If the shot old memory is not too awry Frank, the 'glider' in question was the government's plane. Incidentally, lumping all those late operators together as disregarders of the law is a trifle sweeping old son.
Regarding those who have posted here their thoughts on Shakespeare's lack of relevance today, maybe a little dose of Rumpole, could , if not restore balance, at least lighten the brief.
Horace Rumpole: [startled at seeing an empty breakfast table] There are no bacon and eggs, Hilda!
Hilda Rumpole: Claude doesn't like a cooked breakfast, Rumpole, but there's plenty of muesli. I got it for him specially.
Horace Rumpole: [looking in horror at the jar of muesli] What's that? Sawdust and bird droppings?"
Samuel 'Soapy Sam' Ballard Q.C.: I believe it is the first time in our long history, Rumpole, that these chambers have contained... a chancellor!
Samuel 'Soapy Sam' Ballard Q.C.: [Rumpole is so shocked, he sits down] Yes, Rumpole, unworthy as I am.
Horace Rumpole: [regaining his composure] Well, that's the understatement of the year!"
"Mr. Glassworth: [referring to life in prison] Do they still have slopping out?
Horace Rumpole: Yes, I'm afraid they do.
Mr. Glassworth: I spent my life in the acquisition of beautiful objects.
Horace Rumpole: [sarcastically to his instructing solicitor] I suppose that's what the three years were for!
Mr. Glassworth: Slopping out! How could I live through it? And the sickening sexual advances of beefy warders.
Horace Rumpole: [muttering] Oh, I wouldn't count on that, old darling.
Mr. Glassworth: What did you say?
Horace Rumpole: Oh, nothing."
Jean Pierre O'Higgins: What do you say then, Mr. Horace Rumpole? Will you take me on?
Horace Rumpole: Well, I'll have to think about that.
Jean Pierre O'Higgins: Be honest. Is it my personality that makes you hesitate? Do you find me objectionable, Mr. Rumpole?
Horace Rumpole: Mr. O'Higgins, I find your restaurant pretentious and your portions skimpy. Your customers regale themselves in a dim religious atmosphere more fitting to evensong than a good night out. I find you an opinionated and self-satisfied bully. However, unlike you, I am on hire to even the most unattractive customer."
Hilda Rumpole: So, you think that men and women are entirely equal?
Horace Rumpole: Everyone is equal in the dock, Hilda.
Hilda Rumpole: And in the home?
Horace Rumpole: Oh, well, naturally, yes, of course, yes, naturally, although, I suppose, some are born to command.
Horace Rumpole: [to himself, whispering] She who must be...
Hilda Rumpole: What?
Horace Rumpole: I said trust me, Hilda. I shall always be a staunch supporter of women's rights."
"Horace Rumpole: [musing to himself] Ah, the Timsons, en famille, in all their glory. It's like an old school reunion. I've never seen so many ex-clients at one go.
[out loud]
Horace Rumpole: Ah, Mr. Bernard. You're instructing me?
Mr. Bernard: Always, in a Timson case, Mr. Rumpole.
Fred Timson: Nothing but the best for the Timsons. Best solicitor, best barrister going. Shall I do the honours? Vi, my wife.
Horace Rumpole: [to himself] I got Vi off on a handling charge, after the Croydon bank raid. Well, there was really no evidence.
Fred Timson: ...Uncle Cyril...
Horace Rumpole: [to himself] What was his last outing, exactly? Carrying housebreaking instruments by night.
Fred Timson: ...Uncle Dennis. Oh, you remember Den, surely ?
Horace Rumpole: [to himself] Oh yes. Conspiracy to forge log books.
Fred Timson: ...and Den's Doris...
Horace Rumpole: [to himself] A bit of receiving a vast quantity of stolen scampi. Yes, acquitted by a majority.
Fred Timson: ...and yours truly, Frederick Timson, the boy's father.
Horace Rumpole: [to himself] Ah, we had a slip-up with Fred's last spot of bother. I was away, with flu. George Frobisher took it over. He got three years. He must only just have got out.
Fred Timson: Well, now you know the whole family, Mr. Rumpole.
Horace Rumpole: [to himself] A family to breed from, the Timsons! Without them, the Old Bailey would go out of business."
Horace Rumpole: You know, it's a most extraordinary thing, my Learned Friend. We go through all the mumbo-jumbo, we put on the wig, and the gown, we mutter the ritual prayers, "If your Lordship pleases", "Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury", abracadabra, fee fie foe bloody fum. And just when everybody thinks you're going to produce the most ludicrously fake piece of cheesecloth evidence, there it is, clear as a bell! The truth! Don't you find it? You know, it's bloody scary sometimes, ha ha, but there it is, the truth. Naked and embarrassing!"
Horace Rumpole: All we have is a large soak patch in the crook of the left arm.
Mr. Thistleton: Yes.
Horace Rumpole: Totally consistent with my client having supported the deceased's head as he lay bleeding in his arms.
Mr. Thistleton: [after pausing, hesitantly] Not inconsistent.
Horace Rumpole: [exasperated] Not inconsistent! Mr. Thistleton, doesn't "not inconsistent" when translated into plain English mean "consistent?"
Mr. Thistleton: Yes, it does."