Arrogance and recklessness were a dangerous combination, especially on a busy narrow road. At the wheel of his white Mercedes, SM was lucky to avoid a head-on collision with a huge truck.

He was not so fortunate when he failed to brake in time for the traffic lights just a few metres further up the road. From my position on the back seat I hoped that the bump would be a gentle one. We were lucky to escape without injury.

SM decided to abandon the car on the spot in favour of a boat moored in the nearby river. We all followed him up to the deck, not one of us a sailor. We drifted further out to sea over the course of several hours, and would have surely died out there if SM had not been apprehended by the police.