One of Monmouth's longest serving police officers has retired from the force.

PC Simon Holder is leaving Monmouthshire, and the UK, for a life of sun, sea and luxury 4,000 miles away on the Carribean island of Bonaire.

Beginning his career 33 years ago, PC Holder has served in Monmouth on three separate occasions, also moving between Brynmawr, Cwmbran and Abergavenny.

"I wanted a career that would be adrenaline-filled, where I would be working with people and doing something effective" he said.

Holder admits that the job has changed a lot in his time, and that he would be unlikely to do it all over again if he were beginning his career in the modern police force.

Describing the main problems facing the police now, he spoke of being "almost social workers" to the public.

He said minor disputes between neighbours are now becoming the work of the police, whereas in the past they would have been sorted privately.

PC Holder also told how the police are struggling with what he described as "revolving door justice", where sentencing has become lenient enough to stop deterring past prisoners from re-offending.

"It's not about what we do, it's what the courts do," he said. He also described the UK's justice system as "extremely ineffective".

Voicing his worries, Holder described how the police force are now controlled by the political party in power, and that in Monmouth, there are not enough police on the street.

Despite this, when speaking about the rise in knife and gun crime in the UK, the PC revealed that although there has been a rise in the number of violent-minded people in recent times, the police force are much better equipped to deal with it and in his opinion, people are in fact "safer on the streets than you used to be".

For the full story, see this week's Beacon (29th December)