Chapter 01
Early years
Left school with nothing
Violence at home and school. Expulsion. Homelessness. A father young. Survival mode was the default setting for a long time.
01The story
From survival mode to service.
This is the short version. It is honest, it is accountable and it does not glorify anything. Prison is part of the story. It is not the whole identity.
Chapter 02
Tattoo years
Building Creative Ink
Around eleven years running Creative Ink Tattoos. Became the youngest Chairman of the British Tattoo Artists Federation. Appeared on BBC One's The One Show.
Chapter 03
2010
Diagnosed with CPTSD
A name for what had already been shaping every decision. The start of learning that recovery is a practice, not an event.
Chapter 04
2019
Founded Sidekick Initiative
Built a lived-experience mental health and recovery movement. Community, walking, mentoring, honest conversations.
Chapter 05
2023–2025
Prison: HMP Altcourse and HMP Hindley
A second custodial sentence. Not a story to glorify. Inside, took on education, neurodiversity and recovery mentoring roles. Trusted red-band mentor with an active caseload. Facilitated groups and supported men in the middle of hard drug use, including spice.
Chapter 06
31 July 2025
Released
Walked out with a plan. Family, structure, training, mentoring work and the next chapter of Sidekick already mapped.
Chapter 07
2026
Rebuild and restart
Restarted Sidekick with more clarity. Trained hard, spoke publicly, started this next chapter of endurance, education and impact.
Accountability
This is not a redemption story you sell.
Owning what happened is the price of being useful. I do not paint prison as an adventure. I do not sell trauma. I do the work, quietly where I need to, publicly where it helps others.
Recovery for me looks like structure, honest relationships, hard training, hard conversations, and showing up when it would be easier not to.
If I can turn it all around, look at what anybody else can achieve.