Jock

Jock is a physically imposing criminal whose livelihood depends on attacking people he judges vulnerable, yet whose proudest recollections concern how swiftly he can escape. His part in the raid on the Botham home exposes the gap between his practiced predation and his limited control: drawn into Trev’s plan despite having little appetite for it, he is felled by Mrs Botham’s quick self-defense.

Identity and Appearance

Jock is introduced alongside Trev as an alarming presence near Mary Lamb. Tall, slow, and much too big, he has black hair described as coated with wet light. His mouth stays open, with his tongue resting against his lower teeth, and his silence makes it difficult to judge how much danger he contains. The description gives him a threatening physical scale without presenting him as quick or forceful in every circumstance; later, his awkwardness and distress during the raid complicate that first impression.

The two men share an air of defiant self-neglect, and their eyes are likened to Sharon’s. But Jock and Trev are distinct in both temperament and method. Trev is tightly built and intent on getting closer to Mary Lamb, while Jock remains harder to read. The contrast anticipates their different roles in the attack on the Botham household: Trev drives the violence forward, and Jock follows a plan he does not particularly want.

Criminal Method and Pride

Jock’s criminal career is presented through a blunt calculation about money. As a young man, he decides that the best targets are people who already possess money but are too weak to defend themselves. He sorts potential victims into four groups—young men, young girls, old men, and old women—and concludes after several attempts that old women are the easiest to attack. He also thinks they seem less likely to mind, though he recognizes that they usually have little money.

His record becomes a monotonous succession of attacks on older women. Jock runs up, hits them as hard as he can, and tries to get away with their money. The theft is not always straightforward: his victims hold on to their handbags, leaving him to rummage among the contents while they scream. At times, he strikes them and then waits, breathing sharply, until he thinks it is safe to flee. He is notably good at that final part. When times are bad and he recalls his few successes, he takes pride to the point of tears in how fast he ran. That self-congratulation gives his criminality a narrow measure of achievement: the violence is habitual, but speed is the accomplishment he cherishes.

Trev and the Botham Home Plan

Jock’s partnership with Trev is not shown as an equal enthusiasm for violence. Before the attack on the Botham home, the two crouch about a hundred yards away, on a stone terrace amid discarded furniture and damaged prams, watching and waiting to make their move. Trev is eager for the assault and intends to inflict a particular injury on Mary Lamb; Jock, by contrast, has little taste for the venture. He agrees to participate because Trev wants him to. The narrator stresses the mismatch: Trev assumes Jock shares his desire, but that assumption does not make it true.

The division of roles is explicit. Trev intends Jock to deal with Mr Botham and Mrs Botham while he goes after Mary Lamb. Jock’s familiarity with older people as targets makes the assignment seem suited to him, but the plan is not evidence that he controls the operation. Trev is the one pushing the attack forward, and Jock’s part begins in reluctance. When Trev remembers the earlier encounter with Mary Lamb and his own continuing intention to harm her, the approach to the house carries a particular threat for her as well as danger for the Bothams.

The Raid and Its Reversal

Mr Botham walks down the passage toward the door, apparently unaware of what is waiting. The household hears the door open, his muffled shout, and two successive thuds. Mrs Botham has only begun screaming when the intruders reach the room. Jock, to his own confusion and distress, has ended up in front. Trev has lingered in the hall, stomping, while Jock crosses the room and starts attacking Mrs Botham.

Mrs Botham’s reinforced foot shoots up in self-protection and strikes Jock between the legs with her heavy black brick. He gasps, clutches himself, and drifts away before sinking to his knees. The reversal is immediate: the man whose usual method is to hit vulnerable older victims finds himself stopped by an older woman’s defensive action. Trev then advances toward Mary Lamb, but Gavin Botham punches him in the lower face and sends him flailing through the air, landing upside down and motionless near the passage. Jock remains on his hands and knees, vomiting into the ornamental coal scuttle. Mrs Botham continues to scream, while Gavin rubs his knuckles and steps over Trev. Mary Lamb does not move.

Narrative Role

Jock’s conduct links the calculated violence of his ordinary criminal method to the disorder of the Botham home invasion. His earlier attacks depend on selecting people he believes will be easy to overpower and escape from; at the house, he is neither in command nor able to carry through the attack as planned. Mrs Botham’s brick makes the supposed victim an active defender, and Jock’s collapse replaces his treasured image of himself as a fast getaway artist with an unmistakable scene of helplessness. His reluctance also clarifies the raid’s internal dynamic: Trev supplies the appetite for violence, while Jock’s willingness to accompany him is real even if their motives are not shared.