Dear Editor,

Having an urgent call of nature at the high court I asked a policeman for directions. He told me the toilet available to the public was either occupied or out of order. I represented to him the painful urgency of my position.

'I will make you a special concession', he remarked 'I'm going to take you into a sacred place - the police toilet. It is never, never allowed to the public. Only the Inspector, the Sergeant, and the ranks. Policemen and women and occasionally public prosecutors and dignitaries are allowed to use it.'

The kindly constable led me into a narrow dark passage and opened a door and warned me to leave this sacrosanct place as clean as I found it.

Once inside I quickly discovered that no toilet paper was available. Thank God I had a newspaper. And of course the toilet door was unclosable. The latch or the bolt had broken off ages ago, and a piece of wood had been nailed to the door to keep it closed. Understandably the toilet seat had been detached and it wobbled about as one sat on it.

When I was finished I tried to flush and that too did not work. I was terribly embarrassed.

Whilst adjusting my clothes to get out someone banged on the door and a feminine voice screamed out that she wanted to use the place. Before I could respond an infuriated policewoman pushed the door in and shrieked: 'Wha' the hell you doin' here? Dis toilet is for police only?

I mumbled an apology and explained that I thought this was a gents' toilet. 'In the High Court', she remarked 'police men and police women use the same toilet. Get out'. She dashed off and got a bucket of water to flush the toilet.

By then a public prosecutor, whom I knew, and a sergeant had queued up to make use of the same toilet.

Why couldn't we have proper and separate toilet facilities for policemen and policewomen? And why must our public prosecutors (men and women) and police inspectors be reduced to the indignity of using toilet facilities which are in such disrepair and which must be equated with systems built in early Victorian times?

Who is at fault? Is it due to lack of funds or governmental negligence? Or is it gross negligence on the part of the police officer in charge?