The strange case of the rocket man

However, even his wildest nightmares would have stopped well short of depicting the predicament that he now finds himself in as the reluctant custodian of 125,000 fireworks in a secret, presumably secure but comfortless location.

Mr McDonald, who has been forced to babysit the rockets from the confines of a far from comfortable caravan for the past ten and a half months, now says that he may have to sue the States to bring this whole episode to a close.

Not unreasonably, he argues that the Environment department told him too late in the day that the record attempt would have an unacceptable impact on St Aubin’s Bay. He would also point out that he complied rigidly with all safety regulations and had arranged for a volunteer clear-up operation.

But whether Mr McDonald should be encouraged to pursue resolution through the courts is a moot point. As he has acknowledged, he has very limited resources and there is no guarantee that he would be embarking on anything other than an expensive search for a remedy that might prove very elusive.

As matters stand, no authority in the Island is prepared to lift the burden of the unused rockets from their custodian’s shoulders, but the limbo in which Mr McDonald finds himself cannot last indefinitely. Indeed, circumstances which would demand action are far from hard to envisage.

To begin with, insurance for the rockets is soon to elapse and may not be renewed. Then there is the question of human frailty. What if Mr McDonald should fall ill or worse?

In the long run, the States are almost certain to have to deal with the disposal of the rockets. Out of plain humanity and recognising that a departmental decision was in part responsible for the present state of affairs, they should look again at the problem and seriously consider spending the £43,000 of public money that it would cost to release Mr McDonald from his lonely, uncomfortable and unpredicted vigil.