Ian Breach and I covered the 100-day-long Windscale inquiry into nuclear waste in Cumbria. Ian's grasp of the subject was as formidable as his capacity for the odd glass at the end, and sometimes at the beginning, of a long inquiry day. One night after he had filed his copy to the Financial Times, we shared too many glasses. When we arrived late back at our hotel in St Bees, the owner had locked up. He had omitted to close an upstairs window so Ian promptly decided that was the way in and up he climbed. Unfortunately, the hotel was next to a bank and his antics triggered an alarm; sure enough, the boys in blue arrived to arrest him. Ian's charm won out and the hotel was duly opened up.
On the final day of the inquiry, Ian failed, for the very first time, to appear until very late on. When he arrived, the hearing was on the point of ending. Ian smartly grabbed my own words and rewrote them in FT style, with considerable speed and depth. Mr Justice Parker summoned us to give us an unexpected judicial pat on the back, particularly for Ian's worthy reporting. We then repaired to the nearest bar to celebrate.