I didn’t know what I had done to upset my flatmate but she was not taking it at all well.

The gunfire had been going on for at least ten minutes and I was fortunate that my swivel chair was deflecting the bullets. I wondered why the neighbours hadn’t called the police. Was this normal behaviour in Birmingham in the 1980s? Eventually, after a scuffle, I grabbed the gun and threatened to shoot my assailant’s shoes off. The threat immediately pacified her.