By Rory Reynolds
AN experienced city copper has taken up the lone job of patrolling Europe’s largest beat.
Veteran bobby Ian Sutherland – who has investigated two murders and a £30,000 fraud while working at a busy city nick – will cover a staggering 900 square miles of peaceful land in the Northern Constabulary.
Sutherland’s beat – much of which is also called Sutherland – has just 1,100 in habitants, leaving him with time to adjust to the pace of life at the station.
The move for the 43-year-old constable echoes the popular 1970s television series Sutherland’s Law, which focuses on the tasks of a public prosecutor in a tiny Scottish community.
But Ian says that despite the tiny crime rate, and the fact that his police station – which just had a £450,000 renovation – doesn’t have a cell, he’s ready for anything.He said: “I don’t expect to deal with the serious crimes you find in the cities – but you always have to be prepared.”
The police officer previously worked as a special constable for 10 years before joining the main force seven years ago in Inverness.
After dealing with murders and countless street assaults at the Inverness, he is
moving into quiet patch at Rhiconich Police Station with wife Angela and kids Rhiane and Scott.
The previous station officer, Constable David Inglis, covered the wind battered area alone for nine years, dealing with just one house break-in during the whole stretch.
Both officers reckon that the fact that the closest cell to the station is 80 miles away in Dornoch, is a good enough deterrent for most would-be offenders.
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