Members of the unit shot him in the ankle, and medics treated him at the scene.
The assailants – who later told him they were members of a counter-terrorism unit – handcuffed him, taped his mouth and eyes shut and began a week of abuse culminating in the 48 hours when he was beaten with guns.
Davies's spell with the policy unit gave him perspective.
Half a year in a young offenders' unit made him feel and behave like a criminal.
Inmates on his unit heard him crying and yelling in his cell, and suggested that he take medication.
A protracted stay in the intensive care unit left him dependent on a ventilator, with a breathing tube.
In 1969 he married his fourth wife, Josephine Storey, the nurse who established Charing Cross's dialysis unit with him.
Seventy years ago this August, when he was in his mid-20s, the unit sent him on a tour of the Eastern Front.
People will criticize Howard for deserting a team that has spent generously — if not judiciously — in trying to build a championship unit around him.
Yes, James's hero, Michael Jordan, claimed six championships, but none until he had Scottie Pippen and a special and vastly underrated unit behind him.
