THE mayor of Monmouth Alderman O G Thomas adjusted his scarlet robe and ancient chain of office and strode confidently towards the platform blissfully unaware that the forthcoming parade of new parish constables would be followed by scandal and intrigue.

The date was March 25, 1836, and it marked the establishment of the Monmouth Borough Police Force when history was about to be made in dramatic fashion in the days ahead.

Alderman Thomas had assured the Home Secretary, Lord John Russell, that the constables had all that London's police officers had. They would use the "Old Lock Up" as the police station and the office would be in the Shire Hall. Although they had no rules they borrowed a set from Hereford.

MORE NEWS:

The mayor welcomed the new parish guardians of law and order, now fully equipped with truncheons and whistles and wished them well in their new responsibilities.

Of course such an occasion deserved a celebration and the official party adjourned to a local inn to drink to the future of the town's new policemen.

It was just 24 hours later that events took a distinctly unsteady turn when two of the new constables found the mayor lying drunk outside the Cross Keys Inn. Two weeks later, having found it worthy to extend the celebration, he was discovered in the same condition outside the door of The Bell.

The saga of the mayor, who possessed a compulsive desire to prolong celebrations, is revealed in the borough archives.

Historian Keith Kissack in his History of Monmouth described what happened next:

"There was a gap of another fortnight before Sgt William Fuller, Keeper of the Lock Up in Agincourt Street (and incidentally an extremely busy official as Inspector of Nuisances, Chief of the Fire Brigade and Clerk of the Market) came across him in the Back Lane. When I rose him he appeared senseless and could not speak; his hat was about a dozen yards from him.

"The Sgt tried to take him home but he held out his fist saying 'Fuller I'm a man'. He was falling as he said it and Fuller caught him before he hit the road and dragged him home."

But there was more to come: the mayor arrived drunk at the police station one night and demanded to inspect the prisoners who were equally drunk. He returned half an hour later, more tipsy than before and told Fuller to discharge the one "whose head was not broken".

Throughout May and June the mayor was escorted home in various states of intoxication denying his shameful conduct in a seemingly unending celebration while revealing a persistent flaw in his character.

Sgt Fuller dutifully reported every incident but the Watch Committee failed to take any action which was not surprising since the mayor was also chairman of the Watch Committee.

However, an official report was sent to the Borough Council with the comment: "We consider such conduct in any man to be disgraceful but in the mayor and chief magistrate it is exceedingly reprehensible and we hope therefore the council will take this case into their most serious consideration and adopt such measures as may seem best to them for the prevention of such a breach of the laws in future".

The mayor chose not to attend the meeting so the councillors agreed to give him an opportunity to respond with an answer expected in a week. At the next meeting because no reply had been received the town clerk was instructed to tell him firmly to do the honourable thing and resign to avoid a public scandal.

The town clerk returned swiftly with the news that the mayor refused to resign and he was instructed to send the evidence to the Home Secretary for advice on the most expedient course for electing another mayor.

Alderman Thomas's ability to stay in office and survive public scandal seemed limitless and since no reply from the Home Secretary can be traced he continued to press his undoubted influence to ensure the misplaced loyalty of his supporters.

In November he enhanced his grip on authority by being re-elected chairman of the Watch Committee - the very body which had sought to remove him from office.

In an even more autocratic manner Alderman Thomas then began what can only be described as a vengeful attack on those who had opposed him and it was the unfortunate Sgt Fuller, who was only doing his duty, who became the first victim. He exerted such an overwhelming influence on council colleagues that Fuller received scant support for his efforts to preserve the dignity of office while upholding the law and along with fellow officers, and became the subject of hate especially among publicans because of their power to inspect premises and impose fines.

A writer in the Monmouthshire Merlin complained that the police devoted too much time on the "persecuted and ever oppressed licenced publican". He questioned why the Corporation had squandered money on a police force obtaining £400 a year in fines from hard pressed inn-keepers "when a more peaceable and moral town of 5,000 people is not to be found within Great Britain than in the town of Monmouth".

The reality however revealed a far different picture. Statistics showed that 272 offences over subsequent years included 90 for assault, drunkenness and violence, 24 were for workhouse offences, often violent, 48 for theft, 31 for driving carts dangerously, five for damage to crops and nine for obscene language.

There is no further reference to the mayor's drinking habits but it is certain that his powerful political stature and tyrannical approach to authority led him to continue his role as a local and influential politician perhaps with questionable judgment.