CUSTODY sergeant James Holden-White has detected a way of entertaining bored prisoners at the police station where he works.

The officer, who works at Banbury police station, has completed his debut novel Awaken Destiny after working on it for several years and the story has now been self-published.

The 34-year-old says paperback novels and magazines are a good way of distracting people who have been arrested while they wait in the cells to be dealt with.

And he is now adding a copy of Awaken Destiny to the reading matter at the custody suite.

The father-of-three from Stoke Lyne, near Bicester, has come up with a plot that could prove puzzling for his prisoners, as it features King Arthur coming back to life in the present day – where he runs into Tudor explorer Sir Francis Drake.

Mr Holden-White said: “I expected my colleagues to take the mickey when they found out I was writing a book, but they have actually been quite supportive.

“I think books and magazines are a good way to keep people calm when they end up in the custody suite.

“I will now add a copy of my book to the other reading material and hopefully it will entertain people who have been arrested, and take their minds off their current problems.”

Mr Holden-White added that his novel also featured a line about European Commissioners plotting to seize power in Britain to turn it into Europe’s ‘rubbish bin’.

The author said his 380-page novel, which costs £8.99, is now for sale on Amazon, Waterstones and WH Smith websites, and at Coles bookstore in Bicester. The Kindle edition can be downloaded for £5.14.

Mr Holden-White lives with wife Kelly, 33, a Bicester primary school teacher, and their three children, Sophie, seven, Kate, five, and Daniel, three.

“Kelly has given her local book group my novel so that they can read it,” he added.

“I’m hoping the story will be popular with teenagers as well as adults.

“I suppose the key message of the story is that people shouldn’t act like barbarians and shouldn’t let history repeat itself.”

  • Awaken Destiny is published by New Generation Publishing.