Prisoner stories

This is Max who lives in Sluff. Max had a very happy childhood and felt loved. When he was 13 his parents divorced in a messy way and his Dad left. Max was sad and angry about what happened and stopped going to school. Nobody came to look for him. His Mum started drinking and there was no food in the house. Max had no qualifications, but he saw where money was being made, so he started selling drugs. Then he fell out with his Mum so had nowhere to live. He got a place to rent. He was still sad and angry so he started taking drugs. Then he got into debt, so needed to sell more drugs. Then he got caught. Even though it was his first offence, the judge thought he was more important in the gang than he was, so he got 9 years.

Max came off drugs in prison. He got a job in the recycling workshop. Recycling is an in-demand skill and Max knows he can get a job outside. He doesn’t want to live in Sluff where all his old contacts are still living. He is not a risk to the community. He wants a fresh start.
Max wants a room somewhere safe where he can hang out on his own, watch TV and go to the gym when he is not working. He needs to be with people he can trust.

This is James who has a good job in finance. James likes to look good and he dresses in nice clothes and has a nice watch and a nice car. James likes money and even though he had more money than some, he wanted more. He began to get into property. James was doing really well with property deals for a while, but the problem was, James didn’t know everything he needed to know about property and he relied on what other people told him to do. Boom! One day he got arrested for not doing something he didn’t even understand and although he paid a lot of money to a barrister, he didn’t know everything about it either and James got 12 years. Even worse, his lovely flat, car and bank accounts all got taken away.

James was a Shannon Trust mentor in prison, helping others with their reading and writing. When he gets out, he wants to set up his own clothing company on line, but right now, James has no family support and no money. He wants his own room with a small desk and internet access to get started and somewhere to keep his push bike.

This is Rob who is a no-nonsense northern lad. He is big and strong. He did ok at school and got himself a job in a leather factory and became quite skilled at cutting. Rob loved nothing more than a Friday night out with the lads having a few drinks. One Friday it was a lot of drinks. Things were said that should not have been said and a few punches were thrown. Rob punched his mate in the head. He fell on the stone floor out cold and died from the blow. Rob was sent to prison for a long time.
Rob was heartbroken. In prison they sent him to an art therapy class and Rob was reminded that he had been quite good at painting and drawing at school. He became a peer mentor in the art class alongside completing his own art pieces that were entered for Koestler awards and won several times. Rob could make money from his art, but doesn’t know it.
While he has been in prison Rob’s parents died. Nobody comes to visit him. He is looking forward to finally leaving prison, but he is worried that things have changed so much and he won’t fit in. He will struggle to knock on doors for a job or accommodation because he is too ashamed and doesn’t want people to know he has been in prison.
Sometimes he would like to sit with you and have a cup of tea and talk about art.

This is Wesley. He has a superb physique from a lot of in cell training in prison. He is good-looking with amazing tattoos and charisma. He can rap, but not well enough to make money out of it. Wesley ran one of those county line teams and made a lot of money for a long time. He has natural leadership qualities, amazing mental arithmetic and is fearless. Well, mostly fearless. Wesley worries that he doesn’t talk ‘proper’ and when he is in an environment with seemingly ‘posh’ people, he feels he hasn’t got anything to say. He thinks they will mock him because of how he speaks.
Wesley is very practically gifted. While being in prison, he completed courses in bricklaying, plastering, carpentry, painting and decorating and plumbing. He has a CSCS card and plans to start on construction sites working his way up to doing up old properties.
He has family, but they are not reliable. He never married or had children because he would need to be very sure of a woman before he committed in that way. That’s not to say he doesn’t have girlfriends.
Wesley reads people. He will work you out in a few minutes. Don’t ask him nosey questions. Show him respect and he will honour that. One day you may come back and find that broken fence is fixed, but when you thank him, don’t offer to pay and don’t give him a list of household repairs. Whatever he gives is on his terms.
And the drugs? Men like Wesley don’t get hooked on drugs. His body is his temple.

This is Jonas who has beautiful, thick hair down to his waist and big blue eyes. He was very close to his Mum growing up and never knew his Dad. Three years ago, Jonas’s Mum died and he was evicted from her council flat. For a year Jonas slept in his car, then he started sofa surfing with friends and taking drugs with them. Some nights he slept rough. He started missing work. With no money, he started shop-lifting for basic essentials. He was caught and given a 6-month sentence.
Jonas has an excellent CV. He is very good with IT and social media, but mainly he worked in personal care for the non-verbal. He has contact with his 9 year old daughter and wants to live near to her in Trill. Jonas is still on medication and needs to be registered with a GP.

This is Connor who worked as a chef in a pub for years. He was married with three children aged 10-14. When Covid struck he lost his job. He knew some guys from the pub who got him to do a bit of driving for them – a bit of this and that. He didn’t ask too many questions. One night they went up to Birmingham and did a big burglary, only weapons were involved and there was a police chase. Connor didn’t touch any of the weapons, but was convicted by association and got 10 years. When his wife heard the sentence, she was so angry, she put in for divorce and stopped him having contact with his children.
While Connor has been in prison, he has qualified as a barber. He is hoping that between barbering and cooking, he can earn enough to get himself a van and go mobile. He wants to save for a place because he is also hoping that when his kids are old enough, they will make a decision to get back in touch with him. He misses them a lot. They used to do a lot of fun things together.

This is Alaya who was born into a large Pakistani family of 8 siblings. When she was 13 an Uncle regularly got her on her own and abused her. She got help from school and went into care. After a while, she missed the positive things about being in a large family and was looking for attention and affection. Mohammed was a very devout Muslim and also very handsome. He was always respectful and kind to her, told her how beautiful she was and bought her gifts. One day he said he needed help; that some bad people were threatening him and he needed her to take a suitcase of valuable items on the train down to a cousin in London. Alaya didn’t think twice. She took the suitcase down to London, but after she was leaving the property, she was arrested on drug trafficking charges. When the police tried to find Mohammed, he had disappeared. She got 8 years.
Alaya is a gifted seamstress and would like to get a job in retail. She likes her own space, but would ideally like to live with a Muslim family with children.