I had my heart set on becoming a prison officer since I was 15, not the most traditional teenaged dream. Fresh out of university, I got the keys to a large London jail housing over 1,000 men who had committed crimes ranging from human trafficking to theft.
I left 2 years later with an entirely recalibrated understanding of humans, four full diaries and a tuberculosis diagnosis to show for it. Stuck in bed for months, with time and distance to reflect on the place which had put me there - I began to write.
Since then, I’ve never strayed far from the prison world. I migrated to the third sector driving employability for prison leavers and spent a stint working under the Home Office in Policing policy and politics. I now operate across the criminal justice system as a consultant & adviser and a public speaker on a mission to reveal another side to prison to audiences ranging from management consultants to sixth form students.
Read more
Read less
