anything to certain people, you're certainly done. They won't care. It doesn't even have to be a big knife, if you know. You know, round the back, kidneys, whatever, and it's over. And it's happened so many times in Bournemouth. At least once a week, there's a stabbing in Bournemouth. and the police say we want to encourage tourists to come here because it's a safe no it's not where are you living look at what just happened to Lorne Castle you know because he swore you know that's disgusting what they've done to him they sacked him the guy was carrying a knife you've seen the knife it was that big double ended knife well on one side it was like a Stanley knife Stanley and the other one was a big blade yeah but it's because Lorne called him a few names yeah but let me tell you not that much of a name you called him a bitch It's like, if you're pinning someone down, he's carrying a knife, you're going to do whatever you can to hold this lad down.

1:07:48So both of my brothers were in the Met. Yeah. So my older brother was a specialist. So they used to go in and baseball back the windows of a car or a house, and they used to scream at them, get the fuck down. You see you until you see that, to shock them, because then they're stunned. They don't know what to do. That's the way. and I've spoken to some ex like chief superintendents of Bournemouth who I've remained friends with and they say that's how it used to be and that's how it should be look at what happened to those airport police you know all it was shown was the policeman stamping on the guy's head but there's more footage being released now of this guy punching, multiple punching this police woman in the face.

1:08:32Woman and headbutt and breaking her nose and they still haven't been nicked it's going on now It's going now, but you're talking a year later. But only because of public outcry. Yeah, but what my point is, like, why are people not just getting nicked straight away? You've got Lucy Connolly who's been banged up for 32 months, three years, for writing a tweet that she deleted a couple of hours later. It's just disgusting. But just deal with Dorset police at the minute. They've lost the plot. It's not the police officers on the ground. And I'll say that all day. And I do say it on social media. You know, they do a decent job with the tools they're given.

1:09:07it's middle management you know Lorne got grassed up by two three other coppers yeah but they had seven months experience between them so they've been told they wanted to look good so they grassed him up it's disgusting behaviour it's just you know and ruined his life he'll get he'll be fine and the public support that's come out for Lorne is massive it is unbelievable I did a post and he's got over a million views in 24 hours like it's nuts it's nuts that's just on one channel or the other channels are doing 750 ,000 because the whole nation are behind supporting him. But that's because he's a thoroughly nice person.

1:09:42And hard as nails and humble and kind. But he gets a job done. He's a cage fighter. He's a cage fighter. I know. You know what I mean? Look at the damage he could have done. Yeah. He didn't bring his spray out, his taser or anything else. He didn't punch him. No. Didn't do any of that. He put his hand on his face, whatever. But so what? What do you want? So is there an answer? If there's less and less police in Bournemouth and the police are out there trying to do a good job on the street But again, I'm on 35 grand. I've got kids at home. I've got a mortgage. Someone's going to kick off there.

1:10:11Do I really need to go and get stabbed or be involved in that when I've got a family to feed? If I do the wrong thing, I might get sacked. A lot of police officers now, as soon as I did that one with Long Castle, police officers have tapped me on the shoulder going, brilliant interview. I fully support you. I fully support Long. I said, would you go and do an incident? He said, there's a lot of incidents I don't want to go and do. No. What do I want to do? Go home and I've got to write a massive report. I might get nicked. I might get sacked. I might get punched. so I get spat at and I've got to go home with my family.

1:10:37I've got to pay a mortgage still. But a lot of them will still do it because it's a vocation and they'll get in there and they'll do it but the thought of... But I'll lay you money if you ask them. If you ask, I'd love to see what percentage you go, yeah, I'm stuck in. Yeah. We're a very small percentage because they don't have any power. Yeah. And they're going to get into trouble. They're going to get into trouble. Rather get hurt or get in trouble with the bosses. No, I get that. I get that. And a load of good officers have been sacked for being in a WhatsApp group. I know. Go back 25 years, you know, you text someone something and it'll be funny.

1:11:11And now they'll dob you in. They'll forward a message to middle management. Mark, are you happy today? Am I happy today? In general? Just in your life now, you're retired. Are you happy? I'm happy to the point that when I was hired, I couldn't really afford to retire. So I had to tighten my financial belt, which I don't mind. I've had a good life in security a very good career I'm fairly well known I can pick up the phone to various people globally so I'm very lucky with that I still get people texting me saying how are you boss from 20 years ago which is very very humbling am I happy yeah I am happy Dodge I've got things going on mentally and physically which I'm getting to the bottom of but in general I'm happy in general mate I'm happy and I'm very humbled and you know my my whole reason and being are my six kids yeah that's it from the age of 32 down to 12 that's it for me nothing else they come first anything else is a bonus yeah so I want to say you know now thank you to all them love you to bits and you are my driving force to remain on this earth yeah you're my driving force and I'm proud of every single one of you.

1:12:30Mark, I've really enjoyed this chat. Yeah, thanks, Dodge. It took me a bit to get on here. I know. But I'm really, really glad I did it and I thank you for that. Yeah, you're a good man. You're a lot of people. You're a beautiful soul and Dasha's a good friend. Yeah, I do too. I appreciate it. You're a good man. Hi, guys. I really hope you enjoyed that as much as I did. Can you do us a favour and leave us a review as it massively helps us grow the show? Cheers, guys.