Biography – Dianne Wood
Dianne Wood is a retired WPC from the Metropolitan Police Service in London.
Born to an Irish mother and English father, Di was one of five children, they were a poor but happy family.
Educated mainly in convent schools where the regimes were strict, she learnt to duck and dive from flying chalk or the flick of a ruler, delight in music appreciation and how to host a dinner party.
These baffling school days proved to be invaluable and enabled her to think on her feet and with the creative influence of her older sister and journalist Angela, she learned to express her inner most emotions in her writing, talks and seminars.
Di left school at 15 as she was expected to make a financial contribution to the large household. She started working for a glossy magazine where the order of the day was photo shoots, cat walks and mixing with celebrities. The years that followed, included writing, publishing and sales, she later became a scheme manager caring for elderly residents in sheltered housing.
Following her 25 years of colourful and varied employment, Di thought she had done and seen it all. But she decided to make best use of her maturity and interpersonal skills by joining the Police Force.
Unfazed by having no academic qualifications, she sacrificed her NUJ card and did this aged 40 amidst bringing up her teenage son and daughter. However, nothing could have prepared her for the career she was about to embark upon for the next 20 years.
She overcame the trials and tribulations of training school and probation to become one of the top “thief takers” in her division, an immediate response driver and an expert in her chosen field in the sex offenders unit where she dealt with murderers, rapists and paedophiles.
Now she loves to talk, write, fish and paint. Di is currently teaching herself to play the guitar.
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