Isn’t it funny what strange things just pop into your head from time to time for no apparent reason? I often find myself getting unexpected flashbacks to places we have been, and yesterday I remembered something that happened over 20 years ago, which I haven’t thought about in years.

It must have been in the late 80’s or early 90’s. I was on my lunch break and walking through Halifax Borough Market when I was stopped by a police constable.

I immediately felt guilty, but it turned out I wasn’t being apprehended, but asked to take part in an ID parade at the local police station. It seems I bore a passing resemblance to an alleged criminal!

At first I was a bit reluctant, but she was very persuasive, and the promise of a monetary reward for doing my civic duty clinched the deal. I popped back to work to ask (tell) my boss what I was doing, and off I went.

When I got to the police station I was shown into a small room with lots of other ‘doppelgängers’. We each gave our personal details to a constable after which we were shown into a large room, where there were lots of chairs arranged in a semi-circle, and asked to sit down in random order.

The alleged perpetrator was then led in and given the opportunity to dismiss any of us she didn’t like the look of, before sitting down in a chair of her choosing.

The victim viewed the finished result from a sort of blacked-out booth, so we never got to see them. I vaguely wondered what would happen if they picked me out by mistake. I needn’t have worried. If memory serves me they didn’t pick anyone, and we were dismissed.

Being told I look like an alleged ‘crim’ isn’t the best compliment I’ve ever had, but it was an interesting experience which left me £12 better-off than when I started.