Jonty, I totally agree there's no point bombing down towards high ground, at night, with dodgy ATC and an unfamiliar airfield.
If you can break the SOP, then sounds ok. If you can break it, then what's the point in having it?
You can laugh at us poor 737 drivers with our 0.7 descents. We get our own back when you're stuck behind us at FL370 all the way through France at 0.74!!